RP: Trish' Untamed Treasures

Part of the A Few Fox Tales Arc

This is a Mage's Guild RP.

This is a Rogue's Guild RP.

Summary: Ina gets her first official client in the artifact making department, in the form of Lita's commission.

Dilapidated Coral Castle

Coming in closer to this structure of substantial size, you observe that the stone of which it is made of is actually a form of coral matter, and would usually be found on the bottom of the oceans in lore, filled by colonies of mermaids and mermen wielding tridents. You're urged to nearly laugh at the thought of mermaids. There are multiple orifices throughout the structure vertically, like doorways designed as entry points. As you stand amongst the sand, you notice a trail coming from the base of this bastion of sea origin snaking along the ground; brilliant white and black sands inherently organized by natural forces. For something so simple really, looking like a giant multi-colored sand dollar, it's quite astonishingly beautiful.

Arlyeon is at it again. Today's endeavour, however, is a bit more productive than some of her ventures- and not just becase it has entailed building a small wooden stand in front of the castle. Like, -sure- the castle is a super impressive edifice to direct people to, courtesy of the hand-drawn flyers she had spread through Cenril, but- sometimes you need a bit more. Such as a precarious-looking collection of newspaper boxes cobbled together to form the sign-up booth for 'Trish' Untamed Treasures - Weapons, Weirdness & Whatchmacallits'. It was snappy, in a sort of snake-oil-adjacent kind of way. It was also close to deserted, given only Ina, and one of Lanlan's apprentices were manning the booth. The academic minion is less than pleased with this arrangement- The elven lad nudging the 'Forge Mistress in the side', "I could have sworn I smelled smoke as we were leaving." Ina, our irredeemable redheaded foxkin, -should- be concurring with that statement, but instead, she offers this kernel of wisdom, "Where there's smoke, there's fire, and I see -nothin'-." ...Mostly because the flaming metal had been stuffed inside a wooden chest, and then kicked into a stone room, as a means of occupying it. "It'll be fine. Trust me." Don't. "Anyways- Today, we're gonna see if we can provide you some practical hands-on experience for making something. " There's a pause, before she helpfully adds, "Like lunch. Chop Chop. We've been waiting here for a bit, and my meals are a bit too... too- " She gestures off to the side, where a wad of weaponized gelatin still remains outside of the fortress walls, its unnaturally resilient surface taunting them with it's general inedibility.

Lita was more convinced now that she needed some serious help in choosing a blacksmith. She clearly couldn't be trusted to her own devices on the matter. The structure come across was the same vein of ramshackle setup that had popped up at the tournament in days prior and she'd lost a few coins there as well. Not that the money was important. But the blade she wanted was. She was debating the efficacy of weaponized gelatin, this moment in her head spent imagining something kin to mafia peanuts and the ensuing war that would lead to the inevitable marriage of delicious childhood sandwiches. She really needed some good sleep maybe. Clearly, the wanderings of her brain had been influenced by the overheard ramblings about lunch. "Smithy about?" She calls out, standing a few feet still from the lemonade stand advert setup. She has little expectations at this point, outside of disappointment. Hands shoved into the pockets of her dark green suede overcoat, shifting her weight from one bare foot to the other where she stands.

Arlyeon probably should invest in some -proper- smithy-esque clothes. Right now, she was looking like she'd be more at home in a kitchen, given the detritus-covered apron she's wearing- though, whether any of the stains could be mistaken for 'food' is something else entirely. In any case, the red-haired foxkin gives Lita a good long gander, before diving under the desk for a moment to bring out a notebook, marked 'Appointments'. Surprisingly, there's a good amount of entries made for a variety of times, and for a gamut of items- such as 'Phoenix Metal', 'Inedible Edibles', 'Pixie Parasol', and even 'Goblin Gut Ale/Acid Skin'. Sure- most of these are -fraudulent entries, jotted out in meticulously forged hands, but they help to add a degree of scarcity to her time, as well as showcasing some of the items which she has made, ..or has an interest in making. "Ja lookin' at her." Ina pauses, glances down at herself just to confirm she is in fact currently in the proper guise, then nods at noone in particular, "Ja made an appointment already?" The apprentice adjacent to her looks ready to open his mouth and comment, only to earn a sharp elbow to his kidney, "Where's dat sammich? Sheesh." There's something like a wheeze and a grumble, but the apprentice has finally gotten the picture and hustles off.

Lita definitely should have done more research, read more reviews, or at least not come alone. She was going to end up swindled or dead. She smiled to herself at that thought, some private joke, and gave the girl that ambled out towards her a once-over with dark eyes. She'd no reason to judge, she'd been close with a particular sort of peculiar mechanic back in the day and she'd seen the girl do enough fidgety magics beyond what she assumed to be her normal means to know that looks were usually deceiving. All the same, there was suspicion in the look she was giving the foxkin. "No appointment, I apologize." Lita says, glancing from the girl to the assistant and back again. "But I've coin to spend and time's not of import. I was hoping I could give you my particulars and come 'round again to collect the item once finished." Was that not how this worked? She definitely should have done more research first.

Kasyr is giving Lita a look that may as well mirror her own - a sharp bit mercantile scrutiny, as she tries to take in the measure of the woman in front of her. Wary is the obvious takeaway- Lita's not immediately tossing out coins, or trying to impress her importance on the fox. ...Or making an embarrassing display like that one lady who took out a loan only to lose it. That said, she's not shy to -invoke- the promise of gold. It's at least enough to coax the foxkin into taking a seat on the edge of her kiosk, the logbook settled down onto her lap, "Tell ya what- If the details of whatcha' want are interestin', I'll set some time for this project once I wind down some of tha' ones I'm currently working on." There's a pause, the foxgirl fetching a quill from beneath her roughshod workstation, before she begins to make some notes on a loose-looking sheathe of paper. "Alright. So, what's the deets? N' lemme know if there's gonna be some travellin' involved. This place'd fall apart, if I was gone for too long." Ignore the thin plume of smoke coming from a window.

Lita was grateful at least that the girl wasn't tossing her offer. She took a few steps forward to close the distance between them, part of her interested in seeing what the girl was scribbling on those pages but the vampire would be discreet about any spying. "I want a dagger. Six-inch long blade, two inches wide, something strong, durable, black, with a split curve and dual edge. Two-and-a-half-inch handle made of bone." Clearly, this is something she's thought about. She takes a folded paper and a glass vial of dark powder from her pocket. "Doesn't have to be fancy," she's saying as she unfolds the paper to hand the girl an artist rendering of what she was wanting made. "I've got another artist doing the refining work after but," she holds up the glass vial and shakes it a little, the contents rattling like sand within. "I want this ash added to the metal of the blade if you can." She doesn't offer the who or what the ash might have come from. "I can supply the bone if that bit's an issue but otherwise, what do you think something like this would run me?"

Ina note taking is fairly straightforward- some loose bullet points about the materials as Lita specifies them- though there is a question mark beside both 'black metal' as well as the 'bone'. More notably, however, is the underlines beneath 'ash' and the adjacent note of 'Ask Lanlan about properties- amplify?' That said, beyond whatever other specifics have been provided- there's a decided lack of useful notation, given the rest of the page space is dedicated to doodles of a cartoonishly bloated salamander, and a hastily drawn stick figure with exaggerated eyebrows. It's only after Ina finishes putting a bit of extra definition on the eyebrows that she decides she may as well ask the obviously loaded question, "Is there any sort of properties ya -want- this ash to cause in your weapon, or is it decorative- or like..spite." If she needs to explain spite, it's clearly not spite. "Anyways, seems straightforward enough." And with enough vagueness that anything else that crops up during the forging is essentially fair game. It's also -great- that she doesn't have to fuss with finishing touches. "Hey, Min-" ...Oh, right. He's supposed to be getting her a sandwich. ..And probably fighting a fire instead. Sigh. Good help. So hard to find.

Lita is so interested in the salamander doodles it hurts. But the girl is asking about the dagger, so she'll remain on topic then. "Just decorative." She answers. Then adds, "In memoriam." But no further details necessary. Hopefully. Lita makes a mental note of the spite option for later though. That could come in handy. "Any chance you can hollow out the handle as well? If not that's okay, I know bone can be tricky to counterbalance, just saying I won't be mad about it." She hands over the drawing and vial for the girl to keep on hand. "I can shell out a down payment and the rest upon retrieval if that works for you." She still wasn't convinced of the girls' skill. No way would she be paying in full upfront. But she understood a craftsman needing a little incentive, so to speak. She flickers a glance back towards the assistant when the foxkin called out, a brow raised in curiosity. "What kind of time frame might I be looking at?" She wasn't in a hurry just yet but she didn't want to be waiting a year either.

Kasyr drums her fingers a bit at the decorative comment, before adding a little squiggly circle around 'Ask Lanlan'. The bossman would probably be able to tell her if there was some sort of lingering enchantment about the stuff- though, the foxkin could at least take some solace that her own knack was unlikely to add any nasty surprises. ...Well, to that element. The bone was definitely going to be where her time to shine was. And also where she could pad her fee with travel, and labour expenses, "Yeah- that should be fine, Bones a problem, but not the worst material to work with." No, the worst was her current work-in-progress. "Anyways, I'm thinking- long' as I can tie up the current project, yours can probably find its way down in a couple a' months, provided there isn't some sorta insufferable travel time. The downpayments appreciated, though. You can, in fact, work out the exacts of that w-" Ah, there's the apprentice, singed and battered from their conflict and containment of the phoenix metal, but safe and sound. Also bearing a sammich, so they're actually owed some praise the next time Lanlan shows up. Without a moment's hesitation, she scoops up her crispy hoagie, and makes a motion to her academic lackey, "Can ya help the lady here file receipts- and then set them in the forge. I wanna figure out some stuff." Ina reaches out a hand and wriggles her fingers in order to collect the ashes- if only so she can retreat back inside and leave the boring paperwork and filing to the apprentice whose name she's still forgetting. She had more important stuff to do. Like figuring out -how- to make this knife memorable.

Lita trades quick info with the apprentice, including that the blade can be filed under the name Jackal and hands over a small pouch of gold coin as she takes the receipt paperwork. She hesitates a beat, glancing again in the direction the girl had disappeared in. She really shouldn't have come alone. She's regretting so many things now. But it was done now. She would have to hope she'd end up with something decent to show for it. She offered a nod of goodbye to the apprentice before pocketing the receipt paperwork and heading off again.