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Harik scratched his head as he watched the dwarves bossing people around in Eraldsfen. The work became far more orderly since their arrival, which was a good thing. But they were also going through the villages stores of alcohol rather quickly. \'Still, these plans...\'

Harik raised an eyebrow as he looked at the footprint of the fortress that they had been working on. The dwarves had practically thrown a fit when they saw it. Thovok, in particular, had deemed it a disaster. Raising questions like, \'Why aren\'t the foundations deeper? Why will there be a wall here and not there? Where will the secret doors be? How do you plan to defend this blind spot?\' 

He was relentless with his questions, and Harik could only hand over the project to them. After all, the dwarven race was known for their stonework. Well, in the tales he had been told anyway as he had never seen them for himself. They had even set up a workshop next to the site and had people cutting down a vast amount of trees. 

When he asked what all the wood was for, he was told rails. He had no idea what rails were, but Thovok said they were something that would allow them to transport mined stone from the mountain more easily and faster. Harik could only shrug and accept that outcome. He was hardly going to argue about the newcomers when they were eager to pull their weight and use their expertise. 

While Thovok was busy overseeing that construction project, a group of the dwarves had taken over the only blacksmith store in town. Apparently, a fight had broken out as they claimed the Jorn was butchering the metal and had no sense as a craftsman. Harik did not see what their problem was. Jorn\'s iron had always served him well in battle. 

However, he was gobsmacked when the first dwarven weapon was placed in his hand after it came out of there. It was lighter and stronger. The metal cut far better than the stuff Jorn had produced. Harik felt it was a sad thing that he had to agree with the dwarves now. \'Indeed... Jorn\'s craft looks terrible next to this... But it\'s pretty much the same all over Skardia. We would never have known unless they came here.\'

Harik immediately ordered an expansion of the blacksmith and set a group of villagers to run any errands that those dwarves need. Their creations would provide Harik\'s warriors with an edge on the battlefield. Which was something that they sorely needed. \'I also have to consider the integration of the dwarven troops into our warrior units. Maybe it would be better to keep them as their own unit... Which reminds me... Thovok never mentioned how many warriors would be sent from the mountain...\'

Harik\'s gaze turned in the direction of the mountain as he pondered the matter. He figured it would be a token amount of a few hundred. Which would be a huge boost to his forces if they came fully armed with dwarven armour and weapons. \'Lord Exile may have changed to look a bit like them... But it\'s not a bad thing. Not if they can help to improve our situation. Plus, everything they build in Eraldsfen will probably stand the test of time. We won\'t need to worry about the upkeep of these structures for a while.\'

Harik limited himself to wander around the village and get an idea of how the expansion would affect the villagers when it was completed. But everywhere he looked, he spotted Skardians eagerly listening to the teachings of the dwarves. He could not help but eavesdrop on a dwarf who was helping with the construction of new housing for the refugees.

"Bah! What are you thinking!" The dwarf grumbled as he jumped into the hole that had been made for the foundation. "Dig deeper! You want the main room and sleeping area to be underground! That way, the earth itself will act to keep out the howling winds, so it will be warmer. Think about it. Your log buildings above the ground are always so drafty! The wind easily gets in through the gaps. As long as we create a hole to get the smoke out from the fire, this will be much better!"

Harik frowned when he heard that. His own house had a hidden cellar that was rather small. But it was where they stored things to keep them cool in boxes they shovelled snow into. He never thought about it before, but the dwarf was right. Generally speaking, he did not have to put up with the chill of the wind-down there. Just the coldness from the dirt.

But if they walled it up with stone or even wood and lit fires... \'Yes, that would be far more comfortable.\' Harik could only sigh. Why had no Skardian thought of that? They had lived on the frozen lands for ages. \'I can\'t blame them too much... The dwarves would obviously understand the benefits of living underground better than any human could.\'

\'So much is going to change... It seems like they want to demolish the old homes and start everything from scratch with wider paths for the people to walk down.\' Even the wooden wall being built around the perimeter was not spared as the dwarves marked out a larger area for it to cover. 

\'Either way, everyone is being kept busy and their attention is away from other matters right now. We\'ll eventually have to go out of Eraldsfen and meet the king\'s warriors in battle if we are to overthrow him.\' Harik gazed absentmindedly towards the forest on the northern side of town. However, he squinted when he noticed something.

A group of Skardian warriors had appeared, dragging two crude sledges.. One seemed to carry a wounded man, while the other was piled with some kind of strange, black metal that shone in the sunlight. \'Wait! It\'s Bjorn\'s group!\'