The next day Mathas headed straight for the government offices located by the bayside in the
wealthier district. Walking among the columned buildings Mathas spotted the one with engraved
letters stating "Delphinus City Administration". Mathas understood that these buildings were
just here to run the everyday aspects of city administration a powerful ruler wouldn't want to
deal with. The real seat of power laid with the immortal mage-lord that rules with an iron fist, Ledgerdemagne. He was the one who ruled here since the kingdom's inception, or so the legends say. Mathas didn't know if he believed that story. He'd heard a lot of tales in his travels and not all of them had been true.
Finally coming to the open door of the Office of Public Works, Mathas peered in and saw several desks with papers piled on them and people running back and forth between them. "Excuse me," one lady mumbled as she swept by him in a blur. Mathas held up his hand in a lame attempt to get someone's attention but he really didn't want to bother all these busy people. Then he spotted a lone man sitting at a desk in the far comer with his feet propped up and his hands behind his neck. As Mathas strolled on over he heard the man breathing a steady rhythm and noticed that the eyes were closed.
"Ahem. Pardon me," Mathas loudly cleared his throat.
"What? Who? Huh? Oh. Ah. Hello there. How can I help you?" The man fumbled around trying to straighten his chair and the papers at the same time, and failing miserably. "Good sir. I was wondering if you could point me out to a man named Xendor?" Mathas asked.
"And who might you be, of you don't mind my asking that is?"
"I am Mathas, a merchant from the Isle of Foghar. Vardak recommended you to me. I was wondering if I could get a tour of the new water treatment facility that serves this fine city."
Well,," said the man with a long stringy hair and equally wispy beard. "You've come to the right guy. I'm Xendor, pleased to meet you Mathas." Xendo held out his hand and they clasped forearms. "If you'll just follow me, I'll be glad to show you around after lunch of course."
"Oh but of course," Mathas grinned.
'I might end up liking this man,' he thought. After a quick meal of spicy soup and lobster tails Xendor brought Mathas to the far end of the city. Deep within a large cavern they walked until coming to a place called 'the watering hole'. Here Mathas saw a long line of people waiting with large empty clay jugs. At the front of the line, was a man who was filling ajug with water from a huge cask that sat on a wooden scaffold. The cask had a large hollow tube at the top. The top came from within the mountain and filled up the clay jugs with water. When the man was finished topping off the jug, the patron handed him some money and made room for the next person in line.
"Everyone is allowed one tun a day," Xendor said as they walked up to a large bronze door. "Of course, the nobles are allowed to ration the water to their slaves, and thus keep more for themselves. It's the slaves of course who do all the work of fetching the water in the first place." Guarding the door were two hulking brutes whose studded leather was much too tight for them.
"Who wishes entry to the water tunnels?" The brutes deep voice sounded as if he had been born in a tunnel.
"Xendor, official in charge of distribution, and one guest," pointed out the official.
The guards, recognizing a familiar face, smiled oddly straight and opened the door. Mathas and Xendor made their way up the carved stone steps, chatting to muffle their echoing footfalls. The stairs twisted and turned through the rock and Xendor was huffing lightly by the time they reached another set of bronze doors. The edges of the doors were slightly rusted from the palpable moisture in the air.
The creaking door opened to a large cavern filled with a dusty haze so thick that Mathas couldn't see the other side. He followed Xendor down a stone path towards the center of the cave where large sacks were stacked at least three men high.
"What are those?" Mathas asked.
"Crushed limestone, but before you go asking anymore questions, just let me start from the beginning."
Xendor's tone suggested he'd done this before. He cleared his throat of dust and began his narrative with a smoothed, patterned quality.
"This rock your standing on wasn't always as populous as it is today. Just a few centuries ago it was barren as any other dormant volcano you'd find sitting in the 'blue'. Then came along our mighty king and ruler, the great Ledgerdemagne. When he came here is the subject to much speculation I won't bother you with now. Suffice to say that he probably had his reasons. Anyhow, he came here and started building a home for himself With his great powers he hollowed out the inside of the volcano to house a city. He also brought a population of dwarven slaves to build that city and all the wonderful structures you saw below. Thus was Delphinus born."
They continued walking through the cavern until they came to a small dock with canoes tied off on it. Xendor led Mathas into a boat and ordered a dwarf, who had multiple scars, to take them out on the water. He continued his story.
"This lake was here naturally which is why our King chose this rock. He had his dwarves build tunnels and develop a complicated system to bring the water down to the city, The only problem was, when the people drank the water, they got sick. The King couldn't have his people being unwell so he in all his geniusdeveloped a way to use this crushed limestone, dug out of this very mountain, and some other mysterious substance to fix the water."
Sunlight assailed Mathas's eyes as the canoe was rowed out of the cavern mouth and onto the main part of the lake. It was an enormous body of fresh water, nearly a league across and half that wide. It all sat in a bowl shaped crevice on the side of a large volcano, which had been dead for centuries. There were many other canoes on the lake, all containing dwarves with sacks of limestone.
"Of course," Xendor went on, "there are all sorts of rumors as to what this mysterious substance is and how Ledgerdemange could accomplish all this himself. Some say he captured a dragon and uses its foul breath to treat the water. Ha! What nonsense that is! Others say some lady invented the stuff and became so popular she was able to lead a revolt to free the dwarves. They say the King had her killed and took the credit for himself Bah! I tell you. Some of the stories I hear make me laugh. Who in their right mind would want to free these miserable wretches. They wouldn't know what to do with themselves."
Mathas barely listened to Xendor carry on. He was watching the dwarves dump the bags of limestone into the water, spreading it evenly over the surface. The white powdery surface formed a cloud in the air before settling, causing one unfortunate slave to hack and cough uncontrollably. Mathas began to wonder if the poor fellow was going to choke up his lungs.
"Is he going to be all right?" Mathas asked.
"Him? ... Oh you mean the dwarf?" Xendor said absently. "Maybe. Maybe not. I've seen a few of them cough up blood and then just keel over. I suppose the dust gets in their innards and just does 'em in."
"I think I have an idea." Mathas said.
Xendor nodded inquisitively and Mathas explained.
"What if I invented some type of cloth or rather mask, that will keep the dwarves from breathing in so much dust?"
"Why?" Xendor responded
"Well, that way your slaves would live longer and you would get more work out of them.
Plus, Mathas thought, I really don't like seeing those poor being suffer like this. On lesser known islands, like the Isle of Foghar where Mathas was from, they often dealt with escaped dwarves on a regular basis. On Foghar, the dwarves were treated like real people instead of property. Mathas and his father had often helped recently escaped dwarves reach the Northmen, where the dwarves lived free. Now he felt he could contribute to easing their plight in another way, as well as make a profit,
Just then the pair noticed an officially dressed man waving to them from the shore. Xendor ordered the dwarf to row them over and excused himself from Mathas' presence. Mathas didn't mind. He wanted to took around and think about whether or not llama skin was porous to breathe through.
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