Graded &nbsp; [Osun City] Forging for Tails

Regula

Regula felt tired. The debate with the council had been exhausting and uninspiring. Still, she had the feint hope that Highgrove would take her up on her offer to run a barony, so she decided to stick around in the capital to await news. It meant she had some free time on her hands, which had made her go to where she always went whenever she had some free time. The forge.

The forge used by the former smith working for Linneus was pretty different from what she used back at Rossle's place, but she was quick to get used to it. Besides, the sound of her hammer hitting the anvil and the cracking fire heating up the blast furnace was putting her mind at ease. It also distracted her from what she finally realised was happening to her back. Bone-like things had penetrating her skin, making it start to bleed, ache and hurt. However, she'd heard of this before. Some people had latent Aerial blood and grew wings. That had to be it, right? Either that, or she was getting deformed. She'd rather not think about the second option. It was just another reason to spent time smithing things without a real goal or purpose other than to keep her hands busy.

Orikanyo · Jan 7, 2023

Ko

Elvario

"...Tsk..." a young man with a gumpy look about him was fussing about... Sent off to learn the answer himself, oh yea sure he'd learn the answer to an impossible question! His master, Lord Tonbokiri, had posed this question to his entire dojo. Training would resume but none could best this question.

It was a simple question, one that had however many facets to it however. Many answers were given to the old fart...

But nine got it right, apparrently, even the guys who rapid fired answers... With a few good ones.

Master took them all in stride...

The question... Lay on Ko's mind like a lingering sickness that just wont be kicked.

So, he had wondered, from the Republic to the lands south, with narry a thing to his name and barely praise worthy skills.. He had sold his skills once or twice to get by, but it was always hollow and miserable work. He was strong enough to split wood, quick enough to run an errand... But nothing gave him this plaguing answer he sought... And he was running out of time, he hoped the old fart kept on kicking for a year or two so he can find it.

So, in search of an answer... And... A sword... Because he couldn't afford one at all, and lost the one provided by the school back at said school... He snooped around to try and find a smith. They would have an answer no doubt, he just haf to get it from them. Screw costs he was a warrior, above such things.

What was money to a warriors spirit!!

So, having found the workshop, he walked in with a serious look, ears perked up, yet still twitchy and a rather fluffy long tail that wagged with excitement. He would finally have the answer to the question!

"Smith! What is a sword?" He shouted into the room, putting a metaphorical cart he could never affird before a horse that was far beyond his means.

Blackrose7 · Jan 8, 2023

Maria Kemple
Interaction: N/A
Mention:

Elvario |

While Regula and Ko were doing their thing at the forge. There was a mermaid exploring the country of Sol in a wheelchair for some reason. They also had a wooden bucket filled with water on her lap, and were receiving weird looks from the land folks. However, Maria didn’t mind their reaction towards her. She knew she would have done the same thing if a land folk explored within her environment.
‘This is so exciting, and I wasn’t expecting the surface world to be so fascinating to look at.’ Maria was thinking about that because of her excitement.
As for how they managed to get from Ryken to Osun. Maria took a bunch of pit stops during her trip down the rivers, since she wasn’t as fast as those deep sea mermaids. They even made seaweed cookies along the way, as it was very nutritious to eat it.

Eventually, Maria made her way towards the forge; Ko and Regula were in. Her curiosity about what was inside of that building got the better of her, and it didn’t help how her ears could pick up on the hammer’s banging noise. She entered the forge in her wheelchair without knowing about the heat problem, and when they noticed how hot it was. Maria immediately [TRANSFORM] into her temporary human form, looked around the place for a bit, and then used her wheelchair to leave the forge once her curiosity was satisfied.

Upon exiting the forge, Maria took the cup of water from the wooden bucket on her lap. She knew her gills were going to be dry from the stunt she did, so they were getting ready to do their moistening the gills ritual.
‘Why is that building so hot to be in, and I am so glad to have my transformation skill. That situation would have been dangerous for me.’ Maria couldn’t help herself from thinking about that, since the heat would have negatively affected a mermaid like her if she were to stay there for a bit longer.

Ability used:
Human Form: Maria gains the ability to have legs and lungs exchanged for her gills and mermaid tail in order to look like a human. Duration: One post aka this post lol.

conman2163 · Jan 8, 2023

Retili Loxinofican

Location: Country of Sol Capitol

Retili had spent his time after the meeting contemplating what to do. He was not a terribly important asset to his former master he knew, so he doubted if any in the Ryke would pay attention to a simple scribe slipping through the cracks to return to wherever he came from. He had some money from his time here so he could set back out on the road again to travel more. After the time he had spent here learning the land and struggling for its people somehow that idea left a taste like ash in his mouth. He could serve the new Count if Highgrove wasn't executed by the King of the Ryke for treason too, but his blatant disregard and obvious power grab also left Retili with little regard for the man. Additionally, given his clear disdain for those of a lower class making it to higher positions Retili felt like the man would not appreciate a commoner and a foreigner giving him any of kind of advice. That would make it awfully difficult to advance in any position. In the end he decided he would need to find a new leader to follow.

The only one he knew who had any prospect of being a new leader was Regula. If she gained a position as a baroness, she would need good advisors and courtiers to begin her journey up the long spindly ladder of the nobility. If she was of noble blood all the better. So long as she didn't get herself executed, he would be better off than here he figured. So he had made his way about the place enquiring where she had gotten off to. It hadn't taken long. A servant said she had seen her take off to the forge. Retili followed in the footsteps of the former order member and opened the door to the forge, passing by a woman who immediately made her way to a chair with wheels and a bucket. How curious. He stepped past the threshold and into the forge. The heat blasted him immediately and he found himself removing his veil and hood. It was good to talk one to one anyways and the cowl would just get in the way of that. He stepped past the beast-kin and folded his arms to wait. He didn't want to interrupt Regula and this beast-kin speaking.

Elvario · Jan 9, 2023

Forge in Osun, Capital of Sol Count(r)y.

Mentions: Retili

conman2163 | Ko

Orikanyo | Maria

Regula

Regula had been looking for some time alone, but what she got was rather different. Then again, all the breakers of solitude had their own ways of distracting her from her troubles. The first of them started off by making her face her biggest weakness, a very fluffy looking tail. She almost forgot to listen to his question, as her eyes were fixated on the quickly swaying appendage. She blinked twice and thought things through thrice, before realising his question was likely just a translation error. “Ah, I'm afraid I didn't set the prices here, let me check.” She said, assuming the 'what is a sword' was meant to be 'what costs a sword' or something similar. “There you go.” She said, finding the owner's price list. “I'm technically only here to keep my mind from wandering, but I'm sure the owner won't mind someone providing him free labour. What type of sword were you looking for?” She tried her best to stay casual, but her eyes would occasionally follow the sway of fluff.

There was a thing that did manage to break up her focus, however, which was a girl wheel-chairing in, running around and wheel-chairing out. “What...” She said, a bit puzzled by what she just witnessed. “Eh, miss, did you need something?” She called out, looking through the open door towards the odd visitor. She'd been too distracted by the fluff to observe them from up close, but something about her looked odd. Besides, why did she use a wheelchair to get in and out even though she could run around inside of this place? That was definitely a shady customer. Or, worse, some sort of thief?

Before she could further question her, another person joined. The scribe, she recalled him to be. For a second, she deemed his time to be terribly inconvenient, then she figured it was the opposite. “Ah, Retili, do me a favour, check what the customer out front wants whilst I'm helping this sir, will you?” A set of free-eyes to set upon the wheelchair using source of shadiness meant she could keep her own ones upon the fluff for a bit longer.

Orikanyo · Jan 9, 2023

Ko

"...What...?" Ko cocked his head to the side, his tail falling straight, unsure exactly why she wasn't answering his question. "Lady i'm asking- Wait your not the smith? But your in the smith and smithing? Gaaah these ryken smiths make no sense don'tchyea even have a master!?" The man's ear twitched in frustration, growing in frustration.

"What is a sword then! Its a question! Come on its simple for a smith right? If yea are one just tell me so I can tell the old man!" He continued to stack yet another cart befote the horse, before spying the pricings...

"...Wait a sec... Prices like these...? What kinda smith even works here!? Cheap grade..? Buying pre-made!?" He spied a sword or two on rungs or sheathed but hung up for display.

"What kinda smith just hangs his works around like herring at a FISH MARKET!?" He barked, getting excited again as he turned away from Tegula, the tail swishing tantilzingly in her direction. The poofy yet droopy fur swished against cloak and cloth, it seemed... He wasn't exactly in bad spirits even if his words wete harsh.

conman2163 · Jan 9, 2023

Retili Loxinofican

Blackrose7
Location: Country of Sol Capitol

Retili blinked twice while he was distracted momentarily by what he also assumed was a failure in translation. The accent of the man was strange, but not out of place. He also had an odd way of phrasing things that seemed... unnecessarily lacking detail. He quickly figured from context clues though that it wasn't prices the man was asking about, but a metaphor or some philosophical nonsense like that. He breath a sigh out his nose, but nodded when Regula asked him to take care of the woman out front. It wouldn't be that hard, right? He walked back out the door to the front, only to be confused. The woman was not a human anymore. Or at least she wasn't half of a human anymore. He had never personally encountered any merfolk before. He knew they existed but his travels had never taken him close enough to large bodies of water that might hold any populations of them. He cocked his head to the side as he examined her with her bucket. "Er... is there something I could help you with? Perhaps you were looking to buy something?"

Blackrose7 · Jan 9, 2023

Maria Kemple
Interaction:

conman2163
Mention:

Elvario
Location: Country of Sol Capital

Maria heard what the lady in the forge said, thanks to the heightened sense (hearing) skill through her fin ears. However, she didn’t respond to them, because they would have confused the land folk even more if they knew what she was doing. ‘Yep. I shouldn’t have entered that building, because now I am just confusing the poor land folk with my shenanigans.’
There was regret within Maria’s thoughts, as she didn’t know it was a forge to begin with.

After her transformation skill had faded, Maria took a cup of water out from her wooden bucket to soak her gills. This was to prevent them from being dry, because she could stay in the surface world as long as she kept doing this with her gills.
While that was going on, some guy with pale skin and yellow eyes approached the oblivious mermaid, who focused on keeping her gills wet.
In fact, this poor mermaid didn’t know he was there until he opened their mouth to say something to her. It caused Maria to flinch within her wheelchair because of his accidental stealth towards her.
“Oh hello there, and I am sorry if you saw me entering and then leaving that building for a weird reason. I was just curious about it, since I lack the experience of the surface world.”
Once she said that to the stranger, Maria put the cup back into the wooden bucket once her gills were wet enough. They then used the bucket to cover the embarrassment on her face.
‘I really am an idiot for doing this, and no wonder my parents kept me away from the land folks. My kind is going to confuse them with our existence alone.’
The regret was still there in her mind.

Elvario · Jan 11, 2023

Forge in Osun, Capital of Sol Count(r)y.

Mentions: Retili

conman2163 | Ko

Orikanyo | Maria

Regula

Regula watched the tails sway as she tried to make some sense of her customer. Wait, was it a customer when she was technically just volunteering here? She actually needed to think about his question, which didn't bode well. “Well, I'm definitely a smith, but I'm indeed not the smith in these parts. Also, I used to apprentice under a Dwarf named Rossle, but those days are long behind me.” She sad, actually feeling a tad bit insulted that she was assumed to still have a master at this point in her career.

His repeated question made her think for a while, until she sighed. “I can tell you what a sword is to me, but I doubt that'd mean much to you. To me a sword is just a tool I make and use, something needed to get things done. However, I'm fairly sure you'll want to figure out what a sword is to you, or something like that? Are you the kind of hero wanting a sword to protect the innocent, to avenge the fallen? The kind of guy to just want a sword as a extension of his own skills or to see it as a noble weapon needed to become a master at wielding?” She theorised aloud. “There's nothing worse than customers who request a hand-tailored blade, but can't even tell what they'll be using it for. Some knightly defenders will want sturdier blades used for parrying, whilst some aggressive advance troops might want thinner and sharper blades. Meanwhile, the average adventurer that works solo would want something versatile to handle both.”

She shrugged a bit when he went over the prices. “I personally don't tend to sell pre-made things either, but I guess the smith here normally mass-produces for most of the guards, where it's good to have a relatively standard weapon for everyone to unify training procedures a bit more.” As she spoke, her eyes kept being glued to the swishing fluff. “Tell you what, if you buy a cheap pre-made one, I'll reforge it into something worthy, assuming you can tell me what you'll need.” She was getting more and more distracted by the ~~S-grade seduction efforts~~ fluff, which was why she continued into her next sentence without really intending to verbalise those thoughts. “I would like to be reimbursed by letting me pet that fluff...”

She stopped when she realised those words were definitely not in her mind. Well, they were in her mind, but not solely there, they were also echoing across the smithy. Way to go Regula. Way to becoming know as a weirdo before even making it to baroness. Still... so fluffy. Her heart and mind were battling it out and she was caught in the middle, unsure of which one to follow.

It's why she gladly used a bit of an excuse, which he offered when he mentioned weapons just hanging around. “That's right!” She said, instantly latching onto the excuse. “I should check if that woman from before didn't end up stealing something, I'll eh, be right back with you!”

She said, putting her tools down and stepping outside, only to be met with. “A mermaid..?” She asked aloud, as the gills and other fishy aspects were tough to ignore. She looked to Retili and back to the mermaid again. “Were you the one that was just running around in the smithy..?” It felt like a silly question, considering this person clearly couldn't run around, yet considering this was the person Retili was talking to after being asked to question the intruder, it was the most reasonable option, right?

Blackrose7 · Jan 11, 2023

Maria Kemple
Interaction:

Elvario
Mention:

conman2163
Location: Country of Sol Capital

While Maria was waiting for the strange guy to respond; her fin ears picked up on the footsteps coming out from the forge. Wanting to see who it was, the shy mermaid known as Maria took a peek behind the wooden bucket she was using to cover their face.
It turns out that the voice she didn’t respond to before was a human woman, and they seem to be confused by her presence as a mermaid. ‘Have these land folks never seen a mermaid on land before? Because we can do this if we soak our gills properly, and use a wheelchair to move around.’
Her thoughts were also showing the same confusion as the human lady, since she knows how the mermaids can do this if they have the proper set-up for their trip to the surface world.

The human woman then asked her if she was running around in the smithy once their confusion towards her being a mermaid was gone. That caused Maria to go back to hiding behind the wooden bucket she was still holding in front of her face. Her embarrassment towards this situation didn’t disappear, and this woman from the smithy only made it worse.
“I-I am sorry for snooping around in your building like that, Ms. land folk. I was only curious about it and wasn’t aware of how hot it was going to be. I had to bail out from what you called a “smithy” in my human form, so I wouldn’t become so dry from the heat in there.”
The poor mermaid’s fin ears were lowered after their confession, as she was ashamed for messing around in the land folk’s building without knowing what it was to begin with. ‘Is Ms. land folk going to punish me? I only wanted to know what was in the smithy building, since I had never been in one before.’
Maria was still guilt tripping herself over their innocent mistake, because of how much trouble she was causing for these land folks.

Orikanyo · Jan 11, 2023

Ko

"Ah man... Someone already gave that answer..." the dog man wilted, lookng disapointed by it, despite the wordyness. "The old fart said it was a good one, but not the answer..." the boy grumbled before considering the woman ahead of him for a good solid second... Regula would not feel any magic working, as one might if appraisal was used... But he seemed to seeing into her all the same.

Though it was mostly from behind since she was focused elsewhere... Hmm... She had a nice form... Good frame... Yes...

Definitly a warrior!

He approved of this smith!

...Wait what was she looking at.

"Yea so I need a sword and stuff-" he paused when he followed her and observed the fishy... person...? Fishperson. Smithy? Never been inside one?

"She a friend o yers? Don't look lke she got a leg tah stand on."

conman2163 · Jan 12, 2023

Retili Loxinofican

Blackrose7
Location: Country of Sol Capitol

Retili cocked his head to the side as the merwoman raised a bucket in front of her face to hide. It was like she was embarrassed or afraid for some reason. He resisted the urge to comment about how she had even made it to this point. After all, to his knowledge the castle had plenty of stairs and not a lot of ramps about. Even odder was that she was even in a position to wonder around the castle in the first place. He might have said something to the guards if he wasn't going to resign from his post in Osun soon anyway. He looked right as Regula appeared beside him and he realized she had just said something awfully strange... "Sorry, did I just hear you say you want to be reimbursed by petting fluff?" A look of bewilderment adorned his face.

Elvario · Jan 12, 2023

Forge in Osun, Capital of Sol Count(r)y.

Mentions: Retili

conman2163 | Ko

Orikanyo | Maria

Regula

Regula was getting increasingly intrigued by this mermaid in front of her. “That's alright, it's not my building to begin with, I'm merely working there for a bit.” She said, although she did use [Appraisal C] on the mermaid just in case. A beast, a 'shallow water' mermaid a warrior and a sword apprentice. “Shallow water...” That part was a bit odd to her. Were there different types of merfolk just based on the depth of the water? Either way, that wasn't the most important for now. “Although if you run in and out of places like that, people are going to think you might be a thief or something. I'd suggest you hold back a bit next time, to make sure there are no more misunderstandings.”

With that said, she was a bit curious of her own. “I've never met a mermaid before though, so it's nice meeting you. Ah, I'm Regula, by the way.” She said, the very delayed introduction being aimed at both the mermaid and Ko.

On the topic of Ko... Considering he'd been staring her down, she'd stare right back. Although she did use [Appraisal B] on him. He too, was an apprentice swordsman. Also a beast and a wolfman, but those two were pretty expected. One of the reasons being the tail. The really fluffy tail. The really fluffy that was still swaying around just a bit away from her. Between her desire to pet the fluff and her curiosity towards the mermaid, her eyes kept wandering between the both of them.

That was, until Retili called her out. “Yes.” She said, without thinking things through. “I mean no.” Wait, yikes. “I mean, maybe?” She'd dug her own grave already. Great. “Just... don't mind it. It's for ehh...” Educational purposes? Experimentation? Research? She really didn't have a single excuse, did she? “It's personal.” Yes, that it was. A personal issue, perhaps. Either way, she was desperate to change the subject back around again.

“So! Sir, you were looking for a sword, right? What type of sword would you be looking for? I can reforge one of the standard ones for you, but I'll need to know your preferences in how its weight its balances and its length, size, type of hilt and the likes.” Yes, that'd work. Ah, she could even add on to that. “Ah, I think our merfriend here is a swords-woman, so perhaps she knows the answer to your master's question?”

B Grade CD's (0/4)
Appraisal B
C Grade CD's (0/3)
Appraisal C

Orikanyo · Jan 12, 2023

Ko

"...Nah likely not..." in regards to the mermaid, he didn't exactly expect her to have an answer beyond what the white haired woman said. "...I'm Ko, by the way. As for a sword I am by in large most familiar with a single edged blade, and usually desire a longer more reaching blade, guard doesn't matter in style it simply needs to work. A proper sword... No need for any speacial materials, they go to waste with an amateur."

they way he spoke of even his own abilities were rough and to the point. "Simple blade, hopefully you will not gouge me for price for something simple as that." he observed the pricing, but.. What she would consider which on that pricing scale was unknown to him... He.. heard something odd... Earlier when they were all speaking, but willfully ignoring it to check out this woman's backside... Err...

Her warrior's spirit, came first. She wasn't a swordsman from what he could gather.. he hands lacked the calluses from it, but showed from smithing work.

She also had hips that could kill a man but that was besides the point.

"...Don't got much cash.. Whatchyea want for this?"

conman2163 · Jan 13, 2023

Retili Loxinofican

Blackrose7
Location: Country of Sol Capitol

Retili continued to give her an odd look as he studied Regula. A rare smile touched his lips. "Right, yes, no, maybe, it's personal." He parroted back at Regula. "I definitely believe you. No need to dive into personal proclivities. Everyone has their tastes I suppose." He turned and studied the merwoman once again, mostly because he was certain Regula wouldn't want to continue the topic at all. The scribe decided he would file the information away for future use though. Perhaps it would be useful to know that his perspective employer had such tastes. Then he put the thought out of his mind. He turned to look once again at the Beast-kin instead. The man was still talking about swords, though at least he had finally gotten around to saying what it was he was actually there for. He frowned when the man said he didn't have much cash though. "It might be a bit of a different situation where you are from, but in Sol people pretty typically expect to get money for their work. Though perhaps-" He cast a funny look at Regula. "Perhaps it won't be such a problem in your case specifically."

Blackrose7 · Jan 13, 2023

Maria Kemple
Interaction:

Elvario |

Orikanyo
Mention:

conman2163
Location: Country of Sol Capital

A mild annoyance appeared on Maria’s face when Mr. Fluffy Butt mentioned her mermaid situation of having no legs. This got her to use their transformation skill right in front of his face out of pure spite. “Who are you calling no legs now, Mr. Fluffy Butt? Just because I am a mermaid doesn’t mean I can’t walk around on land like you guys. It's just that my transformation skill doesn’t last very long, so I have to be quick about what I want to do with it.”
The mermaid, who was now a blonde-haired human, was crossing their legs within her wheelchair after saying that. She had a smug look on their face, since she was knocking the land folks down a peg for judging her inability to be legless.
‘I thought the land folks would be smart enough not to assume someone’s skills just by their appearance alone. However, I seem to be wrong about that.’
Maria thought the land folks would be smart, because of the amazing stuff she keeps finding in the water. This, however, was proved wrong when they lacked the knowledge of the transformation skill by having to repeat herself three times.

The human woman known as Ms. land folk then told her how the building wasn’t theirs. She was there to work for a bit, but this caused Maria to tilt her head in their confusion. “What does work mean? I only know how to hunt for food, and collect lost land folk stuff.”
Maria knew how there were aquatic beasts, who were able to build their little underwater village known as Hecuibia, within Ryken’s river. But nobody told this poor naive mermaid how important it is to learn how to do a job.
Upon replying that to the human; the next thing that came out of her mouth annoyed Maria, because they knew what kind of mermaid she was. “Excuse me, but did you just use a skill on me to see if I was lying? That was rude of you, since I just told you why I was snooping around in the smithy. I only wanted to know what was in there, and I had no intention of taking something precious from a land folk like yourself. Especially when I had no clue what was in there to begin with.”
The mermaid in their human form stops crossing her legs, so she can cross her arms instead. As for where the wooden bucket is; they put it on the ground, since she can pick it up by the handle.

Ms. land folk told Maria afterwards of how people would mistake her for being a thief or something from their point of view. It got the poor mermaid to feel bad about her behavior, because they didn’t know what they did was wrong. “I promise it won’t happen again. Even though, that smithy place was way too hot to be in.”
Maria became curious upon realizing what she had just said, since she thought the land folks would die from the heat. “Which begs the question, how are you land folks not dead from the heat? Wouldn’t it make your skin so dry that it would prevent you from breathing?”
Although, Maria was in her human form at the moment. They don’t know how the human body can endure the heat like this. She only knows how it can help her escape from the dangerous heat problem.

Regula introduced her name, and it got her attention why she said they never met a mermaid before. “I am not surprised if you haven’t met one of us before, Ms. Regula. Mermaids are skittish towards the land folks, because of how dangerous they are. However, we are willing to rescue a drowning land folk, due to us feeling bad for them.”
Once Maria said that to Regula and the others. This is when she made her introduction to them. “My name is Maria Kemple, and it is a pleasure to meet you, Regula. I hope we can get along with each other, because I am going to become the queen of the sea one day.”
This freaking mermaid didn’t bother to hide her dream of taking over the sea. It was her birthright to become the first sea queen, and nobody was going to get in her way.

The conversation became interesting when the guy with the pale skin and yellow eyes brought up how Regula wanted to be reimbursed by petting the land beast’s fluff. That caused Maria to grin, as she heard how amazing it was to touch a land beast’s tail or ears from her teachers.
“It seems to me like someone wants to be embraced by the heavenly fluffy parts of the land beast. My teachers told me how it was irresistible to stop yourself once you touch their fluffiness, but I don’t know how bad it is.”

It only confirmed what Maria said even more when Regula changed the subject about swords. This made her giggle, since it was adorable to see a land folk’s behavior towards something fluffy. “I don’t know what you mean by his master’s question, Regula. However, I can let you touch my mermaid tail once my transformation skill’s duration is up if you have the desire to touch something so silky smooth.”
She was preying on Regula’s desires to touch a beast, as they knew it would make them happy.
“I promise you won’t regret it, because it would be just as irresistible as the land beast’s fluffiness.”
What Maria was doing can be mistaken for the infamous siren song. She was enticing the land folk with just her words alone, and there weren't any secondary skills to affect Regula's decision on Maria’s offer. Just a mermaid granting their strange habit of wanting to touch something new.

Ability used:
Human Form - (Transformation F): Maria gains the ability to have legs and lungs exchanged for her gills and mermaid tail in order to look like a human. Duration: One post aka this post.

Elvario · Jan 13, 2023

Forge in Osun, Capital of Sol Count(r)y.

Mentions: Retili

conman2163 | Ko

Orikanyo | Maria

Regula

As she took note of Ko's ~~tail~~ sword preferences, she couldn't help but wonder about something. “Perhaps thinking about why you prefer your sword made in such a manner might help you figure out what a sword is? Either way, I'll see what I can do. It shouldn't be too difficult to reforge a blade into such a style.” She clicked her tongue. Price gouge huh... What did she want for that? Petting a tail, of course. However, she managed to tie her tongue down this time around.

Not that it mattered much, as Retili rubbed it in. “It's been a stressful few days, okay.” She tried to justify her desires and tastes. Not that it'd do much. If she'd ever get her annals written into the history, she'd need to double-check this scribe didn't add a passage about these events. To make matters worse, Retili brought the topic back up towards Ko. She glared back at him. Professionalism over desires, or at least she'd try to. Perhaps she could tell Retili to just take the mermaid to go see the gardens and then get what she wanted?

That was interrupted when the mermaid herself broke loose. Perhaps now that she didn't fear being punished, she was showing her true and very chatty colours? However, she was a little surprised by the level of obliviousness in this mermaid. She knew the beasts had their own republic up north, but apparently this mermaid was from some backwater with little law or civilisation. “I'm surprised you grew up in a place without something as simple as jobs. Are you from the first continent or something?” The backwaters around that continent probably were dangerous and desolate enough not to have any workers or structures going on for merfolk. Perhaps? “Either way, work is the same as hunting for food. It's something we land folk do to survive. We exchange our work for money and our money for food and other necessities. You'll probably understand if you hang around on land for long enough.”

She scoffed at the remark of being rude. “It's my policy to ensure that nobody that enters the smithy I'm working in is a criminal, regardless of whether they are only there to snoop or whether they are there to buy something.” Then she figured she'd test this girl a bit. “Besides, how could I not want to learn a little more about such a peculiar girl such as yourself?” She said, wondering how the girl would take it.

As for her forge's heat... “You'll get used to it. At least I did.” She didn't feel the need to say she normally was sweating buckets to stay cool. The odd mention of rescuing drowning land folk felt like the mermaid was trying to earn credits or something, considering it came out of nowhere, but she was willing to forgive her. Far more fun was her claim to become queen of the sea. “That's a grand goal you've set yourself.” She smiled a bit, wondering how far this mermaid would get with such grand goals. She figured she wouldn't share her own ambitions. At least not all of them. Just the starting point. “I myself, am hoping to become a baroness soon. So we'll either be rivals or colleagues.” Truth be told, she had some trouble taking this girl serious. There was too much youthful innocence to her.

That innocence eroded a bit when the girl started talking about fluff. However, her suggestion suddenly gave Regula an opening. Considering she did just go through some very serious and draining meetings and considering she did manage to get some things done in those she surely earned a little bit of 'pleasure' to calm down and relax, right? Right? She was quick to convince herself. However, not without making a bit of a game out of it, of course.

“I highly doubt something scaled can weigh up against something furred, but you've made me curious.” She turned to Ko. “I want to see if the mermaid's right, so here's my deal. Let me test your tail's fluffiness so I can compare it to her mermaid's tail and in turn, I'll forge you a blade and reimburse the materials costs to the owner out of my own pocket.” Yes, this was truly scientific now! A perfect, flawless excuse.

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conman2163 · Jan 14, 2023

Retili Loxinofican

Blackrose7
Location: Country of Sol Capitol

Retili considered rubbing in the comment further but restrained himself. He didn't need to needlessly antagonize her for her tastes. Certainly it had been a stressful few days for him too. At least she hadn't turned to drink to find solace. Instead she was trying to solicit the services of a male beast-kin in satisfying her desires. There were less healthy ways of dealing with her urges. However when the mermaid spoke up, rather giving Retili some verbal whiplash as she went from upset to nearly seductive in a few moments, his eyebrow raised even further. If that was even possible of course. He found himself wondering just what kind of response Regula would give when she blew even her past comments out of the water. "Mhmmm.... comparing them, I see. Yes, veeery scientific." He said, dragging out the syllables on "very" purposefully. "You know I personally always thought that those of the more Avian persuasion of the Beast-kin would have the softest down." ~~Perhaps this would make perfect news for his nonexistent newspaper.~~

Orikanyo · Jan 14, 2023

Ko

"....What?" Ko stared at Regula with a look that told of varying levels of disbelief. What... What!?

"...You... You'd do this just to touch my tail!?" He... Wasn't really certain what the hell this was about, testing tails against a mermaid...? Surely there was a deeper reasoning for this but... Gettng a sword for free from having his tail touched... He hadn't gotten petted for years. When was the last time he got a nice scratch...? He's heard a few things about the southerners from his fellow apprentices back in the dojo... Something about... Being very touchy? Was... This a courting thing?

Did they go around touching people tails?

Waz she trying to sneakily fufill some sorta fetish thing!?

...

Well... Its... Not that wierd if it was.

He did take care of himself...

He always saw his ears as his draw not his tal but he can't see it as often so who knows...

"...Umm... O-okay...?" The once strong willed mouthy man now... Quiet and nervous. Surely... This wont go... Badly...?

Elvario · Jan 15, 2023

Forge in Osun, Capital of Sol Count(r)y.

Mentions: Retili

conman2163 | Ko

Orikanyo | Maria

Regula

Regula wasn't quite sure how to deal with the scribe and wanted to ignore him at first, but when she mentioned 'avian' she couldn't help wonder... “You'd think feathers are softer than fur?” She wasn't quite sure. Then again, someone didn't have to be beast-kin to have feathers. “I guess I can find that out soon enough.” She mumbled, wondering how long it'd take for her wings to grow in well enough for her to feel the feathers on them. Either way, that wasn't of importance right now.

What was of importance was that Ko had granted her permission. Still, she had some dignity to save. “How about we step inside for a bit?” She suggested, opening a side-door to the much cooler (and more mermaid-friendly) armoury that'd not be in the middle of the street. However, once there, she'd be very thorough with her scientific experiment.

Her hands would reach for the tail with barely contained excitement. First, the tip of the tail. Yes, that was definitely a very fluffy part. The top-of-the-tail hairs might actually be the fluffiest, perhaps. She nodded to herself, using one hand to hold the tail and another to press down upon the tail-hairs a bit to really examine their bounce and fluffiness potential. Then then moved one hand lower down the tail, brushing the hairs gently and nodding in appreciation. Yep. That was definitely fluffy. Good, good. However, to her shock, some of the hairs were a little tangled and rough. It was clear this tail wasn't being carefully taken care off! It was still fluff, of course, so it was nice, but the shocking revelation definitely brought the overall grade down a bit.

With her mental fortitude and willpower working at max capacity, she resisted stroking the tail all the way down to its base. That'd be weird, after all, as she'd almost be touching the man's behind, which would clearly be inappropriate and outside the range of this scientific experiment. After wrapping a bit of the fluff of the tail's end around her hand for a bit to test its bend-ability and flexibility, she finally felt satisfied. “I'm not gonna lie, I doubt a mermaid's scales can be nicer to the touch than something like this.” She said, admitting that Maria would have some high bar to cross.

Orikanyo · Jan 15, 2023

Ko

...Hmm...?

Ah..!?

Oh...

Hrmm....

This... Wasn't a bad feeling... It was... Certainly odd thought... It... Felt... Okay... Like how one might eat an appretizer before a full meal. Her fingers were soft...? For a smith and warrior? Odd... And... She was touching his fur... When was the last he brushed his tail? His mother would scold him for it... No doubt. But...

...Maybe... This wasn't a bad thing, but something good?

Yea he was being petted abit bt... Maybe that was good? Sort of an affection thing? Maybe? She liked his tail, that was good!

Said tail began lightly to twitch and wag, boffing Regula lighty with the fluffy coat.

"..I'll be sure to take better care of it... From now on...." the man looked away shyly, face a distinct red.

conman2163 · Jan 15, 2023

Retili Loxinofican