3rd Jahrdrung 2512
Morning
"Of course… You are welcome."
Marco Lupo holds his arms out to the sides, indicating the garden of
his father's villa.
"It is simply that we usually get a little more notice before so notable a guest visits us."
I nod. "I.. know, and I'm sorry. My learning on the subject of international affairs has been fairly narrow, and while I knew that your father was a highly capable Tilean general, I… Somehow missed the fact that he actually ruled a
city in addition to commanding armies."
"My father's fame must have spread wide indeed for that to be true."
"Indeed. Where I am from, the only Tilean considered to be his equal was
Borgio the Besieger, and… Well…"
"My father was never bested by a toasting fork."
I shrug. "No man can be on guard at every moment of every day. But it does detract a little from tales of Borgio's military prowess."
"Yes. I have also heard stories of a strange orange wizard who could strike daemons down with impunity. I had assumed that they were… The ramblings of drunkards, and yet… Here you are."
"Drunkards do ramble. In my case…" I shake my head. "I am not a wizard. Any man may use an enchanted artefact, or even wear mundane armour of such solid construction that he can survive powerful attacks."
"I have heard that in Araby the most skilled magicians bind daemons to
carpets which allow them to fly."
I nod. "Yes, it's… Because they're so far from the polar gates, the winds of magic flow weakly there. Their wizards must become proficient in slowly drawing upon the winds and infusing objects with power, or in carefully binding spirits to their service."
"And such men also made-" He gestures to my left hand with his right. "-the ring which you wear?"
"Oh gosh no. This was made by a species who are contemporaries of the Old Ones. I couldn't even begin to explain how it was made. It is able to permanently turn daemons into something that is enslaved to me and technically no longer a daemon. Do you want to see one?"
"I…" He glances at the plain clothed men with the rapiers lurking near at hand. "Think that I will live without."
"Wise." I shrug. "Bringing to bear the level of strength that is needed to physically harm the more powerful sort of daemons is still fairly difficult. Lesser daemons are far easier."
"And… I heard a story about you tricking a dwarf smith with a fake sword?"
"No, I don't think I did that? What sort of fake would trick a dwarf?"
"Supposedly, it bent when he tested it."
"
Oh! No, that wasn't a fake sword, that was-. There isn't much a human can teach a dwarf master smith about metallurgy, so I thought I'd make him a curiosity that he couldn't replicate."
"A sword that bends?"
"Anyone can make a sword that bends. A
copper sword will bend.
I made a sword that can be bent and then spring back into shape."
Mr. Lupo looks puzzled. "If you are not a wizard..?"
"The secret is the element
carbon." I
generate a construct…
Representation of a carbon atom. "Roughly half of wood is composed of carbon, and about twelve percent of a human. It's a very versatile material. These-" I point at the outer electron shell. "-let it attach to a wide variety of other materials in a variety of ways. If we arrange it as a lattice, we-"
I
add more carbon atoms and
pull out the view until the individual atoms are invisible.
"-get-"
I
dismiss the construct and
fabricate a diamond to replace it, reaching out with my right hand to catch it and then offering it to Mr. Lupo. He takes it and considers it very carefully.
"-a diamond."
"A.. diamond."
"But if we arrange it in layers…" I
generate a new construct image. "We get a substance called graphite, and we use it in pencils. You see how each carbon atom has the same number of bonds?"
"So how does it differ-?"
I
pull the image out again but this time
fabricate a pencil, which he catches, having palmed the diamond.
"We use them for training children to write before we let them loose on pens."
"I am sure that your maids appreciate it." He looks closely at the sharpened tip, then scratches at it with his thumb nail and examines the material that has been scraped free. "And this is the same.. 'element' that the diamond is made from?"
"Yes. The diamond has a strong and rigid structure, while the layers of graphite can slide away from one another
almost freely. But there are other forms of carbon structure as well, and it turns out that if you make
tubes of carbon and incorporate it into the metal,
you get-"
I
fabricate an example in the form of a traditional Tilean duelling sword.
"-something like this."
I then
attach a clamp construct to each end and
bend it into a hoop. I then
remove the clamp from the bade end and we both watch as the sword straightens itself. I then
offer it to him.
"Master Thurgun found it amusing, but elects to hide it from his apprentices lest it give them inappropriate ideas. Please, keep it, the pencil and the diamond. An apology for disrupting your day."
He takes the sword and checks the edge and… Heh, he checks that it's actually made of metal.
"Thank you. A fascinating demonstration. I.. am curious. What was it that you wanted to speak with my father about that brought you so far?"
"I know that your father greatly reveres the most ancient traditions of your city, for example that he rigorously trains himself physically when a weaker man of his station might allow himself to go to seed. I was hopeful that his reverence might extend to
my area of interest."
"He used to make my brothers and I join him when he trained as an oarsman." Marco smiles. "It left us with an abiding hatred of all boats, though I owe my life to the training of his wrestling master. Do you want to test yourself rowing against him? He's very good."
"Ah, no. My home country was once conquered by a city much like yours. They left us with a rich legacy of civic monuments, but the most useful was their roads. Rather than… Do what modern Tileans appear to which is have mercenaries standing around demanding money with menaces, they used soldiers not actively fighting the nation's enemies to build roads so high in quality that it was sixteen hundred years before we could surpass them. And many of their roads were around to see themselves being surpassed. I need to build a
big road network. A
very big road network of very big roads, such as would allow an army to march from one end of the Reikland Empire to the other at the best possible speed. The
greatest architect in the world is currently engaged in building a rather large canal for me, but your father was the man I thought of first for
roads."
"I do not think that my father would want to help someone invade the Empire-."
"No no no." I shake my head. "The Emperor has signed off on it, and he's leaning on the Electors to do the same. They all grudgingly accept that it's in everyone's interest that it happens. I wanted your father to have input at the planning stage so that we end up with a well planned network rather than a mess."
"Well, that is different, but…" He shakes his head. "My father has not to my knowledge shown interest in building roads himself."
"Ah, rats. I'm sorry to have wasted-."
"My brother Gaius on the other hand has been greatly involved in the building and maintenance of our city and its territory. I would be happy to give you a favourable introduction."
I smile broadly. "That would be excellent. Thank you."