I suggest we post the corners to keep an eye on everyone. Wouldn't need a guard if others didn't want to steal it. Toryn looks out to the forest and whispers especially the ones out there
'Aint the forest you need to worry about there Dwarf.' the man is shining plate announces. 'Any Orc parties or Centaur herds or any other nasty surprises won't get much of a surprise on us. We'll see em coming across the plains miles ahead of time.' he reassures the party.
'I'd like it if they stayed.' says Antonius with a smile. 'I think they deserve to see what they've been help bring here.'
And with that he drops his pack, finds the suit and begins to don it.
Darwin settles back to watch proceedings, but as it takes Antonius a while to don his suit, he finds himself looking around at those present.
He focusses on each of the major players in turn, seeing if they are being in any way shifty, or are nervous. Then he moves his attention to the regular guards.
Ida is quite ready to return to Haukberg. The quicker this demonstration is over, the quicker they can leave this place. There are too many soldiers here, too many guards, too many unknowns. She finds herself nervous because she has little control over her surroundings.
The man in plate arches an eyebrow and inspects Toryn closely. 'Toryn Blackstone.' he says quietly. 'Just because you're no longer in my army does not give you freedom to call me Demetrius. I am Marshall Maxim.' he says coldly, his eyes shifting to casually judge those around him for any signs of his authority slipping. Honestly, he's just guessing you're not in the army based on the context but he's not entirely sure and concerned about being undermined.
'I haven't seen you since the Battle of Schulthelm against those bastard Rajani. I honestly thought you had probably gotten yourself killed.' he muses.
Antonius clears his throat. When you all turn to look at him he is dressed in his suit. It's a reddish brown leather armor suit, reinforced at the joints with plates, colored an ostentatious gold.
Darwin listens to the exchange between the Marshal and Toryn, a little surprised they were acquainted. It seemed the Marshal knew Toryn quite well, Toryn having almost got himself killed twice in the short time they had travelled together.
With Antonius finally ready, he watches on intently, keeping an eye on those present every so often as well as on the artificer.
Oh, get off your pedestal Marshall. I still remember when you were a Corporal serving under me. I see they'll promote anyone these days.Toryn quips at the Marshall's expense. I've missed you old friend. Truth be told, I've faced death many times since we last saw one another. He looks at the gaudy suit Antonius is wearing while leaning in to whisper a question to the Marshall. Is the agreement with the orcs still in place or has someone finally set things right?
Oh I apologize oh mighty Antonius. I was unaware I could not reminisce with an old acquaintance while you donned your jester's outfit Torun snaps back. Mayhaps you would understand the bond of soldiers never dies had you been man enough to serve.
'Ladies and Gentlemen. I give you, the Sorceror Suit.' He raises his hand and a blast of light as bright as if you were standing 10 feet from the sun erupts from his palm, in a 5 foot wide line. The grass, that was lush and green moments before, if now black and charred out to 60 feet from him.
He looks over his other shoulder and raises that hand, pointing at a point in the distance. The ground shakes violently around you all and you see the ground literally tear apart as if a fault line had just appeared. Next, both hands to the sky, he jerked them down violently.
An area of 40 feet is suddenly hammered by a rain of meteors, flaming hell raining down upon it.
He looks back to Toryn with a scowl.
'I'm sorry, little one, what were those big words?'
Toryn looks impressed but skeptical. Two comments. 1, how do we know it's the suit and not you having magic abilities? 2. Still ain't the same as seeing a man die on your blade. He looks to the sky for a minute. And even if it is the suit, how much damage can it take? While not trying to be combative in his tone, he is genuinely curious about these things since he's never seen anything like it either.
Antonius rolls his eyes, 'If I had this kind of power naturally, I wouldn't have gone into Artificing.' he points out. 'Damage? The suit is basically just reinforced leather armor. It's not really designed to take damage, though the protection of the wearer was given some thought, hence why it's not like a linen shirt. It is a weapon, not a shield.' he explains.
He turns to Darwin, 'It can allow two men to fend off an entire Orc clan, at a conservative estimation. It will save hundreds of lives of the Empire's citizens. I imagine, with some tweaks in my patented creation process, it could be turned into a tool for other things.' he says with a shrug. The end of his sentence that went unsaid was, But military contracts are much more profitable. But to say that out loud seemed crude even for Antonius.
Ye know it had to be asked Toryn says with a shrug, ignoring the eye roll. You could be an "artificer" selling snake oil by exploiting your skills. Toryn is visibly impressed but refuses to admit it... but he is wondering about the color choice as he knows it provides no discretion.
Darwin’s mind is cast back to his days with the carnival and the trickery and misdirection some of the entertainers used to confused and astound the audience.
“And the gaudy colour scheme is actually quite clever. Once an enemy can identify the weapon, you can outfit many men in like armour. The enemy won’t know which is real and a threat and which is not. Quite the deterrent, if deterrent it is meant to be, and not used for conquest rather than defence”.
He looks over to the military folk to see their reaction before turning back and whispering to Antonius, “Are you selling this here and now, or do we have to take it back? I fear the return journey will be far more dangerous than the one that got us here if it is with us, like a target on our backs”.
Antonius arches an eyebrow at Darwin, 'You raise a good point.' he says
He turns to the Marshall, 'So?' he asks, starting to undress.
'How long do they take to produce?' the Marshall asked, staring at the damage around him.
'With adequate labor? I'd say for the right price, I could produce ten in a month.' Antonius says. 'But just my two hands? Ten in a year.'
The Marshall nods, 'The crown will commission 200 hundred. What's your price?'
Antonius smiles, 'Five thousand platinum pieces, each.' he says confidently.
The Marshall nods and snaps a finger. 'We will have the full amount delivered to your business in Haukberg but here is a deposit and I'll take that one now.'
Two men come forwards carrying a chest. They open it and there's a mass of shining platinum coins.
'Done.' Antonius grins and the two men start strapping the chest onto a horse that had just been lead over, with another four for the rest of the party.
Darwin’s jaw drops open at the amount of coin agreed upon.
”Well, that is something”, he says when the chest is opened. “I think it is in our interest to move quickly to have the best chance of getting you back to…”, he pauses a moment not wanting to repeat their destination. “…our destination, safely”, he says pointedly looking at the Marshall and shaking his head.
He heads over to the new horses and chooses the smallest one, turning to Ida. “Would you mind giving me a boost please?”.
Well Marshall it appears we ride again. Twas good seeing you again. Stay safe. Toryn takes hold of one of the horses and climbs on. He looks at Darwin struggling and chuckles quietly, hoping not to be heard and offend anyone.
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“I guess we leave you to it now?”, Darwin whispers to Antonius.
He looks around for somewhere to wait that still has a view of proceedings.
I suggest we post the corners to keep an eye on everyone. Wouldn't need a guard if others didn't want to steal it. Toryn looks out to the forest and whispers especially the ones out there
'Aint the forest you need to worry about there Dwarf.' the man is shining plate announces. 'Any Orc parties or Centaur herds or any other nasty surprises won't get much of a surprise on us. We'll see em coming across the plains miles ahead of time.' he reassures the party.
'I'd like it if they stayed.' says Antonius with a smile. 'I think they deserve to see what they've been help bring here.'
And with that he drops his pack, finds the suit and begins to don it.
Should've expected that responsible. I know about the deal that was made here! Toryn glares at the guard.
Wait. Demetrius? Is that you??
Darwin settles back to watch proceedings, but as it takes Antonius a while to don his suit, he finds himself looking around at those present.
He focusses on each of the major players in turn, seeing if they are being in any way shifty, or are nervous. Then he moves his attention to the regular guards.
Ida is quite ready to return to Haukberg. The quicker this demonstration is over, the quicker they can leave this place. There are too many soldiers here, too many guards, too many unknowns. She finds herself nervous because she has little control over her surroundings.
The man in plate arches an eyebrow and inspects Toryn closely. 'Toryn Blackstone.' he says quietly. 'Just because you're no longer in my army does not give you freedom to call me Demetrius. I am Marshall Maxim.' he says coldly, his eyes shifting to casually judge those around him for any signs of his authority slipping. Honestly, he's just guessing you're not in the army based on the context but he's not entirely sure and concerned about being undermined.
'I haven't seen you since the Battle of Schulthelm against those bastard Rajani. I honestly thought you had probably gotten yourself killed.' he muses.
Antonius clears his throat. When you all turn to look at him he is dressed in his suit. It's a reddish brown leather armor suit, reinforced at the joints with plates, colored an ostentatious gold.
'Are we ready to begin?'
Darwin listens to the exchange between the Marshal and Toryn, a little surprised they were acquainted. It seemed the Marshal knew Toryn quite well, Toryn having almost got himself killed twice in the short time they had travelled together.
With Antonius finally ready, he watches on intently, keeping an eye on those present every so often as well as on the artificer.
Oh, get off your pedestal Marshall. I still remember when you were a Corporal serving under me. I see they'll promote anyone these days.Toryn quips at the Marshall's expense. I've missed you old friend. Truth be told, I've faced death many times since we last saw one another. He looks at the gaudy suit Antonius is wearing while leaning in to whisper a question to the Marshall. Is the agreement with the orcs still in place or has someone finally set things right?
The Marshall clears his throat uncomfortably, 'The Orcs haven't been sighted in several months, so it would seem they did.'
Antonius clears his throat again. 'All that rush for you two to reminisce old memories?'
Oh I apologize oh mighty Antonius. I was unaware I could not reminisce with an old acquaintance while you donned your jester's outfit Torun snaps back. Mayhaps you would understand the bond of soldiers never dies had you been man enough to serve.
Antonius locks eyes on Toryn coldly.
'Ladies and Gentlemen. I give you, the Sorceror Suit.' He raises his hand and a blast of light as bright as if you were standing 10 feet from the sun erupts from his palm, in a 5 foot wide line. The grass, that was lush and green moments before, if now black and charred out to 60 feet from him.
He looks over his other shoulder and raises that hand, pointing at a point in the distance. The ground shakes violently around you all and you see the ground literally tear apart as if a fault line had just appeared. Next, both hands to the sky, he jerked them down violently.
An area of 40 feet is suddenly hammered by a rain of meteors, flaming hell raining down upon it.
He looks back to Toryn with a scowl.
'I'm sorry, little one, what were those big words?'
Toryn looks impressed but skeptical. Two comments. 1, how do we know it's the suit and not you having magic abilities? 2. Still ain't the same as seeing a man die on your blade. He looks to the sky for a minute. And even if it is the suit, how much damage can it take? While not trying to be combative in his tone, he is genuinely curious about these things since he's never seen anything like it either.
Darwin looks on with a frown on his face, “Such destruction, an army equipped with this could do untold damage. I don’t like it”.
”Can it do anything constructive?”, he asks hopefully, after a moment of pondering.
Antonius rolls his eyes, 'If I had this kind of power naturally, I wouldn't have gone into Artificing.' he points out. 'Damage? The suit is basically just reinforced leather armor. It's not really designed to take damage, though the protection of the wearer was given some thought, hence why it's not like a linen shirt. It is a weapon, not a shield.' he explains.
He turns to Darwin, 'It can allow two men to fend off an entire Orc clan, at a conservative estimation. It will save hundreds of lives of the Empire's citizens. I imagine, with some tweaks in my patented creation process, it could be turned into a tool for other things.' he says with a shrug. The end of his sentence that went unsaid was, But military contracts are much more profitable. But to say that out loud seemed crude even for Antonius.
Ye know it had to be asked Toryn says with a shrug, ignoring the eye roll. You could be an "artificer" selling snake oil by exploiting your skills. Toryn is visibly impressed but refuses to admit it... but he is wondering about the color choice as he knows it provides no discretion.
Darwin’s mind is cast back to his days with the carnival and the trickery and misdirection some of the entertainers used to confused and astound the audience.
“And the gaudy colour scheme is actually quite clever. Once an enemy can identify the weapon, you can outfit many men in like armour. The enemy won’t know which is real and a threat and which is not. Quite the deterrent, if deterrent it is meant to be, and not used for conquest rather than defence”.
He looks over to the military folk to see their reaction before turning back and whispering to Antonius, “Are you selling this here and now, or do we have to take it back? I fear the return journey will be far more dangerous than the one that got us here if it is with us, like a target on our backs”.
Antonius arches an eyebrow at Darwin, 'You raise a good point.' he says
He turns to the Marshall, 'So?' he asks, starting to undress.
'How long do they take to produce?' the Marshall asked, staring at the damage around him.
'With adequate labor? I'd say for the right price, I could produce ten in a month.' Antonius says. 'But just my two hands? Ten in a year.'
The Marshall nods, 'The crown will commission 200 hundred. What's your price?'
Antonius smiles, 'Five thousand platinum pieces, each.' he says confidently.
The Marshall nods and snaps a finger. 'We will have the full amount delivered to your business in Haukberg but here is a deposit and I'll take that one now.'
Two men come forwards carrying a chest. They open it and there's a mass of shining platinum coins.
'Done.' Antonius grins and the two men start strapping the chest onto a horse that had just been lead over, with another four for the rest of the party.
Darwin’s jaw drops open at the amount of coin agreed upon.
”Well, that is something”, he says when the chest is opened. “I think it is in our interest to move quickly to have the best chance of getting you back to…”, he pauses a moment not wanting to repeat their destination. “…our destination, safely”, he says pointedly looking at the Marshall and shaking his head.
He heads over to the new horses and chooses the smallest one, turning to Ida. “Would you mind giving me a boost please?”.
Well Marshall it appears we ride again. Twas good seeing you again. Stay safe. Toryn takes hold of one of the horses and climbs on. He looks at Darwin struggling and chuckles quietly, hoping not to be heard and offend anyone.