"Yeah, me too," Tal said with maybe more feeling than he'd intended. Flora was often one of his most frustrating customers with her veiled threats and canny bargaining, but she was also one of his steadiest and most loyal. Somewhere along the line she'd become something suspiciously close to a friend, maybe, and besides, the Hanged Man had the best bar selection on Caido. So maybe he could pick something up for her today, too. Alys's present came first, of course! But then--
Boreal's antics distracted him from his explanation and he shot Soh a look of wounded betrayal at her teasing. He had been viciously attacked by a dragon, and this was the sympathy he got?? "You're lucky it's Deepfrost," he grumbled, trying to wipe the worst of the water off before it completely soaked into his clothes. "Or you'd be gettin' splashed, too! See how y'like bein' a wet owl..." But there wasn't much feeling behind his complaints as he led the way up the stairs and onto the deck of the boat-turned-jeweler's forge. A rope had been strung to help people balance across the listed deck, leading to a hatch that was open near the port stern. Smoke puffed out from the steering cabin, apparently vented up from below, and Tal gave himself a final shake before heading down the stairs to the interior of the ship.
At least the floor of the deck below had been rebuilt to be a flat surface, and apparently reinforced to hold the small forge and workshop that now filled the hold. Two apprentices were tending the forge and cleaning the equipment while a journeyman bent over a table with a loupe over his eye, tongue sticking out as he carefully cut a gemstone for a ring that lay on the planks by his elbow. A mature woman of indeterminate age with snow-white hair oversaw the work while she made precise strikes with a small hammer on a band of dull silver, bending it into a rounded form for a bracelet. Sharp blue eyes caught the motion on the stairs and she looked up at Tal and Soh without pausing her rhythm.
But it was one of the apprentices who hurried over to greet them, smiling shyly as they bobbed their head. "Hello, are you here to shop our finished pieces, or to commission a custom design?"
Boreal's antics distracted him from his explanation and he shot Soh a look of wounded betrayal at her teasing. He had been viciously attacked by a dragon, and this was the sympathy he got?? "You're lucky it's Deepfrost," he grumbled, trying to wipe the worst of the water off before it completely soaked into his clothes. "Or you'd be gettin' splashed, too! See how y'like bein' a wet owl..." But there wasn't much feeling behind his complaints as he led the way up the stairs and onto the deck of the boat-turned-jeweler's forge. A rope had been strung to help people balance across the listed deck, leading to a hatch that was open near the port stern. Smoke puffed out from the steering cabin, apparently vented up from below, and Tal gave himself a final shake before heading down the stairs to the interior of the ship.
At least the floor of the deck below had been rebuilt to be a flat surface, and apparently reinforced to hold the small forge and workshop that now filled the hold. Two apprentices were tending the forge and cleaning the equipment while a journeyman bent over a table with a loupe over his eye, tongue sticking out as he carefully cut a gemstone for a ring that lay on the planks by his elbow. A mature woman of indeterminate age with snow-white hair oversaw the work while she made precise strikes with a small hammer on a band of dull silver, bending it into a rounded form for a bracelet. Sharp blue eyes caught the motion on the stairs and she looked up at Tal and Soh without pausing her rhythm.
But it was one of the apprentices who hurried over to greet them, smiling shyly as they bobbed their head. "Hello, are you here to shop our finished pieces, or to commission a custom design?"
