The squad of dwarves parted ways and allowed them to pass through. Behind the door were small carved rooms inset into the walls that would allow for the guards to relax and still be within reach, if someone was at the gate. However, based on the number of tankards and trash, there wasn't a lot of activity at this entrance, which suited Celeste.

  It was less than a fifteen-minute walk until they finally reached the main city. The massive underground metropolis had been constructed inside the base of a volcano, as shown on Celeste's map. However, it wasn't as hot as she had expected. Celeste knew that they called these massive cities for "Cracks", and that they were able to be sustained thanks to the metal tubes that would manipulate the molten rock bubbling up from the core of the earth. It would be taken to where ever it was needed and was used for everything, from heating to defences to crafting. The runic inscriptions on the tubes ensured that heat leakage was minimized, ensuring that the temperature was nice and mild.

  Celeste saw the opportunity to try and bait Jasper into more conversation, and she decided to ask an innocent question. "Do you think they will ever run out of magma?"

  Martin blinked. "Well, it is technically lava as the top of the volcano is exposed, but no. The entire game world is effectively a plane, not a sphere, as you might expect. Underneath is a huge ball of molten rock. Its content is constantly pumped to what we have labelled as eruption points. It does mean that we can't work with plate tectonics, which is a shame, but unless we wanted some truly insane spaghetti code, this was the best option. Anyway, the pool of... magma is constantly refreshing itself. Well, your husband tied the refresh to the sun as well... I am gonna kill him one day, I hope you know that. It is bad practice to keep tying functions to some celestial object when you could make a generic function that runs on game ticks, and while I know that means you will have to map out the calendar year for the world, and potential leap seconds, it does ensure that we do not have a single point of failure."

  Martin was clearly ranting at this point, which was a new side that Celeste had never seen from him. She laughed along with him. "Well, you might just have to get in line for the killing my husband part. His intentions are good, but he keeps making dumb decisions here. Did you see that he made anti-mages? He made the inquisition."

  Celeste and Martin both looked at each other and at that moment, it became clear that they were both holding back the obvious joke that neither of them had expected to see the Inquisition. This made them both howl with laughter, and unseen tension between them seemed to lift.

  They walked down a long, winding path along the side of the volcano, allowing them to see stone buildings that had been carved from the earth. The sounds of metal being pounded were coming from a particular section of the metropolis, allowing the two pairs of gods to know where the crafting was happening.

  The duo of gods stopped halfway down the ramp when they saw what could be described as a legion of dwarven warriors move towards them through the streets. Their short legs marched in unison as they were heading directly towards the newcomers.

  Each dwarf was clad in thick metal armour, heavily modified to have protection runes. Each one of them carried one of those blunderbuss weapons on their backs, as well as a maul and an axe at the hips.

  "Maybe they are just trying to get out the way that we got in?" Martin suggested, and Celeste gave him a look. She bit back a retort since Martin had just tried to do a bit of small talk with her. She wanted to encourage that.

  The legion of dwarves slowly parted and an old man slowly moved forward between the warriors. It took Celeste a moment to recognize him. His grey hair wasn't as lustrous as it had been earlier, and his eyes didn't shine with the same brightness as they had before. However, there was no mistaking him.

  Celeste walked forward with a smile. "Thane ülwrick! It has been too long!" She proclaimed.

  The thane of the dwarven Cracks, the self-proclaimed uniter of the Hammer Crack and Axe Crack, had been there almost two hundred years ago when Esselaia had ascended. It had been the time when the humans, dwarves and drows fought together to prevent world peace. If she remembered correctly the thane had even gone toe to toe with an elder dragon, which was impressive.

  The old dwarf smiled and gave a light bow to the goddess. "You bring an old thane much honour, divine one. Why have you come to this fair city of ours?" He was clearly trying to be cordial, but Celeste could understand the problem. You never wanted to have a god enter your territory. Especially unannounced. It would usually mean that something unexpected was about to happen.

  "Thane of the dwarfs. Such a delightful welcome party that you have arranged for us. The matters of the divine are not for everyone to hear. Do you have somewhere we could talk in private?" Celeste asked, looking at the massive number of dwarven warriors, who didn't seem to ease up just because she knew their leader.

  ülwrick contemplated it for a moment before he nodded, turning his back on the two gods and walking towards the centre of the metropolis. Celeste wasn't sure that she should be offended by the lack of respect that she was shown, but Martin was already moving, clearly not too caught up in formalities.

  They walked through the paved streets, seeing how the town was mostly filled with women and children. While some dwarven men were left behind, they seemed to be focused on the military effort. Celeste was sure that there probably was some long and rich tradition for the way the people had been split, and based on what she was seeing from the rest of the city, the dwarves had a theme heavily inspired by Sparta mixed with Nordic elements. That probably meant that they had the same kind of wealth structure as the Spartans, which would make most of these dwarven women incredibly rich. However, that was just an assumption.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Every house they passed was made from stone, carved in some way to ensure that it was not only a work of art and incredibly beautiful, but also defensible.

  It turned out that they were walking towards a smithy that was located in the centre of the city. It looked more industrial than Celeste had expected, and she considered that they might have to put a cap on how far they would be allowed to industrialize. The runes probably allowed for things to be pushed to their absolute limit.

  Finally, the guards seemed to leave them as the trio entered the building. Its walls were carved from much darker stone, and it took Celeste a moment to realize that it wasn't dark due to the nature of the stone but rather due to engraved runes that all looked dormant. They were clearly still maintained, but there was no doubt that they weren't active at the moment.

  The building itself was no bigger than what Celeste would consider an ordinary house, around 100 square meters at most. It consisted of one massive room, with a sloped roof that seemed to be part of the same material as the walls, which meant it was covered in runes.

  All around the room, massive machines powered by magma were set up and hooked up to piping that glowed with the molten rock. Martin gave a low whistle as he looked around, and Celeste had to agree. This place really was something else.

  "This is impressive" " she finally said, and a smile came to ülwrick's lips. As he smiled it became obvious how old he truly was, as it showed the wrinkles that had not been there two hundred years ago, how thin he actually was. The thane had looked imposing among his men and in his armour. In the light of the glowing pipes, he looked too small to wear the armour, and the soft sway of his frame told a story of someone who could barely stand.

  "Thank ye," He said softly, starting to take off the armour. "When I was a lad this place was built to try and counter the drow forge. It was a work of the gods, the Smithy of Civilisation." He lingered a little as he struggled to get his breastplate off, but after a moment, it fell to the ground with a loud clang. As the metal rang out multiple runes in the walls and ceiling lit up. The runes activated in rings, and Celeste got the impression that she could almost see how the soundwave travelled through the room.

  Celeste nodded. "Yes. That smithy was supposed to be my gift to the humans of A'kastin, but the drows took it and made it their own. It has since been dismantled."

  ülwrick smirked and sat back. As he was about to land on the floor a seat shot up from the ground, catching his weight and adjusting to his position. The seat was made from the same stone as the floor as if it had just grown at the slightest thought from the Thane. "We know. The attacks on our tunnels increased quite a bit after that. Though it is hard to believe that the Traveller is responsible for a forge like what our intel suggested."

  Celeste and Martin shared a look. She discovered that the ork had been looking at the runes that had been lighting up, clearly studying them, and after they shared the unspoken words, he went back to investigate. Celeste didn't comment on it and moved on with her conversation. "Well, while you are free to call me the Traveller, I am part of Armandos. The god of gods."

  The dwarven thane didn't appear surprised, so Celeste continued. "Currently, Armandos are split into four parts. I am the Traveller, part of Armandos. My great green friend is the Ranger, and is also part of Armandos."

  To this, ülwrick had to do a double take. "An ork? As Armandos? Truly you do not mean to jest with such a thing. I can see that he is no ordinary greenskin, but the orks do not possess the integrity and will to be divine for anything but violence. I was fairly certain of your identity, which mean that the other part must be the Scribe. The last part, I am unsure of, but you must be pulling my leg to have me think that an Ork can be part of the first god?"

  Celeste shook her head and looked over at Martin. "Do you want to show ülwrick your might?"

  Martin shrugged and then smirked as an idea came to him. He accessed his divine might. He looked at how much worship he had left.

  With 8 Worship, he could do a lot of things, and he had been saving them to create a new dungeon, but he was pretty sure that he could do something more interesting now.

  The god walked over to the forge and found it to be a cauldron of lava covered with a grate. The grate must have been made with some metal that could resist the heat or have been enchanted to not melt because the air seemed to shimmer above the cauldron.

  Martin felt his Wealth and Plant Domain combine as he willed a new plant into existence.

  Text from image:

  You are trying to create: Forge Lily

  Effect This flower can only grow in the heat of the forge and if it is ever exposed to to temperatures that isn't hot enough to melt iron it will die instantly. Whenever something is smithed near this lily, it will produce a flower that, in the centre, will contain metal. The bigger the item crafter and the more finely crafted it is, the larger the deposit and the more value the metal will have.

  Worship cost: 3

  He was happy to spend 3 Worship on the flower, mostly because he would be able to create them again at will thanks to his Plant Domain.

  Instantly, the flower shot up from the bottom of the cauldron, the stalks pushing between the holes in the grate, and then a large bud appeared just above the metal grate.

  ülwrick looked puzzled as he took in the flower, and Martin just nodded. "Keep the forge running, and you will find yourself wealthy from the work that you do." He stated.

  As the dwarven thane registered what the flower did, he clearly seemed impressed, not just that a flower could grow from the molten rock, and yet he also seemed hesitant about praising it. After all, it was a plant, something the elves were usually known for using. He turned to the gods. "Fine, I guess that you have proven your divine status. Now, why have two of the mightiest beings in existence come to my town?"