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The trip from Korr to Aerr was a long and uncomfortable one, even when taking the tram. It wasn't as long as traveling from Nuan, but four hours on a transport had left Valdin wondering why, exactly, he had decided to come to his birth city. It wasn't a cheap trip, and while Valdin wasn't poor, neither was he particularly wealthy, and all the hours he wouldn't be spending in the forge were going to add up and cause him more difficulty in the long run. However, he really did need to see what was going on in the city, what new techniques might have been developed in the art of weaponsmithing. The potential loss from falling behind other shops outweighed any losses from actually making the trip, and so the tall, pale man found himself wandering around the city, keeping an eye out for anything that might be necessary or useful.

Valdin sighed silently and pushed a strand of hair from his eyes. He should have put more thought into this trip, considering that it was such a long and important one, and yet... he hadn't. It was uncharacteristic of him and he knew it, but the tall man couldn't explain why he had leaped into this without looking - but it didn't change the fact that he had, and was here now.

Well, hopefully this trip would proof useful enough in the end...

Sadly he wasn't even sure what part of the city he was in right now - it had been over ten years since he'd been here and he just hadn't had any particular reason to remember the complicated layout. Ever the taciturn man, he was quite reluctant to ask for directions, but eventually as he continued walking and became more and more lost, he resigned himself to actually speaking to another being and entered the first location that could have someone within it who could give him an idea of where he was.

Valdin blinked, and glanced at the silver-haired man who had addressed him. He seemed rather excited about something, to the weaponsmith's eyes. He felt almost guilty that he was just here to ask for directions, however his conscience would only let him be truthful. He shrugged his shoulders slightly and glanced toward the door, his expression sheepish as he brought his gaze back to the apparent shopkeeper.

"Sorry to bother you," he said slowly, his voice coming out in the quiet, distant tone he'd never managed to overcome - not that he had tried particularly hard. "I'm just here for directions." Even as the words left Valdin's mouth, his gaze was wondering around a bit. His curiosity was piqued by this place, though he couldn't explain why. It didn't seem to hold anything of particular relevance to his life or his interests, and yet it was somehow intriguing.

This situation felt a little... strange to Valdin, although he wasn't quite certain how it would be described as so. It wasn't terribly unusual for someone to enter a shop and ask for directions, and the shop itself wasn't that strange. Perhaps nothing that catered to his tastes, but it lacked anything distinctive that could explain his discomfort. Well, aside from his usual discomfort when forced to interact with people on a lengthy basis.

He cast his eyes around the shop again for a moment, still hesitating near the entrance before stepping just a bit further inside, closing the door behind him as he did so. His footsteps seemed louder than they actually were when in this room, or perhaps he was just listening to everything a bit too closely, a side effect of the increasing paranoia this city wrought upon him. The tall weaponsmith sighed briefly, and shrugged a shoulder, eyes alighting on the other man's face briefly before he answered,

"Looking for weaponsmiths," he said simply, and then realized belatedly that that probably wasn't good enough of an answer for most more conversant people. Frowning slightly, he added, "I haven't been to the city in years. It's more confusing than it used to be."

There, was that enough? Hopefully he'd gotten his point across without being rude. Valdin didn't really mean to be a curt individual, he just... wasn't good with people, or with talking. He was good with his mind and his hands, but social skills were something he'd never really managed to grasp. Still, he also had experienced enough of life to not hope in the potential altruism of others, and because of this he tacked on a quiet, "I am willing to pay, if necessary," just in case that any 'free' directions would cause him to end up in a part of the city that he really shouldn't be in.

This... was simpler than he had expected it would be. A part of Valdin couldn't help but be suspicious - after all, there was no way that most people could be that helpful, not without an ulterior motive... still, it was probably his best shot at actually getting where he needed to go, and this shop seemed like it would be easy enough to get back to... but his thoughts were derailed a bit by the other man reaching out and touching his shirt. Personal space was something that Valdin valued very highly, so it was only natural that he took a step back after having it invaded, even briefly.

Watching the silver-haired shopkeeper a bit more warily now, he nevertheless took the map - if it was a general city map he could probably use it to decide if this supposed Weaponsmith's was in an area that meant it was more likely to be genuine... and if not, at least he would be able to find another and then return the map later on. Nodding, Valdin headed towards the door, pausing long enough to give his own name in return - that was the polite thing to do, right? - before heading out the door and back on his personal mission. "Valdin... Nice to meet you."