Lys's house was largely unchanged since I'd been here last a few months earlier. But that was not to say that it was entirely unchanged. As I approached I quickly saw a new structure where the forge had stood when I was here last. Back then the back of the house had been dominated by a large wooden shack which had contained a fairly rudimentary forge, but now that was gone and replaced by a large squat, solid one-story building made out of gray stone. Its roof was low and flat on top and covered with red shingles, though the topmost flat part was covered in copper or brass, I wasn't sure which. There was a large dome-like structure, again, made either out of copper of brass, positioned on the roof as well, with several pipes of different sizes leading down into the house proper. There was a large depiction of some sort of monster's head made out of metal and stone position over the main entrance. It all looked very, vikingish? I approved. It looked badass.
As I landed I noticed a dwarf with brown hair and beard sitting some ways off from the door, on the ground and leaning against the wall of the forge, his hands clasped around his middle and his head leaned forward and the unmistakable sound of snoring emanating from him. I think I could smell the sour smell of alcohol but I didn't fee like geting closer to find out.
I chucked before quietly as I carefully ducked into the forge, forgoing shrinking myself since by the looks of it there should be ample room for me to stand upright inside.
The area beyond the entrance was very, dwarfish. But that wasn't the first thing I noticed, no, the first thing I noted was that it wasn't all that warm inside. Seemed Lys had sprung for some cooling charms. The first room seemed to be something in the line of a shop. Two intricately carved pillars that stood along the central line of the room offered support to the roof, in between those pillars ran a low counter that curved to right of the entrance. At the corners of the counter large dwarven faces had been carved out of stone, with their heads capped with bronze helmets that merged with the countertop.
The room was well lit with candles and oil-filled bowls, and a great stove built into the wall also provided some light. The walls and ceiling were covered with various weapons and shields, wicked-looking axes and heavy war-hammers. There were even a pair of rifles hanging just by end of the counter, and I had a feeling that Lys had adapted my idea for the Caster, only in a larger form. Not that she wasn't entitled to it, she had made it after all. There were also stands containing smaller, one-handed axes, maces and pickaxes by each of the pillars and there was a selection of crossbows hanging from bronze rods that stretched between the pillars and the left side of the room. At the very end of the room, in the left corner, was a selection of fine smithing tools and anvils as well as a bucket full of halberds and spears. There was also some shelving behind the counter that contained pieces of armor, though most of it seemed to be helmets for some reason.
The shop seemed to be unmanned at the moment, but I could hear the ringing of metal hitting metal in that particular rhythm that I'd become so familiar with from hanging out with Lys. If I'd hazard a guess I'd say she was in the back. I stepped through a low gate that separated the customer side of the store with the owner's side before ducking through another doorway into the forge proper. As I entered I noted that the air was still pleasantly cool. The room was, as one might expect, dominated by the forge, which to my eyes looked more like some demented torturer's bed than anything else, with a wide rectangular slab large enough for me to lie down on with room to spare, filed to the brim with glowing hot coals. Pipes were going into the slab from the ceiling, likely connected to that dome outside. And lastly, there was a large stone chimney positioned over that. The walls of the forge were occupied either by shelving or workbenches, all of them filled with various things, pieces of armor, weapons, cogs, springs, and pistons. I saw the beginnings of another robot, this one much smaller and stouter then Gond, likely fashioned in the likeness and size of a dwarf. It was only half-assembled, only being a pair of stubby legs and midsection sitting on a stool. I spotted an arm and hand resting on a nearby workbench, surrounded by tools and parts, ready to be worked on. Lys and her mother had been busy since I was here last.
It was nether Lys or her mom that was manning the forge, it wasn't even her dad. No this was someone I'd not seen before. It was a dwarf, a woman, short and stocky as they all were, with black hair and brown skin, almost dark enough to match a native African. She had a wide face with chubby cheeks and a large expressive mouth, a nose that looked like it had been broken at some time. She was dressed in a maroon tunic and pain brown pants and wearing a leather apron held down with a wide leather belt filled with pouches and tools.
She was presently looking frustrated and seemed more intent on destroying the dagger blade she had on the anvil then actually working on it, at least until she spotted me standing in the forge looking at her. Then her expression flashed from frustration to outright anger. She immediately abandoned her poor excuse for a dagger and came at me with her smith's hammer raised above her head.
"Hey now, you are not supposed to be back here!" She shouted angrily. "Get out with ye! Out!" He demanded while taking a swing at me with her blacksmith hammer.
"I'm a friend of the family!" I defended myself while ducking away from the hammer. "Careful! You could hurt someone of you swing that around like that!"
"That's the damn idea!" She yelled back and took another shot at me.
"Of all the stubborn, pig-headed - Woah!" I jumped away from another swing and stumbled into a wall. I growled. "Alright, that's enough!" I yelled angrily.
I cast the paralysis charm on her and watched in satisfaction as she froze mid-swing, her legs snapped together and her arms slammed into her sides, and then she tipped over like a falling tree and fell to the ground with a dull thump. That felt way more satisfying then it should have been.
That's when the backdoor to the forge slammed open and the familiar form of Lys came charging in, likely drawn by the sound of the commotion. She was holding a rather large butcher knife. She looked around widely, spotted me, looked surprised and then we just stood there for about twenty seconds while she processed what she was seeing.
"Drew? What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were wasting time over in the Colonies." She said at length, once hr brain rebooted.
I shrugged. "I did. Got bored. And since I was in the neighborhood I thought I'd stop by and surprise you. "I was the one that got surprised though," I said and pointed down at the petrified dwarf at my feet.
"Del!" Lys exclaimed in concern and rushed over and looked over the other dwarf before rounding on me with a glare. "What the hell, Drew!?"
"Hey!" I said, raising my hands in surrender. "No my fault, the crazy bitch tried to cave my head in with that big hammer of hers. What was I gonna do, let her!?" I asked. "Besides, it's just the petrification curse, she's fine."
Lys gave me a suspicious look before snorting and smiling faintly. "I don't think it would have hurt to get some sense beaten into that thick head of yours."
"Oh haha." I retorted sarcastically.
Lys smirked before producing her wand and canceling the curse, which caused the now named dwarf to sag a bit and I heard her sigh in relief. "You alright there, Del?"
"Yeah..." Del grunted and sat up before rubbing at the back of her head gingerly. "Just a little bump on the noggin." She reassured Lys before slowly getting to her feet and shooting me a glare. "You know this wizard?"
"Yeah, this big lug is Drew, I've told you about him," Lys answered.
Del's glare lost a lot of its heat at being told that. "Oh... this is that guy?"
"Yes," Lys affirmed.
Del turned to me again and gave me a once over before giving Lys a dubious look. "Really?"
I dunno why, but I found that funny. I gave Del a wide smile. "Has Lys been telling stories about me."
"It surprises me too," Lys said, ignoring my valuable input to the conversation with practiced ease.
"I thought he'd be more impressive," Del said.
I turned to Lys. "What the heck have you been telling her?" I wondered before another thing occurred to me. "Scratch that, better question. Why have you been telling her about me? This sort of thing isn't something you should really spread around."
"I told her who you were and that what I knew was thanks to you, nothing more." Lys defended herself.
"That's bad enough. This sort of thing spreads around, what if the goblins catch wind of this?"
"No one here is gonna talk to any stinking goblins!" Del blurted out angrily.
"No? But what about the guys they employ? What if you get drunk and spill it just to impress someone, huh?"
Lys crossed her arms over her chest and shot me a defiant glare. "Then what do you want me to do. I have to get this out there or what will be the point? I can't do what I want on my own, I need others. And they have questions, questions that I have to answer."
"Why? Okay, I get it that you need to teach others what you know. But who says they have to know where it comes from? And did you tell her how you learned this?" I demanded.
"No of course not, do you think I'm stupid? And you are not helping right now. How do you think this looks to her?!" Lys argued back.
"She already knows enough for her to make things complicated." I shot back. "I can already tell she's a hothead or she wouldn't have attacked me right out of hand without first trying to resolve it peacefully. The only thing that needs for this to go sideways is to get her angry and she'll probably scream it out for all to hear!"
"The hell I will!" Del protested and tried to get in my face, which was funny considering how short she was, so she had to settle for poking me in the chest. "You calling me a hothead, and ye might be right 'bout that, but I damn well know when to keep my gob shut! And I'll not have your say differently!" She yelled. "And another thing, I. Don't, Drink! Get it." She added.
I gave her a flat look before raising my eyebrow.
Del looked back definitely before smirking. "Present yelling notwithstanding."
"Noted," I said dryly.
"Damn straight it's noted," Del said in satisfaction.
I huffed before smiling. "You better keep to that, Spitfire."
"You're an ass," Del said in response.
"So I've been told." I retorted lazily before turning my attention to Lys. "Still, you really need to be careful with how you do this, and what you tell them."
"I won't lie, nothing good has ever been built on lies," Lys said resolutely.
I sighed. "I admire your idealism, but you're wrong. Look, I'm not saying you can never tell them, I'm saying that you do it when you're strong enough to defend yourself against the consequences of people finding out. And right now you are not."
"Don't you think I know that? Stones! How can I not know that? But people don't trust people that they know are keeping secrets. And if there is no trust then there is no loyalty, and without loyalty there is nothing." She said hotly.
"If you just try to bull through like that you will fail, and you'll end up in a small room with a goblin and all his little tools," I told her bluntly. "You have to be careful."
"He's right, honey." A male voice interrupted.