As the group followed Ironbrow on the mine track downward, Drakvik swallowed the ever darkening night sky. Her eyes couldn't help but wonder around and find a type of inspiration in how the dwarves built the settlement. It reminded her of home in Yuhia for its practicality while also admiring the elegance unlike the utilitarian uniformity of Helmforað. The ancient human city held far greater wonders but it lacked life. This one was full of grand works while also being alive.
The upper ring still remembered the surface. The air held a chill as the sun dipped past the horizon that chill clung to the stone and mixed uneasily with the first breaths of industry. The smell that rose from below was sharp and metallic. There was oil, iron dust, and the faint ozone sting of active runes.
Ballista winches groaned overhead, chains rattling as crystalized carcasses were hauled in from the wall. The sound echoed endlessly, every clang and shout stretched and distorted as echos bled together.
Light came in bands rather than pools. Glowing runes traced the steam lines like veins, their pale amber glow sliding across iron braces and soot-stained masonry. Shadows moved constantly, cast by carts rolling past and dwarves crossing catwalks with practiced urgency. Nothing here was decorative, which Tanisha's wendigo's side deftly appreciated. Every surface was scarred, reinforced, and repurposed a dozen times over.
"You are going to have to duck a lot here," Aurelius said.
Tanisha raised an arm to guide her way under an overhead path. She was careful that the action didn't expose herself since apparently that was a big deal according to Aurelius and the old dwarf lady that gave her the covering. She was much taller than the height of a dwarf and while the passages were spacious many of them weren't designed for someone six-eight. She looked back at Bjorn who was moving cautiously but also elegantly through the tight corridors.
"I am used to tunnels, I spent nearly a year in one full of maya." Bjorn offered.
"I wasn't going to say anything," Tanisha said.
She then turned back around and bumped her head into one of the pipes. She cursed under her breath.
The second ring was warmer. Not stifling yet but quickly rising in temperature. The air thickened, carrying the scent of burning coal, hot stone, and something sharper: the sweet, brittle smell of freshly cracked monster crystal. It crunched underfoot where fragments had been missed by the crews, the sound like frost beneath boots.
Here the town grew denser. Buildings pressed close to the inner wall of the ring, their sides laced with glowing script and humming faintly as steam pulsed through embedded channels. Pipes ran in layered bundles overhead, wrapped in rune-etched metal. The sound deepened to something more identifiable. Less clatter, more thunder. The forge's heartbeat was louder like a constant vibration she felt through her bones more than her ears.
Dwarves moved with purpose but without the haste that would cause mistakes. Shift changes happened seamlessly, one crew flowing around another. Sparks spilled from open workshop doors, briefly illuminating faces etched with soot and concentration before the light vanished again.
More than a few faces turned to Bjorn especially. Some nudge others to see the impressive hydra familiar walking around their town with a demon and an elf. It didn't stop workflow but it did cause a few to call out to Ironbrow.
"Mind ya business, they with me!" He said to any curious interlocutor.
Then she descended again. Tanisha expected the third ring to be unbearable. By all logic it should have been choking, sweltering, and loud enough to rattle teeth. Tanisha braced herself as the ramp carried her lower, closer to the central forge where every steam line, rail, and road converged.
Instead of sweltering heat, cool air brushed her skin. Her group slowed in confusion.
"It is always funny to see the looks on outsiders faces when they get to the third level." Ironbrow chuckled. "This is the commercial and residential ring. We may not be as bothered by the heat as you soft skins are but that don't mean we like to sleep in it."
Tanisha couldn't help but agree that this ring was different. Then the others.
The heat didn't vanish it was still their but the bite was gone and as they descended it lessened even more. The air here was clean, dry, and comfortably cool, carrying only the faint scent of worked stone, warm metal and hearths preparing dinners. The noise softened as well, no longer thunder but instead a distant memory.
Only then did she notice the walls. Every single brick was carved with layered runic script. It was dense, overlapping, and impossibly precise. Not etched after construction, but built into the stone itself, each glyph flowing seamlessly into the next. The runes glowed faintly, not bright enough to dazzle, but enough to give the entire ring a calm, even illumination.
Tanisha wished she had a notebook or something to write down what she was seeing. Her understanding of runes was specialized to alchemy. There were several runic scripts and basically different languages which codified magic and academic arcana. Dwarven runes were the base for all other rune systems so she could read some of them but others were unfamiliar.
Just by what she could understand this wasn't just temperature control. It was environmental domination. Which made her giddy with excitement. To understand how they worked. She pierced some of it together. The runes drank heat, bled it away through unseen channels, redistributed pressure, dampened sound, purified air.
The sheer scale of it made Tanisha's breath catch. To inscribe something like this anywhere else in the world would take generations. Probably armies of arcanists, infinite funding, and miracles stacked on top of miracles. Here, in the heartland of runic magic, it was mundane housing.
"Oi, young lady," Ironbrow called back. "Don't get left behind."
Tanisha snapped out of her impromptu study session and stepped through space, reappearing beside Aurelius and the others as the portal sealed itself behind her.
Ironbrow slowed and shot her a look. "Hold on. How did you use a spell?" he asked. "Ain't ya a demon?"
"Oh, no," Tanisha said quickly. "I am a cernunnos. Uh, a wendigo. Kind of. Or maybe not. It is complicated."
Ironbrow rubbed his beard and squinted at her. "Wendigo, eh? Thought they looked different." He shrugged. "Well, whatever you are, I have not seen your kind before."
He looked at Tanisha one more time before continuing to lead them further through the third ring. Shops lined the far wall. Dwarven voices carried easily without echo. Metal shutters were engraved instead of painted. Even the walkways bore runes, worn smooth by centuries of boots. This was where dwarves lived, traded, ate, and rested, steps away from a forge that could melt mountains.
"Here we are, Kegsplitter Brewery." Ironbrow said with pride.
From the outside, it was impossible to tell how large the brewery truly was. Only a massive door was visible in the stone wall of the third ring, but that door was larger than almost any Tanisha had seen in the town. Minecarts rattled in, piled high with ingredients, while a steady flow of barrels rolled out in the opposite direction.
"It's busy." Aurelius said.
"Well of course it is," Ironbrow said. "Shift change. Thirsty dwarves comin' off work." He grinned. "Taverns have to stay stocked if you want morale to stay high. Nothing kills productivity faster than a dwarf runnin' out of ale."
"Not to complain or anything. But aren't we arrested?" Tanisha questioned.
"Yeah, that is why you're here." Ironbrow said.
"Not the guards?" Tanisha asked carefully.
"Guards, ain't none of them round here. We take care of our own. Someone gets sticky fingers. It means they haven't worked hard enough to make enough money to buy what they want. Hurt someone, we hurt you, follow the rules and everyone is productive. Guards just complicated things."
"Ah. Okay. So what is going to happen to us here?" Tanisha questioned.
"Were you not listening the entire way down here?" Aurelius asked with a sigh. "He said we have to work to pay for the Entry Tokens and clothing."
"Oh, is that why it is going to take two weeks or something?" Tanisha questioned.
"Yes, I will put ya to work here," Ironbrow said. "Take your time getting to learn your way around the brewery. Pay is three silvers, two coppers a day."
"Ironbrow!" A dwarf said as he ran out from the brewery. "I have been looking for you. We have a problem with the heat exchanger. We might have contamination on tanks nineteen and twenty."
"Ah shit, isolate the tanks and shut it down." Ironbrow said urgently.
The two dwarves disappeared quickly into the crowd, swallowed by the clamor of the busy facility. Tanisha and the group stayed back, huddling together to discuss their options. For now, staying here for two weeks to ensure safe passage through the dwarven kingdom seemed like the best move, as long as they weren't being led into a trap. Aurelius had only ever visited dwarven towns along the borders of the Chaos Lands, and without a map or provisions, wandering vaguely east was not a solution.
"Worse, we can't go through the Chaos Land right now anyway," Tanisha said.
"Right,right. With the increase in monsters I am sure all travel through it will halt for a while." Aurelius rubbed his chin. "If we take the northern route, we have to go through Valachyra and Umbrosia maybe even一"
"I'm sorry, we have to go though where?" Tanisha questioned.
"Valachyra, you know, the vampire kingdom that borders Isopike to the north." Aurelius said.
"I know that. I mean the other one." Tanisha said.
"Umbrosia. It's part of Postlumia now." Aurelius explained. "The empire expanded into what used to be orc lands, probably five years ago. They renamed it after conquering it. It was a big deal for a while. My family stayed far away, but many thought Postlumia might have designs on the Force Isles. Obviously, they didn't."
Aurelius paused and furrowed his brow, "Aren't you a princess or something shouldn't you know about this?"
"The princess title came late and Wendigo don't really teach much about politics that don't affect us. Especially when there is war going on. Oh, so you might actually meet an elf on the way to the Force Isles." Tanisha said, a grin spreading across her face. "And I will be able to buy more blood wine when we travel through the vampire kingdom!"
Aurelius's gaze dropped, and for a moment, he grew quiet. Tanisha noticed the shift; she knew he had never met another elf before. Most elves were hypersensitive to the corrupted mana of the Chaos Lands, making travel through it nearly impossible. He was the only known exception. When they first met, he had suspected she might be an elven cambion because of her unusual cernunnos traits. She could sense that the thought of encountering a real elf made him nervous, but he drew a deep breath. His brief melancholy evaporated, replaced by his usual composure.
"Yeah, probably, but no getting drunk when we go through Valachyra." Aurelius said, shaking off the moment.
"Never getting drunk again. I could live an entire life never having another hangover and it would be too soon." Tanisha said with a shake of her head.
"Have you ever been to the Vampire Kingdome?" Bjorn asked.
"No, but I have heard they are a friendly people. Very anti-war and always advocating for peace and negotiations. I also heard there are some places foreigners can go. Entire cities where only vampires are permitted… well vampires and dwarves. Apparently they have a long standing alliance or something." Aurelius said.
"That brings us back to the now," Tanisha said. "Two weeks isn't long but If we don't have to spend that time here that would be better. Maybe we can find ways to make more money than just working for Ironbrow. Besides if we have to pay for food and board I doubt it will only be two weeks. Bjorn alone eats an entire cow in food."
"I can go weeks without eating with no issues." Bjorn said.
"No I am not going to let you starve, Big Man." Tanisha said firmly.
"After we get situated we can see if there are better money making opportunities." Aurelius said. "Like you alche一chemistry. Or hunting some of those monsters for them."
Tanisha raised one of her hands as an idea came to her. Aurelius turned away as her wrap opened slightly. But she was too excited to care.
"I can do cold infusion," she said, her voice bright. "Surely with all the craftsmen and metalworking here, someone could use a talent like mine. As far as I can see, everything here is runecraft, not infusion—it's something they probably lack." She crossed her arms and lifted her chin proudly. "Turns out it's rare, and I'm kind of a prodigy at it."
"I didn't know you could do cold infusion." Aurelius said.
"Yeah, the armor I had before it was destroyed in battle and replaced by Laxy was infused." Tanisha said. "The blacksmith that made that armor was also a dwarf. He used some of the infused metal to give the armor a retaliatory effect."
"Wait, that was what those golden feathers were?" Aurelius asked. "I always thought that was just a spell you retired."
"Oi, you lot, come on Ironbow want to get ya used to the facility." A dwarf said as she walked up. "Names Rubyhearth Alehammer, nice ta meet-cha all. I am one of the managers of the brewery. Ironbrow wants me ta take ya to the tailor first. He said the girly has been flashin' everyone and we don't need distractions in the brewery."
Tanisha took in the appearance of the dwarf woman. She was broad-shouldered, sturdy and was likely middle-aged. The brewer wore her black hair braided tight with copper rings. A thick leather apron hung over a wool tunic, stained by years of work. One calloused hand rested on her hip.
Aurelius introduced everyone and told the woman they didn't have any money at the moment and couldn't afford clothing.
Rubyhearth let out a laugh, shaking her head. "Don't worry about that. We can have you walkin' around showin' everything to the world every time you bend over." Her eyes then flicked toward Tanisha, narrowing slightly. "You ain't a succubus, right?"
"That's a demon, right?" Tanisha asked, brow furrowed. "No. Not a demon at all. See?" She lifted her hand and mana coalesced into a small sphere of water. "Demons can't use mana."
"Oh, a mage too," Rubyhearth said, letting out a relieved sigh. "Thought I might have to tie up my husband. If we had another succubus stayin' here again…"
"Pardon?" Tanisha asked.
Then Rubyhearth's eyes flicked past her and froze. Her jaw tightened, and for the first time, she seemed genuinely startled. Tanisha followed her gaze and it was like the woman only just then realized Bjorn was there. Tanisha figured most dwarves didn't really see juvenile hydras very often. Or maybe they did. Tanisha didn't really know where hydras were from but the dwarves seemed to be some of the few that not only recognized Bjorn's species but also could tell he wasn't fully grown.
That got Tanisha hoping that they would run into a few hydras as they traveled. She was curious what they would do if they came across Bjorn. Bow? Challenge him? Worship? Can animals worship?
"Well… that's… uh…" Rubyhearth stammered, trying to recover. "I've seen some strange familiars, but… that's not a pet you just take for walks! "Can't have the animals in most shops, and definitely not in the brewery. They'll have to wait outside."
Tanisha spoke up, "He actually not一"
Bjorn's tail lightly pushed her off balance. She wasn't sure why she was about to expose Bjorn as not an animal. That would have required them to prove it and if they did all that would mean was they need to pay for one more Entry Token.
"Uh, yeah that is fine, where do you want them to stay?" Tanisha asked.
"We have a stable for drakes so we can put him there." Rubyhearth said.
"That probably won't work," Tanisha admitted. "He scares other great lizards."
"Uh, I will see what we can do then." Ruby said.