Then I'll ask them to get started on it.

More talking. 

They want the hot forges in exchange. The convention in their culture is to do explicit exchanges for things. 

That's my world's convention too, although it's usually currency- and not barter- based. They want me to sit here the whole time heating their forges?

I suggested an hour a day, does that work?

It involves me spending more time living among horrifying racists than I was originally planning but I suppose it's not too onerous if that's taken as a given.

We can work on them! I'll figure out who in the King's council he actually listens to and then figure out the best avenue to fix horrifying racism - I'm assuming you care more about whatever the structural dynamic here is than about changing the nasty comments, we could focus on those instead if we wanted to but I don't know that it's the most productive avenue -

You assume correctly.

Lovely. If we're really stuck here for months it will be a lot less horribly racist by the time we leave, this is the sort of thing I do professionally and we have a lot of leverage. 

Okay. I didn't initially realize you would be here for months too, you could have just ridden off without me.

Would you like me to? You need a translator and I think I'm more useful here than at home, we are less disgustingly racist and the politics isn't going to resolve itself in the next month with or without me. 

It'd be nice, yes.

No trouble at all, then. We will make this situation better. 

Thanks.

More talking. 

Forges now, while they get started on your project? They say they'll show you where. 

Sure. It's so weird to be able to be among a crowd of people and just - it's weird. But nice.

I will ask them if they can export the secret. 

Lower priority than range expansion but it'd be nice.

And it'd be bad if the Enemy got his hands on it. But nonetheless. 

Kiri is pointed at forges. The Dwarves gather around. They're talking to her, not to Maitimo, and he falls in patiently behind her and translates. How hot can she go? Can she heat metal directly? Does she know any metal forging that requires temperatures that couldn't be achieved without her, are there things they should be testing...

Really inadvisably hot! Yes! She does not actually know much about metal forging, at home having fire powers means she does politics instead.

The Dwarves are a little confused by this; why would anyone with such a strong comparative advantage at fires go do politics? Not that it's not a perfectly honorable profession. Just. 

There's only five magic people at a time and they have political stuff attached and Kiri likes politics. Also in her world they can't make magic anythings out of metal, so there's less demand for the field as a whole.

The Dwarves express their regrets for Kiri's world. And are happy to talk about how magic metalworking works, at length, if she's interested and the mutual comprehension is good enough - it's not, Maitimo says, not really, but I'm happy to try...

I am curious, but it's not urgent if you want to wait till you're better at the language?

He says something to the Dwarves, apologetically. They say they're sorry you're stuck with a Elf translator and they're happy to wait a week until I can talk about metals or at least not be a barrier to such a conversation. 

It'd be silly of me to wait to talk to Dwarves until I learned a language at my own speed.

He conveys this. 

They understand and are glad she came to talk right away! Still regrettable to be stuck with an Elf.