[X] Take your time to decide for now
-[X] Ask how likely are royal commisions and how do we get them outside the obvious like joining the Stormwind.
-[X] Ask to see the contract we'll be signing and Leon's too for good measure
-[X] Then pointedly ask what kind of work load are we expected to do and the benefit's we're getting.
-[X] Ask about the conditions for Leon to join the Elite Training program, what are they expected during and after the program and etc.
-[X] Then once your done excuse yourself and go out and scout for some more information on blacksmithing and to confirm the Recruiter's words.
--[X] At Lost Star feel free to summarise the above results in an after the fact post.
---
No fool you, you get the contracts for both you and Leon before you sign. The recruiter is surprisingly upfront with it, so you are pretty certain that this isn't where he's holding the trick.
The contract is actually fairly standard stuff once you get past the tricky wording. Employment for three years, and monthly payments. Leon's is substantially different than yours though, and you start to see the few issues.
Leon's will have him sent directly to the training faculties in Stormwind. Further employment hinges directly on him managing to finish the training. Elite probably means it's damned tough. Leon doesn't give a damn obviously, but you wrangle a few details from the recruiter, and wonder a bit. Despite this, it IS a good deal for him. If he manages to get through the six month training, then he's placed into the 'Elite forces' and given a fairly hefty salary of ten gold a month. You don't know what this elite force is, so you can't speculate more.
Yours does something different. You will be sent to the royal foundry, and given a starting salary of five gold a month. Room and board are not provided, but you will have access to the foundry at all times, and there is a note that discounts are available for royal craftsmen. The contract is sparse on the details though, and the recruiter doesn't particularly know more than what's in it.
You are tempted to go out and scout for more information, but the city is fairly large. There is no real way of tracking down a blacksmith, and even guarenting that they know about it. Plus, depending on the skill level, each blacksmith can pull in something different.
You dither for a bit, and finally the recruiter sighs. "Listen, I know you are suspicious. I'm going to be frank with you." He lowers his voice. "I give your friend a fifty fifty chance of getting through that course. He's strong, but I can already see problem points. I wouldn't be offering it if I didn't think he had a chance though. But what we really need are good craftsmen. A blacksmith that can work mithril? That puts you into a must have. If it will put your mind at ease, I think there is one who took a contract like yours that came over on the latest ship. Stay the night, and I'll get him in the morning."
Well, a free room and board does sound good, so you agree. You get to take a bath, and get some fairly tasty bread and butter as a dinner.
Bright and early, you get to meet the craftsman. He's a big man. Almost as large as Leon. Which is a bit annoying really, is everyone going to be larger than you? You hope you hit another growth spurt too.
"So you are the one who made that sword?" He asks you with a suspicious look.
"Already saw it huh?" You drawl out and cross your arms. "Can't believe I made it?"
"Mithril is a unpleasant metal to work with. Almost as bad as Thorium. Color me skeptical." The man crosses his arms as well and looks down.
You roll your eyes. "Mithril an' Thorium are singing metals. Ya' think I don't know how to use em? Mithril's more flexible, and good fer weapons. Thorium's good fer armor if you manage to wrangle it into shape, but ya wanna pad it, cause it doesn't flex. Good for a surface defense. Plus it don't like being in small pieces. Tends to lose some sing if you do."
That gets you a raised eyebrow. "Singing metals? That's an old dwarven term. Plus good evaluation. How are you with armor?"
"Never got tha chance to make it." You have to admit. "Got the way ta do so, just not much call for it."
"Something to note down then." The man nods and uncrosses his arms. He pulls out binder of paper, and writes something. "If you want to take the contract, it's considered a commission. You would be set down as a royal craftsman. Since you have a decent amount of training, and a fair grasp of the basics, I'm going to recommend you get assigned to the experimental division. You will likely have a choice thanks to this." He hands you a note.
You blink as you look it over. Seems like a letter of introduction.
"Standard contract with you would place you in the royal foundry, and set you at the novice level. Hard, routine work where you would be on for ten hours, and then off for the rest of the day. Practically you would be working half the day. After a year of that, you would have been bumped up and been in charge of a division should you work at it. This letter will give you a small workshop of your own, and a requirement to submit a project update once a week. You know some basic dwarven techniques, and that's actually very damned rare for a human."
That's a lot better than what you thought you were gonna get too. "What's the catch."
"Experimental. You have to do something novel." The man gives a grim grin. "It's harder than it sounds, and aside from the conjurers, we are a fair bit behind the other races in tech. Be glad that our mages and soldiers are the best in the world though. You will have a lot of paperwork to do as well, so don't expect things to be easy."
You nod. "Sounds interesting at least."
[]
