by Trey Myr
I learned a lot about dwarves in general and Marjory specifically over the next few days. Dwarves, as I’d known before, were all fire aligned. What I didn’t know was that a dwarf’s hair was an indication of how strong the alignment was. Red haired dwarves had barely any fire in their vim, and were unable to heat up steam fast enough to use cannons. They could still work the steam powered machinery the dwarves were famous for, but not the weapons. Yellow haired dwarves were stronger and were the primary soldiers of their race. Blue hair like Marjory’s was the rarest and meant the vim was almost purely fire aligned. Marjory herself could fire her cannon twice as fast as her yellow haired brothers, and could maintain that fire rate for twice as long.
The three dwarves were mercenaries, and were headed towards the human part of the continent where a dwarven warrior was a rare sight and could expect a higher fee for their service. She expected her brothers to take a while to recover from the poison, but I gave her my word that I would consider hiring them as more gunners when they were sufficiently recovered. It wasn’t a hard promise to make. Dwarves were known to be dependable and loyal, and were deadly with their chosen weapons.
I still planned on Shaping some Archers to serve as more flexible ranged fighters, since it turned out that detaching the steam cannon from its mount would take about five minutes, and was therefore not feasible in mid combat.
By the second day of sailing, Marjory commandeered my load of whitesteel and set to upgrading her cannon, muttering about higher pressure tolerance and better muzzle velocities. Not before asking me what I expected to sell the metal for and telling me to deduct it from her share of whatever future profits we earned.
We reached Gerald’s Rest three days later, and I once again stopped the Swift out of sight and disembarked with Marjory and four of the Deckhands. It took all four to lift one of the dwarven brothers and carry him to town, but Marjory seemed to effortlessly lift the second brother and had no trouble keeping up. We dropped the poisoned dwarves at the town healer’s house, where the old herbalist took a pair of silver coins from Marjory and promised her that her brothers would make a full recovery within a month or so.
By then we were both more than ready for a bath and decent food, and I showed Marjory to the Boar and Barrel, where I hoped to also talk to Darren about buying more Blast Crystal. Between the crystal, the probable cost of a pair of Archer Shapings and Marjory taking over the whitesteel, I was quickly running out of funds, and planned on scavenging some ruins out in the wilds after finishing my resupply trip.
Darren was sitting at his usual table, and raised his brows when he saw me approach with Marjory. “Jack Baker! I didn’t expect you back so soon. Didn’t you pack enough supplies for a month?”
“Good to see you too, Darren,” I shook his offered hand and sat down. “I ran into some issues that made me rethink my approach, so I’m back for some refitting. I’m also running through my supply of blast crystal faster than expected, so I’d like to buy some more before heading out.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Not sorry that you’re buying more crystal though,” the man winked at me and turned to Marjory. “Please forgive my impoliteness, miss. It’s been a while since I saw Jack here last. I’m Darren Forrester.”
“Marjory, daughter of Meredith.” She shook his hand vigorously.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Marjory," Darren returned the handshake just as vigorously and we all sat down and waited for the serving maid to arrive.
I’d probably seen Mable advertise her wares, so to speak, at least a hundred times over the years, and I’d enjoyed her company just a few weeks prior, but her approach never seemed to lose its appeal. Marjory seemed to be as engrossed at the swaying, well-endowed young woman as Darren and myself, and none of the three of us said a word until she reached us.
“Hey Jacky! I didn’t know you were back in town.” Mable smiled at me as if seeing me was the best thing that’d happened to her all day. Which was the same smile she gave more or less everyone, so I didn’t read too much into it, but it never failed to lift my spirits. “We’ve got rabbit stew and fresh bread, or roast pork and potatoes today, or you can always order the special”
“I’ll take the stew today, please. And a large mug of Henry’s ale.”
“Sure thing Jacky,” she turned her smile at Marjory. “And for you honey? I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”
“I’d be surprised if you had seen me, considering I just got here,” the dwarf smiled back. “I’m Marjory, and I’ll have the stew and a lot of the ale.”
“Sure thing honey. I’m Mable, and I’m here for anything you might want,” Mable winked and turned to leave. We stayed and watched her swaying behind silently until the kitchen door cut off the view.
“Now there’s a woman who knows what she’s got,” Marjory said in appreciation once the floor show was over. “And who has quite a lot to boot.”
“I’ll drink to that,” I said and raised the mug of ale Mable placed in front of me when she arrived.
“Am I correct in the assumption that the special is Mable herself?”
“That it is,” Darren nodded.
“Hmm.”
“So you go to the wilds packing enough supplies for a month and then show up back here two weeks early with a blue haired dwarf in tow. I feel like there’s a story there I would very much like to hear.”
“Well,” I started, “I got to the Outpost a lot sooner than I expected to, and the soldiers said they’ve been running into warpwolves, flying lizards and a gang of raiders, and I figured that my best target was the wolves…”
I made sure not to mention anything about the Swift as I told Darren about looking for, and not finding, the wolves, and about the trouble I had with the lizards, and that I’d decided to return and get more ammunition and some Archers when I saw the three dwarves fighting the raiders.
“And then we got them back here as fast as we could so that Granny Laurel could deal with the poison.”
“Oof. That’s some bad luck to run into so many flyers on your first run into the wilds. So I take it that you want me to get you some more blast crystal?”
“Yeah. More crystal is definitely the first order of business. But I’d also appreciate it if you could give me a letter of introduction for the Whites. I don’t think they’ll let me use their Patterns if I just show up out of the blue.”
“I thought you have Marjory to take care of your ranged problem now, no?”
“I’d still like a couple of Archers. Marjory is very good, but even she can get overwhelmed if enough enemies swarm us.”
“I’d take offense at that,” the dwarf interjected, “but we were about to be overrun when you showed up. More fighting ability can’t hurt.”
“Well, I can definitely get you enough crystal for ten more shots, but this is probably the last batch I’ll be able to sell you for the next two months or so. The Phoenixes aren’t due for rebirth until midwinter, and we’re starting to run low.”
“That’s fine. I’m really hoping I can avoid using the arquebus so much going forward.”
“Hope you’re right, because there isn’t any to sell after this. I can also write you a letter for Simon, the Whites’ eldest son. We’ve done business before so it should at least get you through the door.”
“Thanks Darren. I appreciate the help.”
“No problem. What are your plans after getting the Archers?”
“Between paying for the Shapings and Marjory taking over the whitesteel, I’m starting to run low on funds again. I’ll probably either try to run down some of the raiders and see what they have or try my luck at some ruins I’ve had my eye on.”
“Take care if you go after the raiders, Jack. They tend to be nasty people, and a lot of the really bad warped people find a place among them.”
“I know. And they probably know at least something about me by now since some of them ran away after we routed them.”
“We’ll probably have t
o face them,” Marjory added. “They’re going to want revenge, and they’re going to want to take your stuff.”
“You might be better off going to a different part of the border,” Darren suggested. “It’ll mean dangers you aren’t familiar with, but at least you won’t have a bunch of angry and greedy raiders after you.”
“You might have a point. I’ll definitely need to consider it. But I want those Archers first either way.”
Our dinner had arrived while we were talking, and we were soon too busy eating Agnes’s cooking to keep talking.
“This was absolutely fantastic,” Marjory sighed happily once her plate was completely empty. “Even the ale was almost up to dwarven standards.”
“Henry does take his brewing seriously,” I agreed. “I think I’ll go get a room and arrange for a bath before sleeping. I can definitely use it.”
“A bath would be wonderful,” the dwarf agreed. “Not quite sure about sleeping yet. I think I’ll go sample some of the special first, if there’s any still available.”
“You’re in for a treat,” Darren said as the two of us rose from our sits. “Mable definitely knows how to show a girl a good time.
“Or so I’ve heard,” he added hurriedly. “I mean, she certainly knows how to show a guy a good time, and I’ve heard she’s good with girls too.”
I dismissed Darren’s words, since we’ve both been drinking more than usual over dinner, trying to keep up with Marjory, and went to talk to Henry about a room and a bath.
✽✽✽
I left Gerald’s Rest early the following morning with a full load of blast crystal, a letter of introduction for Simon White and a very satisfied looking dwarven gunner. It would take the Swift two days to reach Whitecliff, after which I planned on taking Darren’s advice and heading to a different section of the wilds. Unlike Gerald’s Rest, Whitecliff hadn’t been a frontier town for at least two generations, and would be larger and more focused on trade than on scavengers.
The first day after leaving Gerald’s Rest was completely uneventful. Marjory spent most of her time tinkering with her steam cannon and replacing parts of the elaborate contraption with whitesteel. I wasn’t expecting any trouble, since we were fairly far from the border, so I locked the wheel and went to look at the dwarf working.
Watching a dwarf work with metal was a truly amazing sight. The same fire vim that allowed her to heat up water into steam to power her cannon also let her heat up the whitesteel until it softened, and she seemed to have no trouble at all in handling the white hot metal, stretching it like clay and molding it with her bare hands.
“Is this something every dwarf can do?” I asked after she finished preparing a new water tank and had paused to let it cool down before installing it.
“More or less,” Marjory said after taking a large pull from a wineskin that probably had some more of Henry’s ale. “Every one of us can work with steel, but whitesteel needs a higher temperature and loses heat faster, so it takes a blue hair or a couple of yellows to work it.”
“That’s really amazing.”
“Says the guy with the flying ship.”
Chapter 7 – Rukh and Ghoul
We slept on the Boat that day, hovering high above the ground and trusting that nobody will see us. The next morning, Marjory announced that she was finished with the cannon, and spent a couple of hours aiming at random birds and getting a feel for the range and power of the upgraded weapon. Towards noon, I spotted a small flying island high up on our port side. It was perhaps fifty meters wide, and seemed to carry the remains of some sort of building.
“I think this island is high enough that people on the ground wouldn’t be able to see it,” I told Marjory. “And if those are old-world ruins on it, it might be worth exploring.”
“Let’s go! Old-world ruins have the best stuff!”
I smiled at the dwarf’s enthusiasm and pulled the wing sail lever to raise the Swift to the island’s height. The closer we got to the flying island, the more details I could make out. The bottom of the island looked like it was ripped from the ground hundreds of years ago. It probably started its life as a flying island with a jagged underside composed of sharp rocks and loose earth, but hundreds of years of erosion had smoothed up most of the rough edges, and I could even see grass and small bushes growing upside down from underneath.
On top of the flying island, a single tower rose to a height of thirty meters above the grass covered island. Centuries of moss covered the tower, making it almost indistinguishable from its surroundings, and large parts of its parapet had fallen either during the fall of the old-world or the hundreds of years since. Still, for a tower that survived the violent separation of its foundation from the rest of the continent and the centuries since, the structure was in remarkably good shape. Something had built a large nest on top of the tower, and if it built on the same scale as regular birds, I estimated it to be as large as the Swift.
As I turned the Boat to port and set to circling the island, Marjory yelled at me from the aft cannon.
“Why aren’t we landing?”
“There’s something nesting in the tower. I don’t want to have it attack the Swift when she’s grounded and your cannon isn’t mounted. I want to give it some time to see if whatever it is is nearby.”
I didn’t hear her reply, but I was sure that the brash dwarf didn’t agree with my caution. Nevertheless, I circled the island for ten more minutes before heading in and landing us near the entrance to the tower.
I watched the sky anxiously while Marjory waited for the Swift to absorb the mounted steam cannon and give her back the mobile version.
“Ha!” I heard her exclaim happily a few minutes later. “I knew the modifications would translate!”
She ran over to the gangplank, and I could see the familiar color of whitesteel on her weapon’s boiler.
“Will you be able to aim properly?” I asked my gunner. “You practiced with the mounted version, but not with the upgraded mobile cannon.”
“I’ll be fine. At the ranges we’re likely to be fighting here, if there’s even anything to fight, the trajectory is more or less flat anyway, so the extra muzzle velocity shouldn’t be an issue.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” I shrugged. I knew enough about firearms to load, aim and maintain my arquebus, and that’s it. Trajectories and muzzle velocities were way beyond my understanding or interest.
I took four of the Deckhands with me to the island, and had the fifth take the Swift back up and out of sight, and followed the Shapes towards the tower.
The door leading into the tower must have been made of wood, since there was nothing left of it after centuries of neglect, and the first floor of the tower was covered by dust and debris. There wasn’t anything left whole in the large room, which spread over the entire first floor of the tower, and it was impossible to tell what purpose it once served.
The room’s ceiling was six meters high and there was a stairway leading up to the second floor at the far side of the room, and piles of rotten wood and rusted metal that might have once been furniture strewn about. Two large piles of rusted metal might have once been the armor of a pair of guards standing to either side of the entrance, and two more flanked the stairway.
There were no footprints to disturb the dust, and while we still approached cautiously, I wasn’t expecting anything to attack us. We spent a few minutes looking through the debris, but there wasn’t anything worth taking with us, and we slowly went upstairs, testing each step before we stepped on it to ensure it would hold our weight.
We climbed up to the second floor and stopped at a small landing. There was a door to the left leading into the second floor itself, and the stairway kept going up to the third.
“I’ll send one of the Deckhands in first, and I want you behind it ready to shoot,” I told Marjory.
“Aye aye captain!” the dwarf winked at me as she climbed past me, moving a lot closer than was strictly necessary.
&nb
sp; I sent a second Deckhand to guard the stairs leading higher, and had the first open the door. The second floor was in much better shape than the first, being somewhat isolated from the environment, and was recognizable as communal living quarters. There was once again only one large room, but this one had the remains of bunk beds and chests which had probably been used by the residents to store their belongings. A smaller room on the left side proved to be a garderobe.
There had once been sixteen people living in the room, and the two of us spent about fifteen minutes breaking open the chests and looking through the contents. Most of what we found was the disintegrated remains of clothing, but we also turned up a nice collection of copper coins, and even a couple of silvers. It was probably a very small amount of money in its time, but the old-world coins would be worth a lot more to the right collectors than their actual value as coins.
The third floor split into two rooms, and was once a large kitchen and mess hall. A large cooking hearth dominated the kitchen and was surrounded by stone counters the cook once used to prepare food for the tower’s residents. We found the remains of cooking pots, knives and frying pans, but nothing that was worth taking with us. The mess hall still had the long tables and benches the residents ate at, but that was it.
The fourth floor was one large bedroom which might have belonged to the tower’s master, whoever he or she once was. A large bed and large wardrobes took up most of the room, and another garderobe took up a quarter of the floor. There was still no sign of anything living, and we searched the room quickly and found some more coins, more silver than copper this time, and a fancy but unfortunately empty jewelry box which I knew Darren would pay well for.
“This doesn’t look like it’s worth much so far,” Marjory said after we finished checking the bedroom. “I mean, the box might be worth half a gold or so, but I expected a lot more from an old-world ruin, from your tales.”
“Actually, between the coins and the box we probably have enough that your half share should cover the cost of the whitesteel you used to upgrade your cannon.”
