Arriving at the kiln area, Marcus intended to have the Dwarfs lead him to the small open-pit coal seam they had mentioned earlier during drunken boasting.
However, he found no one there, only a dozen Goblins busily adding charcoal to the kiln, and several others circling the Dwarf anvil, occasionally reaching out to touch it like it was magic.
Marcus called over the Goblins who were slacking off and ordered them to forge a batch of standardized stone spears and knives.
Previously, spear Goblins made weapons themselves, resulting in wide variety of quirky creations – some spears one meter, some three meters, some with three points, some with none.
Marcus had no choice but to have these Goblins who were skilled at pottery making forge a batch of standardized tools.
According to his requirements, all stone spears had to be two meters long, stone knives approximately eighty centimeters long, blade straight, handle bound with fungus rope.
Actually, tribe could easily equip spear Goblins with iron spearheads now; they could simply make clay molds and cast them.
However, system insisted on stone spears for the quest **Arm 300 Goblins with Stone Weapons**.
Marcus was exasperated, criticizing system internally for being inhumane – we have iron, why use stone?
Fortunately, these stone knives and spears could be used to train newly sprouted Goblins in mushroom field, so not complete loss.
The fresh sprouts start with stone, then graduate to iron.
After instructing men to hurry up, Marcus went to Dwarfs’ small stone hut.
Without knocking – Greenskins don’t knock – he went straight in and saw several Dwarfs sound asleep, snoring loud enough to shake stones, beards covering faces, smelling of sour beer.
For some reason, Marcus gave Firebeard a hard shove on shoulder.
Firebeard jumped up, as if caught stealing.
Awake, Firebeard confused, then covered face, rubbed it, looked at Marcus:
“You just hit me!”
Marcus shook his head, deadpan: “No, you drank too much last night, fell over.”
Firebeard rubbed face again: “Really not?”
“No, I’m Greenskin, I never lie.” Which was, of course, a lie.
Greenskins lie constantly.
“Then what you doing here?” Firebeard got up and woke other Dwarfs.
Marcus was surprised to find Firebeard woke everyone same way – skillfully shoving each of the four Dwarfs with a grunt.
After Dwarfs dressed – putting on heavy boots, aprons, even to go look at coal – Marcus explained purpose.
Then group headed towards small coal mine in West Mountain.
Along way, they passed Goblin training ground, and Marcus called Gaptooth’s squad to join.
Hearing leader was taking them out, Goblins overjoyed, clearly thoroughly trained these past days – they formed up in rough line without being beaten first, progress.
Group continued towards small coal mine, passing through grove of scrub pine and reaching foot of West Mountain.
Following north along foot, they reached a depression, like a dry streambed.
After walking nearly a hundred meters, Marcus picked up a black stone size of pigeon’s egg from ground – light, left black mark on hand.
Coal.
After walking few dozen meters further, they reached destination.
Dwarfs who had come to explore earlier had dug a shallow test pit a meter deep.
Looking down, Marcus saw only black coal seam, glittering slightly.
He quickly ordered several Goblins with iron picks and shovels – newly forged – to dig away topsoil and then dig into seam.
After digging more than a meter deep, still pitch black, no rock in between.
Marcus took freshly mined coal, broke it open, crushed it.
He couldn’t help but be pleased; quality quite good.
Low sulfur, hard, shiny – good bituminous coal, not lignite.
Burns hot.
Dwarf Brokk picked up piece, sniffed, licked it – Dwarf way – and nodded.
“Good coal.
Burns hot.
Good for forge.
Better than charcoal for big furnace.”
Coal mine found, but Marcus decided to wait few days before full mining.
Even if mined now, no way to transport.
Did Goblins really have to carry it back basket by basket on heads?
As saying goes, sharpening axe doesn’t waste woodcutting time.
Marcus planned to build a road between tribe and coal mine.
On way back, Marcus had Goblins mark all trees along route with charcoal marks – a straight line, about 800 meters.
Upon returning to tribe, he instructed Dwarfs to go to quarry to find some flat stones to make stone rollers to compact road surface.
For trees, weeds, shrubs along way, Marcus planned to have spear Goblins cut them down.
Lumberjacks already busy enough; they not only had to produce planks and make bows, but also shafts for hundreds of stone spears.
Furthermore, Marcus planned to make some small two-wheeled carts for transporting coal, so no way to mobilize them further.
He then instructed Gaptooth to take his minions and cut down all trees along road leading to coal mine within a week.
Told him to find some Snotlings to drag branches.
Then Marcus arrived at mushroom field.
Checking system, he saw he didn’t have enough water and dung to build more Level 2 fields, so abandoned expansion for now.
He summoned Broken Claw – now called One-Arm – the Goblin whose arm had been bitten off by bear.
He called him over, taught him how to brew mushroom wine properly, and entrusted him with task of brewing for tribe.
Broken Claw had thought that with missing arm, he would definitely be bullied, maybe even eaten.
He never expected Orc leader would not only give him an iron knife but also let him manage mushroom field, and now even entrust him with brewing wine – a respected position.
Goblin Broken Claw was so moved that he cried on spot, throwing himself onto Marcus’s leg, hugging Marcus’s leg with one hand, wiping snot on animal skin pants Marcus had just had Snotlings sew.
Marcus was so angry he wanted to kick him away, but system intervened and saved guy’s life.
> **DING: Your underling Broken Claw has sworn to follow you to death.
Loyalty: Vow of Faith.
Produces 1 WAAAGH!
per week.**
Out of loyalty to end, Marcus had no choice but to forgive guy who wiped snot on pants, though he made a mental note to burn those pants later.
Led by Broken Claw, Marcus strolled around mushroom field again.
On one side, he saw Gitzit leading several Goblins turning over large mushroom caps they had cut down.
It was May, still some time before summer, but sun strong in Badlands.
However, Gitzit complained mushrooms drying too slowly; clearly, he had only been drying them for one day.
He desperately wanted them dried so he could leave tribe and return to report to Redclaw.
Looking at these Goblins, Marcus was exasperated.
These Greenskins really avoid using brains whenever possible.
They had simply laid whole mushroom caps, bigger than a Goblin, flat on ground to dry, diligently turning them over – surface dry, inside wet, would rot before drying.
Marcus grabbed his choppa and swung it down, startling several Goblins turning mushrooms.
They dodged, crying, “We’re doomed!
Boss in bad mood today!
We’re in trouble!”
Clearly, Goblins overthinking.
Marcus’s choppa struck giant mushroom, bigger than Goblin himself, slicing it vertically into thin strips, like cutting a melon.
He laid strips out on ground and instructed others to slice like this for drying from now on.
More surface area, dries in hours not days.
Then he left mushroom field.
After leaving, Marcus planned to go to lumberyard to design coal carts.
He didn’t need to go to quarry; Dwarf brothers managing it well, and Marcus didn’t know much about quarrying, so didn’t want to give unsolicited instructions – first rule of being boss: don’t micromanage experts, even if they’re Dwarfs.
Tonight, road plan, coal carts, and tomorrow, full mining.
Tribe was getting real industry.