Rebuilding Science in a Magic World

"I'm thankful you've shared all this info with us.  We don't get much news from the outside, and given our relative youth as a country, our knowledge of the world is quite lacking.  However, as you've been so open with us, I feel it fair to be open with you.  Feel free to ask any questions you might have.  I've been the only one asking questions so far after all."  I say, while lowering my shoulders to try to relax myself somewhat.

"I do have a few questions, so if you're offering I'll ask them.  I apologize if this is blunt, but why aren't you like the other demons, which ravage the land and spread destruction, multiplying as you go?"

"Well, I can't speak to that, but Zaka might be able to.  He was the only demon who arrived here.  From him, the rest of us were created."

I nod, to Zaka, pleased that for once, I won't be the one answering all the questions.  Of everyone here though, Shasta is having to do the most talking, since she is translating for both sides.

"I came here many years ago.  All of us demons fled our homeland which was ravaged by famine.  With little food and cramped space, we were at sea for weeks.  I won't say exactly what had become of us, but as time passed, fewer and fewer of us remained on the boats we set out from.  Not long from when I landed here, we were beset by a storm, and the rope which tied our boat to the others snapped.  In the storm's wake, the others were thrown from the boat, and I was the only one to arrive here on the island.  Thankfully, the food here was easy to catch and plentiful, so I replenished my strength, and eventually gained the ability to summon more of my kind.  I was young when I was forced to flee my homeland, so I wasn't fully accustomed to our culture, which is probably why I lived differently than the other demons.  Within the culture, I can say that most considered it honorable to eat those you defeat, although I disagree."

"Fascinating, so you were an outlier yourself.  Although that doesn't fully explain your rapid development here on the island.  What has caused you to develop a society in this form so quickly?"

"I can't take credit for that, Zakarus here is the reason we've come so far.  When we met him, we were living in little more than stick huts, subsisting day by day."

Elora turns to face me after Shasta translates, "So, how exactly did you bring about this rapid development?"

Well, this is awkward, I suppose I'll have to phrase things interestingly.  I didn't mind sharing with Zaka and Zeb that I have memories from a past life, but letting that out of the bag here might be detrimental.

"Well, I get these vivid ideas and designs in my head and follow through with them.  There are more than I can work on at any point though, so we're always busy.  I'm thankful that we have an increasing number of individuals capable of handling more and more of the work that needs done though.  In the few years we've been here, we've finally got some windmills up, which is where we're milling flour and making paper.  I'd like to get a few more up and going in the next year, to help with more productions of goods.  Felt and wool, for example, would be useful soon when we get more bargas in our herds.  There are a lot of gaps in the details that I have to figure out along the way though."

"That's quite the unique situation, although you seem to be doing good with your knowledge.  What are your end goals?"

My end goals?  I haven't really thought of that in a long time.  Years ago, my goal was just to survive.  Then it was making life safe and easier.  Now?  I'm not as sure as to what it might be.  "I don't know exactly, but I think continuing to improve our quality of life and productivity is first.  Our land consists of a handful of islands.  To be safe, we need to be well developed to discourage countries like Rathland from interfering with us.  Ideally, I'd just be free to really discover details of how reality works.  Magic fascinates me, and there are lots of details about how things work that I have no idea about, but I'd like to."

"Yes, well, we all do like solving mysteries... If you find anything interesting, we might be interested."

"I'm always more than happy to take in someone who's able to help us in exchange for free access to what we're doing.  We already have a dwarf here who does blacksmithing, and we would always appreciate experts in other fields."

"I see, well, I might just see if we have anyone interested in a short stint here on this island.  I do presume here is where you are talking about?"

"Yes, here is where I'm talking about.  We're currently not taking unskilled labor, so if you plan on sending someone, I was serious about them needing to be skilled in some field, and we already have a smith.  Outside of that though, what will it cost to get some of those plants that eat dead matter?  Preferably both some for eating, and the spores to grow new ones with?"

"Hmmm, I suppose we can discuss those now.  We're always looking for salt, we don't need as much as the other races, but it is a nice seasoning for food.  We also have certain metal products we could use, but we'll also need them made for us, as we don't do much smithing of our own.  We do have some smiths, but it's much less common.  They'd be pretty basic things though, swords, arrowheads, bolts, that sort of stuff."

"Yes, we can probably arrange for both of those for trade.  It sounds like it'll be quite the long trip for you though, will it be two years or one before you return?"

"I believe that someone representing us should return next year.  I'll be staying at the Dwarven Island for a few weeks before I return to my homeland, mostly for appearance reasons.  If in those few weeks we can get those trade goods shipped to our island, that would make things work.  Do you want some of each kind of our plants?"

"Yes, a few of each of the plants that break down dead organic matter would be ideal.  How much will that run us?"

"Well, all things considered...  Two barrels of salt... a thousand arrowheads... two dozen swords of our design, which I can produce a rough draft of... and four hundred bolts?  Does that work for you?"

Its steep, but considering they're handling the shipping, its probably worth it, although I'll have to help smelt the metal for a lot of it.

"As long as you're alright with cast arrowheads and bolts, it should be possible.  If not, we'll need to come up with some other agreement."

"Cast should be fine.  Any other discussions today for us?"

"I'd love to hear details about other nations, but I'm afraid our translator is probably getting exhausted handling all this, so we should call it for today."

"Very well.  I'll look forward to our future talks."

After Elora left the room, Shasta let out a long sigh.  There are dozens of papers covered in writing scattered around her.

"I knew going into this it was going to be a lot of work translating all this, but could you at least let us take a break in the middle next time?  That was too exhausting."

"I'm just impressed that you managed to handle all that so readily.  As compensation, I'd like to send you back to your island with a bunch of blank paper."

"Well, I was just doing my job, but having spare paper will definitely make some of my work easier.  We have to be pretty conservative with our materials on the other island, so having spare paper of my own will be nice..."

"Then please, take it.  I'll make an airtight stone box you can take back with you, and you can just break it apart when you get there.  That should protect the paper from any water damage on the ship at least, but humidity on your island might end up being an issue long term.  Oh.  Before I forget, how are the two goblins doing at learning dwarvish?"

"Ah.  Well.  They're learning.  They aren't quite at the level where I'd send them on their way, at least not for record keeping.  They've gotten pretty good at speaking though, if you'd like them to come back."

"No, I think I'd rather them get their writing down to a good level.  What do I owe you for another year of training?"

"The same as last year should suffice.  Even more paper will probably improve the rate they learn at too."

I can't tell if she's using it as an excuse, or if it will actually help, but we'll have plenty of extra paper, so it won't actually hurt me to send it along with her.

"Alright, we'll get it prepared.  I'll talk with the trader later today to get all our other details sorted out.  Thanks for your help."