Having had a good meal, Cailin returned to Miri and led her down the road to the stables.  After talking to the stable hand and seeing to her horse's needs, Cailin walked into the smithy where she saw a young dwarf woman standing by the forge.

"Pardon me, miss, could you tell me where I might find Master Smith 'Old Ironbeard'?  The tavern maid said I would be able to locate him, here," she asked the woman, "is he about?"

"Ye be talking to 'im, what can I do fer ye, sweetheart?", replied the woman.  A little surprised, Cailin said, "you're Old Ironbeard?"

"Aye, that I am.  Name's Petra, a daughter of Clan Ironbeard of the Whitecap Mountains.", the woman then lightly chuckled and continued, "the 'old' part is a running joke amongst the townsfolk.  Ye see, I be 87 years old... to humans, a relic.  But as ye might have heard, we dwarfs are quite long lived and in those terms, I'm just beginning to hit me prime."  "So, enough about me," Petra said, "back to the original question, what can I do fer ye?"

"I need a sword", replied Cailin.  Sweeping her arms around, Petra said, "have a look around darlin', I'm sure I have something in the racks that'll suit yer needs."

"Perhaps I should have been more concise," Cailin said as she reached down into her pack to withdraw a dull gray colored metal bar, that somehow seemed to shine with an inner brilliance when struck by the sunlight filtering into the shop through the door and windows.  "I want you to forge a blade from this."

Astonished by the sight of the bar the young woman held in her hand, Petra sputtered, "no, it cannot be, is that... Elven Moonsteel?!"  Still in a slight shock from what her eyes beheld, " I've not seen any for over seventy-five years, when I was but a young lass as me father's apprentice.  And then, it was just enough to make a boot dagger... how, where in the name of The Light did you get such a large bar?"

Cailin replied, "how I came upon the metal is not important, the important question is can you make me a sword from it... are your skills up to the task?"

Regaining her composure, Petra looked at the bar that was now in her hand, "Aye!!! I have the skill and me father's special tools to give ye what ye want, but will take a few days and it ain't gonna be cheap."

With a slight smile, Cailin told her, "don't worry, I can meet your price if you can meet my desire.  I'll be staying at the inn, send me word when you're finished."

As Cailin turned to leave, Petra reached out and grasped her hand and spoke softly, "thank you for this honor, lass, I won't let you down.  And now that we have business out of the way, I need to tell ye something... woman to woman."  Petra's eyes scanned around the room, making sure the two of them were alone, "if Taralyn offered to draw ye a bath, take her up on it, no offense meant, but ye smell like a horse's patoot."

Cailin looked into the dwarf's eye and with a laugh said, "now that you mention it, I thought it was coming from the stables, I guess not,"  winking at Petra, " my parents always told me to pay heed to the sage wisdom of my elders, Old Ironbeard."

With that, Cailin left the smithy and started walking back toward the inn.   "A nice hot bath and a cool soft bed, just what I need,"  she thought to herself as dusk began its approach.

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Cailin's Journey - - An Adventure In The Making  (Opens a new window)
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