The Infirmary

Tad had gone to see his mother after looking at maps all day. She was in the dwarven infirmary helping as one soldier after another was brought in to have their wounds healed by the artifact. This was the first time Tad had seen the artifact. He was in a large room full of cots that sat off the corridor from it. The dwarves were being carried into the infirmary one at a time, and the magic of the artifact would heal their wounds. In the center was a large table that the dwarves were placed upon that glowed gold, lighting most of the room.

A young dwarven lady stopped him from proceeding, "Lord Rockgrip, you can not enter the infirmary. The artifact will injure you if you get near it. Only dwarves may proceed past this doorway."

Tad could see his mother across the large room behind the woman. She looked up, "Thaddius, I'll be out in a few minutes. "

Tad nodded and smiled at the woman attending the doorway. Then he crossed the hallway and entered the room with dozens of dwarven soldiers laying or sitting waiting for their turn to be healed. Tad noticed Zanna for the first time as she came into the room with a platter of mugs and food.

"Zanna? " said Tad from the doorway.

She smiled at him, "I'm helping Marena today. She asked if I'd see to the needs of soldiers waiting in here. "

Tad noticed Bubbles was circling Zanna. The ancient spirit shifted around the woman as she moved to hand out drinks. This caused it to circle Zanna in oblong patterns. Tad nodded to her and took a seat next to a dwarf he recognized from a few days earlier. It was the dwarf that had lost his eyesight in Tad's wagon when they rushed the plateau.

The dwarf sat there sniffing the air for a few moments, "Hello, Master Rockgrip. I suppose it is you I should be thanking for saving my life?"

Tad looked at the dwarf, he had two simple braids in his beard, and the whole top of his head was circled in a clean cloth clasped on the side with a clip. It covered his eyes and most of his face above his nose.

"I do not need to be thanked. I am happy to see you are doing well, " Several other dwarves in the room spoke thank you's to Tad once they realized who he was.

"No, I should, you are a savior, and I would have died of blood loss or gang green if you had not helped. So for that, you have my thanks and a debt that I will repay when I get a chance. My name is Kizzac Granitebranch of the smith guild." said the dwarf as he reached his calloused hand out to shake.

Tad pulled the dwarf's hand in line while grasping it and shook. Tad didn't feel much like a savior remembering all those dwarven bodies he couldn't save because he didn't have the mana or skills to heal faster, "You do not owe me anything. Just get better and have a few drinks for me when you can. Do you know how long all of this takes? With all of these men waiting, I mean."

"It can take quite a long time or even multiple trips here if a limb is missing. This is my second trip. As for the time, it depends on the healing needed. The void creature slew the head infirmary mistress, and it was going longer than normal till Marena started to help. Very interesting that. It is a shame this Hold lacks magicians and priests. My great grandfather used to tell us tales from before the Pantheon war. Ahh, what I'd give to be able to forge magic blades and armor. " said Kizzac.

Tad sat there pondering his problems and going over the quests Kettle had told him about. He needed to find out about the Storm Giants. Perhaps they knew where there was honey for the bees or flowers that could feed them. He had been told they traded with the Hold, and that was how the dwarves had wine.

"Kizzac, do you know anything about trading with the Storm Giants? I have a need for honey or access to a portal if they have one," said Tad.

"I do not-" said Kizzac, and then he was interrupted by an older dwarf sitting across the room.

"Ay, they have honey lad. We trade for it sometimes. It is how the brewers make honey'd mead in the third cavern. I do not know of any portal, though. Everyone knows those have been destroyed for a very long time. " said the older dwarf.

The older dwarf was missing the lower part of his leg below the knee. Tad didn't remember healing the dwarf, but it was all kind of a blur now.

"No lad, you didn't heal me. I lost this clean as can be and managed to get a wrap around the knee before I bled to death. I was one of the first to the infirmary in the first wagon. My name is Elndad Heavybrewer, and I'm one of the brewers from cavern three. Or I used to be before serving in the guard. " said Elndad.

"Do you happen to have any left for sale or trade? " asked Tad.

"You'd have to ask the brewers guild. I am a guard now and spend most of my time sitting or standing watching people walk by on watch. You could always ask the Storm Giants if they don't kill you for trespassing first." said Elndad.

"Tad, Tad," shouted Kettle in his mind, "You just had an update to your Find a home for the Queen quest. The next part is, Find the Storm Giant's Home. "

"Kettle, that's really loud. Can you be softer, please? Well, we will have to decide what to do then. If we go to the Giants, then we are not going to find a safe haven. " Tad still only had the vaguest idea of how this quest thing worked.

"I do not think you have to finish the quests all yourself, Tad. As the leader of the group, you can appoint someone else to complete some of them," said Kettle.

"Hmmm. Yea, that might work. I'll think about it, " Tad stopped working as Marena came into the room.

"Tad, good to see you. Can you follow me while I get some food? We can talk on the way," said Marena.

Tad looked at his adoptive mother and saw her hair out of place and her tired appearance. He followed as she walked.

***

The Archives

Tad had finally found some time alone. His mother had confirmed she was staying till the baby was born. She was showing now and told him that it would be a year before the baby was born. She had already accepted the position on the council. Tad was actually glad she was staying. He was starting to have doubts about how easy it would be to find a refuge. He didn't know if Marena and Beothorn officially taking the council positions took them out of the quest Samphire had given him. This made it more complicated and simpler all at the same time.

Tad, Nico, and Lamruil were again in the dwarven archive room, looking at the maps. Tad was taking a break from discussing the whole thing, and he took the book of Automatrons from the bag of holding at his belt.

The cover had an embossed image of a larger version of an automatron on the surface. It even had the bronze coloring of Bismuth. He opened it again, intending on starting it all over from the beginning.

He read the first sentence, The Plane of Bismuth and its Denizens, by Raphail Teresidis. The room rang as if a giant gong had been rung, Boooonnggg…. Tad had time to look up and see Nico half transformed while he jumped out of his seat across the table. Then the scene faded, and Tad was somewhere else.

***

Vilamra's Great library

"Well, that is unexpected, " said a clicking voice to his right.

Tad suddenly found himself falling backward while the book he held hovered in the air above a non-existent table. He let go of the book and caught himself with one hand standing then up and reaching for the stave he didn't have on his back. It had been leaning against the table in the archive.

The book snapped shut and flew to his right, "You are late. This is very bad form. Even Samphire knows not to be late. You will have your privileges revoked immediately, " said the voice.

Tad looked to the right to find a woman made from gears and whirling springs standing there holding the book. The woman had skin of copper, but all over her body, there were small gears, springs, and rockers going back and forth. Tad could sense no emotion or even a mind in the woman.

"You know there is a fine you will need to pay before you leave, " said the woman in a female voice that had very light clicks in it.

Tad looked around. He was in a white marble arboretum with a large counter in the front with a single metal bell hanging from a hook on the top. The clockwork lady sat behind the counter holding the book Tad had been trying to read.

Tad looked at the woman, " Hello, have we met? Where is this place, please?" Tad had a sinking feeling after hearing the woman the first time. She didn't appear threatening, but she had the sound of authority in her voice.

"You are in the Vilamra's Library, and do you remember us ever meeting? Why would you ask such a silly question? You youngsters never learn a thing, do you. " she looked at him like Tad had just crawled out of the rain and was dripping on a rug.

"Oh, pardon me then. My name is Thaddius. It's a pleasure to meet you," said Tad giving his best carnie smile. It is always wise to be polite to powers you do not understand and even to those you do understand.

"Well, at least you have manners. This book is past due. It was supposed to be returned three months ago. There will be a fee. Is Samphire available to make the payment, or are you going to? " asked the copper lady.

"I wasn't aware there was a fee or even a problem with the book. Samphire asked me to return it when I was done reading it, " said Tad.

"Young man, your lack of knowledge of the rules does not excuse you from them. If I excused every being who didn't read the rules, then I'd not have a book left in this Library, " said the lady.

"What is your name again? " Tad waited for her to reply this time.

The woman behind the desk clicked a few times, and Tad thought he heard a ding of metal, "I am the librarian. You may address me as Libby if you must have a name. "

"Great, Libby, nice to meet you. I think there has been some misunderstanding about a fee and the book being late. What is the cost, and perhaps I can clear this up. " said Tad growing more curious about the place than worried.

"The charge is, " there was more clicking, "twenty-four hundred and thirty-three gold and five silver. I do not make change, so we will just round it down to twenty-four hundred and thirty-three gold. "

Tad looked in his money pouch and saw three gold in it. What the heck? He could buy the book for that, more than a few times over. He had a few more stuck in his belt, but he didn't have anywhere near that amount.

He put on a big smile, "Libby, my, I say that copper color really brings out your eyes. It is an excellent choice, " Tad looked again in his pouch for show, " I think you have found me a bit short today. Could we add it to a Tab. I'd rather owe it to you than cheat you out of it, " said Tad thinking Nico and Lamruil must be pulling their hair out trying to figure out where he went.

"You do have good manners. You can work off your debt to the Library. Of course, we can make an alternate arrangement. Let's see here. We have an opening in janitorial and one in garden maintenance. The standard rate is one gold per month if you do a good job, " said Libby.

"Kettle can you hear me? " projected Tad at the bracer.

There was a very faint Kettle voice, "Yes, Tad, you are really far away. "

"I'm in the Vilamra's Great Library. I'm being told that I owe them twenty-four hundred gold for that book's late fees. Any ideas? " asked Tad.

There was a long pause, "Can you set me up an account there? " asked Kettle.

Tad projected frustration, "Kettle, Libby wants me to pay or work off the debt. I am not here to open an account. I don't even know how I'm going to get back. "

"Vilamra is a God of knowledge, and they have an outpost at the Great Bazaar. Have you tried trading something else? They value knowledge of all kinds. " said Kettle.

Tad thought about this for a few moments, "Libby, I do not think I could survive to work off that large of debt, and I have not been able to talk with Samphire since he gave me the book to read. Could I interest you in a trade for something else?"

Libby looked at Tad, then she looked at his feet, then looked at his belt, then back at his face, " I do not see anything of value that you possess. We do not need books on necromancy or a bag of holding that is limited. You look too young to possess any knowledge of value either. We have all the books on warfare and singing we need. Do you have something else I am not aware of? "

This creature knew way more about him than he initially thought, but he had something. "What do you know about the First Maelstrom?"

Libby turned her head to the side and started clicking loudly. After a few moments, she stopped and looked back at him. "Let us talk, young man." A tall metal chair appeared behind the counter. She waved to it.

***