The damp limestone cavern beneath the river cliffs of Riverbend Way groaned with the steady, subterranean roar of four colossal smelting furnaces.
Thick, yellow mineral smoke hung heavily in the enclosed space, stinging the eyes and coating the damp rock walls in greasy layers of sulfurous soot.
Along the northern perimeter of the cavern, thirty mortal laborers were anchored to the bedrock by heavy iron collars and rusted chains, their bare backs crisscrossed with bleeding welts.
They swung heavy iron picks with trembling arms, chipping volatile raw spirit crystal from the jagged rock face while brutal overseers in studded leather armor patrolled the catwalks with spiked leather whips.
"Faster, you miserable dogs!" a scarred overseer barked, his whip cracking against the bare shoulder
