[x] Mention to Dampgear that in Stormwind we came across a kind of iron or steel Zweihänder, made by Orcs, that reacted beautifully to shamanistic fire and wind. If they want proof that we are as good or better than their own smiths we'd like the same material to work with.
-[x] Build a higher quality Zweihänder.
-[x] Also talk with our female goblin minder about a vision we had - of a new eye for ourselves, fixing our depth perception issues.
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"Don't really do big and flashy stuff." You state with a sour face. "But I did see a Zweihänder that the orcs made. Was the only thing that actually impressed me. Could replicate that an likely do better if I knew what sort o' steel they used."
"Hmm." Mr Dampgear thinks on it. "Not really what I would go for myself, but I can see the appeal. Show em that you are worth more than their best. Give me a bit and I will see what I can dig up. Wait here."
You sigh and lean against the anvil as the Goblin leaves. This sticks in your craw a bit, helping like this. But it's either help, or suffer that torture again. Your best bet is to do some standard work, and hopefully find a proper opening. So it's wait, and be patient.
The minutes stretch into hours, and you start getting antsy. Eventually you go over to the table and start sketching out something. Anything is better than staying here and doing nothing. Your missing eye burns as you think, and that inspires what comes next.
There is such a thing as scrying spells right? You know the barebones basics of them in your research into various magics. Arcane has a few, and Shamanism does too, if your grasp of the tales are right. The trick of it is you don't know the actual spells. But that's what experimenting is. An artificial eye enchanted to give you sight equivalent to your missing eye.
You lose yourself in your work, and in the time. Eventually steps make you look up, and you see Guivzi bearing a tray as she comes in. She sets it down and sits herself on the anvil.
"Eat up. You aren't missing meals on my watch." She kicks her feet out as she watches you. "Pops is doing a lot of yelling with the other Blacksmiths. Apparently you poked something a bit sensitive, and he's got profit on the mind now."
"Oh boy." You mutter, and dig into your food. It's slop really. Not the worst you've had, but far from the best.
"Not like you got much a choice, so just go with the flow." The goblin girl makes certain you finish eating and then goes over to you. "Huh, lotta arcane notation. What are you up to there? That's not a sword."
You debate some on telling her. In the end, you decide to. It's not really anything particularly useful for anyone but you really. "A replacement eye."
"Oh!" Guivzi nods. "That makes sense. Don't know enough Arcane to really make heads or tales of all of that, but I can recognize an eye when I see it. You take into account any irritation? You are using some pretty heavy metals too if I'm reading this right. It might not seem like much, but it's going to be resting in pretty delicate area."
You frown and tap on the notes. Gold, silver, and bronze was your first thought. But thinking about it, you do need something very light. Mithril might be better if you attune it directly to Arcane.
"Lightest I can work with, and still work right is mithril. That even sings with Arcane good too, so it would work. Might be too heavy though." You mutter and continue a few more sketches. "Have ta hollow it, but that would move weird I think. Would need something ta fill it to keep things balanced."
"I could help with that part." Guivzi shrugs. "Know a few solutions that go solid after a few hours and are fairly light. Wouldn't interfere with the Arcane spells either, and would make it so you could keep the eye in at all times."
You raise an eyebrow. "Now that would help. What ya want for it?"
"Keeping you healthy and happy is the job. You wouldn't believe the gold I'm getting for just that." The Goblin Girl chuckles. "With that and my side business healing and providing fertility potions, I'm raking in the dough."
You blink a few times. "I do not wanna know about Orc and fertility!"
Guivzi outright laughs as she takes the tray and heads out. You shake your head a few times to clear out the image, and go back to planning. You will need to test the scrying spells extensively. But in the end, you should have a replacement eye that would be even better than the original. At least if everything goes right.
Mr Dampgear comes back a few more hours after you eat. (And after you have to track down a privy) He looks far happier than you think.
"Oh, I love when the money comes in." He cackles and rubs his hands. "All right, here's the deal. That steel you saw? The orcs call it Truesteel, and none o' them can make it. Don't even have the original ore anymore for some reason. So what you are going to be doing is devising a substitute. They don't give a rats ass about the elemental resonence really. So here is what I need you to do. Knock out the best Zweihänder you can, and make it out of Thorium. Give it bling. A lot of it. Plate it with gold if you have to, and give it something that makes it glow."
The Goblin gives a wide grin as he continues. "Once you are done, I'm going to give it personally to Doomhammer. He will be testing it, so make damned sure it's good. If you do it right, then I can 'arrange' a deal to get a few more shipped directly here. I can already taste the money."
"That's gonna take time." You point out.
"You got two months. Make it good." Mr Damgear waves his hand. "I'm going to be working on the Thorium supplies. If I get my cousin on this, I can get a cut of the profit, and the Orcs have been shaking everything up, so I can jack up the price to double."
[]
You have 8 weeks.
Mr Dampgear has given you 4 gold as a 'salary' for those two months. You want to do something independent, you can do it on your own time. He doesn't care so long as you get the sword done a the end of the time period.
You have the following you can do as well:
Research 'Arcane Eye - Green': 30 Segments. This eye will give you normal vision again.
Study with Guivzi: 1 segment gives you one skill point in Alchemy.
Study Engineering: Required: 60 segments of study. Will give you Engineering at skill 1.
Guivzi will make you one minor stamina potion a month for 'good behavior.'