52 Lobbing and Fobbing (1/2)

”I seem to have suffered a considerable depletion of my liquor supplies.” SmithGuild moped in his commodious basement.

”How mysterious,” Nelda replied.

The basement was more like a labyrinth really. It seemed much larger than the floor plan of the building above-- including many large vaulted rooms with venting chimneys and was crammed with equipment and supplies whose identity Nelda could not even guess. Everything was cold and seemed to have been out for use for a while.

SmithGuild wanders down a hallway into some kind of small storeroom with ranks fo shelving on all the walls.”There is a lot of equipment that might potentially be useful on this journey, but it is hard to predict… And our capacity for portage is limited.”

[Hell, even your capacity for walkage is limited.]

One shelf held buckets and buckets of arrows, and in the corner, there was a great many spears.Stacked above were shields, both small round ones, and others more like the side of an old-fashioned garbage can.

”Your weapon supplies seem… still rather considerable,” Nelda said.

SmithGuild wandered back. ”It was a hobby for a while. To see how far I could develop the metallurgy of attack and defense.” He cocked his head.”I even have full body armor for a centaur in here somewhere.”

”Were their wars before? Why did you do it.”

”That's one of the reasons I lost interest.” SmithGuild lifted a short sword from a rack. ”Life was very static, and I found myself wondering what the point of my experiments was.Everything being pretty much happy as they are.They were not really in need of the innovations myself, and the other gryphons felt somehow drive to develop. Perhaps you should take this.I don't have a scabbard for it though.Leather and fabrics was never really my thing.”

Nelda looked at the blade.”Seems like it might send the wrong message,” she said.

”I think it's you who recently explained to me that just because you have the equipment, doesn't mean you're obliged to use it.”

[Are you making a double entendre?]Nelda smiled.”Not everyone sees it that way. And that would be a bit of a I-am-Xena-hear-me-roar statement piece. I'm not sure I could carry it off.Do you have anything smaller?”

”The lady wishes for smaller…” SmithGuild cast around the shelves as if searching for something.

It niggled at Nelda that she hadn't told SmithGuild everything she had concluded from her visit back to the Alma Mater.

”I don't know what you are going to think about this…” Nelda began.