Terms of Employment (Tyr/Ssryl)

[Tyr]

(Takes place after Where Even Am I, after the shop clears out.)

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Tyr turned the knob on the doors to the Fishery, the familiar clanks as the locking bars fit into place giving him peace that they would be left alone. Or at the very least he'd have a little warning if someone tried to barge their way in. Turning back to the matter at hand, Tyr glanced at the giant Skaldi in his shop and started trying to think of how to make this work. It wouldn't be easy, no matter how he went about it, and for a while it would probably be somewhat awkward to do. As much as he wanted to just have this Skaldi be treated as an equal that wasn't how society or the government saw it, and he didn't have the ability to just ignore the law. Walking over to a table near the forge Tyr pulled a bag from his waist and started counting out Ritz pieces. He owed the Skaldi for his work, he could do that while he figured out how to make things work.

"You helped for half of what was made, so I'm going to pay you for half of what was sold. I'll give you 35 Ritz for your work." He counted out 7 stacks of 5 Ritz each. 20% was fairly good for an assistant, especially one who just walked in off the street. Ssryl wasn't having to pay for any materials either, making it an even better deal for him. Tyr slid the stacks over to the Skaldi and started idly poking at the table while continuing his musings over how to get this to work. It was at this point that he glanced over at the ground and noticed the little boy following the Skaldi around. He really hadn't been paying that close attention, had he?

"Oh hello, who's this?" Tyr leaned over to get a good look and smiled at the wee lad. It wasn't often children entered his workshop.

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35 Ritz paid. -Cheph

[Deleted]

Ssryl was happy for the coin, it was quite generous, far more than the skaldi expected for his work. To be honest Ssryl hadn't felt as though he had helped that much, but he wasn't going to argue with the duke. The duke finally noticed Thomas, "Oh hello, who's this?"

Ssryl considered for a moment how to answer the question, he considered lying, but the duke seemed like a good man. Ssryl did not wish to lie to him, he would only tell half truth. "Hatchling is Thomas, Thomas does not speak. Thomas and Ssryl were part of caravan, taking goods from Rosterford. Caravan was attacked, Ssryl able to save Thomas, but not Thomas' kin." Ssryl looked at the boy, remembering how they had killed the boys parents, his brothers, and his sisters while he watched powerless to do anything. "Thomas watch as his whole family killed, Ssryl powerless to do anything. Ssryl's master killed that day as well, Ssryl fear Ssryl get punished for letting master die, so Ssryl fled north with Thomas. Thomas not spoken since attack, Thomas afraid of almost everyone. Ssryl do his best to take care of Thomas, but Ssryl never care for hatchling before, especially not human hatchling. Thomas part of reason Ssryl come here, Thomas need more than Ssryl, need other human, maybe other human can help fix what broken about Thomas."

His story done, his gaze lingered a moment longer on Thomas before turning back to the duke. "Ssryl hope Tyr understand. Tyr seem like good man, treat Ssryl well even though just meet."

[Tyr]

Ssryl's story left Tyr speechless for a little while, eyes wide in a combination of shock, second-hand pain, and awe for the Skaldi's empathy and thoughtfulness. He'd rested his chin in his palm to look at the child throughout it, and lucky for him he was easily able to use it to keep his mouth from falling agape. If everything the Skaldi had just said was true then he had set his life aside for a small human child. Most Cruinthians were not kind to Skaldi. They were brutish slaves, why should anyone care? To see a small child in the care of one, and to hear that his entire family had been killed, no one would believe the Skaldi's innocence. They would kill him on the spot as 'revenge' for the boy's family.

It was a lie doomed to fail, if it was one, and something about that pushed Tyr to believe it.

Uncovering his mouth Tyr sat up, tried to reach for words, found himself continuingly speechless, looked around the room for anything that might bring the words to mind, and found nothing. His gaze switched blankly between Ssryl and Thomas for a little bit while he processed everything. Memories from long ago surfaced in his mind and an odd sense of clarity snapped into place.

"You want to work for me, here are my terms. You get a fifth of the money for anything you help me make, and you can use the forge on your own for free. You will live here, Thomas will live in my manor until a better situation is found. You're free to see each other, it will just attract less attention that way." The staff would easily be able to accommodate a small child, and he wouldn't want for much of anything there. "But there is one condition you will not like. If anyone else is around you must act like I am your master. I cannot protect you from the law if you're found to be free." The act would save him from being truly enslaved again, or potentially outright killed.

Yes Tyr was moved by the story, yes he was extremely trusting. He was also a Duke and had the ability to have someone thrown in jail and executed so it tended to work out relatively fine in the long run. If Ssryl proved himself then Tyr could look at giving him more responsibility, but for now this was the best he could do. It was a lot to take in on both sides. Tyr was placing an incredible amount of faith in the Skaldi not trying to get everyone in town killed and all of their stuff taken, and Ssryl would be trusting that Tyr wouldn't actually enslave him. Both were trusting that there would be work to do.

Tyr rose from his seat and retrieved the Skaldi's knife from beside the forge. A long time ago his father had taught him something about making deals. Your word was great, if you'd proven yourself to be trustworthy, but sometimes you needed to impress upon someone the depth of your sincerity. Turning to face Ssryl, Tyr stood as tall and proud as he could manage, then pulled the knife across the palm of his left hand.

"This is my bargain. Blood begins it, and only blood will end it." He held out both hands. His right held up the blade for the Skaldi to use, his left was held out to shake. He wasn't a mage himself, he couldn't put any form of curse on the actual deal itself, but he would see himself bleed before he broke his side of the deal.

[Deleted]

Tyr seemed an honorable man as Ssryl could have hoped for. His terms were fair, even if Ssryl had been human he couldn't have hoped to receive much better terms for employment. He was also quite glad to hear that the Duke would be taking after Thomas in his own home, he couldn't hope for much better for Thomas either. The stipulation that he treat Tyr like his master when others were around wasn't that bad, he had only gained his freedom by chance and was still growing accustomed to it. He did not wish to go back into a life of slavery, but treating Tyr as his master was simply a nod to his past, Tyr was paying him and treating him well. He would much rather call Tyr his master than his previous one anyways.

Tyr had cut his hand, a bargain struck in blood. Ssryl supposed it was about as high a promise as a human could make. Ssryl accepted the knife, cutting his own left hand. "Ssryl accept your terms, Ssryl find Tyr honorable. Ssryl is lucky to have walk into Tyr's forge today." Ssryl extended his bleeding hand and shook Tyr's.

"Ssryl happy to help with whatever Tyr need, not just forge. Ssryl learn very quick, nobody teach ssryl forge or magic, Ssryl learn by watching then trying. Ssryl always looking to learn new things." Ssryl felt there was so much more to be said, but at the same time, if felt as though now may not be the time for it to be said. If he was working for the man, they would have plenty of opportunities to speak in the future.

[Tyr]

There was a brief stinging pain as Ssryl took his hand, an open wound never really felt that great, but it was quickly replaced with a feeling of proud satisfaction. This was a good first step, both in helping the people around him, and in getting his own plans for the betterment of all kind started. Having someone who could man the forge meant he could leave the Fishery open, and a mage meant he had magic on his side. Somewhat. It was a start, ok? Handshake done, Tyr ducked into the side room, grabbed one of his spare tunics, and ripped the sleeves to make rudimentary bandages for their hands. Might as well take care of that now that the quasi-ritualistic agreement was made.

"Learning on your own is good, but having someone show you the way can help. I'll teach you what I can of the shaping of things, but your magic will be all your own. I lack that talent myself." Much as he might wish he had it. "For now bind your hand and get some rest. Thomas will stay with you tonight, it will be easier that way, and I'll show you both the manor tomorrow." With a nod to the Skaldi, Tyr unlocked the doors, ducked out of the Fishery, and relocked them with his key. It wouldn't keep Ssryl trapped in by any means, the knob to unlock the doors was pretty easy to figure out from the inside, but it would give the pair some peace for the night.

Tomorrow would be very interesting for the both of them.

[Deleted]

Ssryl nodded in understanding as the duke left him and thomas alone in the workshop. Ssryl worked out a makeshift bed in one corner for Thomas. "Thomas rest now." The boy laid down, he likely wouldn't sleep for quite some time as Ssryl wished to do some work. The hammer he had been using to forge was human sized and was somewhat difficult to grasp in his massive hands. Ssryl took the iron he had purchased from before and began to heat it in the forge, the billows pumped by the flowing water. It was a beautiful setup that minimized the work required of the smith manning the forge.

The metal heated, he began hammering it into shape, a metal rod, a metal cylinder. Fusing piece after piece the shape began to take form. Quenching, reheating, more hammering. He wanted the piece to be useful for both forging and for defense. One head rounded, better for the precise application of force. The other head a wedge with a small flat band, much as the hammer he was currently wielding, but a good deal larger in size. A human might refer to the hammer as a sledge hammer, but it scaled quite nicely to the massive skaldi.

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Iron Smithing I; Weapon Smithing I; Simple 30; k: 15; Threshold: 55 uOWgBpsP
(3 iron bars)

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He set the piece aside to slowly cool, it appeared to have turned out rather well. While it cooled, he pondered if he should enchant the hammer, and with what if he decided to. Thomas had fallen asleep to the rhythm of the hammering, being exhausted from the journey and his first time with a roof over his head in a few weeks, it was no surprise to Ssryl. Perhaps he could enchant the hammer to strike more precisely, having magic guide the thing to its target. The more he thought about it the more he liked the idea. He had witnessed such an enchantment before, placed on a sword his master had forged. Gathering what words he could remember he began to chant them over the hammer, hoping the enchantment would take hold.

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Thaumaturgy II; Artificing I; Arcane I; K: 15; Difficulty: unknown; Threshold: 5-65
(success on simple or easy, otherwise fail; attempting to add to smithing and attack threshold with hammer)

-Failed: Hard roll. -15 threshold.

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He wasn't sure if the magic had taken hold, it wasn't obvious like with the spear. The spear had a visual cue, the spearhead had glowed with that amber light, but this enchantment was different, it was merely an effect and difficult to test for as it merely augmented the skill of the one who wielded it. Either way his work for the night was done, he needed rest just as much as Thomas. Ssryl found a place against the wall and quickly nodded off. His new hammer leaning against the wall next to him. Tomorrow would be an interesting day indeed.·