King Thorn’s servants have discovered deposits of enormous gemstones. However, extracting them turned out to be much more complicated than expected…
All the Gold Is in the Ground
His Majesty Thorn was one of the richest kings in the history of Maniland. The royal treasury was literally bursting at the seams!
The king understood perfectly that there was much more gold buried in the ground than there was on the surface. His Majesty invested enormous sums of money into mines and quarries, but all expenses were more than compensated when they managed to find another deposit.
The Mine in the Elven Forest
One day, the mining engineering advisor came to the throne room and informed the king that a large deposit of gemstones had been found near the Elven Waterfalls. Many years ago, people had expelled the long-eared archers and seized their lands, but no one knew what to do with the forest, which was simply abundant in Maniland! Moreover, no one could understand why this war had been unleashed…
The only characteristic that set the elven forest apart from the others was the waterfalls. Next to them was the very mine. King Thorn named it “At the Waterfalls.”
The Kingdom’s First Mine
Ah, it was a marvelous place! In the “At the Waterfalls” mine, enormous deposits of gemstones of monstrous size were found!
His Majesty rejoiced when he was handed an emerald that was slightly smaller than a horse’s head. The king did not descend into the mine himself; however, one of his closest advisors thoroughly inspected everything and assured the ruler that the extraction was proceeding as it should.
Deadly Poison
A month later, the advisor close to His Majesty died. Soon, it became clear that those who had visited the “At the Waterfalls” mine were falling ill with a mysterious fever that had no cure.
Infected individuals lived anywhere from two weeks to six months. Those with stronger health could last a bit longer.
The “At the Waterfalls” mine was almost empty. Only a handful of prisoners remained, along with a couple of guards outside. The king tightened the law: now, for almost any minor transgression, people were exiled to the poisonous mine, as it was nicknamed by the public. No one could be lured there voluntarily because if they inhaled the local poison, that was it – they could consider themselves seeing their ancestors soon!
Let’s Ask the Dwarves for Help!
As the number of prisoners dwindled, the volume of gemstone extraction significantly decreased. What could be done? People were dying, and fewer new ones were arriving – now everyone was trying hard to adhere to the letter of the law, fearing being sent to the poisonous mine!
Advisors suggested the king seek help from the dwarves, who had been using various machines for many years to extract as much ore as possible. His Majesty approved the proposed plan. That same day, the king dispatched a group of knights to the North, who were to descend into the underground through the Dwarven Quarry to negotiate with the inhabitants of the underground kingdom.
Monster in the Dungeon
A few days later, King Thorn’s envoys arrived there and descended into the cave. The dwarves agreed to help, but in exchange, the knights had to kill a gigantic snake that the miners had unearthed somewhere in the earth’s depths.
The malignant creature turned out to be very dangerous and managed to bite three industrious dwarves before the others blocked the passage with a huge stone. Now, they couldn’t get back there themselves.
The dwarves removed the stone so that the knights could reach the toothy snake. They defeated it, although not without losses – one warrior was severely injured but, fortunately, not fatally.
Welcome to the Mine!
The dwarves gave the leader of the knights blueprints, which he delivered to King Thorn. The best minds of Maniland constructed a road with carts that could carry tons of gemstones while employing the minimum number of people.
However, someone had to receive the treasures at the top! Perhaps you would like to earn some? Don’t worry, you won’t need to go down!
