Mountain of the Immortals

When I got close enough to get a better look at the people inside the circle Artemis had formed with her troops, I realized the people were not kids but dwarfs. I hadn't seen dwarfs for decades as most of them avoided Greece, preferring harsher climates. But this group looked like they weren't here by accident.

* * *

Name: Deimos Choron

Race: Pygmy

Class: Order of the Club

Level: 39

* * *

Many times before had I gotten myself into an awkward social situation just because I hadn't made the effort to scan the person I was about to talk to. Thankfully, I had learned my lesson by now, or else I would have called this man a dwarf instead of pygmy. And that would have been a very bad start for our conversation.

Most of the dwarf races came either from the Norse or the Celtic realms, but pygmies prided themselves on their Greek origins and no matter how many people called them Greek dwarfs, they would simply disregard them if not outright attack them. Other than that, they were famous for their mining skills, their mastery in crafting magic items and equipment, and their undying hatred of birds--cranes specifically.

"Artemis is a goddess. And she's in charge of this place," I said, trying to put the little man in his place.

He was no taller than a child of ten or maybe twelve years old, but his limbs were as built as those of the sturdiest miners that stood around us. His long beard was gray while his dark brown hair was caught up in a bun, similar to how Artemis wore hers while fighting.

"I meant no disrespect to the goddess of the hunt, mighty Zeus," the man said, his voice showing what I suspected was a well-calculated hint of remorse.

His appearance was that of a man who did all the same dirty work his underlings would do, but his choice of words and the way he spoke them also showed that he was quite gifted with his tongue.

"What is this, Artemis?" I asked, looking at the leather-clad goddess.

"We were heading toward the lower levels of the mines and we found them there," she said. "They haven't shown any signs of hostility."

"That is because we're here to talk with you and the slayer of the hundred-headed menace," the man said.

"What is it that you want to talk about?" I asked.

"We have lived underground in the surrounding valleys for years trying to make a living by mining and selling precious stones," the man explained. "Alas, there are not enough valuable things in the earth around the mountains and it's getting harder to keep up with the monsters growing stronger all the time."

"You still haven't told me why you want to talk to me," I repeated, looking at Artemis impatiently.

"The ground under the mountain is rich with all kinds of wonders," the man said. "Ores straight out of miners' tales. Metals strong enough to break the skies and dungeons with incredible treasures. We would like to join your city and bring all of our knowledge and skills in exchange for access to these wonders."

"Artemis, you know I'm not responsible for recruiting people," I said, looking at her sideways. "Aphrodite has a long list of people waiting to join us and I can't just undercut them because a bunch of people showed up in our tunnels."

"I know," she said, "but we did make an exception for people who would be able to work as researchers."

"These people don't look like researchers," I said, looking around at the two dozen men and women who seemed ready to start digging holes at any minute.

"No, but that's not the only building where we need more workers," she said.

Only then did I realize why she had invited me to speak to them.

I turned to face them and looked at them one by one. Their faces looked hardened but so did those of every other miner. Their hands were calloused too, but more importantly, their forearms were filled with small telltale burn marks. The kind of marks that one would get while working with metal at extremely high temperatures, or by striking an anvil.

"Are you good with a forge?" I asked, and Artemis smiled a wide grin.

"Give me stone with some metal in it," the small man said, puffing out his chest, "and I'll make a sword worthy of slaying a dragon."

"I'm a man of the spear myself, but I appreciate the notion," I said, patting him on the shoulder. "You can join our city, but there is one condition."

"Whatever you wish, I--" the man started, but I raised my hand to stop him from wasting more time with flatteries.

"You will not be miners," I stated. "We have a blacksmith's workshop with no blacksmiths. I want the furnaces and forges running day and night, creating weapons and gear for our citizens. Now, I won't overwork you as long as you make sure you're always running at capacity. Whatever you do in your spare time is your business. If you want to spend it in the mines, so be it."

"That is more than fair, Master Zeus," the man said. "We are blacksmiths and miners. The wonders of the underground wilderness can only be matched by the majestic creativity of striking a hammer on hot metal."

"Okay, okay," I said, now smiling at the man, who seemed as gifted with this words as he was with his pickaxe. "Artemis, have them escorted to Aphrodite. They can start as soon as they swear their allegiance to us."

"Thank you," the voices of more than twenty people said at once.

Twenty new followers and at last someone to run the blacksmith's workshop.

"Is there anything else?" I asked Artemis, who was already giving her orders to one of the guards.

"That's all," she said with a smile.

I headed back toward the exit of the mine. The guard brought the pygmies and started following me, albeit at a much slower pace, probably so that he could prevent them from bugging me with any more flattery or questions.

"Aphrodite," I said in the guild chat while heading back to the hill to resume my construction work. "I'm sending you a group of pygmies."

"What?" Her response was filled with surprise. "Pygmies? Where did they come from? I haven't seen any cross through the portal."

"They traveled through the tunnels and up into the mines," I said. "They will join us as citizens."

"Okay, first of all, that is dangerous," she replied with fervor. "I didn't know we needed to be careful about people invading us through the tunnels as well."

"There's no need to worry about the tunnels," Artemis responded. "We found them, not the other way round. They were lost in the mountain's belly trying to reach us. Either way, the monsters are more than enough to protect us from anyone coming that way."

"You know best," Aphrodite said, her voice relaxing a bit before coming back even stronger. "But why are these people skipping the line? There's already enough unrest with the researchers coming to the front of the waiting list."

"Similar situation," I said. "They're crafters and if I understand correctly, quite good ones too. At some point we need to start crafting equipment for our people. We can't keep buying it from merchants."

"I guess that's right," she said with a sigh after a few seconds of silence. "I'll have them become followers and send them to the workshop as soon as possible."

"They can build their own manor too," I said. "They can decide which of the building sites they want to work on."

"Sure, I'll let them know," she replied. "Busy day, isn't it?"

"Busy is good," Artemis said.

"Indeed it is," I said, as I reached the top of the hill again.