Kettle Black
From ThornsWiki
Main article: Vienda
The smithy stands heavy and cumbersome with its high walls and sagging brick facade. Black streaks of soot paint the walls, age and smoke alike fading the cherry red bricks to some color burnt, muted, and not at all inviting. A great glass gourd once ensconced the phosphor light outside the door, but the bottom has been shattered and the remaining jagged glass top is thick with dust. You’d think it must have been that way for years. Plumes of thick black smoke billow out of its two lop-sided chimneys from the wee hours of sunrise ‘til the blood of sunset.
Beyond the double doors, the mood isn’t much more inviting. A warm glow suffuses the whole cramped space of the lower level, guttering orange light spilled over everything by the multiple fires. Nothing flammable is to be seen: No stick of wooden furniture. The small, smoky windows stand naked of curtains. Stone floors suffuse warmth under the patron’s feet, seeping up through their shoes. The bricks walls are covered in mounted swords, the metal from the impressive arsenal catching the soft light and making it gleam brittle. A trough of old ashes sleep in the belly of a monstrous forge and the rack of pliers hung above it don’t look too sweet. A myriad of tools and wares swing from metal chains strung down from the rafters. A tall person could easily leave the shop with a black eye if they’re not too careful.
Wide planes of corrugated sheet metal are propped against the far wall, and above them hang ornate spikes of wrought iron fences pots and tea kettles, strung up on brass hooks. Judging from how far out of reach all the domestic fare is, you can hazard a guess as to the shop owner’s specialty. The acerbic stench of smoke, chemicals, and rust is over-powering. The shopkeeps don’t seem to notice it. A squat cash box sits out in the plain view on the small counter, its only protection a rusty lock.
An impossibly narrow wrought iron staircase curls its way up the far wall, disappearing into what you could guess to be the shopkeeps’ living quarters. At first glance around the front room, you’d see four doors dotting the walls. One can only wonder what such a small shop would need that many anterooms for.