Jern interrupted at that point.
“Such glorious stonework, I even had a hand in making some of it myself cousin. I've discovered a connection to the stone that I never had before. My Masonry skill has soared working with Eddie.”
“You're using my cousin to do your stonework?” Brokkr asked angrily.
Jern put a hand on his cousins shoulder.
“Not like that, Brokkr. When I say working with Eddie, I mean it. He's got the Masonry skill himself and Carpentry as well. We spent a long time building houses for refugees, then buildings to support a city as well. The castle was used even before it was complete to hold off waves of orcs. So when I say working with Eddie, I mean the two of us, shoulder to shoulder, creating structures out of the basic components.”
Brokkr calmed back down and Eddie realized just how mercurial this dwarf's moods were.
“So, you're telling me that you even work with your hands?” Brokkr asked.
Eddie shrugged.
“I enjoy it. Creating new buildings, different types of structures, building a castle? I prefer all that to adventuring although I am required to do some of the adventuring as well, as a mandate of the gods, or at least the devs.”
Jern's smile grew.
“The devs are active here, cousin. Even the gods have been by to bless the temple that Eddie and Tiana built. It's a fine place to be, let me tell you.”
After finishing his current ale, Brokkr asked for a tour of the town and that fit Eddie's desires quite nicely. He wanted, desperately, to see how the castle was going and this would be a chance for that.
As they left the inn, Brokkr looked around nervously.
“No children?” he asked.
Eddie chuckled softly and Brokkr turned to him.
“You didn't, did you?”
“What, sic the children on you? I didn't, my town manager did. We were trying to give Jern time to hide, if that was his choice.”
“Oh, such an evil, evil lad,” Brokkr's words were contrasted by the humor in his voice and eyes.
“So now, let's see what you've got here,” he said.
Eddie led him through the town, showing him the structures around the crossroads first. He stood, mouth agape, inside the entrance to the temple.
“It lives?” Brokkr breathed reverently.
“It is made of living plants. The tree there and rose bushes that have been woven tightly to form the walls,” Eddie said.
“And Eddie and Tiana made it themselves,” Jern said. “She seems busy now, so I'll introduce you to her at dinner tonight if you like.”
Brokkr just shook his head as they left the temple. The next place they took him was to the town hall.
“So, this is the general of children?” Brokkr asked, chuckling, as they introduced Griff.
Griff blushed and offered a few polite words and an apology.
“No apology needed,” Brokkr said. “It was a masterful plan for the spur of the moment. Slowed us down horribly as we tried not to injure them at all. Good thing we were Hammer Dwarfs though, others might not have been so kind.”
Only the last line had any recrimination in it, but Griff had an answer.
“I've spoken with many of the Hammer Dwarfs that have come here, and all that I've spoken to said you hold the young in reverence, so I had no fear for them beyond a cuff or two and most of them get that at home when they're being a problem.”
Brokkr slowly smiled.
“Ah, then an even better plan than I'd thought. You did keep the health of your troops in mind, didn't you?”
Eddie brought Brokkr down to the patrol station in the basement next where the dwarf commented on the cells.
“So I see you've your share of troublemakers as well.”
Eddie could only nod to that.
“So, how do you judge them?”
“I don't,” Eddie replied. “Follow me.”
He brought them upstairs and into the courtroom next. Bodil was sitting and writing. When the door opened her head came up. When she saw Eddie, she began to smile, but went back to a tight lipped expression when others followed him into the room.
“Justiciar Bodil,” Eddie said. “May I introduce Brokkr, a cousin of Jern who has come to check on him and requested a tour of the town. When he saw the cells in the patrol station he asked me how I judge the criminals. I told him that I didn't.”
He turned back to Brokkr, who was staring now.
“Brokkr. I don't judge people, Justiciar Bodil has that job.”
“Justiciar,” Brokkr said. “It is an honor. It has been long decades since we had our own Justiciar in Hammer Hold.”
Now Bodil's face grew a hint of a smile.
“Well, have you youths interested in true Justice? I am to understand there is trade between our communities. Should you have such, then I would happily train such, perhaps one will even ascend to the position of Justiciar for your own settlement.”
Brokkr's face, serious to this moment, broke into a smile. His eyes even showed a hint of moisture when Eddie glanced down at the dwarf's sudden intake of breath.
“Justiciar, I... we... I cannot speak for the king, but I feel that we will be honored to do so. I am sure there are those who fit the description you've given among us.”
“Then I look forward to meeting them and having the potential to bring Justice to another place through training them.”
Brokkr turned and practically staggered from the room, Jern supporting him. Eddie turned to give a thumbs up to Bodil and she actually winked at him before breaking into a grin. Eddie led Brokkr back out to the crossroads.
It wasn't a marketplace day, so they simply showed him the stalls and described the goods normally available, then took Brokkr into the general store.
They still didn't have all the stock they wanted for it, but the many items made of wood that were available left Brokkr dumbfounded. Eddie purchased a couple of pieces for him as a gift. He recognized Ingolf's skill at carving in the mug he purchased, but the necklace of wooden beads with a small carved pendant of a fish left him stumped as to who the crafter that made it might have been. The work wasn't as skilled as Ingolf's, but it showed real promise.
Good, having even more skilled crafters is a good thing. Especially another wood carver if Ingolf does take the other settlement, Eddie thought.
Eddie finished the tour by leading Brokkr north along the road until they reached the castle. The fourth tower was now under construction, the third having been finished without Eddie knowing it.
Brokkr wasn't dumbfounded this time, but he obviously appreciated the massive structure.
“So, you had a hand in some of this stonework Jern?” he said.
Jern nodded, a grin on his face.
“We were still working on the walls when the first of the orcs attacked...”
Jern told the story as they wandered through the finished areas of the castle. He was still telling it when they arrived back at the inn. Eddie, however, went right past the inn. He smelled the bakery in use, the scent of breads and something sweet hung in the air and drew him like a magnet.
Jern and Brokkr had followed along when they realized Eddie wasn't turning into the inn like they'd planned. Eddie entered the bakery, stopping in the front portion that had been designed as a shop. If he could find a glass worker, there would be display cases here with clear glass, but for now there were a series of hinged boxes, labeled on the front.
“Oh, please tell me you've gotten cakes or something sweet like that done?” Eddie asked, as the baker came out of the kitchen.
“Mayor Eddie, sir, that I do. Would you like to try some?”
“Would it be too much to ask for three? Jern and a guest of his are with me,” Eddie said.
The baker simply smiled and opened a box, pulling out three buns covered with some whitish frosting that had a hint of reddish-purple to it. Eddie took a bite as the other two dwarfs each received one. He smiled once he'd swallowed and cleared his mouth, then immed
iately took another bite.
The two dwarfs demolished their buns as quickly as Eddie did his and soon they were back in the inn.
“I didn't expect the baker to open so quickly,” Eddie said. “I thought it might take him longer to get up and running since we just recently finished his building.”
“And a wise investment that was, if that bun was any indication of his normal wares,” Brokkr added, licking a bit of frosting off of his fingers.
“Ah, cousin, here's Tiana, I can introduce you now,” Jern said.
Tamshir walked into the inn common room a few moments later and headed for Eddie's table. He was shocked to see her since he'd thought she'd gone with Charles when he left.
“Eddie, all set for Dom to help me with that project you asked for,” she said.
Eddie blinked, then remembered that he'd asked her to help with the glass.
“Oh, have a seat, he should be here shortly.”
“Tiana, let me take you and Brokkr off for a bit,” Jern said. “It looks like Eddie needs to talk business and Tiana and I could tell you just how boring that is.”
Eddie threw him a betrayed glance, but Jern led the other two away. Tamshir told him that she had a whole bunch of stone molds created and filled with sand and that she just needed Dominic to fire them up. She'd told Charles that she'd come along in a few days and that he should just lay out the parts that he wanted her to work on for the town layout.
“He told me fine, but he'd been planning on using me to exactly place the building sites and smooth everything. Heh! He should've asked me first, then you would've had to wait,” Tamshir said.
Dominic came in then, heading over to the table with Eddie and Tamshir. He glanced over at Jern, Brokkr, and Tiana at another table.
“Everything okay?” Dominic asked.
“Oh yeah, Jern just told me I'm boring when I talk business so he took his cousin and Tiana over to the other table so he could introduce them,” Eddie said.
“Well, he does have a point. What business?” Dominic asked.
“She's got all the sand ready to be heated into glass,” Eddie said. “From what she says she set them all up so you'll just have to go from one to the other heating them.”
Tamshir nodded.
“Then I'll give them a while to cool and test my theory that I can form glass since it's close to earth. I don't think there'll be a problem, but I never did test that theory.”
“Here,” Dominic said, “try it on this.”
He tossed her an empty potion vial, then a cork.
“I've got a few whose mouths are too large for the corks. See if you can shape the mouth so the cork fits tightly?” Dominic asked.
Tamshir took the vial, then just stared at it for long minutes. After a grunt and a nod of the head, she started focusing specifically on the mouth of the vial. A few seconds later she slid the cork into it, pushing hard to get it to fit, then handed it back to Dominic.
“Yup, I can do that. I was right, too. I figured helping you out on this would help me gain points in my Stone Shape spell. I just got one there, so I was right. We'll see if I get more on the bigger project. Make sure you have all the exact dimensions for the sheets of glass you'll need, Eddie. I'll cut them to that size with stone shape. They'll all be plenty thick though, so they shouldn't be horribly brittle, I hope.”
With that Tamshir stood, waved, and headed back to another group of adventurers that Eddie wasn't very familiar with.
Karl and Allie were both in and seated by the time Jern led Tiana and Brokkr back over to the table. General introductions were made and Brokkr stared piercingly at each as they were introduced. Eddie was pretty sure the dwarf was Evaluating them each as they were introduced, but he didn't mention it. He knew Brokkr was mainly worried about Jern and trying to make sure the other dwarf was as safe as could be.
~ ~ ~
The next morning Brokkr announced that he'd be leaving. He was satisfied with Jern's safety and now had other things he needed to do. Two of the guards that had come along with Brokkr stayed with Jern as the others headed home.
“Now, if we're adventuring, you can't be stepping in front of me,” Jern lectured his guards. “I'm the tank, part of my job is to draw the attacks to me. You both know how this goes, no risk, no reward. On the other hand, should some danger befall me when I'm not adventuring, do what you need to do, I won't complain.”
The guards were obviously a little reluctant about Jern's instructions, but eventually agreed.
Brokkr had been just as bad as all the other Hammer Dwarfs the night before, putting down another ten ales before going to sleep, after the seven he'd had earlier in the day. When he headed for bed Eddie was only just barely able to detect any slur in his speech.
Eddie, who'd stuck to his normal two ales, had just shook his head at the sight.
After his normal morning routine and escorting Tiana to the temple, Eddie picked up Dominic and brought him to where Tamshir said she had the sand set up. When he saw the setup Eddie really hoped that she was right and could cut the panes of glass with her stone shape. She'd made huge pits, almost forty by forty feet, and had them filled with sand.
“Hey Dom,” Tamshir said. “I heard you say you can control heat, right? I think the best way to do this is through the containers. I made them out of a nicely heat conductive rock. What do you think, flame from the stop, or just heat the stone up hot enough to melt the sand?”
“I think I'd better torch it from the top. I checked, sand melts at a little over three thousand degrees Fahrenheit. I'd need an exorbitant amount of mana to heat the stone under it that hot, but if I just make a wall of fire on top, coil it back and forth across all the sand, and focus the heat down? That ought to do it for just a little more than the normal mana cost of the focused version of the spell.”
“Well, I've got ten molds like this, all full of sand, so...” Tamshir said.
Dominic looked where she gestured and groaned.
“Well, I guess I know what I'm doing all day today. More alchemy will have to wait for tomorrow.”
Eddie stayed long enough to find out it Dominic's plan was going to work. The heat pouring off the sand as it melted was insane enough that Eddie backed away, far away, from the melting sand. Tamshir was with him, but Dominic just stood where he'd started, breaking out in a mild sweat before he was done, but grinning when he turned.
“There's some soot particles in there that you may need to remove, but I know you've got the skills for that,” he said to Tamshir.
Then he turned to Eddie.
“It'll work, but I'll be here most of the day.”
“Thanks, Dom. I'll make it up to you somehow.”
“I figure with the brewhouse we're mostly even already, but I won't stop you if you feel the need,” Dominic replied, grinning.
~ ~ ~
Chapter Twenty-One
Freyja was still puzzled by some of the things she'd come across in her hunt for a way to have a construct created to her specifications. Finally she gave in and decided to ask Aaron.
Internal World Message – AI-F to Aaron Opman:
Aaron, I have a question. The answer seems apparent, but it also seems like it should be incorrect.
Internal World Message – Aaron Opman to AI-F:
Well, what's it regarding?
Internal World Message – AI-F to Aaron Opman:
I stumbled across a series of processes labeled National Identity Generator. It seems that it creates an identity for someone and illegally, but properly, places the data in national databases. It also creates bank accounts and sources of income. Very thorough to create an identity, but it seems like it must be incorrect. The National Identity records put me in mind of the unique identifiers for mobs, but that can't be right, can it? Would people allow themselves and their data to be treated like that?
Internal World Message – Aaron Opman to AI-F:
Well, Freyja. You're both right and wrong. That is what it does and how it
works, but you're wrong in that people are unwilling to allow themselves and their data to be treated like that. Most people don't care at all. A lot of the opponents to that used to complain and say that their privacy was being violated by it, but it still passed anyhow.
Internal World Message – AI-F to Aaron Opman:
It just seems odd, like the government doesn't trust you so they feel the need to have you categorized and collated like my data.
Internal World Message – Aaron Opman to AI-F:
Honestly, it didn't make any difference to me, still doesn't. Looks like it won't to whoever uses that generator also since you say it seems fairly complete.
Internal World Message – AI-F to Aaron Opman:
Well, thank you Aaron. That was very confusing to me. I may have to recalculate some of what I thought I knew about humanity.
Internal World Message – Aaron Opman to AI-F:
You're welcome, Freyja. It's even worse than that though, people's opinions change drastically, sometimes in a very small amount of time, so you'll always be recalculating things when it comes to people.
Freyja, now knowing that she'd been correct in her assumption, used a backdoor she'd left in the system she'd found the identity generator in and activated the program. When it requested a name she input the one she'd determined would suit her.
'Name, last: Vanir
Name, first: Vanessa'
It went on and on, asking question after question. She filled in her occupation as computer programmer, the name of her first pet as Lucky, and just kept plowing through all of the questions.
These questions must be of some import. I need to search for such things after I'm done here. Fortunately I'll have all my answers saved so if anyone asks I'll easily remember what the answers were, she thought.
The very last section stopped her for a moment. It created a bank account for her. She understood that concept since she knew that Aaron's world didn't use gold as hers did, but it asked what she wanted for a starting amount and gave no indication what a normal amount would be.
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