[Open]There's A Hole In The Earth

[[-Kay-]]

The tavern was imposing and viscious looking. It was tall, a good two stories, and solid. Dark wood and black stones decorated the entire structure, a black shingled roof overhead. There was a stable to the side of it, where quite a few good horses stood in stalls, hanging their heads over their doors, whickering for their dinner. There was no one coming in or out at the moment.....save the owner of this tavern. Small, stocky, and with a thick black and silver braid hanging down her back. Eyes the color of the sea peered out of the furrowed and lined face that showed the years had worn on her in many ways. She moved down the aisle, her black skirt and blouse as dark as the day they had been dyed. She had a hat on her head, and her eyes gleamed from under like little bits of polished onyx. She picked up a big bucket of oats, shuffling back down the line and pouring it into one horse's trough, moving back to the room and shuffling back about in her work. She did this enough times for each horse, then moved to brush each horse. The old woman was a dwarf, having come from the Beor mountains. She was refusing to use a stool or a ladder, her stubborn tempermant not allowing for such things.

After she was finished she moved back to a mare at the front of the barn, feeding the mare a handful of apple chunks and patting her foal. Her thickly sheilded mind wasn't on the lookout for any sort of company at all. In fact, even if someone were to come into the barn, they wouldn't see her. She was so small she wasn't even visible over the top of the stall door. She moved out of the mare's stall, across to the stall where a massive black stallion stood snorting. He was a bit in a good mood today, not overly grumpy like he usually was. She stroked the big stallion's nose, moving back towards the storage room to hand the big horse a bit of apple. She moved into the stall with the obnoxious donkey that stood there, patting the annoying creature. She didn't even hear the steps coming into her barn, not until she heard the voice anyway did she notice she had any kind of company.

[dantieduurden]

It had been a long trip to his destination. " All this trouble to deliver horse shoes." Phantom grumbled as he walked through the streets of Teirm. " I need to hire someone to deliver for me from now on. Stupid human's making there doors so big." As Phantom continued to complain he walked into the stable he was suppose to deliver the horse shoes to. As he walked around the stalls he found it utterly empty until he arrived at the end and found to his surprise another dwarf. " Excuse me ma'am." Phantom said bowing to her, " I am here to deliver these shoes to the owner of this here stable." p0hantom said neither being kind or hostile, but simply neutral.

[[-Kay-]]

The old dwarf woman turned, her craggy and furrowed face scrutinizing him for a moment or two before she nodded gruffly. "Alright." She said, looking him over. She was unfortunatly critical at the moment. The donkey in the stall made an obnoxious noise and she reached over and whacked him across the head gently. "Shut up, you old codger." She grumbled, shuffling down the aisle between the stalls. She looked over her shoulder at where he was still standing. "Well are you just gonna stand there like a stone pillar? Come inside." She said, grabbing the door handle and shuffling into the tavern. She moved not at a waddle persay, but it certainly was...a unique gait. She turned and peered at him over the counter, her stoney eyes scrutinizing him yet again. "You want anything? It's on the house, just leave the horseshoes by the door." She said. Her voice wasn't....manly or anything strange by any means. No, it was still filled with life and youth....just...weary.

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[dantieduurden]

Phantom bowed to his host and with a small grin said. " Depends, you got anything to make a dwarf smile." Phantom laughed as he looked over at the old dwarf woman. She seemed pleasant enough for him, and kind of reminded him of his mother back in the deep caves with her walk. Carefully he got up onto a stool and placed the horse shoes down for her to take. " I got to ask though, how have you heard of me that you sent for me to make your horse shoes." Phantom knew a dwarf living among elves would grab attention but never in his wildest dreams did he believe it would bring him this much. And so he was confused at how another dwarf in Teirm no less had heard is name and that he was a smith.

[[-Kay-]]

Nitadi smirked, a big iron tankard being set on the counter in front of the dwarf. Her dark eyes smiled a bit as she looked at him, curiosity setting in. Her ears heard what he said but ignored him a bit at first. "I hear things every day in my tavern." She said, her gruff voice only picking up to a certain decible. She heard many things in this tavern, always many many things that could always be counted on to be true. Her iron mind was wrapped around her head, a shield against intruders. "I hear of a smith, good smith. I hear he's a dwarf. I trust the work of a dwarf more than the work of any man or elf. Much stronger, better metal." She said a brief nod to the younger man. "How does one such as yourself come to live among humans?" She asked, her dark dark eyes scrutinizing him again as she scrubbed her bar diligently.

[/blockquote]

[dantieduurden]

As the old woman placed the mug down Phantom emptied it just as quickly and shook his head back and forth. " Good stuff that be." Phantom said as he looked at the woman with new appreciation. " I left my home to learn the secrets of the other race's smiths so that I could apply those secrets to my own craft so that my works shall be much stronger. The elves in particular I have learned many new things on the trade." Phantom said kindly. " But thank you for the complioment. I hope the shoes serve you well."