Weekly Digest 40 (#127 - #129) (Patreon)

Playing with Water

With the successful test of the ice boat—

"I'm honestly surprised you haven't named it yet," Rian said during breakfast. "You'd usually start calling it 'Lori's Something Something' by now."

"I would rather not have my name on it," Lori replied as Mikon sat alone on one side of Rian, Riz sitting on the opposite side next to Umu, who seemed to feel that her temporary Rian was a bit too free with her elbows.

"Why? Are you embarrassed by this artistic work of carpentry and engineering?"

"Yes." Mikon seemed completely unperturbed at being all alone on her side. Novels and plays had inclined Lori to think that the weaver would put out by the implied rejection. Speaking of which, did this mean that she was no longer interested in Rian? Lori supposed the woman shifting her focus would make sense given Rian's continued obliviousness, but she hadn't gotten that impression lately…

But then, Lori did need a Rian who specialized in people, since she wasn't very good at it herself, so there was a good chance her suppositions wrong on this subject. Well, she didn’t care, anyway.

"So, does that mean I can name it?" Rian said, grinning. It was a surprisingly honest, more genuine expression than any of his cheerful smiles.

"Don't you want to have people vote submit stupid suggestions for names and have them vote on it?"

Rian froze, and Lori could actually see his fetish for voting warring with his desire to get to name the boat himself.

"Y-you're right, as the physical representation of—" Rian began, looking like someone was pulling his teeth out.

Lori rolled her eyes. "No, too much trouble. You name it yourself, Rian. Try not to name it something silly." Yes, that grin was so much more honest than his usual smiles.

"Yes, your Bindership," Rian chirped. "I'll think of a good name for her!"

Lori frowned. "Her?"

"Oh, in my demesne, the tradition is that vehicles and significant inanimate objects are referred to with feminine pronouns like 'her' and 'she'."

"The demesne you're from is very strange, Rian."

"Rude. You're not supposed to tell people that! Even if it, you know, might be true. And wait, this is my demesne now. So you're basically insulting yourself."

With the successful test of the Coldhold—which Lori had to admit was an amusing bit of wordplay on Rian's part—the boat was tentatively declared properly useable, though it still need Lori's blood so it could be imbued outside of Lori's Demesne. Lori felt it didn't need the outriggers that were still being finished, since the boat balanced well enough, but Rian insisted they were necessary for the part of the trip that would traverse the ocean. Something about waves and keels and things…

Well, Rian's problem.

The carpenters continued to add fittings to the boat, mounting on the folding beds and storage bins. Rian had said they couldn't just use cabinets, since no flat space would stay level for long, and anything that was just laid down would eventually roll off, so all their storage had to be chests that could be sealed at all sides and secured to the floor so that even if things shifted, they wouldn't roll off. Lori didn't know how they would deal with washing everything of iridescence, but that was Rian's problem.

Lori had her own contribution to make. With the Coldhold once more standing on land, the ice removed from it, Lori painstakingly began to lay out the gold wire around the beams that would support the ice. The water jet block already had blood in it, and it shouldn't degrade while it was inside her demesne. At worst, she'd add more blood before they had to leave.

She also had to fashion a binding for gathering salt, since they apparently needed it. Or rather, a container with a binding. Actually, in the most technical sense, she'd be making a bound tool, wouldn't she? And she didn't even need to use any glass.

…

She still wanted the glass.

The binding was simple enough, waterwisps in the form of vapor bound so that any water that passed through it was converted into more vapor. Not steam, that would be too hot, and pointless. They just wanted the salt dissolved into the water. But given the fact that they wouldn't even reach the ocean until about halfway through the journey, this would have to include her blood for the binding to last that long. But then they'd have binding that would mostly be unused most of the time, and be a useless waste of magic. True, it wouldn't be using beads, but still, it was wasteful—

Wait.

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"So… it's for draining the boat of water?" Rian said as she held up the tube of bone. One end seemed to be full of mist.

"You asked for a way to gather salt from the ocean," Lori said. "I decided that it needed to have more than one purpose. With this in addition to buckets, you can keep the Coldhold from filling with water during daily Iridescence washings."

"Oh… Oh!" Rian said, as if comprehension was blooming. "Oh, right! If you're getting rid of water anyway… I should have thought of that."

"You were possibly distracted by worrying about beds and boxes."

Rian nodded. "True. I'm told there's no way to add a storage space to the folding beds. I figured as much, but I hoped at experienced carpenters would have a trick or idea I hadn't been able to think of. But this is great! But where does the salt go? You said you first made this for gathering salt?"

"I can make it fit on the end of a large jar," Lori said. "They just pour salt water into the tube and it will separate into water and salt." She paused, then added. "Well, technically it will be water and everything that was in the water, so I suggest the water be relatively clean."

Rian nodded. "And if there's water in the boat, especially below decks because of daily washing, instead of needing to go up to toss the water over the side, we can just pour it into the tube."

Lori gave him a blank stare. "Or you can just take the tube and put it on the floor where there's water," she said.

Rian stared at her. Eventually, he said, "All right, two things: First, I'm an idiot, I should have thought of that, that sounds far easier to do. Secondly, are you serious?" He said that last in the tone of someone exclaiming 'are you insane'.

"Watch your tone," she warned him.

"Sorry. Respectfully speaking your Bindership, did you bother to think that decision through?" It wasn't much of an improvement, since he still said it in the tone of someone asking 'are you insane', but he did begin it with 'respectfully speaking'. "What if someone drops it over the side? Or just drops it and it hits the ice?"

Oh. Ah, ah… "Don't be silly Rian," she said, as her mind raced for a response. "The binding is set deep within the tube to prevent exactly that sort of contact. Besides, this is just the prototype. The finished version will be fitted on top of a container to conveniently gather the salt." Yes, that sounded sensible and plausible.

"Oh. Yeah, I suppose it makes sense that his is a proof of concept device. Sorry, I was just worried about having something on my boat that could destroy it or make a hole in it."

Lori nodded, accepting his apology, then paused. "Your boat?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it's most definitely not Lori's Boat in any way, shape or form, and you're always telling me it's my problem, therefore it's my boat," Rian said in a tone of smug assurance.

"Impeccable reasoning," Lori said, nodding. "I look forward to your paying the taxes on it. Please include the receipts for what you paid to the loggers, sawyers and carpenters."

"Of course, as a responsible citizen of this demesne, I'm donating my boat for the use of the government," Rian said hastily. "Please don't make me have to remember how money works!"

"The fact you imply that you've forgotten is concerning."

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With the reminder that the evaporator could be dropped by idiots, Lori set out to try and make it idiot-proof, which involved making it either too heavy or too inconvenient to move. She had the potter make a large vessel with a specially shaped lid for the salt and after firing that with firewisps in the kiln—should she make a kiln made from bound water? It would be wonderful at retaining heat…—she lined the lid with bone for some reinforcement. She wasn't sure it would work—Lori wasn't familiar with the relative strength of ceramic compared to bone—but it made her feel better about it.

The lid had a large funnel-shaped opening to pour the salwater into, as well as a side spout to release the vapor from, since it would be inconvenient for the person pouring water in to receive a face full of vapor. It wasn't as quick and convenient as putting the evaporator on the floor to turn the water into mist, but it was less likely to be lost over the side.

"Oh, that's nice," Rian said as she demonstrated. "But… um…"

Lori rolled her eyes. "What more work have you thought of to make me do?" she said.

"Well, since you brought it up yourself and asked me… If you could get this vapor to condense into another container, that would really help for drinking water when we reach the sea."

Lori stared at him.

"You asked! And we really do need it now that I realized. I was worrying about how we'd be able to store enough fresh water for the sea-going portion of the tried and keep them from getting contaminated with salt water, but once you showed me that… and you asked!"

Lori sighed.

"You asked!"

"I did," she grudgingly admitted.

"You don't have to do it…"

"No, no, you make a good point. I'd forgotten that you couldn't drink sea water."

"Maybe I should recruit some Whisperers so that—"

"Don't you dare!"

"All right, all right, you command, I obey. Just remember that you told me not to recruit anyone when you complain you have to do everything around here because you're our only wizard."

"Yes, well, I have to make a vessel to condense vapor in so that you have something to drink," Lori said. "So try not to think of anything more I need to do in the meantime."

Rian, who'd been opening his mouth, abruptly closed it again so hard his teeth clicked together. He smiled blandly.

Lori looked at him suspiciously. "What?" she demanded.

"You told me not to think of anything, so I won't," Rian said innocently.

Lori glared at him. "Out with it," she said.

"Well, I was just thinking, there might be a use for the evaporator here in the demesne itself, and was wondering if you were willing to make more…"

Lori sighed. "What use?"

"Well, you see, the tanners, in addition to brain and salt, can use something else for tanning and softening furs and skins, but making it is a painstaking process because it has to be reduced and concentrated…"

Rian explained, and Lori was reminded why she had never, ever, ever worked in the textiles industry back when she was a student. It was absolutely disgusting.

Then she sighed and made an evaporator for people, mostly men for ease of use, to piss into so it could be concentrated into a caustic substance for making their animal skins nice and soft and was that something that had been done to her boots…?!

As Lori reminded herself that her boots had probably been clean for a long time, the Coldholdcontinued coming together…

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Golden Sweetwood Company

Even without the ice in its hull, the boat was actually looking like a boat. The boards that defined the area of ice for the hull certainly gave it that impression. And once the upper deck was mostly completed, including a rail at the very top to keep people from falling off, Lori had to admit that the outriggers were probably necessary.

The outriggers for the Coldhold were a line of wooden barrels to either side, the insides to be lined with bone for further waterproofing so that water wouldn't seep in. Given the amount of water they would be displacing, the outriggers would actually be extremely buoyant, which Rian said was the point, as they needed a lot of force to help keep the rest of the boat stable on choppy waters of the sea. He had wanted to extend the deck across the support beams leading to the outriggers, but had apparently decided they didn't have enough time and materials for that.

"Maybe we can add it in when we come back," Rian said over dinner. The stew tasted of mushroom stock, so she supposed that they'd had a fresh harvest from the cave. She might need to expand it soon, or start a second one. "Best to be cautious, since we don't know how well this will handle in waves yet. But at least we'll have plenty of room for cargo and salt. Thanks for adding in the water tank to the evaporator."

"Thank me by ceasing to think of new things for me to build," she told him as she waited for Mikon to finish her move. "I'm busy enough as it is."

"Yes, your Bindership," Rian said. "We should be getting that stove installed soon we just need to put the pipe were it won't burn anyone. Hey, what do you think will happen if we stuck fresh wood into the evaporator?"

Lori gave him an incredulous look. "It would explode violently as all the water in it gets turned to vapor," she said. "What did I tell you about giving me more work to do?"

"But I didn't say anything!"

"Now I have to change the input so people can't just stick anything into the evaporator," Lori sighed, saw Mikon had finished, and made her move to give herself time to calm down before replying. "What, were you thinking you could quicky dry fresh wood for the stove by sticking it in?"

"Er, well…"

"Don't," Lori said bluntly. "It will explode."

"Yes, you said that already."

"It's important, so I'm repeating it. Don't put wood in the evaporator, it will explode."

"Yes, your Bindership. Though…"

A sigh. "What now?"

"Could you maybe use a piece of wood to make an evaporator explode in front of everyone who might need to handle one so that they'll understand that?"

A beat. "Sure, we can do it tomorrow." After all, it had been… well, months since she'd made something explode.

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After an explosion that wasn't as violent as she'd wanted—well, to be expected, it was vapor, not steam, there wasn't as much heat and energy involved—sacrificing a stone urn she'd fashioned since destroying one of their pottery ones would have been wasteful, the tanners and all those who'd be adding to their supply of leather-tanning substances were sufficiently educated as to why they shouldn't put wood or anything else but liquid material into the evaporator. Lori added a grill into their evaporators anyway, just to make it harder to shove objects into them.

The tanners were apparently asking the men of the demesne to use their evaporator as much as possible. The stockpiling of the goldwater had begun to cause a smell that compelled Lori to make a binding of airwisps over the tannery area to funnel the air upward and away, which mostly worked. With the increased amounts of the concentrated caustic liquid for them to work with, they were apparently processing stockpiled skins that had only gotten minimal tanning so that Rian could have a reasonable stockpile to bring with him to Covehold, since they were the lightest and most compact plentiful resource they didn't actually use much of.

Though Lori had to wonder how Rian intended to put together the beads for the medicines they intended to acquire. She supposed it wasn't unreasonable to think that other people might have beads hidden away somewhere, but how Rian was going to convince people to part with them for no gain—

Oh, who was she kidding. It was Rian, he'd manage to bilk them of their money somehow.

Well, Rian's problem.

"We have a problem," Rian said as he walked up to her while she sat next to the curing sheds, curing the wood inside them so they'd be useable tomorrow. "I'm in the middle of dealing with it, but I felt that you needed to be informed."

Lori sighed. "What problem?"

"It's… complicated." Rian leaned against the wall of the curing shed in front of her. "But as you know, but probably need some help remembering, River's Fork was settled by the Golden Sweetwood Company. They are, in practice, a group of former and retired militia and their families who pooled together their resources to try settling their own demesne on this continent."

"Yes, of course I knew that," Lori said, nodding. Obviously, she hadn't known at all.

Rian nodded, not seeing through her lie. "Well, the late Binder Koshay was the director of the company for this continent, with another director on the old continent to prepare sending across the next wave. But when he died, Grem became acting director. I told you that when I introduced him to you, remember?"

He might have. "Of course," Lori said. "How is this a problem?"

"We're exiling him to Covehold, the one place on this continent that has regular correspondence with the old continent, relatively unsupervised," Rian said. "And as acting director, he knows who to contact on the old continent to direct the resources of the rest of the Golden Sweetwood Company, which is essentially a whole militia and their personal savings. What is stopping him from lying to them and telling them you killed Binder Koshay or something, and directing all of their resources to kill you? "

For a moment, Lori sat very, very still. Eventually, she nodded. "Yes, that is a problem. We might need to kill Grem."

"In the spirit of our agreement with River's Fork, I've been trying to find out who's next on the chain of succesion so they can take over the director position of the Golden Sweetwood Company," Rian said. "I'll let you know what Riz finds. She's not an investor in the company, just family, even if she was militia. Her uncle is, so she doesn't really know the full hierarchy. Hopefully the next time I bring this up I'll know more. But right now, the plan to deal with the problem is to have the next in line write to the old continent that Grem is an attempted child murderer and have them agree to stop recognizing his authority. At the very least, that way they won't be under his control."

Lori frowned. "Why didn't you tell me about this problem earlier?"

Rian shrugged. "Because I didn’t have a solution for it earlier. Also, it sort of slipped my mind. I literally remembered the fact he was acting director last night while a bunch of us were talking in my house. Someone mentioned the Golden Sweetwood Company and… well, it reminded me. I'll probably be able to tell you more later."

Lori nodded slowly. "All right. I'll leave this to you."

"Got it. If we're lucky, we can resolve this neatly, although it'll be a few months before we know for sure, since we'd have to send a letter. At best, the reply won't come until spring, or at least we wouldn't be able to retrieve the reply before spring. Hopefully the Golden Sweetwood Company will look favorably on us."

Lori raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't they? I'm their Binder."

"Yes, but you're not a member of the Company," Rian said hesitantly. "That might matter, to them…"

Lori gave him a flat look. "This sounds like a 'dealing with people' problem. Solve it."

Rian sighed. "Yes, your Bindership," he said.

Lori watched him walk away as she concentrated back on the shed and adjusted the heat produced by the bindings a little so the wood wouldn't char. That was… probably a bit harsh on Rian. A bit. Just a little. The possibility that someone who had a reason to be disgruntled with her demesne would be able to access resources that could be used against her and her demesne was certainly concerning. Perhaps it would be best to have him killed…

But no, River's Fork was sending guards along to prevent exactly that sort of thing… because she'd had Rian imply they should to prevent such a possibility…

Well, that was inconvenient.

Still, Rian seemed to be working on some kind of solution. It probably was the simplest way, just sending a message to the rest of this 'Golden Sweetwood Company' and informing them of what Grem had done so that they would revoke his authority. If they cared, that is…

Lori tried not to worry. This wasn't a problem she was equipped to solve—it required talking to people—but she had Rian and her temporary Rian, and they were quite able at it. Surely they could solve the problem, right?

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At dinner the next day, Lori looked across the table at Rian and her temporary Rian-in-progress, sitting next to each other. "So, what have you learned?"

"Well, we have good news," Rian said. "Riz, you want to tell her? You found out about it, after all."

Riz pursed her lips, glancing sideways at her Rian, but he smiled at her encouragingly.

"I'm waiting," Lori said, making her impatience known.

"Yes, Great Binder," Riz said. "So, I spoke to my uncle, and he directed me to…" Riz paused, as if just noticing the further impatience on Lori's face, "well, that's not important. Suffice to say, I was able to find out who was supposed to be next to succeed Captain Grem in the company. Unfortunately, he was one of the men who died in the dragon that killed Great Binder Koshay, so I had to keep looking."

"Be briefer," Lori said flatly.

Riz flinched, but Rian patted her reassuringly on the shoulder. "I found that the next person in the chain of succession is Captain Yllian."

Lori stared blankly at her. "Who?"

Rian, why are you holding your face like that?

"Captain Yllian," Rian said slowly, "is Shana's—"

"Binder Shanalorre," Lori corrected.

Rian, you shouldn't rub your eyes, it aggravates the soft tissues. Did you even wash your hands before you did that? your fingers might be dirty.

"Captain Yllian," Rian repeated, sounding tired for some reason, "is Binder Shanalorre's lord."

"Oh, is that his name?" Lori said. "I wouldn't know, I've never met the man."

Rian stared up at the ceiling. "Well, in any case, as the one in the succession, he's now the Acting Director of the Golden Sweetwood Company. I talked to him earlier today, and he is aware of the situation. I'm told he'll have a letter ready to send with one of the people he'll be sending to guard the prisoners. So that should deal with the problem. Grem's not getting revenge that way. Though this probably means that the Golden Sweetwood Company will be settling in River's Fork."

"As long as they don't start setting up demesne near us," Lori said.

"No," Riz said, shaking her head. "The plan was that we would found a demesne that would serve as a central base. No building multiple demesne when we could consolidate in a single one supported by multiple wizards."

"I doubt that everyone is just going to blindly follow such a plan, especially not the wizards who now have a chance to become Dungeon Binders," Lori said dismissively. "Still, better they surround and constrain the growth of River's Fork than here." This made trying to expand the demesne more important. She'd have to do that soon, but she'd just been so busy, and it hadn't seemed urgent. The principle wasn't that much different from creating the core…

"Well," Rian said as Riz fell silent. "I suppose if they don't start building their own demesne, we can be pleasantly surprised at their restraint…?"

"I wouldn't bet on it," Lori said. "Who would come to this continent if they didn't intend to found their own demesne to become a Dungeon Binder?"

"Binder Koshay's wife?" Rian said. "After all, she didn't have her own demesne."

Lori hesitated as Riz raised her eyebrows and smirked. "All right, I suppose I must acknowledge that… but I would not rely on the phenomenon repeating."

Umu and Mikon arrived before they could respond, carrying food cups and water. Rian sighed tiredly, but didn't bother protesting as the five bowls were pushed to the middle of the table. Lori selected one and began to eat.

Riz reached for one once it was clear Lori had picked. "Thank you," she said, not looking at Mikon.

"You're welcome," Mikon said cheerfully. "Rian, are you going to eat?"

Rian reluctantly got a bowl. "Thanks," he said. "To both of you."

"You're welcome, Rian," Umu said. "Let's eat."

The four of them did so, Riz casting sideways looks at Mikon, who'd once more sat down next to her.

"Something wrong?" Mikon asked pleasantly, pausing in her eating.

"N-no, of course not," Riz said, looking away. "Just worried about elbow room, that's all."

"Oh, sorry, am I crowding you?" Mikon shuffled a little bit away from Riz. "There, is that better?" She smiled, cheerfully and completely unreadable.

Riz flushed, but shuffled towards her to take advantage of the offered space, and Rian relaxed where he'd been sitting, acting a little more free with his elbow.

The meal finished in silence as the rest of the dining hall buzzed around them. It was so pleasant.

"By the way Rian, temporary-Rian," Lori said, "have you had people asking you about marriage requirements?" Umu's head didn't snap up, but she'd gone very still, and was clearly listening attentively.

"I've had a few people ask me casually about it, so they were probably in a real hurry to get married without letting their parents know," Rian said. "Or at least someone's parent's, at any rate. So, what are the requirements, so I can finally tell people."

Lori waved a negligent hand. "I can't be bothered to remember exactly right now. Ask Mikon, she knows."

Rian and temporary-Rian blinked and looked sideways at the weaver, who smiled cheerfully at them. Temporary-Rian's eyes narrowed.

"Wait, you told Mikon before you told me?" Rian-Rian said, a strange expression on his face. "How did that even happen?"

Lori shrugged. "We were talking, she asked, I told her." Really, how else could it have happened.

Was Rian crying? And crying theatrically at that, with exaggerated sniffs and— "It finally happened," Rian said, wiping tears from his eyes as he let out one such exaggerated sniff. "Our Binder finally made another friend! I'm so proud!"

He sounded disgustingly like one of her mothers had when Lori had mentioned the name of someone she'd talked to at school, ugh.

"I dared to hope when you started playing board games with someone other than me, but to see it actually happen…" Another sniff. "To think I'd live to see this day…"

Lori kicked him under the table. "We're not friends," she said, annoyed. "She's just an acquaintance."

"As that's a prerequisite for friends, I'll take it as the next best thing," Rian said cheerfully.

Lori rolled her eyes and kicked him again before she went back to her dinner, shaking her head. Why did she sometimes feel like she'd gotten a third mother?

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Finishing Touches

The ice boat was nearly finished.

Lori was skeptical, but after a day of Rian not having anything more added, of her not having to remove the ice so that more wood beams or planks could be installed, she was actually beginning to believe it. Granted, he'd asked her to build a dock, which had involved excavating a part of the river slightly so that the bottom wasn't resting on the riverbed, but she'd taken the opportunity to dig out the river near the water hub shed.

A part of her had the thought she should turn the water hub into a hardened bunker so that they could continue drawing water during a dragon, but given the sort of things that could fall into the river, that probably wasn't advisable. Still, making it harder to damage so she wouldn't need to repair it as much after a dragon passes seemed like a good investment to make…

Regardless, the Coldhold now floated in its new dock, ostensibly complete. It was wide because of the outriggers on either side, and you actually had to walk on a ramp between the outrigger and the boat proper to get on board. Rian offered to give her a tour, as if she hadn't been there yesterday to put the ice in the hull.

"You can point out design flaws I missed," Rian said.

Well, she supposed she should just look at it and see what he did wrong…

First was the level—the deck, Rian said it was called, which was silly—in the hull itself. Lori bound lightwisps to her head so she'd have light to see. While the ice was clear as glass, the wooden beams within them as well as the planks cladding them kept much light from passing through the hull. At the part of the level near the front of the boat there was a room just barely big enough for three people, with a sturdy door and sturdy walls.

"It's where we'll keep the prisoners on this trip," he sighed. "In future, it can be a secure cargo hold or something. Per your instructions, that door has a little hatch were we send in their food and their slop bucket. I fully expect them to pour it out the hatch just to inconvenience us—Missus Naineb might do it—so I had the carpenters make a special bucket that goes into the hatch and locks in place so it can't be pulled out from their side. That way, if they make a mess, it's stuck in there with them."

"Vindictive," Lori nodded. "I approve."

"Your approval of this fills me with shame." He didn't looked very ashamed though.

Before the room for the prisoners—it was probably a prison or brig, but given how it was just a sealed room without bars, Lori had trouble thinking of it as such—there was another, larger room meant to house the crew. Or at least sleep the crew. The walls of were covered in beds that folded up, six on each side. They were packed three high, with the lowest one practically at floor level, save for a gap a hand long.

"It's so that anyone sleeping there doesn't get too soaked if water gets in down here, which it probably will," Rian said. "The storage for personal effects is up top, where they'll be easier to wash. Honestly, I'm worried about fungus, given how everything will always be a little wet at all times. I wish I knew more about how actual ships at sea dealt with this problem…"

"Something for you to look into, then," Lori said ruthlessly. After all, she had no idea herself.

In addition to all the beds, there were also food stores. While they'd have jars of stew in case of emergency, the plan was for the expedition to catch food on the go and prepare it on board the ship. "We've got beds, so we can just anchor in the middle of the river and avoid beasts that way," he said. "And this way we don't have to worry about beasts being attracted to the blood. Though I want us to do a practice run before we leave. You know, catch a seel and try gutting it on the ship itself so we know it's possible." He sighed. "We might have to just cut out portions of meat and leave the rest behind, if it's too unwieldy. It's inefficient, but it's better than nothing. Most of us already know how to butcher beasts, but I'm going to have everyone who will be on the expedition learn how to properly butcher seels, myself included, so that we all know how to feed ourselves."

"Wouldn’t it be better to have them all learn how to catch seels first?"

"It can't be that hard. The children and you do it. I mean, you cheat with magic, but that's you being you."

Lori gave him a long, level look that could have been used as a road. "Rian?"

"Yes, your Bindership?"

"Learn how to catch seels first. That's an order."

"Yes, your Bindership."

Seeling was noteasy, and she wanted him to know that!

Really, this was for his own good, he might have starved from not being able to catch any seels, after all.

The water jet was in its own little space right under the tiller. In fact, there was a hatch leading down to it, since there would need to be someone there to take directions and adjust the speed as needed, since Rian's idea of a reallylong lever that poked through a slot on the deck had been too unwieldly and kept tripping him whenever he moved to adjust the tiller.

"We'll be storing the food and other cargo in here on top of the water jet, since it doesn't really get hot or anything like a steam driver," Rian said. "Though I had a table built on top, just in case. I was afraid putting things directly on it would make it come apart."

Lori gave him an incredulous look. "Rian, it's inside a wooden box that's sealed shut, and the parts have their own rods locking them together into place." She considered it. "Good idea to put a table on top of it to keep people from touching it directly." One should never underestimate how easily an idiot could break something.

"I wanted to have shelves around it too, since people might accidentally kick it, but that would take too long to build," Rian said.

"Chests," Lori said. "Surround it with chests."

Rian nodded. "That could work, and they'd be faster to build. Basically a box with a lid. Doesn't even need a hinge. Well, we'd need someplace to put the food anyway…"

They both nodded in agreement.

The evaporator was in the corner, with a large, obvious funnel on top of it to put water in. There was another intake funnel in the level above so people could pour water in directly from the river or sea without having to bring it down. The container underneath for the salt could be slid out when it was full so it could be stored in some other container, and next to it was the spout where water would drip into a barrel from the evaporator.

Lori had added an intake in the bottom to get any water that flooded the level as well, mostly to keep people from wrenching off the funnel and putting it on the ground. She had made sure to add bends in the pipe to the actual evaporation chamber with the binding in it to keep people from trying to stick wood into it. They shouldn't, especially after her demonstration, but… well, the fact they shouldn't has never stopped people from doing things, especially if the thing was stupid. Next to it was a rack to secure the barrels the boat would be carrying for water. It had a little space so that people could switch around the barrels and place them next to the evaporator if it went empty.

"It occurs to me there is a serious design flaw," Lori commented.

"I know," Rian sighed. "I honestly though it would be brighter."

The entire lower deck was dark and gloomy, what little light filtering in through the ice more of an accent than an sort of actual illumination. The only light proper light came from the lightwisps on Lori's head.

"In my defense, I didn't miss this design flaw, I just can't think of how to fix it," Rian said. "If we'd spaced out the planks to provide more light, it would also let water flow down here when we washed out the upper deck, which would be inconvenient." He sighed. "I remember when our problem was not having enough water. Now our problem is if we have too much."

"Your problem," Lori said.

"So you keep reminding me."

She shrugged. "You could just not go. Stay here, send someone else."

"Missing me already?"

"I find you much more reliable for taking care of problems than my temporary Rian."

"Riz. Her name is Riz. She has a name that you know, use it. Please."

Lori raised an eyebrow at the sharpness in Rian's voice, then shrugged. "Fine, fine. Though you've never seemed to care before."

"Yes, well, she's going to be doing my job. I know firsthand how hard that is, so I'm not going to let you make it any harder for her. Besides, do you really care who's taking care of your problems as long as it's taken care of and you didn't have to talk to anyone to do it?"

Lori actually had to take a moment to think of that. "You're better at it," she said.

"Well… it's nice to be appreciated, I guess."

For a moment, there was only the movement of the boat as it bobbed and swayed in the water.

"I might be able to amend your design flaw," Lori said. "But I'm only putting one binding of lightwisps into place. And even then, I can't be certain that it can be renewed as easily or as efficiently as the waterwisps claimed by my blood."

Rian sighed. "I can ask the sweetbugkeepers for some wax to make candles, but that almost seems wasteful. And it likely won't last long."

"Do it," Lori said. "It's an available resource, so use it. It's not as if you intend to keep them lit the whole night."

"I suppose…" Rian said. "And it's not like we don't already have a fire hazard…"

They both looked towards the level above.

"Come on, let's continue finding things you can tell me I did wrong."

They climbed up the steep, almost ladder-like stairs and up onto the level above, what Rian insisted on calling the main deck. The wooden planks were almost flush with the top of the ice forming the hull, and wooden rails formed a boundary on all sides to keep people from falling into the water. Wooden beams on either side connected the outriggers to the hull of the Coldhold, and there were breaks in the railing to allow people to enter via the ramps on the beams.

Half of the level was open with only railings to bar the way, since whoever was operating the almost comically long tiller would the free space to move the rudder. The two latrines on either side of the boat were merely seats with a hole in them which let things fall into the river, which… probably worked, but seemed absolutely disgusting to her. In the middle of the boat was an enclosed, shack-like structure with wooden walls, though not a lot of them. On either side and in front, it seemed to mostly be wide window, and the entire back was missing in lieu of a door. The roof seemed the sturdiest and substantial part of it, along with the vertical support columns, a sturdiness that was explained by the ladder built into its side and the railings on the roof.

Inside the little shack sat a stove. It was made of bound ice, with a metal grill and flat metal panel for cooking food on top. There was a stone-covered wooden door that could be closed in front of the firebox, and one could see the golden wire that carried magic into the bound ice. A tube made of ice and reinforced with bone led outside to act as a chimney. Next to the bound ice stove were a pair of table-height surfaces, and on either side of the shack were long wooden benches that doubles as storage chests.

"It's not a fire hazard, not really," Lori said, though even she eyed her creation dubiously.

"There's wood directly above it," Rian said. "You just know someone's going to manage to find a way to get the fire that high."

"You said you needed a stove, I built a stove."

"I know, I know, and I can't think of any way it could be better. But I guess I've been around you too long, because all I can see is someone using it to set our ship on fire. I can just see someone making a fire in there, then leaving the door down for light and heat, and then the boat gets jostled and coals go everywhere, and the top deck catches fire… " Rian sighed. "I could be the only one to operate the stove, but that means leaving someone else to operate the tiller, and then I keep seeing us crashing into rocks in the water and getting caught on banks... Please don't suggest I just stay at home."

Lori closed her mouth. "Well, if it's a matter of convincing people to do something—or not do something, as the case may be—then I'm sure you can manage."

"That's a lot of faith in me. Aren't you afraid I'll fail?

"Rian, I consider you to be full of failings. Being unable to convince people to do what you want is not among them."

"Thank.. you…? Um, also, I was talking to some people, and I think that we have a partial solution to the food preservation problem."

"Oh?"

Rian nodded. "When ice isn't available, people smoke food to keep it from going bad."

Lori frowned. "Smoke… food…?"

"Put it in a container full of mostly smoke," Rian clarified. "It stops things from rotting, and if you do it right it can impart an extra flavor to the meat." He pointed at the stove's chimney. "I figure if you have that lead into an air-tight box, we can store raw food there and keep it from going bad for… oh, about a day or so, since we'll hopefully be catching more food to replace it. You won't even need to put in any sort of binding, just one of those one-way water valves so the smoke won't go back to stove."

Lori raised an eyebrow but… well, it vaguely sounded like it would work. Dustlife, which was what made food go bad, needed breathable air to survive after all, and smoke definitely wasn't breathable. "I'll need a box."

"Already being made," Rian said.

"How industrious of you," she said dryly.

She hesitated, then turned and began climbing the ladder, absently extinguishing the lightwisps on her head.

At the highest point of the boat, every little sway caused by the river seemed magnified hugely, and Lori grabbed the nearest railing to keep herself steady. Thankfully, if felt very solid under her hands. High balcony allowed for a wide view all around the boat, but especially ahead, though all that was ahead was the town around her Dungeon. Still, she saw over the curve of the roof of the shelter and baths, and was about level with the roofs of many of the houses. Lori stood carefully, holding the rail, and was mildly annoyed that Rian moved so easily after following her up.

"I should probably put some benches up here," Rian commented, "otherwise people are going to sit on the rail and fall on their heads."

Lori nodded. Yes, that sounded exactly like the sort of idiotic thing people would do. "Not completely finished then, is it?"

"Well, close enough that I want to test how it handles by using it to bring the next batch of miners to River's Fork tomorrow," Rian said. "All the parts that let it boat are pretty much done, it's just a few quality of life things left to add. After that… we can leave."

"You can leave," Lori said quietly.

"If it helps, I'm only picking people with family here," Rian said dryly. "Happyfamilies. That way, no one will be tempted to stay in Covehold. I asked some of the single people in the shelter if they wanted to come with us and try their luck at another demesne—" Lori's head snapped towards him, glaring, "—but they all said to their knowledge no other demesne offered free hot baths. Though a lot of people have a long list of things they want to know the prices of."

"Consolidate the list for me, and I'll transcribe it into stone for you to carry," Lori said.

"That would be great, I'm running out of space on the walls of my house. People want a lot of things." He sighed. "I don't think they realize this is just the start. When we come back from Covehold, we'll have to figure out what we can sell to get the money for everything."

"We'll have all winter to think of it," Lori said.

"That's… what, two, three months away?" Rian said. "Might be sooner. It's starting to get colder." It was? Lori hadn't noticed…

For a moment, the two of them just stood there, listening to the wind and looking out over her demesne.

Eventually, Rian sighed. "Well, best get back to work. The sooner everything is finished, the sooner we can go, and the sooner we can come back and not get caught by winter while traveling."

"Yes, I suppose," Lori nodded. "Rian?"

"Yes, your Bindership?"

"Do you want to get married?"

Rian spun around so fast he nearly fell off the roof, and only a quick grab at the railing saved him from a painful descent. "Ah, Lori, you're a wonderful woman, but—"

She rolled her eyes. "Not with me, you idiot. But in general, do you want to get married?"

"I'm… not against it?" He looked like it was the first time he'd ever thought of it. "No, I'm not against it." He shrugged. "But it's not like I have any prospects. I mean, most of the women I know are either married, like other women or… well, are you."

"But if you did," she asked. "Would you?"

For a while, Rian just stared into the distance, seeing something on the inside of his eyes, face wistful. "That would be… nice," he said quietly. He frowned. "Why do you ask?"

Lori shrugged. "If you had family here, you wouldn't be tempted to stay in Covehold."

"You're still on that?" It was Rian's turn to roll his eyes. "I'm not leaving you."

"Why? Given your reaction just now, it can't be because you're secretly in love with me and are trying to gain my attention by being a steadfast and reliable presence in my life," Lori said.

Rian frowned. "Play?"

"Novel. Of course, it doesn't work, and she married the girl who actually had the nerve to confess."

"I wouldn't have thought you'd like a story like that."

"It was a subplot, the rest of the novel was about industrial espionage." Lori shrugged. "To be honest, the only reason I remember it is because the protagonist used the attempts at romantic encounters as cover to infiltrate various places."

"Now thatsounds more like you," Rian smiled.

"You didn't answer my question."

Rian nodded. "Well, if I'm going to be honest… you remind me of my sister."

Lori raised an eyebrow at him. "Younger?"

"Twin, actually," he said, looking sad and wistful.

"I'm… sorry for your loss," she said. That was what you said, right?

"Hmm? Oh no, she's probably still alive. I just… likely won't ever see her again." He smiled tiredly. "Being separated by an ocean, you know?"

Ah. She nodded. "And I remind you of her?"

"Yeah," he said. "You have no idea how many times I have to resist the urge to pat you on the head sometimes."

"Noted," she said dryly, looking out over the river.

For a moment, they stood in silence.

"I always wanted a sibling," she  said quietly.

She heard the sound of wood shifting. "What happened?"

"Two mothers."

"Ah. Yes, I can see how that would be… difficult."

She turned, eyed him up and down. Then she turned and started to climb down the ladder. "Come on. Enough slothfulness. Back to work."

A chuckle. "Yes, your Bindership. Hopefully, we'll be done by tomorrow, the next day at the latest."

They got back to work.