i'll have to start with a clarification
the artist of "cost of repairs" is in between names right now but she went by "mattock" while her art burned
...
in the middle of the night our sending stones echoed a call for help so we rushed to the 6t2 gallery
we got there quickly but most of it was already on fire so we did what we could
this included rescuing councilmage "sava kharisa" – the gallery's owner – with minimal injury
but the art is lost
while i was in the building (don't worry i cast "resilient sphere" and it worked fine) i found the starter – "chromatic orb" on a chunk of diamond – which zer' took for scrying
when i got out mattock was there just ... watching the flames
i asked her what she'd do now and her answer was quick – "keep making art since clearly i have their attention"
she stated that the question-and-answer session would still happen in the morning as scheduled
then we investigated a little and here's what we have so far
a teenager who'd lost a lot of family in the war was talking nasty about forged in general and mattock's work in specific
a pair of criminal-minded halflings coaxed him to turn his words into action and gave him a "chromatic orb" spell for the purpose
he threw it and clearly it worked but he immediately regretted it and ran home because he was scared
it's clear that he wouldn't have done it without being pushed
we promised to explain to the watch so they wouldn't come down on him and maybe so they could identify the halflings responsible
the last thing he needs is more of a hard time
as it is he and his father are living in a tent village full of cyran refugees (seriously breland you've got to help your neighbors more)
i felt bad for him and i really hope he'll be all right so when we get back from fairhaven i'll check in on him
as promised mattock held her talk the next morning
right there in the charred remnants of the gallery because it turns out she is not easily discouraged from anything
again i'm reminded of brushsmoke
mattock told her story of being created to tend a farm but instead pressed into military service and thrown into combat for twenty years
after that she knew she had to make a statement and the obvious reactions to it emboldened her to keep talking through her art
at one point the king's bodyguard – a massive forged named "3" (seriously?) – asked to address the audience so she let him speak
the king couldn't attend but he sent a written message that 3 read out loud
in it the king explained how after seeing "cost of repairs" he was a little more aware of the tragedy in how he'd thrown the "warforged" into the worst of the fighting
how did he not know that then? and how does he not know the forged aren't called that anymore?
anyhow he was so impressed he wanted to reward her work with a lot of gold and a permanent display at a museum in wroat
plus he announced a new "brelish forged arts society" and the "mattock 19 prize for excellence in the forged arts"
the grown in the audience applauded for a bit until they realized the forged were silent
mattock told 3 she'd write a reply by the end of the day and asked him to deliver it
and that was the end of the session
after that mattock invited the forged (including our group even though half of us don't really qualify) to join her at the red hammer where the first round was on her
there were a lot of toasts to the red hammer and the missing pieces and even the h&h and basically everything the forged have created
there was talk and real planning for how to organize further
i can't help but think of them as a proper herd learning to take care of each other and that's wonderful!
this morning's choice of paper was "the sharn inquisitive" because they printed mattock's reply to the king
short form? she called him out for his hypocrisy in not treating the forged as people until it was convenient and ignoring their struggle afterward and papering over his shame with irrelevant gifts and announcing stuff for them but not with them
"you want my name for your prize? have it along with my art – i'll make more"
so she's in between names right now