8:Fire and Ice

From Reydala

The tunnels were too dark for Aknier's eyes as he traveled through them. After some time, he realized he was traveling down an enitrely different path. Of course, as he turned to look for the party, something gave way. A click was heard, and the ground shifted under him, as Aknier found himself falling through darkness and dirt. Then came light, followed by the realization of where he was: the Crystal Falls above the Mulinel River. And he was headed straight into the river...

Darkness came. When Aknier came to, he awoke with a startle. The surroundings had changed, he was lying in the bed of a old run down house, though seemingly not unoccupied. The wounds that had been inflicted from the fall were mostly healed and patched up. A young man's head poked through the door, filled with brown hair. He wore color robes, it seemed.

"Ah, you're up. Took quite a nasty fall there apparently." the man said. Aknier began to open his mouth, though this man was quicker than him. "Name's Thomas, Fianna cleric."

"I owe you my life..." Aknier began.

"Don't worry about it. You were lucky I was out doing my laundry. What in the blazes were you doing in the river like that?"

"Well, I was traveling along and I...erm...well, I tripped."

Thomas studied Aknier for a moment. "Tripped, eh?" He gave a hardy laugh and took a swig from a jug he was holding. Aknier became very reminded of Locke, realizing how much he missed his company.

Aknier and Thomas conversed for a while. Thomas was a wandering weapons maker, taking residence temporarally in an abandoned house (or so he claimed, at least). Aknier explained some of his profession to Thomas.

Thomas sat in thought for a moment. "Hrmm...you helped farmers...ah! Wait here, there's something I've been wanting to do for a while now..."

Thomas rushed into the other room, where his crafts were. Aknier immediately heard the pounding of metal, apparently Thomas had gone to work. Aknier resigned, and decided to work on his own craft, brewing a potion of Fox's Cunning. A few days passed, in which Aknier heard many shouts and curses from the next room, more than he had heard in the rest of his life time. Thomas must either really take his craft to heart, or not seriously at all, thought Aknier. He debated on taking bets to see if Thomas or the weapon would win.

Finally, Thomas appeared again, grinning. "She's finished."

He held out a beautifully crafted Scythe...one that seemed the very air itself parted for it at the blade. The handle was ornate with symbols, largely of Fianna design, though a few Aknier guessed to be Thomas' personal trade marks.

"She took me a while, and was stubborn. She came through though. If you really did help people farm, I think she could be of use to you."

"I--I really don't know how to repay you. And that was hardly 'a while', that was incredibly quick..."

"It's a trade secret." Thomas winked. "As for pay, don't worry about it. Few people order scythes as weapons, I'm happy just to finally make one."

Aknier shook his head. "Well, at least let me give you this." Aknier pulled out the Fox's Cunning potion and handed it to Thomas. Thomas immediately began inspecting the potion.

"Good design...quailty viscosity...I see you have a love of crafting yourself."

"It's really just more of a side hobby."

Thomas thought for a moment, then reached onto a nearby shelf, grabbing a book and handing it to Aknier. "It's an extra copy of something I was given during my initiation. The secrets to quick item crafting, passed down through the Fianna church. I think it might come in handy for you."

Thomas grinned again while Aknier felt entirely indebted. The remining time was short, within a couple hours, Aknier said his fairwells and began back on the road to Sanoan...