[VIDEO] Accepting Commissions!

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Type: Video
Sender ID: forgeabettertomorrow (Darin Altway)
To: Public
Subject: Darin's offering his smithing services!
Warnings: None

[You may have seen this very loud blue-haired man around. He's new, but he's hard to miss considering his size and bombastic nature. Right now, he's puttering around some shops on Eltrut...specifically any shops that offer custom goods. He's clearly assessing quality.]

Still figuring out how to use this damn thing...is it on?

[He stops a random passerby to inquire and...yes! They confirm that his video is sending! The hurry along their way because who just asks random strangers things? Weirdos, that's who.]

Alright! So, I've been around for a month or so and I think I've got my sea legs well enough to take the plunge here. For those of you who don't know, name's Darin Altway and I just happen to be a Master Blacksmith! What does that mean for you? Well, if you need tools or gear, then I'm your man! And trust me, my work is affordable and of the utmost quality. Even better news, I come from a port town so I know my way around a ship! So if you need something for your ships that those around here just can't provide...

[He leans in towards the camera conspiratorially.]

And from what I'm seeing...that's a lot...

[He leans back out.]

You should totally hire me! My goal is to open up my own forge somewhere so I gotta get striking the iron while it's hot!

Also, if you've got the scoop on where to find some quality, rare materials and need someone to help you gather them, I'm your man!

Comments

[emet_sulk]

No. I merely wish to avoid placing an easy to handle weapon in the hands of the ignorant. Guns are quite enough on their own. Adding a blade to the mix... Well, there's a reason they were the chosen armament of a magickless people in my world.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Oh, that makes perfect sense. I actually respect that level of caution in that sense.

Are magickless people common in your world?

[emet_sulk]

No, which is all the more reason they need to defend themselves from those who would take advantage of their vulnerable status.

A bullet can reach a mage standing behind enemy lines.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Huh...

You know, my world's got a lot of magic users too. I'm...not able to use it, actually. No mana or elemental affinity. It kinda limited my options in life.

[emet_sulk]

Cruel, isn't it? To be ostracised for a lack that is beyond your control.

The Garlean people were chased from their homeland and forced into the hostile northern mountains. If they had not discovered a certain natural fuel and transformed themselves into a technological empire then they would have perished.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Buddy, you have no idea.

That's...a little similar to my story. I was orphaned at five and bounced from house to house for awhile. In my country, if you don't have magic you can't go to school. And as an orphan, I had no means of paying for a trade school. I was bound for the military once I hit eighteen but luckily I was adopted by a smith who saw I had potential.

Literally kept me from wasting away at some border checkpoint or becoming something worse.

[emet_sulk]

Hmph. A country which separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.

[ He would rather there be no fighting at all, that said. ]

Unless, of course, your country deliberately keeps an ignorant population to prevent an uprising.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

It's not so much they keep us ignorant as they're more interested in educating and uplifting the people they think can contribute more to their magical might. Hell, most marriages in the nobility are arranged based off of elemental affinity and magical potency.

Alvale's dependency on magic is what kept it from being conquered however many hundreds of years ago.

Besides, when the upper echelons of society can rain fireballs down on you from on high, that's enough of an uprising deterrent.

But the thing is? It's not a huge problem because most people have some sort of mana affinity. I just...don't.

[emet_sulk]

I see.

[ Something of the reverse of what Garlemald has then, he thinks. A thin veneer of meritocracy masking a classist system. That's what it sounds like to him at least. ]

If you decide you like the weapon after you finish it, I won't mind if you create another for yourself. Although I imagine you will have already taken advantage of this realm's magicked ink?

[forgeabettertomorrow]

That's kind of you but I'll respectfully pass. For one, the weapon's yours and making a second without being able to properly appreciate the plight the magickless people of your world endure would be a disservice to them.

And for two, I already have a weapon forged by my old man. It suits me just fine.

[There's a pause when the tattoos are mentioned.]

Honestly, I thought about getting one of those tattoos but...I don't think I will. I made it this far without magic, using it now just seems like cheating, you know? I didn't earn anything.

Magic in the hands of people who haven't earned it is as dangerous as a gunblade in the hands of someone who doesn't understand its capabilities.

[emet_sulk]

[ Interesting. ]

How surprisingly thoughtful of you. I have seen magic make fools out of many who think power earns them the right to disparage others. Your country lost a valuable mind when it denied you formal education.

Then again, I wonder if you would have become the same person had you trod a different path.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Yeah...believe me. I know probably better than anyone what incredible power does to people...

Still, that's...kind of you to say.

[His voice and demeanor softened considerably before. It was almost...pained. Mournful. But almost like hitting a switch, his normal, boisterous tone returns.]

I wouldn't change the path I took to get where I am for anything. I worked hard and that counts for more than just being born with a gift. If I took a different path, I wouldn't be me anymore!

[emet_sulk]

[ There's a sound like a soft huff. ]

Indeed. Well, I shall look forward to seeing what you can do with my request. It will be nice to have a familiar weapon in hand.