[Celestial Arms Quest 1-3] Acquiring the Restored Cuneiform

[Fletcher]

"No, no, no. This will not do at all." The sage turned over the tablet fragment in his fingers before holding it out to the dwarf to take, frowning. "This one is no good. Others have brought me pieces in much better condition than this, I'm afraid your find is just unusable." Fletcher also frowned at this, noticing how the sage was fidgeting, visibly looking at the fragment of the tablet in the dwarf's hands and then back at the dwarf's face.

Fletcher meanwhile was somewhat prepared at this, although it was still a shame that it wasn't just a simple matter of retrieving a rock and handing it over. "What if I got it looked at by an Artisan?" The sage seemed intrigued and awaited for Fletcher to continue, body language speaking enough of his interest. "A friend of mine runs a shop down at the marketplace, worse case scenario it isn't salvagable and that's it, I'll go find another one. If we can bring out the inscription though..." Fletcher shrugged, letting the sage fill in the blanks.

Apparently filling in the blanks didnt take long at all, as the sage started muttering to himself and playing around with more pieces of the tablet sitting on the tablet between them. He was working hard and fast, hands a blur as the stones were arranged in one configuation then the next before the sage shot Fletcher a look, smile on his face. "Yes! Do that. I would be most pleased by a successful result if you were able to provide." Fletcher looked at the piece of the tablet in his hand before looking back at the sage and nodding, turning on his heel to head down to the market.

[Fletcher]

Fletcher made a beeline for one shop in particular, pushing the door open and interrupting Warren midway through his welcome. "Warren. I need you to fix something and there's either gold or a drink at the tavern for you if you can do it." Fletcher held out the cuneiform to Warren to take, the other dwarf pouting as he snatched it and starting looking at it through the jeweller's glass he kept on his countertop. Warren looked at the piece of stone for a good couple of minutes, being thorough before setting it down on the counter and sighing. "No good?"

Warren looked Fletcher up and down, wondering why he needed this rock fixed. It wouldn't be hard although he'd need to be careful. The cost of it wouldn't be all that much either, so his curiosity was bugging him as to why one of his best customers in buying junk wanted something more delicate done. It was not the Alchemist way, nor was it his self proclaimed dwarven way, so why? "Look bud, I don't know why you want this rock fixed, but I can make this inscription out more if that's what you're after. Looks like it part of something bigger so unless you're looking for a puzzle piece instead of a whole puzzle, I wouldn't bother." He watched curiously how Fletcher would respond. If he saw disappointment, then perhaps he was on a quest or thought he found something rare. If it was excitement, then there was a chance he already had other parts; it would also explain why he wanted this fixed as opposed to appraised of examined for identification.

[Fletcher]

As soon as Fletcher smirked, Warren knew what was up and sighed again, directing Fletcher to flip the closed sign on the door and directed him then to the waiting chair he had by the counter before muttering about being back in a couple of minutes, taking the cuneiform with him. "No rush!" Warren waved him off and headed out the back past the curtain and got to work. From where Fletcher was sitting, he could head various sounds from machines and tools that Warren had rigged up for his own projects. It had come up in conversation once before how the other dwarf was once a lapidarian and had a bunch of practise cutting gemstones as a hobby. How different could a gemstone be from what he had provided? Geology wasn't Fletcher's strong suit, but if Warren thought he could repair it, then there was a good chance that he could bring it up to a level which the sage would find appropriate for what he needed it for.

Warren emerged from the back some time later, peering at the hunk of rock with his jeweller's glass again, frowning. He held it out to Fletcher to take and shook his head. "I don't know if that's good enough, but that's all I'm willing to do to it. It's old and will likely break, but at least now you can see the inscription a little better. The was right; the once faded inscription, or part thereof, was now much more visible by comparison to how it was only minutes before.

"Works for me. What do I owe you?" Fletcher put the cuneiform back into his pocket and awaited Warren's response, noticing the shopkeep still frowning and deep in thought with his arms crossed. With a gentle clap, Warren was roused form his thoughts, getting his bearings before speaking.

"Oh. Just... Just buy me a drink at the tavern later. Don't worry about it for now." He waved Fletcher off before going back to whatever it was he was doing before the summoner had arrived. Whatever it was involved a hammer, a shoe, a jar of what was labelled mustard but looked nothing of the sort, and a stick. Fletcher shook his head and headed back out, hopefully to deliver something the sage could use.

Total Word Count: 947