Dave

Dark Elf Village

55th of Cycle 2, 1015

I had a few hours of free time before Jason would be done ‘talking’ to his dark elf friend and I had a pouch full of coins, so I decided to do some shopping in the village.

I passed by a few unremarkable shops before finding myself in front of a stone building with a huge sign that read ‘Elrund’s Smith’. The heat of the forge washed over my face as I opened the door to walk in, and the sounds of clanking metal were ringing in my ears. The front of the shop had swords and metal bows scattered around on the floor, so I had to step carefully towards the counter. Behind the counter were more swords and bows, but they were more neatly organized and looked like they were of higher quality than the ones on the floor.

“Hello?” There was no one manning the counter so I decided to shout over the noise. The sounds stopped abruptly.

“What?” Came a raspy voice from the back of the store.

“I want a recommendation on what to buy, it’s my first time here.”

“Give me ten minutes, I’m working right now,” The sounds of clanking metal resumed.

A few minutes later, a short and burly elf opened the door behind the counter and paused in shock when he saw my face. He stood there for a few seconds without saying so much as a word.

“Is there a problem?” I asked.

“Yeah mate, there’s a problem,” He looked me over. “I ain’t seen a human in these parts since forty years ago when they tried to invade the jungle. Nasty business that was, we slaughtered the lot of them an’ left the rest to the panthers.”

“Why would humans try to invade here?”

“You would know better than me, considerin’ you’re one of them,” He said, “You said you wanted a weapon right? I’m assuming you have the coin.”

I put the pouch of coins Jason had given me on the counter, “I already have a bow, so I’m looking for something small to use in close combat.”

“Show me your bow,” He demanded.

I hesitated, but complied and put the bow onto the counter.

He picked up the bow and started inspecting it, “It’s got good craftsmanship, but it’s in terrible shape,” He pointed to the piece of vine wrapped around the shaft. “I’m surprised you even made it to this village.”

I had forgotten that my bow was originally a broken one I found on the floor and mended together with a piece of vine. “I managed fine, but I guess I could use an upgrade. How much are the bows behind the counter?”

“Fifteen gold apiece, non-negotiable,” He said coldly.

I looked through my coin pouch, and could only find about twelve gold coins, so I shook my head and asked, “What about the ones on the floor?”

“How ‘bout I cut you a deal instead. I’ll repair your bow, and give you a dagger as a bundle for ten gold.”

That would be most of my gold coins, but there were still a lot of silver and bronze coins left in my pouch. I wondered if this smith was ripping me off but there was no way to find out for sure, so I asked, “What kind of daggers you got in stock?”

“What’s your class? I can get you one with the proper enchantments if I know what you’re looking for.”

“I’m a scout.”

He gave me a confused look, “Most folks wouldn't so easily admit to having a class like that. Scouts have a bad reputation.”

“Why? Aren’t scouts just people who check areas before their team gets there?”

“That’s what they’re supposed to be, yeah. But any class that gives bonuses to stealth and agility usually end up being used by assassins and thieves,” He said. “You’re not an assassin, are you?”

“I’m not.”

“Then hide your class as best you can, or people will start assuming things you don’t want them to be assuming.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, thanks."

“Don’t mention it. I think I had the perfect dagger for a scout around here somewhere...” He disappeared into the back and I heard him toss a few metal objects onto the ground as he searched for it. He returned after about a minute with a black dagger in his hands. “This here’s a knife that improves agility and stealth when you have it on you, but it’s a little pricy. If you still want the bundle from earlier then I’m going to have to increase the price to twelve gold.”

“That’s fine, and yes, I still want the bundle,” I put all my gold coins onto the counter. “When will you be done with the bow?”

“By sundown tomorrow,” He pushed six of the gold coins back to me. “Never pay full price upfront you fool, bring me the other six coins when you come back.”

“Then I'll see you tomorrow, I’m Dave by the way,” I said, realizing we hadn’t exchanged names yet.

“I’m Elrund, as you saw on my sign outside,” He handed me the dagger and a leather sheath. “You can take that with you for protection. I doubt you’ll try to steal it since I’m keeping your bow here.”

“Thanks, you never know when you might need a dagger.”

“Don’t you dare go bloodying my knife with dark elf blood on the first day I gave it to you, Dave.”

“No promises,” I said with a smile and turned to leave the shop, not remembering that there were still swords scattered all over the floor behind me. Then I felt an alert him me in the head, and I paused right before I stepped onto one of them. I had that same sensation with the lion’s tail, so I wondered if maybe it was a new skill. “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to sell skill stones would you, Elrund?”

“One silver for a lesser one, I don’t sell greater stones,” He put a blue stone onto the counter.

I handed him a silver coin and gripped the stone.

Name: Dave

Race: Human?

Class: Scout(rare)

Class Skills: Sneak(basic) Lv8, Fleet-footed(basic) Lv9, Archery(basic) Lv3, Hyper-Accelerated vision(basic) Lv 5

Class Skill Slots 1

Skills: Hypnosis resistance Lv1, Survivalist(unique), Poison Resistance Lv3, Dangersense(basic) Lv2

My skills leveled up a lot from that fight with the lion, and I gained a new one called Dangersense. It does exactly what the name says, I guess.

Rea

Outside of the Dark Elf Village

55th of Cycle 2, 1015

Lola led us around the side of the walls, to a point that she had deemed acceptable for infiltration. “At dusk, we will climb this wall to get into the village. You three remain hidden here, I will watch the gate to make sure our spies don’t leave the village before then.”

It's only a matter of time now.