"Eh? Dame Campbell? Is that you?"

Maria looked up in surprise at having her name called. A vaguely familiar knight was standing not far away, hefting a wooden stave blank, used as a base for polearm weapons. The red-haired woman looked vaguely familiar, but Maria couldn't quite… she drew on a little dark magic and refreshed her memory, the naming coming to the fore. "Ah. Greetings, Dame Vardan," Maria said, greeting her with a knightly bow. "How surprising to see you again."

The other knight returned her greeting, adding a flourish of her red cloak. It was a common garment of affectation, though Maria had to wonder how it became so common. After all, it wasn't like it rained all year round in Sorcier, or people regularly had the blood of beasts splash all over them, bathing them in thick, runny, wet, delicious… "Same to you," Dame Vardan said cheerfully. "Actually, I've been hoping to meet with you again. I was wondering if I could commission a weapon with you?"

"Ah, you mean the concept you had of a gehrman integrated into a scythe?" Maria said. She remembered the trick weapon proposed, since it had been the only one.

The crimson-haired knight nodded. "Yes, yes, that one! You see, the size of Crescent Vardan makes it hard for me to carry much else, so I'm a bit limited in range… but with your weapon integrated into it, then I don't have to carry all that much more weight to have a ranged weapon option, and I don't have to carry around any arrows or bolts!"

Ah, yes those. Ancient legend said the knights of old could carry literally hundreds of arrows and bolts on their person… but then, it also said that the Chosen Lord carried around an entire covenant armory's worth of weapons and armor, which was just flat out impossible. Perhaps it was some sort of lost miracle or sorcery that had been lost to history. Well, there was none of that now, and those who needed to carry arrows and bolts—or at the extreme, greatarrows—found themselves greatly encumbered, especially since sometimes you just needed to hit something far away. The problem was that unless they were blessed with power and skill in magic, one usually needed a bow or crossbow to do so, and for someone like Dame Vardan who wielded a weapon as large as a scythe…

Yes, Maria could picture the difficulty of the knight struggling to carry her weapon, a bow, and a reasonable number of arrows, never mind the emergency consumables like grass jelly, bandages, and tools of weapon field maintenance. "I'm afraid I am here with my squire to select equipment for her, Lady Vardan. However, if you come to my estate tomorrow, I will be glad to arrange your commission for you."

Maria asked for some paper from an attendant, and drew Dame Vardan a quick map to her estate. Her business in the premises were just about finished. Duchess Claes was finalizing the embellishments on the weapons and scabbards, while Duke Claes waited to pay. Lord Keith was with his sister, as if worried she would cause a scene or something, which was mildly insulting to Maria, since it implied she hadn't taught her squire to properly respect dangerous weapons. Especially since her squire was standing with her hands behind her, just looking at the weapons arrayed around the showroom. At the moment, she was examining the display of katana, gaze unusually intent.

"I shall see you tomorrow then, shall I?" Maria said as she handed the map to the eager Dame Vardan.

"Count on it!" the other knight said eagerly.

After lunch, which Maria spent being as unobtrusive as possible while Katarina and the Duchess discussed more ways to possibly have someone impersonate Katarina so they can be sent in the International Assembly in her place and occasionally sharing bemused looks with Lord Keith—it wasn't unexpected that Katarina would be focused on the idea, but the Duchess?—Maria took her squire home, where she set Katarina to practice with a training scythe. She'd been reminded by Dame Vardan that it was a weapon she hadn't taught her squire to use yet, and while she didn't prefer it herself—too long, in her personal opinion—she had fond, awed memories of her old master Gehrman cutting down beasts with it.

"This is NOT how you're supposed to use a scythe!" her squire protested with all the offense of an experienced person in her field seeing a tool used the wrong way after the motions were demonstrated and the practice weapon had been handed to her. "A scythe is designed for wide, low, sweeping cuts to be able to quickly cut grain for harvesting! You DON'T swing it down like a hoe or pull it back liked you're dragging something! First off, BOTH of those things ruin the blade! Second of all, look at this point! Does this look like a point to hit things with? This isn't a stabby point, this is a point where they stopped sharpening the edge because there's no more blade left to sharpen! Third, swinging it like that makes no sense, since the swinging isn't leading with an edge or a point, but with this back part that's not even sharp—!"

Katarina went on in this vein for a long time with such ferocity even Maria was hesitant to interrupt her. For that matter, so did the other knights in hearing range, who stopped and listened with amusement as Katarina ranted about improper use of a farm tool that was, to hear her tell it, the single greatest weapon the kingdom had against mass starvation as it allowed them to harvest fields of grain quickly and efficiently, and didn't they realize the blade is supposed to be bent so it's parallel to the ground when it's held 'properly', and you're not supposed to hold it by the shaft but by two handles sticking out from the shaft at right angles so that you can swing it efficiently by turning at the waist and cutting down large swathes of grain close to the roots, ad you're not supposed to carry it but to wear a harness to take the weight, or at least a long strap over your shields so that you weren't lifting it with your hands, only guiding it…

"—stupider than parrying with a shield!" Katarina declared with finality. "Who actually uses it like this?-!"

"Several people, all acknowledged for their great skill," Maria finally found it in her to say, trying to regain the initiative in the conversation. "It's considered a formidable weapon because of techniques that allow you to get behind an opponent's shield, such as 'dead angling'—"

The snort of derision Katarina made was epic in its scorn. "Well, they're even using it wrong! Why try to get behind their shield when you can just pull their feet out?" she said, holding the training scythe at a downward angle and miming pulling at someone's ankle. "I don't endorse using farming equipment in unsafe ways, I'm a responsible farmer, but you can easily cut someone's foot off that way! Both feet, for that matter!"

Maria coughed, remembering her old master in another life doing exactly that. She had to wonder if the old man had been a farmer, once upon a time. "Well, be that as it may, you need to learn how to use it in the event it is the only weapon you have available in an emergency."

Maria had never thought she would ever see a disrespectful look on her squire's face. Her squire was kind, nice, caring, empathetic, and never had anything bad to say about anyone, not even people who'd tried to kidnap or kill her. The look of utter disgust she gave the training scythe felt wrong and against nature in a way that made Maria feel like she was going a little mad…

+5 Insight

"Dame Campbell," Katarina said with a haughtiness that made her sound like her mother about to pass judgement on some poor dark soul, "I am a farmer. I know how to use a scythe and how to use one properly."

Maria narrowed her eyes and raised the practice sword in her hands. "We shall see, my squire" Maria said.

Katarina's eyes narrowed as well and the head of the practice scythe, with its padded wooden 'blade', dropped until it was close to the ground and behind Katarina, who held it in both hands, palms down…

The next day, Dame Vardan arrived to speak about the trick weapon—though she didn't use the term, as it was unknown in Sorcier—that she wished to commission that was to be a fusion of scythe and gherman. Maria, her ankles definitely not aching, met with the knight in her office, and with one of the blacksmiths of the Armory who had experience with metal-shafted polearms began trying to design the commission in question.

Maria was glad Dame Vardan understood that the weapon would need to had a straight shaft, unlike the traditionally curving shafts of most scythe weapons (which according to Katarina was so that it would remain balanced when it swung, even with a long, curved blade), so after that it was a matter of demonstrating how a Gehrman was aimed and fired to the knight, and with her design a modified stock and trigger that could be installed in a polearm's shaft.

"You will have to avoid using that area to guard," Maria said. "The mechanisms are delicate, and one solid impact would make them go out of alignment and not trigger properly."

"Not a problem," Dame Vardan said brightly. "Letting someone get that deep into your guard is a big no-no when wielding a scythe. It takes a skilled combatant to be able to recover from that position." She subtly preened, no doubt meaning herself.

"Couldn't one just parry with the butt of the scythe to direct their weapon away and the strike them with same while their guard is down?" Maria most definitely did not ask from experience.

Dame Vardan's eyes widened. "Well, yes, but that's a very advanced technique! I'm surprised you know that one. Have you fought a scythe wielder before?"

Maria coughed. "Ahem. Anyway, May I also suggest making the blade removable? It will help stabilize the Gehrman when you want to make precise, distant shots, as well as make the whole assembly easier to carry and care for… "

In the end, Maria was able to finalize the commission with Lady Vardan. The weapon called for titanite fittings, wince some of the tolerances and structural stresses expected in combat would be too much for steel or even geisteel, so Maria sent Lady Vardan off to search and bring her back a number of titanite shads before the weapon could be built. Lady Vardan promised to return when she had he needed shards, and they both shook on the agreement.

Maria had to wonder why knights traditionally had to gather the titanite shards for custom weapons themselves instead of going to a supplier or dealer for it like sane people. Really, some traditions from the time of myth were just strange…

A week after Katarina had been given dispensation to not need to learn how to use a scythe, Katarina's new sword arrived. They broke in her dull, pointless sword by having her perform successive drills with it, culminating in some light sparing between the two of them. Given her squire finally had a weapon made of good geisteel, Mara was finally able to use Consequence Rakuyo in a spar with Katarina. She would have thought that the possibility of Maria actually wielding a blade against her would make her squire at least a little nervous, but Katarina seemed completely unperturbed.

Still, her squire wore a troubled, dissatisfied look on her face as they spared. Despite clearly troubled thoughts—or thought, because there might not be enough space in there for more than one—she was not so distracted that she couldn't parry, dodge or sidestep Maria's every strike. Even where Maria struck out with her offhand weapon, Katarina was able to Maria, her blade always in place to parry Maria's other blade. Maria even struck with both blades at once, stabbing at Katarina and ready at every moment to pull back, but her squire didn't even hesitate. Katarina parried aside her saber, then in the middle of the movement spun her blade around and caught Maria's other blade, parrying both blades to the side, finishing the parry by stepping aside. Had Katarina been aggressive, she would have created a perfect opening had Maria been slower and not thrown herself into a roll. Maria had even surprised her squire by quickening behind her into a perfect position to backstab. Her squire had shown wonderful reactions by throwing herself forward and rolling three times before turning around to face Maria again.

All through this, her squire's perturbed expression persisted.

"What's troubling you, my squire?" Maria finally asked as she called for a break for water.

Katarina hefted her new sword. "There's something wrong with the grip," she said. "It doesn't feel right."

"That's because it's new and hasn't been broken in yet, my squire," Maria said. "Starting today, you will alternate between practicing with this blade and your preferred practice sword. That should fix the grip for you, as well as allow you to adapt to this. Should the Duchess be unable to find a… fake Katarina… you will need to go—" Maria hardened her heart to the horrified, despairing expression on her squire's face, "—attend the International Assembly, and you will have this at your side rather than your practice blade. Therefore, you will need to be familiar with your new blade, as it will be the weapon you will have available to you."

"This is starting to sound like a doom flag," Katarina muttered. "All this preparing to fight, it means I'm going to have to fight, won't I?"

"Historically, the International Assembly has always been peaceful," Maria said. "However, the entourages of each country's rulers have been known to… clash. Politely. There are known to be a lot of friendly spars for one reason or another. And of course, one cannot be sure how people will react when drunk."

"That's peaceful?-!"

"No one has declared war yet," Maria said.

"It all sounds… really dangerous," Katarina said nervously.

"Of course. It's international politics."