Section III Announcements

People looked around curiously, wondering where the Dao Ashrufat would come from. But on the one hand, it was getting late, and on the other hand, the smoke of tobacco was so thick that almost no one could find out where Ashrufat was. Besides, the venerable Miklesco did not leave the podium, so attention was quickly redirected to Miklesko.

"Finally, let's raise a glass to the growing prosperity of our association and the new progress it will make. I don't need to say more about the glorious history of this association, and the trophy hall of the association is the best proof of this. The association's contribution to dwarven society is obvious to all. And there is also the credit of each of our ordinary members. It is a great honour for me to be able to participate in this contest and to give a member a title worthy of his strength! No king or patriarch, even the Most High King, has never hesitated to use their most precious words of praise to our Society, and I would add that these words are also appropriate. If you agree with me, join me in this toast to the tenth great foundry of the Institution of Engineers and its glorious tomorrow!!!"

Of course, everyone was in favor of Miklesco's proposal. The wine in the bottle was poured into the glass, and the wine in the glass was poured into the throat like a river flowing into the sea.

After doing this, the respected caster jumped off the small high platform. By the way, because they brought a wine barrel here, the other eight great foundries who had been standing in the audience just now did not miss a glass of wine.

Hardly anyone noticed that a figure had come under the podium. But when the dwarves came to their senses, they found that there was an extra figure on the podium. Only a handful of spectators saw how the newcomer was able to jump onto the podium with dexterity - an agility that almost surpassed the physiological limits of the dwarves.

But it's a small detail that doesn't matter. After three drinks in a row, even the dwarves who are good drinkers have to take a breath and eat something or smoke a cigarette so that their stomachs can digest the delicious wine as quickly as possible. So almost everyone looked away from their glasses and at the podium. There is no doubt that standing on the podium at this time is the winner of this selection, the youngest great foundry in the history of the Society of Engineers, Eshurufat. He is also the owner of the Crucible and the Tomahawk, the great wine merchant and tycoon of Karaz, Karak, plus the sponsor of this selection event.

As the legend goes, the dwarf was still very young. If he were an ordinary soldier, in terms of age alone, those old dwarf warriors with long beards were more than qualified to glance at him contemptuously, and then spit out the faint title of "child" in their mouths. But engineers are not determined by age, at least not entirely by age. Although the common belief among the dwarves is that a longer beard means wisdom, even the old dwarves with long beards hanging down their chins have to admit that when it comes to engineering, young people do have more ingenuity.

The great wine merchant was now dressed in a robe that was extravagant for a dwarf, and the beard on his chin was arranged in a wavy shape as a young man was customary. In fact, apart from his clothes, there is nothing special about his appearance. But for some reason, people could clearly feel a sharp momentum emanating from him. He's the kind of person who stands in front of you and you can't help but focus on it. As mentioned earlier, most of the dwarves were smoking at this time. But Ashrufat looked around, and as far as the eye could see, all the dwarves couldn't help but stop smoking, and let the tobacco burn dry in the pipe.

"Dear colleagues of the Association. Ashrufat spoke, speaking in a dwarven language, with a distinct foreign accent in his voice. "First of all, I would like to thank all the judges and colleagues for their love to me. It is because of your support that I have received this honor. ”

This is the classic speech starter. Every Dwarven engineer is ready to listen to a tirade. It's not so much the tradition of the New Grand Foundry Appointees as it is the dwarven nature that likes to show off. How can a dwarf not be overjoyed when he suddenly attains such a high position? How can he not make an ambitious speech? Such a speech is naturally a reminiscence of the past, a look forward to the future, and so on. This has always been the case with the great foundries.

"But," continued Ashrufat. "Don't think I'm going to give a traditional speech here about my personal origins, the glory of my ancestors, and the glory of my tribe. No, no, no, I'm not going to do an official article here to revel in myself. Dear colleagues, I am here just to talk about something, something that seems to me to be very unfair, but which I have to accept. I want me to stand here, like a brother, to talk to everyone and say something from my heart. ”

"For all of you, we believe that we are among the elite of the dwarven society - I don't think anyone will have any objections to that. We build machines, we invent, we design cities, and we play an irreplaceable role for kings, leaders, and generals. I believe that each of us is confident, and we believe that our talents and virtues are enough to be admired by anyone. As engineers, we must possess virtues such as patience, alertness, calmness, and wisdom. Being an engineer is not so much a profession as an art, a great art!"

Undoubtedly, the speech of the great foundry Ashrufaat was too much to the hearts of the engineers present. No dwarf would praise too much. It must be pointed out that Ashrufat did not praise his colleagues endlessly, but he was not afraid of being called exaggerated. He did not hesitate to put the noble activities of engineers above all else, to praise all kinds of engineering ideas, inventions and experiments, and even to talk about how in the legendary era, engineers laid the foundation for great victories with their great inventions.

Incidentally, many of the historical events mentioned by the newly promoted Grand Foundry were heard for the first time by the audience. Of course, even if there were any ignorant fellows who tried to verify the historical events that Ashrufat had said, he would find that it was a pure futile exercise. Because the events of these years are no longer examinable, most of the classics have been lost. Besides, Ashrufat refers to "small details of history" that are not usually recorded in history books, such as an engineer who improved his cannon in battle to a critical effect, or an engineer who used a new invention to give the general a chance to turn the tide of battle. As to whether these details ever happened, it is impossible to verify in detail – no one can, unless the past is revisited and time is turned.

In addition, all present were members of the Institute of Engineers. The glorious years of the predecessors can always make the younger generations shine with face, isn't it? In fact, perhaps everyone knows that the story told by this great foundry is not recorded in the history books. But at this moment, no one will point this out. Not only did it not, but these words also made everyone excited, and there were bursts of enthusiastic cheers.

“...... But today, let's see, how far we have fallen!" Ashrufat, who had just stirred up the enthusiasm of his audience with his impassioned words and unverifiable facts, immediately changed the subject. "The Society, which was left behind by our great forefathers, is now confined to an inconspicuous corner of the city of Karaz, Karak. We were crammed into small spaces, and we even had to struggle with the size of the Guild's trophy hall. I'm standing here, what do I see?"

Ashrufat paused again. Fascinated by his speech, the engineers present all waited quietly for him to continue.

"I see that the long years have worn away the greatness/glory of the Society's predecessors! I see that we, the members of the Society of Engineers, have forgotten that we ought to be greater than to sleep on the achievements of our predecessors! Have we made anything new? What do we have but a few more slots in our trophy hall, and what do we have besides some compliments from the kings and patriarchs who have received our services? No! We have nothing! We even have to go around for a big caster selection, and we don't even have a big enough temple at the headquarters of the Society of Engineers to do this kind of vital event!"

"Is this the glory we want? Is this a satisfying achievement?!"

Below the podium, Naragrim was also drawn to the remarks. In fact, all nine other Grand Foundry were amazed at what the young colleague had to say.

"What does that little guy want to do?" asked Naragrim to his companion.

"I don't know what to do, but ...... He makes sense, doesn't he?"

Naragrim stared at Ashrufat on the stage. The young great forger had some qualities that seemed to be very different from those of the dwarves. This is not about his look or appearance, but of an outpouring of inner spiritual qualities. And only an old guy like Naragrim can feel it.

"We don't have a good place for young people to experiment. We have the best teachers, but we don't have the right conditions. Our members spend their days worrying about a lot of things that have nothing to do with our inventions and our engineering art. I'm sure everyone feels that this is a bottleneck and an obstacle for the development and growth of our association. And the strategy pursued by our association is not able to break through this bottleneck and remove this obstacle!" On the stage, Ashrufat was still making passionate remarks.

"I want to ask, Master Ashrufat!" Suddenly, Naragrim spoke. Because Ashrufat had already earned the title of Grand Foundry, everyone should address him as "Master" when addressing him more formally. This is no exception even for Naragrim, who is also a great foundry. "I admit all the problems you have said, but I want to ask, how should we solve this problem?"

This question resonated with many people present.

"Yes, that's right, how do we solve it, it's a problem!" said Ashrufat on the podium. "This dream has been floating in my head for years. But today, I think it's time to share my dreams with everyone. I want to tell you that I have only one conclusion! Our great association must have a city of its own!"

A series of exclamations rang out in all directions.

"Yes! You heard me right! A city, a great, splendid, beautiful, and delicate city that belongs to the Society of Engineers! It will be up to us, all of you, including me, to rule and govern everything! All our wonderful ideas can be realized in this city. Think about it, if we have a city of our own, what else can stop our association from growing, and we are free to develop all new techniques – and you can understand this by imagination alone. We will have a huge library to collect our knowledge, not a small room in a small building. We will have a spacious place for newcomers to learn and experiment. There will never be the trouble of a great invention without the opportunity to put it into practice. We will also completely solve the problem of insufficient funds of the association......"

The dwarven engineers at the table had even forgotten about the wine on the table. A city for all engineers? What a wonderful future!

"Of course, we all know that such a great city does not appear out of nowhere. There is no room for a new city on our territory. It should be said that there is only one way to achieve my dream. I've been looking forward to the day when our wonderful members of the association will be personally responsible for recovering a lost piece of land. We don't show up on the battlefield as subordinates of other kings or generals, our good engineers will fight for themselves. We will be the protagonists of the war!" shouted Ashrufat. "And I will do my best to make this dream come true!"