Aisha Incendium's Story

A strange wind blew through the quiet mountain town, many ignored it but others whispered in corners about the change of times, the end of the age and the ushering in of the new one. The mountain town was busy around this time of the year,farmers spending hard hours in the field and tavern-keeps having to brew enough ale to fill up a town full of thirsty customers. The old wooden buildings that lined the cobble-stone streets were a testament to the age of the village, the various signs depicting what each shop was were freshly re-painted for the new season and the smell of hay roofs and fading wax-candles were wafting through the morning air. Thoroark would notice all of these minute details as the Gargantuan man thumped towards Aisha's place,waving good morning to the various townsfolk, occasionally stopping to help lift a heavy stack of hay onto a cart or to fix the odd broken tool with spare parts he had learnt to carry on his person. Eventually arriving late at the spell-smiths place,happy that she widened the entrance and raised the door and ceiling so that he no longer had to stoop like a hunch-back to get into the place.

The giant lightly placed an old purple ring onto the counter,the light from various floating candles shining off of the odd-coloured circle of metal as a grin spread it's way across his face,he folded one of his arms across his chest and knocked lightly on the roof of the two-story building with the others knuckles,hoping to startle Aisha awake before crossing his hands across his torso.
"Wakey-wakey, I expected eggs and Bacey." He teased in a loud voice,chuckling to himself before continuing "I brought you a little something, I know it isn't your birthday but a certain somebody told me about a ring 'sitting at the front of a cave'....of course nobody mentioned that the cave was guarded by two juvenile trolls and that it would take me a day of crawling around a dark-hole to find the thing,but hey,I'm just that swell of a guy." He teased again,now leaning against the wall with his pouch of coins clinking in his pocket as they hit his monstrous sword. He awaited the inevitable noises of Aisha groaning and crawling out of bed with a smirk.

"Wakey wakey" Aisha could recognize that voice anywhere. She pulled herself out of bed, and quickly got dressed, before coming down the stairs to see what Ark was going on about. The purple ring caught her eye quickly, and her face brightened slightly.
"Let me see that..." She snatched the ring from the table, and examined it closely. She snapped her fingers, conjuring a small flame in her hands to supply more light. She traced her fingers over what felt like a small engraving, and looked up to Ark, pointing to the weathered engraving on the ring.
"This engraving is important to what in the hell this ring is or does. On the other hand, it's quite pretty. Thank you" She smiled at him, before sitting at her desk and producing a magnifying glass, to further examine the ring.
"I have some small errands for you. There's a tome about these rings that I need, and the Jeweler currently has it. Could you convince him to let me borrow it? It looks like any other magic book, but it has a picture of a ring on the front."

"Second," She added, "I'm planning on making some fire-resistant gloves to help with forging. I'm going to need some leather, the tougher the better, and some Hydra skin. This errand isn't as urgent, it just means you won't get burnt as much when around hot metal."

"The leather trader on main street just got a new shipment the other day! He should have some good leather." The voice came from the window, and Allan's face popped into view. He had surprisingly soft features for a boy, nevermind a nineteen year old blacksmith. As always, he was grinning like a fool and covered in soot, but that was a good sign. It meant that there wasn't a farmer or a merchant chasing him for stealing some bread or something. He pushed the window open without asking if he could come in, and sat on the window sill. "Ed sent that order in a week ago! Why are you jus-" He blinked when he saw Ark and grinned even wider. It was a wonder his jaw didn't fall off or something. "Welcome home Ark! Did you find the ring? I didn't tell her you were going to find it, but why would you go after it? It's a silly little thing to do for the likes o-" He cut himself off again, looking at Aisha and cleared his throat. Just because he spoke his mind didn't mean he was an idiot.

He turned to face Aisha before she caught what he was going to say. "Anyway, I'm here on business. Ed's been experimenting with tempering processes. Thinks he can make a blade harder but still flexible if he cools it more rapidly. So he sent me to see if you have something that makes water colder than ice, or something along those lines." He tilted his head a little and frowned, unable to really grasp the concept. "You have anything like that?"

[Null]

"As a matter of fact, I do have something for that." Aisha walked over to a large cabinet full of jars, each one holding different substances. She looked around a little more, and found a jar of reddish liquid, and handed it to Allan.
"It's frost troll blood. Tastes awful, makes you sick in large doses, but it's always really cold. Just mix it with your cold water, and make sure to stir the water constantly, or the water will start freezing." The boy nodded and left, and Aisha glanced back to Ark.

"Shouldn't he know about using troll's blood to freeze things? It's a perfect material for it." She asked him quizzically, before walking over to a large bucket of wax, and snapping her fingers to make another small flame in her hand, to melt the wax.
"I guess it's time to make another batch of candles." She carried the melted wax to a worktable, where she stirred in different ingredients to the wax, and poured the mixture into a tray of small molds. She placed a wick in each mold, and then set the tray aside to let them harden.

"Are there any jobs we could do? We're a tad short on cash." Aisha gestured to a silk bag at her desk, which was only holding a few coins.

He grinned and patted Aisha lightly on the head, the bandages around his fore-arms rustling slightly as they loosened around his abnormally large arms, beneath both could be seen slight glimpses of blood-red and white, however he re-adjusted them quickly and turned to greet Allan,ruffling the apprentice smith's hair with a good natured smile as he left before turning back to Aisha.

"It's good to be back,I'll get ya the hydra skin and leather as well as the book. The ol' Jeweler owes me a favour or two so it should be no trouble. As for the hydra skin I think I still have a few hides left from last time,I'll swing by and check shall I?, As for jobs,don't worry about it." He said with another kind smile,tearing the pouch of coins from his belt and chucking the heavy purse onto the counter "I figured you'd be selling less candles what with the lack of long winter nights,So I sold a few of those Juvenile Minotaur Horn's and a plank or two of that Treant's Ironbark" He said, turning slowly and opening the door to the sunny outsides, stepping through and waving to Aisha over his shoulder as he headed for the trader before she could comment or scold him. He had left his sword behind in the Spell-smiths, it bore the strong scent of troll blood and yet amongst the specks of odd orange blood there were globs of red.

The man would return much later carrying a heavy load of Hydra Pelt,Leather and a Book bearing a ring on the cover. "Luckily for us,the trader was happy to give me the leather in exchange for my cowl and a pint of ale from the tavern. I swear were skating along on favours." He commented,placing it all down on the ground,the bandages almost falling off of his fore-arms before he re-adjusted them again. For yet another moment the glimpse of torn flesh and bare-bone could be seen.

"Why thank you for g-" Aisha started to say when she noticed his arms, and bolted from her chair to look at it.
"What is this?!" She looked up at him, before removing the soggy bandages on his arms and throwing them away. She scurried over to her cabinet again, and grabbed a pale green salve, some fresh bandages, and some hard liquor.

"Drink this. It'll numb the pain a bit, as this salve is going to hurt A LOT." She handed him the bottle, and he compliantly chugged it and put the empty bottle on a table. She applied some salve to her fingers, and quickly ran them across his wounds, getting a small but even coating of it over the torn flesh. Finally, she snapped her fingers for some fire, and ran a flaming finger across the salve, about an inch from actually touching it. The salve quickly became more rubbery, and changed color to a dark indigo. Finally, she wrapped the fresh bandages over the top, and tied it.
"The salve, once exposed to fire and blood, becomes dark blue, and it gets a consistency similar to skin. When your wounds are fully healed, the placeholder skin will fall off by itself, and will be much lighter in color when it does so."

She hurriedly moved the supplies he brought to a side table, and pulled up two chairs for them to sit in.

"Before I ask anything, how in the HELL did you get that?!" She gestured to his arms, still somewhat frantic from the shock of seeing him like that.

[null]

Thoroark grimaced as she shouted in worry,awkwardly scratching at his bandaged arms before turning around and occupying himself with cleaning the blade he left leaning against the wall, feeling her worried yet soul-piercing gaze burrowing through the back of his head. He eventually finished cleaning the blood off of the giant weapon and sighed nervously to face her. Even the giant it seemed feared the wrath of Aisha, after-all the woman controlled fire.

"Uuh,thanks. I um..." He muttered the last few words, to quietly to hear,before noticing her still awaiting an answer "Okay, funny story. Turns out there were three adult trolls and a Schivia and the cave was pretty deep. I fell a little bit here and there, Got bitten by a troll....had the giant blob of black acidic ooze people for some stupid reason call a Schivia try to devour my arms...nothing happened really, I'm fine. I'm the giant of Willowspeak remember? I fight big nasty thing's all the time." He said half sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood as he took a seat on the chair across from Aisha. His crystal blue eyes looking towards Aisha as his features changed to form a kind smile. He was used to running dangerous errands, and this one had been his own personal agenda so he truly was fine. Somehow...he didn't think she thought of it the same way that he did.

"So!...any new errand's you need run, want me to get some more Ironbark since I just sold some?,I mean there are a few planks left but.." He said, cutting off mid sentence and awkwardly ruffling his own hair.

Zander woke to the sound of young Ella screaming his name and running up the stairs. "Zander!" He rolled over and hoped out of bed. Ella ran into his room her long black hair flowing and brown eyes gleaming. She ran over to him and he picked her up. He smiled and said "What are you doing here? shouldn't you be with your mother." Ella nodded and responded "she sent me to wake you up, you are late."

Zander looked shocked and checked the window and he realized he had overslept again. He put Ella down and said "Well, i got to go." Ella smiled as Zander threw on his work clothes and struggled to put on his boots and run down the stairs. He ran past Lina who said "Don't forget to get my candles, young man." Zander chuckled and responded "I would never forget something so important." As he ran out the door he ran into John. The six foot tall farmer looked down on the boy and said "I had to take care of most of your chores, this is your job i shouldn't have to do this."Zander looked down at the ground and said "I'm sorry i will do better, sir." John smiled and ruffled the boy's hair and moved out of his way. Zander nodded to John and ran down the road heading toward the bakery.

He opened up the back door and tried to sneak in. However, Allora, the baker had seen him. She shook her head and said "you are late again!" Zander looked down at the ground and said "i'm sorry, i overslept i will get started on the bread." She smiled at him and walked away. Zander began making his bread, he was in charge of making the sweet bread. It was his specialty and people seemed to love it. When he was finished he ran over to Allora and said "I have to go get candles for Lina before i forget. I will be back." She stopped him and said "pick me up some as well" He nodded and bolted out the door, but not before picking up a few pieces of his sweet bread. He walked into Aisha's place, he saw Aisha and the giant smiled to them both and said "Aisha, I need candles."He walked over to her and the giant and handed them both a piece of sweet bread. the bread was fresh and hot the perfect way to enjoy it.

Thoroark coughed awkwardly at Zanders arrival, offering them a friendly grin and nod as he accepted the bread in time with Aisha,placing it next to him on a crate for the time being. It was rather quiet in the store considering three people were in it,atleast that was until the giant spoke,cutting off anything Aisha had been preparing to say.

"Hey Zander, candles are being made as we speak, Ran out a little bit ago but they'll be ready in about an hour I reckon. I've been hanging around this place long enough to know that at the least mate,thanks for the bread. If you head on back to the Bakery I'll bring the candles with me when I come to regail you with my latest grand adventure into some deep dank hole in the side of a mountain, Allora'll need you today. Harvest's coming in and a lot of hungry farmer's including your old man'll be lining up to buy their own hard-work back from the Bakery." Thoroark said in a kind tone of voice,offering a small smile and waving his hands to shoo the teen along. Despite his long times away on errands and adventures he knew everyone in the small village well, having grown up here and gained quite a reputation since he showed up that day twenty one years ago lugging the massive piece of metal that now lay behind him,freshly cleaned and shining in the candle-light. He'd grown fond of the weapon, but unlike most warriors he didn't obsess over it nor did he see himself as near permanently attached to the thing. The giant awaited the sound of Zander scampering off as he turned back to Aisha with a small smile.

[Nullasaurus]
[It's so hard to remember this xD]

Aisha scooped up the leather and Hydra skin, and a small craftsman's knife (picture an X-acto knife), and approached Ark, asking him gently,
"Could I see your hands for this?" She smiled at him when he did, and started wrapping the leather around different parts of his hand and wrist, cutting off the excess to make a glove shape. She repeated the process for his other hand, before taking both of them off and reaching for a spool of ironbark thread and a needle.

"The leather is just a base for the hydra skin, as it's much more comfortable to wear, and it gives a little bit extra physical protection for your hands. Either way, I don't recommend taking this out to combat, as they still don't protect as much as actual gauntlets." She explained while she sewed the gloves shut, and then put them on his hands when she was done. To check the fit, she slipped a soft finger into the wrist area of the glove and checked the inside, making sure they don't fall off easily, but aren't uncomfortably tight.
"Seems like it fits well." She smiled at him, before grabbing the hydra skin, and doing a similar process to the leather, but measuring and sewing it directly to the glove. The stretchy hide was much easier to work with than leather, even though being several times tougher.

She grabbed a piece of the sweet bread, and tore off a bite, before putting one of the finished gloves on, and putting the gloved hand into a burning kiln.

She seemed oblivious for about ten seconds, before pulling her hand out and letting a little yelp
"Ack! They aren't immune to fire, but they still are extremely good protection against it, noting how hot the kiln was."
"Here's a present for your hard work!" She laughed and handed him the finished pair of gloves.

Thoroark accepted the gloves with a large smile,putting them over his hand's and flexing his fingers to test them out. The leather well-molded to the slabs of meat he called hands thanks to Aisha. The giant heard the knocking and sighed heavily.

"Thank's for the gloves!,Considering you used my hands to meld them in shape. I'm pretty sure they're only suited for my arms, or as a weird new fashion for leather-wearing teenage girls. You know the ones I'm talking about!" He joked,chuckling lightly as he stood to get the door,lightly pushing the chair away from himself with his legs and clapping his hands together a few times to cool down the gloves a little. "Couldn't get ten minutes alone with Aisha could I?, I swear I'm too popular sometimes." He muttered to himself, only half-joking as he wrapped his hand around the door-knob and pulled the door wide open. Taking a step out so that his Gargantuan form filled the door-frame and blocked all else from view. He was quite an imposing and scary man to meet for the first time, especially when his soul-piercing eyes locked themselves onto the courier.

The giant leant down slightly to be as close to level with them as he could be without being spine-bendingly uncomfortable,a broad grin crossing his features. "So,what'd you want hm? Delivery for Aisha or her errand boy?"He asked the courier,a piece of Zander's sweet bread in his hand that he now bit a chunk out of, fighting trolls and crawling through caves was hungry work,especially when you had all...this,to keep energized.

Aisha looked at the box, and raised her eyebrow.
"Package? I never ordered a package..." She moved the box inside, and read the tag on it, which had an incantation written in runes, and a small glass key inside the original box.

She picked up the key, and put it in, while reciting the incantation. The lock glowed briefly, before popping open, allowing her to open the box.
"What in the hell..." She muttered as she opened it, and a wave of cold air and dread emanated from the box, accompanied by a whispered, ominous chuckle. She picked up the large crystal inside and examined it: It was blueish and chiseled, with some sort of black smoky substance swirling in the core of it. Simply looking at it would send chills down your spine.

"There's something not right here... I get an unaddressed package, and it has this thing in it... It feels so ominous just to look at."
She placed it back in the box, locked the lock, and put the key in a drawer.

"Also.. I've run out of Phantomshade, one of the ingredients for the magic candles," Aisha looked to Ark before continuing,
"All of my plants of it have died, so we're going to have to find it in the mountains again. You might want to get some friends to go with you, as it's cold and dangerous up there, and you know how I worry."

Thoroark stared at the odd crystal,rubbing at his right eye for a moment as he stared at the swirling center. His gaze broken only when Aisha asked for the Phantomshade when he tore his eyes from the drawer that now contained the unsettling object to look towards her. He offered a small smile and a mock salute,chucking a coin towards the courier and stepping past him.

"Sure thing,I'll just drag Allan and Zander along, maybe even courier boy here if he's up for it." He said,ruffling the messengers hair as he began heading down the street for a little while "Any idea what were up against?,No?, well alrighty then. I'll be back somewhere between two hours and three days. If the bread tastes horrible it's because Zander's dead. Sound good?" He continued, half-sarcastically as he continued down the street towards the small group, consisting of Zander, Allan and some small girl that he didn't recognize. It helped that he was able to see over everyone else but even with that he couldn't pick out any of the girl's features.

The giant eventually got far enough down the street without having to stop to help someone to shout to the group "Hey!, Aisha needs more Phantomshade and I'm heading up the mountain to try and find some, anyone up for a field-trip? See what it's like running around on Aisha's 'simple' errands? You can even bring along your friend there and anyone else you feel like." He yelled to the group. Stopping in front of them with a broad grin,his arms folded across his chest,his monstrous sword now sheathed atop his back the handle peaking over his left shoulder.