[The Defiled Blade] Shiny New Toys (Solo)

[Aello]

Fall 14, 511 AV Aello strode through the Merchant's Ring with purpose. Her head held high, the hood of her dark cloak draped over it, obscuring her face from view. Casting dark shadows across its length, as she inched closer and closer to the eastern curve. As she wove through the crowd that had gathered in the ring, eager to fight for the best purchases of the day. As Aello moved, silently, steadily, her left arm swung forward, as did her right. Although the right posed no threat for it held nothing, while the left held her bow. Everything else, rested upon her back, in her bag or her quiver. Or, rested against her thigh, chilling her to the bone. She smiled weakly at the thought of the dagger. The bloody blade which needed a twin. A far less evil, accursed twin. As she neared the large stone building, from which sprouted a slender stream of smoke, Aello's smile widened. She had passed the forge many a time, but had yet to make her way inside. When she reached the large door, Aello pushed it open, to find herself in a place filled with armor and weapons, and young and old alike, all hammering away at something new. A strip of metal. Holding something over a hot flame. The door slammed shut behind Aello as she took a few steps forward. Some of the men looked up, and then went back to work. Well that was rude, Aello thought, as she walked over to rack upon rack of sharp pointy objects. Some of which, she eyed, and could not find the name for. As she glanced over everything, Aello realized that the blades were far larger than what she had been searching for. Well that's a pity, Aello thought, as she felt someone tap her shoulder. Jerked out of her thoughts, the girl turned to her right to find a short, red-haired boy with hazel-colored eyes looking up at her. He pulled his hand away from her, and then inquired, "looking for something miss?" Aello smiled weakly, her eyes sparkling. "A twin for my blade." With that, she reached under the folds of her dress, and extracted her cursed blade. The blood glinting off the light of the forge. "And a scabbard of course. To be its home." The boy gasped at the sight of the blood. It was just about the color of his hair. The bits that still looked fresh anyway. Aello's smile widened. "Doesn't come off... the blood. But don't worry, I wouldn't spill yours with it." The girl's eyes glimmered as the boy collected himself, more than likely assuming she simply used the thing a bit too much. "So about its twin..." "Right!" the apprentice stammered, as he gestured for Aello to follow, leading her deeper into the forge.

[Aello]

The boy stopped in front of a rack filled to the brim with daggers of all different sorts. Some had wooden handles, and silver blades. Others had wire handles. Others had gemstones encrusted into the hilt. Golden blades. Grey-looking blades, even ones with a more copperish tint. Nothing like steel. Nothing like the blood-stained one Aello carried. "Here you are miss," the boy chirped. Aello smiled, as she put her dagger back in its proper place. "They look... lovely." The boy smiled. "The best blades in Ravok!" Aello extended her right hand towards one of the blades closest to her. She ran her fingers over the cold silver metal. "What are these blades made out of?" Aello asked. "Depends on the blade miss. Some are isurian steel, others steel, silver, gold, cold iron, iron, flint... some are even crafted entirely of wood," the boy replied. "What's strong?" Aello asked. "Isurian steel is best miss," the boy replied. "It probably costs too much, what else have you got?" Aello asked. "Silver and gold... cold iron." Aello frowned. "Gold bends too easily, or at least Mizas do if you bite down on them. They're too showy... same with silver, and I know naught of cold iron... perhaps sticking to a standard steel blade would be best." The boy nodded, and lifted a blade off the rack. It had a dark wire hilt, and silver-colored blade, the exact length of Aello's cursed one. Aello smiled, as she took the blade from the boy's hands. It was a bit heavier than her cursed dagger, but it should do. "Stand back," Aello instructed. The boy obliged, giving Aello enough space to push her right leg forward, bend it at the knee, and lean into it, while her left leg ran at a diagonal, to support it. She pushed the blade forward, lunging, before drawing herself up, and simply twirling it around and around in her hand. "It's fairly light," Aello commented, as she swung the dagger around a few more times, getting a feel for it. "It'll do, if only it came with a scabbard?" The boy nodded enthusiastically, and pulled the dagger's scabbard from the bottom of the bottom of the rack. It was a dark leather, with a slender strap, which Aello could use to tie secure the dagger to her belt, or even her thigh. "Is that all you will be needing miss?" the boy asked. Aello looked around, taking in the sight of everything as quickly as she could. Finally, she gestured to a shorter, notched blade with her new dagger. "What's that?" she asked. "A sword-breaker miss. They can trap an opponent's blade... then you give yours a twist, and it will either disarm them, or destroy their weapon," the boy explained. Aello smiled. "Well that sounds... convenient," she commented, as she walked over to the rack filled with the things. "They sound like something to consider buying some time in the future..." The boy nodded. "Would you like to try one out miss?" he asked. Aello shook her head. She was not at all in the mood to be making a fool out of herself. Until she knew how to wield a sword-breaker properly, she would not be using one in front of anyone. "How much for all of this?" Aello asked. "Four gold mizas," the boy replied. Aello nodded, and handed over the money. After leaning her bow up against a nearby rack in order to free her hands, Aello gave the boy the dagger, which he sheathed, and gave back to her. Aello secured the new dagger to her left thigh, and smiled. "Thanks," she muttered, as she walked out of the forge, and back into the city streets. The Bill : Dagger- 2 GM Scabbard, Dagger- 2 GM =4 GM To be subtracted from my acc when this is graded.

[Verilian]

Aello Lores: Purchasing a new Blade Expenses: -4gm Loot: 1 Steel Dagger and Scabbard Notes: Looking to do a little dual wielding, are we? Better watch out, the cursed blade might get jealous.