Brin spent the next two days in meditation, broken up only to eat and clear his mind with a short but intense workout with Davi. He was finally getting to the point where the intrusive memories weren’t destroying his ability to function, and as a bonus, got five more levels in the Skill. He still had a long way to go, but after two days he was getting antsy, and Marksi was beside himself with worry.Marksi hadn’t really noticed much when Brin spent the first day at home. He’d probably just figured that Brin was taking a well-deserved lazy day. But after two days of not moving much, Marksi had started to panic. He kept tugging on Hogg’s clothes, like he was begging the older man to fix Brin. He kept fetching things that he thought would cheer Brin up. A glass bell, a bit of fruit, a dead rat. Brin had complimented Marksi on the kill and had the hardest time ever figuring out who to give the bell back to. On the morning of the third day, Brin had had enough. He worked out with Davi, and then went to Ademir’s shop at the usual time. Marksi had been so excited that Brin made him wait outside because he couldn’t stop running around.Ademir was in the other half of his workshop, and the ovens for glass were cold and quiet. Away from the glassworks, Ademir’s shop was a smorgasbord of all his other projects. Half-finished wooden sculptures, contraptions of gears and wheels, but most of all toys. There were cloth dolls, rows of tin soldiers, and wooden rocking horses, all painted prettily, true works of art well above the cheap plastic crap Brin played with as a kid. Hammon’s Bog didn’t have a [Toymaker], and actually, Brin didn’t know if that was a real Class, but Ademir filled the role admirably. Not that he sold many toys; he just seemed to like making them."Oh, Brin! I didn't think I'd see you today," he said, looking up from some kind of tube with complicated gears and little tin wires so fine they were nearly translucent. "I only get a certain amount of sand per week, so I thought I'd save it all for when you got back.""That's very thoughtful of you, thank you. And you were right, I'm not ready to come back to work. Even being this close to glass is liable to trigger some memories. They can be pretty intense, and I have way more than I thought I would."A glimmer of interest entered the [Crafter’s] and his shoulders tensed, but his tone was casual. "Oh? Anything that could help us here?""Maybe. Probably. Is there any chance [Crafter] evolves from [Tinker]?" asked Brin."I earned [Crafter] from making lateral moves between three different Common crafting Classes. [Tinker] was one, so I still have the base Skills," said Ademir."Oh good, then maybe you'll be able to do it. I saw an oven where melted glass was poured onto a bed of molten tin. I think because they won't mix. Then they let the oven cool gradually until the glass hardens but the tin stays molten. It makes windows that are perfeclty flat without bubbles."Ademir's eyes widened. "Do you think you could recreate it? Could you draw it?""It was in a big factory in a city, and I think lots of Skills were coming together to make it work," said Brin. In truth, the glass ovens he saw in a late night how-it's-made-type show were a dozen yards long, optimized for mass production. "The concept is sound, though. Maybe we could make something smaller here."Ademir put his hand on his chin. "Hm. Yes, I see..." He immediately pulled a sketchpad out of a drawer and started drawing furiously."So, I actually came here for something else," said Brin."Hm?" Ademir didn’t look up from his drawing."I was wondering if you could tell me where you get the silica sand."Ademir didn't answer until Brin repeated the question three more times. "What? Oh, you'll want to talk to Gudio, the [Rock Crusher].""[Rock Crusher]? That sounds awesome! Wait, is [Rocker] a Class?" said Brin, but Ademir didn't answer. He was busily writing notes around his quick sketch. “Right. I’ll leave you to it.”There was a [Rock Crusher]. From the sound of things, this ‘Gudio’ didn’t just break rock, but could actually transform it in the process. But where did he get the rock? If there was one thing that Hammon’s Bog simply didn’t have, it was rocks. There was nothing but soft, loamy soil for miles in every direction. If you wanted to find stone, you’d have to dig for it. If you wanted to dig, you should ask a [Digger].All of these dots were forming a very obvious line, but he felt like he should do this in the correct order. No use in skipping to the end.First, he needed to talk to the [Laundress]. Even aside from the washing soda thing, he did actually have a good reason to talk to this lady. Brin’s clothes were all made by Perris, and frankly, they were fabulous. He favored a light hooded coat, with a terrific golden dragon embossed on the back. Marksi still liked to hang out in the hood. The clothes were nice, but cleaning them was a pain. Back when they’d lived in the forest, Brin had taken to wiping them down with a wet rag, but now that they were in town, they left all their dirty clothes in a bin by the door at night, and a day later they’d be returned, neatly folded and perfectly clean.This [Laundress] had probably been doing his laundry the whole time. Or were there more [Laundresses] in town? There had to be; there was no way Hogg would let a [Witch] clean his clothes. Unless she wasn’t a [Witch]? That was what Brin was here to find out.When he approached Balbi’s place, Marksi began to look decidedly uncomfortable. He peeked his head out of Brin’s hood to sniff the air, and then leaned away from the door they were heading to.Brin stopped. “Is it bad in there?”Marksi tapped his tail for ‘Yes’.“Is it bad in the way that Gustaff’s house was?”‘No.’“I need to go in. You can wait out here if you want,” said Brin.Marksi twitched in irritation, then scampered over to a nearby house, and half-slithered up the side, to disappear on the roof. The little dude was getting fairly independent lately.Brin took a deep breath and opened the door to the [Laundress] shop. The first impression was a wave of damp, warm, soapy air. The workshop was dominated by three huge wooden barrels. They looked like giant butter churns, with a big rod sticking up from the middle. The rods rose up and down as if under their own power, and he heard the sound of sloshing fabric. These were gigantic washing machines.Balbi sat on a desk, uncaring about whether or not the sheets of paper with charcoal writing would stain her dress. She sat casually, eating a raw mato with one hand.Her hair was the curly brown hair that was usual here. Bog Standard, but she wore it up and frizzy, almost like a lion’s mane. He used [Inspect].

Name

Balbi Redthumb

Level

Class

Laundress

Description

Balbi is using [Hide Status] to conceal her age.

Skills

[Wash] - Improves the ability to wash clothing

[Manipulate Clothing] - Grow, shrink, or do minor repairs on clothing. Moves clothing at higher levels.