Dear diary, how does one become a snake?
“By the power of the holy snake, I call down judgment on my enemies; Lightning strike!” I say, making a striking pose
“Snake strike!” I say, pointing my finger into the sky
“Lightning! Thunder! Kaboom!” I shout out, getting desperate for any reaction whatsoever.
“What are you doing,” Dur asks as he walks outside.
“I don’t know, really. I was just trying to summon the big snake the lady had, but I have been unsuccessful so far,” I say, a bit annoyed at the lack of even a spark
“While I do appreciate you going outside when you practise techniques that were used to take down dragons, I still think you should not let Altukar’s words get to you that much.“
“I guess, but I still worry, you know what, if people get hurt because I was lacking; speaking of Altukar, I was wondering about something, though.”
“And what might that be?”
“Why are his clothes so bad? I mean, I know the church here has a lot of money?”
“The priests believe that all precious metals and gems belong to the stone lord, and therefore, they dress themself in rags to show to what extent they dedicate themself to the Stone Lord,” Dur explains.
“That sounds, I don’t know, sounds like a very bad way to live, but they are doing so willingly, so I can’t really complain,” I say, trying to parse what I am feeling.
“So, are you going to come back inside?”
“Yeah, I just, you know, it is, so, you know, magical, and I wish I had powers like the others. But I am just the normal me, and now I am supposed to stop something, so I kind of wish that I had some kind of skill,” I say, a bit dejected.
“I mean, you did forge that steel blade yesterday, right.”
“You said it was not tempered properly and that it would break if it was put under any type of stress.”
“I did say that, all the more reason to go back and forge a better one.”
“Fine, but by any chance, you are not sitting on the designs to create a flaming sword or something?”
I spent the rest of the morning and a bit of the afternoon in the smithy until my bones truly felt like they were made out of Jello. I ask Dur if it is safe to go out since I have not seen much of the dwarven city yet, even though I have been here for a few days.
After explaining to a concerned Dur what crime is and how it works, I am let out and am now exploring the dwarven town. I had seen it in general, passing by and observing it, but the architecture is truly strange. I mean, we had metal buildings where I was from, but they looked more industrial and cold. The dwarfs somehow have managed to make this place look warm and comfortable. Maybe that is why they use decorations and engravings.
As I explore deeper into the city, I notice the decorations change, getting older and more crude. No crude is not right, less ostentatious. I mean, it is still pretty but less extra than the other buildings. I wonder if some of the smithing techniques were discovered later, and that is why these old buildings don’t have them.
As for the dwarfs themself, they are everywhere being jolly, either drinking their ale, boasting about the newest item they forged or playing games. There is also an open podium where some dwarfs are performing a play. It is about a dwarf and how it got taught gem cutting by a vassal of the stone lord. The play itself is a lot more interesting than it sounds, filled with humour and bolstering. The dwarfs in the crowd actively participate in the play.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
After the play is over some new dwarfs came up to play music. I leave the area it is not because I don’t like the music but because they said I was here to solve a problem, and that required me to find the problem first. According to Dur and Altukar, there have not been any problems for dwarfs in centuries. There is peace between the different dwarf clans. There is enough food, and the farms seem to be doing well. They even learned how to farm certain animals that can live under the ground.
I walk further into the city, choosing the streets and directions at random. I would worry about getting lost if it was not for the fact that my memory told me exactly where I came from. I really want to go back to school now. I would crush all of my exams.
I find myself on the edge of town, or what I assume to be the edge. There is a railing overlooking a massive machine that is built into some kind of valley and is spitting out steam into some kind of air shaft. Investigating further, I see some areas where the metal starts to change colour because of the heat. And a bunch of water pipes going into it on one side.
“What are you?” I wonder out loud.
“That is the tempering machine,” A random dwarf bystander says
“Tempering machine? Like for smithing?” I ask, trying my best to hide my surprise.
“Not exactly. It takes the heat from the magma stream and transfers it to the water to head the different baths around the city.”
“I was wondering where all the hot water was coming from.” I say in wonder, “So you not using the heat to forge?”
“Some dwarfs have tried, but it is hard. Lava is an unclean material, making it hard to work with, so you have to be careful; otherwise, it leaves artefacts.”
“Huh, that is fascinating. Is this thing safe? What happens if it breaks? Would lava spill into the city?” I ask, examining the height difference between the machine and the rest of the city.
“What a dreadful thing to say. No, there are safety inspections every month to keep us safe.”
“And when was this last inspection?”
“You are starting to worry me. What is going on?”
“Well, I am Cestla, which means I am here to solve a problem. But I am having difficulty finding something to fix.”
“And you think the tempering machine is about to break?”
“I don’t know, but it can’t hurt to check.”
“I guess you are right”, he points out into the distance. “You see that building over there with the triangle roofs? That is the management office. Someone over there can probably tell you more.”
“I see. Thank you so much for your help. I will check over there,” I say as I walk in the direction that has been pointed out.
I approach the building. And knock on the door. “Hello, anyone in there? My name is Cestla, and I was wondering if you were willing to answer some questions.”
I hear some noises inside, and a dwarf opens the door and looks me over. “What clan are you from?” he asks in wonder.
“I am not from any clan,” I say, trying to be as polite as possible.”
“A lone dwarf then?” he says, but it feels more like a question.
“I am not a dwarf either,” I say
This at least gets some surprise out of the dwarf. “then what are you then?”
“I am a human.”
“I don’t know what that is anyway what can I do for you
“That is kind of hard to explain. You see, the high priest told me that when someone like me shows up, it is usually to stop or fight against some kind of disaster. So I am kind of looking around to figure out what kind of disaster I am meant to stop.”
“Well, come inside, let's talk then,” the dwarf says while moving to the side to let me in.
I walk inside, observing the room. It is not that big. Or maybe it does not feel that big because it is filled with a lot of stuff. different pipes snake into the room, all with different dials and valves on them. There are a few desks inside that hold the clay tablets that the dwarfs use for writing.
The dwarf gestures at a chair, and I sit down
“So,” he says. “My name is Bulor. I am in charge of monitoring the tempering machine, and you are Cestla, right?”
“Yes, I am. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine, so what exactly do you mean by a disaster?”
“I can’t say for sure, but a big machine using magma as its fuel source seems a bit like a disaster if it were to explode,” I explain.
“That would be correct. That is why we carefully monitor it at all times,” he says as he gestures around.
“I see. Did you do an inspection recently?”
“Yeah, we just did one last week, he says, noting that it is out of the ordinary, and” he points at a dial, “We even have a bit of a lower pressure this month.”
“And that is a good thing, right?”
“Yeah, means that there is less of a chance of something blowing up”
“Okay, so everything is up to code then and going according to plan?” I ask a bit disappointed
“You don’t seem happy about that,” the dwarf says in an accusatory tone.
“I mean, I am happy that nothing is going wrong. It is just when someone tells you that you have to solve a problem without telling you what the problem is. You keep searching until you find something. And this looked like an easy issue to solve.” I say
“I guess you are right, but nothing wrong here. I let you know if something does go wrong, don’t worry.” He says.
“Well, sorry for wasting your time. I will take my leave then.”
I get out of the room, only a bit disappointed, but I keep searching, but I find nothing, so when it gets late, I decide to head back to Dur’s house to sleep and figure it out another day.