> [!infobox|wikipedia] > # The Coal > [![[The_Coal_small.webp|cover hsmall]]](The_Coal.webp) > ###### Location Information > Attribute | Details | > ---|---| > Type | Point of Interest | > Location | [[Military Way\|Military Way, Val Miriel]] | > Defining Feature | A working-grade smithy whose plain steel outclasses the city's showpieces | > ###### Status > Attribute | Details | > ---|---| > Status | Active | **The Coal** is a smithy on the [[Military Way]], the soldier's quarter of [[Val Miriel]]. It is a run-down, working-grade forge with no interest in appearances — and the arms and armour that leave its door quietly outclass the polished showpieces sold a district away on the [[Artisan Way]]. ## Location & Geography The Coal stands among the smiths and outfitters of the [[Military Way]], the rough western causeway that runs down from the [[Red Bastion]] toward the docks of [[Val Miriel]]. It is the kind of shop a passer-by would walk straight past: a plain front on a hard street, easy to miss between the drill yards above and the wharves below. Inside, it reads to a casual visitor as organised chaos — cluttered benches, scattered tongs, and walls thick with hanging steel — though to a practised eye everything sits exactly where it should. The air is close with coal-smoke and hot metal, and the forge throws the only real light into the gloom. ## The Shop The Coal deals in plain, serviceable arms and armour: balanced daggers, working blades, and honest steel with none of the flourishes prized by wealthier clientele. What it lacks in ornament it makes up in quality — anyone who has actually swung a weapon in anger recognises the difference at once. The shop is kept by the smith [[Ingrid]], a massive, no-nonsense woman with a reputation for bluntness and no patience for customers who want something pretty. Those who come knowing what they need leave satisfied; those who come to be impressed are better served on the Artisan Way. That contrast is the shop's whole character — The Coal is where the people who fight come to buy, while the ostentatious [[Silverforge]] sells form over function to those who do not. ## [[The Bloody Nails|Campaign: The Bloody Nails]] #### [[Session 20 - The Streets of Val Miriel]] After a frustrating encounter with the pretentious proprietor of [[Silverforge]], the party found practical success at The Coal. [[Ingrid]] examined [[Vaeleran]]'s mysterious greatsword and confirmed it bore a Northern owner's mark rather than a maker's mark, tracing the blade's origins to [[Val Aran]]. [[Eryndor]] bought two balanced daggers and [[Kai]] a whip, and the group left outfitted with sturdy, dependable weaponry.