Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 380 Stone Pages
Since the restoration of Mithril Hall, dwarves from all over the world, descendants of those who fled there, have flocked to this glorious place. To this day, although it has not yet reached the heights of its former glory, it still has more than five thousand dwarves gathered there.

What is this concept?
An ordinary dwarf clan has only a few hundred people, and it's unknown whether a clan like the Sweet Wine Clan can field eight hundred people.

It's no wonder that Balenda was as stubborn as a turtle that had swallowed a weight; he simply couldn't bear such a price. What kind of concept was forty people to his family?
"Back in the North, I heard that the dwarf hero, the restorer of Mithril Hall, and the bloodline of Gandalf, Bruno II, had also ended his adventures as the Mithril Five and was preparing to return to Mithril Hall to take on the responsibilities he was originally obliged to fulfill."

"Perhaps we should visit this city that is in the process of revitalization."

Even if Master Zhang isn't exactly a genius, he's certainly as shrewd as a monkey. He understood the dwarf brothers' intentions after only a few sentences of their conversation. While inwardly praising his employees' initiative, he gracefully made his way out.

"It's not that I'm deliberately trying to make things difficult for you, but forty members of our tribe are truly beyond our means. No matter how tempting the conditions are, if it threatens the very foundation of our tribe's survival,"

For the first time, Balenda's tone softened: "I think even the other clans understand this, as for Mithril Hall, well, Mithril Hall!"

The clan chief's tone was somewhat complicated: "They've only risen again in ten years. Aren't the treasures nurtured deep in the mountains enough for them to mine? They don't have time to get involved in your affairs."

"Young mage, put aside these clever words and tricks for now. No matter what those two little rascals did back then, they are still part of the Sweet Wine Clan. Don't bring up any more stupid talk about abandoning the family name."

"I can agree to your terms."

Barenda's words delighted Bard and Kegan, but the mage remained unmoved, calmly awaiting what would follow.

really,

“But you must understand that they were sent to your territory as allies to provide support, not to sell themselves into servitude, and certainly not as your private slaves.”

“I never thought of enslaving them. I am the master, and they work for me and get paid. It’s that simple.”

The monk spoke calmly:

"If they are not satisfied with their treatment, they can even leave and rotate every now and then. Of course, I don't want this to happen too frequently, after all, there is a period of adjustment for job training and adaptation."

Mutual compromise signaled the start of cooperation, and both sides became much more pragmatic in the subsequent negotiations.

In the dwarves' council chamber, Baron Chanem, Lord of Highcliff from Neverwinter, and Balendar, chieftain of the Sweetbrew Clan of Trilta Hills, signed a final agreement, the contents of which are roughly as follows:
The Sweet Wine Clan obtained the recipe for Snowfield Ice Brew and the exclusive sales rights in the central Sword Coast region, while the High Cliff Clan was prohibited from leaking the recipe or trading it to others again.

The Sweet Wine Clan can send people to observe the brewing process and learn the necessary techniques.

The Sweet Wine Clan must send twenty warriors and twenty skilled craftsmen to High Cliff Territory to perform their duties as mercenaries.
High Cliff must provide security and dignity guarantees, that is, combatants should not be subjected to malicious instigation, and craftsmen should have reasonable working hours and be paid reasonable wages;

The employees have a rotation opportunity every three years and can decide for themselves whether to stay or leave. Unless Highcliff Lords breach the contract voluntarily, leaving without permission is considered desertion. There are many other miscellaneous supplementary clauses, which need not be elaborated here. It is worth mentioning that this draft contract is not a traditional paper document in duplicate, but is engraved in Common Language and Dwarven script on a steel rock slab.

The shimmering light emanating from the signatures of the mage lord and the dwarf chieftain at the end, along with the mysterious runes surrounding the stone pages, clearly revealed the essence of their magical contract.

The effects of this enchanted tome were jointly determined by the mage, the dwarven rune elder, and the dwarven priest, witnessed under the gaze of mystery and the gods, a testament to the fairness and eternity of the covenant.

Yes, in the eyes of the dwarves, such inscriptions on bronze stone, a covenant witnessed by the gods, were essentially equivalent to a transcription of eternity.

This is certainly not to say that the dwarves' brains were made of stone, and that they would sell themselves for the sake of a secondary formula, sending themselves to the hands of Master Zhang for eternal enslavement. In fact, the time limit for this labor export was "only" sixty years!

Heaven have mercy! In my previous life, patents were generally only valid for twenty years! This is already a full sixty years!

But for a race like dwarves, who live long lives and are stubborn, the fact that a mere sixty years of cooperation could be exchanged for a famous wine recipe that could be passed down as a family heirloom was simply too good to pass down. This made Balenda, who had already prepared to dedicate a generation to the cause, overjoyed and even had the illusion that the mage opposite him was actually a kind-hearted philanthropist.

However, how could the intricate connections such as exchanges and subsequent profit distribution after the labor dispatch ended be severed so easily? This level of interaction can be considered a de facto alliance, which is why Zhang Yuan went to great lengths to find the Sweet Wine Clan.

If it weren't for the bond between the two, and if it weren't for the Sweet Wine Clan's emphasis on the wine industry, even if it were another clan, let alone whether a deal could be reached, the mutual suspicion and fear would make it difficult to maintain a long-term cooperation, turning it into empty talk.

As for the Philosopher's Stone Door?

If dwarves were so easy to talk to, they wouldn't be dwarves. Their trust and friendship are as steadfast as a rock, yet as precious as gold.

Despite the dwarven elders' repeated accusations of those two scoundrels and their promise to settle scores later, they never made any definitive statements. According to dwarven rules, the things they did back then would never be forgotten, but they couldn't be considered heinous crimes.

Being petty doesn't mean being unable to distinguish right from wrong or ungrateful. Bard and Kegan have lived in the tribe for nearly a hundred years and have only been out on the road for ten. Putting aside Kegan, that scoundrel, Bard's character is well-known. Given that he has already made a name for himself, his decision to risk punishment by returning to the tribe's territory is somewhat believable.

Add to that the dwarves' own old flaws: suspicion and greed. When the wizard and Bard moved out of Mithril Hall, even the usually composed dwarves panicked, which led to the signing of the contract.

Ultimately, all of this gave the dwarves, who were reluctant to leave behind the benefits, a reason to convince themselves. But for Master Zhang, recruiting a few batches of dwarven laborers was just an appetizer; his ambitions went far beyond that…

After the agreement was signed, a grand banquet was naturally needed to celebrate. The dwarves' own cellars and the nectar brought by the mages played the leading roles in the evening's festivities.

Thank you, Brother A-Yi, for your monthly pass!

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(End of this chapter)