Ch.44 Power structure.
Morning came again, finding me ready. I jumped out of bed, did my workout and meditated. Dream life. Then hurried to classes. First was Etiquette, after Aether Theory, then Geography and Political Science. That went ok… Th classes were still focused on the Aethelgard kingdom, the country I was in currently, so there wasn’t much of high interest for me. I looked at the huge map on the side wall, map that was detailing the crazy world I was born in.
Aethelgard kingdom had a large coastline, the biggest of all countries. We also covered the most landmass. The population was made up in majority of humans. To the west was an ocean, to the east we were bordered by the Ironspine Peaks.
The mountains were partly volcanic in nature, being most probably of tectonic plate raising nature. They were all under dwarven occupation, making our western neighbor the Khaz’Modan, country of the dwarves.
To the south was the whispering peninsula where Rovandel and the Whispering woods were. In the southeast, where the Iron Peaks ended was the Iron Gate a land pass that connected the southern desert of the Seridia Empire to the hills of Aethelgard.
To the north lay the Serpent’s Sea, a sea where the infamous Leviathans could often be seen and encountered, their long coiling bodies often finding ships to constrict around. Over the Serpent’s Sea were the Obsidian isles, where the Obsidian Spire resided.
It had too small of a population to be called a kingdom, but was an independent force, renowned for their ability to ward off the Leviathans, which assured their independence and continued existence. They traded obsidian rock and ores, along with a variety of sea life.
East of the Obsidian isles was the Draconic pass, a place where the territories of Dragons and Leviathans overlapped and where few ventured as the few isles scattered often witnessed the struggles taking place between the two species of legendary beasts.
Despite the danger, those that ventured there and managed to return in one piece, often became rich and bathed in luxury, as they would find and bring back the materials off their remains. A place of riches and peril.
Further east lay a branch of the Ironspine Peaks, the Dragon tooth mountains, which, as you’d expect, were the territory of dragons. From there going east over the Kraken’s Sea you could find the Theocracy of Val-Tyria.
An insular country that was very strange. Despite being isolated they were the leading authority in research and engineering, surpassing even the dwarves. Now if it came down to metal working… That was another discussion entirely. But their strangeness came from their worship of research, considering aether itself a divine grace and its study, the highest form of piety to the divine.
Southwest of the Theocracy, over the Kraken’s Sea were the Vok’Tar Steppes, territory of the beastmen, Magnar’s homeland. A relatively large stretch of land that lay between the Kraken’s Sea and Krag kingdom.
South of Vok’Tar was the Flaming Sea. The origin of the name lay in the Ash-Veil Isles where the biggest volcano of the recorded world existed. It was the home of Phoenixes and a region brimming with tropical life.
To summarize the conflicts known, The Seridia Empire and the Kingdom of Krag were the places where the Church of Grace was most deeply rooted. The ideologies they pushed and presented were in direct opposition to those of Val-Tyria, so these three powers were at odds.
The beastmen were in good relationships with all their neighbors, however. If one had to pick who was their closest ally, then it would be the dwarves. The beastmen were basically the field testers of the dwarves. This made them pretty much a must no touch force. No one dared to attack them and risk being cut off from the ore and weaponry outflow from Khaz’Modan.
Aethelgard was most intertwined with the dwarves and the Obsidian Spire. The nobles of Aethelgard despised the worship minded inhabitants of the eastern side of the continent and didn’t want to have much to do with them, but if they were to pick a side… That would be Val-Tyria.
As much as they were weird, the Val-Tyrians kept their ideologies to themselves and weren’t expansionists. They traded knowledge for research resources and that was it. If the dwarves produced the legendary equipment needed to destroy beasts, then the Val-Tyrians produced the schematics and arrays that powered the current civilization.
With all this knowledge having been explained to me by Eld-Mother Edith and by Fjorn, I had no reason to pay attention to the longwinded information that was being explained in class. At most I’d note any specific customs that I should look out for and that would be it.
After class ended, I went out the Academy with Magnar to present my sword to Master Heston. I also needed to know how the daggers were doing and if there was any point in making more of them in case, they turned out to be more profitable.
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We slowly approached the smithy, there was no sheath or scabbard for the sword this time since the vibration recorder ate up my focus and time. People were eyeing us more than usual since we were walking around with a drawn sword, but in the end, they left us alone since I was hugging it.
Slowly the usual metal clanging began making itself heard. Soon the smithy was back in our view. Goran was hammering still while Kester was maintaining the fire. Both of them seemed to be even more focused than last time.
Master Heston was setting the rhythm for Goran with his smaller hammer. I waited a bit, however it soon became apparent that waiting was only going to take a long time, since they cut the billet to fold it.
“Master Heston! We’re here.” I shouted over the hum of the forge and between hammer strikes to make sure he’d hear me.
I was ignored, however. Or perhaps they didn’t hear. I took some steps forward to enter their field of view. Goran saw me first and stopped hammering following Heston’s beat. I saw master Heston throw his head up and looking at Goran. The big guy gestured towards me and Master Heston turned around to see us.
“Not the best moment for you to show up kid, we’re swamped.” Said Master Heston while taking out some puffy cotton from his ears.
“I can see that…”
“Quick now, we can’t let the billet sit too long.” He urged me on eyeing my sword.
“Here!” I handed it to him. “I’d like you to evaluate it and buy it off of me.”
He took the sword and ran his fingers over its surface, then pressed his thumb on the edges. It was a standard cross guarded, double-edged sword, the kind that was often associated with history and the past.
“Huh, after you brought in those daggers last time, I started to think you only knew how to make those.” He said as he rubbed the sword against his forearm.
“So how much?”
“Straight to the point, eh? But you’re right, I’m in a hurry. Two gold at best.”
“Hm? Why?”
“Because it is a basic sword. Even as a peak second grade artifact it can’t really be used.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll explain while beatin’ the iron. Don’t ask more questions afterwards, I won’t be able to hear you…” Goran did not wait for instructions this time, and as soon as Master Heston said two gold he went and brought back ten silvers and two half golds.
“You see... the daggers…”
Clang.
“…are fine, those are things that…”
Clang.
“…can be used within the city gates…”
Clang.
“…They are basic defense weapons and…”
Clang.
“…are allowed to be carried around. Swords on the other hand…”
Clang.
“…are not. They are only used…”
Clang.
“…outside the city to fight monsters…”
He paused before each strike from Goran.
“Monsters which…”
Clang.
“…are all armed with elemental affinities… As such, unless one is short…”
Clang.
“…on money, they will…”
Clang.
“…never buy a non-attribute… sword. Besides, attribute weapons…”
Clang.
“…give a fighting chance… against someone of a…”
Clang.
“…higher stage. So, your sword has small chances…”
Clang.
“…to be bought.”
I nodded and bowed from the waist to express my understanding and thanks.
“Also, most mercenaries…”
Clang.
“…will be at the third stage… They usually buy second grade…”
Clang.
“…weapons and use them… as disposables… They bring back the pieces…”
Clang.
“…the monster materials if possible… are reused while the metal is scrapped…”
Clang.
“…and smelted with ores.”
I nodded again.
“There are few mercenaries… at the second level… because the chances of encountering…”
Clang.
“…fourth stage beasts… is too damn high for… someone who can’t fight back… against them. Your daggers…”
Clang.
“…Are also a bit hard… to sell. I still have two left… So, you should…”
Clang.
“…focus on monster materials… as soon as possible. This… is all. You may go.”
I bowed again and left, taking Magnar with me and leaving the sword behind.
“Sounds to me like the people here don’t know how to appreciate a weapon…” Magnar commented after we put some distance between the smithy and us.
“What can you do? It’s normal people use cheap stuff. Perhaps not to you, but a third grade weapon must be forged by a fourth stage blacksmith or be made using fourth stage materials and beast core as augment. This makes them pricey…”
“That still doesn’t mean that your weapons shouldn’t sell and be ignored… They are the best I’ve seen since coming here.”
“Eh… Can’t help it… If they don’t offer an advantage needed, they just don’t. Rather I should be happy that Master Heston bought the sword at all…”
“What if I get you to forge weapons for us, the beastmen at the academy?”
“That you already said you wanted me to do… But I’m not sure if I can… Or rather I should be able to… Yeah… you’re just adult sized now…”
“Why do I feel like you just said something really bad about us…”
“Because you have feelings? I’ll try to do it. But I’ll need them to come over and observe them fight.”
“Why?”
“I can’t make standard issue weapons for you… I have the option to get to know who I’m forging for so I’ll make them the best I can.”
“You didn’t have that issue with the daggers and sword…”
“Yes but those are premade to be sold to some random strangers. Your friends are not only people I should care about, but also fat sheep who can afford the custom forging.”
“… No ripping off.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll price it all fairly, I don’t need to steal from them… But I do need money to buy and experiment with monster materials…”
Continuing to bicker like that we returned to the tower.
“Before I even get to make weapons for you and your friends, I need to make a smeltery, to be able to cast metal, but first a kitchen and the heating system.”
“Alright. So… where do you want it to be?”
“Obviously first floor.”
Magnar nodded in response. Some more chiseling and stone stacking ahead of us… But we are building a dream home after all.
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?? Author's Question:
Using a tuning fork, a beast feather, and smoked oil to record magic waves... Cato's "MacGyver" engineering is in full swing. What modern device do you hope he tries to reinvent next?
