Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » The Blacksmith and The Bookworm (1x1)

Soon, morning came around, and Roisin had already woken up. She went to the bathroom, sleepy, holding the clothing she planned to wear. It was simple yet appreared basely on flexibility. Roisin was quick to bathe and get dressed, coming out with her sleepwear in her arms. Once in the rented room, she gathered what she needed: the pouch of gold coins, a few bronze coins she had, and a small box. She was now running her finger through her hair, debating whether she should put daisies in her hair or let it be.

Miss Merril had risen with the sun, quickly putting together a simple yet hearty breakfast. The food now sat on the dining room table, and Miss Merril sat reading the town's newspaper. It was not much of a newspaper; more like a newsletter of events that interested one person crossed with a gossip column and with more typos than correctly spelled words, but it was something to read.

She finally decided on putting one daisy behind her ear and went outside the room. Roisin went to the table and sat in a chair near it. "Thank you." She said before she started eating breakfast in front of her. Roisin noticed the newspaper, Miss. Merril was reading, tilting her head slightly. "What are you reading, Miss. Merril?" She asked. Roisin does read, but not anything like the newspaper, plus no one really delivers the newspaper. She only hears it from Archer.

"Town newsletter. Nothing much of interest if you don't know who Mr. Gregory and Mrs. Fletcher are," Miss Merril replied bluntly. Paper rustled as she turned the page.

Roisin hummed softly in return. She continued eating her breakfast. Soon she finished eating and washed her dish. Roisin than dried her hands before checking she had everything she need. "Thank you for the breakfast, ma'am." She said before leaving. Roisin aheaded towards the bank with the direction Miss. Merril gave her but also purposely went further to see the wooden craving of the trout. She headed back soon once she saw it and admired it for a bit.

The wooden trout was an incredible carving, the fish caught in the act of leaping out of the water and thrashing about. It emerged from the stump from which it had been carved in a competition last year, and as the competition winner, it was displayed in town and now used as a directional marker.

The bank was small but well-guarded with a troll sitting out front, patiently whittling away while she kept an eye on those coming and going. A second troll sat out back, out of sight of the road. The troll guard paid extra attention to Roisin as she was unfamiliar, but made no move to speak to her. Inside the bank was as spartan as the outside, and the two clerks moved with quick efficiency. There were not many people in the bank, so it was soon Roisin's turn. Her bag of gold caught a lot of interest, and the two clerks had to have a huddled discussion about whether or not they could afford to convert all of it. They had the money, but that might be all the money they had, and the townfolk who regularly did business with them had little use for gold. The company's businessmen could use gold, but they were infrequent visitors. They eventually decided they could convert two-thirds of Roisin's gold and thanked her for her business.

Roisin felt slightly nervous when she arrived at the bank. She assumed her being nervous didn't help one bit. It only worsened when she gave her pouch of gold coins, and the clerks had to discuss it. Roisin was planning to tell them they could simply give her a small amount, but she was too slow to suggest it when they agreed to convert two-thirds. She had been fiddling with her earring the entire time.

Once she left the bank, she let out a relieved sigh. Her next stop was the lumber mill, since Miss. Merril suggest to look for Jude there first. Surprisingly, Roisin wasn't too nervous about asking for him. This was her punishment for not asking the correct questions when the moment presented itself.

The mill was a highly busy place, and no one noticed Roisin at first as everyone had their own jobs to do. The work area was pretty obvious with massive people hauling even more massive trees in to be cut down to crosstie shape, and the bits that were cut off were shaped into other things. Planks, boards, slivers... every bit of the tree, down to the sawdust and leaves, was used in some shape or form. The front office was off to the right, just down from the main road. A crooked wooden sign with the word "Office" had been nailed above the door of the small room jutting out from the main building.

Roisin made her way to the office. She was occasionally look over at what wood was being taken out or what structure it became into. Roisin wondered if Jude used to handle wood like the workers outside. She entered the office, rubbing her ear slightly.

The man inside looked too big for the small, cramped room that comprised only of a desk, the chair he sat in, and a small, wooden chair in front of it. There were no pictures, no rugs, nothing. Only three piles of paperwork. He had his eyes on the pile in front of him, his pen nib scratching away quickly here and there. "Do for ya?" he asked gruffly without looking up.

She noticed how plain the office looked, but didn't say much about it. Roisin tilted her head slightly when she also took notice of the paperwork before the man spoke. She cleared her throat before speaking. "I was wondering if you have someone by the name of Jude? He went to Valebright for business about the trail lines. I came by to drop off a gift for him." Roisin then placed the small box on the desk gently and removed the daisy from her hair before putting it on top of it. "Tell him it's from Red and I'm staying at Miss. Merril." She added.

The man finally looked up at her and scowled. "Young lady, does this look like a post office?" he demanded shortly. "Because it's not. If you want to give your boyfriend a nice gift, you can either go interrupt him at his work and leave me to mine, or, better yet, you can wait for him to get off work." He returned his gaze to the papers before him. "Accounting is upstairs. The stairs are around the back. Have fun." The chief of accounting could figure out what to do with her from there.

Roisin took the box back. "I apologize, thank you," was all she said before leaving. The tips of her ears were slightly red. She was upset but also embarrassed. Roisin decided to simply wait, not wanting to embarrass herself more or lose her cool. So, she decided to seek a resting area near the area. Roisin hoped she would find one, but if she couldn't, she would swallow her anger and embarrassment and go upstairs. Something she hoped wouldn't be an option yet.

There was a bench nearby. It was nothing special, but it was good for sitting and resting.

A couple of hours later, it was time for a short break, and the four people who worked on the accounting floor of the mill filed out the back stairs. A couple of them talked to each other, the others stayed quiet, tired from the work already. One of the workers was Jude, making his way down the stairs and moving lazily off toward the nearby woods.

Roisin sat on the bench, calming down the. She also rubbed the tips of her ears as if it was burning up.

When Roisin saw people coming out, she watched out for Jude. She was standing up at this point. Once Roisin spotted Jude, she began to follow him. It wasn't long until she managed to reach up to him. "Jude." Roisin called out.

Jude heard the call and looked around, confused at first. Then he spotted Roisin. He smiled, still confused, but happy. "Roisin! What are you doing here?"

"Well, I decided to kept my promise of coming over." She said before pulling out the box, handing it to him. "Oh and here. I'm sorry if the paint job isn't neat. I don't usually color my projects." Roisin added.

Inside the box was a wooden craving of a songbird. It was painted to reflect a songbird.

"I almost forgot. I have a better way to permanently remove the spell if it's still a bother to you." She said, referring to his prosthetic leg.

"Oh, wow! This is beautiful!" Jude smiled, looking at the wooden bird. "Are you sure you want to give this to me? And if you could break the spell on my leg, I would be indebted to you, but I would not want to stress you."

Roisin smiled a bit. "Yes. I made it specifically for you." She said, chuckling a bit. "It won't stress me out. Thankfully I brought the stuff needed for it anyways. It's at Miss. Merril's place." Roisin added.

"Is that where you are staying while you are here? How long are you going to be here?" Jude asked.