The central location in Thoth for metal-working, ceramic manufacture, and smelting was known as 'The Flaming Fissure' and it was, in fact, a fissure, a single hundred yard wound in the skin of the planet. Located just outside the city walls, it had been used in the same manner since Thoth was first founded.

The fissure had once been an awesome sight, but not because of its size. Its widest point was no more than ten feet. What had made the crack a sight like no other was the wall of flame which ran along its entire length shooting upward into the sky. The crack descended a hundred feet into the earth. A river of molten rock flowed through it, glowing bright orange and igniting the gases released from the rocks around it. In an effort to harness the incredible heat produced by this natural wonder, a clay enclosure was painstakingly produced which fit over the entire crack.

Every twenty feet a clay pipe, five feet wide ran from the main enclosure to a series of furnaces built along the fissure by the various guilds. The heat produced by the volcanic fuel was constant and tremendous, easily reaching out the temperatures necessary for smelting and forging metal.

To accommodate the requirements of Herman's diagram, a pre-existing furnace was disassembled and the ground beneath it leveled. An outline was scratched into the earth one hundred and twenty feet long and fifty feet wide and the masons began constructing a short four foot wall which would be topped with an arched roof to evenly disperse the heat once Herman was finished digging the glass molds into the ground and filling their base with tin.

A smaller furnace, for the initial melting and mixing of the glass stood directly adjacent to where the larger furnace would rise. Metal-workers had already been busy forging a large pressure cooker for producing the web-jelly which needed to be added to the melted glass to strengthen it.

When Herman arrived at the site after collecting Arisha's web he found Winnie happily mixing up the cullet, sand and other ingredients in preparation for melting. The young hedgehog was especially thrilled at having so many older beasts closely following his instructions. He proved to be quite the little tyrant, checking and criticizing every batch. The cullet/sand mixture was separated into forty large stone cauldrons, ready to melt in the smaller furnace.

Herman took charge of the work crew at the main furnace site. The lower wall had been completed by Orgor's beasts . The hedgehog checked the five shallow molds dug into the earth within the incomplete structure and nodded in approval. He called Bemar, the metal-guild master, over and pointed to the mound of raw tin piled next to the structure.

"Well mister Bemar, I reckon it's time to load the tin. Have yer fellas shovel about three inches of the stuff inta each o' them molds."

"Consider it done." Bemar said as he walked over to his work crew to supervise the operation. Orgor stepped up to the large hedgehog.
"We'll go ahead and close her up once the tin is loaded. She should be ready at about dusk. Do you want the holes directly over the five earth molds?" he asked.

"That'd be perfect, mister Orgor. Make sure they're gonna be big enough to pour the glass in. If'n you ain't ever seen melted glass, it ain't liquid, more like a globby jelly, ya know. It'll need ta be a fair size hole, the glass'll kinda plop in...won't smooth out till it spreads in the molds when we let the heat build up. We're gonna need to plug them holes when the glass is in."

"Not a problem, mister Corkspike. We'll have clay plugs standing by." Orgor walked Herman to three points along the wall, "This is where we'll put the viewing ports. It'll be way too hot to look in directly, so we'll be inserting quartz windows."

"That'll be great," the hedgehog patted Orgor on the shoulder, "I'll let ya get to it. I'll be right over there with my brother, makin' the glass and keepin' it hot till yer fine furnace kin receive it. See ya at dusk."

Herman joined Winnie at the smaller furnace. All forty of the stone melting pots, filled with the glass mixture had been placed into the rear of the open-faced forge in five rows of eight. The large pressure cooker was completed and filled with fifty gallons of water, ready to receive the mat of Arisha's web.     

Herman called over the dozen helpers he had been assigned as assistants and explained precisely what he would require of them. When he was satisfied that they understood, he placed the web into the cooker and had his helpers secure the top tightly and place the cooker into the furnace where it could be heated and watched carefully.

As the metal of the cooker began to glow and swell under the heat, Herman waited, watching carefully. When he decided the time was right he had the cooker removed and cooled. The retaining screws were removed and the big hedgehog looked into the container hopefully. A huge smile spread across his face as he examined the glowing jelly which filled the cooker.

The next step in the process had been thought out carefully. A table supporting forty glass globes stood next to the furnace. The web-jelly was evenly distributed among the glass receptacles and then each globe was placed, using long tongs, into one of the stone cauldrons in the furnace, where it would melt, releasing the jelly. One by one, the stone cauldrons were removed and their contents well mixed before being returned to the heat of the furnace. By the time the last of the cauldrons was prepared, work on the larger furnace was completed as well. Dusk was still an hour off as Herman examined the structure.

"I reckon we're ready to fire 'er up, mister Orgor, she's a fine looking piece o' work," he looked through one of the quartz windows, but the interior was dark, "how do ye fire her up?"

Orgor led Herman to the rear of the furnace and pointed to the two five foot wide clay pipes attached to its rear.
"Those pipes lead directly to the fissure." He walked along the pipes to within twenty feet of the capped crack. A two foot section was missing on each. Flames shot out of the open end nearest the fissure. Even as he spoke, four beasts maneuvered a half-sleeve of thick clay, sliding it down the pipe from the furnace side until it covered the two foot void, thereby directing the heat and flaming gases into the furnace. This procedure was repeated with the second pipe.

Herman returned to one of the viewing windows. This time the interior was clearly visible, lit up by the incoming flame. The furnace heated quickly. As he watched, the loose tin melted, spreading evenly across the five molds till they looked like molten mirrors. He smiled.

"Great stuff. It's a workin' just fine. We'll give her about ten minutes to get to top heat and see about fillin' them molds with my glass."

When the time was right and the proper temperature was achieved, the five clay plugs above the molds were removed in preparation for the addition of the glass. Thick metal rods were inserted through each of the openings as guides for the molten glass.

Winnie began to send the red-hot cauldrons to the large furnace. Each was supported by two long sets of tongs held by four beasts. The tongs were long enough to allow them to span the larger furnace and position the cauldrons over any of the openings.

As Herman watched, the containers were tipped over and the molten material slowly crawled down the metal rods into the furnace, forming small soft mounds in the centers of the molds, surrounded by pools of molten tin. The hedgehog watched carefully through the quartz window, shouting instructions. The mounds began to liquefy more under the influence of the intense heat and were soon floating on their small lakes of tin, spanning the interior of each mold.

The loading process was repeated until every cauldron was empty and each mold filled. The clay plugs were re-inserted and Herman stepped back from the window. He put his arm around his brother's shoulder and addressed him.
"Fine job me liddle gaffer, I do believe this might just work," he said happily.

"How long do you figger we ought to cook it?" the smaller hedgehog asked.

"A while, I reckon, till I think she's done. Then we'll cut the heat and let the whole thing cool down till dawn. That's when we'll know if'n we're as good as these fine folks think we are."

"We ain't as good as they think we are," Winnie said gravely.

Herman looked down at his brother in mild shock.
"We ain't?" he asked in mild confusion.

Winnie broke into a wide grin.
"We're better!"