At the CEO's office.

[Dorf (AWAY)]

(I don't seem to be able to delete the post in the CEO office thread. :S )


Dressed in a grey overall, outfitted with black shoes with tips made from steel and of course, wearing his glasses, Dorf entered the office. He was irritated. Very irritated. He lit up a cigarette, remembered that this was his boss' office, decided not to care and took a deep huff from his white cancer-stick. He smoked Camel. The heavy ones. He was a dwarf and he had been smoking for about 60 years now. He picked it up rather late, but what is age for a dwarf? Also, the tar didn't seem to affect his lungs. He pitied the humans who fell ill from smoking. Dwarves were made for smoking. Their lungs were used to the fumes from deep within the mountains, used to the coal and the smoke from the blacksmith. Fresh air was almost abnormal to them. At least, that was Dorf's opinion, maybe he just had been lucky.

While inhaling he looked at the office. Red. He liked red. Reminded him of this, uh, weird, uh, religion or something he had read about. It was something the humans invented. Commuterism? Computerism? Didn't matter. They worshipped a God called Karl. Seemed pretty awkward to him. Perhaps Nicholas was one of the people who adored Karl. Heh. Nah, he knew Nicholas for quite a while now, he had been working for the company for a few months, and except for the fact that Nicholas was very eccentric, he didn't look like a religious nutjob at all.

After idling for a while, and smoking, he opened a glass door and threw the cigarette out. This way the smoke would leave the office. Luckily the firedetector didn't notice the smoke. He made a mental note to adjust all firedetectors in the building so that he could smoke wherever he wanted. That would be funny. Now, he had come to the office to have a little chat with Nicholas. Dorf was a genius, of course, he knew that. Nicholas had hired Dorf in the first place because Dorf was a genius. A rather famous one too. Amongst the dwarves, anyway. But Dorf had experienced a serious amount of irritation working with the other employees. They couldn't grasp the complexity of Dorf's mind and when instructing them, they never understood or said it was impossible. In other words, they were dumb shits. Worth nothing and a waste of Nicholas' money. Now, he had need of a NEW assisstant or a change of environment or extra vacation and a raise.

And that's what he was here for. He was planning on lighting another cigarette when the elevator arrived with a loud 'DING'. He turned around and waited for the doors to open.

[Nicholas J. Traptory]

Nicholas was still tinkering over his Magi-Tech pistol prototype when he heard the elevator's ding betray someones presence. Today he was dressed in a gray T shirt, and some casual slacks, he wasn't expecting any visitors and his workers were specifically told not to care, which they did quite well.

He wondered who it was for only a moment until the strong scent of cigarette smoke hit his nostrils. While some people did smoke in his company, only one of them smoked so much that he could pick it out from across the room. Without even looking up from his work and clicking the next piece into place Nicholas smiled.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting Dorf?" He said. He knew all of his workers by first name, and he called them by that weather they liked it or not.

[Dorf (AWAY)]

"Mph. What is it, you ask. What is it. Grmph. Well, I'll tell what is and what is not." Dorf thought about that sentence for a quarter second and came to the conclusion that the sentence was pretty silly. But he didn't like silly, so he quickly dismissed the thought. He was thinking of lighting another fag, but it would be pretty rude to do so in Nicholas' office. So he just snapped his fingers a few times. That was his tick. His little tick.

"Well. Mph. As we both know, I'm currently leading a small group of human engineers. The problem is, that these peeps you've, mgrf, assigned to me, are incapable of helping me. They are slow, short-minded and dumb. Mpghf." He coughed a few times and wheezed. He showed his finger to show that he wasn't done yet.

"And I, as one of the best, yes, best, smiths and designers of my time, think that I deserve better. I want another project so that I do need to work with this simpletons anymore, or I want a raise, or I -mph- want to have 4 hour working days. Now, grfm, don't get me wrong. I highly, mpf, appreciate you, AND what you've done for me. I did learn quite a lot here, but Nicholas, face it, in designing weapons, I'm second only to you. Grfmh." He coughed a few times again and then showed a small smile to nicholas. He cleaned his glasses with his overall and waited for an answer.

[Nicholas J. Traptory]

Nicholas looked up while Dorf was speaking. It was true that most of what he said rang true, he was one of the best creators in this entire company, and him being a dwarf did wonders for their relations with the mining colonies he had to often deal with.

But then inspiration struck, and Nick knew. He had a big project in the works, and he knew he was going to need several things. The first was high quality dwarven metal, made to order, and huge quantities of it. The second were brilliant engineers, and the third was manpower.

"Dorf, you are in luck. I just got a job that I need a dwarf for specifically. And one that is one of my best engineers is only going to be icing on the cake. I have a big project on my plate, and I am going to need large amounts of dwarven metals. Some steel, some mythril, and even some adamantine. There are two reasons I need you in charge of this. One is because the best people to deal with dwarves, are dwarves themselves. But the other is because I need someone I don't have to baby sit. I can give you the schematics and the recommended materials and I know you can get me the right amounts, treated to be used in our magi-tech, without a problem. And after the gathering of all these materials and such, I'm going to need your help to actually build what I have in mind."

He paced the room, looking over a file in his hand. "You'd have the best engineers I can give under you, and I think I can count this as a promotion, complete with pay raise of course."

He looked towards Dorf. "So? Interested?"

[Dorf (AWAY)]

Dorf frowned. Was he serious? Mmm, he could get all the materials mentioned of course, but it was gonna cost, and then the schematics... It must be something big, he could use the zirondevice to make the mythril melt, and then...

Dorf's mind was racing at full speed, he was already dreaming of possibilities, he was really into it. His grumpiness was gone for a mere second and when he looked at Nicholas he even smiled.

"Mmmm. Yes. Yes; of course I'll do it. It'll be my pleasure, Nicholas." He said this without mumbling but loud and crystal clear. He did not often used this voice. But then his smile disappeared again.

"Mph. It'll be quite a work. Mmff. I think I can get they finest mythril from Europe, but the adamantine is going to be a little problem. It's hard to get these days, but I can do it. Of course, it'll be pricy, but since I'm a dwarf I'll get a discount. Mph. Mmm." Dorf was already dreaming again.

Then he hold his hand in front of Nicholas:

"Shake it. I won't dissappoint me. Mph" He grinned a bit.

"Now, let me see those schematics."

[Nicholas J. Traptory]

Nicholas grabbed Dorf's hand firmly. Dwarves were all about ritual and tradition, and a firm handshake was an old one. "Glad I hired you Dorf! A great worker! But, well...." He trailed off walking over to a side cabinet.

"Your people have your traditions, but I have mine. And we have just completed a business deal." He said, and pulled out the same stone jug he had used when Micheal was in this office just a few days ago. "Can I interest you in a drink first? It's from the Thunderbrew clan's private stores, did some business with them a while back." He grinned, he wasn't going to tell just anyone the secret of this bottle, that it refilled at every sunrise. That was a secret he kept to himself.

Most dwarves would kill for this bottle, but Dorf would be treated with a taste.

[Dorf (AWAY)]

Dorf was glad that Nicholas understood a little about dwarves and, more importantly, about him. Dorf wasn't the easiest person, and Nicholas seemed to understand that. Dorf liked his boss. He didn't like a lot of people, but he liked Nicholas. He nodded at Nicholas to show that he appreciated his compliment. Dorf really was a great worker.

"Mph. A drink. I like that." He looked at Nicholas who dived behind his desk and heared the soft clinging of a bottle and then the satisfying sound of a mug being filled. Dorf wasn't so fond of the Thunderbrew clan, they were a bit too merry, but he appreciated their draught. It was the best. Dorf had tried many human beers, and they weren't too bad, but dwarven beer was better. Much better.

He stretched out his hand to accept the mug and made a sign at Nicholas, suggesting if he could light a cigarette. They were celebrating, after all.

[Nicholas J. Traptory]

Nicholas nodded and waved his hand a little bit, to signify that it was all right. "Perfect then! We can supply you with any form of transport you deem needed, since large orders of this tend to be rare. Oh yes!" He snapped his fingers.

"I've already cleared this with the council, but try to keep it quiet if you can. I don't want to draw too much attention to this, then people will start to try to spy and steal. It's really a hassle I don't want to deal with. Besides, there is so much more important things to do. Now..."

He said as he walked over to his desk and pulled a rather large, rolled up blueprint. "I think it's time you see exactly what it is I need to gather materials for."

And he began to roll out the blueprint on the large table.

[Dorf (AWAY)]

After lighting up his cigarette and inhaling, Dorf looked at the blueprint. He whistled.

"That's quite something, boss." He even chuckled a little bit. He could see some images flashing through his head how he would make this thing work. He saw easy sides to it, and hard sides to it. Materials, that was going to be hard. Luckily he could make quick contact with most companies. Some materials would be tough, but it was doable. It would only take a pretty long time and a very good crew. Fortunately, they had Dorf. He could do anything. He looked at the blueprint for some time and then looked at Nicholas. Dorf had barely touched his glass.

"Mph. Mmmmh. I see. I've already got some ideas. Mmm. This'll be hard." He frowned and looked at the blueprint again. He was happy he got this assignment.

"Grf. Two questions; Can I pick a crew now, and two: anything you really want it to do? Except for the obvious things?" Dorf toyed a bit with his cigarette, he must admit he was excited. This was a pretty big assignment.

[Nicholas J. Traptory]

"Getting a bit ahead of yourself aren't you now?" Nicholas asked with a smile. "You know I would never let a project this big go by without me being able to build it too!" He said taking a sip. "I will most certainly make you part of the production team, when that time comes. But for now, I need the materials. And while I have many capable inventors, myself included, I have nobody in this damn corporation who knows as much about metals, alloys and minerals. You can take or hire or requisition whatever you believe necessary to get the materials. I'd like to avoid using a T-Grid though, I want to keep this project on the down low, if that is even possible. I imagine if the council gets word of these materials coming in here they'll send their spies in here to find out what I am up to. And then Torin will find out what they are doing and come in here and ask me directly. So you see, it's a lot of hassle I'd really rather not deal with. But for now, talk to me. This is a lot of material I've asked you to collect, what kind of manpower and machine power do you think we should work with to start?"

[Dorf (AWAY)]

"Mph. Of course, of course." Dorf must admit that he got carried away a bit. He quickly got a notepad out of his jacket and started jotting some notes down. After a minute or two. He put his notepad back in his overall, pushed his glasses back up his down. Inhaled, exhaled. Then he got a bit closer to Nicholas and spoke:

"Manpower. That's tricky. There are two problems. One: I don't like hiring dwarves outside my clan. That's a problem, because I need about 100 and not all the people of my clan are born miners. But that can be dealt with. Two: Goblins. Mythril is pretty easy to get, but, mph, adamantine is close to these buggers. Mph. I'll need armed men. That's the only thing you'll have to arrange for me. Or you'll have to make sure they don't come near when we're mining the stuff. Pfh."

He then butted out his cigarette on his hand and let it dissappear in his pockets. He had strong, thickskinned hands.

"Transportation... I've got some humans I know. Some big ships. Those ships can be used to transport the stuff. We must make sure, phf, that the humans don't know what they're shipping. So I suggest blending some coal with the mythril. This way they'll think they're shipping coal. However, these humans only know my NAME and they think I'm a human as well. So, I think it would be wise that you go talk with them. I'll get the, uh, mythril to Marseille. You'll make sure to talk with the captain of the IRVES company and make sure to introduce yourself as, eh..."

Dorf got another little book out of one of his many pockets, looked up a page and found what he was looking for:

"Erik Van Damme. You're an American, don't worry. They're french though. I'll get the Mythril and Adamantine from the Alpes. It's a good place for both metals."

Dorf put everything away again and looked at Nicholas. He was happy he got this job. Working was fun.

[Nicholas J. Traptory]

Nicholas arched an eyebrow and copied what Dorf had told him. "Your adapting to this quite quickly I see. Good, good, I hired the right man for the job. As for the goblins...hmmm...they are mostly magical aren't they? I'm pretty sure a Dwarf can beat them in hard to hand combat...but even still..."

Nicholas thought about his Anti-Magic prototype, but he didn't want to upset the balance between the dwarves and goblins, that was dangerous.

"I've got something that can keep them from throwing spells at you guys, but I will only loan it to this project, and NOBODY who isn't from this building can touch it. I don't want this device being used as a massive tool of war...at least yet." He said. "So if you have a few well armed dwarves to stand guard, I can make sure the goblins magic won't cause problems. Will that be good enough on the defensive?"

[Dorf (AWAY)]

"Mmyeah. We can beat them, allright, mph." Dorf almost felt insulted that Nicholas would doubt this. Everyone knew that Goblins were nothing more that barbaric creatures that were weak, undisciplined and practically savage beasts.

"Grmph. I think that the device would help. A lot. I'm interested actually. Could I take a look at the plans?" Dorf felt the fire of knowledge burning inside. He wanted to know everything about the device. Anti-magic... it was weird Dorf hadn't thought of that.

"But it well serve us well. Don't worry, Blackwaters are the most trustworthy dwarves. That's one of the reasons you've hired me, I suppose. I will see to it that we do not use it in a, mph, wrong manner. I will make sure everything will be arranged." Dorf wringed his hands not really knowing what to do next. Nicholas had put a lot of trusth in this little dwarf and it flattered Dorf. He will make this company proud.

And learn something along the way too.