Section XIX Session

The Great Foundry Naragrim has just solved a minor engineering problem. Through the calculations, he got the data of the relevant locations. Judging from these data, his tunnel was dug a little too wide, which made him a little distressed. Under normal circumstances, this is a trivial matter, but for the big foundry, it is a stain on performance.

If the tunnel is too wide, there is a risk of collapse. In order to combat this risk, there is only one option, either to set up a load-bearing column for support in the middle of the tunnel, or to reduce the width of the tunnel. Both of these will inevitably increase the amount of excavation work and prolong the construction time of the project.

Naragrim has a great reputation among the Engineers Guild, and he is the oldest (and most experienced) of the great foundries. Legend has it that he designed, built and restored more than 30 fortified cities with his own hands. Of course, Naragrim himself didn't know that much. But when the young dwarves of the Society of Engineers got together and spoke of it with longing and reverence, Naragrim listened with pride, and never tried to correct the misconception.

Under normal circumstances, Naragrim should not have been here. As the eldest of the great foundries, he was supposed to stay in the Society of Engineers and take on the important role of "mentoring the younger generation". It's also a job that Naragrim enjoys. Enjoy the adoring gaze of those young engineers every day. Yes, as an old dwarf, Naragrim did have a little bit of vanity. Of course, what does it matter? he got this position on his own, and in the field of architecture, he is the supreme authority of the dwarves.

Naragrim remembers what happened that day. Perhaps for all the time remaining in his life, he will not forget that day. It happened suddenly, and he was there instructing a group of young people on the division of the whole and details of the building process, and by the way made some necessary changes to their design drawings. He had just finished his work, and was about to soothe his parched throat with a large glass of ale, when a soldier hurried to him—summoned by the High King.

As it is known, the dwarves are actually made up of different clans, each with its own king or patriarch, but there is one king who is above all the kings and rules over all the dwarven clans, and that is the High King. This bloodline originates from the ancestral gods of the dwarf clan, and is the most powerful and noble of all the clans' bloodlines. The High King directly rules over the mighty Karak, Kaza, the Eternal City. It is the largest, most populous, and most magnificent of the dwarven fortresses. It is home to a large number of dwarves, and the Society of Engineers has its headquarters here.

Even the Great Foundry could not ignore the summons of the High King. The only thing Naragrim could do was reluctantly put down his glass and follow the soldier away.

Naragrim will never forget that scene, and as he knelt before the High King on one knee, he noticed that the High King was clad in armor and armed with a weapon.

According to the custom of the dwarves, Naragrim, as the Grand Forge, could have chosen not to kneel, and instead bowed down. But Naragrim didn't want others to say he was arrogant.

"The High King," Naragrim asked. "Why did you summon me? I see that you are clothed in armor and armed with weapons, are you going to go to war? Do you want me to prepare for you the fortifications of war?

"No, dear Naragrim, I came to you, not because I was going to war, but because I had something to entrust. This is not a command from the Most High King, but a request. The High King stroked his long silver-white beard, "I am not making a request for myself, but for my son, Hoga. ”

He stepped forward and lifted Naragrim up with his own hands. "I have appointed Hoga as commander. My son is about to lead an army into battle. He longed to make a mark and reclaim the lost city of our ancestors, Karak-Grom. ”

Naragrim is well aware of the Karak-Grom affair. It was a beautiful city, but centuries ago, savage green-skinned beasts took over it. The greenskins relied on a brutal raid and overwhelming numbers to capture the unprepared Karak-Grom in one fell swoop. The dwarves in the city were either wiped out in the war or had to evacuate to other settlements, leaving the majestic and beautiful city of the dwarves to the dirty and savage invaders.

"I can't help him personally because of my duties. But I want to help him as much as I can. That's why I thought of you, Naragrim. I know your wisdom and experience, and I know that you will be of great help to him. As a father, my love made me want him to leave me. But my intellect tells me that this is a necessary test and trial for a young man like him, so that his courage and wisdom can be tempered, and that he may understand the weight of the throne. ”

The High King stood in front of Naragrim and made a motion that stunned the Grand Forge. He stooped down and gave Naragrim a thank-you salute.

"This is a great and sacred honor, Your Majesty the Most High King. "After a long time, I came back to my senses and came to the Great Foundry Master before I was able to answer. Yes, what a great glory! He even wondered if he had drunk too much ale, so he lay on the floor and daydreamed. The High King himself saluted him, and when he realized it, pride instantly spread throughout him.

"Your Majesty, I will do everything in my power to help His Royal Highness Prince Hoga. Naragrim straightened his chest and took the oath with the most solemn gesture.

Thinking back to the past, this small design problem in front of him made him even more upset. The pen in his hand unconsciously drew meaningless patterns on the paper, and his mind tried to ignore the irritability and find a suitable solution.

Several engineers stayed by his side, waiting for the Grand Foundry to make a final decision. In the outer room, the noise of dwarven workers drinking can be heard.

"What are they arguing about?" said Naragrim, who found himself in the middle of the noise.

"They're talking about the underground. A young engineer replied. "In the tunnels of our city, you can hear the strange sound of digging. But it's not because the nezumi are trying to dig tunnels to attack. We guarded all the main roads, and the sentinels were pretty sure they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. At the same time, we don't have any missing people. ”

In a different case, Naragrim would have been alert and asked for more details. But for now, his mind is so preoccupied with small engineering mistakes that he doesn't think about it more.

"Tell them to be quiet, I'm doing a complex design. Naragrim said to an engineer. He didn't want to delay any longer, and the issue had to be resolved immediately. This is the hole he poked out, and he must fix it perfectly.

While the great foundry was drawing on the drawings with his pen, the bell in the temple of the rat god was being rung in the underworld. Every nezumi knows the meaning of the voice that the voice represents, which means that an Abyss Council will be convened.

The Abyss Council is the highest governing body of the Nezumi Clan, a council established in the name of the Rat God. The council has a total of thirteen members (a recent addition of Ashrufat, bringing the number of thirteen to the table), and each member is known as the Abyssal Lord. Theoretically, this Abyssal Council has supreme power among the nezumi, and all clans must obey it. However, in real life, there are still many clans that use various methods to delay and resist the orders of the parliament in line with the principle of "there is a policy at the top, and there is a countermeasure at the bottom".

Overall, however, due to the enormous power and power of each Abyss Lord, and the threat posed by the Black-clad Assassins of the Essien clan (who are sometimes even referred to as the Hand of the Council), the Abyssal Council's decisions are largely effective and can be quickly enforced. The real trouble lies in the parliament itself. When the Council passes a resolution against an Abyss Lord, things get a little tricky.

Fortunately, all the political veterans of the Abyss Lord are also old slippery heads. They know very well what their bottom line is, so this kind of thing happens very rarely. Of course, this does not prevent them from repeatedly testing each other's bottom line, and playing all kinds of intrigues and tricks that will make any other race stunned.

As has always been the case, soon, in the Rat God Temple, the thirteen Abyss Lords were in place. This time, because the atmosphere was not tense, only the Abyss Lord himself was at the council table, instead of a large group of retinues, bodyguards, and guards gathered as before.

Ashruphat sat in his place. His flaming red fur makes him stand out at meetings. The Abyss Lord kept looking at him, but Ashrufat pretended not to notice anything. From the very beginning of the parliament, he announced that he did not have any proposals to put forward at this meeting.

Eshurufat's statement seemed to visibly disturb the others, for for a long time, none of the Abyss Lords spoke, only a pair of eyes were rolling.

"Dear brothers, and our beloved mentors. "After a short moment, an Abyss Lord began to speak. Unlike their private methods, on the surface, the thirteen Abyss Lords all addressed each other in a variety of nice ways. For example, the Great Grey Prophet is often referred to as the "Mentor" and Ashruphat is referred to as the "New Brother." If it was a person who knew nothing about the world of the rat people present, he would definitely feel that this Abyssal Council was a harmonious and happy family, full of unity and warmth. But in fact, no matter what they call each other on the surface, there will never be half a moment of hesitation when sending assassins behind their backs.

I don't know if this is lucky or unfortunate - it is precisely because they know each other very well that so far, no Abyss Lord has ever died in assassination. By now, most of them have abandoned the stabbing scheme (at least not by repeating it) in favor of other ways of applying pressure and increasing their impact.

Now that Ashruphat had learned that the Great Grey Prophet actually had a great deal of power in the council. With the addition of Ashrufat, he had four allies at the conference table. If it weren't for the crushing defeat of Karak-Grom and the selfish nature of the nezumi, things wouldn't have been so troublesome.

The Abyss Lord rambled on and on for a long time, and finally turned the subject to the main topic, which was about the war with the dwarves.

"Dear new brother, I heard you've been fighting the dwarves?"

Ashrufat feigned a hesitant expression, but finally admitted. He explained this matter, basically it was a matter of killing the dwarves and successfully occupying a high-quality magic stone vein. He implied that he was engaged in a fierce tug-of-war with the dwarves, and believed that the dwarves were not as strong as he had hoped. Of course, after the last moment, he stressed that it was enough to rely on his Baku clan in this matter, and he did not need the help of other clans at the moment. It is only as long as they do not affect the current large-scale procurement of armaments by the Baku people.