RP: A Bit Of Forgery

Part of the A Few Fox Tales Arc

Summary: Where Ina actually finds a proper teacher, after being a useless derelict for a while.

Dragon's Head Inn

When you enter the inn you are a little overwhelmed at first by the thick smoke that comes from pipes and cigars, the smell of beer, and the loud, cheerful music from fiddles, drums, and flutes. Many dwarves are gathered here, having a great time doing what dwarves like best. Some of them sing loud songs, accompanied by the music songs about true loves gone missing, the glory and mayhem of battle, about gaining and losing lots of gold. Some songs are even about all three at once. You can spot a table where you could sit and order some meals and drinks from the owner, Giolla, and have a smoke, or maybe you just want to listen to the music. In one corner you see a rather old dwarf, but much taller then the rest. He sits by himself, quietly playing some music on his harp. You wonder how he is able to hear anything with all the noisy business surrounding you, but you notice that all dwarves treat him with respect they even lower their voices when they are near him! To your west you see another room, where some dwarves are gathered, discussing something in loud voices. There is also a staircase going up, presumably to the rooms that this inn offers for rent, and you see an exit leading northwards. Next to that staircase rests a public board, presumably for detailing the events of Upper Craughmoyle.

Ina is, hopefully, not as hard to find as Nikola's residence was. After all, in a crowd which has a rather large amount of dwarves, a redheaded foxkin likely stands out like a sore thumb- especially when her chosen apparel was closer to a card dealer's outfit then the like. Still, if that isn't enough to pick her out of the crowd- the handy dandy note she'd scribbled out and propped up against her pack on the table that says 'Hi, I'm Trish' hopefully will. ..Not that she necessarily wants extrication at the moment- given she'd somehow managed to find herself in the midst of a rather animated game of cards with a pair of dwarves that are rather deep into their cups. Though they were dwarves, so they weren't showing it as much as she'd like, and she had been less dragged and more hustled and cajoled them into a bit of card shark-related shenanigans. Details, though, amirite?

Nikola enters the tavern. Right away, began waving at her, calling her out. She has been living amongst the dwarves for a long while now, to start with, they hated her for being a dragon. But her talents with metal earned the respect of the dwarves. The draconian lady waves back, smiling at them, even pointing out numerous ones, calling them by their name. "How's your 8th child?" Or something similar. Soon she find herself standing right behind the foxkin and said, "How's the round so far?" Smiling.

Ina doesn't really take notice of Nikola until she's at the table, but once she's made herself known, she's scrutinized for a few long moments, "So, wouldja be the smith? Ja a lot cuter 'n what I was expectin' iffun ya are~" The dwarf to the right side of the table was given a faint nudge to his shoulder, a motion which incidentally reveals a pair of aces to the fellow, alongside a "Couldja make a bit'a room, please 'n thank ya. Dis here's the smith I was wiling away the time fer. I think. Ch'yeah." The dwarf shoots Ina a look, then glances back to the hand she'd revealed, her demeanour, and promptly drops his cards down on the table. "Ach. I fold, ya we bonnie lass." Ina's response is to blink, glance at her card-carrying hand, and then over to the dwarf, "Ja just needed ta shuffle ya butt over a pinch. Sheesh. But uh, also, please. " The dwarf, whose name she still couldn't remember, squeaks his chair across the floor to open a space, the other scrutinizing Ina even as she abruptly affixes a very bright green-eyed stare on him, "Sooooooooo- How about we rai-" "Fold." "Okay, then." She shrugs, drops the pair of aces, and 3, 7, and 8 she was holding in her other hand, and promptly turns her attention back to Nikola, "Y'know, it goes. Been better'n, been worse. You?"

Nikola simply frowned as the game continued before her, eventually sitting down as the players began to lose interest in the current play. She has no idea of what is going on. "I don't gamble, sorry." Simply smiling at the woman and said, "So, you are looking for someone to teach you the ways of the metal? Dwarves have Mastered the art but they are a bit secretive with regards to the trade. They'll teach you them eventually... if you have the patience and life span for it." She pushes away the cards before her and said, "I can teach you what the dwarves have thought me so far but learning them would take time... a lot of it. Are you willing to take that?"

Ina doesn't seem all that bothered by Nikola's admission in regards to the gambling, responding with an altogether pleased, "Good. S'means yer not all that likely ta have cause ta...well, -dislike- me." In tandem with those words she'd lean forward to scoop the silver and copper pieces that had been the games ante to her spot, before offering a pat on the hand to the dwarf on the left, "Good game, and I appreciate you taking the time a day to entertain an outsider like me." And it'd be such a wonderful display of jovial sportsmanship, were it not for the simple, subtle fact that every nudge, and brush of her skin to theirs was just another opportunity for her to gradually leech a bit more luck from her unwary marks. That aside, Ina's quick to respond to the meat of Nikola's inquiry, a genuinely pleasant smile flickering across her features, "'m not a prodigy, but I got the time if you're willing ta guide me." She spares a glance towards her tail, flicking it over the side of the chair before returning her glance to the smith, "A fair bit of it, and nowhere ta go, even."

Nikola frowns as the woman's accent is giving her problems. She simply shook her head and waved at her, "Follow me." She began to walk out of the inn and into the streets of Craughmoyle. "I live alone in my house and there are no other buildings around unless you rent a room in this city or the one below it, Xalious. So, where would you be staying?" Glancing back at her, assuming she is following her. She would eventually go toward the southern city exit, trying to get back to her workshop to start this woman's training.

Ina blinks a bit once Nikola starts moving, before she offers an enthusiastic wave to the dwarves. After being pointedly ignored by one, and grunted at by the other- she simply lopes after the smith, arms swinging freely at her sides. "Uh, I mean- Hrm. I will have to figure that one out, since I've been running things on the uh, free side-a things. There was this perfectly nice house that was abandoned, "...and the scene of a murder, and infested by a couple of monsters "that I'd been staying at- but yeah, that would be quite the commute. Yessiree. So, unless ja got a room for rent- well, Xalious is sorta quaint. ...So, how long ja been smithing?"

Nikola :: It wasn't far, eventually the blacksmith stopped in front of an old-looking shack. It's made out of black-looking rock, ragged of age with a chimney on top. With the mountain air sometimes breezes along snow from Frostmaw, the structure has not even a speck of snow on it, one can only assume how warm the interior would be. There is another building behind it, a two-story house but it was barely visible with all the snow covering it. Nikola fishes the keys from her pocket and began to work on the workshop door. "And who's feeding you?" She looked back at her as the door finally opens up and the heat from the forge can be felt. Indoors are various weapons and armours on their stands, sitting on display, beyond the counter is the workshop proper, piles of ores and ingots sitting on the corner, along with tools, workbenches and other unfinished projects. The heat was perfect against the cold mountain air outside. Finally, there is a large metal door at the back end of the room that goes onto her house. Looking back at her, waiting for an answer. "I do have a spare room. But I don't know you yet."

Ina scrunches up her face, arms folded up against her chest as she follows after Nikola- though it's likely more the line of questioning that the chill that has her looking perturbed, "Odd Jobs, mainly. There was a really big bit of errand work I was involved in- that, with a bit of entertaining's been pretty good for makin' sure grubs on my plate. Though a bit of huntin' here and there doesn't hurt." To emphasize the point, the foxkin draws up her hands in front of herself, flexing her fingers out and emphasizing the claws at the end, "Fang 'n claw isn't entirely for show, y'know. Though, they do sorta emphasize the feist, 'n I like that." That all said, Ina does begin to pipe down as the smith plays tour guide, instead directing her attention towards the workshop with a sort of wide-eyed enthusiasm, that has her actively suppressing the sort of sticky fingered impulses that got her by in the sparser months. "Hey, s'fair. Again, I can probably rent a room in Xalious- 'n I imagine it's a lot more wholesome than a town full a' booze n' bear related gambling." And way less likely for her to waste money on said activities.

Nikola hums quietly as she looked upon the woman. "I'd teach you what I know.. could feed you lunch too. But till I find you trustworthy, I guess. Inn would your place to be. You get a percentage for every piece of equipment sold in my shop, that should give you enough coin for your daily expenses as you can't really do odd jobs while training." She went behind the counter and picked up an ore from the pile, it was a rock with bits of blue sticking from the surface. "Do I have to teach you everything from scratch? Or do you have any knowledge of this trade?" Placing the ore on the counter between them. "What is this?" Testing her knowledge.

Ina seems to be pretty okay with the arrangement, if her plucky grin isn't any sorta indication, "Aye, Aye, Boss lady. Grub, trainin' n' commission-y bits sounds a-okay to me." That said, when the smith goes behind the counter and plunks down the slab of ore- she's met with a quizzical look at first. "Mmm. Mmm. Hmmm. Lesse. Well-" There's something nibbling at the back of the foxes brain- lessons her mother had tried to impart on her, which had seemed far less important than card-sharking and booze. But they were hazier than the mornings she spent hungover, which left her with the more practical bits of observation, picking it up to feel its weight, the feel of the stone itself. After she eyeballs it for a few more moments, she finally lets out an exhale and a, "S'what? Unrefined Mithril, or?" Suffice it to say, if it's anything exceedingly exotic- Ina's luck has certainly run out.

Nikola groans in audible disappointment. "No, it's cobalt." She shook her head and said. "Let's see here, I want you... to tell me everything you know about blacksmithing. I want to know what I should teach you, are your skills limited only to making weapons? Can you do armour? You know what. Here. I am known as Nikola, just Nikola, as they say, become a master of your craft to the point that you don't need to say your name. I am a warsmith. It means I make weapons on the battlefield itself. Provide masterfully crafted gear at a moment's notice. That's what I am. I know, I know, the trade is not for everybody as it does have exemptions. Warsmiths are typically mages that could manipulate heat. I for one, am a blue dragon. I control lightning. I melt down metal just by touching it. Something that a forge could never do. A forge could melt down iron in an hour, something I can perform in seconds. Stronger metals require better forges as well." She isn't trying to make the woman back out now. She just wants her to understand what she is up against.

Ina's ears fold back for a moment, though she does her best to mask her own look of disappointment, "'m a novice. S'honest truth there. I knew the very basics, before I got struck by a bit of wanderlust and went travelling with my sister, "...Which, at this point, was a handful of decades ago. The thoughts are embarrassing enough that she finds herself pressing her left arm to her side in an attempt to keep from fidgeting, "Figured I'd get around to things eventually. I know that we have a gift. A knack that runs through the family and makes us useful, good at what we do when we refine it- but it's never been something I've been really adept at personally, since I'm not ...y'know the rough around tha edges, beat 'em up sort? S'not La ..mm. In the cards for me. Yeah, dat. Still, it's the closest thing to a proper gig I actually know of, even if it's just the absolute basics, 'n I'd rather that, than end up a tavern wench."

Nikola sighs, running her hand on her hair as she finally says. "It's fine, it's fine. We all start somewhere. Here's what we're gonna do. You take a hammer. There are lots in that rack." Pointing at it. "I want you to bash as much ore as you can with it. It would train your hammering arm and at the same time, teach you the different types of ores and how much force you need to break them open. Those ores..." pointing at a pile of them at the corner. "Are unrefined and unsorted. You can easily sort it out by colour, then break open about half a dozen of the same type, get rid of the rock particles and melt down the metal fragments you get into ingots. The mould is there somewhere. This will teach you how much heat you need to freeform each type of ore and how long would it take. You can start.. I dunno, tomorrow?"

Ina tilts her head off to one side, "Ja got a book I could go over with stuff about the different types. Might help a bit in just me being able to tell things apart if they're similar. Still, sounds pretty straightforward, so I think I should be able to do it. Sort things, smash 'em, sift 'em , and melt 'em down. Sounds good, Boss Lady." There's more of a confident nod at this, the fox then folding her hands in front of herself. "So, Anythin' else I should know? Or that sum up the lotta it?"

Nikola shook her head. "Nothing else really. Just call me Nikola. Or Miss Nikola if you prefer the honorifics. You start tomorrow. I guess. See you then?" She has nothing else to add. Smiling at her before going back to her workstation, "Feel free to look around if you want. Just close the door when you leave."

Ina brightens up a bit at that, offering a sincere smile in return, "Thank you, Miss Nikola. I'll try my best." That said, given the invitation, the foxkin's totally going to go peering over the various tools and implements in the workshop, with a special bit of focus being directed towards the hammers & ore. Well, that, and a pre-emptive search for the mould so she can have an idea of where to find it -before- it's a matter of imminent necessity. Once she's satisfied her curiosity, she'd meander towards the door, offer a slight bow to the dragon, and move to quietly leave the workstation. Suffice it to say, a steady work gig was going to require preparation on Ina's part-mainly by means of collecting her private stash from her haunt, and actually locating a temporary residence in Xalious.