Part I - Dawn of Legends

[Mara 29]

Dev took back his hand and said, "Nice to meet you, Hunter. I would be glad to give you assistance and show you around, but I'm afraid I'm late for a prior engagement. Enjoy Midholme but watch out for horseriders!" He winked and tipped an imaginary hat at Hunter and then let Whiskey out of his standstill, trotting on down the cobbled street.

[Andy 60]

Tay returned to the square in the centre of town and sat on the back of a bench, with his feet on the seat, flipping a copper coin and watching the world go by. He heard whispers and discussion brewing up as one of the castle guards nailed a parchment to the noticeboard and jumped down to investigate.

He managed to push his way to the front and saw it was an announcement that Prince Austen, heir apparent to the throne of Lyrea, would be passing through Midholme on his way to inspect the King's army on the border of the Kingdom where small skirmishes were common. He would probably only stay for one night at the castle, but this surely meant there would be a lot of otherwise unneccesary work taking place to ensure the town looked perfect for the Royal visit.

[W4rBe4st 0]

Angar?to was just turning away from his meeting with the knight-in-training, when he noticed a bit of commotion around the city's noticeboard and thought he'd have a look. Upon reaching the board however, he saw what the commotion was about...apparently the Prince was on his way to the city. While this may prove a good way to seek the approval of a leader of the human Angar?to felt that he could not intervene with the prince's affairs, especially not with so many people constantly watch him as they would be. The time had come for him to return home.

He paid off whatever he owed at the inn, and picked up his knives at the blacksmith's before leaving. They were so expertly crafted that he felt the need to leave some extras gold coins behind. The blacksmith must have been outside caught up in the commotion because while the place was open he was no where to be found.

Angar?to used this time to observe the ax he noticed before a little more closely. After observing it throghly he was confident he knew exactly who the Blacksmith was. And so he left a note with the gold behind the counter so no one else may intercept it. It read "Thank's for the knives, they were so expertly made I had to leave a little extra for your troubles. Oh and by the way, very interesting ax you ave there. Perhaps I will see you again in the sky old friend..." It wasn't very criptic, but it suited Angar?to's purpose.

Then Angar?to after making sure he was not being followed, left the city only begining to sprin at top speed hen the last of the guards were out of sight. He arrived home to find Amras a little apprehensive as to what took him so long. However, after hunting a stag and roasting it over a fire and sharing the beast with Amras, the two sat by the fire and Angar?to retold everything that had transpired even mentioning the blacksmith which seemed to excited Amras a little but it matter little, as shortly thereafter the two fell asleep by the fire.

[Mara 29]

On his way to the training grounds, Dev noticed a small crowd gathered around a notice nailed to the board. He waited for the people to disperse a bit more before he reined Whiskey in slowly so that he could read it.

The Prince was coming! Dev was so excited, that Whiskey felt his emotion and almost ran over a couple of bystanders. Quickly he reined in his stallion and moved away from the board. He couldn't wait until the prince arrived, perhaps he would also be inspecting his group of trainees if he was lucky. And if he was doubly lucky, he and his parents would be invited to a small party or gathering where the prince was present.

Almost floating on a cloud, he spurred on Whiskey, wanting to get to the training grounds as quickly as possible. The red chestnut stallion cantered easily through the city streets, heading out of the castle city proper and into the open area just inside of the castle wall where he and the other knights-in-training would gather for further instructions.

[Drake 53]

((catching up a bit...seems I forgot about Kirby's post, lol))

Axe nodded and got up from where he was working. He casually made his way over to the shop counter and withdrew a roll of fabric from a drawer. He unrolled it on the counter-top, revealing two dozen arrow heads, each tucked into a little pocket. Axe removed one and handed it to the man for inspection. "Made to specification out of hardened thanium. Should punch clean through an ox's skull at fifty paces."

The man was more than satisfied so he paid and left. Axe got back to work, finishing one more blade before getting up to stretch his legs. There was some kind of commotion going on down the street. He leaned out the door and spotted a cluster of people gathered around the notice board. A garishly dressed Herald of the Crown, flanked by a pair of royal guardsmen, had apparently just finished reading some sort of edict and pinned it to the board. He was now walking back to his horse to return to the keep. Axe noticed that the crowd seemed more excited than dejected which meant that it wasn't a tax hike or a notice of some kind of plague.

Unworried, Axe wandered back inside and went to the back room to relieve himself. He returned, several minutes later, from using the chamber pot and found some gold and a note left on the counter. The elf must have returned for his knives, he thought. He glanced over the note, smirked at the last line, then crumpled it up and tossed the paper into the forge.

He had but one more of Tan's blades to finish so he set to work.