Gem Hunting (Open)

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The market was a bustling place at early noon, with several stalls set up with merchants peddling their wares, the crowds already gathered to take a look at what they had to offer. There were people from several walks of life and races that tended to pass through the market area, and several conversations were taking place at once, which seemed to mix together and give the marketplace a life of it's own. Despite the diversity of people at the market, several heads turned as conversations shifted into curious whispers and speculative murmursas a dwarf walked down the aisles and stalls with a confident stride. It was rare enough to see a dwarf in Nova, as they were rarely seen outside their mountain homes...but this one was different. Grom Graniteshield was not one to dress down for a diplomatic visit, and it showed; his finely crafted armor was on full display, and the gems adorning the gold and silver crown he wore proudly shone brightly, seeming to almost glitter. His beard was tied in a series of well kept and groomed braids, held together with silver beard rings that shone with rubies and sapphires. He wore a permanent scowl on his face, with furrowed eyebrows and a grim expression. It was clear he was royalty...and also quite clear he was not afraid of being robbed, as he not only walked with a confident swagger, but was armed to the teeth. A double headed battle ax with runic carvings rested on his back, along with a crossbow and a quiver of bolts. On either side of his waist were two throwing axes; the dwarf looked like he was ready for full scale war.

Grom ignored the stares of the bewildered people of the marketplace, expecting such a reaction. It was typical of most manlings to gawk at him; he had seen it many times in his long, long life. In this day and age, he knew it was very rare for anyone to see his kind; all dwarves, not just him, tended to be gawked at by manlings. He was not here to entertain the masses, however. He had heard that the Nova marketplace was home to some interesting wares.  One stall in particular caught his eye, however, as the sun reflected the wares at just the right angle. Gold. Gold and gemstones. The High King made a beeline for the stall, which surprised the merchant a bit, a middle aged man with long fingers who regarded the dwarf with nervous anticipation. The edlerly Grom picked up a stone, a ruby, in his stubby fingers and examined it closely. The facets were well polished and well cut, perfectly symmetrical. His grim expression suddenly vanished, giving way to a joyful smile, a keen twinkle in his eye.

"You do excellent work for a manling. This is a fine cut, on par with the jewel cutters of my realm! Are you able to mount it to jewlery, laddy? Perhaps on a ring? I've fancied meself a new ring lately."

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Alex was walking without his guards per usual. around the market place observing the stalls that have always been there and some new ones as well. He observed the nearby people and saw they were whispering and looking at a general direction towards a stall, some even pointing and laughing a bit. Curiosity got the better of him and decided to check out what was going on.

He saw a stall with a small...man? observing a ruby in his hand. He had to take a moment to stifle his laughter before heading towards the stand and begin to have his fun. He closed his eyes for a moment and activated gem hunter. The ruby was real alright "The clarity is nice, good carat size and the cut is almost flawless if i do say so myself." He said while inspecting the ruby from the dwarf's without touching it since grabbing it would be incredibly rude. "If i had to take a guess id imagine these gems were mined from heaven's pass?" he said while asking the vendor who nodded in agreement. "Yep I can tell the deep red color of rubies are usually found in a mine im familiar with there." he said feeling a bit of nostalgia for home. "Oh, whoops. Sorry i didnt see you there. I am Count Alexander Wulfric." He said while turning to the short man and extending his hand for a handshake " I can tell you have a good eye for Gems if you can pick out such a nice gemstone, sir...?" he said pausing waiting for the dwarf to answer with his name

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Grom heard the commentary on the gem and turned around to see a man standing over him observing the gem. He seemed to have a good eye for stones. The dwarf was surprised when he heard the gem came from a Heaven's Pass, and he looked back at the merchant with a narrow gaze. He seemed to be observing the man, trying to discern something, which made the merchant a bit nervous before he started to laugh and handed the gem back to the man.

"All the more reason to have it mounted on a ring! Let me know when the stonesetting is complete lad. I'll pay handsome coin for good work."

The merchant seemed relieved as he nodded in agreement and got back to his work, setting aside the ruby so he knew it was already ordered. Grom turned back to Alexander, who introduced himself as an Earl. When the handed was offered, Grom took the hand with an eager, firm handshake.

"Grom Graniteshield, High King of the Dwarves of Heaven's Pass! Your name sounds familiar laddy. You wouldn't happen to be Caleb's whelp, would you?"

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Alex returned the firm and excited handshake with his own, a macho dwarf huh...? Wait did he say king of the dwarves?  "Yes Caleb Wulfric is my father..Wait you are THAT Grom he told me about?" he said gleefully "Forgive my enthusiasm but my father spoke highly of you when I was much younger." Alex added "He told me several of your tales before but to meet you in flesh here in nova is truly a great honor." he  told the Dwarf. While Alex was growing up his father told him several tales of Grom's accomplishments, such as him being able to thwart his own assassination attempts single handily. Wait a second...Alex never knew a representative (A king for that one) was coming to nova..Wait if Alex didn't know..maybe Noku didn't? Alex would think Noku would tell him if he knew a king was coming, or at least prepared something for Grom's arrival but for him to arrive alone and with the castle not being prepared for it was very strange.

Nonetheless Alex put those thoughts at bay and decided to try and find out why a dwarf would leave heaven's pass and make their way to nova, its rare for a regular one to leave so for a king it must be very important. "So what brings you here to Nova your majesty?" he asked honestly trying to find out what exactly he was doing here. Alex wasnt very good at formalities hoping Grom wouldn't mind, he is very blunt and to the point when trying to find something out.

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The old dwarf gave a hearty laugh as his hunch was confirmed. He was surprised to see how much the boy had grown; he knew that Alexander's race were practically immortal, and Caleb himself had probably long outlived Grom himself, but he was still surprised to see how much the whelp he had seen when he used to visit the settlement had grown. He gave the noble a nice, firm, friendly slap on the back a few times, guiding him him away from the jewelry stand at the market as he waved goodbye to the shopkeeper. The crowds seemed to be dissipating and getting thinner as the two walked together.

"Ha! Some of them tall tales to be sure. But I have been through some hairy pickles in my life, laddie, and they make for good stories!"

When he was asked what he was doing in Nova, he stroked his beard in thought. The answer wasn't so simple to him. He had come for negotiations, and delicate ones at that. He was also looking into the state of Nova, and was very curious about the new King. He had not announced his visit either, which, while could cause some controversy in the courts.

"I'm here to see King Noku, young Alexander. He and I have much to discuss...whether he knows it or not."

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Alex was glad he could make grom smile, it was a natural charismatic talent he was rather proud of. Alex eagerly took the firm handshake and continued the conversation. "Well if that is the case I'd love to hear the actual stories from you, who knows they may be even better then my father's" he jokingly chided before remembering how he missed home.

After Grom had told Alex he was here to see king Noku he tried to distract Grom to buy Noku some time so he can send word to Noku. "Ah give me one moment if you would I need to send word to a personal guard of a matter of the up-most importance." He then took out a small piece of paper and walked over to a guard. He began to draw what looked like a small crudely drawn man that appeared to look like Grom. "Give this to Noku or Breton as quickly as possible" he whispered quietly to the guard. for a moment the guard doubted who he was but then Alex showed him the stamp representing his family and the guard was sent quickly to fulfill the task given to him.

"Sorry about that, I forgot that i had business to attend to here in the market but now i can deal with it later thanks to you." he told Grom with a grin on his face. "Would you like me to show you more Gem stalls in the market? i have a few im quite a fan of if you'd like." He suggested to Grom.