The forge of Hephaestus was a volcano. It was hot, loud, and dangerous.
The Nain Rouge, a small red dwarf from Detroit legend, scurried along the catwalks. He was a harbinger of doom. Harbinger's Omen. He looked down at the lame god hammering a piece of celestial bronze.
"Disaster comes!" the Nain Rouge cackled, throwing a wrench into the gears of a Clockwork Owl.
Hephaestus didn't look up. He caught the wrench without breaking his rhythm.
The Annoyance
"You are small," Hephaestus grumbled. "And you have too much free time."
The Nain Rouge danced on the bellows. Taunting Vanish. "I curse you! Your fire will go cold! Your metal will crack!"
Hephaestus sighed. He wiped soot from his brow. "I was thrown off Olympus by my mother. I am married to Aphrodite, who cheats on me. What can you possibly add to my misery, little rat?"
The Contraption
The Nain Rouge paused, confused by the lack of fear.
Hephaestus pulled a lever. Automaton Craft.
The floor panels beneath the imp flipped open. A mechanical spider, woven from gold wire, sprang out. It was faster than the imp. It wrapped the Nain Rouge in a cocoon of unbreakable filament before he could blink.
The god picked up the bundled imp. The Nain Rouge shouted obscenities.
"You have energy," Hephaestus noted. "And I need a battery."
He shoved the furious red dwarf into a glass containment unit on the side of his furnace. The imp's rage burned bright red, heating the water for the god's tea.
"Efficient," Hephaestus decided, and went back to work.