5th of Ar, 118 years since megados eruption

Aesmo here. Dragon's still busy with the smelting. I'm having Besmo and Desmo feeding the furnace with ores and charcoal, while the rest have been making the charcoal we need.

The mana spire thing is completely underground now. I do not know what that means, but it's probably important since dragon brought it here. Smelled like iron but sweeter? hard to describe.

About 1/3 of the way done I think. we're running out of pots to put the dust in, so I'll have to make more. I'm sure it'll be fine to use some more of that fireclay. Dragon did say it was cheap.

Minor problems so far; external cracking on furnace's section 3, subsection 7, no fix required for now. Output holes are starting to show signs of clogging, temporary increase in temperature should fix the problem. Output dust tastes too much like charcoal, decrease charcoal to ore ratio to fix.

Major problem; fumes leak whenever input hatch is opened. Dragon said they're thinking of an alternative. In my opinion, fumes pose minimal risk to both me and dragon. Besmo's health is normal, Desmo only has burns. Long term effects of fumes on them are unknown.

17th of Ar, 118 years since megados eruption

Aesmo here. Fesmo attempted to use pickaxe to mine for more ore. Failed humorously. Mining will be dragon's job. Progress has slowed with iron processing. Requires more time than prior ores.

Personal observations; iron melts easier the longer it sits in the furnace. Based off of outputs, more charcoal taste and lower melting points are related. Will request permission from dragon to experiment further.

Minor problems; Additional external cracking on section 1, subsection 3, inconsequential to furnace function or efficiency. Clogging of output holes occurred regularly every 4 days. Increasing temp for 30 minutes solves problem. Attempting to find cause for more permanent solution. Desmo burned an arm off by accident. Has no impact on efficiency.

Major problems; Besmo has been feeling lethargic recently. Has been replaced with Eesmo. Will continue to monitor their health. Potentially caused by fumes. Dragon mentioned creating a 'fume lock' as a solution. Will investigate viability.

As a result of the slower pace, we are able to enact a break rotation, where a centipede can rest for a short amount of time before replacing another. This has, ironically, increased effectiveness by a significant amount.

Hydra tree has grown significantly. We're struggling to reach the branches to collect wood, as the ones close to the center are too big to cut off. I will be attempting to cut a large portion off, in the hopes that smaller branches will regrow from the cut.

8th of Auv, 118 years since megados eruption

Aesmo here. Nearly done with iron processing. Desmo has been getting careless, a lot more burns, though lesser in severity. Besmo has recovered. No lingering effects. Time to recover was 13 days. Fesmo proved centipedes can get dizzy if spun fast enough; in related news, the metal detecting plate can be spun really easily. Spins faster when heated.

Mana spire thing has been acting strangely. I can hear its roots moving around. Cesmo claims they hear it talking, but Cesmo also claimed the dead dragon meat talked to them. Will conduct psychological evaluation at next break.

Hydra tree has been uncooperative. Central stump and main branches from center are too thick to cut. Outer branches are difficult to reach. Current solution; piece of dragon intestine is used as a rope to easily reach branch c8. From there, adjacent branches are easy to cut. This is a temporary solution. Will request dragon's help later.

Minor problems; Eesmo is starting to feel lethargic. Same treatment plan as Besmo, planned rotation for this job between others. Currently Cesmo's job. Clogging has slightly increased in severity, yet rate has not changed. Now requires 41 minutes to solve. No new cracks.

Major problems; none, actually. Everything has been unproblematic.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

28th of Auv, 118 years since megados eruption

Vildra here. Melting titanium is hard! The furnace broke! And since when did the hydra tree get so big? Learn more on today's entry in Vildra's diary, 'fuck titanium!'

So first things first, the titanium. It's melting temp was even higher than iron, which meant powering up the magic circle. The dead dragon's eye gave enough mana for a day's worth. However, for some reason, the titanium that didn't immediately melt actually got stronger (or was stronger to begin with). As in, it didn't melt no matter how hot we made it. It even outlasted the furnace! Fun fact, firclay has a maximum temperature of about 2000.

I'm having Aesmo check to see if its different from the titanium we melted. It smelled the same, but looked duller? Might just be because it was surrounded by burning charcoal (tastes charcoaly). In other news, we have a lot of processed metal dusts. As in, 9 vase-fulls of dust (some are only partially full. Didn't mix different types). Which, space wise, is about a 70% reduction from before. Unfortunately, we're only about 15% done, and we haven't even touched the orichalcum yet. I tested it to try and find out the approximate melting temp, and it was about 2300, so clearly fireclay wasn't going to work.

Putting that problem to the side, the other issue is the hydra tree. I miscalculated its growth rate. Normally, its growth is restricted by surrounding plants outcompeting its weak roots. However, in the wastes' plains, there isn't anything to inhibit its growth. Luckily, there's a solution for that, but I'll have to go out and get it. I'll go ahead and get some more fireclay as well. The same furnace design (or improved one) will work for copper and other metals. We now know the upper limits of its capabilities.

Now that I have all this metal dust, what am I supposed to do with it? The whole point in doing this was because the ores took too much space, but now that that problem is being dealt with (partially), now what? I'll ask mom. She'll probably have some advice.

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An excerpt from 'A Theory of Draconomics: Chapter 11; Instinct vs Desire'

...Based on observation 16 (fig 31.1) we can predict the amount of wealth a dragon has based on their size and luster. Larger dragons tend to have lower wealth and smaller dragons tend to have greater wealth. However, based off of extensive observation of Beoth Nilfan, we can conclude that size is a symptom of wealth. Similarly, luster is also a symptom of wealth; wealthy dragons have duller scales, while shiny scales are a sign of low wealth (fig 32). This is all due to the excess paradox, the primary argument against instinct. The excess paradox finds that dragons with less wealth tend to consume their wealth to appear greater, wether in size or luster. Conversely, dragons with excess wealth do not consume their own wealth, which leads to duller scales and smaller sizes...

...A recent observation (19) has placed the excess paradox firmly in the instinct category. A dragon that has never been exposed to any other dragon still consumed its own wealth, and stopped once its wealth exceeded the Linre ratio. In addition, when its wealth was taken away by another dragon, it consumed its remaining wealth. Additionally, it now sought out wealth more actively than before (fig 34.2). This implies that it had an added desire for wealth...

...This means that a dragon, once it has its own wealth, has an instinctual urge to consume that wealth. This often results in a further desire for wealth, though the exact reason is still inconclusive. Therefore, a dragon's collecting of wealth is both instinctual and desire, though initiated by instincts...

Excerpt of final chapter of 'A Theory of Draconomics: Chapter 19; Vildra Paradox'

Vildra's size and luster remains the same with immature dragons, implying she has never undergone the excess paradox. The only dragon that has also never undergone the excess paradox is Limlith, due to never obtaining wealth needed to initiate the paradox. However, Vildra has extensive wealth, which means that the circumstances must be different. A recent theory is that Vildra skipped past the paradox by amassing enough wealth before ever needing to consume. Another theory is that the paradox simply never began with Vildra, or that Vildra somehow overcame the paradox. Unfortunately, there is not enough proof for any of these theories...

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9th of Ax, 118 years since megados eruption

Mom wasn't available. Too busy with an argument or something. Mike was confused when I asked what I should do about my metal dust, said he'll come visit to learn more. Told him not to, had to threaten him with an avocado. I now have an avocado in my den just in case. (Why?) [Mike hates avocado] (??)

I got some more fireclay, as well as a book on basic engineering (yay). Aesmo seems to be planning something. It's concerning when she won't tell me. I'll have her rebuild the furnace when she has time, but with some upgrades.

In other news, the hydra tree is now surrounded by cacti. They can outcompete the roots, which should limit the tree's growth. I've also added silmn vines for easier access to the branches. (Better than dragon intestine at least)

Next issue; the mana spire. It's now underground. Normally a mana spire does that after a couple years, so I'm not sure why its doing that now. More concerning is the smell. I swear someone is feeding it blood (not me anymore). Not dragon blood, this smells like sapient blood. I'll have Aesmo do a medical check on all of the centipedes, then sweep for intruders.

Last but not least, my bed. Or current lack thereof. I have a design, but it requires a lot of stuff I don't have right now, like silk. Luckily, centipedes can produce silk. (we can?) [males can] (we're all girls though?) [I think you might be able to?]

It's getting closer to hibernation time again, so I'll start preparing. This time around I'll make an exit for the centipedes so that they can at least hunt. They're running out of dragon blood, and I'd prefer it if they don't drink me to death. (we won't)