The Tale of the Wench in the Works.
The Fortress of Dedukvutok Deduk Akim was doing pretty well. The Miners had sensed the caverns near some of the deeper tunnels and a air lock system, using a trapdoor and a regular door (to keep away the pets) was being installed. Once in place they would break open the wall and see what they could see.
There had already been an accidental breeching before this but it had been quickly walled up. The Fortress at the time had neither the need or the military might to explore such a dangerous area. Now it felt comfortably secure and was about to have one of it's members appointed as a first TRUE Noble. A Baroness! What city would not feel pride?
As they waited they worked day and night. Mugs were made, wood was burned, and food was cooked. There was some complaints, as no ore or coal had been found ANYWHERE in the deep levels of the earth and the metal industry was only able to work with imported bars. This meant many Stone Class workers (those of the Middle Class) had few jobs and found themselves just hanging about, gossiping around the booze barrels, complaining about all the free time they had.
On the surface the farmers, woodcutters, and hunters worked day and night, in the rain and in the snow, trying to fulfill all the projects they had been given. It was never ending - seeds to plant, sheep to shear, new animals to butcher, walls to build, roofs to put up, logs to burn, stone to haul, and meals to make.
The day of the appointment finally arrived and Baroness Sazir Nazomonul, formally the manager, now stepped forward to turn the Fortress into a Barony. She was also given a Champion, picked at random by tossing a rock into one of the crowded hallways, to who would help train the soldiers.
She of course demanded a tomb, which was her right, and handed down mandates, which was also her right. Like the Mayor's mandates sometimes they could be fulfilled and sometimes not but at least they created work for the laborers and that was a good thing.
The Baroness's tomb was easy to throw together. They had a room already dug out and smoothed. They tossed in a few statues and a coffin. Done.
Funny enough, during all this, ANOTHER vampire was found among the populace. But the Nobles now knew how to handle this! They entombed him and made him the manager. As he had made some friends while living among the living it was decided one of the walls would be fortified - so that friends could chat with him through the arrow slits. Sadly, he was walled up without his pet.
The peasants had mixed feelings about this. They did feel a tad safer. But now they had TWO vampires in the chain of command. Seemed wrong somehow.
Soon the Baroness demanded a glass weapons rack for her dining room. Well, they were able to get the material, much to the happiness of one of the Stone Class who gleefully worked to make a wonderful glass weapons rack. He was only an Engraver but Rith Mafolurist was happy to try his best.
True, they had to import the material as nobody seemed to want to make it locally. Not enough bags somebody reported. But the peasants were always complaining about something. They complained about animal attacks, about vampire attacks, and about houses with no walls. Bloody peasants!
Soon the Glass Weapons Rack was presented to the Baroness, placed in her dining room just as she had asked, replacing the old one.
Which did nothing to please the Baroness. She threw a fit. A tantrum to be honest. A very loud one. In public. At the Fortress's well. In front of everybody.
It seems her words had been misheard. She had wanted a Crystal Glass Weapons Rack. Not a CLEAR Glass Weapons Rack. She ordered the death of the poor Dwarf.
Luckily the Nobles had never supplied the Hammerer with a hammer. A tad embarrassing but in private most of the Nobles felt that KILLING somebody was just a tad too much. There was a perfectly functional jail. If a tunnel with three ropes could count as a jail.
Still, those in the past who had been jailed had survived. The City Guard were not mean. They gave the prisoners water and none had died from abuse. The City Guard did not train as much as the Stone Cutters and therefore gave relatively light beatings.
In the end the Engraver went unpunished and new job orders were sent out. FIND ROCK CRYSTAL! Find it NOW!
The Miners worked overtime to dig wider and deeper. Looking for rock crystal. They found many stones, some precious, some not, but they found no rock crystals. Nor did they find ore or coal, much to their disgust. The Baroness's mandate was still in effect and the longer it took to carry it out the louder and more dangerous her tantrums would become.
It was felt that something had to be done with the Baroness. Something soon. Something that could not be traced to anybody. Meetings was held in the dark mines. Notes were secretly passed back and forth between the Mayor and the Militia Commander. Even the two vampires were consulted. Plans and plots were created, examined, and rejected. Whatever happened had to be final. She had to die but no evidence should be left behind. She could not just go "missing". She may come back as a ghost. She had to die but also be found so as to be placed in her tomb.
Than there was her husband. What to do with him? Would he start a riot? Almost everybody was related. What could be done to keep the damage down to a minimum?
One of the vampires, being old and wise, made a suggestion which he whispered through the wall that keep him away from the pulsing necks of the living Dwarfs.
"If you kill her, that's it. No chance of being the capital. Ever."
The Nobles grumbled and whined but realized that, yes, the vampire was right. Off the Baroness and that would kill any chance of them every attracting the other Nobles and, one day, the King.
"Do we WANT the King here?" asked the Mayor after draining his marble mug of wine. "I thought the whole point was to be in charge. Not to be ordered about."
The Captain of the Guard coughed and added, "She is throwing things at people."
The voice of the vampire once again drifted over the meeting from the stone wall as if somehow leaking through the invisible cracks. the other vampire seemed to be more of a listener but the Nobles could almost feel his presence, as if he was behind the other vampire, supporting him silently.
"You can be a second rate independent city state. Or the Capital of one of the most powerful Kingdoms of Dwarfkind. With access to the ears of the King."
The Nobles, in the end, agreed to wait. It was decided to recruit the Baroness's husband as a Militia Captain, to keep an eye on him, and to try their best to make the Baroness and future Nobles happy. It would require purchasing items nobody needed or wanted, to keep the stockpiles well supplied but if it meant REAL, long reaching, total power...
And so the Baroness, who many of the peasants called the 'Third Blood Sucker', was kept in her position. The new military squad, the Surface Grunts, trained in a room in which the Baroness's husband would notice, as he trained his soldiers, the Clear Glass Weapons Rack. He knew it was a message. But who was it directed at?
The outside walls grew, slowly encircling the outdoor slums. They also grew upwards, as fortifications were made. There was talk of a drawbridge and towers for archers. Of course, more houses, diners, and workshops would need to be built. And more living spaces for the inside populace. Babies were being born at an amazing rate.
One of the upper levels was even being cleared out when it was noticed that cave moss and plants were growing in its soil. The exposure to the caverns, twice, had released spores into the chambers and hallways. It would make safe pastures for the growing herd of sheep.
The air lock, forgotten by all but the Nobles, was kept available. For future use. Just in case.
The End.