Life Among Savages

Life among the Rust Shapers wasn’t what I would call easy. Although I was fed and given a place to sleep in one of the wooden huts, they expected me to repay them by working. And work I did.

Thrishop introduced me to one of the blacksmiths, Reshis. Reshis had the forge nearest to Thrishop’s hut and he could speak a little English (or Common, as they called it), so I guess that’s why he chose him. He was a big, muscular lizard, and almost as tall as I was. At first, he had me making small items, like spear and arrowheads. It was quite the experience. First of all, I have never used a forge in my life. Yet because of some numbers on my stat sheet, I was able to go through the motions of smithing like I had been doing it for years.

Once Reshis was able to see that I could handle the small stuff, he had me making bigger things like daggers and short swords. These I did without much trouble, and I managed to make about six of each on the first day! Needless to say, my level in Smithing went up two whole levels. I was concerned about the lizardfolk getting scared after seeing that blue box pop up, but neither Reshis nor anyone nearby reacted to it. It seemed like they couldn’t see it, so I gave it no mind.

Over the next few days, Reshis had me working my tail off making swords. I must’ve made a hundred of them by week’s end. While working, Reshis talked in his native language. And talked. And talked. Even though he thought I couldn’t understand a word he was saying, the big lizard still spoke to me as if I could. It was during these one-sided conversations that I learned a few things. First off, I finally discovered where all these weapons were going to. According to Reshis, the tribe actually traded away everything they made for stuff they needed, like cloth, medicines, and, yes, metal to make more weapons with. Apparently, there was a monthly gathering of lizardman tribes where trading would take place. Every tribe would bring what they were good at making. The Rust Shapers would bring their weapons, the Rock Biters would bring metals, the Powder Mixers would bring medicines, and so on.

The tribe that most interested me most were the Traders. They were the tribe that the Rust Shapers did the most business with, since they sold the weapons we made to humans. They didn’t sell them for gold, as the material was useless to the lizardmen; but they did trade for cloth, leathers, even furs.

So there were humans in Hell, too? What was I saying, of course there were. There were plenty enough scoundrels in the living world to account for the need to have a place for them in the afterlife. Hell, I was one of them. What was stranger though was my desire to meet them. Maybe it was a longing to be with my own kind, or maybe I just didn’t want to keep making swords for the rest of my life. So I focused on that one goal: to get to the human lands. Hell, who knew? I might even meet someone I knew. I sure put enough of them here.

But before that, I needed a weapon. To make it through this God forsaken swamp, I couldn’t only rely on my teeth and claws. There were probably things out there that had bigger teeth and claws that I did. So yes, I needed a weapon. And by weapon, I didn’t mean a sword or a sharp stick.

I asked Thrishop if I could request some items when the next trade group went out.

“I suppose,” he said. “What did you need?”

“Sharcoal. Sulfur. Shalt Peter.” My enunciations had been getting better with practice as well.

“Just that?”

I nodded.

“How much do you need?”

“A lot.”

And so Thrishop added my request along with the others the next time the monthly caravan went out. Meanwhile, I had my own project to deal with.

I still continued to make swords, shields, and other stuff for the tribe. But when my hours were up, I was allowed to make use of the forge for anything I wanted to make. What I was planning would be much more complex than anything else I’d made during the past few weeks. But my current Smithing level was at 11 now, so I was confident that I would succeed.

I began by shaping a piece of wrought iron into a tube. This was… not easy. It took numerous constant reheats to keep the metal hot enough and I had to insert a mandrel in the hole to keep the bore from collapsing. All in all, it took me about ten, eleven hours to finish. The rest of the parts proved much easier to create.

All the while, Reshis was watching me work.

“Vhat make?” he asked me.

“Weapon. It…” I really didn’t know how to describe the kind of weapon I was making to him, so I settled for the familiar equivalent. “It bow.”

Reshis grunted. “No look like bow.”

After a few days, the caravan returned home. They had brought numerous goods back, from cloth and leather to more iron for the blacksmiths. Along with these was a small sack containing around ten-pound bags of sulfur, charcoal and saltpeter.

I borrowed a mortar and pestle from the local medicine lizard, then retired to my hut so that I could get to work. I didn’t sleep that night, I was too excited. All night long, I ground and mixed. Ground and mixed. I just hope I remembered the correct ration for the mixture. Seventy-five percent saltpeter, fifteen percent charcoal, and ten percent sulfur.

By the time morning came, I had a large bag of black powder with me.

Magic Creation System

CONGRATULATIONS!

You have just created GUNPOWDER.

Magic Creation System? What was that? Gunpowder isn’t magic! Whatever, I closed the screen and picked up my bag of powder. I needed to test it.

I walked on over to the cooking area in the village. At the moment, it was full of lizards eating breakfast so it was quite crowded. I found one blazing fire pit that didn’t have anything cooking on it, so I mimed at the cook if I could use it. She nodded, and I motioned for her to move back, which she did albeit with a curious look on her scaly face.

The other villagers had stopped their eating to stare at me, possibly wondering what the newcomer was up to. With a dozen lizard eyes on me, I reached into my bag and took out a pinch of black powder. Then, with a flick of my wrist, I cast the powder into the fire.

There was a flash of light followed by a pop, and lots of smoke. The lizards all jumped and gasped, some even screamed.

“Magician!” They said over and over in their native tongue.

I was paying them no mind, though. My scaled lips were twisted into a wide smile. It worked! It actually worked. Not that I didn’t think it would, it’s just that with this being Hell I was worried that stuff from the living world wouldn’t transfer over.

But it had. This meant that there was a good chance that my other project would end up working as well. And as soon as it was complete, I would be ready to venture into the human lands.

I would be prepared for whatever Hell was ready to throw at me. That I swore.