495 Blacksmiths in arms

With a flash Reima appears before Andre of Astora, the topless bearded blacksmith still banging away on his anvil. A large pile of a variety of weapons lay behind him, all oiled and seemingly ready for use.

Andre looks up and gives a toothy grin, "Oi, aint it ol' Reima!"

Reima nods, "You got my message from Solaire after I left right?"

Andre "Ye' I did, somethin' about a battle and leaving this wretched world. Now that's somethin'ta look forwards to, so I starts making as many weapons as I could to help ye out." he says, nodding his head at the pile of weapons.

Reima walks over and picks one up, almost dropping it when he realises it's enchanted with Occult. "Don't tell me you've enchanted all of these..."

Andre shrugs, "When ye lack Tit'nite the only thing I could do to improve the blades was to enchant them wit'those ol'embers you gave me."

Reima "So... All of them are Occult?" he asks in surprise.

Andre shakes his head, "Naw, what use would Occult weapons be against an army of the undead? A quarter are Divine, along with a few silver accents that you seemed to love so much."

Reima scratches his head, "Didn't Solaire tell you what enemies we'd be fighting? I'd explained to him what they were a few times before..."

Andre "Well... He did, and didn't... Somethin about Wraiths? I wasn't too sure if that meant undead or not so I went "Fock it" and crafted everything."

Reima "Well, they'll all be a massive help. Thanks Andre, truly."

Andre blushes slightly under his huge beard but waves it off, "Don'mind it, it twas nothing really... Now, judging by your having come here it is time to leave?"

Reima nods, "Yeah, need any help storing your tools?"

Andre shakes his head, "Naw, take the weapons I've made but you can't touch ma tools... A blacksmith is nothing without an anvil." he states as he hefts the incredibly heavy anvil onto his shoulder with ease.

...

Reima tries to comment on the man's surprising strength but decides that hammering god-metal all day would have it's perks... He stores away the veritable armoury into his Folded Space and looks to Andre to see if he'd want assistance to Firelink shrine, the place where they'd be leaving from.

Andre "Naw, it ain't far from 'ere, specially with them Hollow's finally rotting away. I'll take that ol' elevator that still inexplicably works. See ya there Reima!" he says jovially before walking off.

Reima "Whaddya think of him Snuffles? Pretty cool guy right?"

Snuffles nods her head, being even more impressed by the man's work ethic than Reima had been.

Reima "Right... Who to get next... Ok, let's go grab that bag of bones. Hopefully he's still intact or whatever you'd call him." he says, confusing Snuffles slightly.

With a flash the duo appear within the darkest, dankest place Snuffles has ever had the displeasure of being inside... If it weren't for her status as a vampire she'd be completely blind in this thick darkness... The only thing preventing her from holding onto Reima for deal life is the distant sound of metal being struck.

Reima pats the rabbit to reassure her, he'd probably have felt the same as her had he not been fighting through an army of skeletons the first way around... He focuses his gaze down the long hallway and spots the dim dark red fire in the distance. Yep, that's Vamos.

He briskly makes his way to the skeletal blacksmith until said person turns around prepared to strike at them with a still glowing red hot sword.

Vamos "Fuckin' skeletons, ye keep botherin me and I'll-Ah.." he stops as he spots the person he was most grateful to in his life... Or un-life. "Reima? How long has it been since you've been in this here dark hole." he says as he places the sword back and holds out a bony hand.

Reima shakes the skeletons hand with a smile, "Too long Vamos, how's life been in this pit while I was gone?"

Vamos shrugs, "Same old, same old... By that I mean literally nothing ever happens, the only thing that's changed is the occasional undead trying to attack me. I suspect they're trying to absorb Nito's energy that be keeping me alive... It's akin to something resembling life force."

Reima "Ah, are you ok? You won't suddenly drop dea-Fall apart on me?" he asks.

Vamos shrugs, "I've got enough fuel to last a while... Maybe.. let's say.. Twenty years?.. Yeah, around that." he says noncommittally as if he weren't speaking about his life expectancy.

Reima "Well, I'm sure we can find a solution to that... For now you got the letter I asked Solaire to send a while ago right?"

Vamos nods, "Something about Wraiths from another world botherin'ya? Well, that a you saving us from these shit lands of death and decay... I can fight if need be but I'd prefer to stick to blacksmithin if ya don't mind, find that someone of my skill is preferred still hammerin."

Reima "I won't force you to fight, rather, I'd hope you would continue your craft... Gather your things and I'll transport you to Firelink shrine where we're all meeting."

The old skeleton does so and refuses to allow Reima to touch his tools and anvil in the same manner as Andre. The trio teleport to Firelink shrine where Andre is currently making himself at home and sitting on his anvil.

Vamos drops his Anvil down opposite Andre with a thud and eyes the man, both seem to be examining the other with apparently no-one wishing to speak.

Reima "...Er, I'll go grab the others then... You two try not to bite each others head's off." he says, as he vanishes yet again.

Andre "So... Ye, worked for Nito I'm guessin?"

Vamos "And you that old bastard Gwyn?"

Andre "They both turned out to be scum in the end." he states.

Vamos "....Hahahaha! You're damn right! Both fuckin pricks who I'd gladly give a kick in the bollocks if I 'ad the chance!" the large skeleton says as he stands and reaches an arm towards Andre who grabs it with glee.

Andre "Ha! Never knew someone working under Nito could be such a laugh! Tell me, how'd you come across Reima?"

Vamos "Well he kinda just fell into me workshop outta tha-blue!"

Andre "Ha! It was the same with me!"