After Fenna got the directions from the female adventurer, she found herself in a part of the town she hadn’t been in before. On her way, she heard bickering and she looked for the source. Two individuals – based on their outfits and weapons most likely adventurers – had gotten into a heated discussion. One pushed the other, and the other drew her sword.
Fenna approached them, holding her hands up. “Calm down, calm down. Let’s try not to spill any blood. We’ll soon need everyone who can fight to defend this city.”
“Yeah, but she called me –”
“I understand everyone is a little tense now,” Fenna said as she positioned herself between the two. “Let’s not start with who did what, it takes two to fight, and our enemy would love nothing more than us spilling our own blood. Take a deep breath, go your separate ways, and save your strength for the battle ahead.”
The two adventurers glared at each other but did as Fenna said and turned around, each going in the opposite direction. Fenna sighed and turned to Sil. “This will be a long waiting period before the fight, but I understand people are a little on edge now, right?”
Sil tilted her head and made a soft noise Fenna took as agreement.
Fenna continued the walk until she noticed the sign above a door she was looking for: it showed a needle on top a brown circle, like all leatherworkers, but it had the symbols of the six elements around it. She entered the building that at first glance was simple in design, but she didn’t have a chance to look around as a male voice greeted her immediately.
“Hello! Welcome to my shop.”
Fenna turned to the man behind the counter. A
man wearing a green apron smiled at her. She could see an open door behind him, which had to lead to his workshop. “Hello,” she greeted him. “I heard you make good boots.”
“Straight to the point? I like that.” Nimuer Farlorn came from behind the counter. On the counter were some wrist bracers and gloves on display. He gestured to the wall which had five pairs of boots on a shelf above several aprons, belts and pouches that hung on hooks. Shelves on another wall displayed leather bags and waterskins of various sizes. Some of the leather items were plain, and others had decoration on them or were lined with fur. “I have some examples here, but if you want one your size they will be custom-made. No pre-made boot will ever fit as well as one that was made for you.” That sounded like it would take a lot of time, and Fenna's face probably showed that concern as the man continued: “Don’t worry, I know adventurers are always in a hurry. I have pre-made soles and cut leather for most types of feet, it can be done in a day. Are you part of an adventuring group?”
Fenna nodded. “Second Chance.”
“Oh! I heard about you. You’ve been doing some big things for a new party. And you want to buy some boots?” And after Fenna confirmed he asked his follow-up question: “Plain or enchanted?”
“It will depend on the price,” Fenna said. “how much are enchanted boots?”
“That will depend on how many stones I need to use.” He smiled amiably at her confused expression. “I enchant the leather items with elemental stones, I’m one of the few licensed craftsmen in this town who can. Just like my master before me, before he retired and I took over this place. But those stones are expensive, and so is the gold powder I need to work with the stones.”
Fenna nodded again, that made sense. “How can I get elemental stones?”
“You won’t get your hands on them very easily. They are mined from the Magical Caves and only sold to people who have proven they can work with them, to avoid them being wasted. I recently stocked up, there was a merchant here just before the siege.”
Although Fenna didn’t know what Magical Caves were, she decided it wasn’t something she needed to know right now. “What are my options?” she asked, straight to the point.
Nimuer started listing the options: he could offer her boots of water walking, boots of fire walking, boots of the heavy feett and boots of the light feet, and explained what she could do with them. “The boots aren’t fool-proof of course,” he added. “Take the boots for water walking, they work, but if you lose your balance and fall back in the deep water, and you have heavy armour on, the boots will float but good luck getting back up. And the boots of fire walking…” he laughed, “oh, there once was a young man who bought them. Days later he returns, his pants burnt, blisters the size of an egg on his legs. He complained about the boots, but then I asked if his feet had been burned, which they hadn’t of course. He thought the boots would protect him from knee-high flames! I told him that what is covered by the leather will not burn, not the body parts that aren’t covered by the leather, and if he wants to walk through flames higher than the ankle, he’d better invest in some leather pants with the same enchantment. He begrudgingly did.”
Fenna laughed softly. “Noted.”
“So, what boots are you interested in?”
After a moment of contemplation, she decided fire or water walking wasn’t what she wanted, there were downsides and any body of water she couldn’t jump over could still be crossed by swimming or using a raft, and James had a waterbreathing blessing. “I'm not sure yet,” she told the leatherworker. "Both the light and heavy feet boots sound useful to me."
“If you have the funds, I can add both,” he offered. They talked about the price for a moment. It would be costly, Fenna realised she’d have to spend almost all her money if she wanted that. She made a quick calculation as to what her expected costs were for the duration of her stay in this city and possibly what she needed afterwards. She decided that, if needed, she could always do some jobs and maybe Sil could hunt some food outside the walls for her. Sil made a sound, maybe she was bored, or did she react to the thought of hunting? It was a thought that didn’t linger as Fenna thought about the practicality of the boots and her need for money. It wasn’t as if she was planning on staying here, she wanted to find a way home eventually. Why would she hold on to all this money?
“Please make me the boots,” she said in the end, after haggling a bit to make sure she would have enough left to eat and sleep in the Mended Drum, and perhaps treat herself to some relaxation, and shook Nimuer’s hand. The leatherworker proceeded to take her measurements and told her the boots would be ready in the morning.
Once outside, Fenna wasn’t sure what to do with her time. She decided to head towards the Golden Tree Park.
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