Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

"This girl is really..."

I smiled and shook my head as I flipped through Helgi's reading notes.

The material that Falion gave us is most likely his essay, and the handwriting is very sloppy. Helgi usually transcribes the relevant part of the original text in his reading notes, and then adds his own analysis. This girl's handwriting is beautiful, and she also specially marks the words she doesn't know or can't see clearly. Falion's two strokes are flying and dancing, and I think it takes a lot of effort just to recognize and copy them.

Helgi keenly captured two characteristics of biogas.

"The swamp gas mentioned by Mr. Falion, when reaching a certain concentration, will emit a pungent smell similar to that of spoiled eggs, and will explode when exposed to open flames. This is completely consistent with the characteristics of the ghosts we saw in the ruins of the Kilcrease Mountains. Therefore, it can be seen that the ghosts are made up of this swamp gas. Hafingar Territory borders the Border Territory of Yar. It is very likely that the necromancer, like Mr. Falion, discovered the method of making this gas and then used magic to condense it into shape."

I am very sure that Helgi's inference is wrong. Biogas is a complex mixture, which does contain a small amount of hydrogen sulfide, but the main component is methane, followed by carbon dioxide. Although methane and hydrogen sulfide are both flammable and explosive gases, there are still big differences between the two.

In terms of physical properties, methane is colorless and odorless, extremely insoluble in water, and lighter than air; hydrogen sulfide is a colorless gas with a pungent odor that is easily soluble in water and heavier than air. In terms of chemical properties, hydrogen sulfide is acidic, while methane is neutral.

Considering that Helgi had never studied chemistry and made her judgment entirely based on hearsay, mistakes were inevitable, but the little girl was very excited about her discovery.

"Wind magic should be able to complete the shaping, as long as I can replace the part of the spell that represents the magic element with swamp gas. If I can use swamp gas to turn into a stoat, and then drill into the rabbit hole and explode, I don't have to worry about these cunning little guys escaping. My brother will definitely be interested. He has always wanted to get a ghost that can explode. I can use a bag made of sheepskin or deerskin to collect the gas, but I have to design a plan so that the swamp gas can only be discharged from a fixed outlet, and then put the leather bag there. It seems simple."

This content, which was considered simple, took several pages to write, and probably corresponded to a considerable period of time. Falion did not mention anything related to collecting methane. The little girl guessed that he first dug a hole in the ground, then buried it in silt, simulating a miniature swamp environment. This obviously could not meet Helgi's needs. What she wanted was to generate a large amount of methane, collect it, and then shape it with magic.

Helgi drew several sketches. Her initial idea was to cover the miniature swamp with a whole piece of cowhide and use one of the cow's legs as an exhaust pipe. This idea was immediately rejected by herself because the cowhide could only cover a limited area and it was difficult to ensure that the edges would not leak.

What followed really surprised me; this girl had almost figured out the structure of the biogas digester by herself.

Her second design was to dig a hole in the ground, use the soil as a natural barrier to store the methane, and then connect a gas outlet pipe. At first, in order to maintain the stability of the hole, she planned to imitate the method used in the mine and build a supporting structure with wood. Later, considering that the gas she wanted to collect was not only flammable but also explosive, using wood was too childish, so she decided to use stone instead.

The girl even calculated the amount of stone needed and the estimated cost next to the sketch, and concluded that it was impossible to complete the building with her own pocket money, but she seemed quite confident that she could convince me to provide sponsorship.

Helgi then gradually improved her biogas tank design, such as adding a corridor on the side so that she could go deep into it to clean up the waste residue and add raw materials. Based on the wrong inference, she proposed an interesting plan, which is to inject water into the biogas tank. Because we used water to dissolve the hydrogen sulfide ghost in the Temple of Meridia, the little girl thought that after obtaining the solution, it would be safer to extract the biogas to prevent explosions.

It is obviously not feasible to use this method to treat methane, which is insoluble in water, but we can use water pressure to promote the discharge of biogas, so the water injection design is still worth retaining.

In this way, the design scale of the biogas digester became larger. Helgi listed two unfinished formulas on the side, but did not calculate the final result, and just left a puzzling remark.

"It is said that my brother's money is managed by Mr. Lund."

As the plan to build a biogas digester looked increasingly outrageous, Helgi turned her attention to improving magic. I guess she was thinking about this when we left Whiterun and went to Falkreath. Because she mentioned that she secretly cast a spell on Angie's hair, but was discovered by Eric. She did not record their reactions, but it is certain that her magic attempt was stopped.

The spell she cast must have been unsuccessful, otherwise Eric would not have spared her, and the content of the notes later also confirmed this. The little girl did not give up, but tried to improve the failed spell.

Below this paragraph, there are several lines of meaningless short sentences, the content is very similar, only some words are adjusted. This may be Helgi's spelling of Reach magic spells in Nordic letters. She once mentioned that the spells of Reach people are mostly passed down orally, and rarely written down. And these phrases she spelled are probably similar to "love tiger oil" to "I love you", and I am sure I can't read its true meaning.

"We can return to Bloodthrone fortress tomorrow. The wait is almost over! While Lucia sleeps, I will turn her hair into earthworms."

The next two lines were not very long, and the handwriting was very sloppy, as if she was in a very bad mood when she wrote them.

"The magic didn't work! Maybe I got the spelling of hair or earthworm wrong."

"The spelling is correct, but the magic still doesn't work."

Then Helgi's handwriting became neat again.

"I can't experiment with magic on Lucia anymore. She trusts me so much, she'll be angry if she knows what I'm doing. However, I have a rough idea why the magic didn't work. Auntie said that air and magical elements use the same gestures, while liquids use another. Hair is neither air nor water, but I haven't learned the gestures for solids yet."

From the next line of words, I could tell how excited Helgi was. Not only was the font a size larger than before, but some of the strokes also had tiny wavy shapes because of her shaking hands.

"Success! I summoned a bird from the cooking fire! This cute little creature maintained its form for at least two minutes, and if Kahlan hadn't called me to eat, I might have been able to keep it going for longer. That naive woman seemed to think that I was helping her in the kitchen these days. It's not clear whether there is a time limit on the ghosts created by the necromancer. Perhaps another note of Mr. Falion will have the answer."

Here ends Helgi's notes.

Although this report is full of errors and omissions, it is still of great value to me, especially considering that the little girl did not have much opportunity to practice when she wrote it, relying almost entirely on Falion's notes and her own reasoning.

The most serious mistake in the little girl's deduction was that she mistakenly believed that the main component of biogas was hydrogen sulfide. The completely different properties of the two will inevitably lead to completely different subsequent treatment methods. However, her design for the biogas tank is indeed brilliant. In my previous life, I only heard of such a thing, but never saw it with my own eyes. Helgi certainly had never even heard of it. But she drew the blueprint based on her imagination!

Is this the power of a genius?

Based on hers, I can make some additions or improvements.

For example, the use of biogas. This thing is too dangerous, and storage and transportation must be cautious. Sheepskin bags are definitely not qualified containers. So it is better to lay fixed pipelines first and use the produced biogas as fuel. But the material of the pipeline is also a headache. It must be airtight, have outstanding pressure bearing capacity, and must be fireproof and leak-proof. To be honest, I don't know if I can find something that meets these conditions in Skyrim Province. Even if I find it, I'm afraid the price will be quite pleasant.

The sludge left over from producing biogas can be used as fertilizer. It cannot be applied directly, but the climate in Tianji is very cold, most crops only produce one season, and the land has a relatively long fallow period, which is just right for it to be used as base fertilizer. In this way, the most suitable location for building a biogas pool is next to Guanhu Farm. The straw and animal manure on the farm can be used as raw materials, and the sludge can be returned to the fields nearby after processing.

Another example is the choice of building materials. Although stone is strong, it has two fatal disadvantages. First, it is expensive. Even the nine lords cannot afford it. There are only five cities in Skyrim that use stone in large quantities. Second, the Nords' cutting technology is really not good enough. Even the requirement of squareness is rarely achieved.

Among the five stone cities, Markarth, built by dwarves, is an outlier. Aside from its unique construction techniques, the exquisite patterns carved on the stone alone can be called art. Solitude has long been the seat of the High King, and the quality of the stone it uses is unparalleled. The stones of the remaining three cities are of strange shapes, large and small, and randomly stacked together. Although Riften and Windhelm are not satisfactory, their walls are at least complete, and there are several places on the outer wall of Whiterun that can be climbed over, which shows that Balgruuf's economic situation is not good and he is unable to repair it.

As for the paving stones on the official roads, their quality was even worse.

This is also the main reason why my quarry is not profitable. Brother Danger once ambitiously wanted to build a stone city, but was ultimately constrained by a lack of money. He originally planned to make money from the Rich people through the market, but the other party did not fall for it. Now Nanya has focused on collecting wood and never mentions stone. What virtue do I have to build something that the lord can't afford?

So I decided to change to another material: bricks. The production process is simple, the raw materials are easy to get, and it is not difficult to mass produce. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but despise myself in my heart. If I had thought of burning bricks to build houses earlier, why would Nanya make so many difficulties with the wood? If I promote it more widely, I am afraid I can make a fortune.

What is needed to make bricks is clay and coal slag. Clay is more common near fresh water such as rivers and lakes. I am guarding Lake Irinata, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find it. As for coal slag, it is easier to deal with. There are two sales channels for the coal mined in the mine now. Either send it to the blacksmith shop to burn the furnace, or send it to the Howling Wind Bastion for heating. Dealing with coal slag is a headache. This thing is useless and takes up space when piled up. Nanya now seems to have someone to pull it out of the city and throw it away.

Doesn’t this mean that I can get these two raw materials for free?

I rubbed my hands together in excitement, like an Indian bee that had seen the cycle of life and death.

I have never repaired a brick kiln, but I know the general structure. Generally speaking, a semi-underground pit is dug, and the roof is sealed as the kiln chamber, which is also the place to store bricks. A smoke exhaust passage is left behind the kiln chamber, and a deeper pit is dug in front, called the fire chamber, where charcoal is piled and ignited. In front of the fire chamber is the kiln door, and a fire-blocking wall is built here, and the outside of the wall is the operation room.

Brick kilns must be built with fireproof materials. Stone is my only choice, so the scale of the first kiln will not be too large. This is not a problem. Although the process of firing bricks is not complicated, preliminary experiments are inevitable. The mixing ratio of clay and coal slag, the firing temperature and time, all need to be explored bit by bit. I plan to dig a small cave in the mountain first, saving as much as possible. After the bricks are fired, I will build a bigger kiln.

I have already thought of a place to build the brick kiln, right between the Pinewood Watchtower and the Lake View Farm. It is very close to Lake Irinata, and it only takes half a day to get to Falkreath City. There is also wood cutting and firewood nearby. Even better, I can go into the city under the pretext of recruiting workers and transporting coal slag.

Now that you're here, it's normal to "drop by" to visit old acquaintances, such as Rigel, right?

Let’s do it right away!

I jotted down my thoughts and asked someone to send for Talver.

"Talver, please help me select four people who are good at quarrying and digging. They must be loyal and reliable. I have some ideas and I want to take them to try them out."

The dark elf took the order and left. The next morning, he brought three Reachmen and a Nord to see me. According to him, this Nord was one of the first captives to save enough work points to redeem himself, and he had brought his family to the Bloody Throne, so he must be trustworthy. The three Reachmen were all from refugee families. I told them to prepare clothes and tools, and set off with me in the afternoon.

After the four of them left, I kept Talver and started chatting with him. This guy's personality is a bit like Lund's. He is usually taciturn. If I talk to him about ideals and the future, I'm afraid he won't respond even after three sentences. But if I talk about the mine, he knows everything.

I like people like this, who are down-to-earth, not frivolous, and don't make empty promises. Isn't this the kind of person you need if you want to get things done?

As we were talking, the door slammed open and Eric strode in.

"Locke, where are those Red Guards you mentioned earlier?"