I wasn't in a particular hurry to get to the village. The white forest was a breathtaking sight to me as I hadn't seen snow in a while, and the last few winters back on Earth, that I could remember at least, had been extremely mild too. This was quite the opposite, and I allowed myself to take n all the sights.
The road wasn't easy to miss. It was made abundantly clear by the absence of trees in an almost entirely straight line. There was no doubt in my mind that this had been thought through.
"Seralyn, have you seen any animals out there?" I asked. "You're probably much better at spotting them than me."
"Nope, and why would there be any around? There's no food here."
I shrugged.
I should have known as much.
"Well, no," Velariah corrected her. "At least, I don't think so? My dad told me there are animals around here."
"Either they are not here, they are disguised too well, or your father was drunk, and I already know I can scrap that last."
I smiled at the reply and just carried on. Things did fall silent after that, but there was still plenty happening around us.
For example, the forest started becoming less and less dense, making way for a hilly landscape that became more and more uneven with larger mountains in the distance on both sides. When we reached the top of the one on our path, we could see a speck in the distance with a distinct plume of smoke rising from it.
"That has to be the village," I said. "We're almost there."
"Great," Seralyn said. "Can't wait to warm my feet."
"That bad?" Velariah asked in an utmost serious manner.
"Well, no, but some warmth would be very much welcome."
I turned my head to the side to get a good look at her with one of my side eyes. She'd wrapped herself tightly in one of the pelts but didn't seem cold in the slightest. I also took notice of Nira who'd practically done the same, except she didn't need a pelt of any kind. Her large wings and feathers seemed to do the trick just fine.
I mean, I had noticed before, but this was the first time it actually struck me. Another thing that was the case for her was that she didn't have feet that could get cold. Anything below her knees was just claws, which left her with much less surface area to keep warm.
"Just don't start a campfire back there," I said with a grin.
"A wagon with a campfire in the middle," Velariah said, a finger on her chin as she seemed to think. "Now there's an idea. Think there's a market for that?"
"More than likely," Draco replied. "But only for larger distances."
"Speaking of distances," I interrupted. "I think I can see the ocean beyond the village."
It was hard for me to confirm as for all I knew, it could be another mountain, and we'd lost the advantage of being on high ground to get a better look.
"It does look like it," Velariah confirmed my suspicions.
"Do people here fish? I'd love to get my hands on some if possible."
"I'd be surprised if they didn't, but I doubt they do it on a large scale. As far as I know, the waters here are frozen, so they'd have to dig holes first."
"Ice fishing," I said. "It does sound like a lot of extra work."
"But yeah, we can have a look if you want."
"Speaking of looking at things, are there any other things that are worth exploring here? Specific food, drink? Something that's local?"
"Well, we're taking the local specialty with us back home in the form of iron. Does that count?"
"I suppose it does," I said with a shrug. "I reckon word of me had already reached this place?"
"I'd be incredibly surprised if it hasn't. There are plenty of shipments going this way."
"Saves me having to deal with odd stares. Well, I suppose they will still be there, but at least I expect the fear factor to be significantly less."
"Eh, you'll be fine."
She didn't sound impressed, not fearful of our upcoming encounter with the locals. It certainly helped to ease my nerves as the village became bigger and bigger.
When we moved down one last hill, I could make out buildings and several other details. I was surprised to see that the architectural style was very similar to Dawnleaf's. The size was quite a bit smaller, and the buildings were spread further apart. There wasn't anything with the size of the guild hall back at home, but there was one structure that was larger than anything else.
There were some very striking differences, starting with the edge of the city.
There were no walls, well not the usual kind anyway. A ring of elevated dirt surrounded the village and in a way, it did act as a wall, but its purpose was mostly to keep wild animals out, made clear by the stakes pointing outward. An easy, but effective solution. Though, I still didn't know what lived here, but the necessity of such defense proved there had to be something.
In addition, there were the changes that had to do with the environment. Several braziers were placed along the roads in the city, starting with one at the entrance.
It all paled in comparison to the one thing that made this village unique. At its center wasn't a guild building or any other building for that sake. No, it was predominantly occupied with bloomeries, with a much larger version of one in the middle of them.
I should have expected something like this judging from the smoke I saw from far away.
"So, Vel," I started to ask another question. "Not only is the iron mined here, but it's also processed. Can't we take ingots back for Dworag? Wouldn't that make things easier?"
"Aha," She called. "Now that's a good question, and this I do know the answer to."
She seemed awfully happy to have a question like this to answer.
"You see, you cannot infuse iron with magic after it's processed. No, it has to be done before it's smelted for the first time. If you want dragon-blessed iron, you have to have it blessed while it's still in ore form. There's also this thing called costs, where many smiths prefer to smelt their own steel as it's much cheaper. It's only if one works with large quantities that it's worth buying ingots, and those aren't found in a small village like ours. Besides those two things, there's one last thing to take into consideration."
"Hm?"
"Some craftsmen add additional resources to their mix of metal, and they absolutely want to know what they are working with. Both Dworag and Coldanus fall into this category. They want to deliver the best work and they don't want others' hands in it."
"I can understand that. There are many alloys after all, and I have no idea how to tell them apart, save for a select few, like bronze… maybe brass. It doesn't help that virtually all metals have the same color."
"How many different metals are there?" Vealriah asked curiously. "I have a feeling you know."
"Oh, jeez," I let out. "Promise you won't make fun of me?"
"What, why?"
"There's this strange song back in my world by some guy that made it like, I don't know, fifty years ago, that listed all the known elements at the time, and in a way, I feel ashamed that I did my best to memorize it."
"That doesn't sound like something to be ashamed of."
"I know, I know," I said, smiling. "But there are people who think otherwise. Anyway, I believe back then there were about a hundred known elements, and I can tell you exactly which ones are metals if you give me a chance to write the lyrics down, but on top of my head, I would guess there are about… eighty metals?"
"What the fuck?" She exclaimed. "Eighty?"
"Something like that. I don't know the exact number, and keep in mind we're talking about Earth and not this world. Who knows how many there are here?"
I noticed the elf starting to count on her fingers.
"Please, do not hesitate to speak your thoughts," I said. I was curious how many she knew.
"Iron, copper, silver, gold, tin, lead, liquid silver, chromium, bismuth… That's all I can come up with. There are more, that much I'm certain of, but I'm not the person you need for this."
"That's already more than I can name," Seralyn said with a snicker. "Honestly, I'm impressed."
She was so not serious about this.
"I'm going to assume liquid silver is exactly what it sounds like," I said, ignoring the other elf.
"Yeah, it's a liquid. It's kinda freaky."
"We call it quicksilver, or mercury. Its vapors are extremely toxic so it's best not to mess around with the stuff."
"Huh, that's interesting. I'll make sure to tell my dad about that."
"Does he get to deal with that stuff often?"
"I heard him mention something about it a couple of times. I better make sure he knows that it's dangerous. That most certainly can't hurt."
"Fair."
We finally arrived at the village and were met by a distinct smell, one I hadn't smelled before, but I was sure I wouldn't forget it anytime soon as the town was drenched in it.
"Yep," Seralyn let out. "I'll most definitely be happy to leave as soon as possible."
Contrary to Dawnleaf, the streets were empty. I could imagine it in a way as it was quite chilly outside, but when we got closer to the bloomeries, temperatures were rising quickly, as was the density of people.
The only ones out and about were the workers of the forges—almost all elves, but there was a dwarf or two in the mix as well. For them, this environment seemed to be excellent. The cold outside air combined with the heat from their workplace made for almost pleasant conditions.
"So where do we need to go?" I asked, eyeing the one larger building I'd seen from a distance. If I were the gambling kind, I'd say that was some kind of headquarters and likely where we needed to fulfill the transactions. Unfortunately, the absence of a sign of any kind made it difficult to confirm my thoughts.
"You're from the guild, aren't you?" A friendly voice said as its speaker approached us.
An older elf, wearing a white cloth vest with black leather overalls as protection, walked up to our side. Against his shoulder, he carried a pair of massive tongs that I guessed were intended for placing metal ore inside the forges.
He didn't seem at all fazed by my presence. The question had been to-the-point, serious, and without fear.
"Yeah," Velariah called from the cart. "We got a delivery and would like to purchase some iron ore to take back.
"Well, you've come to the right place here," He said, nodding towards the building we had looked at before. "They'll do the talking and we'll do the lifting. How many crates would you like?"
"Can you do ten?" Velariah asked calmly.
"Ten's fine. We'll see to it."
That was surprisingly… easy.
"Thank you," The white-haired elf called as she hopped out of the cart. "Any of you wanna join me?"
"Yep," Seralyn exclaimed happily. "Time to warm up."
"I'll see if I can get my hands on some fish for you while I'm at it," Velariah said to me. "Draco, Seralyn, can you help me with the cargo?"
Draco didn't say a word and nodded, just as the knight headed inside, contract in hand. The lizardman followed her shortly after with the first crate.
I took the opportunity to look around a bit more. We wouldn't stay here for long, but the workings of this town were interesting nonetheless.
There were no guards around, and the easiest reason behind it that I could imagine was that there was no need for them. Anything that would get past the initial defenses would be met by an army of overly muscled men with hammers and whatever other tools they had readily available. This place was quite a bit more remote than Dawnleaf and built for one specific purpose.
This also meant there were no adventurers around that could cause all sorts of trouble. Well, none other than us at the moment. From time to time they'd visit for delivery quests such as ours but I doubted many of them would stick around.
If it wasn't for the industry here, this place would be quite serene to live in. Yet, the smell and smoke took all that desirability away. It was probably a necessary chemical or a byproduct, but it was still painful to endure. It did explain why there was nobody but the laborers outside. Things were probably much better inside.
Draco left the building again and started carrying the other crates inside. I reckoned Velariah was still working on the negotiations.
The other man eventually returned, with a few helping hands that carried heavy crates of iron ore our way. Interestingly enough not a single one of them spoke any word or commented on my presence.
It was almost eerie to not receive any reaction, and it had certainly put me on edge. I was glad when the ten crates had been put down and the first person to greet us took a slight bow and a nod before making his leave.
"Strange place this is," Nira spoke my thoughts in an extremely soft voice.
"You can say that again. Not sure what it is, but these people are either extremely serious about their job or they just don't give a damn."
Velariah eventually appeared with another person following her.
The man in question was a stark contrast to anyone I'd seen in the village so far. Where the others all had significant muscular mass, this person was frail in comparison. Not only that, but for an elf, he was short, barely matching the knight's height.
His clothing was nothing special either. A pair of simple linen pants and a shirt seemed to do the trick just fine, and it wasn't meant to be worn outside with these temperatures, but he made up for that by wearing a large pelt over his shoulders. One that reached to his knees, giving him somewhat of a high-stature appearance despite the physical flaws.
In my mind, I'd already compared him to our Lore Keeper, who sat inside almost the entire day. Not that that made me think any less of him, or Kantasia for that reason. This was a pretty important job that needed to be done correctly, after all.
His eyes traveled to the crates in our cart, and then to the ones sitting on the bricks of the road, the latter ones had his attention. It was clear to see why as those had been labeled with blue-painted lids. Despite the obvious fact that they were from here, he and Velariah both seem to think it was a good idea to check them, nonetheless.
They removed each lid and checked the contents to confirm we'd get what we paid for, and once they both were satisfied, they gave Draco the head's up and started loading them.
"There's one more thing," Velariah told me. "Give me just a moment."
She smiled warmly as she followed the other person inside.
A teasing smile too. She'd arranged something, and I was now dying to know what it was.
Luckily, I didn't have to wait long as she appeared shortly after, carrying yet another crate, but instead of telling me what it was, she just sat down in the cart and pretended nothing had happened, earning a giggle from Seralyn who'd finally left the warm confines of the building as well.
"So?" I asked, my upper arms crossed with my polearm against my shoulder.
"Well, I got exactly what you asked for," She said after she couldn't contain herself any longer. "Smoked mackerel. I hope that's fine. I suggest we leave it packed until we get home, though."
"Sounds delicious, and that's fine. Do we have everything we need?"
"Yep. Everything's arranged and accounted for. There were no outstanding deliveries to be sent back to Dawnleaf, but that's okay. Let's go and see Ember, shall we?"
"Aye," I said as I turned around, noting the massive increase in weight in the cart. We were lucky that the quality of the roads that did exist between here and home was pretty good, at least where it mattered. "Question, does Ember do this for everyone who visits her? I mean, blessed iron seems to be of a much higher value than normal iron, and it doesn't appear that her lair is the greatest detour."
"She doesn't. Sure, people try, but she doesn't do it for free, and selects the recipients of her gift carefully. In our case, I suspect she did it because, well, you're interesting."
I chuckled at her comment, but I knew she was right.
"Well, that, and my father is an old acquaintance. Come to think of it, I don't think he's had the chance to visit her yet. I hope she won't think any less of us for that."
"Well, he is a busy man. Maybe we'd do well to tell him again, see if he can make some time."
"I'm sure Ember would be more than interested to hear what we're working on, though, you know, with the village and the new dungeon and all?"
"She'll love it. It makes for interesting conversation material, and you know she likes the company."
"Now we just hope we get some more time. There are probably some interesting topics to discuss." I let out a chuckle as I looked around to make sure there was nobody that could overhear us. "Surely, she'd want to hear I can talk to a dungeon."