Solo A Full Net

[Mirian Jade]

64th of fall, 514 a.v
late morning

Mirian shifted and mumbled into her pillow, teetering on the edge of half-consciousness. She’d been having a nice dream––one that she was pretty sure involved that Deltan from the night before––but it was a dream that was quickly slipping through her fingers no matter how hard she tried to keep it close. The mirage vanished, as did her slumber; the time for sleep was at an end.

She lay in bed for another few moments, fully awake, and it was only when she accepted the fact that she was awake that she forced herself to crack an eye.

Her windows were shuttered, but light still managed to creep around the cracks and spear the darkness of her home. From the angle of the sunlight, it had been daytime for hours. Not quite noon, but not far from it, either.

She turned over, not greatly surprised at the lateness of the hour. She had gotten to bed in the small hours of the morning; sure, she’d rested in Deltan’s bed as she’d waited for him to drift off enough for her to make her escape, but she hadn’t actually slept. That hadn’t happened until she returned to her home, and to her own bed.

Her muscles creaked as she heaved herself upwards, but in a languid, good way. Like after a particularly satisfying bout of exercise. She stretched, shivering as life flowed back into her limbs and sent a quick jolt of adrenaline through her body. She yawned, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and hauled herself out of bed.

She had another day ahead of her.

[Mirian Jade]

Mirian’s hair fell about her face in a disorganized mess, and she knew even as she ran her hand through it that she would need to spend some time with a brush before she left the house. But that could come later. Right now, she wanted to see just what it was that she had won the night before.

She had dumped her cargo unceremoniously on the floor at the foot of her bed the night before, tumbling into unconsciousness before she’d had the chance to really look at it. There were really only two things she had taken with her, but those two things were by no means insignificant; the coinpurse she’d managed to snatch was positively massive, surely enough to feed her a good long while even if it was just coppers. Mirian swiped it up, testing the weight and reveling in the unmistakable jingle of coins. No purse-stuffing, it sounded like; the last thing she wanted was to be surprised with a bag full of flour, a common ploy used to deceive honest thieves like her. This one was heavy and loose, a sure sign of a full take, and Mirian couldn’t help a hopeful smile as she slackened the drawstring and peered inside.

Her jaw dropped.

Gold. The purse was completely full of gold. For a moment, all Mirian could do was stare blankly, an expression that remained even when she upended the bag and dumped to mizas onto her bed.

It wasn’t a trick of the light. It wasn’t a color painted to deceive.

Mirian picked up one of the mizas and held it close.

Gods above. The entire thing had been chock-full of gold coins.

Mirian sat on her bed next to the money, unsure how to handle the sheer gravity of the development. With this money, she could live well for an entire season. No, two seasons if she could stretch it right. She wouldn’t have to worry about food or medicine. She could get a new blanket, new clothes, new boots that weren’t on the verge of falling apart. She could be comfortable.

The prospect was almost too much to process.

[Mirian Jade]

Mirian gathered up the mizas and put them back in the coinpurse, not quite ready to absorb the full implication of what the grand sum could mean for her. The money was tucked into the chest in the corner where she kept her cookware, under an overturned pot at the very bottom. She could deal with that later. For now, she wanted to examine something a bit easier to understand.

Deltan’s shortsword and scabbard were unfamiliar in her hands as she picked it up, bouncing it lightly to get a feel for its weight. It looked solid, surely worth at least ten mizas with the scabbard, if not more. Well, she hoped it was worth that much; when it came to weapons, she knew more about knives than she did about shortswords.

Lacing her fingers cautiously around the grip, Mirian pulled the sword free with the quiet hss of metal on leather. It was certainly much longer than a knife, although not so long as to be awkward in her hand. Sure, she didn’t know how to use it, but it wasn’t exactly unwieldy; the pommel was weighted nicely to reduce the stress and effort that needed to be wasted on the use of the blade, and Mirian didn’t feel any particular lack of control over the weapon.

In fact, after a moment of examination she was relaxed enough with it to swing it through the air in front of her. She couldn’t control the movement as much as she could with her knife, but it handled well enough.

She swung it again, side-to-side this time.

Not too bad at all.

Smiling wryly to herself, Mirian rested the sword on her shoulder and looked back at the scabbard and belt. The belt wasn’t too big. Certainly small enough for her to wear it. She was a bit tall amongst women, and Deltan hadn’t exactly been the size of an Akalak. Surely the belt would fit her.

Tossing the sword onto her bed, Mirian settled it around her waist. She had to secure the buckle through the second-to-last hole in the leather, which was smaller than she had expected, but there was still one more to go that she didn’t need. It fit her alright. She shifted her weight and jerked her hips, feeling the scabbard move with her and bump against her leg through the cloth of her trousers. She smiled.

She could get used to this.

[Mirian Jade]

Mirian picked up the sword again, giving it another experimental swing. She closed her eyes, trying to imagine what she might do with it if someone were to come at her. Knives were concealable, but shortswords were, well, swords. And swords could generally do more damage than a knife.

The halfbreed used the magic of her imagination to conjure up an imaginary enemy with their arm raised in threat. Her first instinct was to swing at the raised arm, which she did, but that somehow felt… incorrect. If she’d had a knife, she would probably have tried to move out of the way, then get close enough to inflict some real wounds.

Could she do that with a shortsword? Mirian took a step back and swung, but the power of imagination could only go so far. She had no idea how the weapon would act against a real person in a real conflict. It was just too unfamiliar.

Mirian sighed and slid the sword back into its scabbard. The added weight was pleasant on her hip, and the entire thing felt less inclined to swing around without her conscious effort. She didn’t have to know how to use it to wear it. She still had things she had to do before the day ended.

Nevertheless, the halfbreed was not foolish enough to leave her home without a more familiar means of defense. The sword was bigger, but her knife was more trustworthy, and she took a moment to slide down her pants far enough to strap the weapon to her thigh, leather fitting snugly over the dents in her skin that they had put there so long ago. Without her knife, she felt defenseless, but with it, she felt powerful.

With it, she felt ready to venture into the stinking chaos of Sunberth.

- End –

[Amora Jade]

Congratulations, you've been awarded!

 

Mirian

Skills

• Observation +2
• Weapon: Short sword +2

Lores

• Short sword: Doesn't Handle Like a Knife
• Imagination Has Its Limits

Notes: I noticed that the short sword isn't actually listed in your possessions and I had to make sure you were awarded it, please list it so other graders will know and to keep track of your possessions.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to send me a private message! Also, please remember to edit your post requesting the grade as "Graded."

With love,
Miss Jade