24th of An, 119 years since megados eruption
I've chosen to ignore it. The reason is that Besmo is no longer poisonous. Sort of? Besmo's sweat was what was poisonous, which is weird because centipedes don't sweat. Which is why I'm ignoring it for now.
Aesmo did a vote and it seems like the centipedes will now be called 'Esmos'. I'd call it lazy, but I guess as Vildra Miltos, daughter of Tildra Miltos, sister of Xildra Miltos, I shouldn't criticize lazy naming. (Mimicry is a form of flattery :} ) In any case, this will make referring to them much easier for me.
I'm planning on trading the metal dust for more mythril, and also buying some clay for the containers. Actually, I can probably just grab some on the way back. Clay can be found near rivers right? It's only for storing the dust after all. Only question is how much I get. (As much as possible)
The tumor's doing fine. It's getting a bit too big for comfort, so I'll see if cutting a part off has any effect. (Cesmo says to warn her before hand. Apparently the tumor is loud) [Does it feel pain?] (I don't want to ask that.)
Also, I'll go to mom and see if she's back yet. I know I have some things to ask her but forgot some of them. I know one was about my other known spells. Aesmo says it's ironic the only spell I remember is 'erase memory'. Probably because I used it so much when I was younger.
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Excerpt from 'How the Age of Metals Ended' chapter 4; 'Supply and Demand'
...Supply is how much of something there is available in a market. Demand is how much something is desired in a market. Both are in a constant war that determines prices. When supply is too high or demand is too low, prices drop. Conversely, low supply with high demand is a recipe for high prices.
There are many factors to both supply and demand. Supply is affected by rarity of certain materials, the effort and work needed, the distance from the source, and amount of producers, all primarily logistical issues. Demand, on the other hand, is often more social and societal than logistical. Gold has a high demand because of its beauty, a purely societal concept. Titanium, which has the same supply, has a lower demand because it isn't as beautiful. This means gold has a higher price than titanium.
Of course, this ignores how demand for a finished product affects the demand for individual component materials. Steel has a constant demand, and thus iron has as much demand...
...The decline of the metal age was due to an over-increase in supply. Records around the time shows a sudden increase in the amount of various metals in the market. This decreased those metals' values substantially. As an example, at the start of the metal age you could buy 1 kg of iron with 10 gild, but after this sudden supply increase you got 100 kg of iron with only 5 gild. This was true with almost all metals, including gold. The only two metals this was not true for was Mythril and adamantite.
Mythril was an anomaly. Both supply and demand dropped, as few people wanted mythril when you could use much cheaper materials. But let's focus on the supply drop. The number of mythril mines did not decrease during this time, and the number of miners actually increased due to a change in regulation at the time giving miners better pay. Yet for some strange reason, the amount of mythril in the market seemed to decrease.
Adamantite on the other hand, had no change in supply, but a increase in demand, as it became more favorable as a standard value for currency. Several countries wanted to change their standard currency from gold to adamantite alloys. Unfortunately, the rarity of adamantite prevented widespread use.
So what caused this increase in metal supply? One popular theory was new tools and techniques making mining more efficient too quickly, but this was disproven after excavations showed no change in mining methodology. Another theory was that there was only an apparent increase in supply, which caused an unintended decrease in demand. However, this is proven false, as a sudden increase of iron tools occured at this time, meaning that the extra supply was indeed real.
The most convincing theory is the hardest to prove. A dragon, for some reason, introduced a large amount of metal into the market. The problem is that dragons are notoriously unwilling to part with their wealth. Additionally, the amount of metal spread was more than any single dragon at the time had. An alternative theory is that this was organized by multiple dragons, but in that case the question of 'why?' rises...
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11th of Aos, 119 years since megados eruption
Mom wasn't home yet, unfortunately. I returned the book I had borrowed, but left the note. It's best to be honest with mom. (It's also good evidence.)
I traded for some more mythril. I had to go to multiple cities this time; I had so much metal dust saved up. It was easier this time around. I didn't have to wait for a few days for them to gather the mythril. (I still think they were making a trap.)
I also have a lot of clay. I think this should be enough for a long time. My next job is to fix the furnace's magic circle. Jesmo and Kesmo want to watch me, but really there's nothing special to making the circle. Y-
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
(Aesmo here. Another dragon came. Hiding stuff as practiced. I'll be keeping watch while everyone else hides the important stuff.)
12th of Aos, 119 years since megados eruption
It was just a wealth audit. I'm lucky I had just sold most of my metal; all I had to show them was one vase full of copper dust, a pile of various uncut gems, and some orichalcum ore. Hm? 'What about the mythril you have?' Well you see, it's called hiding your valuables. I'm not dumb, I don't want to deal with another Mike incident.
Oh yeah, they asked about Mike. They asked if they can see the body, to which I obliged and showed them the food room. I don't think they'll ask about Mike's body anymore. They also asked about why Mike might have attacked, so I talked about his favorite book and how I was borrowing it. They probably wanted it.
Seeing as how it was related, I asked if they could tell me what mom's been up to. Something about arguing with dad and co again. He really should learn that he doesn't win those.
Also apparently I've been promoted to greater dragon Vildra. Turns out the gems and orichalcum I have are enough to get me above the wealth minimum? I guess they are fairly valuable if processed, but I don't have any way to process them. The furnace can't melt orichalcum, and cutting gems is a precision thing that dragons aren't known for.
Anyways, as I was writing before getting interrupted, magic circles are easy enough to make. The hardest parts are the runes and material components. I think there's books that list every known circle, but you don't need it if you just learn the patterns. Runes are like letters and materials are conjugations and punctuations. You know what, might as well teach Jesmo and Kesmo about this. It might make things easier later on when things inevitably breaks.
Addendum; Gesmo says they want to learn how to cut gems. To be honest, I have no way to help them. Cutting gems is way outside my knowledge. Maybe there's a book on it? Of course, there's a book on everything, but where would I find one?
1st of Ar, 119 years since megados eruption
Took a while, but I found one. Less a book more a scroll, but still about cutting gems. It seems really old yet was well preserved. Have to give that librarian lady credit, she knows how to preserve stuff. Minor problem is Gesmo can't read ancient Jurick. Luckily I know a translation ritual. It takes a while to work, but it should work just fine. (Too bad it only works for writing)
I also taught the basics to Jesmo and Kesmo. I also got them to promise to practice outside, so as not to cause any unintended damage. Don't worry, the wastes doesn't have enough mana for any dangerous spells to activate properly. I checked. (When?)
Now, I'm going to take a nap, then continue mining until either I find something interesting or Aesmo stops me. I really want to find out what that door was about. And also the mana spire. I feel like I'm getting close.
Speaking of the mana spire, Cesmo said it's dreaming about a war between angels and demons. There are multiple parts of that sentence that concerns me. For my own sanity's sake, I'll assume Cesmo is insane. That's ignoring the fact that Cesmo actually talked. Out loud, in Nifan. Not even Aesmo can do that! The only sounds they make are clicks and screes.
I guess I should just ignore the implications this has and instead be happy that I have someone who can say stuff out loud. This makes talking to Esmos easier.
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Interlude; Dragon Lord Council Transcript 2
The following is a written transcript for the Dragon Lord Council meeting that took place on the 13th of Aos, 119 years after the megados eruption. Participating members; 9/24
"The emergency meeting has begun. Entyl, please give a quick explanation for why this meeting was called."
"This is a follow-up report for the wealth audit done on lesser dragon Vildra. My assessment of Vildra's wealth is approximately 719 in raw materials alone. This does not account for any hidden wealth or valuable items, of which there were a few."
"Hey now that's outrageous" "No way did they get that rich this fast" "What do you mean 'raw materials'?" "No wonder Michael attacked."
"Please wait until the end of this report for questions. As I said, this value does not take into account hidden wealth, of which I am sure there is a significant amount of. The reason is that I smelled mythril and other materials, despite not being shown any. Additionally, there was a well-cultivated hydra tree, traces of a mana spire, and pillars made of copper. Taking all of those into account, Vildra's wealth easily exceeds 1100, if not more."
"You said 'lesser dragon Vildra' right?" "What the fuck? No, how the fuck?" "Stop joking. You're recording us, aren't you?" "Wait, aren't they in the wastes? Where did they get a mana spire?" "Are you sure that wealth is Vildra's?"
"I have already promoted them to greater dragon, on account of their high wealth. I will begin answering questions, starting with Genen's. By 'raw materials', I mean large amounts of orichalcum ore, piles of uncut gems, and a vase full of copper dust. I also smelled iron, titanium, tarilite, aluminum, zinc, tin, and mythril, but did not see any, and hence am assuming those were hidden for some reason. For Diphen's question, yes, Vildra does live in the wastes. I have no idea where the mana spire could have come from, nor could I tell where it went. Finally, in my personal opinion, yes this wealth is Vildra's. While she isn't honest, she is notably honorable and has never stolen anything before. I am also concerned by where she could have obtained such wealth, or how, but I do not doubt it is hers."
"Well what should we do about Vildra? She is in a notably precarious position."
"I believe we should do nothing. Give no one any reason to seek Vildra out. That way, we can avoid any potential conflict or incidents from occurring."
"Fuck that. If we don't do at least something, all hell is going to break loose the moment a single lower dragon hears about this. Did you forget about Karlto? A dozen greater dragons teamed up and raided his home, all because they believed his wealth was so large that even when split 12 ways it would double their own. Don't tell me the same thing won't happen again."
"I'm going to have to agree. We cannot just leave Vildra alone."
"I thought you hated cannibals?"
"I can put my bias aside. This is a bigger problem than just Vildra."
"Fine, then what do all of you propose? We'll vote on the best proposition..."
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Somewhere, Vildra rolls in restless sleep. When she wakes up, for once she remembers her dreams. A large battlefield, corpses of dragons and bastards strewn about. She yawns in annoyance, goes to sleep again, and ignores the dream. She's too tired to be concerned.
If only the Esmos didn't share that same dream. If only sapients all across the world didn't share the same dream. If only Leviamuth and Behethen weren't awoken by that dream. If only everyone could ignore it as Vildra could.