My Little Friend

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Beltar
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My Little Friend

Postby Beltar » Tue Nov 29, 2011 9:17 pm

There's a lot more to Ironforge than most adventurers ever see. Above and below the grand, mighty central ring of the city, there are other streets, alleys, and warrens, all teeming with dwarves, the occasional gnome, and rarely--very rarely--tallfolk. For the most part, there's no reason for any outsider to ever venture out of the central level of the mountain, really. Everything one would need is there, from the High Seat where the new Council of Three eye each other uneasily, to the taverns and shops along the outside of the great circle. But occasionally, there's a need for even outsiders to venture beyond, to find the unobtrusive, almost-hidden passages up and down and enter what the dwarves of the mountain call "the real city."

Two levels below the Hall of Explorers, more-or-less, Beltar Forgebreaker was on just such an errand. He walked casually down a gaslit street that passed near the edge of the mountain, past any number of anonymous doors of houses and shops. For once, he wasn't armed for battle, a knife balanced on one hip and a steam-pistol on the other were his only apparent defense. Well, that and the huge gray Gilnean mastiff that calmly trotted along beside him.

Beltar, after a minute's more walk, stopped outside a nondescript door near the dead end of the passage. The only thing that set the doorway apart from the ones around it was a single electro-arcane light over it, and a small brass plaque on the door itself. The plaque read "G. COGSWAPPER, ENGINEERING MARVELS." Beltar looked around for a second and then pushed a tiny button beside the door. From beyond--or perhaps inside--the wall, there was a muffled buzzing and grinding, and bells could faintly be heard tolling beyond the door. After the bells stopped, there was a few seconds of silence. Then more buzzing, and the door swung open, untouched by living hands. Beltar, rolling his eyes, walked through followed by Jolly the dog.


Gizmel Cogswapper greeted them in his cluttered workshop at the back of the house. The room was large, at least for a house in this quarter of Ironforge, but moving was difficult even for a dwarf or gnome, as it was completely packed with...well, junk, to Beltar's eyes. Box upon box of gears and springs, shelves containing unidentifiable metal bits, strange gnomish machines of unknown function, all of them competed for space with a couple of large tables packed with Old Gods-only-knew-what, and one grease-smeared, green-haired gnome bent over a workbench.

"Ah, Master Forgebreaker!", Cogswapper squeaked as he pushed a pair of dark goggles back onto his balding forehead. "So glad to see you!" He glanced at an odd spring-driven contraption on the wall that might have been some sort of timekeeping device. "Punctual! I'm glad I had time to clean up before you got here!"

Beltar looked around. "If y'cleaned up fer me, Cogswapper, I'd damn sure hate t'see what it looks like back here when y'let it go," he said drily.

"Oh, it may seem a mess to you, Master Forgebreaker!", Cogswapper replied. "But I have a careful and precise filing system that lets me find whatever I need in mere moments! See, this shelf here contains gyrostabilizer cogs, sorted by inside shaft diameter from smallest to largest. Above them, we have..."

"Uh, lad." Beltar held up his hand. "I know yer excited 'bout filin' yer cogs, but we got business t'discuss. Y'sent me a mail sayin' th' job yer doin' fer me's done, an' I'm anxious t'take delivery. So, uh, let's see 'er, aye?"

"Ah, yes!" Cogswapper thrust a finger into the air. "I just completed it earlier today. And I must say, Master Forgebreaker, if I'm honest, it is a masterpiece, the best work I've ever done! You made the right choice in coming to me. I don't think anyone else could perform the complicated arcano-mechanical work that I had to do on that piece. The workmanship was absolutely exquisite and of course you would have to make sure the additions and changes match the original quality. Fortunately for you, I did just that! Why..."

"Cogswapper." Beltar's jovial tone slipped slightly. "I paid y'a damn lotta gold on 'is. Lemme see what I paid fer, please?"

"Ah." Cogswapper cleared his throat. "Of course! I'll be right back." He darted out of the workshop through a door that Beltar hadn't been able to see at first because it was hidden behind what looked like the torso and legs of a iron dwarven war golem. Jolly whined beside him. "I know, boy," the dwarf muttered. "Ain't met many engineers weren't a little off upstairs, but y'tack a gnome an' a mage on top, and he's prolly one 'em types what can build a flyin' machine but can't half put 'is pants on by 'isself."

Any further grumbling from the dwarf was interrupted by Cogswapper returning to the room awkwardly carrying a long, thin bundle, considerably taller than he was, wrapped in chamois. Gently, he placed it down on the edge of a table as Beltar walked around next to him. Cogswapper took a step to the side and grinned up at Beltar. "I'll let you do the honors, Master Forgebreaker."

Carefully, almost reverently, Beltar folded back the chamois from around the bundle, revealing the contents. He sucked in a breath as the last fold of cloth fell away and the light hit the item inside.

It was a rifle, roughly Forgebreaker's own height in total length. The metal of the over-and-under stacked barrels and receiver shone a deep gray in the harsh arcane light of the workroom, with black ornamental carving at the barrels' ends. The stock was blindingly polished wood, inlaid with swirls of obsidian. Below the lower barrel, a wicked blade was mounted, sticking a double-handswidth out in front of the gun.

Cogswapper looked more like a proud father than a simple engineer as Beltar slowly picked up the rifle and began examining it all over. "The tolerances were incredible, Master Forgebreaker. That you retrieved it from the legendary Medivh's castle and that it was still in such condition after all those years, and after the use you said you put it through, well, it's amazing! But I knew, given enough time, I could improve on it, and I have! The trigger and loading mechanism has been totally replaced to handle higher-power rounds and be more resistant to dirt in day-to-day use. The barrel has been precisely bored out and realigned to let you use higher-caliber ammunition, for more stopping power! I've fitted the latest in gnomish X-ray scope technology to it, of course. And I've sheathed the bayonet blade in a high-strength saronite/titanium alloy in case of emergencies!"

Beltar didn't look like he was listening to any of the gnome's excited sales pitch. He held the gun up and looked carefully at all parts of it. Yes, those subtle, shallow grooves in the stock were unmistakeably made by his hands. The tiny scratches along the side of the lower barrel, those came from the razor-sharp claws of a ghoul that had embedded itself upon the bayonet, that long, long night in Stormwind so many years ago. He put it to his shoulder, aiming at an imaginary foe, feeling the balance, the heft, the way it melded into his hands and became an extension of his being instead of just a lump of metal and wood. And brushing the trigger gave forth a sharp, satisfying "click."

The gnome wound down, curiously watching Beltar as he slowly lowered the rifle back onto the unfolded cloth. "Lad," the old dwarf breathed finally, "I daresay y'done good. Feels worth ever' copper I'm payin' ya." He pulled a purse from his belt and dropped it on the table in front of Cogspinner. "There's yer balance due, an' some."

Cogspinner beamed. "Thank you, Master Forgebreaker! Although, I do have to ask something of you."

Beltar blinked, as if trying to snap himself out of the past. "Aye, surely."

"Well...I would never question why you would want this done, of course. But...there are other guns, crossbows even, that are going to be just as effective in combat as this one, and wouldn't have cost you as much in time and trouble. Why did you go to all this trouble to take this...well, relic, let's be honest...and try to turn it into a modern, effective rifle?"

Beltar thought for a second. "Hmm, fair question. Now I imagine, even in all yer tools, y'got one 'r' more 'at's special t'ya. Ain't th' best, ain't th' purtiest, ain't th' newest. But y'had 'em fer a while, y'built a ton o'stuff with 'em. So y'come back to 'em again an' again, aye? Even if y'got 'better' what y'can use. Y'seein' what I'm sayin'?"

"I think so. I have a hydrospanner like that." Cogswapper got a bit of a sheepish look. "I named it Gilda."

"Gilda?" Beltar raised an eyebrow.

"My first ex-wife. And this gun is that to you?"

"An' some. This here piece, boy, got me through a lot. Saved m'life more 'n' once. Best damn rifle I ever owned. This here's th' only gun o'mine--an' I've had me plenty, y'best believe it--what I ever named. Called 'er 'Black Death.' Damned if she didn't live up to it." Thoughts flashed into his head, of the Longest Night, the night where no one knew if anyone in Stormwind would survive the ghoul assault. How many rounds had he run through Black Death that night? Hundreds? Thousands? How many undead had fallen in front of her barrels?

He abruptly wrapped the rifle back in the cloth and picked it up. "An' now? Me an' ol' Black Death? We're goin' back out on th' hunt again. Ain't sure what we're huntin' yet, but I imagine there ain't no lack o'targets out an' about nowadays." Beltar nodded. "Peace t'ya, Master Cogswapper. I'll, uh, show m'self out."

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Dalbarr
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Sep 04, 2010 9:28 am
Location: Canadia

Re: My Little Friend

Postby Dalbarr » Thu Dec 01, 2011 6:42 pm

Awesome stuff Beltar. Dal has also transmogged his current piece into the Wolfslayer Sniper Rifle. Best gun model ever.


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