Rem shook hands with Bortom and then proceeded to gorge upon the already perfectly grilled giant cod. The enterprising dwarf made sure to leave one fat piece of fish for his wife. She joined them a couple of minutes later balancing a tray full of steaming hot baked potatoes.

Perfectly crispy on the outside, these golden chips were coated with an assortment of spices and baked in butter. He asked, begged, and even offered Bortom coin, yet this one outright refused to share the secret mix. All he was left with was yet another attempt to guess as he ate, but his dulled by many Turns worth of Goblin half-eaten rations tongue couldn’t figure out any of them, except river salt and mushroom pepper.

The solver of problems had to part with his entire coin purse and indeed, promise to lend his services for free at a later date. The more he thought about it, that was the best course of action. Rem didn’t reach this age and garnered such renown among his peers for not listening to his gut feeling.

The Hoods quickly mobilized one of their war bands; six of the best riflemen in these parts would watch Rem’s behind. Which they’d do from a safe distance and with those arcane muzzle loaders of theirs backing him up, he could even stroll into Krart’s lower level dungeons.

Hopefully, such a deathly saunter would not happen anytime soon.

Rem did indeed disliked what most adventurers partook in or the professional dungeon explorers made their living of; he was a solver of problems, not monster bait!

Bortom promised to have all the reconnaissance information he asked for ready on the morrow, together with his war band. Rem was even gifted all the giant cod’s bones by Bortom’s wife. She noticed the curious glares he threw at the whitish pile, which quickly rose in height each time any of them ate a piece of fish. Certainly that was a nice bonus and Rem would stash the precious crafting material until he visited Kan’s Temple.

Fantasy mansions look oh-so-mysterious!

Back at his mansion, Rem skipped dinner and spent the evening in his study reading.

He gave Val the evening off and asked for a tray of her freshly baked magical cookies. The pork stuffed baked goodness was one of her specialties and went together with mead like bread and butter. A pitcher full of his maid’s best brew was at an arm’s reach, hunger-inducing aroma soon conquering the entirety of Rem’s study.

Rem made sure to check all of his two Ninth old and even older letters. He hoped to find more clues, bits and pieces of information which seemed unrelated by themselves. No luck in this department, but before he retired to his chambers Rem stumbled upon one curious rumor.

It appeared that one month ago, somebody murdered Vervic, one of the best chest maker in Krart. That elf was one of the best craftsman in the city and when it came to strong chests or alchemical locks, the elder chest master had no equal. With that curious bit of information festering in his brain, Rem fell asleep.

Rem has secret passages leading everywhere and, of course, out of the mansion.

He was awoken early morning by the aroma of tea and freshly baked bread. After quickly gobbling up the hearty breakfast and playing with the key to his Armory, Rem asked Val to accompany him. Somewhat perplexed, the maid nevertheless followed in his steps with her usual grace.

“Master, why would I need to have a weapon? Do you expect an attack?”

Her innocent voice echoed throughout the secret corridor, while he disarmed the magical wards and unlocked the Armory.

“No, not one that I am aware of. However, I am concerned for your safety, Valeria.”

Rem opened one of the secret compartments which were built next to the entrance of his Armory and pulled his spare arcane pistol. He checked if the weapon was loaded by sliding the rotating chamber aside, cranking it, and clicked the mechanism back into position.

“I know that you as a maid are trained in self defense. Here, this arcane gun is one of the newest coin can buy and has six shots. Hopefully you will never use it but... better to have in than not. Am I right?”

“Master, I thank you for the most generous gift!”

Valeria picked up the gun, and safety on, of course, the elven maid aimed at the closest armor stand, one eye closed.

A helmet-less suit of armor.

“Now holster that thing and help me dress for the job, Val.”

Rem produced one leather holster which had twelve spare shots on its belt. The latter was enchanted to conceal the gun from prying eyes, and made sure that Valeria buckled the weapon tight.

One wore all their armor suits over a gambeson and he chose his newest after disrobing. Wasting no more time, Rem stood before the three armor stands, examined his prized armor suits and deliberated on which one he should be wearing while on the job.

The lightest was named “Cyant” and made by a halfling armorer who usually worked for the Hoods. It included one light, open face helmet with a nose guard, chain mail shirt, its gloves, knee guards, sabatons, and boots crafted from enchanted leather.

Everything was made with mobility and stealth in mind. The armor suit gave little to no noise when his wearer moved, and its heaviest part was the chain shirt forged from hardened dark iron. This thing basically swallowed light and one could stay well hidden in the shadows, while a whole guard detail walked past, torches and lanterns in hand.

Sadly, Cyant was also his least protective suit of armor. If he found himself out of stealth and surrounded, multiple wounds or worse were all but guaranteed...

The armored suit which Rem usually wore was called “Brelt.” It was the most balanced from the three and offered more protection than Cyant. The helmet was slightly heavier and his face was concealed by one very intimidating looking steel mask, which still offered him good field of vision.

The sleeved, riveted chainmail was long, and its skirt protected the upper part of his legs. Brelt had also sabatons, boots and knee guards made of leather, but those were reinforced with metal plates. The chainmail was covered with square steel plates, which protected his vital areas. Enchanted by one of his friends, Brelt sported high resistance to piercing weapons. Rem could still skulk in the shadows with this armored suit and need not fear being backstabbed... at least once or twice, that is.

His heavier suit of armor, which Rem rarely used was named “Rual.”

Made by another well known elven smith, it had a plated cuirass, sturdy helmet with a visor, and all of its limb protection consisted of forged steel plates. Chainmail was used only to reinforce certain areas, like the armpits and the knees for example. You could probably stay hidden with this knightly armor suit only if you stood really still or hid behind something.

Obviously Rem wore this armor when a bloody battle was to be expected since it was somewhat heavy and noisy when he moved with it. Rual offered the best protection from all types of attacks and its steel was laced with a thin layer of Sveg ore. Immensely expensive, nevertheless it gave this armor a hefty layer of anti-magic protection. Not unbeatable, this defense did well against some spells, but higher tier magic could overpower it.

Rual was not made from Sveg, only laced with it.

Having a balanced approach for such a job as suspicious as this was wise, and Rem decided to don Brelt. Meandering around the muddy, overgrown forest while clad in heavy plate was not on his “to do” list. The solver of problems was not going to war... yet.

***

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Link to part ten.

Link to part eleven.

Link to part twelve.

Just another Job Part 3 - Dressing for the job