Roy goes to a blacksmith to reforge his ancestral blade, but finds out that he's going to need a little *shudder* sidequest.
Cast 
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Transcript Edit
- Panel 1
Roy: Everyone I asked told me you were the best blacksmith in town. Can you reforge my ancestral blade?
Blacksmith: Yes. Yes, I can.
- Panel 2
Roy: Fantastic! Whatever it costs, just let me know and I'll—
Blacksmith: —but na without tha right metal.
- Panel 3
Roy: Metal? You don't have any metal?
Blacksmith: A' course I got metal! Dinae insult me dwarven honor! But this sword ye got be somethin' special.
- Panel 4
Blacksmith: Forged out a' pure starmetal, it be. Finest I've ev'r seen, aye.
Roy: "Starmetal"? What's that?
- Panel 5
Blacksmith: What tha heck does it sound like? Metal tha fell from tha stars!
Blacksmith: Sweet merciful Odin, ye be a daft one.
- Panel 6
Roy: Really? Because my mom never mentioned that in her stories about it...
Blacksmith: Fat chance a human woman coulda recogniz'd it on sight. It takes keen dwarven senses to see it.
- Panel 7
Roy: Well, I have a dwarven cleric in the party, and he never mentioned it either.
Blacksmith: Thbbt! Clerics. They be gettin' so few skill points, I'm surpris'd they know how ta tie thur own shoes!
- Panel 8
Roy: Point taken. So, you need some of this metal, then?
Blacksmith: Aye, but good luck findin' any, lad.
- Panel 9
Flashback to a meteor of starmetal falling to earth in the Wooden Forest.
Blacksmith (inset): Tho I'll tell ye a long-kept secret. Ye might find some a' tha exact center o' Wooden Forest, where legend says a meteorite fell over a century ago. But beware, fer those woods are home t' the most deadly o' monsters!
Red Bird: Don't worry, we all got away.
- Panel 10
Roy: So you, a complete stranger, are telling me that I need to go into dangerous territory and bring back some of this "starmetal" for you, and then you can fix my sword.
Blacksmith: Aye.
- Panel 11
beat
- Panel 12
Roy: Goddamn it, I hate side quests.
D&D Context Edit
- Craft is a skill with multiple options, such as Craft (Alchemy) or Craft (Weaponsmithing), or as the title of this comic, Craft (Plotline).
Trivia Edit
- The blacksmith's true identity is not revealed until #142. This is his first appearance.
