Chapter 35: Meeting the Vampire Lord

The castle was surprisingly lush on the inside. Though its exterior had been unmistakably molded out of sharp-faceted black glass, its interior walls seemed, at first glance, to be ordinary brickwork.

But something tickled Durri's nose, and he took a deeper sniff.

Yes, the walls were not formed of stone at all, but obsidian carefully worked into a brick-like facade, then painted over. At least, the ingredients of obsidian and oil paint registered to his alchemical senses in such a manner.

This, combined with the rich hardwood floors and furniture which made up the rest of the castle's chambers, told Durri that Lord Jedebiah was not terribly suited to the lifestyle of the people he had conquered.

From Migus' words on their approach to the city, gnomes bore little appreciation for the way surface-dwellers broke down the natural world to create some semblance of a cave above ground. To gnomes, it was far better simply to live in a bubble of mud and stone to begin with.