Resilience

Some interesting rumors came out of the Guild a few days ago, about a group gone out to rescue a magic item from an elemental, for a particularly irresponsible and stupid wizard. The group had come back in a big hurry, and someone apparently fell into one of the magma pools on the Plane of Fire. Stupid wizards. Stupid kids, is the general consensus, but nobody seems to think much of it.

Nearly a week later, a message comes from the Guild. _It is our understanding that you have done artifice work for members of the guild in the past, and that your work is fine indeed. An incident occurred last week in which one of our members lost his leg on a job, and may require some assistance. If you are inclined to undertake such a job, please advise._

"Sir... sir you can't smoke here!" a halfling nurse says to Stirling as he walks through Soldier's Defense, trailing behind him to convince him to put a cigar out as he finally finds where Asmli is staying. When he walks into the room he finally looks back at the halfling and places the cigar in a metal cylinder with a cap. "There you go..." he growls before he approaches Asmli "So... whats the damage?" the chrome clad artificer intones.

It had taken a little time to find him, although if Stirling returned the contact, it will have been easy enough to get the details.

The young-looking khazad is very wrapped up in one of the beds, propped up just a little on pillows, and is apparently asleep when Stirling ambles in. He starts awake, then winces as he moves too suddenly. "Who're you?" Stirling gets a careful, appraising look up and down.

Nels is really going to annoy the nurse because while she doesn't smoke tobacco, goblins tend to slightly smoulder at the best of times. The fact that she doesn't look like a gobin right at the moment may ameliorate that, but she's got the smouldering mindset. In any event, she's also here to see Stirling, and will be shown back to the same place, where she greets Asmli with a "Hey!" of recognition. "How're you doing?" she asks with some concern, given recent events. To Stirling, she says, "They didn't say you were busy, sorry to interrupt. I'll just wait, if that's cool," and she'll take a seat in a chair nearby.

Stirling looks at Nels "Just a moment, let me see to this dwarf first." he then turns back to Asmli. "So I hear your in need of a leg? Well your in luck because you won't find better than me. Stirling Ironheel." he says by way of introduction as he finds a chair to sit in. "How did you lose it?"

Asmli's expression falls, and he looks down at the blankets, which don't hide at all that his left leg is still quite thoroughly bandaged, and his right leg is missing entirely from about a handspan or so below the hip. "I ... well, I did something pretty stupid, I guess. I was trying to keep this magma snake away from the girls, and tripped and fell into the lava river. We was on the plane of fire," he explains. "Ain't like I'm gonna be able to work for the Guild again. Ain't rightly sure what happened ... ain't remember much after that, 'cept it hurt like hell."

Nels sits back in the chair and relaxes, in no hurry, it seems, nodding to Stirling. Asmli will recognize the whip that the whole adventure was about wrapped around her waist like a belt. Not very practical for combat, but it does make for an even more exotic look for the temporary human. She nods at Asmli's story, but says encouragingly, "You were braver than most of them. They /ran/, they didn't even try." She did, and she's smugly aware she came away with the prize, but she doesn't say that out just now.

Stirling nods to Nels and Asmli as they explain "Yeah that smarts a bit. Sounds like you lost a leg doing the brave thing." he says evenly as he examines Amsli with the unblinking lense of a right eye. Reaching down to his right thigh he seems to push a few spots on his leg before a loud click starts and Stirling seems to pull his entire leg out from the end of his pant leg. From the top of his right boot he reveals a gleaming mithril artificial leg, segmented plates covering bronze gears, it has to go mere inches short of his hip. "Your not just going to do Guild work again, your going to be faster and possibly stronger and tougher for it. I am." he says confidently as he shows Asmli his own leg.

Asmli's eyes go wide as saucers, his blonde hair wild and mussed only adding to the amazement effect as he -stares- at that work of artifice that Stirling displays. "You can -do- that? I've probably got my pay from the Guild ..." he starts uncertainly. He glances over at Nels, "Thanks .. guess I shouldn't have laughed at you, huh. Pretty stupid." He looks between the two of them, eyes still wide. "The Guild owes me for a couple of jobs ... I ... I haven't told the Clan yet." He hangs his head, and it is plainly obvious that he doesn't want to.

Nels gawks at Stirling's bit of show-and-tell. "Wow," she says, boggling. She's no artificer, but goblins generally appreciate that sort of thing, and clearly Nels is impressed. She says to Asmli, "You know, this may work out pretty well for you after all!" She hangs her head at the laughing thing, and says with a sigh to Asmli, "Well, if you can't laugh at tragedy, it'll break you. So better to laugh than to cry, right?"

Stirling laughs at Asmli's reaction. "Its really only going to cost you if you go all fancy on the materials." he says as he threads the leg back up the pant leg and inserts it into its socket with a click. "I was trained under an Ironfounderson and know how to do dwarven style work too if you like. So no need to worry about your clan either. I won't act like it will be quick or painless but you will be better than before. Probably start with something simple to get you moving but we can upgrade from there. My leg is Mithril..." he unlatches his right Titanfist and pulls out his forearm and hand which is all artficial past the elbow and plated in adamantine "... and my arm Adamantine. Some folks like setting it with gold and jewels too. You have options." he says as if its really nothing.

It's Asmli's turn to laugh, now, at least a short one. "You know? You're right. And ... I ain't mind a little pain, honest. It's how you get stronger, ain't it? An' if it's stronger ... better'n limping around for the rest of my life, isn't it? Yeah, think the clan'll take the khazadi-style work a bit better..." He tries to sit up, and winces, laying back down gingerly. "Don't fall into lava," he advises sagely. "An' don't trust stupid and lazy wizards."

Nels just absolutely boggles as Stirling shows the arm, too. "Wow," she murmurs, "So cool." She spoils the adniration with a wide yawn, though she murmurs, "Sorry, been so tired lately. I think maybe I'm coming down with something." She nods vehemently about not trusting wizards. "That's a fact! Slackers!" She gives Asmli a thumbs-up as she enthuses, and agrees, "You'll be up and kicking backside soon!"

Stirling replaces his hand back in his Titanfist, moving his fingers to make sure its all seated properly. "Discipline and a strong foundation are everything. Artifice, magic, fighting... everything. Your own body will be the foundation for a new leg and will only enhance what you have. It will never be a substitute for ability, training and good discipline. Remember that." he says dead serious. His warning shared he turns to Nels "Now what can I do for you?"

"You sound like my old teachers," Asmli chuckles, still staring at Stirling's artifice with great interest. He lets the other two talk, shifting carefully and swearing once. While they talk, he flexes his left foot, frowning, as if checking to make sure it's all there.

Nels nods at all that Stirling is saying, though she looks down at herself and sighs a bit. "Speaking of weak foundations," she grumbles. "Hopefully I can get it cured soon. Anyhow," she goes on, telling Stirling, "I actually came to see you about new gun designs. I've got some ideas, but I'm not good with the fiddly bits. I can do a normal thunderbelcher," she explains. "But reloading is a bit of a hangup. If I could do that faster, I'm sure I could speed up my firing rate even faster."

Stirling nods to Nels "Hrm.. reloading. Good, its good you have ideas, I have a few myself I wouldn't mind trying. I have a unique mechanism on my deathray but I also know there are people who can fire theirs faster than I can, it would be a good oppertunity to test some things out if your hands are quick enough." he says with a grin.

Asmli listens in silence from his bed, his enthusiasm subsiding as the discussion turns to other topics. Artifice isn't his area of expertise, but he remains awake and listening ... for now. He tugs at the blanket covering him, pulling it up just a little.

Nels will show Stirling her current thunderbelcher, which while apparently homemade, is pretty standard by goblin reckoning, including being sized for a goblin-sized person. Muzzle-loader, it's got a standard trigger-and-hammer setup that strikes flint against steel to spark the powder charge and fire the shot. "Oh, I'm quick enough," she agrees, "but it takes time to pour the powder and ram the shot home, and all the rest. I'm trying to think of a way to build it all into ... well," she hauls out a round of ammunition, it's a thumb-thick bit of waxed paper, and she'll untwist the paper top to reveal a lead ball atop a small powder charge. "If I could stick the whole paper down the barrel, but then the spark won't fire it. I tried. I need something that can, like, spark through the waxed paper."

Stirling nods to Nels as he looks at the paper cartridge "Hrm yes I think I can see that. I will need a demonstration though to be sure. However I think I should start with this leg and then we can work on this firearm for you." he turns back to Asmli "Shouldn't take long, not to get you moving anyhow. I will be back in a while with measuring equipment so I can get started." he says standing up from his chair. This close a soft whir can be heard from his leg as he stands.

Asmli nods. "Yeah. I'm not sure how good the other leg is, but they said it would be okay. I've got some movement." It is not fun movement, but it is movement. He pulls himself carefully to a sitting position in the bed, revealing that some of his torso was burned as well. The scars are not as bad as they could be, and the upper body is still well-muscled and strong, but some reminders will remain.

Nels ohs, nods to Stirling, "No rush," she says, "Take care of him first, get him back on his feet. I'm OK now, just planning for the future." She gives Asmli a smile and a thumbs-up. "Lucky!" she says quietly, with a wink to the dwarf, and will re-wrap her shot up and stuff it back in her ammo bag, rising to get going as well. She yawns again, then says, "I think I might go and take a nap." Her own arm has only recently come out from bandaging, her burns from where she reached into the creature healing slowly.

Stirling looks over at Asmli's other leg "Scars are lessons and I am sure, if your still moving it, that will be fine. Rest up and get ready to get back in the saddle. Everyone gets knocked down, its the getting back up part thats difficult." he notes before fishing out his cigar and making for the door. After he lights it up a high pitched voice calls down the hallway. "Sir! Sir! No smoking!" Stirling just continues on his way.

Asmli's still grinning at the calls down the hall after Stirling leaves, but lies back down with a wince once his footsteps are out of sight, the burn scars visible on his torso as new, pink, shiny skin. they've done a lot of work on him.