Closed Bear Arms

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Spring 89, 125

[Note: My appearance has completely changed since the gift giver thread so it’s impossible to recognize me but I don’t think that’s really an issue cause I don’t expect we’ll interact in that thread anyways]

Fenrir had seen a bipedal bear the other day, and some cursory investigation into him through her spy network revealed that he was some sort of mage smith from another land. The aelf was one that was deeply invested in getting to know foreigners and, usually, exploiting them to the benefit of both her and her country. At the very least it was important to keep tabs on what they were up to, in case they ever became threats.

In this particular case, she intended to see if he was going to stick around for the long term. If so, then she could help him grow so that he might craft things for her. While she was prejudiced enough to think that nothing could beat the craftsmanship of her kin, she also thought that there might be something unique about this bear’s crafting style. There was only one way to find out!

In her natural, original body that she now had she didn’t feel nearly as imposing and aggressive as she had before. Before she was massive, towering, and could crush people with little effort. Now she felt dainty and weak, but better in other ways. It was much more easy to disguise herself as a human now that she was 5’10”. A hood was all she needed to cover her ears and it was fairly trivial to remove the plants that would give her away as a druid. Plus she felt more nimble and quick on her feet, which was always good when you were a ranged combatant.

Today she wasn’t an aelf. She was pretending to be a human who was travelling on behalf of her make believe aelven master. She was dressed in a black tunic with a cloak and armed with nothing but a hunting knife and her bow and arrows. She had so much experience blending in that hardly anyone would bother glancing at her unless they were mystics able to decipher just how much spell reserves she had access to, or happened to notice her white hair that she couldn’t be bothered to dye.

Why bother with the disguise at all? Mostly because the world felt different when you weren’t an aelf. Not in a good way, just a different way. It was much easier to find out certain bits of information when you were just a fellow slave. Plus she found that approaching foreigners was often easier when they could relax a little.

She would walk up to whatever home or establishment that Arcaelum was located in, and try to find him. If he was out in the open she would wave him down or if he was in a room she’d knock on his door. Regardless, when they met she would say, “Hi there, I’m Fenrir. I heard that you were a smith and I was hoping we could have a chat. I don’t believe I’ve ever met someone of your race before and I’m always eager to learn about other cultures. I’ll make it worth your while…”

WC: 541

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Fenrir nodded and took a seat across from him after taking off her bow and leaning it against a wall. She crossed her legs and kept her hood on. She looked at him with her red eyes and said, “I’m sorry to hear that you haven’t found enough work. But perhaps I can remedy that.”

She pulled out a book from under her cloak that she opened and pushed towards him. It contained various pages with rough sketches and dimensions for armor and weaponry. They were designed for humanoids around 7-8 feet tall but were fairly standard otherwise. One might expect that they were for aelves instead of humans.

“The aelf I work for is looking for smiths to help him craft armor and weapon sets. Whenever you find yourself with some free time, you could work on these and have them delivered to the location on the back page.”

She paused then continued, “what do you look for in terms of compensation? I know little about your race and what your cultural values are. My master typically deals in barters. He could help you find some special fauna or flora if you happen to be an animist, or maybe provide some alkahest, or even some humans to use as you see fit. He is also open to other ideas, although I am authorized to negotiate on his behalf.”

It was a fairly standard offer that Fenrir made to foreigners. There was so much in abundance in aelheim that hardly anything really cost anything. And if it did, it was fairly trivial to accumulate large amounts of valuable things to trade simply by letting a few hundred years pass. Other races could slave away for a lifetime to accumulate what would amount to mere pocket change for an aelf.

WC: 841

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A small smile appeared on Fenrir’s lips. “The number of sets we’re willing to order is as many as you’re able and willing to provide. Consider this an open contract – we desire more than you could possibly give us, so we are reaching out to a great many smiths. If you ever find yourself out of gainful employment, you can make things for us. If you have something better to do… by all means, prioritize those. As for the designs, so long as they will fit the specifications provided, you can make them look however you like.”

Fenrir had a thousand worker treants that would eventually be used as soldiers. They all could do with some armor and it was going to take a very, very long time to protect them properly.

“I see, you wish to make a name for yourself. That is a good goal to have. Perhaps you will attract the attention of an aelf with your craftsmanship and move on from bulk orders to custom armor sets for their prized faelnir, or even for aelves themselves if you’re that talented. I believe this contract would be good for you either way. Your armor sets will be seen and I will make sure that people know who made them. I would not feel right, however, without giving you at least some form of official payment. It will take us some time to prepare, but we will give it to you when you make your first delivery.”

She tapped her fingers absent mindedly on the table then said, “oh, speaking of making a name for yourself, a faelnir hunt is coming up. If you’re unfamiliar, faelnir criminals are rounded up and set loose. AElves make sport out of it to see who can kill the most of them. I think it might be good entertainment if you joined in on the hunt. It would get people talking about you, and I have a feeling that you would do well... though I have no idea if you have something similar where you're from.”

WC: 1172

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Fenrir smiled at Arcaelum’s comment about her demeanor. Her disguise had served its purpose already so it was only a matter of time before she revealed who she really was. She made a mental note to do so next time they met. By the sounds of things, that didn’t sound too far away. It was also nice to see that he was receptive to the job she’d offered him.

“The faelnir that work in the fields are often unremarkable. Those who work directly under aelves tend to be a little… different. We tend to be more magical than the rest or have some special quality about us.”

“I won’t be participating, but my master will be. I’m sure they would appreciate a weapon for the event, but I haven’t come prepared with any particular requests. Besides, her style of fighting is heavily reliant on magic so she doesn’t need a weapon. As for the criminals, it depends. Any faelnir involved in the event knows that they are doomed. Some fight for their lives and others accept their fate. You never know what you’ll get.”

She took a deep sigh, thinking about how much she loved killing faelnir. Then she blinked and continued, “anyways, the nearest one to here will be on the 3rd of Summer. You’ve no obligation to join if you change your mind, of course. Now, shall I leave you to your work, or is there anything else you wanted to ask or clarify?”

1595

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Fenrir got to her feet and said, “I’ll leave you to it then.” She gave him one last smile before heading out. She had to think about what to give him for payment. Even if he did a poor job she wouldn’t feel right unless she gave him something. Alkahest was something she could easily give, but it felt like such a bland way to trade with foreigners. Plus she didn’t know if she could really trust that kind of power in his hands yet. She hadn’t much experience with this bear race which made her perhaps a tad overly cautious.

She went through the portal network to get back home. It was a fairly uneventful journey but it gave her time to think. She ended up thinking about other things she had in her possession that might be valuable to a bear. She had some transfigured dragons, maybe they could arrange for a transplant? Or maybe he wanted druidism? There was no way to tell which arcana the bear had for certain, though she suspected he had some kind of galdr. The aeris could be explained by the simple free spirited nature that someone that was willing to leave their home behind might have.

When she finally got home she wrote a couple letters. One proposed the option of giving him one of the aforementioned organs. Another detailed where to go for the faelnir hunt. It also listed out the various rules that he would be expected to follow so he wouldn’t go in blind. Part of Fenrir thought that it would be absolutely hilarious to drop him in with no knowledge of what was going on and even see him killed, but that part of her was very much dulled after her recent operation. Whereas before she might have gone out of her way to bring this series of events to fruition, she now merely chuckled at the thought and moved on.

With all that wrapped up, she sent one of her bird fetches back to him with the letters clutched in its claws. There was yet another letter that she wrote to the event organizers to inform them that there would be a bear man in attendance. AElves and faelnir alike would probably enjoy watching his antics.

1975