The Quantum Wanderer

I open a portal to the room I use to visit the dwarves. I sit on the couch and wait. Shortly after, Dávrin comes over. He is walking slowly.

“Hello, friend.”

“Hi Dávrin. The booze really did a trick on you, huh?”

“Yes, friend.”

He drops down on the couch opposite to him.  I chuckle a little.

“That bad huh? Do you want me to take care of it?”

He looks at me with a supplicant expression. I reach over with and get my hand close to his forehead. I cast a regeneration spell on him. It takes a minute, but the wellness just settles over him. I grab a glass and fill it with water using some water magic. I hand it over to Dávrin. He drinks it all.

“Another one of your miracles! This is amazing! How?”

“Just some normal healing magic. Normal stuff, actually.”

“I don’t know what you mean, friend. There are several things that healers are just not able to do. Fevers, and tumors, diseases. The healers are good with stuff that they can see how they work. A broken arm? It is easy to understand a broken bone. Putting it back together, making it grow. Closing a wound. But their worst nightmare? Infections. Flus. Hangovers. Some potions can be made, but they work based on mana, something like a food that makes your body better.”

“Really? Huh.”

“Anyway, other than being helped by your godly powers, Great Adventurer, how can I help you?”

I giggle a little at the joyful play.

“I was wondering how much it would cost for a crew to fix the mess I did in the party.”

“For you friend? Don’t make me laugh. Would you open a portal there? That should be enough.”

“But the crew is going to spend their time there. Surely it should paid. Besides, I have quite a bit of coin, I don’t mind.”

He starts laughing. He turns over to the guard.

“Bring me Andvari. Tell him our benefactor is here.”

The guard takes out running. We start drinking a little bit. The Anvil arrives a little later.

“Hello, your highness, lord.” He does this big bow.

“Hi, Andvari. Our friend here is wondering how much he should pay to have a crew fix a ceiling and floor.”

He turns to me, with an inquisitive face. It is like I just told him something completely absurd. He is both curious and apparently unable to understand what I am saying.

“How much he should pay?” He turns to me. “What do you mean?”

“You know, it is a crew, they are going to work, it is only fair I pay.”

“Oh, you are serious.”

“Don’t worry, I got a lot of coin, actually. I haven’t been able to use it.”

“Pray tell, master Marcelo, where are you going to find a team that is going to accept payment?” Andvari asks. Both he and Dávrin start laughing. I am just looking at them, waiting for the their laughing to stop. I am scratching the back of my head. After some time, they finally calm down. I turn to them.

“Got your point… Can we have a team fixing the destruction I caused? I really think I should pay, though.”

Andvari looks at Dávrin. Dávrin starts laughing. About as much a Muninn did. After some long time laughing, with tears, he manages to breath enough to tell Andvari.

“It was his bachelor party. The girls asked him to do the Last Hit for the party… Him!”

He laughs a little more.

“He brandished the hammer with one arm. Good thing the crow just became this big thing, and covered us, extending his wings. Next thing I hear this big BOOM! He destroyed the stone and the floor…” He giggles a little more. “The stone and the floor are no more.”

They both start laughing. Again I wait. Once they are finished, Dávrin turns to Andvari.

“Can you find a team to fix the damage in the castle?”

“Of course, your highness. I can have a crew by… One o’clock. Would that work?”

They both turn to me.

“Of course. Hey, I am the one asking the favor here.”

“Sure, sure, friend.”

“So… Do you want me to come later? Perhaps I could visit Brokkr, if he is not too visit.”

“I don’t think he will ever be too busy for you, ever.”

I shrug. I don’t think I can take those words at face value. Specially knowing him. I say my temporary farewells and leave the castle towards Brokkr’s home. No one answers to the door. A neighbor volunteers the information that he is at Ildra’s.

Every where I pass by the dwarves bow down their heads. I reciprocate the gesture. I walk through the streets, through the different markets. The hot air is not that unpleasant when I am wearing the dwarven pendant. The soft light around the city. I don’t think I appreciate the small things like these enough. The cobblestones, the connection between the stones almost non-existent.

After the short walk, I am at the inn. As expected, the inn is very noisy. I enter it, and I see Brokkr sitting on a table in the corner, by himself. I immediately become the center of attention when I enter the inn.  I wanted to come inconspicuous, but I don’t think it is really possible. I smile and gesture them to keep what they were doing.

I approach Brokkr.

“Is there a seat I could use?”

“Sure, master Marcelo. Make yourself comfortable.”

I sit down. Ildra came out and is looking at us. Brokkr gestures her the cup. She nods, goes back into the kitchen and brings back a big cup of ale.

We both raise our cups. The ale is spicy, the dwarven taste where everything here is spicy. Even the air.

“So, master Marcelo, what have you been up to?”

“Me? Not much.”

“Really? You do realize that the tale already had over 12 hours to spread out, right?”

“Huh?”

“The girls that my nephew selected for your bachelor party… Did you really think that your little show would go unreported?”

Brokkr starts laughing. Again I scratch the back of my head. I shrug.

“That turns out to be the reason for my visit. I was trying to hire a crew to fix Rajesh’s castle…”

He shrugs.

“How many people do you want working on it?”

“I don’t know. I just wanted to provide the means to fix it. I have no idea about what it takes to fix that. But I already mentioned Dávrin, he and Andvari are helping me with it.”

He raises his cup.

“Nothing for me to do, then.”

At this point, there is a bell rolling. I can see that the dwarves put their cups down, mumbling. They leave coins on the table, and leave. I can hear a couple of them mumbling.

“What do you think it is this time?”

“I don’t know, but at least it is not the urgent bell.”

A couple of minutes later, the inn is empty. Ildra is collecting the coins on the tables. Brokkr and I are the only ones left in the inn. I look at him.

“What is going on?”

“That is the ‘go to the main square – not urgent bell’”.

“Shouldn’t we go?”

“No need. It’s not like I am going to do stonemason work.”

“Oh. But… Should they be calling the whole city for something like that?”

Brokkr shrugs. Ildra sits with us.

“Hello boys. Are you not going to the main square?”

I shrug.

“I don’t want to do stonemason work.”

“How do you know it is about stonemason work, dear?”

He balances his head, pointing at me. She just nods. I get curious, though.

“Why calling everyone for this? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Some people accused Dávrin and Andvari of nepotism because of the way they chose the team to work in your renovations.”

“Why?”

“They complained that it should be public. Some stonemasons and woodworkers complained that they would have done a better job, that they were better in their own fields, and they weren’t given a chance to apply.”

I shrug.

“You guys are weird. I don’t even know if the guys that worked in my home were paid enough.”

He smiled. He apparently has some secret that I can’t seem to grasp, then he giggles a couple of times.  He calms down, sips the ale.

“Anyway, the girls are spreading some information about your pet too.”

“Did the girls report that too?”

“Are you kidding? They said it started as a talking crow. That could mimic their voices. That was already enough to phreak them out. Heck, that would phreak *me* out. Then, when you had your backs to them, it became this huge thing, opened its wings, and smiled. One of the girls mentioned that it was smiling. She thought she was going to become monster poop.”

“Yes, Muninn is a bit of a prankster, but he is not evil. Sometimes he goes a little too far, though.”

“Life around is never boring, master Marcelo.”

We chatted a little more. Ildra had used the time with the empty inn to clean things up. Some dwarves start coming back to the inn. They bow their heads towards Brokkr and me, and sits down. They look a little dejected. Brokkr looks at me.

“I think that this is your cue, they must have finished the crew selection.”

“Do you think I should try to gather some material as well?”

“Not really. According to what I heard, this should be quick.”

I drain my cup. I drop a dwarven gold coin on the table. Brokkr places his cup on top of it, before anyone else can notice.

“I appreciate how much you are tipping Ildra, master Marcelo, but please avoid doing these things openly…”

“Of course. See you later.”

“See you later.”

I leave the inn, and I decide to pass by the main square on my way to the palace. There I meet Andvari on the platform, and there are some dwarves in front of him, something around 30. They are collecting some square structures, made of metal pipes. I come around, it looks like assembling scaffolding. There are some other equipment on the floor, in a couple of barrels.

Andvari notices me, and bows. The other dwarves turn around and bow as well. I bow back.

“Right on time, master Marcelo. We are ready if you are.”

According to the last bell that just finished ringing, it is actually 2:00. I pull Rajesh’s Comm Gem. After a little while, I can hear his voice. Not his enthusiastic self either.

“Hello, friend… Good afternoon. How are you?”

“I am well, thanks. How are you?”

“I can’t complain, friend, I can’t complain. I feel like I have l eaten a whole carpet. Other than that, everything is fine... How can I help you?”

“Well, it is about the results of the party… I got a crew here, I was wondering if we can come over to start fixing the floor/ceiling?”

“Sure, friend. Can you go straight there? I will join you in a little while.”

“Of course, thank you.”

I open a portal to the floor below. I am thinking that we also have to clean the stones that messed up the place. I step through the portal.

There are some demons clearing up the scene. They stop and stare at me. They drop the stones they have in their hands, and kowtow. The dwarves start pouring from the portal, looking at the scene. I turn to the demons.

“Please, stand up. Does any of you talk [common]?” I ask them in [demon].

The demons stand up, and one of them steps forward, replying with a heavy accent.

“I do, your godliness.”

“Thanks. I brought a group here, they are going to fix the ceiling.”

One of the dwarves approaches us. I turn to him, he bows and talks to us.

“We are going to need the stones, unless you want us to use our own quarry.”

The demon turns to the others, and ask them to bring back the stones that they have been cleaning up. The dwarves put the stones to the side, and assemble the scaffolding. When putting one on the top of the other, each female connection has a rune on it. The dwarves put their hands on top, and the female part of the scaffolding gets hot. They proceed to put the part on top of the other one. When then hot part cools down, the fit is absolutely perfect. They look like a single piece of metal.

In a short time they have a scaffolding that reaches the ceiling, and some dwarves are already on it, examining the damage. They discuss among theirselves.

The demons are bringing back the rocks. In a very short time, there is a whole construction site in front of me.

Rajesh is arriving. I can see that the noise of heavy work is bothering him terribly.

“Hello, friend. I feel like my horns are made of lead.”

He is trying to stay a little bit away from the noisiest part. I come close to him, and I cast the regeneration spell. In a couple of minutes, he is getting better.

“You should drink water now. Lots of water. It is going to make clean up the blood faster.”

 “I will, friend, I will.”

He takes an honest look at the work being done, now that his hangover is gone. I can see that he is impressed with how fast things are going. On top of the scaffolding there is a structure. Some dwarves go through it to the upper floor. They start throwing things up. After some time, there is only one dwarf down, the ceiling on top of the scaffolding is covered by a platform that is on top of it. The remaining dwarf comes over.

“Excuse, master Marcelo, what way can I use to go up?”

I look at Rajesh, and we all leave the room, and go over to the nearest stairs, and back to the room we used for my bachelor’s party. The dwarves not working on the construction, they are inspecting the walls, that were pelted with what was left of the stone.

The notice that we are getting closer.

“Was this the last hit?”

I have this yellow smile on my face. I bend my neck. Some dwarves start laughing. They then look at the rest of the room. One of the dwarves position himself where the stone was. He calls the others excitedly. A couple of them get there, and he starts pointing the wall, like he is drawing something.

They start laughing and talking excitedly. Rajesh and I get to the same place. From there, we can see where the pebbles did a trick on the walls. Then there is the part that was protected by Muninn. They point to the edges, and it is almost possible to draw Muninn’s wings by that. He wasn’t kidding with the protecting everyone.

At this point, Sidhu is coming in.

“Your godliness! I was just informed of your visit.”

He kneels down. I gesture him to stand up. He looks at the dwarves and salutes them. They bow a little bit to him. They gesture him to come closer, and show Sidhu Muninn’s profile on the wall. Some of the dwarves pick up a bucket with some substance from a barrel they brought. They are about to start fixing the wall when Sidhu shouts.

“Wait!”

He turns to Rajesh.

“Please, your highness.”

Rajesh gestures towards the dwarves.

“I appreciate the gesture, but can I ask you to leave the walls how they are? I would appreciate the floor fixed, though. This wall now… It has sentimental value.”

The dwarves shrug and start working on the floor. They place some supports, start laying down some stones. Next they pour mana into a container, and the contents liquify. They start pouring it on the stones. They straighten the whole thing, and it solidifies.

“Ready for the party! Master, lords.”

Rajesh laughs.

“I don’t think we are ever going to have something like that again.”

“I second that.” I add.

The dwarf that was examining the walls turns back to us.

“How much strength did you use, master Marcelo?”

I shrug. “I was under the booze at the moment. Muninn might know.”

“The last scene I saw, before seeing Muninn protecting us, you had the hammer raised above your head with a single hand.”

The dwarf passes a finger over the pebbles holes. 

“It must have been impressive. I had heard some rumors, but this… How loud was it?”

“Very.” Rajesh confirms.

The dwarves make a face, and get back to the floor. They check it, and they seem satisfied with the work.

I look out the window, it is around 5:00. It is going to get dark soon. I put their barrels inside my holding bag. I don’t know why I didn’t remember it before, it could have saved so much trouble. We go downstairs. They start to disassemble the scaffolding. Rajesh and Sidhu are amazed with the technology.

I open the portal to the main square in the dwarves, and we all go back. I place the barrels on the ground, and the group starts to break.

“Wait!”

The dwarves turn around.

“Were you guys paid for the work today? Who do I talk to about the payment?”

“We are getting paid by The Anvil. The crown is taking care of it.”

“Oh. Ok. Thank you all, then. I really, really appreciate your help today. I thought the fix was going to take a lot longer, I thought I was going to be able to pay a couple of rounds of drinks.”

They turn around.

“Drinks?”

The dwarves start turning around.

“We can still do that.” I look at the stuff they have with them. “I am going to Ildra’s. Let’s meet there.”

They disperse. I get to Ildra’s. As always, Brokkr is in the corner table. The sun is starting to set, it is time for the girls to get back home. I pull out the girls’ Comm Gem. I inject mana in it.

“Hey girls.”

“Hi.” “Hi” “Hello my lord.” “Hello, my lord.”

“So… I spent the day with the whole fixing the floor I had messed in Rajesh’s. I am going to pay some drinks for the crew that worked there. Do you girls want to come over? Or do you prefer to go home?”

Cecilia is the one to answer.

“I would prefer to have a shower first, my villain. This thing of showering everyday really grew on me.”

“On all of us, actually. The smell is so much better.” Ruby complements.

“Ok, I am going to open a portal, just give me a second.”

I get outside, to an alley, and I open a portal towards home. Muninn and Huginn are at the top of the cupboard, relaxed.

“Hey, papa, back already?” Huginn asks.

I open the portal to the girls. I turn to Huginn.

“Not quite. There is a crew that helped the fix over Rajesh’s, I am going to buy them some drinks. Do you guys want to come?”

“Alright, partey!” Muninn exclaims.

“Don’t you guys want to use the dwarven pendants?”

“Sure.”

They fly off to my room. The girls also start to go up. I turn to them.

“Girls, I am going to stay over there. I am going to be in Ildra’s. Let me know when you want to come, I will open a portal.”

 I open a portal back to the alley behind Ildra’s, and back in the inn. I go to the counter and call Ildra.

“Ildra, do you have a quick minute?”

“Sure, master Marcelo. What can I get you?”

“There is a crew that helped me today… I invited them here… How much is the ale you have there?”

“Some stuff is two copper, some stuff is five copper.”

I reach into a hand sized portal, and get the bag of holding that contains the treasure obtained from the cities I cleaned for the dwarves.  I check out the coins they have.

“Are dwarven currency the same as the human one?”

She takes out a towel, and starts drying up some cups. She sighs.

“What is the human currency like?”

“10 copper for a silver, 10 silver for a gold, 100 gold for a platinum.”

“Almost. After gold, we have enchanted mithril, and then enchanted adamantite.”

I see four different types of round coins. One is apparently made of tin, another of copper, another of silver, and the fourth one is made of gold. There are two types of coins that are rectangular. One is made of enchanted mithril, and the other one is made of enchanted adamantite. The distribution of the coins in there is towards the higher denomination, though. There are some silver coins, but not many, and I can’t see any coppers there.

“What I meant was, how much would you get if you sold all your ale?”

“Around 10 gold…? Not a typical night, though.”

I hand her two enchanted mithril coins. Since they have two denominations above the gold, I am assuming that 20 gold for the booze is going to be enough.

“Master Marcelo… What is this?”

“I am assuming that an enchanted mithril is 10 gold, right? That would make it 20 gold.”

“No, master Marcelo! An enchanted mithril is 100 gold, just like the platinum.”

“Oh. Ok. In that case, let’s make it a single enchanted mithril.“ I take one of the coins back, and put it back in the bag. I put the bag back in the safe.

“I can’t accept this, master Marcelo. This is too much.”

“It’s ok. I already could not pay the guys, just keep the ale running for them.”

I go back to Brokkr’s table, he is already giving me the side-eye.

“Hello again, master Brokkr.”

“What was all that talking?”

“I was paying for the booze for the guys that are going to come over in a little bit.”

“But they didn’t start yet. How do you know how much they are going to drink?”

“That is what I was talking with your lady… We estimated how much she sells in a night, and then I settled for that value. If it goes over, then I can add some additional coin later.”

“Well, thanks!”

The dwarves start to arrive. I keep talking to Brokkr about the currencies. Although mithril and adamantite are not that rare a metal to warrant coin value, their enchanted counter parts are because of the process needed to forge it.

Dwarves start pouring in the inn. When they hear that the ale is already paid for, they raise their cup towards me.

The girls end up arriving a little later. They are dressed casually, but they still cause a sensation. Muninn and Huginn are on Cecilia’s shoulders, they are wearing the pendants. When she enters the room, everyone stops mid-sentence and look at her. Then the whispering start. The crows then fly to my shoulder. Muninn has a naughty smile on him. I turn to him.

“Please, don’t.”

“Don’t what, father?”

“Whatever you are thinking.”

“What do mean, papa?” He tries to do an expression that would work from Huginn.

“I know you. Just don’t.”

He sighs.

“Fine.”

I turn to the girls.

“Hello. Beautiful as always.” I give each of them a peck on the lips. They sit with Brokkr and me.

“Good evening, master Brokkr.” Cecilia salutes him.

“Hi, missus Cecilia. How are things?”

“Very well, actually. What about you?”

“Fine as well. Everything is as it should be. Are you ready for the wedding?”

“Yes, actually. Everything is already in place. We should thank lady Dyrgja and Aisha. They have helped us just so much! I think we are going to be indebted to them forever!”

He laughed.

“Perhaps that was the goal.”

Cecilia shrugged. A dwarf comes close to our table.

“I am sorry, sir Marcelo-“

Brokkr stomps his cup on the table.

“Master Marcelo.”

The dwarf looks at Brokkr, and then looks back at me.

“I am sorry, master Marcelo, but are those the bird gods?”

“I don’t know about being gods, but yes…?”

“We were told they can speak! Is it true?”

I giggle a little.

“Yes, actually.”

I pet Muninn on the chest. He caws and pretends to be a normal crow. The dwarf is really disappointed. I can bet that he now thinks that Muninn is not the same bird in the bachelor’s party story.

Brokkr stares at Muninn.

“If I hadn’t just seen you talking to him I would doubt myself.” He starts laughing.

Huginn sighs.

Meanwhile the inn is becoming really lively. People are describing the damage that they were sent to fix. I can see some of them describing the picture created by the pebbles. I thank Muninn for protecting the rest of the people in the party. I have to recognize that even though he is an asshole, he is a kind one.

I tell Brokkr about the demon soldier that Muninn ended up teaching swordsmanship. He laughs for a long time on that one. Huginn displays some shame for Muninn’s behavior, but Cecilia cracks herself up. I am still laughing at the story as well.

“… I mean he looked at me with an expression like, ‘what do I do with this guy now’?”

Some other dwarves join our table. They are talking about the stuff that has been going on on their end. How the new cities have stablished commerce as well. Some people are calling it the new dwarven empire. They say that the cities are already populated, and how things are going apparently well.

After some time, we say our goodbyes. We go back to the alley, and we portal home. Time to have a shower and get to bed. This was a long day.