Water
1483 Words
As Guy entered the house and followed cautiously by the rest of the Adventurers, their eyes took some time to adjust to the dim surroundings as it was a stark contrast to the situation outdoors earlier.
The sight that welcomed the party of four was beyond imaginable words since there were some devices only known to Strongbow. It was as if there was a distiller that was being built right inside the house...!
"Well, don't act so surprised, no? I am Fat Bastard and welcome to my water purification plant... What else could the reason be for charging a penny for a leather skin full of water? That's a full pint and you could not get any good drinking water from anywhere else besides here...! "
The skinny man was surprising called Fat Bastard but he was not even fat and not to mention a bastard at all. It seemed the man was some sort of genius that only deals with Alchemy to be able to produce such devices before them...!
"Well... You may be thinking why I am called Fat Bastard but it is just a name I got when I was a kid. Tch... Don't think too much about my name but I want to introduce you to my water purification plant over here."
"You could turn brackish water or still water from that well just now to turn into clear, sparkling, clean and fresh water that you had ever tasted. You want to see how it is done?"
The skinny man had taken a whole new demeanour the moment the party of four had stepped into his 'office' as he spoke flourishing when he introduced his 'baby' to them.
The devices that were set up against the wall right after they had passed a small partition that faced the main door was made of a clear kind of crystal of some sort.
Neither the Adventurers could make out the material that was before them where they could see all kinds of pebbles, rock sand and even charcoal at the bottom of the so-called water purification plant.
One of the Adventurers wanted to touch the device but was immediately stopped by Fat Bastard.
"Don't put your paws on any of the water purification plant. If you are keen to know, I will do a small demonstration and you could see the results later on. Here, step aside while I put in some water that was taken from the well earlier today before you arrived."
With that, Fat Bastard went to take a short ladder and climbed to the top of the so-called vat that had an opening and poured the whole contents of the well water inside it.
The water purification plant was cylindrical in shape and the sides were made of tin or maybe steel since it looked sturdy. The front side of the vat was made of a clear see-through material as mentioned earlier.
The water that had been poured from the top slowly trickled inside the vat as it passed through the series of stones, rocks pebbles, several layers of coarse to fine sand and lastly through a layer of charcoal.
There was a tap at the bottom side of the vat, much like the copper tun that Strongbow used to store his ale inside it to chill them up and the Adventurers could see the water that slowly seeps through the whole process.
"As you can see, brackish or unclean water passes through several layers of purification and once it had settled at the bottom after reaching the final phase, the water would be deemed safe to drink. Don't believe me? I will draw out some water and drink in front of you now."
Fat Bastard turned the tap at the bottom side of the water purification plant and put came clear and sparkling freshwater which he had used a clear kind of cup to hold the liquid in.
"Come, take a look at how clean the water is." Fat Bastard showed the contents of the water around and there was no smell or any signs of contamination inside it, unlike the water, Guy had drawn up earlier.
After showing the cup of water to the Adventurers, Fat Bastard then took a sip and let out a satisfied smack with his lips before he continued to pour the water down his throat, his Adam's apple jutted out and bobbed up and down as the liquid washed over.
"Aahh... It is so refreshing...! Beats drinking ale every night and getting tipsy all the time... With this water purification plant of mine, we could have clean drinking water every time...!"
"So, how is it, lads? Show me your coins then." Fat Bastard beckoned the coins with his fingers as Gillian prepared to hand over some leather skins to the former.
"Wait... What is the cup that you're holding? How is it so clear? Is it some kind of crystal? And what is the same material that we can see through this vat? We don't have seen such things before as our cups were either made from bamboo or from clay."
Guy pointed out to Fat Bastard as he took several coppers from his coin pouch and jiggled it in front of him. He wanted to know if the man before him was thirsty for wealth or was a knowledgeable man and had only wanted some coins for his service.
"Oh, you mean this glass cup? It was made of sand minerals that had been fired in a kiln and blown into shape. The same goes to the see-through glass that you had seen here in the water purification plant on front of you. I got it made way back from the North Syria."
"Sand minerals that been fired and blown into shape? How could it be done so? Do they need a special firing kiln or equipment to make such glasses? This is truly remarkable findings and we do hope we could get this technology back to our town."
Somehow, during the excitement, Guy had slipped some information without him realising so and this was unnoticed by Fat Bastard as he told them about his travels around the world before coming back to England and lending a hand to this village.
England and Broderbund of all places...!
"Sorry mates, I do not have such information since I myself have not have seen its process before. Besides, thanks for the coins."
"Let me fill up your leather skins and then I would be showing you something else that might be of your interest since you mentioned to me that all of you are hunters. You do gather as well, am I right?"
Fat Bastard then took the leather skins from Gillian and began to fill the leather skins full to the brim before he handed them back to the latter. "Don't worry, the water would not kill you, hahaha."
"Alright, come this way... I've got to show you something that you can bring some of this technology to your town or wherever you may come from."
Fat Bastard then went to the end of the house before he raised a small ring on the floor with a metal hook and lifted the cover to the underground cellar.
Was this the trap that Guy was thinking before? Once again, he felt unsure to follow Fat Bastard as he pointed to the underground cellar. Would it be something dark and sinister that existed there? Or simply a place to lock up little children?
Gillian stood next close to Guy and tugged the sleeve of his tunic while the Guinness stood close nearby and was as close as to hugging one another. The party of four were not expected to go down a dark and musty cellar after getting their leather skins filled with the purified water.
Right now, the skinny man before them they had called himself as Fat Bastard as beckoning to them with his bony and elongated forefinger just like a grinch.
To go or not to go was the question right now.
Guy cleared his throat and then led the party of four slowly towards Fat Bastard as he kept beckoning to them to enter the cellar like it was some kind of fantasy land that would be filled with goodies no one could ever resist...!
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