Kobold Plot

[iprotectyou]

Baze has to start his lightbow project over. He had to come to terms with that before asking Teja for permission to use the forge again. But Baze did, and he asked, and received said permission, so he's in the forge today, armorless, shaping a conical forestock out of aluminum.

Baze doesn't plan to forego sleep this time. It's like Chirrut said--Baze has time to forge the lightbow. All he has is time, here in his afterlife. He refuses to mope about this minor setback. He'll spend a few days here in the forge, now that his back has healed, and do this project right. With honor.

Forcing a smile to his face, Baze holds the forestock with tongs near the white-hot coals in the forge basin, keeping a close eye on the soft metal, lest it melt on him. After pulling the aluminum cone out, Baze rests it on the anvil, and starts tapping along with the hammer.

While he forges, he's lost to his thoughts. He thinks about Chirrut, and about food other than soup, and those two blue, earthenware teacups that went missing. All while bending, flattening, twisting, tapering, and upsetting the metal into a shape that pleases him.

He's got a long way to go.

Comments

[happy_kender]

There is a small childlike creature sitting outside the forge looking at a bar of something. It's made out of a metal he's never seen before, and he's amazed at how light it is.

Tasselhoff is excited because he just found this in one of his pouches a few minutes ago. Flint might like to make something from it.

[iprotectyou]

Baze doesn't spot the creature until the Jedhan steps outside to stretch his back and get some fresh air. Once he sees what the child-like person is fondling, Baze scowls.

"Hoi. Where did you get that?"

[happy_kender]

Tass looks up, "I found it in my pocket."

Yep, that's how it works.

[iprotectyou]

"Like heck you did," Baze says, glowering down at the creature. The Jedhan folds his massive arms across an equally massive, unarmored chest.

Baze is torn. On the one hand, he can't work with the aluminum anymore because someone else touched it. On the other, he doesn't want to reward this child-like person for stealing the bar.

Decisions, decisions.

"Give it here," Baze says, holding out a hand.

[happy_kender]

"Oh is it yours?" asks Tass offering the bar. He's not super clingy.

[iprotectyou]

Baze sighs, relieved that the creature gave up the bar so easily. The Jedhan expected a fight, and he's happy that that isn't happening.

"Yes. All of the aluminum--metal that looks like this--in the forge is mine. What's your name? I'm Baze Malbus."

[happy_kender]

Tass stands up and offers his hand. The fine lines of his face betraying his age.

"I'm Tasselhoff Burrfoot! It's nice to meet you," he says, "What are you working on? Are you a really tall Dwarf?"

[iprotectyou]

Baze tucks the aluminum bar under his arm and shakes Tasselhoff's hand.

"It's nice to meet you, too, though I wish the meeting was under better circumstances. And I'm a human, not a dwarf. There's a dwarf here named Varric. Do you know him?"

[happy_kender]

"Oh, is he here? What does he look like, is he from my world?" asks Tass excitedy. Then he catches a look at Baze' staff, "That's nice! I have a staff too, see!"

Tass holds out his Woopack staff.

[iprotectyou]

"He's here, yes. He's... Short, with brownish reddish hair, and a broad smile. He's a writer. He's from Thedas, so if that's where you're from, then he's from your world," Baze says, shifting on his feet. This child sure asks a lot of questions!

"That's a very nice staff. Thank you for showing it to me."

[happy_kender]

He's a Kender, it's part of the package.

"Oh, you like it?" asks Tass, "It's a bit too small for you, but I bet we could find a suitable branch int he forest. Then we'd need leather for the thong here, and I can show you how to whirl it around like this," at this point he starts to whirl his staff around in the air to make an eerie sound, "We use it to scare off big folk sometimes."

[iprotectyou]

"I don't need to scare off any big folk, I'm already big," Baze says, smiling.

"Besides, I like my staff. It has metal inside."

[happy_kender]

"Oh okay," he says looking in the forge, "What are you working on?"

He's very curious and trusting.

[iprotectyou]

"A construction project. Why were you in the forge?" Baze counters, folding his arms.

[happy_kender]

Tass shrugs, "I was wandering. It's not like there is much of anywhere to go here."

[iprotectyou]

"Sure there is. You can clinb the mountains. Or swim at the beach. Or skip rocks at the lake. Or exploring in the forest. There's any number of places to see," Baze says, harrumphing.

[happy_kender]

"I've done all that," says the Kender, "See."

He's taken out a map from a cylindrical case.

"This is Milliways," He says pointing at the Bar marked on his map, "And over here is the labyrinth, and here is where that giant daisy thing used to be, and here is my favorite clearing..."

[iprotectyou]

"Giant daisy thing? What happened to it?" Baze asks, peering at the map and raising his brows.

[happy_kender]

"I don't know, I think it disappeared on day," says Tass, "There's this strange place in the labyrinth that has lots of things in it. I mean they look like something from one of the worlds with electricity. Also, did you know that the mountains loop?"

[iprotectyou]

"I did know that," Baze says, dizzied by the jumping around in topics.

"Your world doesn't have electricity?"

[happy_kender]

"No, not really," he says, "But there is magic!"

[iprotectyou]

"Oh?" Baze says, assessing the child-like person again.

"What kinds?"

[happy_kender]

Tass shrugs, "Just magic. I know a mage called Rastalin."

[iprotectyou]

"Is he another one of your species?" Baze asks, leaning on the wall of the forge.

[happy_kender]

"No," says Tass shaking his head, "He's human."

He's picked up a pair of tongs and is examining them.

[iprotectyou]

"Put those back," Baze says gruffly, pointing to where Tass retrieved the tongs.

"I won't have you stealing anything else."

[happy_kender]

"Look it isn't stealing if they aren't being used," says Tass putting the tongs, "Besides where would I put these?"

[iprotectyou]

"If you take something that isn't yours, it's stealing," Baze says, folding his massive arms across an equally massive, armored chest.

"I was planning to use those."

[happy_kender]

"You humans are strange," says Tass, "You hold on to your stuff so tightly and get angry when someone comes along who can use it more than you do. Also, I was just looking at them."

[iprotectyou]

"How do you know that you'll use those tongs more than I will?" Baze says, completely incredulous.

"I don't know if you can make that kind of judgement call and still be honest."

[happy_kender]

Tass rolls his eyes, "I just said I was looking at them."

Even Kender can look at stuff. Flint doesn't need more tongs.

[iprotectyou]

"Right," Baze says, squinting at him.

"Well, I'm going to go back to work on my project. May the Force of others be with you, Tasslehoff Burrfoot."

[happy_kender]

"What is the Force?" asks Tass Following not leaving.

[iprotectyou]

Baze grumbles something under his breath, turning into the workshop. He sets the aluminum bar down on the counter far away from the rest of the soft metals.

"The Force is an energy field that binds and surrounds all things. Some people are sensitive to it and can sense moods, like my friend, Chirrut. Other people are even more sensitive and can use it to push and pull objects, manipulate minds, and freeze blaster bolts."

[happy_kender]

"Like magic," says Tass happily.

[iprotectyou]

"Like magic, but not magic at all," Baze says, harrumphing again. He adds more coals to the forge basin, and turns up the air to full blast to get them white-hot again.

[happy_kender]

"That doesn't make too much sense," points out Tass, "If it is like magic but not like magic, then it is something else... maybe."

[iprotectyou]

"It is something else. The Force has a will of its own, and as far as I can tell, magic doesn't," Baze says, taking the conical forestock in his tongs and holding it above the coals.

"It might be different in your world."

[happy_kender]

"I'm not sure, I've never studied it," says Tass to his new friend.

[iprotectyou]

"Hmph. Hmph!" Baze says, clearly unfriendly. He pulls the forestock out of the heat and starts tapping it with the hammer.

"You don't have to study something in depth to know whether it has a will of its own. Going off of that, I suspect your magic doesn't."

[happy_kender]

"Rastalin could tell you if he came here," says Tass, "He's a mage, did I tell you about him yet?"

[iprotectyou]

"You haven't," Baze says, raising his voice to be heard over the banging of the hammer.

"But I don't need to hear about him."

Take the hint, Tass.

[happy_kender]

"Huh," says Tass, "Well, I think I'm going to go explore the labyrinth again."

And with that he takes off. Feel free to missing stuff.

[iprotectyou]

Baze sighs. It isn't until later that he notices that the original bar of aluminum is missing again. He decides to let it go. Better that than chase after Tasslehoff Burrfoot.