“You can often tell how important a project is to the people that built it by seeing the amount of effort they put into the whole thing.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.

“I still can’t believe they put in so much effort even in their waste disposal setups,” said Áine after she returned from using the resting area’s latrine.

“If you think about it, they had no real choice but to do so,” replied Aideen with a shake of her head. “Think about it. Unlike those places we’ve been to that are underground but are at rather shallow depths, we’re at least a couple hundred meters beneath the surface already here. Unless they set things up properly they’d end up swimming, or even drowning in their own waste in the worst case, and I doubt anybody wants that.”

What Aideen referred to was how the dwarves set up an elaborate system of chutes and shafts that led from the latrines into designated areas where the waste would be eliminated, often into flowing lava streams underground, leaving nothing behind. Combined with the ventilation system done by way of various enchantments and more shafts leading to the surface, it resulted in something that was comfortable and efficient, once someone got used to it.

The latrines were basically set up as holes in the center of low stone seats set up for a dwarf’s height with a ventilation shaft directly above. The ventilation shaft caused a constant downdraft in the latrines and thus eliminated the issue of unpleasant odors as it kept pushing such odors further down the hole along with the waste and everything else.

It was the norm everywhere to set up latrines and cesspits in well-ventilated areas, as otherwise the buildup of waste could lead to toxic fumes collecting in the area. Even if that wasn’t the case, just the stench alone was generally enough to convince people to make sure that there was somewhere for the smell to disperse to.

Naturally, in the underground this led to a bigger issue as there was less room for errors and more potential for damage from improperly set up latrines. As a race that originally dwelled in the underground world for ages, the dwarves had pretty much perfected their own solutions for the issue, tailored to their skills and environments.

The ventilation shafts that brought fresh air into their underground world were enchanted near the top, which resulted in a suction force that pushed the air downwards, effectively ensuring a constant, steady flow of fresh air at all times. They simply used the same enchantment in their latrines to achieve the same effect, drawing any unwanted stench away from their living areas.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Because of that, the underground world of the dwarves was a far cry from the dark, damp, and humid experience with stale air most people expected. Sure, it was dark down there as the dwarves didn’t need lighting that much, but the air was fresh and generally about as pleasant as how it was above ground, since it was directly funneled into the underground world from there.

Naturally, the dwarves also had to set up various drainage systems to deal with rain and the like, which actually made their waste disposal setup an effective way to do multiple things at the same time. If it rained to the point that the water flowed down the ventilation shafts, a good portion of the rainwater would be redirected to underground reservoirs.

Any excess would be dumped into the waste disposal system where it would evaporate once it reached the underground lava streams. The small amount of rainwater sent that way was far too little to affect the constant flow of molten rock deep below.

The rest areas set up every five kilometers or so along the tunnel road were quite roomy, easily enough to accommodate several convoys at the same time. There were amenities like the latrines and stables, but otherwise it was mostly a large nook to the side of the tunnel where the travelers could rest up for the night without getting in the way.

As for food, bedding, and the like, it was naturally expected for travelers to prepare their own. Aideen and the rest of her group had simple bedrolls from woven straw that they simply spread over the stone floor. It made for a hard surface to sleep on, but the group had traveled a lot and slept under worse conditions in the past.

Similarly, there were slightly sunken areas clearly meant to use as a hearth. There was little need for warmth from the fire in the underground, so the place was more intended for cooking. In their case Aideen’s group chose to nibble on preserved foods instead, as there was no real fuel to be used to start a fire around them.

Perhaps some larger, richer convoys with wealthy people on board would bring their own fuel to cook with, but Aideen’s group had not planned to do so just for the relatively short trip. As it was, they were no strangers to hardship on the road. While Aideen liked to spoil her nieces and nephew by cooking up something good every now and then, more often than not they just snacked on preserved foods like most other travelers.

One thing they could bring along more freely thanks to their large storage artifacts were better food, though. An item stored inside the storage artifact would be better preserved as there was no air inside. As such, it was feasible to keep things like bread relatively fresh for longer than it would have lasted normally, though still not for that long all considered.

The group broke some dwarven bread made from flour acquired by grinding up the roots and tubers of certain plants and ate it with some slices of cheese and smoked meats. The bread had a bit of a nutty and smoky taste to it, with a rather strong saltiness as the dwarves sprinkled bits of rock salt over the bread dough before they baked it.

It was dense and quite filling, with a rather chewy texture. The slices of smoked meat and fat they ate the bread with lent more flavor to the meal overall, while they washed it down with drinks they similarly kept in their storage artifacts. While things like juices might spoil or ferment in storages, water kept perfectly fine, and alcoholic drinks just aged instead.