The Supreme Warrior *2014 ABNA Contest 2nd Round*

CHAPTER 11.2: The Realm of Queen Sefwyn

Over the next few days, Cal roamed throughout Queen Sefwyn’s realm. His insatiable curiosity compelled him to learn all the secrets that the dwarves would allow him to discover. With Bodelic as his guide, he toured throughout the dwarf warren. He explored the various guildhalls deep in the Artisan’s Stemm, each devoted to a separate skill; he wandered through new projects under construction by Architects and gaped in wonder at both their efficiency and the undeniable beauty of their craft. He even viewed the secret mountain vales where Farmers painstakingly cultivated crops alien to Cal’s human eyes.

Throughout all his wanderings, the sheer number of machines amazed him: from the large and powerful to the delicate and intricate, every Stemm used devices that seemed to run all by themselves. When he asked Bodelic about the gears that turned by “magic", the Miner laughed and said, “The answer lies at the heart of our realm. Perhaps the Queen will allow you access. I shall inquire.”

Four days later, Bodelic waited for Calidon in the humans’ suite and, when all the other men were out of earshot, quietly commanded, “Come, with me.”

Puzzled at his friend’s odd manner, the young man followed the dwarf as he led Cal through the warren once more. This time, however, Bodelic entered a strange, cage-like contraption that Cal had passed before, but had never been allowed to observe closely. He started in shock when Bodelic pulled a lever, causing the entire cage to sink into the ground at a controlled rate.

”’Tis an elevator,” commented the dwarf, as if he had explained the matter.

As Cal looked up to the top of the device, he could see a great shaft stretch far above his head. The cage suspended from what looked to be ropes made from twisted metal looped onto grooved wheels at the top of the machine. I am glad the platform blocks the view beneath my feet. I’d have a heart attack if I could see the distance that this thing could fall.

The device came to a halt with a slight screech from metal gears. Bodelic unlocked the cage and then stepped out into an enormous chamber lit with blazing lamps. The roaring sounds from a huge volume of running water assaulted his ears. Cal gasped. Laid out before him was a vast network of dams and water channels, with enormous wheels spinning in the flow.

Cal had seen humans use water wheels to power grain mills, but he never imagined that a complex like this dwarvish network was even possible. He now knew where the dwarves’s obtained the "magic" to turn their gears. He could not fathom how the dwarves used the water wheels to power machines far above, but knew they had to be the source.

Queen Sefwyn shouted, “Behold the greatest achievement of my realm!” The dwarf Queen’s voice only dimly carried over the flowing water and spinning waterwheels.

Cal’s head snapped up, and spied the Queen standing far above him on a central stone platform some twenty ells high, across a wide expanse of churning metal shafts attached to the water wheels. She stood behind what appeared to be some kind of panel with multiple metal levers. Queen Sefwyn waved him up, and pointed to a stone staircase built into the side of the platform.

Bodelic led Cal through the maze of mechanical shafts to the staircase. After Cal climbed the long stair and finally stood at the Queen’s side, he enjoyed a view of Sefwyn’s entire network.

Four great reservoirs at each corner of the room towered above the control center by at least fifty ells, each supplied by aqueducts carrying water from mountain rivers. Sluice ports lined the bottom of the reservoirs, allowing the controller to regulate the flow.

The Queen proudly demonstrated how she could open portals in the holding pools to either direct the water to treatment silos for purification, or into any combination of twelve segmented channels that exited the room. The purification process allowed the dwarves to ensure they had clean drinking water, while the different exit channels had waterwheels to produce power.