The storeroom was down one of the tunnels. A door after only 20 metres led into a wide chamber filled with shelves and barrels. There was everything a thaumaturge could want. At least it looked like it. Metals were stacked in metre-high piles, iron, brass, and thaumium for the most part. There was a section of wood from many different trees. I could identify oak, willow, birch and greatwood. There were some other sorts I would have to ask about. What I did not see was silverwood. Kiara told me it was too rare to fit every storeroom with enough. There was a special place for rare materials which only Clerics had access to.

There were more piles of stuff. Notably, vis crystals of most of the more common aspects, simple tools, barrels with liquids like water, wine, beer, and even animal blood. It was a good source of victus, Kiara explained. There was meat, mostly dried or otherwise preserved. Only a little bit was kept fresh magically. All kinds of plants, from flowers and ferns to herbs and roots. Non-magical crystals and gems, mostly quartz but also some emeralds, rubies and sapphires. Even the occasional diamond. Some of them were raw, others cut into symmetrical shapes.

There was a shelf with preserved animals, small rodents or insects in jars and boxes. A large pile of cleanly cut rocks of all sizes. They had limestone, granite, something black and simple grey rock. I stared a little too long at a pen of live chickens which were held down here to collect feathers and eggs. The former was a good source of volatus, the latter of permutatio. A pink lamp apparently provided them with sustenance. A few trees stood behind them in a small orchard to harvest fruits. Kiara said something about a large farm a few layers above which explained the bales of hay and other crops in one corner.

By the end of my inspection, I was convinced I would need a room like this for my workshop. It was way too useful. Maybe I could even make a larger ward to preserve things. With the way I liked to travel, I needed to keep things fresh for months at a time.

We gathered what I needed. Some greatwood and brass as well as an ingot of thaumium. When we got to the vis crystals I could not find an empty one so I simply took a minor crystal and absorbed its aer vis. Kiara was confused when I explained I needed an empty one.

The Cleric was very interested when I showed her, especially in the way I drained it. I had already flexed my will on the way back to drain the flux seeping into my muscles and most of it was cleansed.

“You want to use an empty crystal?”, Ugark asked, “What for?”

“It can still take in vis. It can confirm if there’s a signal for those without my senses.”

“Wait… does that mean…”

He kept mumbling as he returned to his workbench. The Cleric followed him with her eyes for a moment, then turned to me.

“You just solved our problem. Again.”

“No. This is standard procedure for dwarven artificers. They use empty vis crystals as batteries or for signals all the time.”

“And yet you were the one to tell us.”

“It’s not like you couldn’t get along with them.”

“There is a very good reason why no dwarves stay in the plains for long. And the few humans that leave for the Hills never return.”

Alex scoffed.

“With good reason. You guys are far less trustworthy. I was attacked twice in my first week in the plains.”

“I’m sure the dwarves would help you out”, I said, “If you’re honest and polite.”

“I believe we have tried to open diplomatic relations a few times”, the Cleric said, “Though it never amounted to much.”

“A ‘few times’ can be a lot of things.”

“The last time was less than a decade ago. Of the three people leading the effort, one left for the hills while the others were rebuffed. What the politics department is planning, I do not know but I believe there will be another attempt soon.”

“Because of that ‘world-ending’ problem?”

“Yes. It may be very useful to bring some dwarven artificers here if they have more knowledge like that.”

I nodded.

“They’re pretty good at manipulating vis without thaumaturgy. I learned a lot from them.”

“If you could assist our diplomatic efforts that would be wonderful.”

I clicked my tongue.

“I’ll think about it. Right now, I want to craft.”

While I got set up, the others were watching intently. With the exception of Ugark who was deep inside his notes. First, I shifted my body back to my natural form. That would prevent me from accidentally absorbing some of the metal.

The thaumium was easy to form by simply pouring metallum vis into it. I shaped it into a ring and drew out two points at opposite ends. That already drew some gasps but I paid no attention to the peanut gallery. I heard Alex talking to them.

Next, I picked up the greatwood and carved the stand. I made a steep cone standing on a wide base with a good number of furrows and holes to connect things to.

The brass was a little more difficult but with some effort of my talons and a lot of pushing and prodding with my will, I somehow managed. I drew the material into wires about half a centimetre long before building a simple conductor. The brass plates to draw off flux and slowly spread it were the hardest part until Alex started helping by morphing her arm into a sharp blade to cut one of the wires for me. It took an hour or two but in the end, we managed to get every part ready.

Putting things together was much simpler after that. The greatwood base got a few inlays of brass to which I connected the conductors. A set of six formed two tripods at the tip of the structure just far enough apart to hold the thaumium ring by its points. I took some of the leftover greatwood scraps to stabilize the whole thing.

Then came the important part. I drew on my soul, focusing on auram. My shadows spread out thinly, suffused with the aspect. It took a lot of concentration to push it all to the tip of one tendril. I decided to go bit by bit and only infuse a small amount at once.

My shadows touched the ring and the vis flowed into it. Or was it essence? Were my shadows physical? That was a question I should have asked long ago. I told Alex to take a note before continuing with my work. At some point, I felt Catori join in my efforts. More auram poured out of my Core than I could draw on normally. It started suffusing my body and leaked more and more through my shadows. The black cloud took on a light-pink hue.

With that bit of help, it took less than ten minutes to infuse the device to my satisfaction. I drew in my shadows and took the last step. The empty vis crystal was set into the prepared holder, all wired up. It was done. The ‘Aura Eye’, as Catori helpfully provided, was ready. I put a talon to the wood and pushed my will into it. A few final adjustments and the device spun to life. The thaumium ring glowed a soft pink, the light coalescing into its centre. It was an eyeball. The eye spun a few times, the greatwood separating in the middle of the cone to give an additional axis of rotation. Within moments it was staring directly at me. The empty vis crystal started glowing pink as auram flowed into it.

“So… did it work?”, Kiara asked.

“Yes”, I said.

“But it’s detecting you. Doesn’t that mean it’s looking for vis?”

“I’m still suffused with auram. It should find the direction of the highest concentration of auram, for now. You’ll need a more advanced display to get more information.”

“Which I’ll be finishing soon”, Ugark smirked. He had dropped his work at some point to join the observers.

“Are you that far along already?”, I asked.

“You’ve been at it for like six hours”, he laughed.

I tilted my head.

“Really?”

“Yup”, Alex laughed, “Not even tea could get you out of your fugue.”

“Oh.”

“I think it’s time to get some rest”, Kiara yawned, “At least for me, it is.”

Now that I was no longer absorbed in my work, I slowly felt exhaustion creep in. My body still felt fine but my mind was starting to slow with all the magic I had done.

“That’s a good idea”, Alex agreed with her own yawn.

Ugark joined in and then it hit me as well. The only one spared by the infection was the Cleric. Though I suspected it was only hidden by her mask.

A few minutes later, we had made our way to the quarters. The rooms were simple but comfortable. Ugark had his own place. He told us he was leaving once a week to visit his friend Sra who had joined him on the trip to the human plains. I asked him to take me along the next time he went. Kiara and the Cleric shared a place and Alex and I got a room together as well. There was not that much space in the caves, even though they had been dug out cleanly. It was still problematic to create too many large openings.

I said my goodnights and went to rest with a strange feeling. Tomorrow, we would learn about this supposed ‘end of the world’ coming up in 25 years. I wondered if they had found some monstrosity sealed away deep below with the seal deteriorating? Or was there some huge volcano about to erupt? Probably not this deep underground but I had no degree in geology so what did I know?