Task at Stone Keep

Messages for the Knights' Guild
Zanza
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed May 31, 2017 3:00 am
Guild: Knights

Task at Stone Keep

Post by Zanza »

Zanza enters the Knight’s Outpost in Stonekeep taking in the sights. Upon seeing the stable, he dismounts his Mottled War Stallion and walks the horse in behind him..
“Ah welcome, welcome you must be Zanza. Master Kollin said we should be expecting you. Im Kelvian, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said before wiping his hand on his pants and offering it to him.

Zanza bows his head before shaking his hand, “Nice to meet you as well.” Beacon pokes his head out from his back and greets the stablemaster with a bark.

Kelvian tilts his head to look at the noise and smiles, “Who might that be then?”

“That right there is Beacon, he goes where I go, and is here to help as well,” Zanza says as he leans down to let Beacon out of his pack. The pup darts towards Kelvian jumping up on his knee with tail wagging.

“Well, now isn’t he something,” Kelvian said while petting the pup, “ We will be sure to put the both of you to work then.” With a turn of his head the stable master yells, “Halvore! Get over here, our new help has arrived!”

A large man wearing a blacksmith’s apron walks in with a giant smile, “Ahh, so this is the new meat. Halvore’s the name and I run the Armory and the Forge in this outpost.” Zanza greets the smith with a snap to salute. “Now, no need for all of that boy. Just a simple hello would be fine,” Halvore said with a smile.

Slightly embarrassed, he says, “Sorry. Hello Halvore. I’m Zanza and that there is Beacon.” Halvore looks over and sees Kelvian playing with the small pup on the ground.

Turning back towards Zanza, Halvore asks “Do you have any smithing experience?“

Zanza smiled and stood up a little straighter as he spoke. “Yes, I actually do. I forged this beauty just the other day.” Zanza pulls out his Mithril Two-handed Sword and offers it to Halvore for inspection.

Taking the sword from him Halvore eyes the blade carefully before letting loose a long whistle. “Not bad, not bad at all…She is a beauty…” He pauses for a moment as he examines the weapon further, “If you can make this then I have the perfect task for you.“ Halvore hands back the sword before continuing. “In a couple days I am getting a shipment of ore from Finra. So be ready to work hard. There is a lot of smithing to be done, from horseshoes, to nails, to weapons and armor of course.”

Zanza nodded, “Of course, happy to help where I can.”

Kelvian finally looks up, taking a break from playing with Beacon who is lying on his back. “I got work for you as well, though I am waiting for my shipment of lumber. So, it seems you have a free day tomorrow. “ He rises to his feet and continues, “ You can explore the Barony and see what Stonekeep has to offer. Though, you must be tired if you’ve come all the way from Dev. Go wash up and find a bunk and try to relax. I am sure we will tire you out before we send you back to Kollin.”

Zanza smiles at the two men, “I am ready for whatever you throw at me. I am used to working hard and don’t shy away from a challenge.”

Kelvian and Halvore exchange a look and laugh heartily, “They all say that and they all limp off tired and sore when their time is done.” The two men laugh again. “Go on rest up and we will be sure to test your mettle kid,“ Kelvian says as he takes the reins to Zanza’s horse so the squire and his dog can head for the bunks.
Zanza
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed May 31, 2017 3:00 am
Guild: Knights

A day off

Post by Zanza »

Zanza exits the Knight’s Outpost dressed in his civilian clothes. He runs his hand through his hair trying to get it to fall into place but failing miserably. Today he would explore more of the barony while he had the chance, but he wouldn’t be alone. He turns back and whistles sharply. In response, a small black and brown puppy bounds towards him with tail wagging, skidding to a halt by his feet. “Let’s go boy,” Zanza says patting the pup on the head.

Within moments, a scream came from just outside the barony gates, “GOBLINS!"

Instinctively he reaches for his sword, but comes up empty having forgotten he left his gear back at the outpost. Zanza muttered to himself before running toward the commotion, the lack of weapon wouldn’t stop him from trying to help. Zanza skids to a stop in front of the carved gate of Stonekeep to see the action: A horde of goblins was engaged with the Guards of Stone Keep. He noticed an elderly couple limping away from the fight, and instantly ran over to see if he could help. “Are you alright,” Zanza asks with concern clearly on his face.

“My wife! My wife has been hurt,” the elderly man said franticly. Zanza helped the woman to a bench on the side of the road. Slinging the pack off his back he starts rummaging through looking for a clean cloth and his water skin. “Beacon, Stay,” he says forcefully to his dog. Beacon instantly sits, his head tilting to the side, his eyes fixating on the scene at the gate.

“Ok, please let me take a look,” he says with a gentle smile on his face. The woman nodded as she peeled her bloody hand away from her leg. Zanza lets loose a sigh of relief, “It's a shallow cut, you will be fine. Let me clean and bandage it up. Though please go to the clinic in town to get it checked.” The man’s expression relaxes as if a weight had been lifted hearing this news, nodding his head in understanding to Zanza’s instructions. “So what happened out there,” Zanza asks as he cleans the wound..

“We were on our way back from visiting our daughter and grandchildren in Devardec when this group of goblins came storming towards us.“ Zanza listened carefully as he began to wrap the wound with a clean cloth. “We ran as fast as we could to the City, we barely made it. Luckily the guards were paying attention or we would’ve been done for,” the man said.

Tieing off the bandage Zanza looks up and said, “ I am glad you made it, does this type of thing happen often?”

Seeing that he was done with the bandage, the old man hugged his wife and kissed her head. “Goblin attacks on the road is common around here, the worse thing this town has seen is the string of missing …” The man's words were cut off as his wife jabbed him in the stomach. “Enough of that,” she says with a gentle smile. Raising his eyebrow at the two he was about to ask further but the woman waved her hands clearly meaning that topic was closed. With a smile and a gentle pat on the shoulder Zanza stood up stretching. “Thank you so much. I am sorry but we don’t even know your name,” the elderly woman says while reaching her hand out to Zanza.

Taking her hand he helps her to her feet gently, “My name's a little hard to pronounce but my friends just call me Zanza,” he replies.

“Well, Zanza, you have mine and my husband’s thanks for your kindness.”

“I am just happy I was here to …” A loud crash interrupts Zanza’s words as a guard was thrown into the baskets along the wall. “Get her to the clinic,” Zanza exclaims as he turns to look at the battle. The guard lay on the ground looking up at a goblin standing above him with a sword above his head and twisted smile on his lips. “Look out!!” Zanza yells, too far away to help. Out of nowhere, Beacon launches himself at the goblin sinking his teeth into its leg. The goblin screams in pain before looking down at the tiny dog that was clamped on its leg. That moment of distraction gave the guard enough time to compose himself and he struck down the goblin with his sword. Beacon trots back to Zanza’s side, tail wagging with a small bark. Zanza leans down patting Beacon on the head clearly impressed with his actions. “Good boy.”

He watches as the guards push the goblins back, finally retreating back to the Ralos Plains. A victory cry rings out from the guards as the creatures run off. After a few moments Zanza approaches the Guards, “Is everyone alright?” The Guards walk up to Zanza and Beacon nodding clapping him on the back for helping them with the wounded villagers.

The guard that was knocked to the ground bends down and pats Beacon on the head. “Thanks little guy, if it weren’t for you I would be done for.” Beacon barks and jumps up to lick the guard’s face.

“I am glad you are ok,” Zanza says watching the two with a smile on his face.

Standing, the guard offers his hand to Zanza, “I can’t thank you enough for all you did with those villagers, and your dog for saving my life.”

Shaking his hand Zanza replied, “Not a problem, I am here to help where I can.”

“I am glad to see there are still some good people in these lands. I’m Grespyan,” the dwarven man said.

“Nice to meet you, I'm Zanza and the little guy’s Beacon.”

“Beacon, eh? That’s a fine name for the little hero.” A yell echos from down the street, “ Let's go Gres, we have to report in.” With a sigh, the Dwarf pets Beacon on the head once more. “I have to go. Where are you staying?”

“I am staying with Halvore the smith as of right now.”

“Oh you’re a smith,” he said with a gleam of excitement. “Then I will stop by to see you two tomorrow. Will be delivering some goods to Halvore tomorrow for some maintenance,” Grespyan said while starting down the street.

“Until tomorrow then,” Zanza said with a wave.
Kollin Byrne
GM of Knights
Posts: 106
Joined: Sat Apr 26, 2014 2:09 pm
Guild: Knights
Temple: Light

Checking In

Post by Kollin Byrne »

Despite his confidence in his squire’s abilities, Kollin was growing concerned at the lack of word from Stonekeep. It was hard not to think something had happened given the disappearances plaguing the city.

“Ahm sure he’s fine,” Kollin sighed to himself as he started to write a message to the outpost, “But it canna hurt ta check in.”


Halvore,

Checking in on the status of Squire Zanza. I am sure he is very busy, but please provide me an update on his progress at your earliest convenience.

-Kollin Byrne
Zanza
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed May 31, 2017 3:00 am
Guild: Knights

Back to Work

Post by Zanza »

The clanging of metal rings out just as the sun begins to rise on the city of Stone Keep. Halvore wipes the sleep from his eyes and looks out in the yard to see Zanza hammering away at some metal.

“Hey! Lad what are you doing at this hour” Halvore says as he walks over scratching his belly

The Elf kept at it not hearing the man over the ringing of metal. Halvore carefully walks into Zanzas field of vision and the Elf stopped the hammering.

“Morning!” he says wiping the sweat off his forehead.

“Lad, where have you been? Kollin sent word asking about ya. Oh and yes good morning to you as well” Halvore responds as he scans the floor of the forge.

“Yeah, i’m sorry I have been away for a bit. I went to check on the couple from the fight at the clinic. Then just got caught up helping the Nurses. Tried to find out more about the disappearances as well but every time I brought it up people just shut down. So i quit asking all together. Since I felt bad for just disappearing like that I got up early and took it upon myself to get things started. I forged about 100 nails, 30 spikes and a few dozen horseshoes with the leftover materials you had laying around.” Zanza replies with a grin

Halvore stands in shock as he listed the amount he got done. Shaking his head to snap himself out of the stupor he quickly asked

“What if those materials were slated for something else?”

I reviewed the invoice and your material list in the office and saw what was being used for what. So I figured which could be used and for what. You took detailed notes Halvore, so I knew what was needed for which project. “

Halvore blinks, “This kid is something else” he said to himself as he looks at the crate of nails.

“Though I only took metal out of the scrap box in the corner to make the nails. I wasn’t sure if the ingots were to be used for them. “ Zanza continued since Halvore seemed to be waiting for more of an explanation.

Halvore throws up his hands in defeat. “Ok, ok i get it. You did good kid. Most would of waited for me to wake them and told them what to do.”

Zanza smiles at Halvore as he nods. “Grew up where if you weren’t doing something you were doing something wrong. There is always something that needs to be done. This way when the lumber comes in I can start on repairing the stable while you take inventory of the metal shipment.”

“You better watch yourself Zanza, you keep this up and Kollin will have you stationed here permanently. “

They both laughed

Zanza points in the air as if he just remembered something. He turns around picking up an item covered in cloth. “I made this as well, thought you may like it. You can keep it or sell it if you like. I just felt like trying something different to see if it worked.”

Halvore takes the bundle from Zanza, curious to see what the squire had made. Removing the cloth he gaped at what he saw. It was an intricate sword with a curved blade that grew wider as it went from hilt to tip. . Although clearly well made, that was not what caught Halvore’s eye. The design work on the pommel and handle was intricate and awed him.. The design was specific to Stone keep, the grip modeled after stone bricks with the pommel resembling a tower from the keep itself. The hand guard even resembled a stone pathway.

“You made this?” Halvore asked as he ran his hand over the artwork.

Zanza nods as he waits for the response from Halvore.

“Zanza this is amazing work. You really do have a talent. This artwork how did you?” Halvore asks

Zanza shrugs casually though the smile gave away the joy he heard in the complement. “I toyed around designing the ships art work on the Hull back home. Just did it cause I thought it would be fun. So used the same principles on the Handle, pommel and Guard to see if would be the same.”

Halvore smiles as he hands him back the sword. “I couldn’t take this though you should keep it and use it yourself.

Zanza takes the sword back with a frown.

“Use what?” A gruff voice comes from behind them.

Turning around Zanza sees the Dwarven Guard he met the other day approaching them.

“Grespyan! How are you?” Zanza says with a smile as he reaches his hand out to him.

Taking his hand Grespyan smiles as he responds “ Good, just came by to see how you guys were doing... Now what are you to clammering on about. “

Halvores eyes light up as an idea came to him. “Gres, you came to get your sword repaired right? “

Grespyan nods as he looks at the man carefully. “Aye, why do you ask?”

Halvore prods Zanza in the ribs trying to get him to understand. Zanza turns at him puzzled muttering till it finally hit him.

“Well, perhaps you would like a new sword instead? “ Zanza asks as he holds out the sword to Grespyan.

Grespyans eyes widen as he looks at the sword. “Halvore! You have truly outdone yourself with this one. Zanza hands him the sword to inspect further not wanting to correct the Dwarf. Grespyan takes the sword and takes a few steps backward. Swinging it around a few times a smile came onto his face. “Nice balance, good grip and I love the design!” he praised.

Halvore nods “ I agree though I didn't make it. Zanza did while tinkering in the forge”

“You made this kid? I am impressed! You could make a fortune alone on the designs. Though I cannot afford such a piece on a Guard's wages.” Grespyan goes to hand to Zanza.

Zanza waves his hands refusing to take it back. “Consider it a gift then, from a Squire to a Guard. A thank you for all your hard work in this city. “

Grespyan mouth opened as he was dumbfounded. “You would give me this, simply as a thank you? “

Zanza nods “Well to be honest I don't much use One-handed weapons much. So consider it a gift between friends”

Grespyan smiles as he holds his new Sword at his side. “Then I happily accept. All the guards will be so jealous of my new weapon. “ he laughs happily. “So now Friend, I am off today what can I do to help. “

Halvore grins “Well you two can start by fixing up the stable before Kelvian and Beacon come back from the Market. “

The two of them nod as they head inside to grab the nails and ready for a long days work.
Zanza
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed May 31, 2017 3:00 am
Guild: Knights

Departure

Post by Zanza »

Zanza stands in front of the Outpost staring at the brand new stable he helped build. Beacon sits down next to him looking at the Stable then back at him not sure what is going on.

“You did good lad” Halvore says as he claps him on the back. “You did some fine work, so be proud.

Zanza nods as he smiles at him. “I had a lot of fun in Stone Keep. The people were nice and even made a new friend.”

Kelvian sighs as he slaps Zanza upside his head “A new friend, try three kid.”

Beacon barks at Kelvian in defense of Zanza. Kelvian drops down and pats the pup on the head. “You will both be missed. Hell the horses have a better place to sleep than we do now!” Kelvian says with a chuckle.

Halvore nods in agreement before adding “ We expect big things from you Zanza. It has been awhile since we have seen a squire with your zeal. We will be following your progress from now on. “

Blushing, Zanza nods at them “I will try not to disappoint you both.”

Halvore pats Zanza on the shoulder “ I am sure you won’t lad. You helped me in the forge, built a new Stable for Kel, helped at the clinic, and even Beacon saved a guard. I’d say you did plenty of work here. Kollin is sure to be pleased. “

Zanza stands up a little straighter. “I wish I could have found out more about the disappearances. Though it seems people are nervous to even talk about the subject.”

“Its fine, people will open up eventually. They just needed to be reminded that people care. You did that in spades Zanza.” Kelvian says as he scratches Beacon behind the ear.

“Once I become a Knight I’ll be sure to come back and we can celebrate. Drinks will be on me!” Zanza says as he lifts his back onto his shoulders.

Kelvian eyes light up “Drinks on you! Now that is something I can get behind.”

Zanza shakes each of the men’s hands as he says his final farewells before heading down the road toward the exit of Stone Keep with Beacon in tow.

Halvore turns to Kelvian “I hope he does well, if not I could always use him in the forge. Make a killing with all the weapon sales.”

Kelvian laughs “I think he will be fine, I am sure he will be a fine addition to the Knights..

Return to “Knights' Guild”