Rust Monster Eats Blacksmith’s Homework
"I told mom not to keep Oxy inside, rust monsters should be outside pets..."
Local blacksmith’s apprenctice, Swyn Forgehand, showed up to class today without his homework: a simple suit of iron chainmail. The young apprentice contends that the work was completed, but that it was eaten by the family’s rust monster. “I told mom not to keep Oxy inside, rust monsters should be outside pets, but she just doesn’t listen.” Forgehand tells The Dungeon Tribune. “I don’t even know why a family of blacksmiths would even own a rust monster.”
The penalty for the missing assignment will be a harsh one if the student’s father has his way. “I’d have him repeat the whole Intermediate Armors series if it was up to me,” says Dwurn Forgehand, Swyn’s father. “If I go easy on him, the entire town will know. It will tarnish our name. Plus, if the rust monster eats those repeat assignments too, I wouldn’t have to feed him for a while.”
Dwurn refers to the Forgehand blacksmithing legacy, which goes back 6 generations in the town of Anloch, almost as many generations as their rust monster breeding. It’s a difficult business in a town where metal isn’t exactly plentiful. “We must teach the young one personal responsibility. When I was an apprentice, and my father’s rust monster ignored all the horseshoes just to get to my final exam, I learned a valuable lesson.” Says Dwurn, who had no comment regarding whether his training the rust monster to climb the basement stairs to the work area had anything to do with his son losing the assignment.
Swyn’s guild appointed instructor, Peshir Foretongs, is still debating what the actual punishment will be. “I feel like I have to be fair, but strict,” says Foretogs. “Swyn was there when his father gave the rust monster a set of thieves’ tools for its birthday. He should have known that the rust monster would use them to break into the chest he kept his homework in.” The thieves’ tools in question were specially made to not include metal for some reason.
Foretongs does admit that he might have played a role in the unfortunate incident. “It’s not technically required, but I did encourage Swyn to keep his homework on a dinner platter, lightly salted with an apricot chutney. Dwurn said the settings, complete with parsley garnish, was a family tradition.”
Swyn, himself, senses that there is more to the situation than a simple rust monster breaking into a chest to eat his homework. “There are things that don’t add up,” says the younger Forgehand. “Like, why did my father keep refering to my assignment list as a menu?”