"It would happen even if I protested. And - well, I never claimed to be a caring man. Some people say the iron and stone gets in our hearts, after a decade or two."

"I've heard it said that most people are good, but not very good. So you have to make it hard to be evil, and easy to be good. But... Something for another day. Thank you again. How is the scope treating you?"

"Very well! It's useful, and - honestly, purely for amusement it's well worth it. I took it up to the Ocean Spire a few days back to look where the storm wasn't. And actually got a look at a small part of Haven while I was there, not easy to get to but within sight. I'm definitely going to get a lot of use out of it surveying Haven properly. I suspect we'll be getting a lot of requests for these pretty soon, from scouts and merchants both."

"It turns out I'm not exactly great with glass, personally. Camlo and Ulantis do better. The level I can easily remember is way more art than engineering, anyway... And forge-bound ore-feeling translates surprisingly well. So I suppose I should let them know that their lenses are going to be in great demand, and I can knock out the frames and adjusters."

"They learned fast. Well, good for everyone not to be blocked too much on your work. ...Have your guesses of what ore are needed changed much? I suppose I ought to be out checking Haven soon."

"Not really. You found some tungsten, that's the one thing I felt I really needed. More variety is better, even if I'm not necessarily in love with how... Intuitive, as opposed to planned, I can get with variety to work with."

"You don't... entirely understand your process, when you're being a 'wild smith'?"

"...I'd rather not talk about it in the open? Sorry. I know I brought it up."

He briefly considers what he's heard of other Archons and their strengths and weaknesses. It frequently has conspicuous strategic gaps. "Fair enough," he replies.

"And- Well, I'm happy to tell you, yeah, just not here. Don't need weird rumors." She shrugs. And takes a bite of cheese. She's found her favorites after trying a few varieties.

"Or at least you should pick your own weird rumors," he says, and takes bites of his whatever. "Like that rumor that Fatebinders can't lie or be lied to. A lot of people don't believe it, but who wants to test it?"

"I want a little bit of Orphan Midwife in my rumors. Just a bit. The... Teacher, maybe. The tool-maker. Medicine, even-" She gasps. "God I need to make peroxide! Infection is more a problem than wounds and scars with the sigil of life, right? Peroxide is great for infections! Or rather, preventing them."

"That would be useful. Less if you're helping dig better wells, but still a lot. How is it given to a patient?"

"I'm accumulating quite the list of tasks! You dilute it heavily into water- Store it in in glass bottles so it doesn't go bad, it'd probably eat through skins- And pour it gently into wounds before bandaging or healing. This kills the - parasite life, tiny invisible things. Hurts, though, and can scar more. It's poison, but a person's a lot bigger than dust so what's lethal to them isn't to us, right? All medicine is poison."

"Oh, probably not much overlap with the wells, then. ...Hmmm. Well, the Disfavored would definitely want it, with their whole - protection from wounds thing. Getting it to the injured in ordinary armies quickly enough to help might be hard. And people away from the front, even harder."

"I'm imagining a bottle-blower or maybe forming press for the glass, and theoretically all you actually need is water to make peroxide- Everything I make, I want to make unthinkable amounts of. Enough for everyone. Eventually. 'The engineer can build a city in a span', that's the kind of thing- Anyway. That's why I'm so happy about that fold on the east side, with both coal and iron. Depending on how inaccessible it is, I'm pretty sure it's going to be where I build my city."

"Weird site for a city. Not on any trade routes, or in rich land; seems hard to feed. But you probably know what you're doing."

"-Eh, no, you're right. I mean, trade is a big deal. Most cities are on waterways, I think, for trade. I could build roads but, eh. Might be better to cart the ore to the city than building it right there. I still have the schematics for hothouses practically memorized and that'll do for food, if there's a really compelling reason to build a city somewhere inhospitable... Going to need a lot of water for serious industry, too. River or aqueduct."

"It wouldn't be too far from there to where the Matani drains out of the valley. It's not a huge river, maybe half the width of this one, but it runs quite a bit faster. I'll keep an eye on the rivers in Haven for you - I know there was a delta that opened at Setting-Sun - that's the destroyed Free City, along with Ardent, they had a river too. But I don't think they had good iron. Well, Ardent was on the edge of the Blade Grave, I should check for coal deposits in that immediate area."

"Is there an estimate on just how big the Blade Grave is? In terms of- Tons- I'm thinking a city is rather permanent so its purpose should remain relevant for a while, the Matani, maybe. Flowing water is power..."

"Every seam runs out, I doubt the Blades will be gone from the Grave any faster. The advantage of rebuilding a Free City is that whatever it was good for before, it still should be when the metal runs out. Not that I remember what that was. ...I think Ardent wrote a lot of contracts. I'm not sure I knew anything at all about Setting-Sun before the Edict washed it out to sea. Your industry might make the city grow... but Archons trying to establish new capital cities by fiat usually doesn't work. They have to keep pushing, or it withers up and blows away."

"Trade is what makes cities, I think. Trade and fertile ground. Industry should make lots of things to trade, at least."

"I haven't seen any city that didn't trade," he agrees, "And the ones that didn't farm fed themselves from the sea. It's your decision; I'm no expert, I'm just fairly well-traveled from my guild's business."

"I'll go look around the Matani and the ore sites later. Wonder if I can make a core sampler... See what the rock is like fifty feet down, right?"

"I can manage... five meters, I think, if I can get some clear stone without dirt on top and spend most of the day meditating. You'd be, what, digging a small hole down?"