The Violet Lens Apothecary

[Ufedhin]

Warning!

I would ask that great care be taken in enteren the Hog den Apothecary,
Certain experiments merging slime essence and clay te form a animated alchemical clay Golem has been conducted.
Unfortunately things has gone awry and a great explosion 'appened i canna account fer all the bits.If one sees any
form of animated clay flee as its bound te be of an aggresive nature an may well seek te cause ye harm.

I am hopen te be able te one day create clay golems te perform menial tasks of burden here in our great town,
but in persuit of great things some stumbles arr te be expected.

Ufedhin Copperhand.Grand Master Alchemist.

[Ufedhin]

Dear customers,
i would like to make it known that the Violet lens is not involved with the rumour going around that the latest troubles and the destruction o' the town in Albar is connected te alchemists!this is pure nonsence the arrest o' alchemists is deplorable,Albarians have long been a nation of lackwits.
The Violet lens is a reputable business infact the oldest alchemical business in our lands an ye can continue te trust the solid work of the grand master.
The Violet lens continues to work for the betterment of Galmair and others,so in these troubled time seek your potions here.


look at the top of the board for potion prices all strengths guranteed to be the most potent.

Ufedhin Copperhand ,Grand Master Alchemist.

[Ufedhin]

Dear peoples of Galmair.

I cannot know if this scroll has any reference to the current situation we all find ourselves in with regards to the terrors in our lands ,however all avenues
must be persued to find answers and avert a terrible disaster.
This scroll i found and copied at great peril to myself and a servant in the heart of the cult mountain near the Necktie inn, battling many undead and losing much blood only the stubborn nature of a dwarf and a great sense of responsiblity to Galmair forced me on to grasp these words from hell ,now i will reveal it for all minds to consider, if it can be of any help good ,if not it still should be know so all might draw conclusions .I will not add any of my own deductions to this so let is come to your minds as it was written,this copy is not changed in content.


................................................................................................................................................................................................................

With the arrival in the new found lands,what i have feared came to pass.It seems the the order was wrong,only a few dragons remain here,having been hunted to extinction.The matter is urgent,we do not posses enough time,resources,or man power for relocation.We shall work withwhat we have and may Cherga grant us a quick passing if we are to fail.

The base of operations has been set up deep inside the abandoned tunnels of a mountain cavern.Signs show that a while back,a settlement was located here,now only dusty bones of the past remain.I cannot imagine what has come to pass here,but these bones will provide us with good protection,if the Mistress allows it ..May she show them

(some script may or may not be missing here)

The procedure has been followed to the letter.Seekers have been dispatched throughout the lands in search of dragons,
Which when found were captured and brought to the caverns for processing .Many call us cruel and inhumane,but
we do what we have to for the greater purpose.

A great opportunity has been offered to me when put in charge of this unit,for that i consider myself to be one that
goes to great lengths in order to reach his goal. Many wonder if i do not feel remorse for what i do...yes , i am a
criminal and will never come to forgive myself, for only ones like me come to understand the horror in there eyes when there blood ,their very life ,is leaked away from them.

In many lands blood magic is against the law it is seen as evil and the mages are called "Maleficars" , captured and jailed
or executed, and they are right .We are evil.We feed on other essences to fuel our own selfish goals, and we deserve to die.

Not many have gotten the same oppertunity as i did ,to join this order to serve the Goddess , not many have seen that blood magic is just as any weapon, can be used both for evil and for good. Yes its true,we hunt dragons the greatest of the noble beasts, we hunt them and end their life in a way that not even a criminal deserves to receive, but we all have our part to play in this life.


Three dragons have been processed so far, their blood has allowed many tortured souls to gain peace,through the blood
ritual and the grace of the Goddess..The bodies were buried deep inside the caverns with all the deserved respect.
An initiate has been caught trying to rip scales from one of the corpses. His hands were cut off as punishment for desecrating their bodies

Since five days only one dragon has been providing us with blood to fuel my spells, which would have seemed extremely unlikely.since a beast usually does not resist more than two days.
My suspicion is that this one is an elder of sorts ,hinted also by the differculty with which this particular specimen was captured.

I have ordered the binding spells to be cast again with double strength since the dragon seems to become more enraged with each passing moment.
Apparently his strength and will to fight has not yet left him.....




The Violet lens has brought this document into the light ,unknown it is how many years it has lain in the dark.If ye wish te talk about it send me a message or find me
Do not scribble on my notice board!

Grand Master Alchemist,
Ufedhin Copperhand.

[Ufedhin]

The hunched black cloaked figure of Ufedin stands in the sorcerous glow of the great cave mushroom by his cauldron and ponders the simmering contents, scratching his withered face with a hand of ancient wood he takes a tiny vial from his belt pouch and mutters a curse.
Uncapping the small vial he then sighs at the sight of what he hopes is the distilled essence of unlife made from the mumified priest he has rendered down over years ,to obtain this tiny amount of utter black powder great effort must be made.
Careful to let but a tiny trickle of the powder merge into the contents of the cauldron,he steps back as dense greenish yellow vapours arise upon the powders touch to the liquid contents.

It seems to Ufedhins glittering eye that monstrous beasts and skeletal figures dance in the vapours mists, cackling a gleeful horrid laugh he begins to chant in a deep voice ,dwarvish words so old they sound as one would imagine stone would make if it could speak .The words spill from his gap toothed mouth as he shuffles a wierd stiff legged dance in the flickering shadows thrown by the cauldrons contents.
The dance seems to have a pattern but the witnesses being only the small blind cave spiders and beetles of the hogdens its meaning is lost on them.
Ufedhin then carfully lifts a large jar containing primal slime and at a precise moment known only to him he intones a deep voiced booming cry and tips the slime into the cauldron.

Standing back he retires to his desk and sits ,opening a heavy bound book by the light of the cauldron and the mushroom ,he writes words made of tall black letters that seem to tangle with each other as he writes them with a pen made from the thin bone of a human forearm.
Chewing thoughtfully on the end of the pen he writes a few more words then nods content ,and turns to watch the cauldron.

[Ufedhin]

The vapours rise and flicker with an unholy light, Ufedhin seems to be deep in a trance like state as he stands and drops what looks like a black shard of dragon bone into the cauldron,"A shard of the dragon bone from the Galmair Mas attack 3 years ago", he grumbles" finally let me see".The Vapours thicken and roil in a more frantic manner ,gathering thick on the roof of the cavern. Breathing deeply so his lungs fill with the fume he stands back leaning on his gnarled walking stick, squinting up at what appears to him an image forming in the vapours an image of a mighty winged being long dead yet all its bones perfectly clear and full of fell energies , moving swiftly and sitting again Ufedhin grabs his heavy bound book and pen an begins to draw with a practised hand the image as it appears to his minds eye.Cackling and muttering in the room full of vapours he finishes a sketch and holds it up close to his watering eye.
Finally i have your image precisely fixed in my mind mighty one...he mutters in a cold old voice full of malice, One day i will have some of your power.

As the vapours fade Ufedhin scatters parchments in his search to find the embossed leather image found in the cultists halls.
Muttering in relief as he finds it, he compares the two images.

((many thanks to Drakon for allowing me to use these wonderful images ))

[Ufedhin]

Waking in his bed furs groaning ,with a head that feels like an especially fat troll tap danced on it all night ,Ufedhin place's his two boots carefully onto the stone and clay floor and hurries as fast as his ancient unsteady limbs will take him to his cauldron.
Splashing water into it as he kicks the smoldering fire alight and hurls in a selection of herbs and some amethyst powder.
Gritting his few greenish teeth in frustraition at the delay in the cauldron coming to up to heat ,his mind flits to the old saying "a cauldron wotched ,nay boils " .Groaning as the saying repeats its self in his mind ,time and time again in the voice of a wicked old nag of an Aunt he had long ago , he grasp's his forehead in his hands and mutters a foul curse that turns into a violent cough.
Spitting up a greenish substance that drips down the cauldrons side he resumes his curse in a wheeze.
"Damn and pox !...wheeze.. get out o' me head ye old harradin ! gasp... glad...i ...dont..need te do this again."
Decanting from the cauldron with unseady hands a draught of sparkling violet liquid he quaffs it down without bothering to let it cool.
Ufedhin roars in pain and relief as the potion both burns and heals ,his red blood shot eye then catches sight of the two images on his desk and his discomfort is forgotten.

Aye..it wos worth it!

[Ufedhin]

Taking his two samples of preserved blood, one from the Runewick site ,one from Cadomyr blood rain site,Ufedhin starts to conduct indepth tests,
Muttering as he organises his array of polished gem lens into a copper viewing tube embossed with alchemical symbols and dwarf runes ,vials of various multi coloured liquids are also opened and set to the side each with a tiny gold applicator spoon.A small jar of a particularly nasty black writhing leech is also opened.
"I would almost bet a copper coin that this be dragon blood he mumbles" as he gathers some dried elf ears from a jar and starts to grind them in his mortar.

Sifting the powder into a flask he starts to mix it with various liquids "this should at least tell me fer sure if it be so" .Taking a tiny sample of the blood he watches
as it slowly drips from the tiny gold spoon and plops into the flask of liquid .
Immediately the liquid changes colour ,taking a tiny sample of this he places it on a glass disc and arrays the viewing tube to examine it closely.

[Ufedhin]

The Galmair Bones o' Power ,

A mages every dream ,drink one of these an ye shall have magic abilities o' a demi God.

Brought te ye by the Galmair Grand master fer a misrable sum of only a gold and a half,
this potion will most powerfully increase all the qualities a mage desires.



Ufedhin Copperhand.

[Ufedhin]

Muttering about having no time an' far to many irons in the fire , Ufedhin returns to the Hog den apothecary to continue his examination of the blood samples.
Noticing how the elf ear dust has blackened in the flask ,he picks up a heavy iron bound tome and makes a new notation.

"Due te the withering and blackening of the dust in the presence o' the blood i must draw the conclusion that the blood is infact dragons .Over the years i have noticed the increased chance elves have of withering in the presence o' dragons and this test upholds that observation."
Chews the end of his bone pen before writting another notation.
" These rains o' blood arr the work of blood magiks on a scale not witnessed afore in any tome i has found therfore i would conclude it might be some how connected te the Cult wot bled the life from the dragons o' illarion,mighty is the power of these beasts, have they come back from the dead te have revenge ? opening portals of unlife te plague us ,or be there a sinister and greater force behind all this ..using these beasts..."

Making a side note to himself "Check the bones i retrived from the slain golden legionaires for residue blood magiks".
Ufedhins head nods on to his chest for a moments rest ,a louse taking this oppertunity swiftly crawls from the den floor
into the trailing end of the beard to join a number of his brothers and sisters dwelling there.

[Ufedhin]

Ufedhin hurries into the dens as fast as his old legs will carry him ,grabbing the heavy tome he fumbles through the pages to an empty page ,dipping his bone pen he writes in his tall twisted letters "Wot if the blood magic's where just the initial power used te open the portal ,wot if its demonic power wot holds them open now ? firey demonic energies!"

Then to whom might we attribute this horror....."The lord of Black dragons and hosts ...Dragorog! ..The Flame of DRAGOROG!".......The bone pens hits the floor as Ufedhins hand twitches ,he stares for a long time at the greenish light from the cavern mushroom.

"This could be very very bad..if....he cannot be reasoned with..pure horror ,death and destruction is his only desire....."

Turning as if in a dream Ufedhin searches his own library past the Manrok cronicle fragments ...he pauses over a copy of the Godless Nadrash before fastening upon a copy of the Evil Apostates.
Holding the parchment close to his chest he makes sure the dens doors are locked before sitting at his desk.

"By the black orifice ! i dispise those fools in the Manrok order wot destroyed so much wot they fear , the desendants arr no better!" he mutters looking at the few notations he has gleaned from years of hard work.

"Grant me deeper insight My great Goddess" he prays as he gets to work.

[Ufedhin]

After days of hard work and frustraited by his inability to determine anything of a definate nature about the blood or the undead portal gates Ufedhins dwarven praticality takes over .He packs his dragon research notes away with great care for another day in an iron bound chest ,the blood samples and his research notes on the undead portals he tosses into an old box and shoves them out of sight.

Sitting at his desk he takes several bottles from small chest and grins with pure delight at the acidic slime he has collected from the botanical source , excited at this new development in slimology ,his greatest passion .
He arranges a small pool of the slime on a glass dish and gets to work.Pondering his first option he takes a jar of small scuttling creatures and shakes them out one by one , dropping small spiders into the pool, he watches them and times how long it takes before they are consumed ...."facinating!"

[Ufedhin]

Ufedhin casts a handfull of gray dust and a few finger bones into the bubbling cauldron, watching the dark substance boil with renewed vigor he cackles quietly to himself ." Oh yes my dear we have not forgotten your insult ,dont worry "Cackles again "my memory is longer than my beard.
So we have one fool removed for good !..cackles with great glee for a good long while ..now lets focus on the head rat .
Ufedhin turns and speak directly to something that is almost yet not quite there in a dark smokey bottle ."patience my pet as ye can see ,is a great virtue".

[Ufedhin]

Grinding his few remaining rotten teeth Ufedhin is disgusted by the results of the election "Females ! all three females , Gods help us an Galmair! " he exclaims as he
stabs the large metal syringes needle into the next cadavour's veins , and with renewed energy from his anger he squirts in the dose of living slime ,dragon bone dust , herb extracts and undead essence.

[Ufedhin]

Ufedhin sits in the dim glow of the cave fungus musing on alchemy and the why of things , tapping his bone pen on his forehead as he does so .

"Of course!" he exclaims loudly,and furiously scribbles down some notes..

All fine matter that makes up existance individually rethinks and recreates themselves moment to moment in relation to the others all at the same time.
How else can it be otherwise....

[Ufedhin]

Taking his heavy tome of research notes Ufedhin turns to a grubby much used chapter "Essences and functions of alchemical slimes".

Tapping his greenish front tooth with a bone pen he dwells on a particular formulars main ingredient ,Meraldalised slime.

"what is your true function he mutters ,well its time we find this out".

Over the next few days.
A flurry of activity is to be noted in the Hog dens apothecary, alchemical apparatus is set up ,cages of small animals are suspended over bubbling cauldrons,
tubes and pipes run everywhere even the obligatory stuffed lizard is moved from its hangings to make room for a suspended chain that holds a giant
magic obsidian and sapphire of notable quality, they dangle over a vast copper cauldron full of a seething viscous green liquid.
Containers filled with arcane ingredients are opened they range from pure elements to bizzare items of an unguessable nature ,some even hailing from the old lost island.
A bound struggling troll in delivered in the night by hooded figures , silver and gold glints in the torchlight as they are paid,as they leave the old dwarf squints into the gloomy tunnel and then slams heavy iron bound door and locks it.

[Ufedhin]

Having turned his back on the false mutterings of the darkness, Ufedhin now fully repentant and firmly back in the faith of the Father Irmorom the great alchemist, gets to work with enthusiasim.
Suspending the struggling troll between the gems and the cauldron he begins to inject the meralalised slime into the creatures veins with a long copper needle .Then using a series of gems to reflect and magnify light from a great fire burning various substances that brightens the flames and give it an intense green glow, he passes this beam of light back through the magik gems and directly onto the trolls head.

Taking some notes, Ufedhin then adds various compounds to the cauldron ,a puff of grey fume arrises from the viscous boiling substance which stills the trolls struggles,
leaving it dangling limp in the fume.
Chuckling with pleasure as the experiment seems to be progressing well ,Ufedhin takes a short break to have a cup of tea and a biscut or two.

[Ufedhin]

Huming an old dwarven tune ,Ufedhin places the now deceased troll into a urn of disolving acids . Closing the clay lid firmly and sealing it with bees wax,
Ufedhin then consults his test notes and spends many of the hours of that night scribing on good quality parchment all of his findings.
Finally in the small hours of the morning he closes the tome with a thud and locks the books clasp with a small silver key .

"good good that was worth it" he mutters as he straightens his bent back as much as possible to releave the ache" i must see if it
is the same effect on a more sentient test sample however,if i can catch me one" he grumbles and heads off to his overstuffed feather bed.
After dressing in night shirt and cap he climbs into bed and consults briefly a formular while sipping on a mushroom soup.
Chuckling at a malicious thought he blows out the lamp and settles for a restful sleep full of pleasent dreams.

[Ufedhin]

"Blast an' rot! "roars the wizend dwarf as he thumps his wooden hand down on the desk in irritation and some pain .Again he applies a foul smelling concoction to the
holes in the wood of his left arm, some of the holes have scared over ,but its to the fresh ones he applies the foul ointment .
"Ye little monster "he roars again ,"this better burn yer wriggly foulness or by Irmoroms navel i will ..i will...." trails off into mutterings and dwarven curses.
Once finished ,he rolls his sleeve back down then scratches his hunched back with a withered trolls paw as he considers a huge mound of books and paperwork on his desk.
A large volume bound in a dark blue leather lies on the top, gold letters on the front cover spell out "The treatment o' ships hulls against the ravages o' worm" by Threedle Smelt. Ufedhin curses again the cost of the book and its worthlessness in one long expletive that leaves him gasping for breath.

[Ufedhin]

The sour visage of Ufedhin is transformed by a town flyer ,a huge grin of delight is fixed on his face as he reads .Placing the parchment down and reaching for his troll skull mug of scalding hot bulbsponge tea he chuckles."Good i hope the halfling front thingy brings more of these halfers to town ,bloody street urchins arr afraid o' me these days ,but halflings are excellent test subjects, stupid an' exactly cauldron sized!"

Finishing his tea Ufedhin tips the tea dregs onto a old cloth and washes his face then draps his bile green embroided cloak about his shoulders pining it in place with a heavy gold and gem clasp. Taking up his gnarled walking stick he then strolls along the tunnels of Galmairs undercity whistling a jaunty tune and grinning to himself about the future.

[Ufedhin]

Upon returning from his walk Ufedhin relaxes in his favorite chair and consults an ancient parchment with renewed interest.

EVERBURNING LIGHTS
Take 4 unces o' sulphur,6 unces o' lard from 5 daye hung halfling & so much o' calcyned alume, bruise them together, put it into an earthen sublimatorie, place it into a coale fier, well lited, let the sulphur ascend through the Alume, and in 8 houres is it prepared.

Thearof take at the lesse 2 1/2 unces, and one unce o' good christallick dark porras, bruse them two small togeather, put it into a flat glasse that it may lye flatly, poure uppon it a stronge sharpe 4 times distilled spirit of elfwine uppon it, & extracte it in ashes sofftly te' the oyle, poure it uppon again, extracte it te' the oyle, poure it uppon again & drawe it of agayne; take a litle o' the sulphure, laye it uppon a red hott copper plate, and when it floweth like wax without smoking then is it prepared, if not then must thou extract theareof more of the spirit of elfwine, till it sustineth the proove & it is prepared.

Nowe take alumephume, make therof a top not as long as a little finger, and halfe as thicke, foulde it about with whyte silke, put it thus whole into a black sand little glasse, & joyne thearunto of the prepared sulphure, place it a day & night in hott sande, that the top be continually in the sulphur. Nowe take the top thearout, and put it into such a glasse, that the top looke out a little, adde thearunto o' the prepared incombustible chyburals, place the glasse into hott sand till the sulphure melteth, and cleaveth beneath and upward about the top, that it be seene but a little above, kindle the top with a common light, & it beginneth to burne presently, and the sulphure remaineth flowing, take the light and place it wheare you wilt, and it burneth continually for ever.

[Ufedhin]

Ufedhin stand back and looks at his new batch of primordial slimes."yes finally these should do the blasted job!"
Placing many bottled slimes into a pack Ufedhin procceeds to visit every toilet in Galmair ,opening a bottle
over each long drop and allowing a slime to slither down into the fetid depths of each stinking hole"plenty te feed
on there my children" he grumbles.

"These wee darlings will live in each toilet hole an devour all waste so we should hopefully has sweeter air from now on"
He continues to mutter as he walks off "the stupidity of these toilet things, wots wrong wit buckets ?i ask ye they has stood
the test o' time,now back te work"

[Ufedhin]

Ufedhin waits untill the last of the concerned citizens leave ,then he looks around carefully before he does a little jig of joy."This is better by far than i hoped, they breed in masses down there!"
"At long last slimification of an entire region maybe possible , destroy them! contain them pfft! short sighted fools! this could be the begining of a new race o' alchemical beings!"
Ufedhin hurries to his apothecary with his parchment notes ,furiously he grabs bottles containing substances of various colours if your could read the archaic lables
written in ancient dwarven you would read "stinky slime essences a further modification"

Ufedhin pauses for a moment to laugh a deep full bellied laugh of great delight,before speeding away to add the essences down the toilets.

[Ufedhin]

After a discussion with the Mage Kyre and being shown evidence of what possibly could be a mana vein leaking into the area Ufedhin reconsiders the situation.
And examining the sample lent by Kyre.
"Well this be a bugger an' damnation ! mana messing wit the results" Pondering the situation the formular he begins to work on is one that will cause the starvation of nutrients and mana from the toilet and sewer system.

"This will cause them te starve and will deplete any manna variables aswell" he mutters as he gets to work ,glass vials and tubes are brought out of wooden boxes and connected to each other ,copper braziers are lit and placed under beakers of herb materials to steam off essences ,a large cauldron is brought to the boil while Ufedhin chops a jelly like material into equal parts and flips it into the roiling water of the cauldron at timed intervals.
Decanting the essences carefully from the vials and beakers into the cauldrom mixture ,Ufedhin creates enough of the potion to fill a large barrel.

Pausing in his work to rub his back he then goes to get a small hand cart to haul the barrel around "this should knock back there ability te reproduce drastically but nay wipe em out we want em te do the sanitation job".

[Ufedhin]

Returning to his work on the disappearance of the living dragons of Illarion Ufedhin opens the heavy leather bound books ,and continues
with a rexamination of the scrolls he copied in that underground tomb of unlife.
Not for the first time he dwells on a thought that something is missing ,that this cant be all that was written ,there must be more somewhere
a parchment or two lost in those halls in a pile o' debris or a dusty corner easy overlooked in the haste and din of battle.
Grinding his few teeth he ponders the idea of returning with a shudder.
Slams the book shut "Im getting to old fer this ,300 years old infact! i should be taken it easy "he mutters as he fills his carved pipe from a troll skin pouch.
A short time after strange haunting notes of music can be heard softly making there way up the hallways and tunnels of Galmairs undercity,
a peep around the door would reveal a seated hunched figure in a dark wood chair wreathed in a sorcerous cloud of smoke rings deep in thought,
his hands moving over the strings of a magnificent gold and naldor wood harp.

[Ufedhin]

Utterly and completely disgusted with the recent turn of events ,Having his life threatened by a chancellor ,the indifference towards this serious offence by the other chancellors and the proctor.
The thievery of a massive amount of his most powerful magic gems,and now this pig mania and the preferance of the population to dwell knee deep in pig poop, Ufedhin makes a life changing decision.

A sign is hung on the apothecary door

The Violet Lens is closed .

[Ufedhin]

A strange group of dwarves can be seen carring chests and bags out into waiting wagons that head off when full .The dwarves say nothing if spoken to and just scowl at those that talk to them and turn back to the work.

[Kyre]

Kyre grabs the sign and pulling hard manages to get it off the door then lets it drop to the ground. Ignoring the silent dwarves, she goes to look for one in particular muttering....

He is needed

[Ufedhin]

The creak of wagons can be heard in the night ,a group of them move pass the gates and deeper into Galmair .
A small hunched and cloaked figure sits on the seat of the lead wagon next to a younger dwarf.
"why arr ye returning master ? the hunched cloaks hood turns to the younger dwarf "And why not?" the reply comes
in an old voice , a raspy voice that sound ancient ,wicked and cunning, the younger dwarf looks confused.
"Do ye know the great game Kings table young one?"......"no? i thought not, thats why ye call me master and not the other way around "
The wagons draw up to the closed Violet lens Apothecary and stop. Under the direction of the cloaked figure all is swiftly unloaded back into the
Apothecary.
As the wagons depart a hand of twisted wood, worm gnawed and ancient reaches out from under the cape and rips away the closed sign.
A very nasty chuckle sofly fades into the night as the door is slamed.

[Kyre]

In the middle of the night, a shadowed figure sits on one of the highest branches of the tree and grins looking down at the activity before distracted by the sound of wings from above. Tucking a bloodied parchment back in her bag she whispers not much louder then the sound of a sigh...

I'm glad you liked my offering raven.

[Ufedhin]

The very next day Ufedhin can be seen out and about in the undercity of Galmair ordering some local villiens down from the surface to dig a large amount of the dank slimey grey clay of the sewers,The clay once loaded on to a narrow wagon is hauled accross the elevator and room dissapears down the tunnel to the hogden apothecary .
Only the Villiens return and they do it hastily ,Quickly they reach the surface looking glad to leave the undercity and feel the sunshine on there faces.

The door to the apothecary is slamed shut and if you pressed your ear to the damp rotting wood and rusty pitted iron bands you might hear gleeful cackling ,if you could see ,it would appear the ancient old dwarf is dancing widdershins around the wagon load of dark ,slimey, smelly clay and after apprasing it with a sample taste and a sniff he is seen to scurry over to a large black wood chest.

"Finally an' wit his approval "Ufedhin cackles a wheezy wicked laugh and heaves open the heavy lid of the black chest.
Standing back for a better veiw an exclamation of utter delight passes his lips,
"OH'OH' so so beautiful ye is me darling ,lik' a diamond te me ol eye ye is ,sooo elegant , perfection!" He coughs "ye cost me
greatly ye did but it will be worth it!"