Snippet #1527902

"Scheherazade," she repeated for the second time today. "A pleasure, but I fear I also need to attend to some reading." Dipping her head, she excused herself from the conversation…

Victoria smiled as she looked at Garbiel. "I-it's Victoria! Victoria Steins, sir!"

The young apprentice had taken her leave rather hurriedly after Garbiel had made known the object of his search, leaving him to wonder if it had been something he said that had spurned her on towards other pursuits. For some reason the blacksmith had always been very touchy in regards to conversing and interacting with other people, appearing to most as an over-accommodating man that seemed too apologetic and giving with friends, or supposed friends, but in the same instant always seemed to infuriate and insult almost everyone in his vicinity. He hoped that this was not one of those times again.

“Apologies for the inquiry miss, but do you happen to have any knowledge in the field of medicine?”

"W-well yes sir, but I am only an apprentice and-" She began…

The answer came very conciliatorily from the young girl, clueing in the observant smith to some pertinent information after hearing the quality of her remarks. She was obviously being trained by a professional, despite the obvious “apprentice” comment, that wanted her to know she had much to learn, and by the appearance of her interest in medicine, muttering to herself, and what seemed to be paranoia, that could only be from the combined teachings of Etzel Vasili, or The Physician as Garbiel relished calling him. The elderly man only just pieced this thought process together when the light cast itself upon the all-too-familiar guise of The Physician approaching from behind an unsuspecting Victoria.

"She's my apprentice." Cut in a recognizable smooth voice. Etzel seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, and Victoria had jumped nearly twelve feet into the air at his sudden arrival. "Strange you should be here, out of all placed Mr. Forgefire. I was just going to see you about some new orders." He said. He paused. "My apologies, Grand Smith. I do believe I was interrupting a conversation."

Raucous laughter burst forth from the smith’s bearded mouth as the young girl leapt upwards almost like a frog would when caught unawares. A large calloused hand grabbed the tangled mass of hair that was his beard and stroked downwards, attempting to smooth the unruly facial hair somewhat, and failing miserably in the process a brilliantly white set of teeth beamed forth from between thick lips. The presence of so many trained killers under one roof never bothered the blacksmith much, having equated the members of The Guild to the same materials and tools used in a forge. Many of these items may cause harm in some way and cause catastrophes if ill-used or un-used, but under the control of a few true craftsmen the basic elements are manipulated to create a beneficial end result.

“Greetings Physician, so what is it you would like this time? I just finished the usual transaction with Sir Amon concerning the Assassin’s armoury, but you know I can manage all special requests; as for the other business, don’t even consider it an interruption, I was just asking of her knowledge of medicine. By the way dear, what was that you wanted to say?”

Victoria gulped several times. "W-well, yes." She said. "My master is teaching me the art of medicine. I want to... uh, be a physicist." She finished lamely.

“I can confirm this." Etzel interjected.

The aging man pondered momentarily upon the matter at hand, weighing the options that were presented before him. This young Victoria was under the tutelage of The Physician, so obviously the master was hoping to forge her into a weapon such as he, but what was to happen next was completely up to her. He did not know WHY he desired a doctor to practise on his apprentices and journeymen, with a few pieces of literature Garbiel could do most of the healing himself, but it did cut into his production, and the Gods only know how the apprentices manage to hurt themselves with such frequency. The offer would probably be denied by a man of such stature as Etzel Vasili, and the girl most surely would decline so as not to hinder her training, but the offer in itself was a compliment to the duo and almost customary to the blacksmith.

“Well with this man as your master you are sure to become one soon Miss Steins. Actually Physician I was also on the search for a practitioner or two that may be able to help. My apprentices seem enjoy the smell of singed hair and burnt flesh, along with several other problems that occur with tools, and with the damage to my collection of medicinal volumes I have not been able to tend to these wounds as I could. If either, or the both, of you are interested in helping me the reward would be more than gracious.”