Buster tears through the forge’s boxes and drawers, sending old nails, leather scraps, and polished tools rattling across the benches. Dust clouds the quiet air.
Badger stays beside the anvil, watching with guarded patience. The traveling bard stands opposite him, one hand resting lightly on her silent lute.
At last, beneath folded charcoal cloth in a locked-bottom drawer, Buster finds the smoke-dark iron scrap. Its falling-star mark is dulled but unmistakable.
He places the scrap on one side of the black iron scale, then sets his platinum dwarven dagger on the other. The balance dips toward the heavier blade.
The dagger’s star-shaped etching catches the scrap’s faint light. Both marks brighten together, and the scale rises until its arms rest perfectly level.
Badger Ironsmith
That is no coincidence. The scrap and the scale answer one another, same as matched metal remembers its maker.
A hair-thin line opens across the scale, revealing angular letters beneath its surface. The first symbol resembles a falling star, while the second remains just beyond recognition.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish whether Badger's account is truthful
+ New Item Acquired
Smoke-dark iron scrap
“That dagger was gifted to me by Kooper Skullkrusher of the royal Gaurd as a parting gift, why would it match the iron symbols”
SUCCESS (Fair Reasoning, rolled +0)
Buster Ironsmith
Kooper Skullkrusher of the royal Guard gifted me this dagger as a parting gift. Why would it match these iron symbols?
The question hangs over the level scale. The paired marks flare, and a sharp metallic chime rings through Busters Blades, rattling tools along the benches.
Badger Ironsmith
Because Kooper did not make the mark, lad. He carried something already tied to you, though he may never have known it.
The Traveling Bard
The dagger's star is older than its recent giving. Royal hands may have guarded it, inherited it, or taken it from another place.
The angular letters sharpen beneath the scale. Badger leans close, while the traveling bard lifts her lute hand away as the silver string begins to tremble.
Badger Ironsmith
Your dagger is a key, not proof of dwarven blood. The matching signs prove only that both pieces answer the same forgotten maker or bearer.
The Traveling Bard
And the cost of forcing that answer is paid in noise. Whatever listens through iron now knows this forge has found its name.
✓ Quest Accepted
Discover who made or bore the matching iron signs