Just Another Day

Shanku caught up with him and they walked out of another doorway of the chamber. As they walked down another tunnel, they passed by many side chambers full of different materials, most of which were piles of powders and sands.

"Da dwarves keep me stocked," he said.

"Where do dey get it?" Shanku asked.

"Sand is an irritan' an' byproduct of deir minin'. Sometimes dey find large deposits of it," the dragon explained. He lead her out of the cave to a ledge overlooking a nearby grove of trees. "Da Highlands provide a grove far me potash and da dwarves also find da limestone."

"Your other chamber showed all powders," Shanku said curiously. "Where do you get those?"

"I burn da wood for da potash and da limestone is milled," Doane explained.

"How?" Shanku asked curiously.

"Ye see dat system?" Doane nodded to a nearby chamber. There was a large gear on the end of a shaft with teeth on the bottom, slowly turning and making an awful crunching noise as it ground against rocks between it and a large stone. The top of the grindstone had many grooves cut into it where a smaller gear's teeth fit into. The shaft that ran through the smaller gear was turned by the waterwheel that the shaft was connected to.

"De dwarves harnessed a river to a millstone. Dey grind it and dump it into one of my other rooms," Doane nodded. "And ye barrow it from dere."

Shanku hunched over again sulkily. She did not want to be a beast of burden. Then she had another thought.

"Aren't we a bit high for a river to be powerin' a water wheel?" She scratched her head.

"Aye," Doane nodded. "But dose dwarves like ta tinker. Dey made a tall system. Dey haul da water up fram the river all the way to here, and after it paars through each wheel, it flows over a piece, down a hole, and onto anather water wheel far deir wark."

"That's quite something," Shanku nodded, impressed.