Michael
Michael stepped out of the carriage and inspected his surroundings. The foundry in front of him was huge, with dozens of ovens and smelters. He could see hundreds of dwarves working around here, carrying coal, and moving raw and refined metals.
“Come on, move it you roaches,” a dwarf with a dragon head on a spike stitched on his heavy leather tunic.
The dwarven society was divided into clans that owned most of the business in the kingdom. Most dwarves were part of a clan because without one you would have a very hard time finding work and membership in a clan was hereditary.
The problem was when a clan was declining and finally vanished. The dwarves that were part of that clan were screwed when that happened, and their only choice was to join other clans. Because of the hereditary system of membership, they would start all over again at the bottom of the food chain in their new clan and would be called clan roaches because they survived the fall of a clan and now scuttle to other clans.
It could take multiple generations for them to regain their former status, which also meant that they were unhappy and mistreated in the first couple of generations but normally had no other choice.
Michael followed Thobrin as he led him through the forge. “I must warn you; they are a little bit special, but they are good craftsmen.”
“What clan does this foundry belong to,” Michael asked.
“Clan Grapper,” Thobrin answered with a frown. “They assimilated the whole clan to pay off their debts.”
“Will they be happy if I poach some of their workers,” Michael asked, he didn’t want to turn a clan against him before stepping in front of the court.
“They will hate you either way. They are devoted followers of the belief that everyone who isn’t a dwarf is worthless.”
Thobrin exchanged a couple of words and coins with the overseer of the foundry and then said, “Follow me.”
Michael began to breathe heavier as they began moving deeper into the foundry with the hot air making things difficult for him. He pushed more mana into his system and the feeling subsided a bit, but he could see that Eydis wasn’t comfortable either.
They moved through the foundry, having to dodge working dwarves with sour expressions every couple of meters until they reached a pair of dwarves who were currently pouring molten iron into ingots.
Both were dressed in the same heavy leather aprons and gloves that Michael had seen throughout the whole place, but one had fire-red hair while the other’s was black as night.
“Hey, Waren, Farel,” Thobrin shouted to get their attention.
They both looked up and closed the valve of the smelting pod. The red-haired one was the first to speak up. “Hey Thobrin. The fuck are you doing down here in the gutter?” His voice was loud and easily overcame the noise in the foundry.
“And who are the humans you have dragged along with you,” the other added in a much darker voice.
“Good to see you too. Can we go somewhere to talk?”
The two dwarves looked at each other and then the red-haired one shrugged, “Sure the Grapper cunts don’t check on us anyway.”
They led them a little bit further through the foundry to a small hole in the wall. After entering Michael realized that this was their home. A small space with one table, a small chest, two slaps of rock with mattresses on them, and a small fireplace in the corner.
“You live here,” Michael asked with shock and looked around.
“The life of a roach,” the black-haired dwarf replied and sat down on his bed. “So, what is this about Thobrin?”
The guard ignored the question and turned to Michael, “This is Lord Rowan, a count from the human kingdom of Telios. May I introduce, Waren and Farel Karnson, the young prodigies of the ruined Clan Ferrum.” He pointed at them identifying Waren as the black-haired dwarf who was missing his left eye, which Michael noticed just now, and the red-haired one as Farel who looked more confused than anything else.
Michael nodded politely and the dwarves looked back to Thobrin, “What you are doing a sightseeing tour and showing him the absolute bottom?” Waren looked not very happy.
Farel was on his feet before anyone else could say something and inspected Michael from head to toe, “I thought for a second that you are some kind of hairless dwarf.”
Michael raised an eyebrow with amusement and then began explaining, surprising them with his dwarfish even though it was rocky, “I am not here for sightseeing, my visit is strictly business. I am in need of talented craftsmen for my holdings, specifically smiths, miners, masons, and builders. Thobrin here has recommended you two, so now I am here to see if his recommendation is something I should consider.”
They looked at each other and then Waren asked, “You want to hire us? To come with you to your human kingdom and work there?” He made it sound like Michael was trying to prank them.
“Not only work for me but build up an entirely new economic pillar of my counties. We are clearing the Ereic Mountains to our south from monsters soon and will start a mining operation, but I fear that we lack the expertise to do it properly. Our metal works are on a pitiful level as well with only local smiths and I wish to build foundries and large forges like you have here to properly use the riches of the mountains.” Michael wasn't sure what was going on in the heads of the dwarves as they looked at each other again.
“Wait, so you want to hire us to build you a foundry and a forge on a large scale,” Farel asked, and he began to sound excited.
“Or run it. Thobrin hasn’t exactly told me what your profession is, but I will have to recruit people who can train and lead my people in these things. Who would be better to recruit for the subject of metal works than dwarves? It is much better than to try and figure it out ourselves, that much is sure.”
“I am sorry, eh, Lord. We can’t just pack up our things and leave our homes to go on a merry adventure into the human realm to build you a forge,” Waren said with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
“Why not,” Farel objected and looked at his brother. “I would much rather build a forge somewhere than be stuck doing roach work for the rest of my life.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Waren grabbed his brother’s arm and pulled him close. He began whispering but Michael could still hear him with his enhanced hearing. Michael was glad that the dwarves were talking clearly and not too fast so he managed to understand most of it and could guess the rest.
“We have no idea who he is and what is waiting for us there. They could just make us slaves and have us make weapons for them,” Waren said with a low growl.
“Are we anything different here? At least we would make something and not do the work of apprentices,” Farel replied less quietly, his voice booming even when he tried to whisper.
“Here we are with our kin and have some rights at least,” Waren shot back. “Here we can at least anticipate what is going to happen.”
“Are you satisfied with this?” Farel frowned and wasn’t even trying to be quiet anymore. “This is a chance for us, don’t you see it? I always felt like I didn’t belong here and now we can leave and do something worthy of our talents.”
“If I may,” Michael interjected. “I understand that you don’t trust my word alone but if you want, I can arrange a meeting with one of my mentors and council members, Solon Gremson. He is a dwarf and the brother-in-law of Minister Valmick Uthson. He has been living in my town for over three years already and will surely vouch for it.”
The brothers stared at Michael silently as if he had just said something completely outlandish and then looked over to Thobrin, who they knew was a guard for the Uthson family. He nodded and said, “What he is telling you is true, Mister Solon has brought Lord Rowan into the city and vouched for his intentions and character.”
“I’ll be damned,” Farel said and then grinned at his brother. “What do you have to say to that, huh? Not much to argue about now.” He then laughed loudly.
“Of course, there is still a lot to argue about,” Waren hit his brother against the shoulder. “How are we going to pay for our portion of the clan debt, for example, rock brain?”
“I have brought some wares from my home which we were going to sell so I could probably cover that if the amount is not too high,” Michael offered. “It would be nice if you pay me back though if possible, depending on the amount.”
“You might be able to acquire a loan as well from Clan Foulder with Mister Solon’s membership,” Thobrin added.
“See all problems vanish before us,” Farel boasted, “This is fate, brother.”
“Hold on now, Farel. There is still a lot to discuss before we should make a decision.”
“Ah, what are you talking about? Let’s just do it, sometimes you have to take a couple of risks. If our clan had done that then we wouldn’t be in this shit altogether.”
“I would be very happy to answer all your questions to the best of my ability, but I would first like to know what it even is that you are trained in,” Michael said with an amused smile at the siblings' bickering. It reminded him of his own and a pang of pain drove through his heart.
“I am the best smith in the whole city,” Farel boasted to which Thobrin added, “You have the biggest ego in the city at least. He is very good, lord, but not that good.”
“I am a rune tinkerer,” Waren said, and after seeing Michael’s confused expression he elaborated, “I imbue objects with mana and write instructions to make them magical.”
After Thobrin had translated a couple of words that Michael didn’t know, his expression lit up and he exclaimed, “You are an Artificer!”
“If that is what you humans call it, I guess,” Waren answered with pride at Michael’s excitement.
“Okay, eh, what do you need to know,” Michael asked after he had managed to push down his excitement.
From this point on it was a negotiation between Waren and Michael with Faren throwing in more or less helpful points in from time to time.
They talked about pay, requirements, the scale of the work, funds, work hours, autonomy, housing, and everything else that Waren could think of. It took nearly two hours until they had finally run out of things to discuss.
Michael rose from his seat and Eydis yawned and blinked like she had fallen asleep which was probably not far from the truth.
“I think that settles it then,” Michael said, “I will leave it to you to gather more artisans who are willing to join us in the discussed parameters. Eh, should we meet here again in a couple of days to finalize the contract with everyone?”
“That would be a bad idea, lord,” Thobrin spoke up for the first time in a while. “If Clan Grapper gets wind of this then they might try to stop it. If those who want to join you just appear with the money to pay their debt then they can’t do anything about it, especially if it comes from a Clan Foulder loan, so I would suggest that you try to keep this as quiet as possible.”
“So how should we do it?”
“We can meet at my house,” Thobrin offered, “No one will be suspicious of them visiting me and we can smuggle you in easily.”
Michael nodded and Waren took Thobrin’s hand, “Thank you, Thobrin.”
They left after completing their goodbyes and arranging the next meeting.
As they walked out of the foundry Michael asked the guard, “Do you think they will find everyone I have asked for?”
Thobrin nodded, “Very likely. Clan Ferrum was a large clan focusing on every step of the metallurgy professions. If you can find what you are looking for then it will be in the remains of that clan.”
Michael inspected the dwarf and then asked, “Why are you going this far to help them?”
“What do you mean? I am just following Lord Valmick’s orders to assist you.” Michael didn’t buy it one bit.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but you seem very invested in this, and I find it strange that a guard of clan knows the craftsmen of another this well to vouch for their abilities and you are offering your own home just to get this deal done.”
The expression of the dwarf showed clearly that there was something he wasn’t telling Michael. Thobrin pondered a while before he spoke, “I was part of Clan Ferrum. Our leaders didn’t want to admit how bad the situation was, but I found out and got out of there before the clan's weakness became public knowledge. Most didn’t get out and I blame myself for not doing more to get people out, but I told myself that they might be able to turn it around and if everyone starts to leave then I would doom the clan. I guess this is my way of doing at least some good.”
“I see, then I will do my best to give them a good home,” Michael replied, and the dwarf gave him a deep bow.
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Solon
Solon smiled politely as the head of Clan Morican and her husband walked by.
He then focused on Valmick talking with another clan head. “I thank you for your kindness. We will of course allow your miners to take the shortcut through our mining shaft.”
The old dwarf looked satisfied and left after another minute of polite conversation.
“I hope this works or I will have just given one of my biggest competitors a leg up for no reason,” Valmick said with a trained neutral tone.
“We got the timeslot and a lot of support already, I would say that the day was a resounding success,” Solon replied but made sure to not show his relief on his face.
“It is still far from enough. We won’t be able to gather enough support to make this a sure thing and we will still have to convince King Jearn, or all of this is completely irrelevant.” You couldn’t hear it from his voice or see it on his face, but Solon noticed the small mannerisms that showed that Valmick was nervous. He doubted that anyone who didn’t know him as well as Solon did would pick up on it though.
“We will have to put our all into the presentation then.”
“Your ward will have to overcome a sheer mountain of prejudices.”
“He will manage, I am sure of it.” Solon looked around while he said that and tensed up upon seeing who was approaching them.
It was a tall blond dwarf with luxurious jewelry that put even Valmick to shame and a self-serving smile.
“Prince Gahrek Yorenson, it is good to see you,” Valmick said with a slight respectful bow.
“I heard you are pushing the timeslots around to get a human’s business to the front of the agenda. You really must be desperate,” he said all that with a perpetual smirk on his face.
“I am not sure what you are trying to say, your Highness. Lord Rowan has only a limited timeframe for his visit and because I think that it is a more important subject than discussing mining rights for areas that will still take years to reach, I have pushed it forward with the approval of the court arbiter,” Valmick replied and even though his words sounded polite everyone knew that this action was a declaration of war.
“It is quite brave to put all your faith in a deal with humans. I won’t complain, I thought I would have to wait till I was king to wipe away these annoying factions that want to break our traditions, but it seems I will get that done ahead of time.” He didn’t even wait for an answer and just walked away.
“He really is one of a kind, isn’t he,” Solon commented as he watched the prince walk over to another group of court members.
“You don’t know the half of it. It is becoming worse with every time King Jearn is feeling worse.”
“We are going to manage,” Solon placed his hand on his friend's shoulder.
“We don’t really have a choice now that the war is declared,” Valmick replied with an expression of stone.