I decided to give Emily a bit more time with her shop before I came in, so instead I stopped by the forge and the loom. I had to admit this place had grown. Although we were selective about who was let in, Pine Ridge was almost looking like a village. It even had a town hall. I wanted this because as more projects were added, like the alchemy/chemistry lab, I wanted cooperation between the different people. What if a chemistry experiment could relate to metallurgy or paper-making?

Walking out the back door next to the glass furnace, I walked about fifty meters to get to the water-powered forge. They now had two trip hammers going. The third in the row looked a little different. And it was not attached to the shaft.

"How are projects coming along?"

The foreman, who was shouting at everyone, turned to look at me. The frown on his face immediately changed to a look of respect. "My lord, we are learning to work with the wrought iron that that furnace of yours is making, and it is great, but we need more iron if we are to make it a useful venture."

"And what is this third trip hammer for?"

"Ah, yes, that will be our crusher for ore, coal, and limestone. Right now, all of that is done in Melnon, but when we get our own mines up and running, we will attach this to the shaft and then get some ovens built for the lime and coal. If we could get some mines going up closer to us, then we will be producing so much we will need to export it all over the county." The man said with a gleam in his eyes.

"Well, that will be a manpower issue. It may take a year to get there since we don't want just anyone to know about this place, but with the war approaching, we will need to focus on troops. I do, however, have a project I would like you to work on. How do you feel about the iron casting?"

"It is a nice alternative to copper, but again, we are low on quantity. Also, once it's cast it cannot be forged like wrought iron."

"I honestly didn't realize that we could have been making it all this time, so that is why I held off on showing one of my project designs. It is what I call a stove, and I think it will replace fireplaces."

At least it did in my world. I was going to draw him a picture of the potbelly stove and one of the cube types you see in modern times. I didn't know the difference, so I figured we could experiment.

"I will draw up some pictures of the idea before I leave. You may have to change it around a bit, but I trust you can find a way to make it work."

"What about the metal for armor and weapons?"

"That is the responsibility of Melnon. Pine Ridge is a place for researching new ideas to help the county make more money and create secret weapons. We need advantages over the other baronies if we are to keep them from taking what we have. From what I can tell, we are ahead of schedule. If something happens, we will switch you back to making the spearheads and inserts. Let me know if you need anything," I said while giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. With that, I left the forge.

After spending a little time chatting with the smiths and praising them for their work, I headed to a small shop next door where Sanders, the engineer, was working on what I immediately recognized as a lathe. The stench of grease immediately entered my nostrils. He was crouching down underneath, muttering to himself. One thing I noticed was that the gears appeared to be made of iron, rather than the copper or brass I was used to seeing. I wonder if it was cast or wrought?

"How goes the construction?" I asked as I entered the shop.

Sanders immediately scurried out under the lathe, stood, and bowed low. "My lord, I am actually having a great time. I think with the new gears, we can hook this to a belt and use the water power.

"Ah, that's why this place is built right next to the forge? Are you planning on using the same shaft?"

"Yes, I hope to be able to. We will have to run some belts over to this building, but it shouldn't be a problem."

I wonder…

"Hey, I have a question. How do you drill holes here?"

This caused Sanders to raise his eyebrows questioningly, but he walked over to a bench and picked up a device. It was a long shaft with a bow attached to it. The bottom had a piece of metal attached to the shaft, like a conical arrowhead. I suppose it worked similarly to the bow fire starter we used in scouts.

"I had an idea for a different type of drill." I flipped to a new sheet in my notebook and started to draw. First, I drew the type of drill bit I was used to. The one that looked like a screw and the one that was used to bore holes. There were some other ones I knew of, but this was the most common. Then, I drew the two types of hand drills that you see in all the old pictures and movies. The one that had a shaft that jutted out to one side so you could rotate it, and the second was the type that used gears with a side crank.

"Do you think this drill would work better?" He asked. A contemplative look on his face.

"I think it would drill faster." I was pretty sure it would be better, or the drill bit wouldn't have evolved into the design. "I want you to get with the woodworkers and smiths and see if they can build it."

"It will be an interesting project, my lord, and if it does speed things up, it will be worth the investment of time. I will see that it is done. I wonder if we could use the water mill with this tip?" he said to himself.

I could tell he was eager to get back to his work, so I decided it was time to visit the looms. "Keep up the good work," I said as I left.

Now, on to the looms. I knew they were building the Jacquard loom, but I wasn't sure if it was finished yet. I should have asked Sanders. Outside the workshop, two women had two large pots. One was soaking something, and the other pot had a fire underneath it, boiling. Was that cloth? I knew that was part of the flax process, but when they pulled the material out of the pot, it looked slightly different.

When I entered the large building where three looms and a dozen spinning wheels were set up, I was impressed by the amount of cloth that was stacking up. Some of it was cotton and linen, but they also had a plant that I didn't recognize at first.

"Is that hemp?" I asked as I approached one of the women who were working to pull apart the fibers.

She gave a startled squeak as she looked up. Then knocked over a basket as she quickly stood and gave a bow. "My lord, forgive me. I did not see you there."

"No, it is my fault. I kind of snuck up on you."

"Um…yes."

That response confused me. "Yes, what?"

"Oh, yes, it is hemp."

Hemp hmm…

Every time I think of hemp, I think of my 9th grade Earth Science class. I swear that teacher was the biggest hippy to walk the planet. Every day was Earth Day for her. She went on rants all the time, and one of those was about how hemp should be used instead of trees for paper. She blamed the timber and paper companies in the 1930s for hemp not being used as an alternative. Same with light bulb companies using less effective filaments so that they could sell more light bulbs and waste energy.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

I used every opportunity to get under her skin and try to prove her wrong. It is probably why I got a D+ in the class. That or it was because I was spending my time using hemp in the bathroom the same way she was using it in her off hours. As far as hemp paper was concerned, I found out that hemp produced three to four times as much fiber as trees did. But it was still not as cost-effective as trees. Some say that it was because the ability to produce large amounts of tree paper was already established. We would have to replace too much infrastructure to change things. I don't know if that was true, but that is what I used as my argument. Kind of an economies of scale thing. She didn't take that well.

This reminds me, that is also why they use cotton sails instead of hemp sails. Hemp was better, but because cotton was being mass-produced for clothing, it was just easier to also make cotton sails. I wonder if we switched to hemp for paper and sailcloth right now, if it would end up being cheaper in the long run. Hemp paper was stronger.Something to try at least. Oh, and then we could make hemp plastics and biofuels like Henry Ford. Where are my chemists when I need them?

"My lord?" the woman asked.

"Ah, sorry. Zoned out for a bit as I thought of some ideas. Anyway, how is the cloth-making going?"

"Very well, my lord. We have had to switch to hemp because we are out of flax and cotton. Also, you told us we could not clothe the people with cotton."

"Does hemp grow well around here? Could we plant some here?"

"Just before you get to the marsh, the hemp grows in large patches. Here, the soil is a little rocky, and what we can use is for food."

"That makes sense. How about the Jacquard loom?"

"Gentleman Sanders is still working on it. It seems to work for a little bit, but then it gets jammed up."

"Well, I would love to help, but I am more of an idea guy. Not much of an engineer. Will we have enough seeds to plant a good crop of cloth material next year?"

"Yes, my lord. We are saving all the seeds, and our husbands have selected some areas for planting next year."

"Very good," I turned to address everyone. "I am proud of the work you do. As winter approaches, you are some of the most important people in the barony. Without you, many of our new citizens may become ill while trying to accomplish all that needs to be done this winter. Keep up the good work. I am going to take a stack of hemp with me to the paper shop. I want to see how well it works as paper."

There was a look of concern on the women's faces.

"Don't worry; this is just an experiment. Even if it works out well, I won't let Emily steal your hemp. She will have to wait until next year when we have a large crop." I said in a pacifying tone.

I left the building and was about to visit the new paper shop when two guards and a couple of people I recognized from the gunpowder makers came in through the fort's entrance. I waved and walked over. "How are the experiments going?"

One of the men's eyes lit up. He was slightly older than me, but the gleam in his eyes was that of a child on Christmas day.

"Fantastic, my lord. I don't know all the precise quantities of the black powder, but we have managed to ground it finer, and the combination has almost doubled its power. We have even been able to crack some rocks in the canal."

"The canal?"

"Ah yes, well, we got permission from General Draves to experiment after the workers leave for the day. We pack the powder under rocks, and with a trail of black powder, we can crack some of the larger rocks. Actually, some of the smaller ones go flying in every direction. I almost got hit by a small piece of stone. If I wasn't standing behind a tree, it probably would have gone straight through me. Right now, the shard is stuck in a tree. You really need to see it. It was amazing." As he got more and more excited, he began to talk faster. Now, this was a guy who loved his work.

"So, did you figure out how to make a fuse other than just running a trail of powder?"

"Yes, my lord. We tried different things, but we found that wrapping it in paper worked the best. It still goes out sometimes, but it is better than the trail. You know, if you make the fuse like a cone, sometimes it shoots forward. Really funny to watch."

Yeah, we're going to have to watch this guy. He reminds me of my teenage self. How I survived to adulthood, the world will never know. I hope this guy doesn't start making pipe bombs.

"Excellent. What do you think it will do with the false floor?"

The gleam in the man's eyes turned almost manic. "I visited the fort. I believe we can destroy everything with 20 barrels. We are putting shards of leftover iron in the barrels. It will shred everything to pieces. With the oil barrels we are adding, the whole place will quickly burn down. I can't wait to see it."

"How about the other forts?

"Those are going to be lookout towers with enough room for ten people. One barrel should do."

"Do you think you will have enough black powder by spring?" I asked

"Definitely. We have three barrels so far, and we even have some extra for the little stuff."

"Oh, yeah. We had the smiths make some little canisters, and we are filling them with black powder. If you want to see something amazing, you should see those go off. Actually, we are blowing up some tree stumps later today if you want to watch. It is so much fun."

I smiled. "Actually, yes. I would love to see that."

I couldn't help it. This guy really brought out my inner pyromaniac.

"Great," he said. "I can't wait to show you."

After a few more minutes of discussing things, I left to find Emily.

Her new shop was twice as large as her old one, and when I walked inside, I found it was as busy as a beehive. Emily was flitting between the different grinders and racks, holding paper, giving out orders, and observing everything. Everyone already knew their tasks, so they would just nod and keep on working.

When Emily noticed me, she gave me one of her amazing smiles, ran up to me, and grabbed my hand. "Amos, this is incredible! Thank you so much."

I smiled back and almost reached up to ruffle her hair, but I restrained myself. "You need to thank all the men in Pine Ridge for making it. I had nothing to do with it."

"They wouldn't have done it if you didn't tell them to."

"True, but you should thank them."

"I will." Then, she abruptly changed her expression to a pout. "Amos, they won't let me do anything."

"It looks like you were doing stuff when I came in," I said, slightly confused.

"No, I mean actually do stuff. They said that since I am a lady, I am just supposed to tell them what to do, and they are supposed to do the work."

"Well, actually, that is usually what managers do, but you are in charge, and so you need to make them listen to you. I will help you out this time. Listen up, everyone." I said in a raised voice. "Emily is a lady, but that means you have to do what she says. Even if she wants to work beside you. Right now, I have a very important experiment for her to do, and she needs to be involved."

This caused Everyone to nod and Emily's eyes to go wide in excitement.

"What type of experiment?"

I pointed to the hemp one of my guards was carrying. "I want you to try and turn this into paper. It may be stronger than wood paper."

This got Emily very excited, "Thank you so much. I can't wait to try it."

"The Fibers are tough. You may have to do some extra steps. Talk to the spinners. They boil it before they make it into cloth. I don't know if you need to do the same."

She nodded. "It will be so fun to try something new."

"Ok, I have a few more people I want to talk to and then you and I are going on a…" I almost said date but that wasn't right. I wasn't going to court Em. "An outing."

She looked at me suspiciously, "What are you planning?"

I grinned. "You're going to love it. We are going to blow stuff up."

Namon of Karr

"My Brothers and Sisters. I bring this meeting to order," I said as I looked around at the shadowy faces of six people gathered in the town hall of Karr. A single tallow candle burned dimly in the room. "The Descended of the Goddess of Wisdom is being persecuted by those of this land. The latest action has been to weaken his defenses. As a lord of this land, there is only so much he can do."

"And what shall we do?" Mally asked. Despite only being thirty years old, the oppression of our former masters had made her frail and almost put her in the grave. But with the coming of the Descended, her zeal now burned like the brightest flame.

"We must become his protectors in the shadows. We must spread the knowledge of the goodness of the descended across this land."

"Will this not cause problems for the Descended? Those who are in power will try to kill him." Herlem said.

"This shall be done in the shadows among the humble of this land. We will write down his teachings on equality for all men. His desire for all men to live in prosperity will resonate with them, and they will flock to his banner."

"We cannot leave the barony, and the other people have their own god."

"We will start here. We now have friends among the people of Bicman. Bring them to our cause. We will need to be inclusive of their beliefs. To do that, we must incorporate their beliefs with those taught by our forefathers. We need those born here to spread the word to others outside the barony, as we will never be accepted outside of this land."

"I have a friend in Kerisi and one in Bicman village that would hear our words," Davis said with a nod.

"I call upon this council to organize the Defenders of the Chosen," I said firmly

"Chosen not Descended?" Mally said.

"We must align ourselves with the people of this land, and that means accepting their name for the Descended."

I could feel the tension in the air from this statement, but I got nods from around the room.

"Raise your hand if you will commit to this cause," I said.

No one hesitated.

"Then let us write out our creed and seal it with our blood. Then we shall grow our numbers and hunt the traitors in this land.

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