RP:Of Engineers and Enchanters

Frostmaw

Alvina stood on the edge of the Eyrie fort in Frostmaw, taking in the wintery view of this land. It was beautiful, albeit cold, and it served to soften her heart against the frozen elements she mostly avoided. The forests were full of hardy trees that boasted sturdy branches to hold all the snow and weather all the chill that nipped at her bones. Her dark blue cloak blends well, for the most part, casting her as a piece of shadowy ice to the distant or glancing eye. It was the red, escaping her hood like a crazed bundle of thrashing snakes, that would catch your attention. She stood, like the long autumnal tree mid-winter, that had yet to shed its leaves and surrender to the long sleep of the solstice. Even now, her hair twisted like wild whips at the mercy of the winds.

Linn, at this point, was just passing time and getting to know more of Frostmaw given that he was becoming so involved in some of the events surrounding it. His boots clicked against the hard floors of the fort, greeting members of the Eyrie and getting to know what they did here. As he made it up towards the edges of the fort where he could get a better view of Frostmaw and its surroundings the flash of red caught his eye. He continued towards it to see where it came from, drawing up to be smitten by the outside winds that flew by Alvina as well, flinching for a second before he became acclimated. Opening his eyes again he saw everything laid out below him, causing him to take in a sharp, cold breath. "Nice view" he said with a playful lilt. He wore the mithril armor that he almost always did, rigid plates encasing his limbs and upper torso while staying well clear of his joints and abdomen, leaving them to be protected by scale and fine mail. It managed to cover every part of his body save for his head and neck in the hardened metal, while retaining a dominant theme of mobility. Even stranger may have been the lack of any visible straps and rivets that held it together, the plates held in place by some invisible or hidden mechanism.

Alvina turned to the stranger with a broad smile. "It's almost worth the frost bite,"she laughed, the wind sweeping the sound away just as quickly as it appeared. The engineer regarded the armor with more attention than she granted the stranger's face. It was very well made. Gleaming, polished...very difficult to do with the heavier metals. She couldn't help but linger over the plate gaps and the lack of straps. Marvelous design, she thought, stepping closer without a word to examine the deep grooves that granted him so much mobility. After a moment, she realized this as rude and apologized. "I'm Alvina, Engineer for the Eryie. I'm so sorry to be so intrusive but this armor is exceptional. Where did you get it?" Her shimmering green optics glistened in the sunlight that reflected off the surrounding snow while she awaited his answer.

Linn gave a nod with a smile at the worth of the view, continuing to gaze out over the rest of the town and forest out west until he noticed her examining the armor, his colorless eyes flitting sideways to see her reaction. With more than just the reflections of the sky to work with she might see numerous rims of warped reflections stamped into the plates, each maybe the size of a horse’s hoof. Furthermore, there was no obvious division between any components of the plating around any one part of his body; at first glance it might look as if each was a solid piece of metal shaped around his body, though faint, etched lines near the ridges at his sides pointed to them fitting into one another. He knew her look of curiosity well and grew a proud smile at the remark of the armor, having a hand in making and enabling such a design to work. “I’m Linn” he said with a nod and a pause. “I had most of it forged in Cenril, the amount of convincing I had to do to get the smith to make it this way was silly.” He chuckled at the past disbelief as the smith had no idea of his plans with it. “I had to put in quite a bit of my own work afterwards to actually get it to a usable condition. It’s been worth it though.” He seemed more than happy to discuss the subject with someone who seemed so naturally interested in it; considering it to be a potential path into knowing what she might do as well.

Alvina squinted at where she'd expected the joints to be, only to find seamless transitions in what looked like one piece of continuous metal. Was that possible? She swooned over the craftsmanship. There was a skilled magic at work here!! She listened intently to his explanation, still looking at the metal like it was foreign and fascinating. "Oh please, you have to show me..." She touched the cold armor, wanted to feel the texture of something that looked almost like perfectly polished glass. "It looks both thick, and heavy but you move like it's leather..."

Linn tilted his sideways at the final remark. “It pretty much is everywhere it matters. I have to do too much travelling to deal with anything restrictive, though I’ve run into enough trouble to need this from time to time.” As to showing off what was really special about the armor, the most obvious thing he could think about was how the plates were held together. He reached over to pull off one of the plates that ran along his forearm, which came free unceremoniously to reveal the fitted edges and a leather doublet underneath that was sparsely patterned with white gemstones. Flipping it over he held one end over to the engineer for her to inspect it. The light weight unmistakably identified it as mithril, while more of those white gemstones set onto the edges, cut perfectly to match them, were revealed from their presence within the other plates. He gave an inviting smile as she fawned over the work before speaking up again. “So you’re an engineer?” he asked rhetorically; the curiosity she had shown spoke for itself. “What kind of things do you work with in that field?”

Alvina was not afraid to reach out and take the pieces Linn was offering. She was also not afraid to stand as close as possible to inspect the doublet where the gemstones mirrored each other flawlessly. Just as she’d suspected! Magic was afoot! That made it all the more exciting to fawn over the mithril platting in her hands the same way some women might fawn over a beautiful dress or gleaming gemstones. “Right now, I’ve just finished working on a sort of…smoke signal device, for the Eyrie.” Was this supposed to be a secret? She couldn’t remember. “Now I’m just waiting for the next assignment and tinkering around with whatever my own imagination affords…” She was speaking but it was clear she was also devouring the design and construction of his armor. “You did this yourself?” She said after a brief silence, finally surrendering the piece of armor back to it’s owner. “What do you do? What’s your occupation or hobby of choice?”

Linn didn't seem to mind the close inspection all that much, it wasn't like she was showing any signs of wanting to take all of it for herself (Not that she could run off with the whole suit of armor right now...) It was almost a sort of display of his own profession, something that could draw him into some further work. He could only give a good natured chuckle at the effect that it looked to have on the engineer, knowing and loving that sense of wonder himself. He looked up a little bit at the mention of her last project. "Smoke..." he mused about the potential ways that a smoke signal would require some specialized device. "Tinkering is fun, especially when you stumble on something that can prove to be big." he mentioned almost playfully, crafting and enchanting had proven to be as much of a hobby as well as a job to him. Taking the plate back he fitted it back into its spot on the armor where it stayed put, the magical bindings reactivating as it was returned. A nod of confirmation was directed towards the plate being fitted right back on without any fuss. He looked back out over the landscape strewn below them, eyes scanning over the town and out west. "Well, I do a lot of enchanting." He rolled his eyes upwards with a coy smile, that's been made pretty clear by now. "Besides that, some exploration and treasure hunting in search of equally strange things. There's just as much to learn from old and lost artifacts as there is from making new things. Then I find trouble and get sidetracked by other things." He glanced towards the forest out west with a huff, his expression quite peeved at what he had run into out there.

Linn continued to look over the forest until Alvina’s pleading made him turn back, eyes immediately flickering to the metallic hand that was folded with the organic one. He drew in a sharp breath at seeing it; he’d heard of such things but never got to see one in action. Her story about the avian brought is attention back to her face, colorless eyes betraying a fierce curiosity before he gave a slow nod and a faint smile. “Secrets should only be kept if they would be stolen away.” The smile grew to a wide grin. “It’s hard to lose knowledge, if anything letting it be free allows us to build on it. I could show you what I do in my work.” As the engineer held her hand out for display his gaze returned to it, flickering to Alvina’s face in a silent question if he’d be allowed to touch it himself. If she would allow he would run his fingers over it slowly, feeling any ridges and edges in the construction, a gentle press to test the hardness of the metal before he withdrew his own hand. If it was sensitive to ambient magic, she might feel an electric tingling under his touch due to the raw magic that had infused the enchanter. He looked truly impressed with the work as he looked up with a smile and a nod of approval. “I’d love to see what could come out of a bit of cooperation. So you want to see what happens on the immaterial side of things? I might actually be able to show that.” He looked down to his right hand, a spiraled ring of mithril wires fit to replace one of the tiny plates over one of his fingers. Even his gloves were armored in a way to retain full mobility; each finger having a separate plate covering the top of each section like that of a cestus.

Alvina was overjoyed to hear him agree, and she would, of course, nod wildly at his question to touch the arm. That had been most of the reason for holding it out on display! To be fair, she’d also pawed at his metal like a kitten at yarn. They were just scientists sharing their different methods of work and discoveries. The bard felt a small pain that she couldn’t call the arm her own creation. What she made was a little less impressive, sans the Avian Knowledge her arm included. The metal was indeed very solid, the variety of grooves and folds making the piece deceptively flexible and responsive to motion. Instead of sounding hollow, it felt a very similar weight to a real flesh and bone arm of the same diameter. Cerinii had been thorough but quick with the construction. Considering the circumstances in which Alvina had to receive the surgery, the bard wasn’t entirely surprised. Again, she reflected on her teacher and mourned her passing. “She was very selective,” her arm dropped back to her side when Linn looked down at his hand, her own lids narrowing to see just what he was referring to. Her gaze settled on his hand briefly, admiring the ring and lighting her expression with a curious smile. “I imagine if we worked together, with additional support from a certain Alchemist, that we could really create tremendous things!”

Linn’s breath had turned shallow in wonder as he got to inspect the arm so closely, the slight flexing under his press indicating a hardness that left room for feeling and response; it was truly something that had a lot of care and thought put into it. He had to resist the urge to take it apart or work his way into it to find out how all of it worked together; it was ultimately hers and likely was a permanent part of her as well, making such a thing no different from cutting someone’s arm off to see its inner workings. As she spoke of her old mentor he grew a faint smile of sympathy, “We’ll just have to find those secrets for ourselves. Her work is truly impressive.” He glanced back down at the metal arm to direct the statement. At the mention of a certain alchemist he raised a brow, between physical, magical, and alchemical means who knows what crazy devices they could come up with. “Who might the alchemist be if you don’t mind me asking?”

Alvina gave a determined nod at the mention of Cerinii’s construct being impressive. “It’s easy to take it for granted sometimes,” she admits, with mild guilt, “But that doesn’t make me less thankful.” The alchemist! “Oh! That would be Hudson! He’s the official Alchemist of the Eyrie, in the same fashion that I’m the official Engineer. It sounds so fancy, the title, but I think we both still have a lot to learn.” The bard wasn’t aware, but she was grinning like a fool when she talked about this Hudson character, a slight veil of blush covered her cheeks. “He’s also my boyfriend, and before you say anything, I know, I know. It’s a bad idea to mix work and romance.” Embarrassed, she rubbed her cheeks with the palms of her hands. “Do you…have a special someone? Is that too rude to ask since we just met?”

Linn gives a melancholy smile and a nod at the idea of taking such a thing for granted. It was such an easy thing to do, forgetting to appreciate something so important until it’s gone. “Long as you remember everything that went into it you will know how much something like that is worth.” He said with a nod towards the metal limb. At the mention of Hudson he stalled for a second in thought. Hudson… Hudson… He’d seen the guy. He was the one who spurted his drink at the mention of Josleen. The enchanter cracked a smile at the recollection of the guy. “I’ve seen him once before, he seems like a nice guy. So he does alchemy?” He was certainly a laid back character compared to the –other- alchemist he knew. He shrugged with a wry smile at the idea of mixing work and romance. To him it only brings them together in their tasks, though at the question if he had someone special to him, he briefly shook his head before his gaze focused past the engineer in thought for a long while. “It’s fine.” A sigh as he looked back out over Frostmaw. “Not really. I haven’t stayed in any one area long enough to really get to know people to that point.” The old, melancholy smile returned though. “Though I have come to care for a few people in my time around here. If I stay around longer I might find someone like that.”

Linn gave a nod and a smile towards the engineer. “I met him in the tavern, he’s fun. Pretty sure you two have some strange stories, everyone does.” He chuckled at the last couple words and some of the past surprises he’s run into. At the topic of traveling he couldn’t help but avert his gaze again. “Just kind of drifting… Searching for things, finding things.” It was certainly what he did in his travels, though the reason and start of it all pained him to think of as it flickered through his eyes for the smallest fraction of a second. At the mention of the people around frostmaw his expression softened again with a warm smile, many of the people he had met out here had a will to help each other in spite of whatever might happen, which was one of the few things that really made its way straight to his heart. He lightened up at the question of what he was doing in Frostmaw, that being more of a subject of raw interest. “I don’t personally work for the Eyrie. I was passing through here to get to know some of it though. I was passing through here when I got news that there had been explosions in the fort and wanted to see what had happened. After a bit I’ve found enough going on in the town to come back pretty frequently.” His gaze turned westward out into the forest and the ruins beyond them, something else eating at his mind as he looked that way.

Alvina watches Linn and feels a surge of compassion. She’d been a traveler in the previous years and knew how it tarnishes your heart. Her expression softens as her smile fades. Her hand finds his shoulder with a friendly presence. “What is it?” she asked, for it was clear his thoughts were somewhere else when he looked to the west, to a place neither of them could really see from here. “What’s on your mind?”

Feeling the pull of her hand Linn turned to look back at the engineer to respond to her question with one of his own. “Have you heard of what’s been going on out west? Towards the ruins.” He left the question to hang and see what she may have heard about before explaining his end of what’s happened out there.

Alvina held his gaze with uncertainty. "No, I hate to admit that I haven't." A hint of worry furrowed her brow as she looked out to where his eyes had falling, hoping to see some hint but knowing that the logic of the situation would yield nothing. Being the healer that she was (long before she'd ever taken a hammer to metal in the engineering craft), Linn's health became her immediate concern, following shortly by the haunting idea that others might be injured. She wore her concern openly. "What's going on?"

Linn had to take a second to think about exactly –what- was going on. All of the details were murky still, and he didn’t know much more of the exact nature of everything other than a lot of stuff out there was mad. “All sorts of strange things. About a week ago there was a stampede involving more frostmares than I thought possible from that direction.” Almost with a grin he traced one of the many rims stamped into his armor, it was about the size of one of their hooves... If Alvina was really keen she might be able to infer that he had even more going on with the armor than what he had already shown; those kinds of hits should have crushed him through the flexible armor easily. “Before that I had an encounter with angry undead and spirits. Something’s out there that’s stirring it all up, and I need to figure out what it is.

Alvina had an eye for two things; Wounds and Metal, so when Linn traces the curved dent in the armor she frowns. There was no way you could get in the path of a frostmare and walk away with a few dents. “Are you hurt?” She asked, drawing a little closer to inspect the mark herself. Why hadn’t she seen it before? Without asking his permission, she attempts to pull the plate from the enchanted binding like she’d watched him before. If she’s successful, her hands will prod the cloth beneath for sign of injury. If not, she’ll look up at him with the expectation that he remove it so she can check him for wounds. “It doesn’t get around much anymore, but I’m also a healer. Let me look.” When she’s convinced that he’s not dying from internal hemorrhaging, she lets him replace the plate on his armor and looks out in the direction he indicated. “You really shouldn’t be travelling alone if something is stirring up trouble out there, especially in Frostmaw. The people here are warm and welcoming, but the elements are harsh. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.” That was her mothering instinct talking. She regarded everyone, even creatures ten times her size or skill, as someone to take care of. It was just in her nature.

Linn turned with brows raised and a “hmm?” at the question of if he was hurt. Her little tug at the plate yielded nothing for a second as if it wasn’t even separate from the others that it was fitted to. Just then it released like nothing held it on for her to take a look under it. He couldn’t help but crack a small smile at the ability to do that with his armor; it made living with it so much easier. The rim was incredibly faint, visible by little more than the tilted reflections around it. She would find no injury that hadn’t been healed already from those events, the man rolling his eyes slightly as he looked out west, shaking his head. “I’m fine. I was lucky that I had put so much effort into reinforcing it against hard impacts. That work got pushed to its limits the night of the stampede and it worked –fantastically-“He gave a sweet, satisfied smile, savoring just how well it had kept him from getting crushed, even if it had thoroughly drained him of his energy in the process. The plate reattached itself without a command, locking into place as it was slotted back into the others. His expression grew more serious as she spoke of being alone out west, giving a knowing nod in response. “I’ve been talking with some of the others who are also looking to track down what’s going out there. Those kinds of dangers are best met with several people to help each other out. Once we’re ready we’ll go.” He nodded towards the forest, a look of determination in his eyes.

Alvina dusted her hands after the plate reattached. It was hard not to get sucked in to the mechanisms of the armor while he was talking. “I’d offer to go but I’m more the behind the scenes type.” She gave him an encouraging smile. “You have more magic in you than you’re letting on,” her finger waggled at him with an accusatory tone. “Seriously though, make sure you have solid people to go with. I don’t want you to get hurt because someone flaked…and you should send a letter to the Eyrie fort here, if you get hurt. They can get a hold of me pretty quickly, so I can be there. To, you know, help.” A nod of her crimson hair punctuated the statement. “Here,” she says while reaching into her satchel, “Take this. It’s…just a thing, I do. Everyone I’ve ever met has one of these…and you’re no exception. “ The bard extends a simple silver bracelet out to the Enchanter with a friendly grin.

Linn gave the engineer an understanding nod at sitting back and helping behind the scenes. It was a nice way to contribute without having to worry about the chaos up front, which definitely was a hard business. He raised his brows with a coy smile at the comment of the magic in him; it was an uncannily accurate statement considering what had happened to him in the past. “Well it’s saved me several times now” he continued the expression with a playful shrug. Another nod of acknowledgement with a smile at the offer for help. “Definitely. Though if someone does leave, it just means we’ll have to improvise. Thanks for the offer to help, who knows just what we might run into out there?” His glance flickered to the metal hand once. Hopefully it didn’t come to the need for that, though if it did it looks like he’d be in good hands to deal with that situation. Taking the bracelet he turned it in his hand, inspecting its work and searching for any magic potentially used in it. Looking back up curiously he asked “What’s it for?”

Alvina smiles, waving her hand before her face to dismiss any curiosity about the bracelet. "It literally is just a silver bracelet. There's nothing magical or special about. It's just the same one that I wear, see?" She holds up her fleshed wrist to demonstrate. "You can magic it, into something useful if it suits you." The verb 'magic' seemed a little inexperienced of her to use, but it's too late now, she's already said it! The bard adjusts her satchel and gives Linn another smile before looking skyward as the sun begins to settle for the evening. It was only going to get colder, and more dangerous. " I think it might be a good idea to head back to the fort for the night. Are you coming back or...do you have somewhere else to be?"

Linn only gave a smirk. Well, not –everything- had something special to it. He shrugged, comparing the bracelet she gave him with the one she wore with a nod of confirmation. At the way she used the word ‘magic’ he nearly snorted in amusement. Still chuckling the man responded “If I find something for it to do I probably will.” He glanced down towards his wrists and the mithril cuffs that protected them. It would be hard to wear it without compromising the armor unfortunately. Alvina at least managed to provide a distraction so that he didn’t have to dwell on the topic of the gift that he’d have a hard time using. “I’m not too busy right now. Just been getting to know the town a bit better with some of the downtime I’ve had. I’ll head out to the tavern though, I don’t exactly have a room at the fort” he finished with a small huff and a smile.

Alvina fights another shiver with little success. "You don't have to wear it," she adds, "it didn't really seem your style. Just keep it with you. They are handy, believe it or not. I'm heading back, to grab a drink and maybe a spot by the hearth. Just in case we don't see each other again before I leave for home, please think about what I said and write me sometime!" She stepped forward to hug him without so much as asking him. Personal space was a strange mystery to her. She treated almost everyone like familiar family. "Most of all be careful." She offered him another smile as she turned against the wind and saved her goodbyes. "It was nice to meet you Linn!" She called through the mounting wind and her own crazed autumnal locks.

Linn gave a relieved chuckle, he could at least keep it around. “Everything can find a use given the right situation. Whenever this might come in handy is going to make for a story you would at least be interested in.” He couldn’t help but smirk at the statement, people liked to know that what they did came in handy a lot of the time. She was probably no different. The hug was met with a little surprise, though he returned the gesture with one arm somewhat awkwardly. “I will, I’ll have to be out there. It was nice to meet you as well Alvina” was his farewell as he continued to look over the setting sun for a while, allowing her to leave.