Vonn went to the chalkboard and explained the hot air balloon to Spikes the adventurer, emphasizing that it was Selen's design. He concluded, "I'm thinking about both magical and non-magical gadgets for handling that place. Do you think you can conquer and wreck it?"

"It might take months to work our way down, and that's with other teams going at it and comparing notes. I'd be fascinated if this one weren't so screwed up. Also, we haven't got infinite money. Can I sell you these nasty chains for scrap?"

"Yeah, we're short on metal. What if you guarded the miners as they work? That might be easier than going into the heart of that place."

Spikes said, "We've been thinking about it. If you've got this rising machine, could you make one to bust down through the stonework?"

Vonn would've thought it a naive question, since the principle was so different, but it was worth thinking about. "I just now learned the most basic earth-element spell. I should be able to attune gems to that and maybe work up a stone-shaping wand. That's probably something others have done though. And my guess is that the dungeon will react badly to that, since it can reshape itself. Could we just dig deep, spiky pits and lure dumb monsters to fall into them?"

"On the ground level, yeah. If you can slowly carve through rock. I hate to admit it, but just battling our way through might be beyond my team."

"One thing I'd like to try is spraying the whole place with life energy."

"Way too slow. Maybe if you pounded the core directly you could convince it to change aspect. And we found too many narrow air passageways to block."

"Nice juicy adventurer bait to lure all the monsters out, then go in with another group?"

"That would only work on the top-floor ones."

Vonn tugged at his ears in frustration. "And my other ideas so far are about wards and alarms."

"At least you're still having ideas."

#

Birb went in for her first Mage level, proudly showing off a light spell and the standard Rising Wind spell that every Aves was expected to learn for better flight. Vonn wasn't sure she'd keep it, but there was no harm in trying. With a little coaching, Ashfall managed to hit Smith 3. She said, "Took the Stretched Materials power this time."

"Good for business. I'm surprised that Kotta and Tazo didn't wait to get levels before leaving town."

"Not everyone is intent on advancing as fast as possible, you know."

Vonn grinned. "And that's one reason our company is going to be world-famous. What really brings you here, Ash? You mentioned wanting to get away from all the mud."

The Centaur swept up some iron filings with a broom. "My family does baking. It's incredibly boring and I begged to learn another trade. But you're really supposed to start these things younger than I did. I got a Smith to humor me but it was obvious that there wasn't much room for another professional in the Baron's villages. Shieldpoint was growing, and then I started hearing about weird gadgets coming from Master Urika's shop."

"Do you have anything in particular you want to try building?"

"I'm along for the ride, mainly. It'd be nice to build a ship or some other huge thing someday, something that doesn't make me feel bulky and awkward around everyone." Ashfall blushed and looked aside, flicking her ears back. "I'm not complaining; this shop's well laid out. Got any stories in that mystery message from the gods about master Smiths?"

Vonn thought for a minute. "This one's not fiction. Turns out that if you apply math and engineering and can make enough iron, you can build big structures from loosely spaced beams. So there was a series of 'World Fairs' where different countries tried to impress everyone by building the biggest, the cleverest, the fanciest stuff. At one of these, they made a building so tall it enclosed some big old trees, and had walls of glass panes held together with iron rods creating a huge open space. They called it the Crystal Palace and filled it with cool things."

"Why not just have a big tent?"

"Showing off, remember. And then their rival did a fair with a humongous iron tower, built as a spindly thing with big platforms yet lots of open space." He went to the blackboard and sketched the Eiffel Tower, emphasizing the truss structure. "And then another country tried to beat that with a giant mechanical wheel with wagons on it that could haul you into the air for fun."

Ashfall giggled, an odd and unfamiliar sound coming from the big Centaur mare. "Probably not me."

"Yes, the carts on it were meant for over a dozen Humans."

"Wow. And it worked? How is it that you got handed that vivid a vision? Did the gods want to encourage you to make crazy things?"

"Something like that." He didn't want to tell many other people the full extent of his supposed visions or madness. "I can tell you that amazing things are possible, and it's just a question of how many. We might even outdo that other world."

"But it starts with having lots of iron," said Ashfall, rubbing her chin.

Vonn left her to her work and imagination while he went to buy more lumber. He hummed a song and tried to translate its lyrics, something about a Ranger with a big iron on his hip.