NPC: Aelric

Text may not be 100% complete. Most quest text is not included.
Due to multiple options when speaking, text below may not be in comprehensive order.

*You heard him muttering to himself when you started across the bridge, but as you reach him you're able to hear him clearly.* He said it was a common expreEL-DB.comssion. Is it possible he meant it was a Common expression? Gerund suggested I see Christina, but White Stone is a long walk. Perhaps on my next trip to C2.

What are you talking about?

Oh, sorry. Dreadful habit of mine, but it helps me stay organized. It also allows me to have a free flowing stream of ideas at times when I'm brainstorming. But, that's neither here nor there. Here's my dilemma. I've been talking to dwarven miners regarding a sequential cascade failure I've identified. It seems they already have a word for it, but I'm beginning to doubt I'm understanding it all correctly.

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So maybe you can help. Each time I describe this to a dwarf miner, I always get the same response. I was in a mine just poking around to get a feel for the place and to get ideas on things that don't exist now that could benefit all of Draia when I invent them. The ceiling was low, it was dark and cramped. I wanted to get the full mining experience so I picked up a pickaxe for the first time. It was heavy and I

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felt a bit overbalanced. It slipped out of my hands and fell on my foot. That hurt and as I was jumping up and down, I cracked my head on the low ceiling. It is at this point that the dwarven word for this situation is expressed. Sometimes it is said with a little clicking noise and a shake of the head, but the word is always the same. *He notices your overwhelmed expression.*

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Oh dear me I'm sorry. I just started yacking your ear off without introducing myself. You may call me Aelric.

What's the word?

I may not have the pronunciation exactly correct because when I've used the word before to describe the situation, I get confused looks. That's why Gerund suggested I seek out Christina since she knows the dwarven language. Anyway, to me, the word sounds like 'dumbass'. Isn't it amazing how such a little word can sum up so much? Don't worry about my head. It has healed completely and the experience inspired me to

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think about what could be created to mitigate the harm that I went through. If I had been wearing boots, my toes would have been a little bit better off. Then I thought that if the boots were lined with steel to protect my toes, that would have been better still and I might not have hurt my toes and consequently my head. Then of course, I wouldn't have thought about a way to create

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something new because it would already be in existence. Hmmm... That sounds circular to me. Anyway, the other thing I thought about is a kind of helmet for miners to protect theEL-DB.comir heads from the rocks and if that helmet also had a light source, why then they could be more productive because they could better see what it is their pickaxes are striking.

Steel-toed boots and a miner's helmet

My goodness, how eloquently and concisely you've phrased the culmination of my described thoughts. May I use your words henceforth? *You nod and shrug.* Oh thank you, my friend. Perhaps I should describe more ideas to you so that you can name them for me. I do get so wrapped up in providing detailed descriptions that it makes it difficult for me to come up with a simple name for things, not that I'm calling you

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simple in any way, shape or form. But your name for them would be so much easier for most people to use. Why just the other day I was talking to Gemma. She's a tailor, by the way, and she was looking for something to make her designs stand out from the crowd. If you ask me, I think she just wants her clothes to look better than someone else's clothes. She had heard me talking about the natural properties of

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gold once it has been refined and was wondering what could be done with it that might benefit a tailor. So, hypothetically speaking, I described the ability to turn gold bars into gold wire of varying gauges which could be used to make gold chains that could hold jewelry or other things. But, when she really took interest was when I told her that the gold wire could be extruded more thinly down to the thickness

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of very fine hair that could then be twined into thread. With that thread, any number of applications could be made as it is nothing more than a raw ingredient for tailoring. She asked about weaving it into cloth and while theoretically it's possible, the cloth would weigh too much to make it practical for everyday use. But then I thought about the whole weaving process and came up with an idea to make them

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create fabric without human intervention, other than setting the machine up.

A power loom

Good god you've got a rare talent there my friend, although if I'm remembering correctly, and I believe I am, Gemma also called it that. Anyway, when I told her that weaving cloth from gold thread would make it extremely heavy, she asked if I could come up with a way to make it lighter. That lead me to begin describing another property of refined gold, that being that it is soft, yet malleable. By running gold

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bars through a rather extensive set of mechanical hammers, a large area of extremely thin gold could be produced. This new item could have many applications. By placing a layer of this extremely thin gold oEL-DB.comver the cover of a book and pressing heated metal letters against it, where the heated metal letters press against the gold would cause it to adhere to the leather cover. The rest is easily removed leaving

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the title of the book on the cover spelled out in gold. Another application... *He pauses and appears stunned.* Did I just make a joke? Anyway, another use could be for this gold material to be applied to light-weight objects in any desired shape that could be sewn onto clothing.

How thin?

Imagine the surface area of a bar of gold. Now multiply that area by 20,000. The gold becomes so thin that it would take hundreds of layers to equal the thickness of parchment. So thin that the slightest breeze will loft it high into the atmosphere carrying it far far away. So thin that...

You mean sequins?

Sequins? You've done it again, my friend.

I get it.

I'm sorry, I've gone and done it again. I know I talk too much sometimes, but I just can't seem to stop myself. Like right at this moment. You see? I'm doing it again right here and now. I don't know why I always feel the need to... I am so sorry. Here I go doing it again. Really, I'm quite... Sorry.

So that's why you're here?

Good heavens no. I heard there was a plan to do a lot of gold mining and I thought of creating a machine that could harvest the gold and process it into whatever form is desired. Unfortunately, the machine hasn't been invented - not even a prototype - so it only exists as an idea in my head. I'm here to try to get the R&D funds to begin creating this machine.

R&D what?

Ok, well that idea didn't work very well. R&D stands for research and development. Basically it's money needed in order to create something new. I thought maybe that if I shortened some things to their initials it might make me less wordy, but oh well. I do like to talk.

Where do you hope to get funds?

Oh, with the king's cousin. She's quite important around here it seems. She is always highly in demand from other people. If it's not someone wanting to express their views on the king's healthcare plan, iEL-DB.comt's a reporter from a publishing company based in Idaloran, the Association of Scribes and Scholars, wanting to capture her views on rumors and innuendos she's heard as she makes her rounds from interested

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party to interested party. You know, they once tried to get me to write a column for them, but really, as an inventor and engineer, I didn't have the time to commit to something like that. The local representative of that fine organization is Beth Ann. Have you met her yet? I'm not exactly sure what her primary focus is, but she's sensing that something is going on. Quite impressive, for a human.

I've got to go now.

Oh. I'm so sorry I've kept you. I wonder, though, if you don't mind, do you think you could stop by from time to time? I am always getting new ideas and you're so adept at coming up with short concise names for my ideas. I would really appreciated it. *To make your exit as quick as possible, you nod and wave from a distance.*

Goodbye

So long!