Chương 66: Chapter 53.5

5 The private audience with King Magni was not nearly as nerve-wracking as Trixie thought it would be. It was mainly just to get Malzie's and her personal thoughts on Azjol-Nerub and the nerubians as a whole before he publicly met Krivax in front of the Senate and other important dwarves. Both of them had spoken honestly to the king. They had told King Magni about how the kingdom was powerful and its people a little standoffish but good at heart.

Considering the aid they provided the Alliance during the war with the Horde, the nerubians were practically unofficial members themselves now. While most nerubians weren't easy to connect with, Krivax, Anub'rekhan, and Masruk had all eventually opened up to her. It was easiest to think of them kind of like the high elves… only less dickish. She was proud to say she got a laugh out of the king at that.

After assuring them both that he trusted the nerubians and that he just wanted to know the personal experiences of his kin when dealing with them, King Magni informed the guards to allow Krivax into the throne room. From there it was the usual flowery introductions, ceremonial gift-giving, and then followed by a small meet and greet with the upper class of Ironforge. Malzie helped introduce Krivax to the most important folk.

Thane Muradin Bronzebeard, the king's own brother, talked to the nerubians about leading the Ironforge's warriors to join the Alliance army's march south. Malzie's father, a senator, was very interested in the economic benefits Azjol-Nerub might provide Ironforge in the future after a solid trade deal with the senate had been hashed out. Even Princess Moira Bronzebeard, the heir to the throne of Ironforge, had joined the gathering.

Trixie did notice that Krivax seemed to freeze up with shock at the sight of the princess before he quickly returned to normal. She could understand his reaction given that the dwarves of Ironforge were pretty patriarchal in general. Krivax had probably done some research beforehand, so the idea of a female heir had likely thrown him for a loop. Trixie found it pretty stupid herself since it shouldn't matter what was between the legs of the person, only what they could do. That was how gnomes did it after all.

From the rumors she heard back home, King Magni loved his daughter and supported her as his heir, but he would have preferred to have had a son. The King apparently didn't think a woman could rule as well as a man. Unfortunately, that was something his daughter was certainly aware of. That had to be hard to deal with. Trixie was glad her family drama was so much tamer in comparison. If it wasn't for her boss, Brann himself, tagging along the meet and greet session would have been pretty boring.

The Boss though had this energy about him that had him excited and distracted throughout the whole thing. When she asked about it, he only said it was gonna be a surprise once it was all set up and swore Krivax to secrecy in front of her. Leaving her out of plans and hijacking her friend! How rude! She should complain to management about this abuse of power. Her silly thoughts aside, Brann only got this way when he was planning a big expedition.

Trixie was sure that he had talked to Krivax about a trip to Northrend or something after the mess with the remains of the Horde was dealt with. She was going to make sure that she and Malzie were sure to be included in the expedition. But that was for later. After all the boring stuff, Brann took Krivax and the nerubian delegation on a tour of Ironforge.

The tour turned out to be a very detailed one as Brann excitedly talked about every district, led the nerubians to his favorite shops, and showed the various artifacts in the Hall of Explorers. Once the tour was finally over, it was time for the fun stuff!

"To Gnomeregan!" Trixie said dramatically as she and Krivax bid farewell to Brann and Malzie. Trixie felt excited as she led the spiderfolk to the main tunnel that led directly to her hometown.

"How long do we have to walk to reach the city through the tunnel?" Krivax asked curiously and reached into his spatial bag for some stamina potions.

"Pssst, walk nothing! We're traveling in style!" Trixie said as they entered the train depot and showed off their transport.

"Say hello to the Gnomeregan Express!" At her words, the gleaming steam locomotive, a marvel of steam technology, let loose an ear-piercing whistle.

"This baby will turn what would be hours of marching underground into a smooth and comfortable ride there in less than 20 minutes!" Trixie proudly declared.

"Astounding," Krivax said as he studied the train with a thoughtful expression.

"Do you mind if I ask questions about it during the trip?'

"So long as you are ready for me to talk your ear off!" Trixie replied with a smile. After all, what honest gnome didn't like tinker talk?

"-and that's how all the excess smoke exhaust is safely pumped out of the tunnel to avoid buildup," Trixie finished explaining as she and her party disembarked from the train and onto Gnomeregan's own train station.

"Very interesting and inventive," Krivax replied as they stopped before a rare group of armed gnomes with a very important person leading them.

"Greetings outsiders, and welcome to Gnomeregan, the most advanced city in the world. I am Sicco Thermaplugg, advisor to the High Tinker, and I will be your escort to the Tinkers' Court." Once again Trixie noticed that Krivax stopped short and examined Sicco Thermaplugg with surprise. She honestly couldn't blame him; the Vice High Tinker was a big deal after all!

"Greetings Tinker Thermaplugg, you honor us by personally coming to receive us," Krivax said politely and made a slight bow.

"No need to be too formal, Krivax. We aren't as gruff as the dwarves after all," Trixie nudged him in the side to get him to relax.

"It's only right to give proper deference towards one of the leaders of another nation, Trixie," Krivax returned before turning to Sicco.

"I'm sure the Tinker Thermaplugg has a great deal more important things to do than escort us after all."

"Indeed, but the High Tinker asked and therefore I'm obligated to do so," Sicco shrugged.

"My time is valuable though so I hope we can get this done sooner rather than later."

"Awww, come on! I really wanted to give Krivax the grand tour! And the court is all the way on the lowest level!" Trixie complained much to Sicco Thermaplugg's annoyance.

"I'm sure we can do the tour after the meeting is over!" Krivax quickly said to Trixie while looking at Sicco.

"That way Tinker Theramplugg here doesn't have to escort us longer than necessary."

"Finnnnne," Trixie grumbled.

"I'll hold you to it."

"Then if you would please follow me," Sicco said as they began their trek through the city and towards the Tinkers' Court. Seriously, why did they have to be stuck with a stick in the mud like Sicco of all people?

The Tinkers' Court, located deep within Gnomeregan, was a large circular metal chamber lit up with spotlights and surrounded by large metal busts of old gnomish kings and High Tinkers gazing down upon their descendants. It was less a throne room like in Ironforge, since her people have had no kings in centuries, and more a gathering place for all the highly ranked Tinkers in Gnomeregan to come together to talk, swap ideas, and do the boring stuff of governance.

Trixie was pretty sure they did as little of the latter as possible, since gnome society was pretty hands off on most things unless it negatively impacted others. For example, the Office of Quality Control made sure all new inventions and creations met a certain threshold of quality and safety in their blueprints before manufacturing. Last thing anyone wanted was some young gnome rushing things like a goblin and blowing themselves up with their creation randomly, especially if it wasn't even designed to explode.

Otherwise, the government left most gnomes free to come up with any design they wanted to work on. Anyway, it was a pretty impressive place and naturally where Krivax was guided to officially meet the High Tinker. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"I am honored to give to you a tapestry woven by some of our best Weavers," Krivax said as he handed the folded-up gift to High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque who, as with most things he did, accepted it with a smile. Heck, he even unfolded the thing and had a few aides pull it taut to reveal the Vizier Technology Division symbol beautifully woven on it.

"Haha! Very well made! I dare say our automatic looms would need quite a few upgrades to possibly compete with this!" Gelbin laughed as he folded the tapestry back up and put it to the side. Trixie couldn't help but laugh since she just knew that would just energize the tinkers who made said looms to improve them.

"In return, I give to you an invention of my own personal design! The suck cannon!" Gelbin said with excitement bringing out an odd device. Krivax in turn graciously accepted the 'Suck Cannon' stamped with the Icon of Technology. Trixie chuckled at his look of confusion at the ovoid-shaped object with a vacuum muzzle at the end and a handlebar at its back with a tube leading to the main mechanism.

"I worked on this prototype myself. It can vacuum up anything and then shoot it back out with a boom," Gelbin proudly announced.

"You see that dent there. I used the Suck Cannon on my half-eaten sandwich by mistake and launched it at the wall."

"Im-Impressive," Krivax said as he examined the device gingerly.

"Whether it's cleaning up around the house or the battlefield this baby can suck up the worst of it and shoot right back out!" Gelbin said as he happily demonstrated the device, sucking up a whole cartful of scrap that was dumped onto the floor by another gnome. Then they watched as Gelbin fired off the scrap at some makeshift targets, tearing them to pieces! She wanted one! She wanted one so bad!

"I'm… sure my people will find a great use for it," Krivax said as he carefully put the device in his bag.

"Be sure to send me your thoughts as you use it since no device is perfect and upgrading an invention is even more fun than just building it!" Gelbin said with a laugh.

"Of course, and I'm sure my people would love to learn more about your technology in general," Krivax said.

"They were all very impressed at the toys Trixie traded with the tuskarr along with her usage of the shrink ray in battles with the horde. It's not often that we find ourselves lacking knowledge in certain fields of science after all."

"And we'll be happy to teach you!" Gelbin said easily enough.

"Having more heads around to tinker talk is only a good thing after all."

"Indeed," Krivax said before becoming more somber.

"While I would love to talk about nice things all day, there are a few political matters to go over…"

"Ah, of course. Nasty business but business nonetheless," Gelbin said with markedly less cheer but still in good spirits.

"We can do that in private later though. I hear one of our own has wanted to give you a tour of our great city! Mind if I tag along? Your guards can wait right here."

"You bet!" Trixie answered for Krivax. After all, who would turn down the High Tinker of all people?

Their first stop was naturally her family home, who were all very excited to be hosting Gelbin and slightly less so Krivax, but her folks warmed up to him real quick once they realized how nice he was. Not that she blamed them since she had been scared when she had first laid eyes on Krivax and Masruk, and now she could call several nerubians as some of her closest friends. Thankfully despite being cooped up for over a year her folks and most of the people in the city were just fine.

After all, the city of Gnomeregan was well stocked with devices to handle its basic needs and protected with deadly technology. It said something that assaulting Ironforge was easier for the Horde than attacking Gnomeregan. People were still cleaning up the stains off the front gate last Trixie heard. Only the combat tinkers and flying scouts suffered at all during the siege with the Horde. Things hadn't been easy for them, but Trixie knew that it could have been much worse.

She had seen what the Horde had done to countless human, wildhammer dwarf, and even elf settlements they passed through after all. The point was her family was safe and in good spirits now that the fighting was over. And after over a year of worrying about them, so was Trixie. She did go to her room to have a good cry as the relief and bottled-up emotions came pouring out when no one was looking. Trixie's dad had found her when he went to check on her and simply hugged her until she calmed down.

Man, that was embarrassing. Thank goodness Krivax and the High Tinker didn't see it and just thought she had gone to the bathroom for a long time. When she had come back, her younger siblings were attempting to reenact her stories of fighting with Anub'rekhan by clambering onto Krivax's abdomen and waving wrenches in the air. He took it in good cheer while her parents and Geblin were laughing madly at the children's antics.

After visiting her folks Trixie was happy and proud to show off her alma mater, Gearshaft University. Trixie was pretty sure the school was happier to see their more famous student, the High Tinker, though. Still, Krivax found the center of learning quite impressive judging by his darting many-eyed gaze. He kept saying how such a place could easily compete with Vizier Ziggurats of Azjol-Nerub, Although he did admit the school was quite a bit noisier than said ziggurats. As it should be in Trixie's humble opinion.

Engineering and science was not and should never be a quiet thing in her mind. Once they got over their nervousness with the new tall spiderfolk, the students and educators of Gearshaft were happy to pester Krivax about his kingdom, people, and advances such an ancient kingdom must have made over the millennia. Krivax did his best to try and answer all the countless questions, but Trixie eventually had to go in and save him, much to his relief.

In the end, High Tinker Geblin and Krivax made it clear that in time Azjol-Nerub's Viziers from the Technology Research Division would visit Gnomeregan and vice versa so everyone could exchange ideas and go through each other's troves of knowledge. Heh, Trixie wondered how nerubians would find gnomish education. While they were hanging out at the university, checking out the classes, and examining the numerous projects, Krivax seemed very interested in the various mechs and vehicles.

One student apparently was inspired by Krivak's 'well-made natural design' and brought out their own personal project they had started working on. Apparently, the project had originally started with a 'legpack' that mimicked spider legs, based on the study of giant spiders native to the Eastern Kingdoms. After hearing about the nerubians exploits against the Horde and Krivax's visit, said student had been inspired to 'complete' the design.

From there Krivax was challenged to a race on the walls and even the ceiling with the gnome student on his legpack, which he gladly humored. In the end, Krivax ended up having to save the fool when his invention malfunctioned while totally upside down. Still, it was a learning experience about rushing designs and prototypes. The malfunction seemed to encourage him to perfect the design more and challenge Krivax again to another race in the future.

Krivax even admitted that if his duties didn't take up the vast majority of his time he would be very much tempted to take classes at Gearshaft like he did in Dalaran to learn about their technology in general. She thought he was crazy to argue that the gnome technology was 'magitech'. Gnomish technology just being magic in a different form? Crazy talk!

After the university, it was off to see the rest of the city! Trixie was glad to see that she could show off all that was great about the city, largely untouched by the war. All of it seemed to interest Krivax, though he seemed a little nervous at times at all the steam, arcing electricity, large moving gears, and other things that made up her home. It was all perfectly safe so long as you knew where you were stepping.

"It feels like no matter where we go, we are just in another part a giant machine of some kind," Krivax noted as they watched as a flying machine landed and was stowed back into the launch bay where most vehicles were kept.

"It isn't one big machine, is it? Gnomeregan can't just get up and walk around, can it?"

"Oh my, no! Though now that you mention the idea…" Gelbin got an inspired look in his eye.

"That was mainly a joke," Krivax deadpanned.

"And we might just take it as a challenge!" Trixie responded.

"I mean, maybe not the whole city, but maybe make each piece its own mobile system…"

"And they could reconfigure and rearrange themselves on their own…" Gelbin picked up on what she was thinking.

"Maybe a linked power system that connects wirelessly with the city's generators…"

"Have to keep in mind logistics so each one would have to be self-sufficient and have their own resource gathering abilities…"

"Could make them all-terrain so they can travel around the land, sea, and maybe even fly!"

"I feel like I might have started something both terrifying and amazing here," Krivax muttered to himself, while Trixie and Gelbin started really tinker talking and mentally designing Mecha-Gnomeregan. Sure, it likely wouldn't actually result in anything. Gnomeregan had whole vaults full of designs and blueprints of things that never even got to the prototyping stage, because they were too complex, resource-heavy, or faced a million other roadblocks. But that was part of the fun, dangit!

"I'm sure the ambassador eventually assigned here to Gnomeregan will fit right in once I find one who is as excited by technology as the rest of your people," Krivax eventually said.

"More than a few divisions will likely volunteer people for a chance to learn amongst you."

"We'll welcome them with open arms. More friends is always a good thing after all," Geblin said with a smile.

"After all, becoming friends with you in that tuskarr village led to you and your people helping save ours. Who knows what would have happened if we had never met," Trixie pointed out.

"I'm sure you would have managed well without us…" Krivax started, but Trixie wasn't having any of it.

"Or maybe we'd have been much worse off. Don't sell yourself short, Krivax. I don't regret at all meeting you not so long ago, and I would hope you don't either," Trixie said with a stern face.

"Of course not… Thanks, Trixie," Krivax said with a nod.

"Now, what is that I hear about 'Robot Fight Night'?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, you're in for a treat!" Gelbin stated, leading them towards a loud arena in the corner of the city.

"Welcome to the wonders of the magical sport of custom-made robots beating the bolts out of each other." Which led to Trixie watching Krivax dodging gears and springs as they flew through the air in the arena… She needed to teach him how to catch them. How else was he supposed to get souvenirs?