Excited about learning more of a skill, Von hurriedly walked to the smithy. Arriving at the Wyvern's Scale Armory, there were two others within closely examining the armor and shield. Obvious was Grimdon's stout form, but there was another gentleman as well. Standing tall and lean, his elven heritage evident in his pointed ears and graceful stature. He had silver hair cascading down to his shoulders, partially obscured by the dark hood of his intricately embroidered cloak. The man's eyes, a deep shade of violet, exuded an intensity hinting at the depth of his knowledge in both blacksmithing and the arcane arts. Due to his height, he was quite imposing as he stood above all others in the room.
The third person examining the armor and shield was a female dwarf, whose stout frame and weathered hands revealed years of dedicated craftsmanship. Her fiery orange beard, adorned with intricate braids and singed toward the bottom, framed a face marked by the wisdom of a seasoned artisan. Clad in sturdy work attire and a leather apron, she carried an air of both strength and warmth. She also exhibited a hearty laugh as she examined other goods within the smithy.
Looking a little confused with the newcomers, Von said, "Grimdon, I've returned like I said. Monica will be along by midmorning. Is there any more work I can do with the tanning? It seemed like an interesting job, and I still haven't fully decided on an apprenticeship for when I get home. I'd like to learn more, if I can."
"Good morning, boy. I never did catch your names, but yes, there is plenty more for you to learn about tanning. I will have one of my apprentices show you in a moment."
"Von, sir. Von Zupan, my mother is Maude, and my father is Zhelimir. My friend is Monica Cooper." He replied.
"Naming your parents. You have respect for your lineage. Very good, Von," exclaimed the dwarven woman with a smile. "I am Vorolen Battleborne, daughter of Boren Battleborne, and Vara Hearthcrafter. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance." She chuckled as she bowed. "How be it that you came across this armor and shield?"
Von explained how by sheer luck while traveling through the bog, Monica saw something shiny and picked it up and they slowly searched the area and found the chest of the goods.
The muscular elf nodded his head before saying, "for something salvaged from the bog, it's an incredible find. The shield is made from a metal called orichalcum. It is extremely rare, and almost never worked. It requires dragon blood, gold and true mithril to create. A lot of magical essence is needed to forge such metal. While it is possible for Vorolen and me to smelt it, true dragon's blood, not wyvern or some smaller creature's, is quite difficult to come by." The two other smiths heads moved up and down deeply in agreement.
"Then we come to the gauntlets. Each of them is infused with protection magic. They are meant to both enhance the remainder of the armor one is wearing and provide resistance to elemental spells attacks. The level of the gauntlets is only of that of an item created with an uncommon demon heart, but together with the hauberk, which has been enchanted against beast poison attacks, the armor is fairly formidable. Once the shield is included, with its enhancement to absorb some spells then use the absorbed spell to increase the magical energy and spell power of the wielder's spells, this set becomes extremely formidable. It is very likely; this armor was used by one of the Defenders of Yendora." Seeing the confused look on Von's face, the tall elf explained, "the Defenders of Yendora are great wizard-knights who defend this kingdom against all threats. To locate a lost set of armor, even of this low quality, would be a major boon to the kingdom worthy of a more than fair reward."
Von felt lost, "Yendora? I come from Milltown in Blackstone barony, in the duchy of Iztok, which is one of the greater duchies of Khehep kingdom."
The three smiths looked at Von as though he had grown an extra limb on the spot. Finally the dwarf woman said, "Khehep? The little village in the north?"
"No, Khehep is the kingdom. Marsgate is the capital."
Squinting their eyes as if Von were trying to prank the three, they all looked as though the world turned upside down. Finally, the elf spoke. "You're sure, Von? Khehep is just a small human village about a day's ride south of the valley beast fissure and Marsgate is a camp on the map where the geomancer Rose Mars raised up a tiny tower of land to defend against the greenies that encircled her platoon back a dozen years or so. Are you mistaken?"
"I am certain. I learned it because I want to be a knight. Rose Mars created the plateau during the great war against goblin kind. Over twenty thousand goblins, hobgoblins, and trolls died trying to destroy the forces of the old kingdom which took refuge on the plateau. After the defense of Mars' camp, they became their own town, which eventually broke away from the old kingdom about two thousand years ago only to be conquered by the Moonrise elves under the elven warrior queen about a century later. Later, after the great rift opened at the edge of the forest, they left the area and went east to Tall Trees which is why there are so few elves around except in the bigger cities."
The three looked at each other again before Vorolen asked, "If I show you a map, can you tell us where you are?"
Knowing he had a little skill in reading a map, but without some way of orienting it properly, it might not be perfect depending on how large an area it encompassed, Von replied, "I can't say exactly, but I can show you where Bonechill Bog, Marsgate, Milltown, and a few other places are."
"Oren, do you still have the map of Yendora your daughter drew before she left?"
The now solemn elf said, "I shall head home and return with prior to midday, if my wife is about it could be in as little as two hours."
Since there was time before the older smith would return, Grimdon asked one of his apprentices, a girl slightly older than Von, if she would mind showing Von how to continue the tanning process. Of course, the dutiful apprentice would never say no. Asking Von to follow her, they went back again to the building at the far end of the property. Walking past the area where he spent most of yesterday fleshing, through the room with the vats of water, to an area where there were twenty large vats, at least some of them containing what smelled to be urine. The vats on this side still had the furry fleshed hides in them.
"Hi, I'm Lisa," she said in a loud rough voice.
"Hi Lisa. My name is Von. Does it always smell like that in here?" asked Von.
She bounced her head up and down, with her eyes wide in acknowledgement. "Yes. The worst part of the job is the smell. I've been an apprentice for a year, and I still can't get used to the way it stinks in here. Even though I've been apprenticed for a year, I am still the newest apprentice, so I still work with turning the pelts to leather because Master Grimdon says it's cheaper to do it himself. Basically, it gives him something to keep the new apprentices busy and wear down our energy, and he doesn't have to pay for what he can make for almost free."
"Besides this, leather is an important part of armor as it holds most of it together. It provides padding to keep it from rubbing the wearer's body and pinching it. It also provides a little extra protection behind the metal when someone wearing it gets hit. Because most of this leather is hidden under the metal, it doesn't have to look or be perfect. The leather workers have to make leather that not only functions well, but it has to look good because everyone will see it. This leather has to be sturdy enough to hold the armor together when it gets hit and soft enough to make the armor comfortable."
Pointing to the vats in front of her, she spoke again, "See the containers over here? They have urine in them. We use those vats to soak the leather because it helps to loosen the fur before we scrape it off. After it's soaked in there, we take the leather into the next room and use the dull knives to scrape all the fur off, although sometimes, we have to put it back in to soak longer. Once we've gotten all the fur scraped from the leather, we put it in the vats near the wall over there along with a little water, dog dung, and different brains from the butcher's that he gives us cheap. Then the fun part begins. We get to climb into the vat and then squish it around with our feet making it soft until it feels right. Master Grimdon calls this part 'puering.'"
Taking some large pieces of leather from the other room, she threw them into the "puering" vats. "Hey, Von. These Take off your boots and help." She asked as she removed her shoes. "It's a really satisfying and relaxing feeling as the brains and dung squish between your toes, just like at one of those spas with the magic foot massaging gels. The best part is we don't have to pay to do it!"
Von swallowed hard. Whether it was the smell getting to him, the huge breakfast not sitting right with him, or the thoughts of putting his feet and legs into a vat of dog dung and brains while it went between his toes, Von's stomach started to churn. Perhaps tanning wasn't a craft he wished to pursue. Felling a little queasy and looking a little pale in the face, he inquired, "aren't there any more pelts to flesh?"
"No, I got lucky. Yesterday someone came in and did the last four pelts, so I can do this instead. It's so much more fun." She then stepped over the edge of the vat and into the gross things within. "Come on in!"