Snippet #1973139

Keras had spent the rest of the day through the night and into the very early morning cleaning his armor. After what had transpired, the shadowlancer had requested to be alone for the night, as part of a night of silence, to mourn for the loss of his fellow brothers and sisters. He had stripped most of his outfit away, only to have his uniform-of-sorts to be temporarily replaced by simple trousers and a a pair of sandals, showing his unique features, prominently his dark, ashen skin. He had 90% of the armor cleaned and polished, and he was just started to work on the breastplate until a knock came from the door.

He was spending the night at the local blacksmith's house, that had survived the onslaught of events from the past few hours. Sure, it was bare, not elegant as the elven architecture from the east, but it had sufficient use and was gladly offered by the blacksmith's family.

"Excuse me sir, but I believe this is yours... And thank you for saving me back there."

It was the man from earlier, the one who was trying to recover Elsah's body during the storm. The very one with the crushed foot and had been given Keras' blade to use as a temporary crutch. Keras looked up from his work, and let out a sigh of relief to see the blacksmith was able to walk, however he no longer had both feet. Instead, where the crush foot once was, now stood a bandaged stump, assumed to be cauterized to seal the wound, and a mechanical prosthetic, obviously of dwarven design.

"I took the liberty of forging you this blade as well, but it's nowhere near the level of craftsmanship of your blade. I forged it earlier today as a token of thank you for saving my life from that storm. I didn't think that the dwarves were that fast at forging this new foot of mine, either," showing his new mechanical stump as the last of the sentence rolled off of his tongue, as well as placing the runeblade alongside keras' polished gear. "I may be the best blacksmith in Bardusk, but I will be honored to learn from you and how you treat your metal. Would you mind teaching me?"

The man had handed Keras a dagger, sporting a unique design, a reversed pointing blade, curved towards the handle and extending past it. The Elf stopped cleaning, and took the blade from the man's hands. Spinning it in his palm, flipping it over and around his fist and onto the back of his hand, the blade still spinning. Flipping the blade one more time, this time grasping the handle and accepting it. "I like the style and level of craftsmanship you put into the blade. It's balanced for the most part, just a quarter ounce too heavy on the back side. Nonetheless, it's flawless as I can tell. Thank you, and yes, I can teach you a couple tips and tricks on how to further your skills," Keras taking the blade and setting the blade down next to him. "However, I have a meeting to get to in a few hours, at sunrise, and I'm required to be present. But after, I'll teach you. Right now, I have to finish cleaning my armor. Have a good rest and thank you for the blade, again."

The man stumbled back through the door, out of the room that the Elf was occupying, still getting used to having a metal foot for the rest of his life. Keras had grabbed for the cloth and rags that he was using to clean the armor, and returned back to work. His blade, Retribution, was slightly damaged, but he'll make repairs later in the day as it was still functionable to take life.

Sleep holds no place for tonight. The dead must be held in our minds and hearts. However, I shall not dwell on their deaths, but learn that they had died so we can continue, so we can live on and tell others of their legacies...

Keras had two hours before having to get ready for the meeting at the Lord's manor...