While returning home from studying Chemistry at the Library, Sigurd was feeling wornout about all of his work. All he did was study in the morning at the Library and the in the afternoon continue working by his father's side in the blacksmith, doing the minor mendings in armors and other components. He felt like he was doing someone else's work, he felt like he wasn't doing what he truly wanted to do, even if he didn't exactly know what that was. He wanted something else. His thoughts were disrupted by a somewhat awkward sound comming from his right.

From somewhere beyond the crowd came a sound which compelled him in a strange way. Making his way through toward the source, his path unravelled a Totem Store. The shelves were filled with wood-, stone- and bone-carved totems of various sizes, ranging from rings to helms, from staves to chairs, all hand-carved by a aged down man that seemed to attend to the store in a weird way : he was working on another piece, sitting in his chair, not even paying attention to Sigurd as he was taking a look. Sigurds saw the man was making the last finishing adjustments on a ring made out of metal and bone. As the vendor blew one final time the dust from the ring, he put it on the counter and looked at Sigurd with a seemingly happy face.

Sigurd knew, once he saw the ring and how it was done, that he had to find out how in the world bone and metal could be forged in such a wonderful, yet mysterious way. He knew that he wanted to buy it, so much that he was prepared to give away all his daily alotment of money for it. With a gaze like that of a drunk man, his hand went for his pocket for money and turned to talk to the vendor. Seeing his actions, the shopkeeper cut his action swiftly : "It was made for you only, so you don't have to pay for it." and saying this, he picked the ring up and handed it to Sigurd.

Looking surprised and a little circumspect, Sigurd began hastily looking around the store, confusion growing in his mind. He then started seeing the general condition of the store - dusty, old shelves, most of the items were just left there to gather dust and putrefy, the vendor himself was as skinny as a simple beggar. Sigurd immediately realized that he was looking at a man who was so plain, so unegocentric, that he couldn't ever charge anything for his pieces, that he only lived from the kindness and pity of those who might feel empathy for him and leave him some money for the carvings they take. He saw a man who lived exclusively for his occupation, and he could clearly see that it had been brought to a master's level.

Sigurd then quickly took out of his pocket two meals' worth of money and handed it to the vendor, in exchange for the much underestimated ring. He felt like he was robbing the man, but he knew he wouldn't have it any other way, because the vendor wasn'tthe kind of person to charge highly for his work. After recieving the money, the vendor tol Sigurd : " I hope you see in this ring more than I have."
And by that, Sigurd was left even more confused , but he decided to turn away and head on home, because, as grateful as he was, he was even more curious to see the intricacies of the ring's components.

The crafters store was often a wonder for Arlen, he would come here everyday to see what the old man might of made during the night and left out for those that wished to take it.
Of course, Arlen never took any such trinkets, but he always left a small donation for the old man, it would cost him money to gather the resources and time spent crafting even something so small as a necklace was even more valuable than the money spent on it.

Opening the door, Arlen smelt the familiar warm smell of burning woods that kept the old mans makeshift forge works going, though it was only minor metals that this man worked with it stil required some manipulation and therefore heating up.
The old mans attention however was not on the newcomer to the shop, it rarely was, but upon another human.
Arlen heard the shop keeper speak in his usual tired voice.
"It was made for you only, so you don't have to pay for it."
Arlen smiled at the shop keepers generosity, of course it wasnt made for him, the man was just around at the time as the shop keeper had finished his works, something Arlen had seen him do regually to many people, such a kind man in such a cruel world.

However, this otherman that stood in the shop seemed different as he turned around, human definatly, though there was something far more bestial about him than most humans, stepping out of the doorway he allowed the man passage and cave him a polite nod.[/I]

Sarain walked on the cobble stoned path, the white stones stained with grime from years of being attacked by the dirty soles of peasants shoes. The surrounding buildings were old and small, squatters and beggars situating themselves in them. There were no trees in this part of town for the soil was poor and hordes of rats skittered along the streets, looking for scraps of food.

This is just lovely.

The sarcasm in sarains thoughts was evident. He didn't like Lomedor, the corruption and evil made him sick. Nevertheless, he had no other choice for the city was where all the petitioners lived. He had to put up with the smell if he wanted to make money. He continued to walk, looking for the place where he was supposed to meet the contact. The streets were eerily deserted; not even a beggar situated the path.

Sarain found the location easily enough. A thief tried to steal his money purse and an old beggar tried to get some money by kissing his shoes but other than that, nothing else troubled him. Strangely enough, there was a crowd of people probably on there way home from work. He stood in front of a small store, dust covering the old timber wall.

I thought it would be somewhere with less people around.

The super spy was getting a bit worried. He wondered why the petitioner didn't ask to meet him in a secluded area, like the empty area that he just walked through. He had met contacts in weirder places, like on a rooftop and in the middle of a swamp. He ignored the doubts in his mind and opened the door. He was ready for anything, but what he walked into surprised him not because there was something amazing, but because there was nothing interesting other than a few totems and a small number of people looking out of place.

There was a sturdy looking man with strong arms. He had the look of a blacksmith, which was his probable occupation. He was just about to leave, a ring made of bone and metal on his finger (or in his hand, Sarain didn't bother with the details.) Other than that, there were two other people in the store. One was obviously the owner, a skinny man who had the look of a good person. The other was a man who looked as though he was trained in the arts of wizardry. His head was clean-shaven and he wore a purple robe.

Now I have to find out which one is the contact.

Sarain had seen the Wizard enter the shop and thought that he might be the man he was looking for. He sure looked the part, but so did the blacksmith who was strong enough to best Sarain if something went wrong. The most evident thing when you meet a contact is there ability in combat for if the client tries anything or tries to ask for more pay, they can both intimidate and beat the client.

A contact is someone the petitioner sends to tell the client when and where to go. Sarain is a spy so most of his contracts have to do with either the local guard wanting inside information on the local crime syndicate or a mob boss wanting to find out about rival gangs or sometimes even a guard who was on there case. Of course, the spy has had different contracts like infiltrating Elvan cultists, the case of course petitioned by the local patriarch. However, the information Sarain received about his next mission wasn't much.

He had received a letter from a man and he said that he needed to check someone out before acting on his intentions. It had enclosed alot of money and said that this was one quarter of what he would get if he completed this mission. It then said to meet the contact at the totem store, which he was now standing in.

"Hello there, are any of you the contact by any chance?"

He waited for a reply and began to have thoughts towards the skinny owner of the store. He might have been payed by the petitioner to tell him what he needed to know but Sarain couldn't be sure. The worst-case scenario would be if he was walking into a trap, which would be unwise for he wasn't just a skilled spy. He had killed ten Orks which a rusty dagger to escape from a cave situated in the Misty forest.

What are the chances of this being a trap? I'm getting the information from the contact, no strings attached.