The first order of business the next morning was getting my armour from Medalie.
Though before that, I decided to make use of the iron tub in my inn room and clean myself of the dirt and muck that had accumulated through the fabric of my clothes. Bathing in this world was extremely tedious and time consuming. Most places didn't have cold water, never mind heated running water. This inn was no exception.
So what did you do? You went to the water pump out back and fill a bucket, and then you use the hob in the room to boil the water, over and over again, until you have enough to wash yourself in. To put it bluntly, I hated every second of it. All that backbreaking labour for lukewarm swill water in a dirty iron bowl, because the last guy that used it didn't take the time to clean it out before he left.
I sighed and cupped it between my hands, splashing my face and scrubbing away the sweat, grease and dirt. A simple rinse was good enough to fix the worst of it. After what was best described as a 'mildly adequate soak,' I hopped out of the tub and reached for the towel I'd placed on the bed. However, before I could properly cover myself, I heard the door handle turn. I'd forgotten to lock the door.
Cali strode in with all the confidence that I expected from her. She stopped dead, stared into my eyes, and then down to my chest, and finally at my exposed little buddy. A subtle twitch besmirched her face.
"Please knock."
Cali turned in place, left the room, and closed the door behind her. A second later I heard her pound it twice in succession.
"It's too bloody late to do it now!"
---
Cali did not mention 'the incident' for the rest of the day.
After getting dressed and preparing our supplies for the trip, we headed down to the forge where Medalie was working. We rounded the corner, and saw her anxiously waiting at the counter. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree when she spotted me approaching.
"There you are! I was thinking you ditched me with this stuff."
"I'm not stupid enough to pass up a deal like this," I said, following her around and into the back side of the store. A leather dummy had been moved into the courtyard, wearing the armour that she'd spent many blood and tears making. Just like Medalie had described, the darkened alloy that composed the helmet and chest plate had a case-hardened appearance. A spectrum of different colours spilled out from the dark surface like oil under light.
The helmet was an armet, a type of full cover that protect the head and face. It was composed of multiple pieces, a top half that covered the head and swooped outwards like a beak, and a lower plate that came up to meet it. I pulled it off the dummy and took a closer look. A long slit for the eyes was cut into the front. The interior had been inlaid with thick leather padding to make it more comfortable to wear. Several holes had also been punched through the front guard to allow me to breathe.
But Medalie had gone even further than that. She had even gone to the trouble of designing it with future inscription in mind. The swooping, elegant form of the helmet was designed to present as much surface area to the outside as possible, one of the key features of affixed armour.
"I didn't bother engraving it. Stormsteel is fantastic, but it's a total pig for gilding. You're gonna' need to find an expert for that."
My eyes bulged at the mere suggestion. "No, it's fine. Someone would try to steal it if it was engraved with gold." I lifted it up and slipped it on over my head. Normally an armet was very heavy – sacrificing mobility and visibility for all around protection, but the Stormsteel had lived up to the hype. It was no heavier than the pig-iron kettles the soldiers wore on the muddy battlefields beyond. The chest-plate was the same, comfortable, lightweight, well crafted, and tough.
I didn't look like a rogue anymore. Not with armour of this quality.
It would take some getting used to. It still restricted my vision to such a degree that I wouldn't want to wear it in a crowded area. I would have preferred to get in touch with my inner child and request something samurai-like, but nobody on the continent had any frame of reference for armour like that. If I wanted it, I'd have to find someone who'd listen to my request in detail. I wasn't going to heap such a complicated task onto a stranger.
Medalie laughed as I eagerly grabbed the chestplate and slipped it on. Again, it was so much better than what I was using before. I inspected both pieces to learn the full strength of them.
Medalie's Stormsteel Armet
Level 36 Exceptional Helmet
Strength Required – 47
Defence – 30
10% Speed Inhibition
Affix: [Empty]
Medalie's Stormsteel Chestplate
Level 35 Exceptional Chestpiece
Strength Required – 50
Defence – 47
10% Speed Inhibition
Affix: [Empty]
In total, they provided me with 77 points of effective defence, while only slowing me down by twenty percent. "This is amazing work," I cheered, "Much better than that old iron crap I was using."
Medalie hefted the old armour onto the table, "Can I take this?"
"Sure. It's not mine anyway."
Medalie didn't see an issue with that. She tossed it onto a pile of other discarded armour pieces in the corner, to be melted down and reused sometime in the future. I took the time to readjust my underclothes and chainmail so that they fit comfortably.
"Thank ya' kindly for letting me use that steel. Good materials are hard to come by in a town like this."
"Doesn't it have a trade port?"
"Sure. But do you think the big merchants are coming by the Rumbling Coast? This place is mad dangerous. Why risk it when there's safer harbour further down south? The ice flows in winter are brutal on a ship's hull too."
I looked down at my gear, "What about the gauntlets?"
"Sorry lad, didn't have enough steel to do that for you."
I sighed, "I'm heading out again today, I might just come back with a little more."
"If you do, I'd be right happy to get my hands on it again. Shouldn't take me more than a few hours for some arms and legs."
"Thanks. This is some good work. If I'm in the need for any more – you'll be the first woman I come to see."
She winked back, "No problem. Remember to tell all those jealous wankers where you got it from, yeah?"
---
We arrived at the keep ten minutes later. The circus going on outside told us that the party had already broken down into a severe spat over something. Adrian ran over to me and nearly fell to his knees in prayer, "Thank goodness you're here Ren. The Amendment have already caused a furore with the other mercenaries."
There were three white-robed scholars in attendance, all of them wearing light metal armour and helmets over their usual clothes. A familiar mercenary was screaming loudly at one of them, spittle flew from his mouth and threatened to land on him at any moment.
"You gutless pansy! I'd be sooner caught dead than taking orders from the likes of you."
"Would you like to take the issue up with the Duke? I'm sure he'd be amenable to replacing you with someone else."
"How long have they been going for?"
Adrian smoothed back his messy hair, "As soon as they arrived. The Amendment's representative implied that they wouldn't be paid as much as advertised."
"That'll do it. Mercenaries have the right idea – no coin, no work."
There was no better way to irritate a mercenary than not paying them. Do so at your own peril. They talk, a lot. Even the most weathered and experienced Japanese housewife could not hope to compare to the sheer volume of gossip that was passed between them on a daily basis. Even the rogues knew who was on the blacklist and who wasn't. If you screw people over they'll refuse to work with you.
I walked over and put myself between the two before they came to blows, "Alright, let's calm it down a little. We haven't even left the damn walls yet."
The mercenary, who I'd correctly clocked at the jovial man I'd spoken to at the tavern early during out stay, backed away with a dramatic finger point aimed at the scholar. "You better stay your tongue lad. You don't look like much of a fighter. Might just leave you behind to fend for yourself."
"Who's in charge of this shitshow?" I asked, "I'm here with Adrian."
A man broke through the crowd wearing a tabard of the blue, white and green of the Pascen Duchy over his plate armour. "I'm Captain Fernwell. The Duke has assigned me to lead this expedition to the northern territory."
"You just gonna' let them argue?"
He smirked, "I tend to find that getting it out early makes things easier later."
What a load of shit. They were ready to tear each other to shreds.
"While I understand that tensions between some of you are high, I must insist that you act with the same level of respect you might treat a stranger. We're going to be spending the next two days travelling together."
Adrian scarpered over and unfurled a large canvas map of Pascen. A red area had been outlined in quill and paint. "T-This is the location where the etheric pressure is unusually low. It's causing a huge disruption, and potentially attracting the giants to Pascen."
"This is deep in giant territory. A lot of them haven't been cleared out that far afield. Be ready for a fight, but don't go too hard all at once. This is a test of endurance. We'll be walking the whole way. I don't want to hear any more bickering once we step out of here. Everyone's getting paid the rate we advertised, no questions asked."
He turned to look at the two leaders. Who nodded in affirmation. I was going to regret going on this stupid job, I could feel it in my bones. Everyone double-checked their travel-bags before we left. Adrian pulled me aside, "Those Amendment fellows are going to be problematic. If not intentionally trying to sabotage this effort."
"I wouldn't put it past them."
"I'm certain. They're already planting seeds on conflict in the group. They'll try to split us apart and make this trip impossible."
In total there were three Amendment scholars, four of the Duke's guardsmen, and seven mercenaries. It was true that losing the mercenaries would be a major blow to our efforts to reach the cause of the unusual winds. That explained the Amendment's implication that they wouldn't be paid. If they walked – we'd have no chance of reaching the target area.
They were some dirty bastards, that's for sure.
But they couldn't 'out-dirty' me. I was a rogue. I'd seen every trick in the book and some that weren't. I shuffled over to the mercenary leader and removed my helmet so he could see my face. He recognized me.
"Ah! I didn't expect to see you here lad! I thought you weren't in the merc business?"
I laughed, "A few things happened between there and here. I'm Ren."
"Marcus," he responded in kind.
I lowered my voice so the Amendment couldn't hear me, "I'm here on behalf of Adrian and Benadora. They're trying to get rid of all these giants stomping around."
"Can't say I'm happy about the work going away, but the Duke's offering a King's ransom to make this happen."
"Just keep in mind, they have an interest in making this mission a failure. But the only thing they can do is throw words."
Marcus grimaced. "I'd worked with people like this before. I'm not feeling good about this lad."
"I'm a rogue, remember? There's nothing they can do that I haven't dealt with before."
"A rogue? Your armour's better than mine!"
"I guess that description isn't so fitting anymore. You know what they say though, once a rogue always a rogue."
"I'll keep an eye on them," he assured me, "and once we're out there – we're not turning back. I never start a job I don't finish."
Captain Fernwell finally gave us the signal to start moving. Cali and Adrian fell in line behind me as we left through the keep's gate, out into the wilderness.