Odellia had a growing supply of goods for sale, and demand was still increasing. Kelton decided that it was time to explore expanding to oversea exports. He wasn't sure that they do as well there, but Jeremy was particularly eager to "strike while the iron was hot," as it were, and increase their revenue even further.
Frankly, Kelton didn't really care about the export itself, as it didn't do anything to help his plan...but he supposed it would be worth it to show that he was continuing to come up with new ideas for Odellia. Plus, if it did work, he'd likely attract more people to aid in the increased workload; at least that would be a promising result.
To actually be prepared for pottery export orders, which would likely be in larger batches, they'd need to increase the lithium extraction rate. Franz could wrangle up some workers for the right price, and the potters' apprentices would be able to spend a little more time with their masters rather than in the caves. Kelton floated the idea by the artisans, who were reluctant to give up the direct ore extraction themselves, but in the end they agreed to a small trial, subject to a successful export order within thirty days.
That was a real challenge, but Kelton thought that he could manage it. Franz was, of course, happy enough to get a piece of the pie, as his team's work on the mill and surrounding buildings wouldn't last much longer. Like Kelton, Franz was certain that there'd be enough additional growth in the town to give him an opportunity to make it his permanent home, if he could simply ride out the next few months of change.
After some intensive training and much finger-wagging from the master potters, Franz's team began to dig. They decided to go down a different tunnel than had previously ben worked, in hopes of finding another large rich vein, which would make their work far easier.
While they didn't find lithium, the miners did strike a particularly odd crystalline substance, that was somewhere between white and yellow. After they pulled some out, they brought it to Kelton and the potters for inspection. Kelton had no clue what it might be, but Lyle instantly proclaimed it to by gypsum - not much use to him and the other potters, he said, but likely useful in making some jewelry.
"Actually, " Lyle said, "there might be one other thing. When I was a young boy, I remember a merchant coming to Odellia with a substance he promised would make things grow miraculously...we were in such a bad drought that year, and of course, we've never really grown food well here, so several people gave his product a chance. After the purchases, we never saw him again, and the so-called miracle fertilizer didn't do much good. For some reason, though, I want to say that it had powdered gypsum in it. That might be worth looking into."
Kelton made a mental note to check into possible uses of gypsum as fertilizer the next time that he was in a city big enough to have a decent greenhouse or library. Even if it could only be used for jewelry-making, though, it might be interesting; not a priority for the time being, but good to know about. He assumed that they would find some good use for the gypsum in time, even if it was just selling it - and if that use was something that people would come to him for, so much the better.
As they couldn't afford to keep Franz's men mining forever, a vote was cast, and the potters decided to go in together on a storehouse at the edge of the clearing. None of them could have known that this vote was so momentous that its aftermath would threaten to destroy the entire thriving town.
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A small crew was set to digging out a small foundation and basement where they could store the ore in barrels, before raising them and removing the ore for processing. Digging was going slowly, as they continued to struggle with the hard rocks that seemed to be everywhere under the surface. However, eventually those rocks gave way to what was clearly a new vein of ore.
Kelton thought at first that this must simply be more lithium - and if so, that would have been very convenient indeed. It would have also proven his theory about the cave system extending underneath the clearing. However, this ore was a bit different in several important ways. It was slightly darker than the lithium, and while it did become shiny when exposed, it was more difficult to cut (although still not impossible), and the shape of the nuggets in the ore just didn't match up to the lithium.
Lyle and the others could only tell Kelton what it wasn't, which was something shy of helpful, so he decided to try his luck with Sten; perhaps the merchant could hazard a decent guess. Sten took a close look, eyed Kelton carefully, and said "I'm not an expert in these things, Kelton, but I believe you've got a nugget of silver there. If so, that's a lucky find indeed."
Kelton took this news in quietly, and didn't plan on saying anything to anyone until he could both verify that it really was silver, and figure out how to ensure he got the most benefit possible for this find. Unfortunately for him, Sten didn't wait. Before the day was done, the gossip engine was going full-tilt; Sten had told too many people, who had then told people, and so on.
By evening, the field was full of people digging, jostling, and shouting. It was nearly impossible to keep order. The next day was even worse, with the townsfolk turning on each other for a chance to grab a chunk of the material for themselves. Fights began to break out about who owned the land, and who had mining rights. Robberies even started - and then came the real violence.
On the third day after the suspicious ore was found, two drunk men at Millie's were loudly arguing about their claims, and what they were going to do with their new profits. One picked up his knife and began threatening the other, while waving the makeshift weapon wildly. Millie, of course, stepped in to separate the men before something crazy happened; this wasn't the first time she had seen a drunk get out of hand, and she was no stranger to getting involved when need be.
This time, though, it was different - screams filled the air as Millie dropped to the ground. Jeremy lost his mind; seeing Millie's bleeding body on the ground caused him to go berserk, and the normally-friendly man became a whirlwind of rage. If the fight and stabbing weren't enough to make people flee, watching Jeremy brutally destroy the two men he held responsible for the death of his love was plenty. People stamped out the door.
A few doors down, Kelton was finally performing some tests on the ore, and heard the commotion. He had figured that the one the things necessary to stop the insanity was to prove one way or another if the ore was silver, and was attempting to do so. The only idea he had really come with, though, was to try to melt some of it...he still didn't know much about the rock (or really even about silver), but he was pretty sure he remembered reading that silver was tough and could only be shaped or melted at a very high temperature. Other metals that looked silver - but were worth considerably less - would be far more responsive to heat. Therefore, he was performing an experiment with a small cast iron pan over a very hot fire, trying to get a piece of the ore to melt. The piece was probably too large for the test, but without going to Mansoora or other large city with a proper jeweler, he was forced to try to struggle through it on his own.
Jeremy burst in, and Kelton spun around from the fire to see who was disturbing his work. Seeing the wild look in Jeremy's eyes, and the blood all over his clothing, Kelton stood from his seat by the fire and said simple "Tell me."
"They stabbed Millie!" Jeremy raged. "They stabbed her, and they didn't eve know why. I just...I didn't stop. They're dead. And you've got to get me out of here, now, before it's too late." Kelton knew that dismissing his ally's grief could be a fatal mistake, but that they also had to work quickly. Things in Odellia were falling apart, and Jeremy may have just pushed them over a point of no return.