28th of Cylus 721
A missive had arrived at Woe’s residence, informing him that the Glassblower’s Union house wished him to visit, and pay what he owed for the work he’d commissioned as well as pick up the pieces he’d ordered. While he was getting ready, throwing on a plain pair of leather trousers, a woolen tunic, and long coat over it all, he spotted a piece of parchment, jutting out from underneath his journal. Curious, he approached the desk and slipped the note out from under his book. There, it read in Fleaface’s crude language, a message addressed to him.
It informed him of Fleaface’s purchase and commission of a weapon for Woe. A whip made of a material he referred to as blooded leather. The old man had apparently used some of the excess coins that Woe lent him to set up his residence in Egilrun. It sounded a princely sum for just a leather whip… So Woe was curious about the properties of this ‘blooded’ leather.
Crumpling up the note, and tossing it into the embers of his hearth, he donned the sleeves of his long coat, and left through the halls of his house and out through the foyer.
The walk to the Glassblower’s Union Hall wasn’t far. It was located in a very central location just west of the Commercial hub of Egilrun. Better appointed than many of the other establishments within the town, the Union Hall was impressive enough on the outside, but inside vivid displays of stained glass, and marvels of glasswork stood on display.
Woe approached and was surprised to find the Master of the Union himself there. He nodded in greeting the Qi’ora. When the Master returned his gesture with a raised hand, displaying the silver nel of Sombran’s mark on his palm, Woe was given slight pause. He was one of Chamadarst’s Adored?
” Greetings, Mister Morandi. I am Master Muir-Cham-Pend.” Immediately what struck Woe was the strong Umaya accent of the Qi’ora master. It seemed obvious she was from elsewhere, probably Nashaki itself. Woe didn’t know whether to be intimidated or relieved to see someone who also belonged to Chamadarst’s chosen.
”Yes, Master. You do me the honor to meet me in person… I heard you have my items prepared for inspection?” Woe’s eyes trailed across the room, looking for signs of where they might be. The Qi’ora master drew his attention to several stands, over which were draped handkerchiefs of silk. The first one she lifted, revealing the shaded glasses that she’d fashioned for the mortalborn.
The shaded lenses were round, about an inch and a half in diameter, and wire-framed with bronze alloy. The pair of them had a one-piece half-frame that cradled the spectacles themselves from the bottom of the lenses and along the bridge. The material for the frame was carved from dark lacquered goat’s horn. The lenses at first glance were black and almost entirely opaque. Only upon putting them on one would see that while they reduced the glare of ambient light, and were entirely unsuitable for roaming around in the dark, they provided good visibility in the brightness of day. Similar to the half-frame cradling the lenses, the temples and temple tips of the glasses were of the same bronze alloy wire, reinforced with dark lacquered goat’s horn.
In short, they were exquisite, and Woe definitely wanted to own them for himself. However, never one to settle for the first shiny object to catch his eye, he nodded to the Master, to reveal the second piece. He was happy with the work of the first, but felt they were a little too fanciful for his tastes, with the oddly shaped goat-horn frame, cradling the lenses.
Muir-Cham-Pend revealed the next set of glasses. And these were much more to Woe’s taste.
The second pair of spectacles was also about the same dimensions as the first. An inch and a half in diameter, round with bronze wireframes. These resembled goggles, however, more than shaded bifocals, with a shallow tube-like siding on the outside of each lenses frames. The material was a lighter color of bronze, with lacquered goat horn reinforcing the temples and temple tips. The lenses were black, entirely opaque to the naked eye, but when worn allowed a comfortable level of visibility in sunlight and bright light. It reduced ambient sources of glare, but rendered a dim-lit room to near full darkness.
After thinking it over, he decided to get both pairs. It never hurt to have a spare set of shades, if one of them was misplaced or broken. He took them in hand and was pleased to see that the temples of the glasses folded into themselves, at a joint on the far sides of the lens frames.
Muir-Cham-Pend cleared her throat, raising her hand with the silver nel marked upon it. Woe nodded to him and slipped a few onyx nels out of his satchel, holding them palm up for the superior Sombran to take. Thus was the bargain struck, and Woe was satisfied with his purchase, and has stoked the wheels of commerce in his new home.
Seeing as neither of them were sentimental nor prone to exchanging pleasantries, they bid each other farewell, and Woe left the Union hall.
From there, he took a turn down toward the less affluent part of town. Near the abandoned mills and pens that used to hold slaves and the lower class members of society. There was also a Tannery there, which just happened to be Woe’s destination. There, he met with a short, squat, but thoroughly unpleasant man. Mudge Tanner, his eyes yellow as brimstone, and his skin as leathery as the hides he worked every day, approached Woe from the onset. Having none of the social graces of the Master Muir-Cham-Pend, it was a switch for Woe to adjust to the difference in etiquette when it came to one such as Mudge.
Even so, old habits were hard to break, and Woe was painfully polite to the tanner. ”Good day, Tanner. Fargis Cutler ordered some items for me, and I’m here to pick them up.”
Mudge grunted, and spat a bloody wad of spittle on the ground before snorting and turning on his heel. Woe followed some distance behind him. Not too far but not too close either, lest his olfactory senses receive the full wake of the man’s stench.
The exchange was painful, but short. And Woe had to pay the price for the whip. He examined it first, of course, but his grifter’s eye would’ve informed him if the Tanner wished to cheat him. Therefore, he didn’t question too heavily the man’s workmanship. In truth, it was probably the best whip of it’s kind that Woe had personally seen. And he’d seen quite a few in his day.
The whip's embersteel handle is fashioned in the shape of a scorpion's tail, with a small cross-section at the top of the hilt that resembled a pair of claws, and the tail curled around in a sort of knuckle-bow, guarding the hand. The metal-covered a handle of woven blooded leather strips, red as crimson that formed a coil around four feet in length, ending in a thinner fall that extends another two feet. The fall was laced with little jagged caltrops of embersteel, tied to the core of the fall. There were about eight caltrops in total along the end of the weapon.
Woe paid him what was owed, almost gagging as he got close enough to the man to breathe the same air. A princely sum for a man such as this, but then, Woe suspected there was a conceit to the way the man presented himself. Mudge was an interesting if a reticent man.
Before Woe could leave with the whip, however, the tanner stopped him with a tap on his shoulder. ”You forgettin somefing. Fargis bought a hat fer yer. Pay up, and it’s yours.”
A hat? Woe hadn’t asked Fleaface to acquire any such trivial things. Was this a joke? He turned around, and saw the product that Mudge was now pushing on him.
It was a wide-brimmed, black hat, fashioned from blooded leather. Scuffed and beaten up, and showing signs of distress on the surface of its material through the reddened leather beneath the dye job. A thin leather chinstrap hung underneath the cap, preventing it from blowing off the head and allowing it to hang on the neck if the wearer wished.
”Onyx Nel for the hat. Good price.”
Woe almost scoffed. How good could the hat really be, a hat was a hat? To be worth an entire onyx nel? It was unheard of. Yet, Woe wanted out of there, and it appeared he’d have an argument if he wouldn’t purchase that as well. In the end, his disgust with this place and its stench overruled his frugality. He ended up paying the tanner for the hat as well.
Mudge smiled, his brown teeth spreading into an ugly smile as his brimstone-colored eyes flashed in greed at the onyx he was now swimming in. Woe could only pity the courtesan who would share his bed tonight for those precious nels.
Woe left with all haste for his home again, to see if Gloom or Soraia knew how to wash the stench of tannery out of his clothing.
