14th of Ax, 118 years since megados eruption
On this week's diary entry, 'Mike gets what he deserves', 'Aesmo is a threat to everyone but me', and 'How to trick a council of Dragons'. (Don't forget 'What the fuck is up with this mana spire')
Let's start with the simple stuff. Mike came despite my threats. Apparently metal dust was worth dealing with an avocado (I still don't understand this). I just wish I had two. Anyways, Mike's dead now. Me not cutting my nails proved really useful (You're just lazy). He's a bit too big to fit in the food room completely, so I cut him up. His limbs are in the entrance cave now, though Aesmo asked if she can take it to her room. I told her to wait until the blood drains out. ( :{ )
Mike was being very annoying this time around. He even used en-ten, which fun fact, the average dragon only has enough mana to cast it twice. Idiot used it in the wastes and exhausted himself. If it weren't for his defensive spells I would have taken him down before he even got to my den. Then he smoke screened, which I thought was for a sneak attack. Mike was a coward, he went to steal something while I was distracted.
That's also where the second issue comes in. Aesmo fucked Mike up, badly. A massive bite on his back while he was in a compressed form; which normally means thicker skin and dense muscles. Aesmo just chewed right through into the spine without any issues. From there, she hit a major vein and caused significant bleeding. If he didn't do anything, he would have died in an hour, ignoring falling unconscious within minutes.
Then, somehow, Aesmo poisoned the wound. I'm writing 'somehow' here because even writing about it poses a significant security risk. As in, she used a method of poisoning that I didn't know was possible. While we didn't get to see its full effects due to the only victim dying due to other causes (you), we were able to see it have several fast-acting symptoms.
(Warning; nerd talk) First of all, a discoloration of scales immediately around site of poisoning. This discoloration spreads quickly, though we do not know if it will spread completely of not. Additionally, this discoloration is not limited to just scales and skin, but also blood, though whether or not this has any other effect is unknown. Most concerningly of all, a weakening of the integrity of the flesh and tendons. When dismembering the body, I found that discolored areas were easy to tear apart to the bone, and that tendons were seemingly decaying. Theoretically, if the poison were to be left alone, then it may cause immobilization. Finally, the heart underwent rigor mortis a minute after death, far sooner than normal, though whether this is due to the poison of dying in the wastes is unknown.
Due to being poisoned, I believe the corpse will not be safe to eat until the poison goes away. Surprisingly, the poisoned blood is not a problem for the centipedes. (*More testing needed. Only drank small amount.) Additionally, we still do not know whether or not the poison is lethal.
All of this to say that Aesmo is a confirmed danger to anything less resilient than a dragon. This may include some below-average dragons. This would, technically, place her in the category 'monster' at the second highest level, 'ciel', due to, as far as I can tell, not being classifiable as 'bastard' or 'beast'. For context, there are 7 other entities at the level 'ciel'; Apolleon, Ramien, Gabithen, Raphiago, Azriol, Sarial, and Metitron.
Above 'ciel' is 'daevva'. There are currently only 2 entities at the level 'daevva', Leviamuth and Behethen. The requirement to be classified as 'daevva' is the ability to kill any dragon, which Aesmo has the potential of, assuming she was telling the truth and is only 2 years old; centipedes can live for 7 years, and if she maintains this rate of growth, then she'll be a threat to most dragons. (Bold of you to assume I'll die at 7.)
Now, of course, there's a problem with harboring a monster this dangerous; the Dragon Lord Council. There's a reason there's only 7 'ciels'; they are under strict observation by at least one Dragon lord, and are to be slain should they be too dangerous.
Normally, I can probably keep Aesmo hidden since I'm in the wastes, and nobody would ever predict a 'ciel' coming from there. However, there's the problem of me now having two dragon corpses here. An investigation on the disappearance of these two will happen eventually, and in a worst case scenario, they'll believe Aesmo did it and kill all of us.
Luckily, there's a partial solution; report the death of Mike. I have evidence that it was self defence/protection of belongings, and since it took place in the wastes, I have a plausible way of killing him while I remained uninjured. And because Mike's not exactly a good dragon, I'm sure his reputation is bad enough that I won't get any negative reputation for it. (You might get positive reputation instead.) I just need to think of an excuse of why Mike attacked in the first place, and what happened to the body. To be honest, both parts might be easy, I just need to ask mom a favor.
Addendum; What the fuck is up with this mana spire? It now smells bloody and boney. My suspicion is that it hit a fossil, except that fossils aren't real bones, nor do they have blood. Maybe a bone-like substance? No idea, which is why I'm going to be digging straight down next to the mana spire. Hopefully I reach whatever it is that's making this smell.
1st of Ay, 118 years since megados eruption
Have I ever mentioned how satisfying mining can be? (No.) Not the 'hit to chip away at a rock' part, but the 'Hit a crack and watch it expand and remove a whole chunk out of the wall' part. Especially satisfying when that happens several times in a row. I think I'm getting better at this. The pickaxe is getting roughed up a bit though. Going to see if metal dust will also repair it or not.
I managed to dig down very deep. Like, deeper than my current bedroom deep. The mana spire actually bends around quite a bit, and by my calculations, it is now beneath my bedroom. I guess this gives me a good excuse to dig my bedroom deeper. Oh, whoops, I already did that.
Yeah, my bedroom is now about several me's deep (wow so descriptive). I'm close enough to the mana spire that I can actually feel it when I sleep. At least I think it's the mana spire. Makes a buzzing, chittering sound. Like a mix of lightning clouds and forest floor. Nice white noise to sleep to, I'd like to think it helps.
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Still not deep enough to reach whatever it is that's affecting the mana spire. Also, my careless mining has resulted in more ore. Which is where the last project of this year will be focused on. Step one, make an air pump. I have two dragon hides, stone, wood, and manual labor in the form of multi-armed centipedes. Surprisingly, we finished in two days.
Next, rebuild the furnace. Oh wait, Aesmo already did that, including some upgrades we agreed upon. For example, the input is now pointed down and put in with a piston. This minimizes fumes leaving, while being a lot simpler than an airlock. We also made a valve system for the output using the unmeltable titanium. It should be able to resist deformation.
Step 3; make the pumps usable by centipedes. I'm taking inspiration from the waterwheel design in the engineering book, and connect that to the pumps. This should allow a centipede to pump air by walking on the wheel.
Step 4, output management. This is where things get complicated. First, using the heat-resistant titanium, we forge a hollow cone. We can then pour molten metal into that. After we let it cool, the slag should rise to the top, while the metal sinks to the bottom. Once it all hardens, we can take the cone out, separate the metal from slag, and it should be purer than before. We'll do this process with the metal dust if we have time, but that's a later task.
Of course, forging the hollow cone will be the hard part. I hope we can manage it before I have to hibernate. At least we won't run out of any food in the meantime.
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Interlude; Dragon Lord Council Transcript
The following is a written transcript for the Dragon Lord Council meeting that took place on the 11th of Ay, 118 years after the megados eruption. Participating members; 4/24
"The meeting has begun. First on the agenda is the analysis of the fight between lesser dragon Licor and greater dragon Plimit, presented by Genen."
"Thank you. The fight lasted approximately 7 hours, and can be divided into 18 distinct scenes. Lesser dragon Licor held the advantage throughout 3/4 of the engagement, missing only 18 strikes.
...
Plimit was unable to defend against the spell and lost flight. They surrendered upon landing. Final result; Licor gains 17 points in strength, Plimit loses 4 points. Conflict resolved without issue."
"Does anyone have any closing remarks? ...No? Alright, next is a self-defense report, presented by Entyl."
"Yep, we have a report from lesser dragon Vildra. She invokes the self-defense rules, stating a necessary escalation due to an attack by greater dragon Michael. Resulting engagement ended with Michael's death. Standard checking methods confirm these statements. Important contextual notes; Vildra became a lesser dragon last year. Michael has a strength score of 316, Vildra's is 6. Vildra reported an approximated wealth score of 7 last year. Vildra and Michael are related, part of the Miltos family. Michael's body is 'unrecoverable'. I have my suspicions, should we investigate?"
"I have additional contextual notes; Michael is a known thief, with a history of robbery. Vildra is a cannibal. Vildra hasn't fought in 86 years, making her strength score outdated. This gives me plenty of reason to believe Michael attempted to rob Vildra, got killed, and Vildra ate the corpse. However, I do not know why Michael targeted Vildra in the first place, nor am I certain of how Vildra killed Michael."
"There is the major detail of location. Vildra lives in the wastes now. I assume the engagement occurred in the wastes as well. Michael's standard tactic of long-range spell bombardment would be disadvantageous in the wastes, eventually resulting in mana exhaustion."
"Personally, I'm concerned about motive. I believe we should conduct an audit of wealth on Vildra."
"I agree. We will vote on this with all members."
"Alright. Any closing remarks? ...Then next up we have a notable rumor spreading across the western coasts of Nuvil. An unknown dragon is trading for various high-value items and materials. we have been unable to pinpoint the identity of the dragon in question, but do note a similarity to a rumor spread last year about a dragon who bought 'legendary treasures'. I recommend an investigation into these rumors, as the amount of wealth traded here is not insignificant..."
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21st of Ay, 118 years since megados eruption
I finished making the cone. It took forever to get the shape right and surface smooth. Aesmo asked for a second one for 'efficiency' but I see little reason to be so efficient. It's not like we're fulfilling orders or anything. (More efficiency = less fuel = less work!)
Anyways, the meat should be safe for consumption. Aesmo took some limbs to her room, and the centipedes are allowed to drink from the blood pool (Tasted less fatty). It's weird for a den to have a blood pool to be honest. If I think about it too much it starts getting creepy, so I've chosen to ignore it for the most part.
Fun fact, the most nutritious parts of a dragon to eat is the liver, while the least nutritious are the eyes. Additionally, wings tend to have no taste by themselves, but they enhance the taste of other parts. (My least favorite is the stomach. No blood taste at all)
I also noticed something about the previous dragon's corpse. The tumors are still alive, sort of. One clump has grown in volume since I last checked. I harvested it and put it in a puddle of blood to see what'll happen. If it grows more, then this will solve part of our food issues. Maybe. (I wonder if it'll bleed)
I also went ahead and made a self-defense report. I'm going to assume they'll assume I've eaten Mike's body already, which I guess is partially true. I've also borrowed a book from mom (she stole it) [I left behind a note and a return date. Mom knows I don't steal]. It used to be Mike's favorite, so having it would give him a reason to try and steal from me. With this, even if the council does check, I have a reasonable reason.
I'm almost all set up to hibernate. I won't fully close the entrance for the centipedes to do whatever they want to. Any further entry in this diary for this year will be written by Aesmo. And to Aesmo, please don't fuck anything up. (No shit.)
2nd of Bi, 118 years since megados eruption
I'm setting up a surprise for dragon. By my calculations, we should be able to process all of the remaining ores except Orichalcum. I have additional offspring to support this work. Two for air pumping duty, one for input, one for output, the rest on charcoal production.
Desmo has developed a surprising resistance to burning, and so is managing the outputs.
Besmo volunteered on input, claims she can recognize fume poisoning the earliest.
Cesmo is talking with the cancerous growth and mana spire still; I'm more concerned by the fact the tumor seems to respond to sound.
Eesmo is on pump duty with Gesmo, sometimes Iesmo replaces one of them.
Fesmo has the best tree climbing skills and is responsible for trimming the hydra tree.
Hesmo filled a jar of blood and is now mixing metal powders into it in their free time. Resulting soup actually tastes good.
Jesmo and Kesmo managed to fuck up, then unfuck the furnace's magic circle. It still is sort of fucked up because it's hotter than before, but that's not a major problem.
I'm noticing that they've developed distinct personalities. I'm going to ask dragon if I should be concerned about this or not. More importantly, despite the fact we should be genetically identical, everyone's mandibles are slightly different. I wonder if that's normal or not.
I probably should learn dragon's name actually. I'm sure she wrote it down somewhere. She gave me my name after all.