RP:The True Measure of Steel

This is a Adventurer's Guild RP.

Summary: Alvina and Meri meet to finalize details about her bow alterations and discuss other mysterious artifacts found during an excursion inside a Leviathan. Fleur accompanies her mother and is promised her own sword and bow one day, if she focuses on her studies. As the mystery of Meri’s artifacts begins to unravel, Alvina finds herself in an uncomfortable position.

Frostmaw Towers

This four story concrete office building stands just outside the marketplace against the snow painted backdrop of Frostmaw’s frigid landscape. A row of benches lines each side of the walkway leading to the multiple doors controlling the flow of traffic in and out of the building. In the lobby, you’ll be greeted by various front desk clerks behind magically reinforced glass asking for your name or what business you’re visiting. Upon approval, you’re issued an identification badge and ushered through the gates. Employees in other lines simply hold up their badges and pass through in neat, orderly lines. Behind the clerk’s desks, the space opens into a more active and friendly environment. The first level boasts a myriad of little eateries and food shops looped around benches and tables for patrons to stop and rest. The low buzz of conversation and activity is constant. On either side of the food court are two large, concrete staircases. A plastered list of each floor and each floor’s businesses listed beside them. A colorfully decorated sign reminds employees of the business’s on site child care services. The first floor houses the food court, day care and a variety of small souvenir shops. The second and third floors house independent contractors who rent offices for their wide range of specialty services. The fourth floor is reserved specifically for officials and royal appointed members on Frostmaw’s payroll, such as Frostmaw’s Royal Blacksmith, Engineer or Stewarts.

Frostmaw Towers, 1st floor, Food Court

Alvina’s neck deep in new projects. The make up business she’s helping Brennia start, Demeter’s new wing armor, a few projects for a new fellow named Nort, a couple super secret gifts and Meri’s bow. She’s in the food court, pouring over the latest blueprint of the bow. They’d discussed changing it to a wolf motif in place of the vines originally commissioned by Khitti. After several drafts, Alvina’s most satisfied with this one. It’s sketched in thick ink strokes, charcoal still smudges the paper’s edges from the rough outline holding it’s place. Her hair is pinned back away from her face, a new favorite hairstyle of hers, so the curls can fall safely down her back without obstructing her view. Today she’s wearing a cream colored sweater with a dark blue or black skirt. With her glasses on, she looks very corporate sitting here amid the dying chaos of the work day.

Meri arrived at the towers by horseback, dressed in a thick sable-colored fur cloak to help keep the cold of the region at bay. Today Meri was not alone, while the women had plans for a playdate in the future Meri thought it would be nice for Alvina to have a chance to see Fleur while the two women chatted. Fleur is also adorned in heavy furs that are the same hue as her mothers. It takes a moment for the two to dismount, Meri getting down first and then helping her daughter down. Once the two are safely on the ground and the horse is temporarily stabled somewhere outside of the towers, Meri and her daughter will enter to be issued their badges. Hopefully the woman at the desk did not mind that Meri was not only bringing her daughter but was also bringing an array of odd items, broken weapons and tarnished armor. While it was likely a non-issue, given where Meri was traveling and who she was here to see, the state of the items Meri had with her would probably earn her an odd stare or two. “We are here to see Alvina. Our names are Meri and Fleur.” The blonde gestures to herself and then her daughter respectively. Once she is given clearance to enter, the blonde wastes no time in trying to navigate her way through the tower. The goal was to find Alvina’s office is, except her delicate sense of smell suggests to Meri that Alvina might not actually be in her office. The woman follows her gut and ends up in the more familiar food court, holding her daughter’s hand within her right hand and an open sack of damaged looking items in her other hand. “Hey stranger! You look busy. I hope this is not a bad time.”

Alvina’s chewing on the featherless end of her quill in thought when Meri calls to her. She’d be so lost in thought, she hadn’t picked up on her scent. “Meri!” She chimes brightly, grin spreading when she catches sight of Fleur. “Gods, look at you two.” The bard stands, gathering her things and walking over to the edge of the food court. “Speak of the devil, though.” She wags the now rolled blueprint. “I’ve got the final bow design to show you!” Alvina stoops down, tucking her skirt against the back of her legs, to greet Fleur. “You probably don’t remember me, but you've gotten so big. It’s so good to see you.” Her voice is sing-song and chipper. To Meri she says, “Time really flies huh?” She eyes the bag of things Meri’s carrying briefly. “Do you have a minute? I can run us up to my office so we can give it a once over, so I don’t keep you.” She can’t tell much about the bag items beyond that they’re damaged and some metal.

Meri :: Some children were shy and tended to hide behind their parents when they meet unfamiliar people. Or in Fleur’s case, when they are reintroduced to people that they have not seen in a very long time. Fleur was just a baby after all. Fleur was not one of those children. The cloak-wearing kid with raven-haired just stared up at Alvina in absolute awe, admiring how pretty she thought the bardic engineer looked. Fleur exclaims, “You have red-hair like Aunt Khitti.” They were different shades of red, of course, but it was similar enough that Fleur was able to draw that comparison. “Oh yeah, I’ve got time. We were here to visit with you anyway.” See the bow, show off the kid, try and pick Alvina’s brain on the battered metal bits Meri had with her. First thing first though, after confirming that the two of them did in fact have time, the trio presumably took a trip up to Alvina’s office so that they could chat about the final bow design. “I am actually really excited to see what you have cooked up. Penelope and I have recently agreed that we were going to be archery buddies, so it’ll be a lot of fun to show off my new toy once it is all finished. I’ve more or less claimed the archery range in the Sage area as my own. Unofficially of course, I’m just there a lot in my free time.” The blonde smirks and explains while they walk. Never one to keep the conversation on herself, she makes sure to ask about Alvina during this short trek. “Anyway, you have been doing well, I hope?”

Frostmaw Towers, 4th floor, Alvina's Office

Alvina’s pleased as punch by Fleur’s response. Though, she could have said anything back to Alvina and she’d be happy about it. “I do.” She confirmed about their hair while Meri fills Alvina in on their visit. “Lucky me.” She is clearly overjoyed to see them. Alvina leads the way up to the 4th floor (sorry ladies!) and stops outside her office door to unlock it. It’s a small space, roomy enough for 5 people max and that would be an odd squeeze. There’s a desk, buried under various blueprints and metal bits. Charcoal pencils and splatterings of ink. A portrait of her family sits neatly in a frame beside half empty ink wells and old coffee cups. Two chairs are set facing the desk, a bowl of glass bottled water taking up the small table between the chairs. “Please,” She gestures for them to enter first and she brings up the rear, shutting the door quietly behind them. “If Penelope needs a bow,” Alvina’s heard about the healer in Kelay, “please tell her to write to me and I’d be happy to make her one. I’ve got a soft spot for bows, apparently.” Alvina gestures to her rolled up blueprint of Meri’s and shrugs. She wants to ask Meri if there’s any particular reason the psion is spending so much time at the range, is she nervous about something or expecting an upcoming battle of some sort, but it doesn’t feel like the best topic to discuss with little Fleur present. “Are you going to try archery Fleur?” She smiles, moving behind her desk and trying to organize the mess into a…stack of mess instead of a blanket in case Meri wants to show her what’s in the box (bag). The bard also wants to pin down the corners of the bow blueprint on the desk so Meri can review them. It’s nearly identical to their original design, but she’s added another freckling of paw prints near where the bowstring starts on either end. They look like they are etched along a forest path before the bow curves out then back into the wolf profile. It takes Alvina’s mind a minute to process the less business oriented question of if she’s been doing well. She smiles, a look that says ‘it could be worse but it could be better’ before replying. “I’ve been busy, the twins just had their birthday this week so it’s been kind of a mad house at home.” Kids. “How have you guys been? I’m still pumped for our future play date!”

Meri plopped Fleur into a seat with the hopes that the kid will manage to stay out of trouble while the two women talk. Even though Fleur was growing and maturing, she was still a bundle of energy, perhaps more so than your average kid given that she was born a lycan. “I will absolutely bring that up to her. For her, it is more of a hobby. I was honestly surprised she even knew how to shoot, Nel’s always struck me as a sweet little healer through and through.” Either way, Meri was more than happy to try and drum up some extra business for Alvina. It was that look of ‘could be worse but could be better’ that reaffirms that this is something that she should absolutely try and do for her friend. Sometimes projects helped keep things off the mind so that time could help heal wounds. While Meri was curious and tempted to press that look, she left it alone only because they were in Fleur’s company. Speaking of Fleur, she pipes up while Meri is examining the design with a most pleased look on her face. The blonde had a tendency to keep her emotions tempered and in check, but it was hard to hide her excitement of this redesign. “Momma is teaching me how to ride, how to shoot, and I know how to use a dagger. And when I get bigger I want to use a sword!” Meri chimes in to cut her daughter’s list off, “And of course we need to teach her other things like how to read, write, and do arithmetic.” Meri smirks. “You know how it is, always want your children to be better off than you were. Least I can do is try and make sure she is smarter than her mother.” Meri is referring more to booksmarts. Meri’s gaze is back on the design, “I absolutely love it, Alvina. And I think Khitti will approve of the changes too once she has a chance to see the final version. And of course I want to make sure you are compensated for your time and materials in this, so let me know the cost, yes?” For now, that bag of mystery items sits on the floor. She would get around to picking Alvina’s lovely brain on them soon.

Alvina nods at this information about Penelope. She can relate with someone being perceived as a ‘sweet little healer’. “Even healers need to defend themselves” She says good naturedly. Good on her. Alvina wished she’d learned to do so much sooner. Maybe then she wouldn’t have been kidnapped and sold into slavery. But then, maybe, she wouldn’t have gotten her old metal arm either. The bard was grateful for the extra work and Meri’s support, always. Emerald eyes dance between Meri examining the blueprint and Fleur’s report on her skillset. “My goodness!” And on top of all that, she had werewolf strength, speed and keen senses. She laughs when Meri breaks in with talk of other important lessons and Alvina nods sympathetically. “It’s true, you need to know them all but, when you get around to that sword part…I’ll make you something really nice.” She looks back to Meri with a knowing smile. Booksmarts was underrated. “It’s so difficult to explain how they’ll be glad they learned it later in life!” Alvina had not yet tried to teach her children any fighting, mostly because she feared they’d neglect their studies. She was a bit too overprotective and she didn’t yet trust them to make the best decisions. At Meri’s approval of the design, Alvina sighs with relief. She figured all would be well with it but it never hurts to triple check. It puts her mind at ease. She’s hopeful both Meri and Khitti will be pleased with the final result! Meri adds mention of payment and materials but Alvina dismisses them. “Technically, it’s just a fix, so I’m disclosing the cost of materials only, thanks.” She winks at the psion with a cheeky grin. She wasn’t aiming to profit from the project. The distraction was payment enough. “And of course Fleur will need a bow, when she’s a little older too.” Children grow so fast, making a bow right now for the girl would make the weapon obsolete almost immediately. Especially with her being a Lycan! These wolf kids grow like weeds.

Meri nodded in agreement when Alvina affirms that even healer’s need to defend themselves. This was something that she has said to Penelope a time or two, if only because Meri found it hard to not be concerned and protective over Penelope’s well being. “Did you hear that? In a few more years we’ll have our friend Alvina make you a sword and a bow. But only…! If you learn all of the other things too, like reading and writing too. It’ll be your reward for working hard.” Though Meri knew in her core that Fleur was already getting a more well-rounded education than she was as a child. With the bow having gotten Meri’s stamp of approval, the blonde shifts the subject topic. “Well I hate to come up here only to talk just about weapon related things,” though they did at least have plans for a playdate soon. “But there is one more thing that I am hoping that you might be able to help me with.” It is at this point that Meri pulls out the damaged bits of a sword and pieces of armor from that bag. They are placed on the desk, yes, but carefully. Meri did not want to make a mess of Alvina’s workstation. If these items were handled too roughly, it is possible that the desk could be dusted with bits of rush or that they could be further damaged. The why behind this may or may not be obvious to Alvina, but steel has succumbed to corrosion due to prolonged exposure to the salty currents of the ocean. While some parts of the weaponry still carried it’s true color, other parts were covered over by rust. “You are the smartest blacksmith that I know and I was thinking that if anyone could tell me anything about these broken items, it would be you. These came out of the belly of a leviathan.” Further explaining their state. Stomach acid. Yum. At least Meri has cleaned them up, so they’re no longer gross to handle. “And I found it with a curious blue stone. I am trying to figure out…if these are clues to our next big adventure or…if maybe the leviathan just managed to consume them on accident in the midst of taking down a ship.” Which, could still be an adventure. Sunken ships could have treasure too.

Alvina confirms Meri’s stipulations for Fleur’s gifts. She’s still grinning when Meri gingerly moves the bag to the desk. “I’m all about weapons and trinkets!” She tries to stay calm as Meri handles the pieces and splays them out between them. The state of them captures her attention fully. Rusted edges of sword and armor pieces whisper of a full picture she can’t quite yet see. The distorted colors and shapes could be lost in less experienced hands but Meri’d thought highly enough of Alvina to trust her own particular skill set. “A blue stone.” she repeats curiously, standing up to lean over them so as not to move them too much. “You flatter me,” She grins modestly, adjusting her glasses and gingerly lifting the piece of sword to get a better look. The engineer hums in thought, twisting the object in the enchanted room light. “Thanks for cleaning them a bit, yuck.” Alvina sticks out her tongue at Meri. Not that she couldn’t ‘stomach’ stomach acid, just that she’d prefer not to. Being a mother pretty much prepared you to handle any and all forms of hazardous material. “This is interesting…” The redhead leans over further, to show Meri what’s caught her eye. She points with her free pinky finger at a line beneath a cluster of rust. “I think this is True Steel…see how the metal’s warped and almost blue here?” Her heart pulses in her ears. Could it really be? “I’ve seen it before, though I’ve never worked with it in a weapon capacity. My teacher used it to make a Clockwork owl once.” Cerinii’d made that owl for…Satoshi, if Alvina remembers correctly. The former Queen of Frostmaw, before Hildegarde. “But if it’s True Steel, it must have come from…” Her brow furrows, hesitant to think about that. All those things and what they meant were supposed to be long gone.

Meri :: Fleur is enthralled with the promise of these gifts that she manages to behave…for a bit. Though at some point during the conversation her energy gets the better of her and she abandons her chair when she assumes Alvina and Meri are not paying attention to her. The girl will start poking around Alvina’s office, though her exploration is fairly harmless….so far. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to bring the kiddo up for this visit? Meri should have known better than to think that Fleur wouldn’t start getting into stuff. Even if Fleur does not think Meri is paying attention, the woman makes a point of sliding watchful glances toward her daughter from out of the corner of her eye. Just in case. “Yuck indeed,” Meri agrees, not going into the details of how she even figured out they were in a leviathan’s stomach to begin with. “I figured not cleaning it would cause more harm than good anyway, digestive juices and all.” Fleur perks up, “Juice?!” And Meri smirks. “Well did you bring it with you? Or did you leave it in the horse’s pack? We’ll get you some from the food court on the way out either way.” It would be a long ride home. For now though, Meri’s attention is back on the discussion. “A clockwork owl…?” Meri has never seen a clockwork anything, let alone an owl. The idea intrigued Meri, but she tried to focus her attention on the details that Alvina was pointing out. The warp that is pointed out, along with the color. “It must have come from…?” Meri says encouragingly, hoping that maybe Alvina might have some solid idea. Would it fall in line with what she has learned about that blue stone Meri had mentioned? The blonde’s heart was beating with excitement, but she was working hard to keep her cool. Her reaction to this prospect is very different than when she was studying the bow design. She did not want to get her hopes up too high that Alvina would be able to provide a promising lead.

Alvina smiles with nostalgic pride. “Cerinii could build…anything.” Her teacher’s hubris had also been her demise but she preferred to ignore that part. “She often made clockwork things as gifts.” Fleur would be safe to explore the office…except that Meri’s bow was still leaning against the wall. It’s truly the only thing capable of being damaged, beyond the table between the two chairs being pushed over, and that had a heavy bowl resting on it so, not likely. Not that bows are inherently dangerous but still. Meri’s probing eyes inspire a small, secret hope in Alvina that allows her to finish the thought. Because if it’s true… “All the True Steel I’ve ever seen has come from Armantium. My teacher was an avian and worked with it often.” But if this beast had pieces of Armantium…could Cerinii’s armor encased body be among the wreckage? The bard had no idea what happened to Armantium. Not truly anyway. Her heart beats even louder. No, it was lost. Her body was safe and not warping in the stomach acid. It must be…but…what if it wasn’t? Alvina’s emerald eyes lift to study Meri’s face. Her own face is pale, stomach churning anxiously. “Were there any statues there? With these pieces? Suits of armor or the like?” The blacksmith in Alvina should be overjoyed at the chance to work with True Steel but her own sweet little healer heart is screaming for answers.

Meri would let Fleur explore, though she kept an eye on her kid. Given that Fleur was just bragging about her archery lessons, the kid has enough good sense to not do anything to damage her mother’s bow. She was also old enough to know better than to go pushing chairs over. Still, she’d open a book or examine papers if given the chance. All in all, it was harmless, Fleur was just unable to sit still. “That is interesting, because I had Leoxander’s new friend Loravelle examine that blue stone that I had found?” Again, not amongst the current objects. “And she was saying that while she could not actually read or translate the writings on the face of the stone…? She thought it might either be old Saurian or perhaps some form of ancient Avian writing. If we combine your belief that this is true steel? With the information that Loravelle gave me?” Maybe it was Armantium. Meri did not want to say it though. Because what if it wasn’t. Meri continues to share her musings with Alvina. “There wasn’t anything else that I thought to be of note. Just, you know…bone remains. They did not look to be humanoid in nature, so I just assumed that maybe the leviathan had managed to eat like…I don’t know..do dolphins have bones?” Look, Meri was more street smart than she was booksmart. “Big fish bones?” Meri wrinkles up her nose. “Either way though…Even if it is maybe…some clues to a certain city that fell from the sky. It would still be challenging to pinpoint exactly where in the ocean it fell. You know? A leviathan can swim vast distances…But I think it is worth the search effort.”

Alvina feels her body slack with relief when Meri confirms there were only bodies in the beast. The armor wouldn’t have melted with the stomach acid, so if her body was there, it would have been in one piece. “Thank the gods…” She’d clue Meri in on her thought process if more evidence turned up. Right now, thinking it was the old avian city felt like a statistical impossibility. She listens carefully while Meri discloses the rest of what she knows; about the stone and what Loravelle found. That -would- go along with it. Fleur would find a small stack of books tucked tightly against the side of Alvina’s desk. It was filled with other sketches of yo-yos and wings, if Fleur felt like investigating. At Meri’s determination of ‘big fish bones’ Alvina feels her shoulders slack a bit more, the tension dissolving to let her breathe again. “Could you…let me know what else you guys find?” She laughs nervously, feeling a brand of vulnerability she didn’t remember being possible. “If it is…avian, and if it is True Steel…” If it is Armantium. “It would mean a lot to know, to know more.”

Meri collects the pieces that she and Alvina were discussing and places them back into that bag she brought with her. That bag is then hoisted up. The next thing to be collected is her daughter, except Fleur is not hoisted up. Instead she is encouraged to put the book away so that Meri could claim her hand. “I absolutely will.” Hopefully Meri would be able to uncover more of the puzzle soon. As she said, it could potentially be quite a search. She’d have to brainstorm with some of her trusted guild members on how to begin this search. “For now though…? I think someone wanted some juice. So she and I are going to head off to buy some before we hit the road. We’ll be in touch soon though, be it over a bow, or a playdate, or an update on this mystery that I have just thrown at you.” Meri looks down toward her child, “Say goodbye to Alvina before we go.” As children tend to do, Alvina is actually given a nickname. Nothing mean, just a shortening of her actual name. “Goodbye, ‘vina.” This goodbye is punctuated with a wave.