Day one, part two, the Morgon.

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As they moved along, Bjorn questioned Mika about the people of Morgon. He was curious to know what they were like, having never had contact with them himself.2

“Well, Mika began; I suppose you have heard of the legends of the Morgon.” 3

In fact, Bjorn had heard tales of the inhabitants of the great falls. These legends were recounted all over Atoz.4

The Morgon were said to have learned to control the waterfalls and put them to all sorts of uses, but he had never known anything of what that mastery was before this. Mika explained that Morgon sciences and mechanics, medicine and arts far surpassed any other civilization on the entire planet. They had created tunnels and caverns, and expanded on those already present, over generations, to a point that they seldom came out of their underworld, carved into the granite cliffs towering thousands of feet above the grasslands. 5

*. "Do they really possess the ability to create lightening from the water?" he asked. Mika nodded his head, smiling with a distant look in his eye. "They have indeed harnessed the power of lightening, created with the might of the falls and their stacks of water wheels. I've seen it. The wheels spin and the lightening springs from the edges where they turn against the chamber walls in which they are contained. The Morgon use this power to operate great boring machines, with gemstone bits the size of boulders. They bore into the rock at amazing speed, tearing it to gravel and sand and hurling it out with strong winds created by the water wheels. The debris is carted off on endless conveyer belts, powered by the very falls themselves. And the other wonders are far too many to name.6

. "What are some of the wonders Mika? “ Bjorn asked. Please tell me more."7

Mika continued his story. "They use this lightening to turn immense wind machines, wind mills of sorts, inside conduit, causing forced air to course through the rock, funneling it to wherever they choose. . They use the high winds they create to carry air to the deepest parts of the manmade caves and tunnels. They also use the forced air to power gigantic billows. Those billows force furnaces to burn as hot as the volcanoes of the inner earth, powering the forges of the Morgon and their glass blowing works. The minerals they take from the caves are rich in iron and lead, as well as precious metals and jewels, But, the iron and sulpher, and the coal are all used to create beams and structural rods that reinforce the tunnels and build the cities inside the caves. Its amazing Bjorn, “Mika exclaimed. “They have built houses on houses on houses, stretching up in tiers a thousand feet high in some places, all within caverns they have either expanded on, or created themselves.8

And, the forges turn out fantastic metal works. They are pounded and formed there in the forges and either used by the Morgon or sold and traded to other tribes. They also create glass from the sands, some of which are perfect for just that. Glass globes are manufactured by the Morgon. Some of these are small, used for covers for their gas lamps. The underground cities are lit by these lamps, powered by natural gasses found in the mines. . Some of the glass globes are used by the0 fisherman of the Golumbia and Gulem Sea as floats for their nets, and others are used for beads and jewelry. Larger globes are used as containers. They are shipped all over Atoz. They are convenient, since, even filled with heavy materials they still float. And, some of the globes are so magnificently enormous they are used for entire structures themselves. There are globes used for housing hydro phonic greenhouses, for instance. I've seen them so large they have islands inside them, and the bottom of the glass globes contain aquariums, while the top half have aviary. Different9

climates can be maintained in the globes, controlled by the heat and the forced winds and the bright luminescence painted on the walls and lit by the lightening which flows through tubes of glass, also created in the glassworks. Some of these glass tubes run hundreds of miles all through the caverns. Gas and lightening is used to create light inside the tubes and they are as bright as noon above ground, night and day, unless of course the Morgon want to shut them down. They can light or darken any area of their kingdom they want by reducing the gas in the tubes. In fact, he continued, they can remove the gas completely and turn the tunnels and caves pitch black if they choose. 10

"Why would they do that?” Bjorn asked. What reason would they have for turning the tunnels completely dark?”11

“Ah, they have their reasons,” Mika continued. I will tell you that. They lure enemies into the caves and send them on some wild chase into the depths and then remove the lights and let them wander about in the abyss, totally lost. And, not only can they force air through the tunnels and into the caves; they can flood them with water, drowning anyone trapped in them. And, they can remove the air by reversing the flow of air and suffocate their enemies. They do this to remove cavern predators and pests as well, dangerous cave creatures and bats. When they get out of hand, the Morgon simply turn the caverns in an affected area into a vacuum and kill any creature in them. When the Kensen tried to conquer the Morgon they found this out. The Morgon simply retreated into the caverns, drawing in the Kenson troops and then shutting great gates locked them into the caverns. They first shut out all the light and left the men in a panic. Then, they flooded some of the caverns and drowned hundreds. . 12

They left some of the soldiers wandering for days, in total darkness and when the Kensen sent in more troops they were victims of the same treatment. They even flooded some of the caverns with gas and sent lightening into them, creating vast infernos. They turned others into vacuums and let the men suffocate. Sometimes they would leave some, the strongest alive and allow them to escape. The horror stories these men took back, many reduced to babbling madmen, were so terrifying the Kensen never attempted to invade the underground kingdoms of the Morgon again. 13

The odd thing is that we have traded with the Morgon for centuries, quite peacefully, as have your people in the Nartac and Sudren Empires. They even supply the transport system that carries the huge barges, loaded with supplies and disassembled war ships . “ 14

They soon reached a channel, running through the caves and boarded a narrow craft being piloted down stream by another of the gnomish folk, with long flowing white hair and deep charcoal colored eyes, his skin nearly translucent in the shimmering light of the gas tubes over head. The transport moved silently along, save for the voices of the passengers engaging in conversation and Bjorn rode in awed silence until he could see the light of streaming in ahead at the end caverns 15

The cave ended at the very edge of the sea and Bjorn’s awe turned to total mesmerized fascination when he looked out on the grass sea stretching off into the distance until the horizon seemed to drop off. The wind sent ripples through the grasses in the distance and Bjorn could see why the people called it a grass sea, as it resembled nothing more than a sea off tans and buffs and greens with rolling waves disappearing into the distance.16

Mika grew more animated as they moved along, through the grass stalks, which grew taller with every step, it seemed. Before long the sky was only visible through the canopy of grain pods hanging heavy on the stalks and Mika began to talk in excited tones. . "When you meet my people, you will know the wonder of the Karoke. We will travel, soon, friend Bjorn, on the eternal waves of the cosmos, and you will know freedom such as you have never imagined. I will direct your initiation into the Karuke as we travel in the grasslands and when we reach the tribes you will be ready for. initiation into the final stage of the Karoke the peace it offers each of us. Then you will be free forever, trust me on that. You will never want again.” 17

And something told Bjorn he was going to be very happy for whatever this new peace and freedom was Mika was promising.18