Chapter 290: Chapter 259 – The Great Crater

"Most nations award nobility titles for those who were either born into it, or had done great feats, be they military or political, and those nobles tend to keep their titles in a hereditary manner, tied to their lands.

 

The dwarves handled nobility differently. Their nobles were chosen for competence and feats which were far more broad and diverse. A master blacksmith, a master poet, an expert actor, even a master brewer had all been ennobled before.

 

Unlike other lands, their nobility titles were not tied to land. They were more a badge of honor, one inheritable by chosen heirs should they in turn prove their competence.

 

The dwarven equivalent of landed nobles were closer to governors and stewards in most other nations, and their posts are usually far more temporary. That said, these positions tend to be hereditary as well, as they typically trained their successors for competence.

 

Perhaps because of this discrepancy in culture, the noble society of the dwarven nations tend to be far less stuck up or arrogant, as they came from all walks of life, and also far more competent, since incompetence was ground for removal from their position." - from a paper by Leigh Wainwrought, Sociology student in the Levain Institute for Higher Learning.

Half a week after the fight at the arena, Cal and her party traveled to the north, towards the central district of the Kingdom Down Under, technically its "capital", and where the teleportation gate to Paradise was located.

 

They took the trains once more, another multi-stage journey that saw them stop over at four smaller areas on the way. Halfway through the journey they felt some turbulence as the carriage shook for a while, and wondered what happened, but had not acted as the locals didn't seem surprised by it.

 

Shortly after the shaking ended, one of the dwarves from the front carriage came to the passenger carts and assured them that everything was fine, just that they had accidentally ran over some annoying vermin along the way, and that the train would arrive on schedule at their destination as usual.

 

Cal and her group learned that the dwarf had spoken very literally when they debarked at the station to rest and wait for the next train, as when they did, they saw how the sides and bottom of the train was splattered all over in blood and guts.

 

The viscera belonged to some creatures too devastated to even be identified, and the workers had quickly set to work to clean the train off them, which revealed that the steel plating underneath merely had some scratches from the collision.

 

A quick chat with some of the less occupied workers informed Cal that accidents like these were rather common. Usually underground creatures like worms or mole-like beasts that dug their way to the tracks at the wrong time. The trains were armored enough to simply run them over, though.

 

After that small interlude, they continued the rest of their uneventful journey, and reached the central region of the Kingdom Down Under, often also called the Great Crater, as scheduled.

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As soon as they disembarked from the train, Cal understood why the region was called the Great Crater as a nickname. The train station was located on the outskirts of the region, while the main area of the city itself was built in a truly massive underground cavern that sloped down like a crater on the lower side.

 

The city proper was built in the massive crater, and unlike most newer cities which tend to be built tall, this one was built lower, more like a typical city above ground. At the top of the cavern, right above the very center of the crater, was a massive crystal that shone with light, which illuminated the whole city below, so bright one could barely look directly at it.

 

Once she was in the city, the first thing the group did was to book rooms at a local inn, as usual. They were staying for the rest of the month before they were to head back to Paradise, and simply paid for their rooms upfront, to the delight of the innkeeper.

 

Other than the roof and furniture often being a tad short for the taller members of the group - a common issue faced by travelers in dwarven cities - the amenities were more than worth what they paid for, to say the least.

 

Unlike how most races used mattresses stuffed with straws - or for more expensive establishments, feathers and downs - the dwarves straight up used no mattresses. The traditional "beds" in their inns were simply piles of fur on the ground, with a tightly rolled piece to serve as a pillow, which turned out to be surprisingly comfortable to lay on.

 

Cal was unsure what animal the fur came from. The fur itself was rather long, brownish-gray in color, and almost silken to the touch. The leather below was soft and malleable and to lay down on the pile was almost like sinking into a warm embrace.

 

After they settled their rooms, Cal told her students that they were free to do what they liked for the time being. She had not prepared too much of an itinerary for this last leg of the trip, as it was meant more for vacation and relaxation.

 

She herself went out towards a certain district of the city, where the smell of alcoholic drinks permeated the air. It was a district where the majority of the city's breweries were located, and she had a specific target in mind as she went there.

 

Aideen had asked her a favor since she happened to be travelling this way, and had a large storage artifact with her. The woman herself happened to be busy with some local things at the time, so she asked Cal if she could bring some barrels of Orloff Himmelbrau's handmade brews when she returned.

 

Naturally, she also gave Cal a letter of introduction to the dwarven noble - who was a frequent visitor to Paradise anyway that Cal had met once before, if briefly - and as a bonus, the introduction meant she could get some of the master's brew as well, both for herself, and as some souvenirs.

 

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