With my new abundance of free time, and absolute need of some new armor I decided to delve into my Armorer skill and kill two birds with one stone.
Hopefully, I’d be able to get my skill up to a point where I could make some level appropriate gear. And if not, I did have six free general skill points to tip the scales if the hard way didn't pay off.
I grabbed my spear and shield and headed down to the common area, lugging the sack of ruined armor behind me.
I was so focused on planning for my crafting spree that I completely forgot my desire to avoid the crowd and was caught completely off guard when Lei'ti saw me in the hall and threw herself at my feet.
Her eyes were wide with panic and she was rambling something so fast I couldn’t understand.
“Woah,” I said, looking down with concern. “What’s wrong? Are you okay? Did someone harm you?”
She looked up and me then quickly averted her eyes and pleaded, “I’m so sorry holy one, I didn’t know you were a servant of the gods! I never would have acted so crassly and inappropriately with one so blessed. Please, forgive me!”
I stood there for a few seconds, trying to process what was happening, the new patch kicking in to feed me some Saa racial info that explained what was going on, at least a little.
The priesthood was like royalty to most Saa, and a commoner acting as… aggressively as she had with me was a major faux pas to them. I needed to deescalate this whole situation stat.
I glanced around and saw the eyes of the entire staff was glued onto the spectacle. Luckily, there were no patrons this early.
I turned to Maeve with a pleading look in my eyes but her return look said plainly that this was my problem to deal with. I took a deep breath and hoped that I wasn’t about to make things worse.
I knelt down in front of the Saa woman, and reached out, lifting her face until I could look her right in the eyes. “There is no need to apologize to me Lei’ti. I may be a priest, but that makes me no more than any other man or woman here.”
She tried to look away, but I pulled her gaze back to mine. “While I am not seeking such…uhm… company right now, your attention was flattering, not insulting. You are an exquisitely beautiful woman, and I wouldn’t think it unrealistic to find out that Mau Bast had blessed you with a bit of her own grace with the way you move.”
She seemed a little calmer, so I helped her to her feet. I looked around, addressing everyone in the common room. “Listen ladies, I am aware that your interactions with the priests of the temple have not been very positive for any of you. But guess what? I am not from this temple. I don’t share their prejudices, or the sticks many of them may store shoved up their asses. Treat me like a friend and I’ll do the same to you. If you need healing, or help, feel free to come to me and I will help you. No payment needed.”
I shifted my focus back to Lei’ti, seeing her still a bit frazzled, but looking a lot better than before.
She looked up and said, “You are not angry at me holy… uhm Kheph?”
I gave her my warmest, platonic smile and replied, “Not at all. If you could do me a favor though?”
“Anything!” she said.
“Treat me like a friend and not a piece of meat you’re trying to sink your teeth into?” I answered with a hopeful look.
Her mouth gaped open a bit, then she started laughing a little. “Okay. I will call off the hunt… for now,” she said and winked before walking back to the living quarters.
The rest of the girls went about their tasks, glancing at me occasionally as if still worried I might start demanding they all repent their wicked ways or something.
Maeve came over with a satisfied grin. “You ‘andled that well, lad. Me thinks the girls’ll warm up ta ya again in no time.”
She nodded her head towards where Lei’ti had disappeared. “She’s a good lass, but she’s Saa to the core, and yer temple kin are nae too kind to those who choose this line o’ work.”
She paused and glanced at my stole. “That’s new. Decided ta announce yerself now eh? Can’t say I’ve ever seen a black one though.”
“It’s a long story”, I replied. “but the short version is that Black is the color that my patron, Anpu, wants those in his service to wear. So black it is.”
She shrugged, “T’is definitely striking. Where’re ye off to? Gersha won’t be in ‘til later but she wants to speak to ye. And don’t worry, it won’t be anything like what Lei’ti just did.”
I let out a breath in relief. “I’ll be back later this evening. I need new armor, and my skill at making replacements is in dire need of improvement. Can you direct me to a good Armorer who could aid me in both acquiring materials and learning more of the armorer’s art?”
She hummed in thought for a few seconds and then a big grin appeared on her face. “Don’t bother with the general guildhalls, although ye’d be able to find what ye want there. Seek out Fragi Hottenson in the Blacksteel Foundry at the edge of the merchants’ district and visitors’ quarter. Tell him Maeve sent ye and said to help ye out."
*** Quest Received: Strange Bedfellows. ***
*** Seek out Fragi Hottenson, Armorer in the Blacksteel Foundry near the merchant and visitors’ quarter border. Maeve assures you that Fragi can help you in your mission to learn more of the Armorer’s craft. ***
*** Rewards: xp, increased reputation with Fragi Hottenson. ***
I thanked her and headed out, slinging my shield onto my back with my sack of tattered leather and using my spear as a walking stick. I got some looks, mostly focused on the black stole, but no one said anything or attempted to impede my progress.
After a few minutes I arrived at the place marked on my map as the Blacksteel Foundry. I could hear the sound of metal being hammered inside and caught the distinctive smell of a coal fire.
The workshop was a small stone building with a large chimney rising from the back of the roof from which a steady flow of black smoke poured forth, a good sign of a forge in use.
I ducked in through the low doorway and entered the shop. The ceiling was barely high enough for me to stand, the rafters only a few inches above my head.
Lining the walls were samples of the shop’s wares. Armor of all types was on display, from studded leather all the way up to a fine example of full plate suit. Most of the full metal suits were made of bronze, but there were a few pieces in iron and even steel mixed into the lot.
“I’ll be right out,” a deep voice called from back near the forge and caught a glimpse of a heavily muscled dwarf shaping a red-hot piece of iron on the forge.
I waited patiently for him to finish, and after a minute or two of working the metal he plunged it into a bucket, causing a small cloud of steam to fill the area. A moment later he walked out through the steam and joined me in the front of the shop.
He looked me up and down with a sour expression on his face as his eyes locked onto my stole. He formed his best mock smile and greeted me, “What can I do for ye, Acolyte? If the temple is in need of additional goods, I’m afraid I don’t have much to offer.”
I shook my head. “I’m not with the temple. A friend told me you were the person to speak to in order to learn more of the armorer’s trade and possibly purchase materials and replacements.”
The dwarf snorted as he broke into a laugh. “Me? Teach you? Yer friend must be daft! Please, tell me who this friend is so I know who’s playing this joke on me.”
I frowned, hoping it wasn’t just a joke. “Her name is Maeve.”
All hints of humor drained from his face instantly. “Maeve…”, he said slowly, and then headed into the back of the shop.
I stood there confused until Fragi called “Are ye going to stand there all day or get to work? I don’t have all day.”
I followed him into the back where he was rummaging through a pile of mixed leather armor.
***Quest Complete – Strange Bedfellows. ***
*** You have gained 100xp! ***
*** You have gained
reputation with the Fragi Hottenson! Unfriendly → Neutral. ***
“What’re ye called Priest?” he asked. “I can’t just be calling ye Priest, or Saa all day.”
I told him my name as he gathered a small pile of ruined armor and a pile of tools that I vaguely recognized.
“Are you familiar at all with the Armorer’s art?” he asked, and as I nodded, he continued, “Good. First thing we’re going to do is break down all of these ruined bits into materials. At the beginning it’s better to practice on shite to hone yer skill so ye don’t ruin the good stuff.”
I nodded and poured out the sack of ruined hard leather armor onto the pile of scraps to be salvaged.
The smith looked at the rips and tears and whistled. “I’d hate to have been that man who was wearing that.”
I silently agreed with him on that one, and gave him my full attention as he walked me through how to use the tools he had laid out to pop the rivets and stitches in the leather and how to cut away the pieces that were too far gone to salvage.
“Good. Now break it all down and then we’ll get to the puttin’ it back together part. I’ll be at the forge when yer done,” he said and then left me to my task.
I opened the Armorer crafting interface and brought up the Salvage mode that I had just been made aware of. An overlay popped up, similar to the cooking interface but with a lot fewer parts.
I laid out the tools in the indicated spots and picked up a piece of soft leather armor to work on.
Unlike cooking, this process was much closer to what I imagined the real thing to be. The ‘mini games’ were actually simplified real life tutorials showing where to make the most efficient cuts, where to place the tools for maximum efficiency, and where to apply the pressure necessary without ruining the leather.
My two ranks in the Armorer skill helped me start the process a little ahead of the game and make it through without failing the initial stages spectacularly.
From an MMO angle, the finished goods produced by the process were a bit say… unrealistic. For example, a soft leather shirt that was virtually shredded turned into a solid piece of undamaged soft leather.
Working my way through the pile, I transformed the ripped and broken bits of armor into useful pieces of soft leather.
*** Congratulations! You have become more skilled at Armorer and have reached Armorer rank 3! ***
I grinned at the rank up and started on the hard leather pieces. The interface became a little more challenging and required better timing and finesse to keep all of the mini games on track, but I managed. I messed up a few pieces but was able to recover and so only lost a little bit of the leather.
I plucked and cut, popped rivets, and removed buckles, slipping into the zone as my skill climbed slowly towards the nest rank.
Skill gains were pretty slow after the first few tries with a specific type of armor, so it took a lot of effort to make any progress with salvaging once you knew what you were doing.
I finished up the last piece in the pile and added the leather to the small stack beside me. My collection was pretty small, but I should be able to make something useful.
Fragi was hammering away at his forge, working on another iron piece that looked like a part of suite of some sort of plate. I let him know that I was finished and waited while he finished up his work.
He disappeared into the back room, and came back with a small box containing catgut thread, buckles, rivets, and a small book, that he tossed to me. “Start at the first page.”
I glanced down at the first page and raised an eyebrow at the dwarf. “Soft Leather Belt?” I asked. “It seems a bit too simple doesn’t it?”
“You came to me for training no?”, he said, and I nodded. “Then let me train you. The belt incorporates all of the basic techniques for leatherwork. Stitching, setting rivets and attaching buckles. Master these skills now and when you’re on to the more complex patterns they’ll be second nature and you won’t end up ruining an expensive piece because you struggled with attaching a strap.”
With that he headed back to the forge with a huff.
I studied the recipe, opened the crafting interface, and began the grind.
Cut, stitch, fold, rivet, cut, stitch, fold, rivet. The process was almost cathartic. Small strips of leather, lengths of thread, a buckle, and some rivets transforming into some slick looking belts. And it increased my skill at the same time.
Fragi was right, going through the motions on this simple recipe really hammered the skill into my mind. By the time I ran out of soft leather I was making them by rote.
I didn’t even need the minigame anymore to guide me in the process. I just… knew how to make it. And I had almost reached rank five in Armorer.
Fragi stopped by briefly, seeing the pile of belts and lack of soft leather and told me to move on to the next page and use it to make three sets.
I flipped to the recipe and found a more complicated pattern, this one making use of the thicker leather to make hard leather bracers. I grinned as those would be useful to me right out of the gate.
I gathered the materials and tools the recipe required: hard leather hides, bronze rivets, small bronze buckles, leather knife and peening hammer, and got to work.
The bracer was primarily a single piece of hardened leather with thicker edges that were reinforced with rivets that was held in place by a pair of buckled straps.
The first stage of the recipe involved cutting out all of the pieces: Two rectangular pieces, eight one-inch strips, and four small buckled straps.
I started with the straps since they were pretty much miniature belts without the need to fold multiple layers of soft leather to make the strap body. Instead, a single strip of hard leather could be used.
I even thought I could adapt the process to make a hardened leather belt if I could obtain a large enough piece. Attaching the buckles to the straps was the same as well, and I was able to finish those quite easily.
Once the straps were done, I cut out the remaining pieces from my pile of hard leather and sorted them into two piles.
The next step was to line up the strips with the edges of the larger piece and attach them with rivets, creating the reinforced edge.
The last step was to attach the straps and shape the entire thing to the wrist.
I followed the steps closely, taking things slow and steady to avoid any waste and it was a success, and as I admired my completed bracers, a notification popped up confirming my new knowledge.
*** Congratulations! You have become more skilled at Armorer and have reached Armorer rank 5! You have become more efficient when repairing armor, and doubly so when repairing items crafted by your own hand. In addition, you may make repairs using any available raw materials and no longer need a specific repair kit. ***
I had mixed feelings on that rank five boost. On one hand, repairing was a pain in the ass, so any efficiencies gained would save me both time and money; but I kind of wished it was something that would help with the actual crafting process.
I finished up the other sets of bracers and called Fragi back to inspect my work. He examined the bracer's and grunted in satisfaction at my work.
After that he gave me the freedom to try any of the other recipes in the book with the remaining leather.
I spent the next several hours focused on my armoring skill, working my way up through the recipes. Once the materials I had gained from the scavenging ran out, Fragi wanted to call it a day. But when I offered to pay for any materials that I used from then on, he agreed to continue my training.
After bracers I moved on to greaves and vambraces, and from there to full on pants and several types of breastplate.
Surprisingly, boots and gauntlets proved to be the most complex of the lot, and I wasted a couple pieces of my purchased leather before I was able to figure out the nuances required by those recipes.
At the end of my grind, I had a full suit of hard leather armor, including a basic helm to protect my head and ha
d reached Armorer rank eight. I had spent upwards of twenty gold on materials, but it was well worth it.
After donning my new set, I packed up my goods, somehow managing to fit the extra armor pieces all in my pack and then headed back to the forge to bid the smith goodbye.
“Thank you for your help today Fragi, I’ll be sure to let Maeve know how helpful you were!” I said and waved.
I couldn’t be sure, it could have been the heat of the forge, but I thought I saw the stoic smith blush a bit as he answered, “Ya know Priest, it was not as horrible as I imagined. You have a knack for tha craft. Even at your current skill you produced some passible pieces.”
He paused for a few seconds, a look of consideration passing over his face before he spoke. “I’ll tell you what. Leave yer extra pieces with me and I’ll give you some better body armor. I’ll sell ‘em here in me shop, and probably make some coin myself in the process.”
I glanced at my bulging backpack, not really wanting to lug all the extra armor around. “That sounds like a good deal to me.”
The smith gave me a curt nod and then headed over to the wall where his own goods were on display and pulled a ringmail cuirass down from the shelf and handed it to me. I traded him the hardened leather cuirass I’d freshly crafted and put on the ringmail, feeling much more protected.
I emptied my packs of the spare armor and handed it over to Fragi, watching as everything found a place on the shelves. The better pieces he added to the loose armor, while the less than stellar pieces were tucked into a storage chest beneath the shelf.
“Thank you, master smith,” I said, giving Fragi another bow before heading out the door.
“You’re welcome, Priest, feel free to come back when you’re ready to work with something more solid!” he called after me.
...
Chapter 28
I checked my friends list and Kjara was still offline. It was getting close to 4PM, so meeting up today was unlikely.
Crimson Sands Page 36
