A huge pile of cotton was dropped into the machine. Piece by piece it was strung along by wheels and pulleys, lengthened and smoothened into string. At the end of it all, a steel spike was picking it up and braiding it for extra strength before it was rolled up on a rod.
Master Riggard nodded. It worked well. There was a slight rattle from the give of the moving parts but the lubricant kept the noise to an acceptable level. He smacked his apprentice on the back.
“Good work, Bux! This’ll make our Protector happy!”
“Ha, course I do good work. You old fart don’t even bother working with normal things anymore.”
They laughed. Bux had been his apprentice. His very first one. Now, he was foreman in Riggard’s workshop.
“I do important things”, Riggard smirked, “Important!”
“Ya, ya, we know”, one of Bux’s apprentices rolled his eyes.
“I’ll see if Safrah’s here. Maybe she already welded to ma wife’s hip.”
“Pah! They don’t have enough essence for that!”, Bux shouted at his back.
“You!”, Riggard pointed at him with his ring finger. The dwarves grinned at each other.
Then, the [Master Artificer] was out of the workshop.
He made his way down the hall in between the compartments where they built their machines and entered the store building. They had a few smaller workshops there for pocket-sized artefacts or making plans and prototypes. He passed them by, his own included, to step into the showroom.
His wife stood in front of him, just behind the counter. She was talking to a dwarf about installing a new bathroom. Riggard hugged her and nodded at the reedy man.
“I’ll be having the kids move in a week from now. You really can’t get it done any faster?”, he said.
“I’m sorry. We are very busy. It’ll be ten days unless another customer cancels their order. You can try at other workshops if you need it quicker.”
“Nah. I heard this’s the best one. We’ll manage for a bit. The bathhouse isn’t too far.”
“That’s great. Then please read through this contract and sign it. If you have any questions about the contents, please ask.”
“Sure thing.”
The thin dwarf walked over to one of the desks lining the walls and started studying the paper. Riggard smiled at his wife. She returned the expression.
“Going well, today?”, he asked.
“Yes. We’ve got four new contracts and it’s not even noon.”
“Sounds great. Bux finished the cotton-spinner. Safrah’s coming by, today, right?”
“Yes. Protector Safrah is coming by. She’ll be happy to hear that. Though she is a bit late. I wonder what could’ve held her up?”
“You know how it is with all that magicking she does.”
The woman nodded and leaned on him. An idle hand reached up and played with the base of her ear. The couple stood there for a few minutes before the door opened. His wife, dutiful as always, stood ready to receive the customers. When she spotted a familiar brunette with fancy gold Dionan covering her ears, she smiled. Then her eyes widened as she spotted the second person coming in. Riggard’s mouth pulled into a big smile as he saw the dwarf-sized owl.
“Welcome to Riggard’s Manufactory”, his wife greeted with a big grin, “Hello Safrah. And Fio. It’s good to see you again.”
Safrah waved and Fio hooted. The owl looked relaxed, her face pulled into a soft smile. Something hung from her neck that looked very similar to the supersensory matrix she had used to communicate at first. It did give off a slightly different feel, though. The use of the item was clear moments later when he heard a distantly familiar voice speak out loud.
“Hey, Mrs Riggard. Old man.”
“Oh, my! You can speak, now?”
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Riggard needed a few seconds to close his mouth which his wife took advantage of. When he came back to reality, he almost jumped at the owl.
“You! You did… that? How? What? Why? When?”
Safrah grinned.
“You’ve got the same reaction as Vivi. I just asked ‘why not earlier?’”
His wife nodded sagely.
“I’m curious as well. Why now, of all things?”
“Well”, Fio began. Her voice was the same as it felt through her [Telepathy] but having it sound through the room gave it some… volume, for lack of better term.
“I had to speak to a lot more people at once. Here, I practically never had more than five or so people to connect to.”
“Oh, that makes sense”, his wife nodded.
Did it?
“I’m sure there’s a lot to catch up on but why don’t you go to the back for that? The cotton-spinner is done as well if you want to take a look at it.”
“Right”, Riggard said, “Come in.”
He waved them forward and led the way down the halls.
“Do you want to see the spinner, first?”, he asked.
“Sure”, Fio said, “Why not?”
“Is it really done?”, Safrah asked. Her hand was pumping the air in excitement.
“Yep. Bux just showed me the finished version. A single machine to turn raw cotton into sturdy threads. Gonna be pretty good to add to the sales.”
“And you managed to keep the design like I wanted?”
“All the gaps are there. Guessing you’re gonna do some thaumaturgy with ‘em?”
The dwarf nodded with a big grin on her face.
“This is gonna be so useful!”
They soon found themselves back in the workshop, Bux still admiring the cotton-spinner as it ran through a second batch.
“This is it”, Riggard said, “The boy outdid himself.”
“Oy!”, his former apprentice complained, “I’ll have ta say, this is a great idea. Having everything in one machine is amazing.”
They turned to the two guests. Safrah stood frozen, her eyes gleaming with joy. Fio was already stepping closer, carefully observing the device with her large eyes. Those had always been very observant, especially when it came to artificing.
“You’re running the cotton through a lot of steps. Making it smooth?”
“Yes. If we take it once or twice, the thread ’s not only itchy, it also starts to split after a few days. Obviously a bad thing.”
“This will save me so much work”, Safrah finally said, “Can I take a closer look?”
“Sure thing. Just be careful not to get yer fingers crunched between the wheels.”
She nodded and walked up. Slowly, she walked around, muttering something about infusing and mounting. Riggard’s ear flicked. What was she planning to do with this thing? Fio quickly joined her and they started talking details. Parts of it still went over his head but the owl had a much better education in the dwarven crafts. Some of the terms she used at least let him get an approximate picture.
They were making magical string. For magical clothes. What for, exactly, he had no clue. But they were doing it.
Finally, the rattle quieted down as the machine went through the last of the cotton. Bux walked over and started talking Safrah through the details of how it worked and showed her where she could put her additions. Meanwhile, Fio walked over to him.
“How are you doing, Riggard?”, she asked.
“Heh. I’m good. Busy as warp but money ‘s rolling in. Ma wife has been handling some recruitment and we’re soon gonna open another workshop. Building ‘s already secured.”
“That’s great! What’s happened that things are running so smoothly?”
“Competition knocked itself over”, he laughed, “They’ve been doing some half-assed work and everyone who wants quality started ta come here. What ya think? Looking for a job?”
The owl smiled. It always amazed him how expressive the bird could be with just a few feathers.
“Thanks for the offer, but no. I’ve got important things to do. Are you still making vis interceptors?”
“Yeah. That’s why we need a new workshop. This one ‘s gonna be all the normal business and I’m getting a slightly smaller one for the interceptors and research. Here’s gonna be pure production.”
“Sounds good. I think you’ll get some business soon. Those interceptors might be very helpful.”
“Really? I’ve sold three, so far. Could’ve gone better. What do you know that I don’t?”
“So… there’s an alliance between the Dwarven Hills and the Cathedral of the human plains coming up. The reason for that alliance might be helped by the interceptors. Honestly, I won’t have too much to do with their research. I’ll be travelling the Deep Green for rare resources.”
“Huh?”, Riggard stared, “That’s a bit far, isn’t it? Beyond the ork valleys?”
“Yes. And I’m likely travelling at least two or three times as far into it. Maybe even more. Depends on how soon I find what I need.”
“And what do ya need?”
“Silverwood. And not just the material. I need at least one living tree.”
“That’s somethin’. If ya have any left over, I’d take it.”
“I believe there will be use for [Artificer]s in the alliance. It’s going to be mostly [Thaumaturge]s but you guys have some interesting approaches to some problems. You’d have to be in Serrington in about three months, or so. There’s a Curtachadh with everyone important.”
He blinked. That sounded important. Only…
“What’s got everyone so riled up?”
Fio met his eyes. Moments later, he felt the familiar touch of [Telepathy].
“Nothing much…”, Fio said through the arcane speaker.
“This isn’t for public ears”, she sent through the connection, “Don’t freak out, okay?”
He nodded and turned back to the machine.
“The world is going to end in 25 years. We’re trying to prevent that.”
His head whipped back to the owl. The bird was already walking back to Safrah. She was asking if the cotton-spinner was to her satisfaction.
“Safrah and Vivi know”, she sent back at him, “As do the Clan Heads, many Adena, and most [Thaumaturge]s.”
Riggard took a deep breath. If that was the case…
“What about the Guardians?”
“They know. As long as they interact with their cities.”
‘Good’, he thought. The important people knew. They would solve the issue. And if he could help… He would. It was time to plan a trip to Serrington.