Pausing at the voice, and then looking in wonder at the creature Auger forgets himself for a moment and stares. The Chimp had said ruin lies on his path and this creature was unexpected. Its manner was - well almost cute. But unexpected. Shaken by the day's events. He has killed. Ruin ahead. Auger reaches into himself and with a subtle use of power, draws Py into the Sea of Stars. Not here, but now... closer.

"Ho there small one," he says leaning on his staff while speaking. "I am called Auger and am on my way to the Mill and the Smithy. Am I on the right path?"

While waiting on a response, Auger again reaches into the Sea of Stars and brings Py to them. From 30' above Py instantly sees the creature and catches a hint of Auger's serious mood.

I was resting but... well this one is interesting.

With the tension coming across their connection Auger sends, What is it?

(OOC: Deception for appearing calm in front of the creature, if needed: 14)

Auger

Py replies, ‘I think it is a Fey spirit, but...interesting...may I scout around to see who brought it here?’

The aqua-colored elephantine creature lets itself fall flat on the grass, looking up past the cypress needles at the sky, which is quite clear and blue, then rolls over on its chest and its big eyes fall on Auger as it props its chin up in its mitten-like three-fingered hands. “Oh,” it says. “I was wondering what your name was. I’m Kotashin.” It sighs for a moment, then sits upright. “Yes, the smith is that way, and the mill too. But be careful around the mill if it starts to get dark, there’s a cliff.”

It angles its head for a moment, puckering its little lips in thought. “Say...your clothes are...different. Are you from Ishi Ammah?,” it continues, doubtfully.

Relaxing with Py nearby, Auger replies to both in turn.

Thank you Py, please do scout around.

"Hello Kotashin. Well met. Cliffs you say? Well I will have to be careful. Ishi Ammah?" Curious, and so specific, Auger thinks. He knows little of the city, which he only briefly saw at a distance as a port town before sailing north again at Py's insistence. "Ishi Ammah is not my home, I come from much further south and east," before he can stop himself Auger asks his own question. "I thought Hyewush entirely a chimp town. Are you from here?"

Ednyss

The square-shaped chimp at the jewelry table, with his single hoop earring, regards Ednyss silently for a moment, as the voice of the kitchenware seller drifts back over, its strident tone penetrating the distance with ease, “It wasn’t dry. Splendour!”

Then, understanding seems to strike the jeweler, and an enormous smile widens to cover the chimp’s face. “Getting MARRIED, yum? Oh mmmm, ya, let me seeeeeeee…” His fingers search through the items on the table top. He picks up a copper ring, looks at it thoughtfully for a moment, replaces it, then pulls a pouch from his pocket, bringing it up to his face and looking within for a moment.

A new voice now enters the glacial conversation, from a few tables down on the other side, a young chimp woman with a big hat. “Knowledge! Not Splendour!”

The bag slowly drops from the jeweler’s face, and Ednyss sees he is now searching the skies, or perhaps, his memory, his eyes rolling left and right along the edge of the plaza walls.

“Hmmm!,” he suddenly grunts. “In the hall. Come.” And he motions for Ednyss to follow as he begins to walk casually across the plaza to the keep. Over his shoulder, he calls, “be back! Even if it was Knowledge, he still didn’t see her!”

He leads Ednyss to the keep, whose portcullis has remained in its raised position so long that vines have grown around its bars, through thick wooden doors, and into an open room with a circular stairway on one edge, a hearth at the rear end, and near the hearth, perhaps a dozen chimps dancing in the firelight, as a few others play instruments: ocarinas and drums. They seem to be rehearsing, for one of them is giving instructions which the others follow.

Down the circular stairs, to another gated doorway, the jeweler leads Ednyss, to a lower level, well lit by lanterns and somewhere or other, daylight filtering in, and into a chamber with a sign over its door proclaiming, “Bankers & Jeweler’s Guild.” Within, a few carrells, in which two chimps are slowly transferring entries into ledgers from scrolls, lanterns directly above giving reading light and a smoky but not unpleasant odor to the room.

The hoop earring-wearing chimp bends over with a loud groan to reach an iron box on the floor toward the back of the room, seemingly paying no mind to Ednyss, and pulls a smaller bejeweled box out of it, then smiles at Ednyss and gently places the box on a sturdy table. He takes a clean cloth and dusts the box for a moment -- or shines it, rather, since Ednyss sees no dust upon it at all -- before producing a small key, which he turns in its tiny lock, and the lid is released. He removes the lid, and beneath is revealed soft, black fabric on a thin little shelf, upon which are carefully splayed several bracelets. This, the jeweler removes and puts aside, revealing, beneath it, another layer of items, including a series of rings of various sizes and composition. He picks up one, returns it to where it lay, then seems to see what he was looking for: a pair of matched platinum wedding bands.

“This will make your bride the happiest person in Orraca u Shia.” He examines Ednyss’ livery carefully, assessing. “Only sixty gold, per ring,” he announces.

Ednyss looks over the rings carefully. Marriage was certainly not the purpose of this purchase, but the real reason might give cause to some suspicion so Ednyss didn't correct the chimp. He checks to see if there are any markings that denotes the rings as wedding bands or if they are just platinum rings that generally are worn as wedding bands. As he inspects the rings he tries to make some small talk and asks the chimp, "What were you arguing about with the other vendors?"

Varielky allows them to do their work. It is a little awkward, but she had been through worse. Also... them being Chimps made it easier for her. It would be more embarrassing if they were Humans. Without her armour, she feels exposed, vulnerable. At least her shield and sword were still with her. Varielky thinks for a moment, calculating how much she has. "Three days, two hundred gold? I believe I have exactly that much time and coin. Don't worry about the runes, though. They don't mean much to me. Just as long as the armour is strong, and capable of protecting me from weapon attacks. Do you need anything else, or should I leave you to do the work?" 

If she is not needed in there anymore, Varielky will head back the way she came.

Auger

The warlock senses Py fluttering away, and sees Kotashin’s ears perk up as he goes. The little elephant’s eyes drift over to a thatch of wildflowers, around which a pair of large bees are buzzing, in the direction Py flew, and then seems to shrug.

“Wull. Ishi Ammah is the only city I know of and...your clothes just don’t seem to be from The Steppes.”

To Auger’s question, the little elephant-person replies, “Yes. Almost everyone here is a chimp. Wull. There’s me, and there’s a few farmers who like it here who aren’t chimps.”

“Yes, Hyewush is the only place I’ve known. Not that I want to spend my entire life here. I am Hyewush’s Knight-Defender, but a Knight-Defender needs to defend something. And nothing ever happens here really. 

“I don’t mean to be rude, but...why have you come to Hyewush from so far away? I would go somewhere more interesting if I were from far away. Oh!” and its voice drops to a whisper, “you’re not on a secret quest...are you?” Its eyes betray astonishment at the idea.

Py returns from its scouting, lands high atop the Cypress tree and messages to the southerner, ‘There is no one near that I can perceive, other than the shield maiden and the smith and his assistant. Perhaps one of them summoned this spirit.’

Ednyss

Ednyss sees that the rings are simple bands, no markings, plain and lustrous. To his inquiry, the jeweler replies with a low, rumbly laugh, “Heh, heh. We just like to get each other’s goats sometimes. It passes the time, eh? They think my cousin saw some girl swimming in the creek and making love to a fish. I say, that time of year, no rain, so the creek too low and no fish. So no girl, and Uhnre did not see anything. Too much mead, that one, drinks too much.” he finishes quietly. Then turning his attention to the rings, “Nice, hmmmmm…? You buy right now, I only charge you 59 gold, per ring. Give your bride flowers too, with t’other two gold?”

Varielky allows them to do their work. It is a little awkward, but she had been through worse. Also... them being Chimps made it easier for her. It would be more embarrassing if they were Humans. Without her armour, she feels exposed, vulnerable. At least her shield and sword were still with her. Varielky thinks for a moment, calculating how much she has. "Three days, two hundred gold? I could pay you that amount, but I haven't the time. Is there a way for you to do it faster, yet without lowering the quality of the end result? I'll be leaving the morning after tomorrow. If you need me to, perhaps I can help somehow? Not with the smithing itself, but perhaps with other works like carrying wood or coal, or anything else that could help you finish faster."

The Shield Maiden? Nearby? Varielky had possibly summoned this fey... spirit? Or a smith? That did not seem likely. Well unless something more was to come of it the creature is probably just a curiosity. Paranoid. I'm simply paranoid Auger thinks.

Despite everything, Auger cannot help but find Kotashin endearing. "A quest? I seek some woodcarving tools, and maybe some fine woods to carve a bit. It is my simple quest and probably not much to care about for a Knight-Defender such as yourself." Beginning to move along the path again Auger says, "Good day Sir Kotashin, if you think about it the mission of any Defender is to make things as boring as possible for everyone around him. I think you are succeeding admirably." Saluting him, Auger continues down the path.

Keep any eye on him. His mere presence is curious. I would like to know if we are being followed.

Making himself invisible, Py follows along from above, watching Kotashin as Auger proceeds along the path.

Quote from Zzozz___ >>

 

Keep any eye on him. His mere presence is curious. I would like to know if we are being followed.

Making himself invisible, Py follows along from above, watching Kotashin as Auger proceeds along the path.

 How long is Py watching Kotashin?

Varielky

In response to Varielky’s request to complete the job in half the time, the smith and his assistant look at each other in silence. The smith shakes his head gently, while the assistant, with a pleading look nods gently. They stand there noiselessly for a moment. Then the smith looks at his assistant again, nods once, giving in. They hold each other’s eyes for a long moment. The assistant then turns back to Varielky.

“We can do it by tomorrow night. If you would head down the creek to the mill and ask for Etonime? We need him here tonight. And tomorrow. To handle chores and cookin. We’ll need you here tomorrow afternoon and into the evenin for fittin. Can you...pay up front?”

Ednyss chuckles at the jeweler's story and nods gratefully when the jeweler lowers the price. Ednyss was never great with money, and can't quite judge the value of the rings, so he assumes the jeweler is being honest and agrees. Handing over 10 PP and 18 GP in exchange for the rings, he takes them and places them in a pouch at his hip before extending a hand to the jeweler. "It was nice doing business." Transaction complete, Ednyss asks the jeweler, "One last question; are there any places where I could find a good game of cards in this town?"

(OOC: Py watches Kotashin for 10 minutes to see where he goes after Auger steps away. After that he will buzz over to find Auger and report.)

(I hope I'm not mistaken, but the mill is close by, right?)

"E-to-nim." Varielky repeats, making sure she'll remember. She have always been bad with names. "How does this... Eto...nim? What do they look like?" While listening to their answer, Varielky thinks of their offer. Shall anything happen, she'll be left with neither armour nor coin to buy one. On the other hand, the Dwarves already suggested paying her in advance shall she need it, so how bad could it be? She reaches into her pack and pulls out the pouch holding her earnings, taking everything out. "I'll pay in advance, but don't let that fact harm the quality of your work." Then, after a pause: "I'll go call this... Etonin... right away."

Ednyss

The jeweler shakes Ednyss’ hand and smiles broadly with the sale, then methodically replaces his inventory in the little jewelry box, and that in the safe, along with the coins. He removes a small ledger. 

Regarding a card game, the insightful cleric can tell the jeweler is not giving him the whole story when he responds, “Cards? Hmmmm...I think guests at the Inn often play in the back room. Thank you, Sir. I will be here another moment, you remember your way out?” The big one-earringed chimp opens his ledger after placing a monocle in one eye, and begins to make notations as Ednyss returns upstairs. The dancers are still rehearsing on the ground floor, and now, a very finely dressed chimp woman -- in garb from The Kingdoms, with lace collar, and a large, round, black hat -- is observing quietly. She notices Ednyss coming up the stairs from the little guild office in the basement, smiles at Ednyss, and quietly moves to meet him at the door to the plaza.

“Welcome to Hyewush,” she says. “Core of Onyx? It has been many years since I last saw it. How is the new construction coming?” Ednyss realizes he does not know about any new construction taking place there.

Auger

The warlock continues on, following the creek path, which shifts away from the water for a stretch, avoiding a rocky hillock in its bank, turning through a flat meadow covered in wildflowers, insects and small birds active in the late afternoon. The sounds of small farm animals reaches Auger as the path turns back to reveal the creek once more, with a small wooden house built upon its bank, a fenced-in yard beside it, a camel and a pair of mules, and an ox and a cow in the yard outside a small barn. Approaching closer, he sees the forge, a sturdy stone building around the corner from the barn and beside but built up a few feet from the bank of the creek. The shutters and doors are thrown wide open to reveal a clean, organized-looking foundry within, a small, sturdy anvil near the hot furnace glowing against one wall. A smith and helper are industriously shifting tools around, throwing wood in the furnace, and making space on a workbench, which is currently occupied by some armor pieces and a set of horseshoes. The helper notices Auger first, yells something to the smith, who looks up, his face rather strained, and he quickly glances at his assistant, a strong-armed young woman chimp, who does not slow in her tasks as she shouts out to Auger, “Sorry. Hurrying right now. Can you come back tomorrow? Or the next day, even better?” Although she is still in motion, she politely looks to Auger for his response. The southerner notes that the space is filled with various tools, including small knives, although nothing is marked “for sale.”

Varielky

The assistant scowls just a bit at Varielky’s appearance, and quickly goes inside the house, then comes back out again with a light hooded cloak, and says, “Here, borrow this until tomorrow and leave the padding with us. You can change inside.” The shield maiden removes the ill-fitted padding and packs it into a sack which the helper also lends her, and dons the chimp cloak, which, on her larger form, only goes down as far as her hips, but looks fine as half-cloaks go.

She continues on the creek path, into a lightly wooded ravine, and perhaps ten minutes later, comes upon a pond, and there, at the far end, sees a small mill, a two-story structure, its wheel slowly churning, linked to a meal grinder, which is helped along by a donkey. A few logs float in the pond, and a pair of flamingos stand quietly at its far side, each on one leg. A dog’s head pokes up inquisitively, then the animal quietly pads over to Varielky and walks beside her, its tongue lolling as it eyes the warrior hopefully for treats.

Varielky can see that on the far side of the mill, the ravine opens up, and blue sky is visible, and in the distance, red-orange light splashes a few clouds. Past the mill, the ground seems to fall away and the creek spills out, splashing audibly down and away and driving the wheel.

The sun is no longer visible here, as daylight begins to ebb and a chilly breeze starts to pick up.

Coming closer, Varielky notices a chimp in simple farmer’s garb is sitting outside the grinder, behind a small wall, chewing on a long leaf and reading quietly.

Wondering if Py will catch up soon Auger decides to make his query. Quickly he states, "I can see that you are busy, I am not here to commission any new works, I was told you might have woodcarving tools I could purchase for a fair price. Do you have any tools I could examine and see if they fit my purpose?" From where he stands Auger looks at the various tools he sees hoping something suits his needs.

Since he already holds his carpentry tools Auger already has a small saw, a mallet, a boring tool (the auger he takes for his nickname), a sharpening stone and some measuring aids to help with creating connections and ensuring fits. For woodcarving he mostly needs some thick-bladed short curved knifes for cutting and scooping of woods to create the details of a carving. An instrument that can help in the process of smoothing wood would be essential. A chisel or two might help with that.

While looking at the tools Auger remembers that Py had thought the smith might have summoned the small creature he had met. Thinking on it he decides to see what affect a name will have, "Its a fine day and I met a wonderful young fellow named Kotashin while heading here. He declared himself Knight-Defender and wanted to know what my quest was and all I could say was that I was heading here in search of woodcarving tools. Is he so curious with everyone?"

If Auger does not hear anything interesting about Kotashin or see what he needs then he will wish the smith and assistant a good day and think to try the Mill.

All while walking, Varielky repeats the name she was told. When she reaches the mill, she is rather positive about it. "Excuse me, are you Etonim? I was sent by the smith to call you, they said they needed your help right now." She looks down to the dog and pets it once. She have always had mixed feelings about these animals. They were a loyal friend, but often too loyal. It never felt like they could choose not to be loyal, and what meaning is there in blind loyalty which is not freely chosen?