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Missing Shipment of Goods
Topic Started: May 27 2016, 10:46 PM (83 Views)
Brutarias
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     It was late into the afternoon with the sun shinning ever so bright. The heat just seemed to linger all day. Even though the town of Hawkin had many trees of all shapes and sizes throughout the area, they did not offer much shelter from the sun's rays. Despite the heat, it was a really nice day. Most of the townspeople were out and about, tending to their farms, shops, and the everyday mundane tasks. These were somewhat peaceful times; it could definitely be worse conditions.

     At the Hawkin's Smithing shop, Brutarias had been working hard all day long. The past few weeks he had not received much work, but he still liked to keep himself busy. Brutus was working on a side project. He had a fascination for armor. Today he was making a template for a breastplate of the piece he was working on. He was accompanied by his apprentice, Jhin Tromuc. Though, Jhin would much rather be elsewhere on a day like this. The young man was in his early twenties but he still acted like a boy sometimes.

     "Ugh, it's way too hot to be stuck here in this heat, Brutus," spoke the young man as he set down a stack of firewood next to the furnace. He then turned and sat down on the wood. He was drenching with sweat. After wiping his forehead with his dirty sleeve, he glanced towards his mentor. The boy was wearing a typical uniform for blacksmiths. He had on an dirty apron over his white long sleeved shirt along with his pants that were smudged with grit and ore. He placed his hands on his legs and took a deep breath before letting out the exhale. "Can't I go down to the river before it gets too late?"

     Brutarias continued to bring his hammer down on the metal he was working with. He hit with such hard strikes and purpose. Even though he heard his apprentice speak out and complain, he kept on with his work. Just as Jhin was about to get up to continue his work, Brutus hammered out one last hit before putting down the tool. "Hm, yeah. Just about right." He mumbled to himself as he held up the piece of armor to the light.

     "Mr. Hawkin, did you hear me?" Jhin asked once again as he stood up.

     "Hm?" Brutus turned towards the boy and set down the plate of armor. "Have you finished your work? Did you help out the Sully's like I asked?" Brutarias questioned in return as he took off his apron and hung it up where it usually belonged.

     "Yes," answered Jhin to the first question. "Of course, I helped them chop the tree that fell. Just as you asked, Master."

     A smile came to Brutarias' face underneath all that beard as he began to walk towards the boy. He placed his hand on his shoulder and looked down at him. "Clean up here while I close shop early, then you may go to the river." Brutus said with a grin as he pats the boy on the shoulder before walking towards the side entrance to his shop. This is usually where he made transactions with potential customers. The forge and other tools were underneath an overhang on the side of the building. Inside of the shop was just a place for a few pieces of his work that was on display. He also sold various ingredients for different kinds of work.

     "Oh, yes! Thank you, sir!" Jhin suddenly perked up at hearing the good news. He couldn't wait to get down to the river, which was not all that far from the town. A creek actually went through the town that was apart of the river. The river itself flowed north towards the Black Marsh. It was one of many that naturally flowed and flooded the swamps. With permission to go, Jhin went right to work and began cleaning up the work space. Though, it would take a bit of time to do so.

     While his apprentice was doing that, Brutarias went inside to close up shop for the day. He had planned on closing up earlier anyways. There was not much else to do, and he could use a little break. It only took a few minutes to wrap up what he had to do before he locked the door to the shop and headed off. He decided to stop by The Hungry Badger before heading to his home. He could use a few pints of mead.
Edited by Brutarias, May 28 2016, 01:04 AM.
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Juniper Genevieve Talbot
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     Golden rays streamed through the verdant leaves overhead, the canopy of trees shadowing the trodden path through the forest. Patches of sunlight appeared upon the road where the greenery was not thick enough to fully block it, but even the shade that was provided wasn't enough to offer travelers respite from the brunt of the heat. If there had been a breeze, the weather would have been more tolerable. It made the river that flowed beside the forest all the more tantalizing. For a certain, dark-haired witch, this kind of condition was not one she preferred. Sadly, it wasn't like she could remedy the situation considering she had no control over the weather elements. That would have been something she needed to look into though.

     “Are we there yet?” a medium-pitched voice droned from one of the saddlebags that hung from her mount.

     Juniper sighed in exasperation as she shook her head. “No,” the witch replied, “not yet.”

     Caelum popped his head out of the bag, causing the flap to come open, and he stared up at the woman with an expression of disappointed annoyance. His ears were flattened to the sides. For as expressionless as a cat's face could be, he seemed to be doing a decent job of getting a pout across. “Come on. We've been wandering for three weeks. It's hot, and I'm tired of sitting in this saddlebag. When are we going to reach a damn town?”

     “The sign said 15 kilometers. We should be almost there. Besides, no one said you had to ride in the bag.”

     The cat growled faintly then mumbled something incoherent under his breath, which caused Juniper to glance in his direction with furrowed brows. He had quite the tendency to irk her nervous though part of her swore that he did it on purpose sometimes. If he wasn't her only source of conversation out on the lonely road, she would have sent him back to the Underworld long ago. Still, Caelum was helpful when he wanted to be.

     Abraxas snorted and lifted his ears, his gait slowing to a halt as he stared forward down the dirt path. June was quick to notice his behavior shift, and she focused on the trail before them. Over the years, she had come to learn from her hybrid pet. His senses were much more keen than hers so he often heard or smelled things coming their way before she realized it. She narrowed her eyes with suspicion, instinctively moving a hand towards the bag where her spellbook was located. However, the witch refrained from whipping it out in case of a false alarm. The seconds that passed felt like forever before the sound of chatter came from up the path, and a group of young adults—most appearing to be not much younger than herself—came meandering in her direction, talking amongst themselves. The first to notice her was a brown-haired girl. Her companions followed suit. Nudging her mount off to the side to allow better room for passage, Juniper glanced down at the group as they moved by each other on the road, and she allowed a minuscule smile to play her lips before she gave the bridle reins a flick. Where there were common folks, there had to be a town close by.

     Eventually, the trees began to thin, giving way to plots of cultivated land. Just beyond the farm, June spotted buildings nestled into the trees as if they had almost been constructed by the forest itself. Thank Theragon above. Finally!

     “Come on, Abraxas!” Juniper shouted as she pressed her heels into the deerhorse's sides. “Let's go!”

     The beast's nostrils flared once. His trotting gait gained speed until he was galloping, kicking up dirt and dust with his heels. The witch's raven locks were tossed by the wind, and the length of her cloak flew out behind her. Tonight, she was going to lay her weary body down on a real bed instead of the solid ground.
Edited by Juniper Genevieve Talbot, Jun 1 2016, 01:21 AM.
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Brutarias
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The Hungry Badger was a place for the townspeople to relax, to sing songs, and to forget about their worries. With a few pints of the tasty mead that the Badger's brewed, it wasn't so hard to do. The Tavern was located near the center of town, about a hundred meters or so from the blacksmith's shop towards the northwest. It was a popular place for passerby's and the like. The two brothers that opened the place were Vorstag and Farkas, naming it after an incident with a Badger. Since then, Farkas has become a marshal for the town while Vorstag the Drunkard was still up to his old ways. If one were not careful, Vorstag would take every last gold piece from whoever walked through his door. He was just a typical greedy drunk, trying to make his living in this big world.

Today wasn't necessarily a good day for Vorstag and the Hungry Badger. The usual shipment of goods was supposed to come a week prior, but there had been no word. They usually traveled along one of the main roads that came from Ancora. It was known that they were not the best service, but it was all Badgers could afford. If they were to be late, it was for only a few days, but it had been a week and the Tavern owner was getting worried. The place was packed and his stock of goods were running out. Luckily, he had ale for ages. That kept the locals in a good mood.

"Dammit, Farkas. Have you figured out where my fuckin' shipment of goods are yet?" Vorstag slammed his fist down on the counter as he looked towards his brother. It was obvious that he was very upset and perhaps a little drunk. With a slur in his speech, "You know-hic- You know what day it is? Day like this, this place will be packed by nightfall." He carried on with something about chicken and rice before his brother interrupted.

"Relax, relax." Farkas placed his hand on his younger brother's shoulder and pat him a few times. "It'll be here before you know it." Farkas was always the more sensible of the two brothers. He was the level headed one who actually had a family and a great job as Marshal of the town. He had men working under him and he has bailed his brother out of debt far many times than he'd like. "I've got someone on it. Just try to not think about it and enjoy the evening. You've got customers to tend to." With that said, Farkas decided to help his brother out by tending to some of the customers needs, getting them drinks and the like. Occasionally, Farkas would work at the tavern to help his brother out. Mostly, it was just to make sure his younger brother was staying out of trouble.

About this time of day, customers whether local or foreign started to stroll inside. A couple dozen patrons were already enjoying themselves to some ale, laughs, and good stories. It was a hot day so the fire in the center of the place was not lit. Instead, there were a few candles around and the natural light shinning through the walls and windows lit up the place. It was a good day to be inside and out of the hot sun.

At the bar that stretched just about half the room the blacksmith sat in his usual spot. It was near a wall that had a big head of a boar that was on display. He was alone and had been there for over half an hour. He had downed two mugs of mead so far, but the night was just beginning. Many things had been on the brute's mind as of late. There was just an eerie feeling that things were going to get a lot worse, not only for him, but for the town as well. Having the town's name meant he had a lot of burdens on his shoulder. It was rare for the big guy to show his emotions though; if anyone were to ask, he would just smile through that thick beard and say everything was alright. In truth, Brutarias had no idea how things would end up.

After downing the rest of his mead, Brutus let out a loud belch and set the glass down. He turned towards Farkas and said, "Another." He simply slid his mug towards the man and then glanced around the room for a moment. With his arms resting on the counter top, he began tapping his fingers in a pattern lightly on it. He let out a long sigh before wiping some sweat from his brow. He had cleaned up since leaving the shop, but he was still a bit dirty and muggy from all this heat. Though, it didn't seem to bother him as much as it did most.

A couple minutes later, Farkas set a full mug of mead down near Brutus and then wiped the counter top off before resting his elbows on it. "How's things going, Brutus?" Farkas asked as he watched the larger man grab the pint of mead and gulp it down. It wasn't often that Farkas or anyone had seen someone down a pint like that. "Can I get you anything else?"

Brutus wiped the suds from his lips and just shook his head. "Everything is fine." He set the mug down and leaned back some, now looking towards Farkas. "I couldn't help but hear. But your brother having trouble with a shipment?" Brutus asked curiously; it was true. He had heard them, among other small talk going around the tavern. It was sometimes hard not to listen when his senses were just that much more heightened.

Farkas raised a brow at first, suprised that brutus was able to overhear that conversation. "Oh, don't worry. We still got plenty of mead to go around. Vorstag just gets in one of his moods when a shipment is late. That's all it is. I'm sure it'll show up by morning and everything will be alright."

Brutus just nodded in response before chuckling some. "Yeah, I know how that is," mentioned Brutus, referring to the younger brother. "He can be a bit dramatic at times," continued the blacksmith as he let out a sigh. "I've had shipments come two to three weeks late. You really can't trust anyone around here to do things in a timely fashion."

"Oh yeah. I think Vorstag hired a new crew this time. I don't know why, but he's been acting funny lately."

"More than usual?" Brutus butted in with a hearty chuckle.

"Hah, yeah. More than usual." Farkas continued as he let out a chuckle himself. He just shook his head while thinking about his brother. "He is a pain in my ass, but I love the little bastard."

"Mhm." Brutus nods in agreement though he had a hard time understanding that. All of his family had passed away, and he never knew his real father. He assumed his mother was long gone as well. It was just him and his shop, and well Jhin too. There was Jhin.

"I've got to tend to these other folks, but you be good Brutus. I'll see you around."

The two just exchanged looks and nods one more time before they went about their business. Brutus stayed put on his stool while pondering over the thoughts about this late shipment. Could it just be late or was there something else going on?
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