Closed A Weighty Subject (Alija)

Shopping for diving weights

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Center of scholarly knowledge and shipwrighting, Zeltiva is a port city unlike any other in Mizahar. [Lore]

A Weighty Subject (Alija)

Postby Pulren Marsh on May 10th, 2015, 9:31 am

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42nd of Spring, AV 515

West Street

Another fine day in Zeltiva! The sun was shining, the breeze from the bay was refreshing and everything was brighter. Pulren was starting to have real confidence as he could see a kind of plan coming together. Ever since his meditation out in the bay, his mind was pointed toward the world beneath the tides. He had an almost giddy excitement about spending his free time exploring the depths of Mathews Bay and one day beyond that.As he had little chance of owning his own diving bell, much less the ship to haul it, the Guard figured that he would have to start much,much smaller.

These thoughts led him down the influential roads of West Street, his Guardsman uniform and shield enough to protect him from the leering eyes of the judgmental nobility that shopped in the district. It didn't really matter much, anyway. His mind was made up on the matter and it was just a matter of explaining what he sought from a blacksmith. Since he wanted the best, he was visiting the best. The Armed Scholar was the go to place for any kind of wares, be they weapons or otherwise.

Before he knew it, his thoughts had given way to the edifice of the building looming before him. Stepping inside, he could feel the residual warmth of the shop, his eyes scanning the weapons and wares being sold in the collection. Wasting no time, he placed his steel shield, emblazoned with the single wave of his position, on the counter. Leaning his trident against it as well, he waited patiently to be helped. He knew it would be worth the wait.
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A Weighty Subject (Alija)

Postby Alija on May 12th, 2015, 9:06 pm

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Alija emerged from the forge covered in soot, a recently repaired sword in her hand. The owner had left it with her to fix, the blade snapped in two, and promised to return with payment later that day. Alija had taken the job willingly, wanting some time in the forge. Apart from by the sea, it was one of her favourite places to be, and she could lose herself with her work easily, and used the time to contemplate whatever was on her mind.

There was a man in the shop, waiting for an order, with his shield on the counter and trident against it. Wave Guard it was then. They frequented to the Armed Scholar often, as it supplied the majority of their weapons. At first, Alija believed that he wanted one of the two possessions fixed, but dismissed that idea after seeing that they were as they should be. Another weapon perhaps?

Alija swung the sword behind the counter, ready for when that customer returned for it, and pulled a welcoming smiled for the current one. Time to serve.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long, I mustn't have heard you come in," she began, speaking out of protocol, not concern. She hoped it didn't show. The man seemed nice enough, with a few scars, but nothing drastic, and a swimmer's physique. He waited patiently, hopefully a sign that his personality was also nice.

Alija brushed off some soot, realising her look. It wouldn't do to look unpresentable in front of customers. With another smiled, Alija began her standard greeting, as if reading from a script. "Hello, and welcome to the Armed Scholar. I'm Alija, and I'll be serving you today. You'll find all the items on show for sale, but feel free to ask for anything made specifically, and I'll be more than happy to do so. What is it that you desire today?"
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A Weighty Subject (Alija)

Postby Pulren Marsh on May 17th, 2015, 6:04 am

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A woman entered into the showroom fresh from the forge. She seemed to as coated in soot as Pulren often was in salt. Everyone had their elements, it seemed. It was natural for him to regard the weapon in her hand although it was also natural for it to be there. The assessment complete, Pulren kept his good attitude at the forefront and stepped up to the counter. Smiling, he answered,"Just walked in so no worries at all." He waited a moment for her to present herself and when it seemed she was finished, he responded.

"Hey Alija. Pulren Marsh. Pretty obvious that I'm a Wave Guardsman, but I'm actually here for something a little different. I do a good bit of swimming and diving in the bay and was wondering if you could make me some custom weights and anchors for some of my projects I plan to do underwater this Summer. Can't work all the time, you know?" She seemed to be a no nonsense businesswoman, which Pulren appreciated. Lots of young women seemed to be full of starry eyed responses and someone just answering his questions and acting like a professional was actually pleasurable to him.
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A Weighty Subject (Alija)

Postby Alija on May 21st, 2015, 9:04 pm

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The customer examined her quickly, taking in her appearance quickly. He smiled, "Just walked in so no worries at all." Alija smiled back politely, glad that the customer didn't mind. He replied, confirming her suspicions of him being a Wave Guard, but he didn't want any weapons, like she and expected. Instead, he wanted some custom weights and anchors. So he was a diver then. Perhaps she had seen him before, seeing that she spent so much time by the bay. Perhaps not.

Weights seemed easy enough to do, as did the anchor. Of course, custom might mean much more complicated, but she didn't mind. Blacksmithing was part of her life, and the more she spent doing it, the better."Could you expand on your ideas? Here," Alija slid a pice of paper and a the stub of a pencil over, "Feel free to sketch."
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A Weighty Subject (Alija)

Postby Pulren Marsh on May 25th, 2015, 10:28 am

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Her words were clear and direct. More business and well appreciated. Looking over with interest in his face, particularly his eyebrows, Pulren took the small wooden stub and paper. He fingered the small wooden thing and found it very interesting. "Much more suitable than a quill and inkwell. Where do you get these?" Lost in wonder, he proceeded to place a hand on the paper to hold it still as he imagined what he was going to draw. He wasn't that great at drawing, but hoped he could at least convey the idea that he had.

"Let's see...well, I had seen something that fishermen use to weight their lines. It's like a triangle on each side and a square at the bottom." He attempted to draw a pyramid reversed on the paper, but only succeeded in making the shapes that created the structure.Anyway, if you can understand what I am trying to do here, I wanted a ring on the bottom of it but I wanted the ring to be able to swivel one way or the other. I would use it as an anchor and tie off to it." Nodding, he looked at his work. It wasn't terrible. He shrugged at her, hoping she would understand.

"As far as weights, I was thinking plates of metal which I could then add or remove from a vest that I would have sewn elsewhere. What do you think, Alija?" It seemed doable, though he really had little clue about the process. If she could just understand the shape he meant they might be able to find common ground.
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A Weighty Subject (Alija)

Postby Alija on May 26th, 2015, 11:25 am

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Pulren fingered the pencil stub, curious about it. Alija had no response to his question - it was an old one she had found in the store. He didn't say any more, lost in thought as he tried to sketch out his ides. Alija tried to follow, but new designs had never been her strong point.
"Let's see...well, I had seen something that fishermen use to weight their lines. It's like a triangle on each side and a square at the bottom. Anyway, if you can understand what I am trying to do here, I wanted a ring on the bottom of it but I wanted the ring to be able to swivel one way or the other. I would use it as an anchor and tie off to it."

Alija tried to link his words to the drawing, matching them up as she went along. It didn't seem to hard, but the swivelling ring put her off. Alija hadn't ever dealt with moving parts before. The rest was fine though. She would just need to know the desired weight, that was all. She nodded in response, letting him continue. After he was done talking, she would input her ideas and problems.

"As far as weights, I was thinking plates of metal which I could then add or remove from a vest that I would have sewn elsewhere. What do you think, Alija?" This, thankfully, was a lot easier, if she understood what he meant.

"The weights seem doable. I suppose you're thinking of something a bit similar to armour or chest plates, shape-wise that is?" Alija replied, gesturing to some armour on a shelf nearby, " Although I'd need to know desired sizes or weights, so they'll work how you intend them."

"I'll need the weight for the anchor too, so I don't make it too heavy. The shape seems fine, but what bothers me is the swivelling ring. I suppose I could try, but it really isn't something I'm confident with. Perhaps we could get the effect another way?"
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A Weighty Subject (Alija)

Postby Pulren Marsh on May 28th, 2015, 1:58 am

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He listened and nodded. He was happy that she followed along as well as she had. She was clearly the woman for the job. Chewing on his lip, he thought about a reasonable amount of weight for what he was looking for. The anchor? Forty pounds would surely be enough. Even in a gale or with tides, if it was the right shape and was anchored into the floor of the bay, forty would work without being ludicrous for transport out to its resting place.

When it came to the vest weights, plates sounded perfect. Probably each one weighing five pounds and having ten of them for various reasons. The ring made sense. It could as easily be fixed. It wasn't as if he had the experience in diving to know the difference anyway; it just felt right to be on a swivel. "Okay, how about forty for the anchor and a fixed ring, but large enough to run hemp rope through and tie off with a few knots if need be. The plates could be five pounds each. Flat plates seem perfectly reasonable. I could probably use ten.Now, what do you think all of this would cost me?"

He hadn't tried to use any charm on her. He wasn't sure if he had the kind of charm that got him discounts anyway. If she came at him with a hard price, he might try to come back with something softer, maybe mention the Wave Guard. He knew the Scholar produced quality, though, so he wasn't going to mess with it too much. After all, it was his safety on the line.
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A Weighty Subject (Alija)

Postby Alija on June 7th, 2015, 8:34 pm

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Thinking about her questions, he nodded, probably judging the required weight for the objects. Alija herself had a few ideas, having worked with various weights, but the customer was always right, so he would decide for himself. "Okay, how about forty for the anchor and a fixed ring, but large enough to run hemp rope through and tie off with a few knots if need be. The plates could be five pounds each. Flat plates seem perfectly reasonable. I could probably use ten.Now, what do you think all of this would cost me?"

Alija thought for a second, working out the sums in her head. 40 pounds add five times ten pounds. 90 pounds, was it? The maths seemed simple, but was not her strong point.
Now, what metal? The first that came to mind was lead. That would work fine. She had heard some fishermen discussing lead sinkers, so the material had to be suitable for that use. It was heavy and didn't rust, as well as cheap. Only 5sm a pound, if she remembered correctly. So 90 times 0.5gm would be 45 gold mizas. It wasn't the cheapest, but she doubted that it could cost any less. Lead was one of the cheapest metals and her estimate was the simplest possible. She hadn't even considered the cost of fuel for the fire and the services she gave.

"50GM," she said simply, rounding it up a little. After all, it was all about profit wasn't it? 50GM wasn't bad, she wasn't conning him or anything. Hopefully, he would agree with her. "I hope that's alright? I can get to it right now if you want?"
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A Weighty Subject (Alija)

Postby Pulren Marsh on June 8th, 2015, 6:52 am

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She seemed to mull it over thoughtfully, the sign of a good merchant. This was just a normal transaction for her, regardless of how different it might have been from the normal requests made by Zeltivans that used the Scholar for business. When she came up to an answer, Pulren felt like it was fair, chewing it over for a few moments himself. He really didn't have any idea about market prices or metallurgy.He also didn't want to look like some idiot with deep pockets, either. Nodding, he agreed. "Okay, that sounds fair. This should really help me with my work. I didn't bring the money with me, though. I'll have to bring it back. I was on patrol. I can go get it now or at the end of the day, as you like."

He understood that materials were needed for his wants and no merchant was likely to produce items without funds. Was the word of the Guard no good or maybe his own? He could see what she had to say about it anyway. If he had to get the money now, it would be fine. Later would be better so he could finish his rounds and surely a smithy had some of the metal there already. But he was surely not one to judge. He would just go with the flow. Would she?
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A Weighty Subject (Alija)

Postby Alija on June 9th, 2015, 6:08 pm

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Pulren took a few moments to consider her offer, causing Alija to doubt it. What if it was too much to ask? Should she have lowered the price? That was a major mistake she often made. Alija often lowered the price too much, meaning the Armed Scholar got no profit. After all, although the famous principle of "the customer is always right" was often useful, this was one thing Alija was right about. Her customers rarely had any idea on the worth of metal and blacksmithed items. She was the expert in that field, and so she would set the price.

Thankfully, Pulren seemed to agree with it. "Okay, that sounds fair. This should really help me with my work. I didn't bring the money with me, though. I'll have to bring it back. I was on patrol. I can go get it now or at the end of the day, as you like."
She was glad he had agreed with it, happy to pay the price asked. It was a sign of a man with a little extra change, and prevented arguing. Alija hated arguing.

"Come a bell after Syna leaves. I should have the requested items ready by then, and you will have plenty of time to finish your patrol and get the money ready. You can pay then," she replied, hoping she hadn't been to quick to give a estimate on the time. She would hate for Pulren to return for her to just have to reply that she wasn't finished. Hopefully she would be able to finish on time.

"Is that okay?" she asked, almost waiting for him to leave, eager to begin the work, "Nothing else?"

occI was thinking you do a post leaving, then I could write a post where she makes it, then a couple more when Pulren comes to collect the things. Just PM me if you think something should change, or just continue like that =)
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Alija
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