Chapter 41: The Black Treasure House
This is the living area of the Black Iron Dwarves, most of the civilians live here, there are no officials here, everyone lives an ordinary life. The calamitous Black Iron Dwarves have lived and multiplied here for generations, and it is difficult to continue the civilization of the Black Iron Dwarves.
But to Diego's surprise, there are twilight cultists preaching to the dwarves everywhere, and strangely enough, the church here of the Titan forger Kazgros has no objection to this, you know, the war of religion is the most brutal and bloody, this kind of faith war between fanatics is extremely cruel and irrational. Diego's previous crusades were typified by the religious madmen who even slaughtered Jerusalem after they had captured it.
But when you think about it, it's not surprising. You must know that in ancient times, the fire demon Ragnaros was the thug of the ancient gods, so as the de facto ruler here, it is not difficult to understand that he suppressed the Forge Church and spread the faith of the ancient gods.
In fact, the belief system of the Twilight Hammer is extremely chaotic, most of them believe in the ancient god Cthun, but some people believe in another ancient god, Yogsaron, and there are not a few who believe in their four elemental lords, but no matter which sect they are, the ultimate goal is to destroy the miè world and return to chaos.
These Twilight cultists are a mix of races, and they are not limited to their former factions—tribes, alliances, or whatever. There were humans, orcs, minotaurs, even trolls or gnomes among them, and Diego had even seen a copperbeard dwarf priest weaving through the crowd, but to be honest, Diego was really skeptical of the missionary effect of this fatalistic enemy hated by the Black Iron Dwarves in this place.
The two men cautiously weave their way through the crowd, trying not to come into contact with the twilight maniacs. Inevitably, however, they were stopped and questioned several times by the dwarven guards patrolling the residential area.
"We're going to the Artisan Quarter, find Master Fnos Darkville, and ask him to repair my weapon," Diego showed off the shocking slash on the butt of his rifle again and again after showing the gladiator badge, "You see, this gun is almost useless, and I still have to rely on it to survive the next gladiatorial fight." ”
This rhetoric is very deceptive, and there are many of these guards who neglect their duties and run to watch the gladiatorial fight, and they have some impression of the two of them.
Diego and Masrae traveled smoothly and without causing the slightest wave. One of the Greybeard guards even showed them where to go, lest they run in vain.
"Vernos Darkville seems to have gone to the Black Treasury. The people there said that the door shaft of the safe was not working well and that he needed to repair it. ”
Diego was overjoyed by the news, knowing that Fnos Darkville had always stayed in the Artisan Quarter, which was full of huge battle golems, and these black iron giants were so powerful that Diego would never want to visit them if he didn't have to.
It was located in the lower levels of the Darkhearth, closer to the river of magma, and the heat was terrifying, and the smell of all kinds of lubricants mixed with the sulfur in the lava was disgusting.
The two men hurried silently towards the black treasure house. The streets here are not straight, and they are inevitably limited by the terrain while they take advantage of the terrain. They walked along the semi-circular street, but sometimes down the stairs that were everywhere, and sometimes up the aisle back to the top of the street they had just walked.
They walked for a long time, and just as Masrae wondered if he was going to die of old age in this place, Diego stopped in front of a building.
"Here it is." Diego breathed a sigh of relief, he raised his head and looked at a few dwarven words above the lintel, "Black Treasury, Heart of the Mountains!" ”
Despite its name, the Black Treasury is actually a dwarven bank. The first half of it is the bank's place of business, and the second half is the bank's vault, which can sometimes be used for safekeeping.
The building had a wide foyer, and there was an endless stream of black iron dwarves who came here to handle various businesses, and several heavily armed dwarven guards stood on either side of the gate, boredly watching passers-by.
However, what caught Masrae's attention were the several stone carvings on the walls on either side of the building, which were so vivid and so beautiful.
"Wow, this is a picture of the Lord of Flames being summoned," he said intoxicated, stroking the surface of the stone carving, which made him look like a tourist rather than an introducer, "Look at the face of the Lord of Flames, look at its flaming wrists and feet, it's just like the real thing!" ”
"This one is much older, you see, it's more archaic, and it doesn't have as many elaborate fancy as it has in modern times," Masrae said to Diego, pointing to some details of another stone carving, "This one is about the Black Iron Dwarves digging out the Dark Furnace City." ”
"Don't look, Masrae, we need to get down to business." Diego whispered, and he dragged the reluctant Night Elves into the treasure house, the place where the riches of the Black Iron Dwarves gathered.
Unlike the prison-like banks of the Celestial Empire, Diego's previous life, the banking hall here was decorated with many small tables around which the bank's attendants and customers sat and conducted business.
When Diego and Masrae entered, the guards at the gate didn't even ask them to disarm. That's too confident, isn't it? Diego muttered inwardly.
"Is there anything we can do for you?" Seeing the adventurers coming, a smiling black iron dwarf greeted him, not discriminated against because of their race or identity.
"I want to store something." Diego replied, clutching his money bag around his waist and looking like an upstart who suspects everyone is a thief, "Some people say you're the safest here." ”
"A very wise choice, since the opening of the Black Treasure House, there has never been a problem with the loss or damage of the items stored here. "If you're not in such a hurry, please wait, our vault is being overhauled, and you should know that some regular maintenance is necessary for the safety of customers' belongings." ”
"No hurry, no hurry." Masrae replied hurriedly, he was holding a glass of dwarven spirits, and he didn't seem to be in a hurry.
The dwarf smiled, but it was kind, and there was no element of mockery at all. This kind of thing was not uncommon among the Black Iron Dwarves, and he was completely accustomed to it.
"Well, then, I'm ready for you." The dwarf bowed and turned away - what a model of the financial industry, leaving space for customers rather than aggressive introductions and sales.
"When will the banks of the Celestial Empire be able to do this?" Diego sighed in his heart. He was sure that in other cities in Azeroth, such as Orgrimmar or Stormwind, the atmosphere of the bank could not be so relaxed. This is also determined by the unique geographical location of Dark Furnace City, in this closed underground world, no bank robber can escape, and if he hides in the city, it is impossible to escape the whole city.
Diego sat in a chair with a glass of honey in his hand, and he pretended to be casual as he swept around his surroundings as several guards stood at the gate between the bank hall and the vault at the back.
"A chance, we need a chance." He muttered inwardly.
Diego felt that he was really lucky today, because he didn't sit for long when he saw a dwarf in a gray-black architect's coat come out of the vault in the inner room.
Diego recognized him at a glance - Vernos Darkville, Frank Ron Cast Iron's successor, and the current chief craftsman of Darkforrd.
The dwarf had a short, unkempt black beard—short to the dwarf's eyes, at least to the dwarf's eyes, and a monolithic stonemason's glasses tucked between the sockets of his right eye, and the hammer of iron gall that he held in his right hand for a moment. The architect's coat he was wearing was soaked in lubricating fluid and oil, and it looked sticky and reflected the light.
But at this moment, the dwarf looked hurried, and his face was full of anger.
"Master Darkville, please wait a moment." Diego hurriedly greeted, and he quickly got up from his seat and strode towards the old dwarf.
"Are you ......?" Fornos Darkville looked at him with some doubts, he was sure that he didn't know this human, but this human called him a little secretly happy, to be honest, although he got to his current position by drilling camps, few of his subordinates obeyed him, and no one had ever used him for the title of master.
"I'd like to ask you to fix this weapon, but it's too complicated, and I think you're the only one in Darkfurnace who can fix it." Diego complimented him without a trace, his face full of admiration and admiration, which made the dwarven craftsman feel very useful.
"I'm afraid I don't have the time right now, you know, as the chief craftsman, I have a lot to do......," Darkville said apologetically, in fact, it was, as Frank Ron Cast Iron designed it during his lifetime, the mechanical setting of this vault door was so complicated that it was difficult for him to even understand it, let alone repair.
Craftsmen have a special and revered status among the dwarves, especially the best master craftsmen. Especially after the departure of the Thorsilver Brotherhood, the black iron dwarves with limited technical strength have more respect for craftsmen, but even so, Fornos Darkville's status in the hearts of ordinary dwarves is not good.
Compared to Frank Ron Cast Iron, the new chief craftsman was nothing short of scum. He knew nothing about the art of building, and all he knew was how to make a statue of Dagran Thorrison, the king of black iron, to gain favor, and he was also a complete villain, he was jealous of Vernos Darkville when he was alive, and after the death of Furnos Darkeville, he took the last relic of the master from the statue of Frank Ron Cast Iron, the hammer of iron gall, which symbolized the chief builder.
After talking to the adventurers, Darkville hurried out, he had to ask his craftsmen for help, although these craftsmen had always looked down on him, but the official was crushing people, and he could have forced them to make a plan to repair the vault. But when he thought of this, his heart was like eating a fly, and he was disgusted. If he could, he would prefer to solve the problem on his own, you know, in front of a group of laymen, how pleasant it would be to solve the trouble by dividing it by two, and win their awe-inspiring eyes! Just like the kind of admiration and admiration that the human had for him just now, it was completely a kind of enjoyment!
Speaking of that human, though, where did he go?