Several days had passed since the meeting with the local leaders. Since then, several things had happened, mostly in the ways of information exchange with Etrius obtaining maps of the region and details on the defensive structures for the territory. Not only that, but Etrius was given a tour of the town and able to see the structures in person. Afterwards, Etrius walked the town itself. Both to familiarize itself with the populace and conduct its own business.

It's first stop would be that of a local tailor. The building, through off the main road, was fairly visible with a few signs pointing towards it. Following them, Etrius entered a somewhat dim interior. There were few shelves but on the walls hung several samples of outfits and what appeared to be repairs. Not only that, but although the place was clean, there were some spots in which dust could be seen to have gathered, as well as a solitary spider in the corner of a window.

Leaving the spider alone, Etrius turned its attention to a somewhat elderly woman behind the counter. With one hand a book, the other she lazily leaned her head into. From beyond her long white bangs, Etrius could see sharp blue eyes glance up at it. Finding nothing interesting, she turned her attention back to her book.

 

"Quite the character we have here." She said. "You must be the ranger everyone is talking about."

"That would be me." Etrius said, walking to the counter. "You work this place alone?"

"Can never find good help these days." She said. "So how can I help the likes of you?"

"I was hoping I could find some quality cloaks here." Etrius said.

"Are you not wearing one?" She asked.

"I am, though I hate to admit it, in my line of work, cloaks don't last very long for me, and this one has seen better days." Etrius said, lifting up one of its arms.

 

Looking up from her book, she saw that indeed, this cloak was in tatters. Tears and holes were not hard to find, and in several places the fabric was worn down to which light was visible through it. Nodding, she put down her book.

 

"So it is." She said. "I wouldn't be surprised if you lost some walking through town. What sort of material are you looking for? I've got canvas, linen, and wool at the ready. If you want something else I can make it to order, if you're willing to wait."

"I'll take three wool ones." Etrius said.

"Three?" She asked. "I know you're going to trek through the forest, but my cloaks don't wear any faster than others."

"I like to keep myself prepared." It said.

"Very well." She nodded. "Any color you have on your mind?"

"Green and gray if you have them." It said.

"I have a few of them." She said. "Give me one moment."

 

Doing just that, Etrius gave another glance through the room. Nothing had changed, though with Etrius' presence, the crawling shadows began to appear. As always they avoided the light, not like it harmed them, and kept to the shadows. In doing so, the shadows seemed to grow longer. Few, however, strayed from the shadows and climbed up the walls and windows. They seemed to take an interest in the lone spider. The room grew dimmer, but not by much. It was at this moment that Etrius noticed something strange. As the shadows grew long, they noticeably avoided a certain area of the store.

At that bright spot was an otherwise inconspicuous gray hooded robe hung on the wall. Etrius wasn't sure if the color was intentional or not as it could have been faded, but there was no noticeable wear in it. As Etrius Approached, the shadows which clung to it seemed to shy away, though not entirely vanish. Grabbing the loose fabric, Etrius found it not to be so thick as to suffocate in the heat, but enough to protect from at least a light rain. Under this outer layer, Etrius saw a white linen shirt and brown pants made of the same material as the robes, though Etrius could not tell what it was.

 

"See something you like?" The owner said.

 

Turning, Etrius saw that she had returned with three of the cloaks that it asked for, two green and one gray.

 

"It caught my eye, yes." Etrius nodded. "Is this something that you made?"

"That one is my son's work." She said. "It was the last piece he made before moving to the capital."

"It's well made." Etrius said.

"Not well enough to sell." She scoffed. "Been sitting here for years with not one person wanting it. You're the first to show interest."

"Is it for sale?" It asked.

"It is, but I'm not sure why you'd be interested. Don't you rangers have a uniform?" She asked.

"To tell the truth, I’m not officially on the job until the new year." It said.

"Well, each of these is 85, so if you're willing, I'll sell that whole set for 150." She said.

"So, 405 for everything?" It asked. "I'll take them."

"A big spender I see." She smiled. "Had I known you ranger get paid that much I would have had my son join them."

"Not really. Just got relocation pay." It said. 

"Either way, it's a pleasure doing business with you." She said. "The name's Lorettia Cole. I look forward to seeing you again."

"Etrius Washington." It said. "I don't suppose you have any bags."

"That'll cost extra." Lorettia said.

"Taking me for everything I got huh?" Etrius asked, paying up.

"Gotta make money where I can." She smiled. "If you need anything repaired feel free to stop by."
"For a price no doubt." It said. "Thank you."

"And thank you for stopping by." She said.

 

With a bag in hand, Etrius exited the shop, and as no one was watching, handed them off to the crawling shadows to hold. Or most of them at least. Likely for the same reason they didn't approach the robe, they refused to hold onto it. An annoyance, but one that it would have to deal with. With now only a single bag in hand, Etrius headed to its next stop. Arriving quickly, and with many citizens avoiding it, Etrius entered a blacksmith, one suggested to it by both Captain Bloom and Guild leader Loch, of the blacksmith guild.

Inside there was a surprising lack of metal goods. There were various knives and axe heads, along with a few arrowheads with wide broad heads, and a lone sword. After a moment of confusion, Etrius recognized the danger of having various weapons out in the open. Upon seeing Etrius enter, the man behind the counter straightened his back and greeted it.

 

"Welcome Lady Washington." The man said. "I was told that you may visit. How can I help you?"

"I wanted to order a few things from you, mostly arrowheads, but also a knife." Etrius said.

"We have arrowheads and knives." He said. "If you're looking for a certain type it may require a special order."

"I need two sets of arrowheads, bodkins and hunting broad heads, twenty-four of each. As for the knife, I'm looking for a kukri." It said.

"A kukri? The one from Mendio?" He asked.

"That's the one." It said. "Do you have any?"

"I have a couple but they're on the larger side if that alright with you." He said.

"That's fine." Etrius said.

"As for the arrow heads, I'll have the broad heads but I only make the bodkins to order, and I have to send word to the town guard. If you're looking to pick them up today, they can be done in a few hours. I'll need to heat up the forge." He said.

"There's no rush, can I pick them up at the end of the day?" It asked.

"Certainly." He said. "Anything else?"

"Not for the time being." It said.

"Right, well take your pick of broadheads, let me fetch that kukri." He said.

 

Taking his offer, Etrius took the medium sized heads. Though Etrius was not interested in hunting, it was necessary and at the very least it could sell what it didn't need for extra cash. After it finished, the man reappeared with a kukri which was larger than either knives that Etrius currently carried. Something that it also noticed was that it had no sheath. Glancing at the man, he shrugged.

 

"I got this one off a merchant a while back." He said. "Lost the sheath for it and I haven't gotten around to making a new one for it."

"How long have you had this?" It asked.

"A few." He shrugged.

"Centuries?" It asked.

"Do I look that old to you?" He asked.

"Far from it." It said. "How much?"

"I can do 90 for this." He said.

"Sounds good?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure how much these go for."

"Well I'll take it, and I'll be back later for the arrowheads."

"I'll see you then."

"Right, and your name is?"

"Yole Maine." He said, holding out his hand.

"Etrius Washington." Etrius said, shaking it.

 

With that done, Etrius left with its arrowheads and brand new knife. As it walked the streets, it had to resist the efforts to swing the knife around like a child would a stick. People were already frightened enough of it as things currently were. It didn't want to give them another reason to fear it. As it headed home, it made one last, quick stop. At the local post office, it dropped off a letter in the outgoing box and headed home.

Leaving the noise of the town behind, Etrius walked along a familiar dirt road. Eventually it ended up at its house. Again, with the work that was put into it, it was in much better shape and one could tell that someone lived here. Seeing that it had returned, the crawling shadows did their best to attempt to wave at it. If one didn't know, they would appear to be twitching oddly like usual, but Etrius waved to them as if encouraging them. Maul too grunted in greeting.

 

"I'm back." Etrius said. "You didn't burn anything down, did you?"

"…" Maul flicked his ears and returned to eating grass.

 

Walking past them, Etrius entered its house. Much like last time the inside was sparse. All it currently had was a couple of chairs and an old table. It would need to get the rest in the upcoming days. Placing its cloaks, arrowheads, and other various weapons on the counter, it headed into its bedroom. With its current cloak falling into shadows, and what could not be described as any living creatures, Etrius took out the robe and its under clothing to get dressed.

Everything was fine. It was comfortable, wasn't too tight, the shadows whined in displeasure, and the crawling shadows coughed in agreement. Lowering its hood, it looked at its reflection in the window.

 

"Not too bad..." Etrius muttered.