Hammered Hole

Hammered Hole, it was the name of the place. A Dragonkin workshop of sorts, they fitted armors and even made saddles for beast mounts. Sadly, they did not sell beast mounts. After noticing the Saddles, Errit momentarily though about soaring on a huge bird or something like a skateboard but in reality the flying mounts that existed were extremely rare. Most large species of birds, or for that matter, any flier that was large enough to ride had a considerable amount of pride.

Becoming someone's 'mode of transportation' was rarely an interest for such great beings. Most were powerful in their own ways, but almost all of them were dangerous. Espers took the forms of the life on the Shiyan, making it their own. The Wildlife was not to be underestimated.

Searching through the saddles, he found that they were made from a variety of materials. He appraised each piece before the whole, each strip and strap could be adjusted. There were golden inlays and designs on the saddles themselves. Embossed onto the saddle were other patterns, similar to the ones in his cart. To the novice they looked like energy transfer nodes, to the more advanced they were individually routed micro-charging receivers and receptacles capable of dual transfer between rider and beast.

Errit wanted to buy one to study. He tried trading herbs, it didn't work and he gave up the idea.

"Where can I find someone to fly me to the Capital?" he asked the shopkeeper. Everyone that worked in the shop was of different race, but all of them had wings.

"Oh. Well. None of us need to make a delivery, so we're basically unable to help. Maybe in a few weeks after the next round of ships arrive." He scratched his head. Looking around the room he asked. "Anyone wanna fly this guy to the Capital?"

There was a momentary pause, A figure emerged from the back holding a hammer. "How much you paying? I make about 5000CP here fixing gear. Beat that and I can take a break." He was built, even from a body builder prospective, the man was a tank.

"I can pay you 3500 now and give you a few herbs that increase your strength, or.. I can go sell them at the depository and come back in an hour. How long is the trip?" Errit was curious and so he asked.

The man laughed. "If we don't stop for meals, I can have us there by tomorrow night. You don't have to sell the herbs, let me take a look. You said they increase strength?"

"yeah, here.. try some." Errit knew the key to a man's heart was his stomach, and the key to a musclebound heath was his strength. He passed over some of the sliced fruit, it was ripe and soft.

The Sweat on the man's body cleared away, his eyes were full of energy and his attitude perked up significantly. "Da-yum. That's nice." He said cheerfully.

Errit smiled, "My name is Kink. I'd like to hire you. I can offer you four fruit a day."

"Five. I want 5.. no..6." He held up both hands to show an extra 1.

Errit grinned under blackout hat. He had him. "Deal. I want to see what is at the market, come find me when you are ready to leave." he passed the rest of the cut fruit over as a parting gift.

"My name is Likoe" He gave his name as Errit was leaving. 'Good kid. Good kid.' Swallowing the fruit slices, he made a slurping sound. It caught the attentions of everyone else. He was surrounded. 'Uhh'

֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍

The streets were clean, the smell was horrific and the prices were just right. Errit found a small square of barter traders. He traded the fruits, with so many appearing every day he had hundreds that hadn't even been through a writ.

As he walked the stalls he made several transactions. "I'll trade you 5 of these fruit for your snake fangs." There were people everywhere with baskets, "How about I give you this Starfall Metal for more of those and you got a deal." Errit was finding new items, gathering what he could. After a dozen shops he had exhausted the market.

Strolling through the town, he saw a bunch of herbs in a garden. There was a Poocha working it, he seemed very tired but his ears perked up when Errit approached. 'Maybe he thinks his friend arrived?' Staring at each other, he asked. "What do you do to keep the bugs away?"

As a random question, it was not even a weird one. The gardener walked up and pulled some earbuds out. "What?"

"I asked, how do you keep bugs away?" 'weird, I just asked him, its not that loud out here.' Errit was slightly confused but then the gardener explained.

"Sonics, you can't hear them? Lucky! They are so loud.. uh,muh,gosh." He gnashed his teeth slightly. "Wanna see?" his voice was very loud like he was yelling.

Errit nodded and followed. The Gardener put the earbuds back in and led the way. When he spoke, he yelled. It didn't matter to Errit, but it was rather strange for him, he felt like he was getting scolded at first.

"OKAY. SO OVER HERE THERE IS A SPELL FORMATION, THEY USE TO USE THEM FOR ANTI-GRAVITY BUT THEY WORKED BETTER AS BUG REPELLENT. THE SONICS KEEP THEM OUT. CAN'T SAY I APPRECIATE THEM MUCH MYSELF, BUT ITS BETTER THAN LOSING A HARVEST BECAUSE OF A LOOSE BUTTERFLY." he stopped yelling for a moment.

"I get it." Errit took out his notebook and wrote down the important parts. he tried drawing the formation, it worked. His book was emitting a slight vibration, the gardener frowned.

"You should ask before doing something like that." he walked over and smeared the line a little in a specific spot. "Redraw it when you're not here, that is loud... really loud." the Gardener shook his head wildly and went back to work.

Errit left the garden, ending up at the Hammered Hole. "What's going on with you guys?"

As he walked in, they were sitting across a counter. Arm wrestling. There were slices of fruit divvied up, they were using them as betting chips. "YOU GOT THIS BROTHER!" One of the smaller fliers cheered as Brok lost his momentum, Likoe was about to beat him out of the share he had just sold him.

"Double or nothing, If I win again, I want that trident you keep in your ring. That's right.. I said it. I want it." his voice got higher in excitement and he slammed his elbow back down onto the counter. "So... wanna give it a shot? I'll even let you eat another piece before we start."