10-03-2010, 06:42 PM
The Bargain
Spoiler:
"You're the person who was interested in steam armor, yes?" The Goblin man sitting on the edge of a half-ajar crate peered up at the Death Knight who just entered the shop, and was looking around the work area with an air of extreme fascination. She looked back at him. After a moment, she blinked, breaking the stare.
"Yes. I've been asking around Booty Bay about it, and I was directed to this shop. I'm Sanya. Are you Azzel Steamsmash?"
"Yup. Buyer, eh? I've gotta warn you, those things don't come cheap." He hopped off his crate and walked over to a work bench with a bunch of pale yellow-filled vials and metal components laid out on it. "Funny, elf taking an interest," he said in a low voice to himself. "Who'da thought it?" Sanya inspected the components and vials, but kept her hands to herself.
"How many different kinds of steam armor are there?" She asked. "I've heard from the other people I've spoken to that they vary a lot from maker to maker, and race to race. Even their uses vary."
"Ya heard right, elf. Gnomes always make those stupid speedy little things, but Goblins build for war. Steam armor doesn't pay my bills, but it's my bread and butter all the same. So, what're ya looking for?"
They kept walking through the store, into another room filled with much larger, hydraulic limbs, pistons, and fibrous networks of wire which were plainly intended for running through an entire suit.
As they stood there, a grin crept onto Sanya's face unbidden. She seemed fascinated by each component, but her eyes stayed longest on the weaponry in the corner; saws with extra chains, small half-assembled cannons (some mounted, some not), several fearsome-looking jagged blades, and long spikes meant for attaching directly onto the body of a suit. Some of the blades bore an uncommon resemblance to the jagged-edged runeblade slung across her back.
"I want a combat suit. That's why I came to you - Gnomes don't make good combat suits, and from everywhere I've asked around, you've got the best reputation."
"Took them long enough to notice. Well.. I've got an Super Reaper 6000 in tha works, but I can whip up something different - for the right price, of course.."
"Actually.." Sanya looked away from the weapons in the corner, and back down to the goblin. "I want to learn from you. Test me, and see if I'm a worthy student or not. If I am, I'll pay you to teach me."
"Interesting. Could be worth it." Azzel replied. He moved to the side and pulled a canister of thick, pale-gold fluid from a slightly oil-blackened pile of other bottles and cans. His hands left marks in the oil tracks on it as he handed it to Sanya. "What's this, Death Knight?" He asked. Sanya looked at it just as carefully as she had the weapons, noting the color and viscosity of it by tipping the bottle to the light.
"This is phlogiston. Normally, it's a very precise mix of oil, water and gas. But it looks like there's either something wrong with the gas in the mixture, or there's too little oil. Am I right?"
"Yup." Azzel dropped it back into the pile. "I'll be trying to fix it soon. Well, that or sell it to some dumbass who thinks they're getting a bargain. Let's see..."
He kept walking until they reached the iron-strut shelf on the opposite wall. It was almost large enough to span the entire wall, and contained the better half of all the engineering equipment in the room. At the sight of one thing on the shelf, he smirked and reached for it. An extremely complex L-shaped gadget made of steel and pistons, almost the size of Azzel. He tapped it with bony green fingers. "What's thi- Don't pick it up, or I'll make you pay for it if you drop it," he added the last sentence on just as Sanya was trying to lift the gadget off the shelf.
"...Sorry." She ran her gauntlet over it instead, looking at the overall shape of the metal, trying to judge what purpose the pistons had.
"'S alright. If ya break it, I'll just charge my usual price. Or if ya break it then become my student, I'll make ya work it off." Azzel laughed. "So don't worry about it." Sanya nodded, but her mind was clearly off elsewhere. A few minutes passed, in which she finally stepped back.
"I've got it. It's part of the chest of a set of steam armor. It attaches onto a deeper-in piece here-" she pointed to one end, which interlinked with several thick wire cords, and a network of hydraulic channels which attached to the pistons. There is a pressure release valve on the side facing out. "-and the other side goes out to the arm."
"Good guess. I want to see if yer serious about this. If ya aren't, it's no sweat off my back, but I don't want word getting around that I took on a third-rater student." He looked up to Sanya, eyes narrowed. "It'll damage my rep in Booty Bay, which'll damage my business. Geddit?"
"Yes, War- I mean Azzel. If you want, I can pay a deposit now as proof that I'm serious about learning. Even if you decide not to keep me as a student, you can keep it. Deal?"
"Deal." Azzel held out a hand as Sanya unclipped a bag from her belt. She upturned it in her hand, and let several gold coins clank out. Azzel took them out of her hand instead of waiting for her. "All right, one more question." He pocketed the gold, and nodded over at a black cylindrical object, sitting on the floor with wires fanning out from it like an octopus.
Sanya grinned. "That's easy. It's a power core for a weapon used in a set of steam armor. They shock people if you set them up correctly."
"Righto. You're in. Follow me, Sanya, and we'll set up a lesson time, starting tomorrow." They left the back room empty again, as the conversation turned to the variance between steam armor sets, and the finer points of the weaponry of each.
"Yes. I've been asking around Booty Bay about it, and I was directed to this shop. I'm Sanya. Are you Azzel Steamsmash?"
"Yup. Buyer, eh? I've gotta warn you, those things don't come cheap." He hopped off his crate and walked over to a work bench with a bunch of pale yellow-filled vials and metal components laid out on it. "Funny, elf taking an interest," he said in a low voice to himself. "Who'da thought it?" Sanya inspected the components and vials, but kept her hands to herself.
"How many different kinds of steam armor are there?" She asked. "I've heard from the other people I've spoken to that they vary a lot from maker to maker, and race to race. Even their uses vary."
"Ya heard right, elf. Gnomes always make those stupid speedy little things, but Goblins build for war. Steam armor doesn't pay my bills, but it's my bread and butter all the same. So, what're ya looking for?"
They kept walking through the store, into another room filled with much larger, hydraulic limbs, pistons, and fibrous networks of wire which were plainly intended for running through an entire suit.
As they stood there, a grin crept onto Sanya's face unbidden. She seemed fascinated by each component, but her eyes stayed longest on the weaponry in the corner; saws with extra chains, small half-assembled cannons (some mounted, some not), several fearsome-looking jagged blades, and long spikes meant for attaching directly onto the body of a suit. Some of the blades bore an uncommon resemblance to the jagged-edged runeblade slung across her back.
"I want a combat suit. That's why I came to you - Gnomes don't make good combat suits, and from everywhere I've asked around, you've got the best reputation."
"Took them long enough to notice. Well.. I've got an Super Reaper 6000 in tha works, but I can whip up something different - for the right price, of course.."
"Actually.." Sanya looked away from the weapons in the corner, and back down to the goblin. "I want to learn from you. Test me, and see if I'm a worthy student or not. If I am, I'll pay you to teach me."
"Interesting. Could be worth it." Azzel replied. He moved to the side and pulled a canister of thick, pale-gold fluid from a slightly oil-blackened pile of other bottles and cans. His hands left marks in the oil tracks on it as he handed it to Sanya. "What's this, Death Knight?" He asked. Sanya looked at it just as carefully as she had the weapons, noting the color and viscosity of it by tipping the bottle to the light.
"This is phlogiston. Normally, it's a very precise mix of oil, water and gas. But it looks like there's either something wrong with the gas in the mixture, or there's too little oil. Am I right?"
"Yup." Azzel dropped it back into the pile. "I'll be trying to fix it soon. Well, that or sell it to some dumbass who thinks they're getting a bargain. Let's see..."
He kept walking until they reached the iron-strut shelf on the opposite wall. It was almost large enough to span the entire wall, and contained the better half of all the engineering equipment in the room. At the sight of one thing on the shelf, he smirked and reached for it. An extremely complex L-shaped gadget made of steel and pistons, almost the size of Azzel. He tapped it with bony green fingers. "What's thi- Don't pick it up, or I'll make you pay for it if you drop it," he added the last sentence on just as Sanya was trying to lift the gadget off the shelf.
"...Sorry." She ran her gauntlet over it instead, looking at the overall shape of the metal, trying to judge what purpose the pistons had.
"'S alright. If ya break it, I'll just charge my usual price. Or if ya break it then become my student, I'll make ya work it off." Azzel laughed. "So don't worry about it." Sanya nodded, but her mind was clearly off elsewhere. A few minutes passed, in which she finally stepped back.
"I've got it. It's part of the chest of a set of steam armor. It attaches onto a deeper-in piece here-" she pointed to one end, which interlinked with several thick wire cords, and a network of hydraulic channels which attached to the pistons. There is a pressure release valve on the side facing out. "-and the other side goes out to the arm."
"Good guess. I want to see if yer serious about this. If ya aren't, it's no sweat off my back, but I don't want word getting around that I took on a third-rater student." He looked up to Sanya, eyes narrowed. "It'll damage my rep in Booty Bay, which'll damage my business. Geddit?"
"Yes, War- I mean Azzel. If you want, I can pay a deposit now as proof that I'm serious about learning. Even if you decide not to keep me as a student, you can keep it. Deal?"
"Deal." Azzel held out a hand as Sanya unclipped a bag from her belt. She upturned it in her hand, and let several gold coins clank out. Azzel took them out of her hand instead of waiting for her. "All right, one more question." He pocketed the gold, and nodded over at a black cylindrical object, sitting on the floor with wires fanning out from it like an octopus.
Sanya grinned. "That's easy. It's a power core for a weapon used in a set of steam armor. They shock people if you set them up correctly."
"Righto. You're in. Follow me, Sanya, and we'll set up a lesson time, starting tomorrow." They left the back room empty again, as the conversation turned to the variance between steam armor sets, and the finer points of the weaponry of each.