“By the power invested in me through Wrifen-Driel, I declare the Clans of Kanssari, Najazadeh and Danaeifard, of the great race of Sansuignors, the smith-saint refugees of Zorbruk, to be holders and executors of the Charter of Smithery, as welcome visitors and teachers to Strovia…”

- Proclamation of the Charter of Smithery by Dominus-Select Ordost II, in CVS 67

“...I know that we are in strange lands, and with foreign faces, races and people all around us, our position is untenable. We were granted legitimacy by the power of kings; we too can be expelled by the power of kings. But remember, we have our powers and abilities, even if our home is long lost to us. Win their hearts with labour and skill, and perhaps, in time, we will no longer be seen as refugees.

Let us seize the advantage. Let us make this land ours. By Hristomver’s sturdy anvil and our shining hammers, let us smite and bring forth Zorbruk’s shining light!”

- Valin’s Letter to the Exiles of Zorbruk, c. CVS 67

The loud interruption of the uninvited guest utterly confused Roland.

“Erm, Navra-, er, no,” the Outsider quickly backtracked, stumbling back into customary greetings, “Lembass Danaeifard, why - I mean, what brings you here?”

“Finding you, of course, you codswallop,” the Sansuignor Provost grumbled, “You don’t turn up and the whole damned Mallebrium’s locked down; none of the Sovereign Watch wants to speak of your location, and I had to hunt the whole bloody city for any sign of you! For a moment we thought that His Magnifience might have ordered your banishment!”

Roland winced, “I’m sorry, Lembass.” He began, “The past few days have been busy and I was caught in some trouble-”

“Bah, you can explain yourself later,” Navras Danaeifard said as he looked around at the armoured Watch-men, “Though I see you’ve gotten yourself thick in a bush. What’s going on?”

“Its a long story…” Roland sighed.

“Simply put, the Mallebrium is closed for investigation due to suspicions of misdemeanour as accused by the Crown.” Masaru picked up from there. “The Outsider is not a part of the Mallebrium, but until the investigation is complete, he is asked to remain at the Catechy.”

As Masaru spoke, a few other ponies came trotting into the Catechy’s grounds, bearing a Sansuignor on each of them, wearing overalls and padding similar to their Lembass.

“So yeah, that’s how it is,” Roland explained, slapping his fist into his palm with resignation. ”Apologies, Lembass, for having you come and scour the city for me.”

“That’s not your fault, but still, this is some trouble.” the dwarfish workman frowned, clicking his tongue while his eyes darted about with worry. “You see, we are in need of your physical presence - or at least advice.”

“What’s going on?” Roland asked, “Is it about those engines?”

“Yes!” Navaras replied with some amount of excitement. “The Pit at Wresdan is about to begin excavation of their lower levels, with the help of the ‘Watt machine’ that you showed us. But we’ve been doing tests, and there have been…some problems, enough that we’ve come to you to ask what we might be doing wrong, before we actually begin the work.”

“Oh no,” Roland replied, now being his turn to worry. “Sorry, what problems? I…can’t think of what you could be facing now…”

“Well that’s fine, we’ve brought some scrolls…Bareas!” At Navras’s shout, one of the other Sansuignors came running up, holding a leather bag with a few rough parchment scrolls sticking out from the end. “Now, as you can see here-”

The provost began to take out a scroll, only to be interrupted by a heavy cough.

“Apologies, but our esteemed guest needs to be shown to his quarters,” Custodian Ris said, in an overly polite tone. “May I suggest that you return later when he has settled down, instead of clogging up the sacred grounds?”

As Roland looked back and forth between the Sansuignor noble and the friar, he noticed the Provost of the Danaeifards staring at the Custodian with a barely concealed glare, while the friar simply kept the mask of a smile on his face with eyes almost shut.

“Sssssss….hmph.” Hissing for a bit, Navras relented, turning to Roland and holding the bag of scrolls out for him. “At least, take the scrolls first; what would be a good time to find you later?”

“Er…” Roland looked at his wrist on instinct, before realizing he didn’t have his watch on him at the moment. “Its…3 hours from nightfall, right?”

“If you wish, Mate Outsider, we can arrange a dinner for you and the Lembass for your meeting.” The Custodian added. “It will be a perfect use of the additional food that we have procured.”

If you wish… Roland winced at the constant reference to his rank. "Tha...that would be good, er, Custodian, but, Navras-"

"I got it, don't you worry," Navras snorted. "I will consult with you later. Here's hoping the Order knows how to feed a Sansuignor."

The dwarfish lord marched back to his pony, only to stop before mounting it. "Oh, and by the way, Outsider…"

"Hm…?"

"Do watch yourself; things are afoot."

With that cryptic message, Navras and his entourage quickly mounted their ponies, turning around and galloping away as quickly as they came. Meanwhile, Roland heard someone clicking their tongue in mild annoyance, as dust settled over the white cobblestones of the Catechy.

"Outsider."

Roland turned around, seeing Masaru mount his own horse. “Likewise, I must tell you to watch yourself carefully - we may not be able to protect you here, and I highly doubt your reputation has not reached the ears of unscrupulous men. You still remember some of the protective wards that the Matriarch has taught you?”

Roland nodded, hand touching the aetherial crystal hidden beneath his shirt.

“Avoid leaving the Catechy. If you have to, do try to use the dress provided, and keep anything that might reveal your identity hidden. Otherwise, stay safe.”

Rearing his own horse, Masaru left Roland with the friar, trotting out of the compound. And with his departure, Roland felt a chill run down his spine.

“Mate Outsider. Perhaps we should enter; you’ve waited long enough.”

Hearing the Custodian’s invitation, Roland turned around. Out of a sudden, with barely any sound to indicate their entrance, a group of men and women in habits and robes were now present on the grounds, tending to its area once again. A few of the parish girls were beside Roland’s horse, one hand gently holding the reins, while another carefully detached Roland’s backpack from the straps.

“Er, I will hold that myself, its heavy.” Quickly, Roland darted towards the horse, untangling the backpack himself and hurriedly swinging it over his back. The girls bowed away gracefully, while the Sovereign Watch looked a little curiously at him, causing Roland to try to avoid eye contact. “So, Custodian, where exactly will I be staying…?”

“We have a room, specially prepared; please, follow me.”

==|==

“This…is quite the nice room.”

“Only the best for those who seek refuge here. If you need anything, ring the bell; one of my attendants will be here swiftly.”

“Thank you, Custodian.”

With that, the Custodian left Roland in the guest room to his own devices. The modestly decorated room, furnished with a simple bed, table and chair, with a few crystal lights on the walls and the table itself. A window had been made above the table, which strategically projected sunlight into the side of the wall where a stone bust to Wrifen-Driel sat.

Roland placed his backpack beside the table, before peering into the side room. A sort of toilet had been placed there, with a heavy metal tank poking into the room with a chain attached to a dragon head tap acting as a sort of shower, and a latrine.

Well…I’ve faced worse in the jungle.

Roland ducked back out, looking over the room one more time. I mean…for a recess week, I was hoping to work with Madeline to advance the interaction between EM waves and aetherial energy…but I guess a nice little break is fine as well. Now, if only I’d brought my homework, but I guess I can work on the Sansuignor’s problems...

He sighed, taking a peek at his watch. Wait, I think Madeline’s waiting for me to test the Whispering Steele.

Heading back to his large backpack. Quickly removing its contents - including a good chunk of incognito clothing that the Uiatachians had packed - he pulled out a small but heavy stone platform, with a series of metal engraved rings embedded into it, along with another aetherial crystal - a specially treated crystal with cyan hue, carved in a fine oval shape.

Placed the platform on the table, he placed the crystal’s point end into a tight-fitting in the middle of the platform. Immediately, the crystal began to glow, although making no indication to its nature.

Ok… Roland unfolded a piece of parchment that came with the platform, reading it carefully. I’ve got to get this set of preparatory spells and incantations right, starting with…the priming call.

Cautiously, he recited a line from the parchment. Immediately, the crystal glowed a little brighter, with the runes on the first circle around the crystal immediately lighting up with a fierce azure glow. With a nervous finger, Roland rotated the ring one full revolution around the crystal.

Crack

Roland jumped back, noticing a spark from the platform. “Oh shit, it was supposed to be a half revolution…” he cursed, as the other runes on the platform went dead. After redoing the steps, he continued, spinning the second ring thrice, while focusing a stream of energy from his body into the device.

That should send the searching pulse…

After a few agonising moments, a rune on the third ring flashed twice. Roland spun it around twice, and two more runes flashed up on the third ring - and a single line spread downwards across three rings, linking three different runes together. The crystal glowed a little brighter, signalling the establishment of an aetherial link.

“So, how is the…holdable version of my Whispering Steeles?” With a flashing of a central rune in the middle of the three rings, Madeline’s voice range out, calm but proud, from the crystal.

“Really troublesome to use, but its…impressive, for the record.” Roland complimented, pressing the central rune to begin recording his words.. “Considering the…technology that you are working with,'' he finished, finally rotating the outer ring twice to end his message.

It took a few moments for the next message to come, relayed by a packet of soundwaves compressed into a packet, fired and shot across the aetherial winds by each platform “Adapting it was…difficult, indeed. If these portable Steeles were like the normal ones and connected to the leylines, we could just transfer sounds through them, but without it, it would have been impossible…but then, you appeared, of course.”

“Mmmmm.” Roland nodded, but then remembered something. “Oh right, how are you speaking? Is the investigation over?”

“The Watch have…questioned me, to put it simply,” Madeline replied. “I will not be bothered by them for the remainder of their presence in the Mallebrium, so can discuss things with you uninterrupted for a while. How are things at the Catechy?”

“Glad you’ve asked,” Roland pulled the chair over while grabbing the bag of scrolls that Navras handed him. “The Sansuignors were looking for me, in need of my help.”

“I’ve heard from Masaru. What exactly is it?”

“Yeah…” Sitting down, Roland pulled one of the scrolls open. A large drawing of a schematic was printed on it, the recognizable silhouette of the early Watt steam engine he had introduced to the Danaeifards a while back. The Sansuignors had replicated the design faithfully - the bell-shaped water tank and boiler forming the base of the engine, the piston and atmospheric cylinder, the cold water tanks that sat beside the boiler, and the large arm that the piston powered, dredging the water out of the mine.

“Do you remember the ‘engines’ that I proposed to them?” Roland asked, grabbing his pencil case from his bag and a piece of foolscap.

“I do, yes; have they already replicated it?”

“They work fast, but…” Roland quickly began scribbling on his paper, translating the messy Strovian back to English to make a list. “They’ve run into problems. When I arrived at the Catechy just now, the Danaeifards came to me to request my help in dealing with those problems. They were going to invite me to the Pit, but…after hearing, they are going to stay in Orismuth while they wait for me to review the…materials.”

“I see.” Madeline sounded pretty curious. “Then, is there anything I can help with? Though, I must say that I’m not too knowledgeable about these engines so I may not help much.”

“Aren’t…you quite busy over there?”

“More a problem of the Watch than mine; I’ve already told the rest of my Household to merely cooperate as needed. In fact, I could do with a few problems to spend the time while we wait.”

Roland snorted, although he made sure not to send that. “Seriously...” He looked at the draft, eyes narrowing as he continued to clumsily translate its contents. “...but honestly, I don’t know what I can find. You see…my expertise isn’t in the engineering and building of engines…I’m scanning it just to make sure I get everything in order, I guess.”

“I suppose you need something to do, that your time is now spent stuck in the Catechy, instead of arcanum experiments with me.” Madeline sounded a little coy with that last statement. “Have you tried a guess?”

“I…I think it could be the valves.” Roland scanned at the piping, looking at how the engine was supposed to regulate its own cycle. “Maybe they haven’t found a way to properly regulate heat flow with the cycle of the engine…what about you?”

“As per the engines, I cannot say…but if you want to ask, there might be sabotage.”

“Sabotage?” Roland sat up, stunned. “Why?”

“Hmmm…have the Sansuignors not spoken of their history to you?” Madeline asked, curious.

“Errrrrr…no,” Roland racked his brain, trying to remember. “I don’t think they ever gave me a history lesson when Navaras approached us that time.”

“Are you…prepared to wait a while?”

“I mean…” Roland tapped his pen, glancing over the schematics again. “I can. I don’t have much to do here anyway, and I could listen to you describing their history to me while I’m working on this.”

“Very well, wait for me.”

The Whispering Steele died down a little, its third ring of runes fading away, indicating a lost connection. After taking a moment to stretch, Roland turned back to the steam engine plans lying on the table, this time looking at the overlarge boiler for the hot water reservoir. He frowned when he spotted a statement next to the boiler.

is there anything we can use other than wood?

Increase the size of the boiler - see if we can try to minimize the amount we can burn

attach arcanum to keep the fire going

“Firstly, there are currently three different Sansuignor clans operating in the region - the Kanssari, Najazadeh and the Danaeifards, the third of which you are already acquainted with.” While Roland puzzled over the diagram, Madeline resumed talking. “All three clans were originally of the far off lands of Tortis, but migrated to Strovia slowly. Their existence and their expertise in metalworking and aetherial crystalwork made them known to the Velvet Seat, who established their rights and their duties under the Charter of Smithery. Most notably, they were allowed favourable contracts and lodgings under the auspices of the Charter, but could not hold property and were obligated to report themselves, regularly, to the Dominus-Select.”

There was a pause, presumably, as Madeline stopped to catch her breath.

“The Sansuignors did accept their contracts and worked at advancing the military arms of the Orthodox Realm and greatly built upon the existing arcanum research with their aetherial crystalwork. However, these clans were noted to be competing for those contracts, as they came limited from the nobility, and when the Collapse of Strovia came, they found themselves scattered and lacking in them, as resources dwindled and their bindings by the charter began to chafe. And as such…that competition grew ever fiercer. Underhanded tactics began to be used, and small wars sprung up among the clans.”

Roland quickly put two and two together. “So…one reason why the steam engine isn’t working, is because there’s…industrial sabotage to prevent one from finishing the project?”

“That would be, as you often say, ‘my theory’. There could be something else going on, perhaps an actual problem with the engine.” Madeline paused, making a hmmm, before continuing. “If you wanted to know more, then you would have to figure out the nature of their contract, or what’s being done at the Pit.”

Roland groaned. “Unfortunately, I don’t know that…”

“You don’t know what the Sansuignors are doing with your creation?”

“I mean, it is not my creation, it’s Watt’s; and besides, I already knew they were going to use it to supplement their operations at the Pit.” Roland rubbed his temple. “I didn’t expect…the possibility of people sabotaging it for various reasons.”

“Surely by now, you should have realized that the information and knowledge you bring will certainly be fought over, right?”

“I did, but Clans fighting each other like that to gain an advantage, that’s…something I’ve only seen in stories.”

“These sort of actions happen when desperation seeps in and has been normalized over years of the same behaviour, unfortunately. But as I said ”

Roland mulled over it. “I guess that I will have to be asking them later.”

==|==

“Ok, before we can start…”

Later, after nightfall, the Outsider and the Lembass sat across each other at a long wooden table, carved out of a tall log. A small selection of foodstuffs sat on the table - a roasted white-skinned fish stuffed with herbs and layered with a dash of sauce, a plate of shredded pickled vegetables and a cut of some ham-like meat, all accompanying the flatbread that accompanied the meal. For drinks, two mugs of ale were served with a jug for additional servings, although Roland had elected to bring his large metal flask of water, water that had come from his home dimension.

“So -” Roland looked at Navras, holding his pen and paper, “- what exactly were the problems you faced at the Pit, or with the machine in general? ”

“Hmmm…” the Sansuignor filled a flatbread with some vegetable and ham. “Right. Do you want us to discuss every single change we did to the engine, or do you want the more pressing details?”

“Yeah, I would like to ask: what about the valves? I don’t think I gave you a picture of how they worked…”

“Oh, we figured it out.” Navras paused, the flatbread inches away from his mouth. “We just linked them with the pushing arm. It’s…not ideal, but it should be sufficient until we can think up a different solution.”

“Huh, okay…” Roland grunted, the scope of his mission slowly dawning on him. “Actually, yeah, let’s go with the pressing details from you; I’m not too aware after all....”

“Alright, alright.” Navras paused to swallow his food, frowning. “Now, see, the main problem, really,” The Sansuignor said, licking his lips, “Was trying to keep the boiler going. And to be honest, that’s the main reason why we came to you today.”

“What was the problem?”

“We couldn’t maintain the fire.” Navras licked his lips. “We were supposed to use...wood, but after we burnt it for a few days, we realized that we were going to have to start cutting down large portions of trees…and that was going to be difficult to do.”

“Wait…couldn’t you have found the…” Roland rubbed his left fingers together, “coal that I mentioned?”

Navras shrugged. “We know of the rigmaris. The problem? The only rigmaris mines in the whole Strovia is all the way in Berlismo.”

“Oh.” Remembering the geography of Strovia, Roland’s heart sank. “And transporting down the Sokomis river…”

“...goes through Vorstadt, so that’s out of the question.” Navras pressed a finger on the table, mulling over the thought. “We could bring it overland into Mainzpen, load on a ship on the Lake Variya and sail it down towards Orismuth, but I shudder to think how many horses and men we would have to spare if we tried that, dragging it across hundreds of leagues.” He sighed. “The even more pressing question is whether we could afford the rigmaris in the first place… hah.”

The Sansuignor grabbed the tankard of ale and downed it, gulping greedily.

“Back to wood,” Roland muttered, “but…”

“Well, we need an enormous amount of wood.” Navras muttered, slamming the tankard back onto the table. “We can’t get around it. Even when we tried to ration or limit the amounts of wood we burnt each day…well, we say, sresi vardi - a fool’s hope. And the stores we could provide for this operation is…running low.”

“And you can’t buy wood…because you can’t own the property?”

“Well, its the forest of His Magnificence himself - touch one thing in there without his permission and you will feel the executioner’s axe on the back of your neck within the day.” Navras laughed, seeing Roland flinch at the morbid joke. “Hristomver save us, the Outsider is as scared as a mewling child.”

“Fuckin-” Roland swore, cutting himself off quickly. “- well, I could see what I can buy to help-”

“Really? The Court and the Mallebrium pay you that much?” Navras said, painfully sardonic. “Look, Mate Outsider, the Pit needs to run for many findrielpulz. As nice as your offer is…you don’t have the gold, and you won’t have it, to supply that much wood or fuel.”

"Well, I don't think I have any more ideas on this front, then."

"Hmmm." Navras cut a chunk of fish from the platter and ladled it onto his own plate. "What about...fuel...but from your own world, instead?"

Roland scratched his chin. "I can't get wood in Singapore that easily, and I think people would start asking questions if I started buying that much charcoal or other fuel." Roland answered flatly.

"Oh, I don't mean that." The Sansuignor looked down for a moment, seemingly looking over his food. "I meant, if we could - speaking as a member of the Danaeifards - buy the fuel directly from the nobles of your world…?"

What.

Silence reigned for a few moments as Roland pondered the radical question.

"So...what do you think?" The Sansuignor waved his hand, looking the Outsider straight into the eyes.

In response, Roland folded his hands, making a heavy sigh. "Trust me when I say this, Lembass…if Earth knows more about ability to traverse between my world and Hristomver...there will be consequences, for all of us."

"And why would that be the case, Mate Outsider?"

"Our worlds are so radically different to a point that you cannot comprehend," Roland replied, pursing his lips. “If you were to make contact, the men on Earth might not be as…maganimous as me, at least, the way I see it.”

Navras pondered the cryptic answer for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders and silently relenting. Seeing the Lembass retreat, Roland sank back in his seat, deflating himself with a sigh. Meanwhile, the Sansuignor returned to his food, taking another bite of his flatbread.

"You should eat, Outsider." Navras said, digging in heartily. "I haven't seen you take a bite all night."

"I know, I was…" Roland sighed, looking over the notes to his side. "Just…I want this…to succeed, so I can’t let up until I’ve come up with a solution.”

Navras sighed. “As much as it pains me to say it, we’ve been thinking over it for a while ourselves. But as it seems, it’s not a problem of tools or smithing; its…a problem of circumstance. We can’t build around such a problem or make a tool to solve it. If it comes to the worst…we will just have to try something else. Maybe we can just look at how the Erikderan works…see if we can just use arcanum to do the moving of the water.”

Hearing the last bit, Roland felt a taste of bitter defeat. “I don’t know…I just can’t…accept that outcome.”

“Look, sometimes we just have to make do with what we can do instead of what could have been. So eat up…don’t let it get to you too much.” With a sigh, Navras cut a slice of ham, sliding over onto Roland's plate. "If anything, at least the Order knows how to feed a Sansuignor. My compliments to the cook.”

“I don’t think he can…hear you,” Roland muttered, still feeling dejected.

“The cook? Oh, he can’t, but he can.” Navras turned his attention to one of the alcoves in the hall, where a shadow blocked the view behind the pillar. “OI! I SEE YOU! COME OUT!” He roared, a hoarse, terrifying shout in spite of his stature.

The shadow danced, and Roland blinked in surprise as Custodian Ris walked out of the darkness, still in his crimson habit.

“Don’t think that I don’t know you thrice-damned Order scumbags like to hide and listen in on people talking about things you shouldn’t be hearing. Right, now that we’ve smoked you out, now leave us alone and let us talk about things without knowing that you people are sneaking about!”

Custodian Ris bowed, thoroughly unaffected by the Sansuignor’s verbal assault. “My apologies, Lembass. I will leave you alone, but before then, I do have a proposition to mak-”

“You have some ner-”

“Wait.” Roland reared up, hearing about the Custodian’s proposal. “Sorry, what is it exactly about?”

“I’m glad you’ve asked, Mate Outsider.” Smiling, the Custodian turned to Roland. “You see, I have indeed heard of your predicament, and if Wrifen-Driel is willing, what I propose…could be a solution to both of your troubles.”