"I think Sheppard knows more about servicing our guns and how our ammunition is made but yes. It sounds like if there's any hope of safely getting home it'll need either their cooperation or maybe that of the Elves and you said they might just kill us."

"Well, there's trying to trap some Skaven warlock-engineers, but I think I mentioned how their devices tend to take out dozens of people nearby if they misfire. And corrupt the area with Chaos even when they work."

"I did say safely."

"Indeed. But at least they're not stodgy."

"That may be, but I'll take stodgy over hostile any day."

"Wise man. But yes, likely it would be the dwarfs. They're very resistant to magic and so worry less about hidden Chaos taint; if it's subtle enough to hide, it's usually far too subtle to affect them."

"I suppose that makes sense. I still haven't quite wrapped my head around the idea though."

"Should I give you the very short busy man's summary of how magic flows and pools, or will you just wait for the book?"

"I'm curious even if Rodney would prefer to wait. It sounds like important information for living here."

"Sure. So, magic flows. We call them the Winds because they're more like that than anything else. There are eight winds, each of which is attracted to a different thing - Chamon to metal, weight, and logical thought, Ghur to wild animals and sometimes savagery, Aqshy to fire, heat, and strong active emotions. They all come out of the Realm of Chaos at very high altitude, flowing through the upper atmosphere, but a few hundred miles north of here there's a long ridge, and as the ridge drops, so do they, like a waterfall - though Azyr, which likes the sky among other things, mostly stays up. It is dangerous to use more than one Wind, in your life, because magic used sticks to your soul - you have fainter souls than most people, I think, which probably is metaphysically interesting - and if more than one Wind mix, they turn to Dhar. Dhar does not flow. It pools, and it seeps into everything. It can empower any kind of magic, so it's very seductive, but it seeps into your soul even moreso. And Dhar is the essence of Chaos; it resists being controlled or told what to do. Every type of magic changes the soul, and through it the mind and body, but Dhar can do a great deal more, is much more likely to rip breaches into the Realm of Chaos and cause something entirely unexpected to happen, and generally cause problems for you and everyone nearby. Chaos-sworn sorcerers and beastmen bray-shamans aren't immune, but it's not nearly as bad for them."

"Which is a nice tidy model with four glaring outliers. Divine magic, generally understood to be filtered through the gods and use their own intelligence to protect us, but that's more or less fine. Necromancy, which is a form of Dhar mixed with Shyish, the wind of death, and behaves much like Dhar but not quite. And the Ice Witches. The Ice Witches use two types of magic, the Father's Lore of Storms and the Mother's Lore of Frost, both of which, by means which have certainly never been explained to me, turn the Winds into something else. I understand them to be in some way crystalized or filtered using the connection to the Ancient Widow, but it's quite secret. The main practical impact is that where a bad miscast for a Wind-Wizard might rip a hole into Za, the same thing for an Ice Witch will more often freeze the whole area, and a catastrophic one can freeze a whole battalion to ice instantly, the witch included. And Runesmithing, which traps the Winds and works entirely differently than any other form of enchantment."

"So magic comes from outside, both outside the self and somehow outside the world and then you draw it through yourself to use it. That sounds very different from my experience and the reports Sheppard has shown me. Where we come from such powers always come from within."

"Absolutely. There's an inborn gift some people have for seeing - or other senses - the winds, and if it's strong and trained, to touch and manipulate them, but even the best are just using outside power more flexibly and efficiently."

"Circling back to Runessmithing if it's so much more stable than other ways of using magic is there a reason only the Dwarves use it?"

"It's only permitted to a specific clan, the descendants of the ancestor who invented it, and they swear oaths never to teach it to anyone else when learning. Also it takes their characteristic excess of precision to be safe but we'd probably try anyway if they let us."

"Well that's inconvenient. I might be able to figure something out if I had examples to work from but if that will get them swearing oaths of revenge it might not be worth it."

"If you can actually learn without a teacher... I can't say they'll be happy, but they would be unlikely to declare a grudge. They do sometimes sell or gift runework to men, most of our greatest heirlooms are dwarf runesmiths returning favors owed. Best get one to explain dwarfen religion before trying, though. They worship their oldest ancestors as gods, missing but still out there living in material form somewhere."

"I admit I don't see the connection there but I can learn etiquette if that's what you mean."

"I don't, really, understand dwarf religious practice, but runesmiths are both clan and priests of Thungni and that probably matters to how much they'd be offended."

"Can you ask around and see if there's someone who does know more? Or I guess a dwarf that does if they wouldn't be likely to be offended by the question?"

"I can try, but I wouldn't be too optimistic. I don't think we have any flatland dwarfs in Erengrad and humans usually get confused by it; if it was important I'd want to be able to ask questions."

"That makes sense. I suppose any more detailed talk should wait until our quarantine period is finished. On a lighter note is there anywhere around the city you recommend visiting?"

"Frosthome, definitely. About as far away as you can get from here, in the city, but a living tower of ice is worth seeing. Probably the grand market, and maybe the Garden of Ursun."

"Those all sound interesting. I assume whoever will be escorting us will know where all those are?"

"Definitely. And it will probably be me escorting you, in any case."

"I'll look forward to the trip then. No rush on the exact timing I expect you have other responsibilities."