Heretic Dossier: Blacksmith’s Confessional

Kenro was a strange one. Always skulking about, perusing my wares, but never buying.

I'd ask him if he wanted a sword, and he'd say, "Not today."

So I'd ask him if he'd fancy a set of armor. And again he says, "Not today."

Every day for a month, the same song and dance. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Or so I thought.

One day I open the shop, check my wares, and find a mistake in the shipment. Inside the crate is an odd blue gem, lumped in with the usual iron and steel. Figuring it for a mistake, I was about to send it back, when Kenro walks in the store.

I give him the usual greeting, and ask him if he wants to buy some wares, fully expecting him to say the words, "Not today."

But to my surprise, he doesn't. Today, he wants to buy.

He doesn't want a sword or a shield. He wants the gem. As he hands me the coin, I get a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, like this is the last time I'll see him. So I ask him where he's headed. He tells me he's going to see a blacksmith. I'm not sure if that's a joke, seeing as I run the forge.

When I ask him which smith, he tells me, a Dwarven one. In Fahlbtharz.

My face goes white. Kenro says, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

I say to him, "No, have you?" And he just smiles.