The eyes of both the gray dwarf leader and the stone giant manager exude a faint light, which is a sign of dark vision.
Even ordinary people's eyes can't stand it when they suddenly go from darkness to a bright place.
Not to mention these creatures of the Dark Region who have never been out of the underground all year round, or even in their entire lives. It is difficult for them to adapt to the sunlight on the surface in a short period of time. Even if they do not permanently burn their eyes and make them blind, they are almost half blind. , the field of view will be limited instead.
Just like most surface residents entering the Underdark, they will be severely affected.
The ghost eyeband has shown good results in this regard. The shadow power in it can perfectly neutralize the light that causes damage to their eyes. Although it has the disadvantage that the vision will become dim (more black and white) and partially restricted, But it is better than hard resistance.
Gavin did not lead the two of them to perform teleportation spells. The place was already shrouded in strange rocks that he secretly placed, prohibiting teleportation and detection spells, including his own.
In the future, he will use a more powerful fog barrier to hide this place, and it can only be entered and exited through the Colossus City on the surface.
Gavin cast flying spells on Yuriu and Domingo respectively, spread his dragon wings, and flew upwards along the newly opened cage shaft.
"Where are the managers and clan leaders going? Who is the person next to them? No matter the size or the armor style, they don't look like those of us Duergar people, but more like those of the surface elves."
"Isn't it a coincidence that an outsider suspected of being a surface elf had the mineral vein seal lifted and the passage collapsed and destroyed?"
"It's hard to believe that the manager and clan leader were kidnapped by him?"
"Both the managers and the clan leaders have quasi-legendary strength. It's probably not an easy task to kidnap them all at the same time!"
"No matter what, there's nothing wrong with following up and taking a look."
"Where is the spell caster? Where is the spell caster who can cast the flying spell? Quickly cast the spell and follow him to have a look."
The three people who took off at the same time were very conspicuous, and it was difficult for the gray dwarves below not to notice them.
Because it is surrounded by hot dry rocks that glow red, this city is not as dark as other dark places. Although it is not as dark as the daytime on the ground, it is still as bright as the full moon and bright lights. Cities are almost the same.
Many gray dwarf spellcasters instinctively cast flying spells for themselves and the powerful gray dwarf warriors around them.
Although gray dwarves have a racial label of being suspicious and selfish, this refers to their treatment of foreigners. After all, they are dwarves. The mind flayer's enslavement life to them not only did not change their collective living habits, but on the contrary changed their relationship. Closer.
Because they know deeply that in this dangerous world, their personal strength is extremely weak. The other gray dwarves are the only ones worthy of their trust. Only by being firmly united can they survive in this malicious world. .
In Faerûn, you may be able to see dwarves who left their tribe and traveled alone. You will never see such gray dwarves. If you encounter them, there is only one possibility. They were sold as slaves. Once they are free, find Their own tribesmen will be ranked first in their target list.
Dozens of gray dwarves followed Gavin and jumped into the air.
Gavin ignored them, focusing his attention on the cage shaft.
It is located directly above the giant's palace. The two were originally one body, but the dwarves artificially cut it off in order to perform the mineral vein sealing technique, just like a skylight was opened on the dome.
It looks inconspicuous at first glance, but when you fly closer, you will find that its size is quite amazing. It is not made for dwarves at all, but is made according to the size of giants.
The dwarves of Supreme Shanatar do not regard height as beauty, but they enslaved a large number of giant slaves at their peak.
Everything must be made according to the giant's size standards to facilitate their work, and the same is true for the mining area.
It was the fire giants who originally built this smelting and forging plant. Only they who were immune to fire could excavate in hot dry rock formations that had not undergone any heat-reducing treatment.
This should not be called a dwarf grave, but a giant grave, because a large number of fire giant bones are actually buried here.
This makes the gray dwarves here have a very high proportion of gigantism. At least one-third are taller than Goliath, close to a large body, but their stoutness is not the same, because they still retain the big heads of dwarves. , short neck, short legs, thick and long arms.
In order to control the super large equipment here, from time to time gray dwarves use the giant-changing technique to make their bodies larger again - many of the devices here are built to the size of giants.
As for the gray dwarves' giant transformation, it is not a spell, but an innate ability. In addition, all gray dwarves have the ability to become invisible.
These two abilities are more appropriately described as psychic powers than spell-like abilities, which are also honed by being enslaved by the Mind Flayer for many years.
Thanks to this ability, they are far more powerful than ordinary races, including drow. Adult gray dwarves have at least four hit dice, and a well-equipped first-level adventure team of four may not be able to survive a single battle. Called adult gray dwarves, these giant gray dwarves are naturally more powerful.
This huge shaft, just like the giant palace below, is made entirely of fine steel and is inlaid with various huge, thick and rough devices, especially those steel pipes that are large enough for adults to walk through it. It is full of rich dwarf forging style, which is exactly the same as the style of the smelting and forging factory below.
Even though it has been thousands of years, not only does it not show any signs of rust, but it still shines with oil, as if it had been maintained recently.
Just like all dwarves, when Supreme Shatana used the mineral vein sealing technique, he left a hand for his descendants, giving them the opportunity to restore the glory of the dwarves here.
During the seal, the time in the vein is constant.
It is precisely because they know this habit of dwarves that all intelligent races are flocking to the ruins of dwarf cities, because once you are lucky enough to unlock the treasures left by a certain dwarf kingdom for your descendants, it will not be as simple as a nouveau riche. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to expand territory and establish cities and countries.
The steel sealed pipes in the shaft are used to contain high-pressure steam from the smelting and forging plants below.
It must be mentioned that the use of steam heat here has reached an incredible level, even far exceeding that on the earth. After all, for the earth, hot dry rock is a brand new energy source. Not only has it been developed and used here, but it has also I know how many years it has been.
Hot dry rock is actually a rock layer directly connected to magma. The hot temperature of the magma turns the entire rock layer into a high-heat stone layer, so it is called hot dry rock.
Theoretically, hot dry rocks are found underground everywhere, but the depth of burial varies.
The dry hot rocks here at Colossus City are shallow.
The entire gray dwarf city is a huge heat-absorbing device, which contains both the forging skills of the dwarves and the peak use of rune magic, perfectly integrating magic with the physical kinetic energy brought by steam.
This shaft cage will definitely be driven by high-pressure steam below in the future. It can be used not only to carry people, but also to transport goods.
In terms of energy alone, the cost of smelting and forging can be cut in half.
If it were simply used as a lifting cage device, this high-pressure steam pipe would be too thick. Its function must be to transport high-pressure steam upward to drive more devices.
The dwarves of Supreme Shatana have semi-automated smelting and forging. It is impossible for their mining to remain at the level of picking up a pickaxe. They will definitely use high-pressure steam in their mining process, which must be at least semi-mechanized.
Sure enough, as they continued to rise along the shaft, at least eight huge steel gates appeared along the way, all with slightly smaller branch pipes.
This means that there is at least one branch mine behind the steel gate.
As for what was behind the iron gate, Gavin couldn't fully imagine it, no matter how knowledgeable and imaginative he was.
After all, many things in the gray dwarf city were beyond his imagination and knowledge.
And this is what people look forward to the most.
The length of the shaft cage is quite astonishing, a full 3,400 meters, and there are hundreds of densely packed safety devices along the way.
This means that the duergar city lies four kilometers below the surface.
"The Lord came up, bringing with him a stone giant and gray dwarves. No, he was followed by a group of gray dwarves, arraying, arraying, arraying."
"The lord is so powerful that he can not only move in and out of a city with his own strength, but he also brought two prisoners back with him."
"Illumination preparation, release!"
Directly above the cage shaft also corresponds to a huge metal warehouse.
That's right.
The so-called Giant Palace below is also a warehouse for the dwarves, but it was transformed by the stone giant managers into their own palace residence.
Their real function is to connect the upper and lower warehouses and transfer materials to large warehouses.
The Colossus City side was well prepared. Seeing that Gavin, who was emitting a blazing white light from Zhou Shen, was about to come up, more than a dozen lighting techniques were launched into the sky at the same time, illuminating the newly unsealed metal warehouse as bright as day.
Just this main warehouse connected to the cage shaft has an area no less than a football field, and the height is as amazing as ever, fifteen or six meters. Even the cloud giants and storm giants don't need to bow their heads when they get here.
The gray dwarf patriarch and stone giant manager wearing ghost eyebands were not caught by the lighting spell, but were shocked by the sight in front of them.
There is a mixed army waiting for them here.
The hundred-man phalanx facing the cage shaft not only has an average height of more than four meters, but the dozen or so people in the front row have four thick arms. The weapons in their hands are very uniform. One hand is a large threaded wooden shield, and the other is a large... A flail, a large short spear in one hand, and a large one-handed sword in one hand can be said to be a combination of defense, armor breaking, piercing, and chopping, and can be used both offensively and defensively.
On their left and right sides were guarding two hundred-man phalanxes. Their heights were slightly lower, between three and a half to four meters, and they were all giant hobgoblins with green faces and fangs.
Whether it is height or equipment, they are all very different. Most of them are wearing leather armor. Although they are all equipped with large two-handed or large one-handed weapons, they are not uniform.
Both the gray dwarf leader Yuriu and the stone giant manager Domingo pay more attention to these four hobgoblin giant phalanxes because there is a deeper purpose behind them.
It means that the other party controls at least 10,000 or 20,000 hobgoblins in the Giant Plains, so that they can gather so many specialties of the Giant Plains.
It is not difficult to tell whether the other party is the giant hobgoblin who is shouting at them.
People who perform the magic of enlargement or reduction will have a magical aura on their body. Ordinary people cannot distinguish it, but they can see it at a glance.
Thousands of kobolds of all sizes were clustered around the outside, looking at the gray dwarves and stone giants with curiosity in their eyes.
"Ahhhh..."
Short screams came from behind Gavin and the others.
The gray dwarves who came up after them did not have the ghost eyebands prepared by Gavin in advance. Their eyes were burned by the strong light of the illumination spell, and they fell into a state of temporary blindness.
Yuriu hurriedly ordered: "Everyone, please don't act rashly and gather around me. They are not enemies."
Most of the gray dwarves who followed were spellcasters. They immediately cast the spell to relieve blindness on themselves. After this round of buffering, they were much better. After squinting to see the surrounding situation clearly, they couldn't help but take a breath of cold air. Even if they were given ten courages, they would not dare to fight an enemy ten times their size.
At this time, Gavin answered the previous question of Chief Yuriu, "No matter how powerful the Council of Death Chiefs is, it will not be easy to cross the entire Giant Plain to defeat us. After all, their main force is the undead. , operating on the ground is at a disadvantage.
Since we dare to lift the seal of the mineral vein, it means that we are fully prepared.
Even if the Council of Death Chiefs really leads troops to fight, we will be the ones in front.
If we are destroyed by the Council of Death Chiefs, the worst you can do is take the newly unsealed mineral veins and throw yourself back into their arms.
At that time, not only will you not be punished, but on the contrary, you will receive greater attention, and the crisis of mineral depletion you discussed earlier will be solved.
But I hope that before they call, you guys can cooperate with us sincerely and don't do anything behind my back. If this happens, don't blame me for being ruthless. "
Gavin didn't expect the other party to fall into his arms wholeheartedly as soon as he got involved.
In the short term, he only needs the other party not to resist him and help him operate the smelting and forging plant below.
"Having said that, we have no reason to refuse. We only have one request, that is, the adults can guarantee our food supply. As for the smelting and forging output, one is determined by the mining speed, and the second is determined by the mining speed. The production line's own production capacity determines it, and we will do our best to operate it, but we hope that the conditions set by you will not be too demanding and exceed these two categories." Yuriu, the gray dwarf leader, said without hesitation.
They had no choice in the matter.
The situation of the Dwarf Tomb is just like its name, it is an isolated city buried deep underground.
Without food supplies from the outside world, most gray dwarves would starve to death and die of thirst before long, and only a few could survive by using spells such as water creation and food creation.
They were originally a group of slaves whose personal freedom was restricted. It didn't make much difference who they were producing forging equipment for.
Gavin responded with a smile: "There are many things where simple promises are useless. After getting along with me for a while, you will know how I am. I am absolutely fair, fair and reasonable. As long as you don't have second thoughts, I will treat my people the same way." way to treat you.
From now on, you are the manager of the Dungeon of the Colossus. The name Dwarf Tomb is too unpleasant. Don’t use it again in the future. If there is a problem in the dungeon, I will be the first to hold you accountable. "
Gray dwarf cities already have their own mature operating model.
At that time, I only need to formulate a relatively reasonable salary system to ensure good material supply.
This is a large smelting and forging plant. All gray dwarves are their own employees, so there is no need to get involved too much.
"Thank you for your appreciation, sir." The gray dwarf patriarch's answer was obviously perfunctory and without any ripples.
"What are you going to do with me, sir? Can you not destroy my carvings?" the stone giant Domingo asked.
The words didn't reveal much fear, but more curiosity.
Until the other party completely breaks with the Death Chiefs Council, his life is not in danger.
Compared with the heavily armored giant undead guards controlled by Gavin, he was more concerned about the statues in the giant palace, which was his thirty years of hard work.
"Before we formally contact the Council of Death Chiefs, I hope that the master can be a guest in Colossus City for a while. You can continue to do your favorite carving work. I will send someone to collect the stones you need."
Gavin suggested, "The master is the most skilled sculptor I have ever seen. It is really a waste of resources to leave your statue underground without seeing the light of day.
If the master is willing, I can send people to transport these statues to big cities like Baldur's Gate or Waterdeep for exhibition and sale.
I believe that many knowledgeable businessmen and spell casters will be very interested and willing to pay a lot of money for it. "
These words are not a mere compliment. Even a person like Gavin, who knows little about the art of carving, can feel an extraordinary spirituality in the carvings of this stone giant. There will definitely be many people willing to spend a lot of money to buy it.
As an art ornament, it is just the most common way to use it.
In the hands of capable spellcasters, these statues can be activated with magic and made into stone golems. They can be used as works of art and as guards. They are very popular among noble merchants.
"Of course that's the best..." Stone Giant Domingo blurted out.
Compared with self-admiration, there is no greater sense of accomplishment in letting more people appreciate and recognize your own sculpture art.
This matter was something he had only dreamed of before.
But unfortunately, the immortal stone giant chiefs of the Council of Death Chiefs completely deviated from the stone giant's nature the moment they transformed themselves into immortals. In their eyes, the stone giant's innate artistic cells and abilities, It is the main culprit that hinders their revival. Even if it is not completely eliminated, it should be suppressed and controlled, so there is a crime of dereliction of duty.
He is addicted to carving, which is not allowed in the Council of Death Chiefs. It is a dereliction of duty, let alone holding a carving art exhibition. Someone will be sent to hammer all his carvings into pieces in a minute.
The fear of being dominated by the Council of Death Chiefs has penetrated deeply into the soul of the stone giant, and he couldn't help but said in embarrassment: "We will discuss this matter again, as long as you don't destroy my statue, the dwarf tomb, no, the things in the Colossus dungeon, Just don’t care about my business.”
(End of chapter)
