Steel Haven part 2 - Engineer Council

Steel Haven was a seat of power for King Alexander, and while the Chalybs Kingdom didn’t have military superiority it did have engineering superiority. King Alexander was a smart man who surrounded himself with the smartest men and women he could find. He had generals and war councils like other kings but he was one of the only kings in the land that had an engineering council. These medieval engineers were the humans that made Steel Haven possible. The engineers worked tirelessly on new projects every night to make sure their King had the strongest seat of power in the world. King Alexander didn’t ask to be the most powerful king in the world, he wanted to be the best protector in the world and in exchange his people saw this and did everything they could to make sure their noble protector had any advantage he could.

Joseph Hawk was the head of the Engineer Council, he had thick brown hair, hazel eyes and wore rough workers clothes. When he was outside the city walls he wore light armor made for him by command of the King. This armor was made so it wouldn’t restrict his movements but it would protect his chest, stomach, head and parts of his arms and legs. On the chest piece was the symbol of the Kingdom, which was a C and crossing it was a blacksmith hammer and a pickaxe. Joseph carried a short sword with him, which was so short it was almost a long dagger. He was so dedicated to his job that he personally requested a small sword so that he could carry more tools with him.

On a sunny afternoon Joseph was tasked to reinforce the defenses of the local iron mine. He traveled with a group of workers who would help construct barriers and gates for the mine. They rode their horses south and talked about the upcoming project during the whole trip. The cheerful mood turned sour when the group finally reached the mine. Normally a guard would greet any visitors who arrived but when Joseph and his group approached the mine they noticed it was completely unguarded.

The group was on high alert and worried something happened at the mine. Joseph drew his sword, which signaled everyone in the group to draw their weapons as well. The group of ten people dismounted and slowly approached the mine. Joseph’s mind raced with possibilities. If the guards were killed, there would have been bodies left. If a neighboring kingdom attacked there would have been horse tracks or foot prints leading up to the mine entrance.

Joseph and the group entered the large mouth of the iron mine. As they shuffled in the tunnels grew smaller and narrower. Joseph lit a torch and held it with one hand while holding his sword out with his other hand. As they went deeper into the tunnel they saw an armored body face down on the ground. Joseph handed off his torch and ran over to the fallen guard. Joseph shook the man and a the guard moved slightly in response.

The guard seemed barely alive but was still breathing. “We have to get him out of here” Joseph said. Everyone agreed. Four people grabbed hold of the guard and began to carry the injured man out of the narrow tunnel. Half of the group left for the exit while Joseph and the other half stayed behind to search for the other two guards.

The iron mine didn’t need many guards due to the peaceful state of the land, the openness of the field that surrounded the mine and the stable relationship King Alexander had with the neighboring kingdoms. Something had changed and someone attacked these guards.

Joseph and his group didn’t find any more guards and decided to turn back. Joseph worried that whatever attacked the guards might still be around to attack the now split group of workers. Joseph and his group made their way to the mine’s exit. While they walked Joseph’s mind kept bouncing between two thoughts “The guards escaped and are heading back the Steel Haven to report what they saw” and “The last two guards are alive deeper in the mine and giving up on them will cause their death”. Joseph knew he had to protect the men under his command but these two thoughts kept him distracted.

            The engineer group reached the light of day and they all sighed a breath of relief. Then one of the workers spotted the rest of the group up ahead fighting for their lives. Joseph and his men rushed to their aid.

            The one injured guard from the mine was placed on the grass as the five workers fought with axes and daggers to fend off strange monsters. The monsters were small and impish with wicked grins and beady black eyes. They had fur on their lower halves and tan leathery skin on their top halves. They wielded small spears and used daggers like swords. The creatures were the size of monkeys and looked like a cross between a money and a goblin. The creatures chattered and grunted out a strange battle cry “Trk trk trk” They grunted. These Tirks were slashing wildly and grabbing at any exposed skin they could find, they would stab their daggers into the unprotected spot.

            Joseph rushed headlong into battle and began hacking with his sword in one hand and used the torch in his other hand to burn the creatures. An axe flew passed Joseph and plunged into a Tirk’s torso, instantly killing the creature. A female worker with blonde hair tied into a ponytail had a deadly aim and a bag full of tools. She had thrown her only weapon but she had several hammers and chisels, which she used to throw and attack with. Many of the workers used their tools along side their basic weapons to fight the overwhelming group of imps.

            Among the chaos Joseph spotted a Tirk with an orange and gold colored gem tied to its back. The Tirk was more frantic than the others and its movements were like that of someone being burned or stabbed with needles. It jerked left and right as it made its way through the group. The gem began to glow and the other Tirks in the battle would abandon their fights to form a wide radius around this gem.

            Joseph saw this and assumed it was some magical gem that the creatures barely understood but knew enough to realize it was dangerous. Fearing that it would harm his workers he charged, dropped his torch and pulled a hammer from his backpack. When Joseph was close enough he struck the Tirk with the gem as hard as he could. The small Imp went flying several feet and was expelled from the clustered battle of workers and imps. One second later the gem unleashed a burst of flames in a two-foot radius. The Tirk carrying the gem was turned to ash from the powerful blast of fire. This explosive release of energy scared the remaining Tirks causing them to flee the fight.

            The battle had been won but Joseph had the unpleasant job of telling the King about these new creatures and about the mine now being unguarded.