Henga rolls her eyes, “I think I only met Bryn a couple of times. He was nice enough, but hardly ever spoke. I recall him stammering and staring into his cup a lot.”
“Bryn was always shy around females. I bet she had to order him to tell her,” Gendini grins. “I’d have loved to be a fly on the wall for that discussion.”
After some more chatter, everyone heads off to sleep. Emlyn doesn’t wake Henga with any new nightmares.
The next morning, as everyone’s sitting around after breakfast, Madil stops in front of the tavern and eyes it. It sounds fairly raucous, especially for so early in the morning, and Madil isn’t sure he’s got the right place until he hears Benger’s voice. “Hey, unhand my little sister. I don’t let Atres take liberties, and I’m certainly not letting you do it either.”
This statement is greeted with loud laughter, and shaking his head, Madil cautiously opens the tavern door. The tap room looks to be fairly full of a mix of humans and dwarves.
Uncertain as to what he’s walking into, Madil calls out to Benger. “Benger? By all the martyrs! What is going on?”
Spinning to face the door, Benger grins at Madil and waves him over. “You’re one of the first ones back. Come and let me fill you in. You’ve missed quite a lot.”
Looking back at the group, Benger asks, “Who wants chaperone duty for a bit?”
Loket grins and pats his axe haft, while making a shooing gesture at Benger. Benger nods and hauls Madil through the kitchen and out into the rear courtyard.
“What is going on? I thought I saw one of the King’s Guard in there. Is Nia in some trouble? Should we get Gethin or Ember?” Madil looks worried as Benger laughs.
“I’ll get to that in a bit, but no. Things are well enough at the moment, but it’s been an eventful break.” Benger fills Madil in, starting with the run-in with the bandits and ending up with rescuing Atres’s family from the guard post.
“Nia has a page now?” Madil asks, “Can the rest of us do that? I might want one myself. Be nice not to have to polish my own armor.”
Benger laughs hysterically. “Our orphan isn’t an orphan any longer. We’re going to go visit a Dwarven Taig, and your only question is, can you get your own page? Gods above, man. What’s wrong with you? Don’t you at least want to know how much the King’s Guard contract pays?”
Madil grins at Benger and shrugs. “If it pays well enough for you, it’s likely well enough for me.”
“Let Nia negotiate it for you. She’ll get you a better price than Argonath is willing to give.” Benger advises him with a grin.
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Returning to the chaos of the tap room, Benger raps on the table and makes introductions. Henga elbows Emlyn, and Emlyn nods.
Henga bats her eyes and twirls one of her braids as Benger introduces her. “So you’re Madil. Girlie’s told me quite a lot about you. Tell me, what is there to do around here for fun?”
Without waiting, Henga slips out of her seat and hauls Madil out of the tavern. Emlyn laughs and shakes her head as Benger looks on, puzzled.
Benger mouths, “What was that?” at Emlyn.
Emlyn gives Loket a significant look and flashes him a hand sign, “Later.”
Benger nods and lets it drop. Soon, the raucous atmosphere takes over again. Pranks, jokes, and stories abound until Atres shows up to take Emlyn to poke through the King’s Guard armory a bit more. Benger, Oso, Rilgi, and Usurg decide to accompany them. Atres leads them into the lower levels to a different storage area, this time, and turns Emlyn loose to prowl among the shelves. These are all larger weapons, such as swords and staffs, along with some occasional pieces of armor.
Emlyn prowls around, stopping here and there to pick things up and examine their construction. At other times, she stops and picks up a weapon to test it.
Usurg looks at Atres, “What’s she looking for?”
Atres shrugs, “Anything that might help against Divaros. We’ve found one thing so far, but there’s a whole level of storage rooms on this floor and the one below it. We’ve only been through one room so far. If you want to know what any of this is or how it’s used, you should go ask her. Just don’t take anything without letting me know so I can get permission.”
Oso looks at him, and three men take off after Emlyn. “Have you found anything worthwhile? Anything that perhaps Argonath might let us have?”
“What sort of things do you need?” Emlyn asks, “I’ve seen some fairly decent armor that might fit.”
“We fight with wild animals a lot,” Usurg explains, “And the occasional bandits who think they’re going to raid us for food.”
Nodding, Emlyn thinks for a moment. “What are the conditions like there? Is it mucky in the summer and frozen in the winter?”
Usurg nods.
“So nothing too heavy to make you sink into the mud or the snow.” Emlyn nods, “I saw some nice leather armor a bit ago. Where did I see it?”
Emlyn wanders back down the aisle looking for the set of armor she passed.
“This will do to protect you against most teeth and claws, I think. Maybe not a bear or boar, but most anything else. With the right pole arm, you could even take on a bear or boar. I don’t see a pole arm like that here, but I can sketch something up that our smiths can make. Ah… here it is. Try this on and see what you think of it.”
“Are you sure this will stop a blade?” Rilgi asks.
Nodding, Emlyn explains, “This isn’t regular leather, it’s boiled leather. It’s soaked, heated, and treated with glue and wax before being left to sit in the sun for a time. It’s almost as tough as metal armor, but lighter. It requires a bit more care, but if you care for it properly, your grandchildren will be able to wear it. You need to oil it periodically and reapply wax if it gets scuffed. A full suit of this is approximately one-third to one-half the weight of full plate. The other option would be brigandine. Brigandine is between half and two-thirds the weight of full plate, but for that, I’d suggest you consult with Benger since that’s his favored armor. He’d be better suited to advise you on that.”
“What’s the difference between them?” Oso asks.
“The best protection comes from full plate. That will stand up to most anything you might encounter. It’s the most expensive, not only because of the materials, but also because of the work that goes into making it. It’s also, by far, the heaviest. It requires some skill just to move in it. It takes some time to learn to move properly while wearing it, but once you do, you can be surprisingly agile in it. You will need to have help to get into and out of full plate. You won’t be able to do it alone. Brigandine is made of plates riveted to a cloth or leather backing. It’s much less expensive than full plate, but requires a bit more care, both for the outside and the inner lining. You can get into and out of it by yourself, once it’s adjusted properly.”
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The Return of Madil: One of Emlyn's cohort-mates returns to find the Sleeping Gentleman in a state of "raucous chaos." He’s a bit slow on the uptake—worrying about polishing armor while everyone else is planning a trip to a Taig.
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Henga’s "Target": Henga immediately sets her sights on Madil, hauling him out of the tavern before he can even finish a sentence. Loket’s "Later" hand-sign to Benger suggests the fathers are well aware of Henga’s predatory instincts.
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The Armory Lesson: Emlyn takes the Valkis cousins (Oso, Usurg, and Rilgi) to the lower levels of the King's Guard armory. She gives them a technical breakdown on armor types:
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Boiled Leather: Light, tough, and grandchild-approved if you oil it.
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Brigandine: The middle ground (Benger’s favorite).
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Full Plate: The heavy-hitter that requires a "dressing assistant" and a lot of training.
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Bryn’s "Education": We find out that Emlyn likely forced her cousin Bryn—a notorious prude—to explain the "barracks language" she’s been using. Poor lad probably needed a stiff drink and a dark room afterward.
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The Tall Obstacle Rating: 4/5 Tankards.
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Review: He’s playing the supportive partner well, letting Emlyn show off her tactical knowledge to his cousins. He loses a point for not being able to explain what she's looking for, but gains it back for knowing exactly where the "big weapons" are kept.
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The Cousins: They are quick studies. They realize that mountain life (mud and snow) requires specialized gear. They’re lucky they have a General to help them shop.
The "Storm Crow" is making sure her new flock is well-armored. Shall we see if they find any artifacts worth singing about, or should I go check on Madil to see if he’s survived Henga’s 'fun'?
the Discord via this invite link.