Pettic approached the village with caution. It was ringed round with earthworks. Outside the earthworks a ring of sharpened stakes rose and inside the earthworks a moat was fed by a river. This did not look very friendly, but the gate was open and so he carefully entered.
No one stopped him or challenged him on the way through the gates. As he walked down what must be the main street, he noticed almost every building that was not a dwelling was a smith of some sort.
He stopped at the first forge.
"Hello," he said to the smith who was busy banging a piece of iron on his anvil.
The smith stopped and looked at him.
"Just a moment," he said as he took the iron and plunged it into a tub of water.
The iron hissed and clouds of steam rose into the air obscuring the smith from view for a few
