Weekly Digest 77- (#236 - #238) (Patreon)

Not Her Problem

"All right, I think that about covers everything," Rian said, visibly sighing in relief. "Unless anyone remembered something at the last moment?"

In the crowd, someone tried to stand up. The man behind him grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him down, and the woman next to him—presumably his wife, or at least a close relation—swatted him on the head. Another woman rose, stopped at a sort of half-crouch, then sat back down again.

"No one? All right, then, I officially declare the community meeting over, just in time for dinner to get started," Rian said. "Thank you for your contributions everyone, even if you were denied. If you feel dissatisfied with the demesne, Binder Shanalorre is right there and will probably be more than willing to allow you to live in River's Fork… um, once she wakes up from what seems like a very comfortable nap. Thank you to whoever lent her what she's using as a pillow, that was very nice of you."

And just like that, the community meeting was over again. Lori sighed in relief, even though she was in the middle of imbuing the binding that she'd be using to expand her demesne for the fourth time that day. Thankfully, most of the matter brought up after the idiots were things Rian knew how to deal with—without resorting to his voting fetish—though she had to rouse herself every so often. Still, she was able to make good time. She hadn't been able to expand the demesne when she'd been busy building the flood barriers, except for the day when the soil was being dug up to clear the way to the bedrock.

"Ah, the feeling of sitting around all day and calling it work…" Rian muttered as he stood up next her, then winced slightly. "It feels like your hips falling asleep, doesn't it?" Indeed, most people seemed to be getting up and walking—the children were running and were being yelled at to stop running—and even Lori felt an urge to stand up and walk around before she sat back down onto another bench for dinner. Already there was activity in the kitchen, but it would be some time before all of that would result in food. "So, what now?"

"Now, you tell everyone that told I would discuss matters with them later that I meant some day after tomorrow," Lori said. "We do have someone making charcoal, right?"

"Yes, a few people," Rian said. "At least, they were before winter. They have a place somewhere in the woods where they gather the deadfall and make the mounds they need."

"Show me where it is so I can make the boundaries official," Lori said.

Rian started gathering up all the stone tablets with notes on them to take back to her room so that they could be made into blank tablets again. "I have to ask, why not the sawyers?"

"It's a hole in the ground. They don't qualify."

"If you wrote down what your standards were, I'm sure it would be easier to meet them."

"If I wrote them down, I'd have idiots claiming they had already met them."

"Ah. Yes, I suppose that is what would happen."

––––––––––––––––––

By the time dinner had come, Lori had managed to stretch her legs and stop her posterior from aching from the hours of sitting at a seat with no back as she once more inspected the flood barriers she had built. Thanks to the masons and plasterers, the surface fo the barriers were as smooth and even as she would want. Indeed, they were much smoother than her own work. She tried not to be annoyed with that. After all, they were craftsmen with specialized tools and skills meant for such a thing, while she'd had a plank on a stick. A difference in quality was to be expected.

Still, the work wasn't done. On consideration, she decided she needed to make a small flood barrier in front of the passageway into the Dungeon after all. Not because she thought that the flooding from the river could reach it—she was very confident about the flood barriers she'd made—but because she'd just realized that all the ice and snow all over the village would also melt, and she needed to keep that water out of her Dungeon too.

But not today, since it was so late. Tomorrow, she could make it, a little knee-high thing that's she'd even had steps to. And it would need something to texture it so that people wouldn't slip on it when wet. Then after that she could build the pipes to work with the binding that would drain water from their side of the flood barrier so that the melting snow wouldn't be trapped behind it and be the cause of the very flooding they were trying to avoid…

Lori already had a full plan of the next day's work to be done as she sat down on her bench for dinner, her game board in hand. Then she frowned, got up, and pushed the bench back into position, since it had been a bit too far from the table. Only when she was satisfied did she sit down again with a sigh, leaning on her elbows as she closed her eyes.

She felt the bench shift under her. It was a familiar movement by now, even though their guest usually got to the seat before she did. Lori opened her eyes, inclining her head to the one sharing her bench.

"Binder Shanalorre," she said.

"Binder Lolilyuri," came the reply.

"How did you find the community meeting?" For some reason, that thought entered her head of Rian answering 'easily' with a stupid smile on his face.

"You have my sympathies," the younger Dungeon Binder said as her lord sat down opposite her on the other bench. "And while I would of course be willing to accept anyone who wished to live in my demesne… I'd rather not."

"Oh?" Lori said.

"They will find that my policies on simply giving people land just because they want it comparable to your own."

"Why would anyone think otherwise?"

"I suspect my youth plays a factor."

Lori frowned in puzzlement. "Why would you being young cause them to equate to you being willing to just give them land?"

"I believe they thought me foolish or easily convinced. I already have many such people in my demesne. I'd rather not have more. Still, it was… informative and interesting. You've given me much to think on and perhaps adapt to my own circumstances."

Oh? "Oh? Well, best of luck there, then."

Rian finally slipped into the bench opposite her, Umu sitting next to him and leaning against his side. "All right, finally have someone who's volunteered for flood watch duty," he said cheerfully. "Now he'll just need someplace along the wall to watch out for floods from. On top of the stairs over the wall heading towards the laundry area doesn't exactly command a good view of the river."

Lori sighed, but added it to the things she needed to make. Maybe she could widen the shorter floodwall to make a walkway? No, wait… "They'll need access to one of the ladders."

"I'll see what I can do," Rian said. He turned to their guest. "Binder Shanalorre. Lord Yllian. What did you think of the community meeting?"

"It was interesting, Lord Rian, though I'm not sure if I can make use of it," Shanalorre said. "Many in my demesne are prone to complaining already."

"It wasn't all complaining," Rian said. "That part didn't matter much anyway. People are always doing that. Besides, even if they're complaining, it might be about a legitimate problem that needs to be fixed. You won't know unless you listen to them."

"Unfortunately," Lori sighed as Mikon and Riz finally arrived. While Riz sat next to Rian as usual, the pink-haired weaver sat next to Umu, something that seemed to surprise the northerner woman. Lori began setting up the board for a game of chatrang, putting the pieces down.

Lord whatever-his-name-was looked sideways at Rian. "I think there are people in my demesne who would use such an opportunity to do nothing but complain, Lord Rian," he said pointedly

"Then let them." Lord whatever-his-name-was looked surprised at his reply. "They have to get tired of it eventually. And if it's in a public venue like this, then if other people besides you have to listen to it, they'llget very tired of it much more quickly. Even people who want to complain can only listen to so much of other people complaining."

"Hmm… an interesting premise…" Shanalorre mused as Lori moved the board between herself and Mikon. Mikon, as the one who last their last game, moved first, propelling one of her militia pieces forward.

Rian shrugged. "You won't know if it work until you try it though. Maybe you'll be unlucky and people in your demesne like listening to other people complain as long as it's about complaints they would have complained about too. But what we really use it for is making sure everyone is aware of our situation, and any plans we have for the future that will either affect everyone or need everyone's participation—Oh, wait, food's ready. Excuse me."

Rian stood, Umu rising with him, and the two headed for the kitchen to get the food. Lord whatever-his-name-was hesitated, glanced towards Shanalorre, then reluctantly rose and went with them.

"How much longer will you be staying with us, Binder Shanalorre?" Lori asked as she moved her Mentalist to threaten Mikon's militia.

"Barring another woman going into labor before I leave, we will be returning to River's Fork tomorrow afternoon," the younger Binder said, looking at the game board curiously. "I will need to continue overseeing the construction of our own protections against flooding."

"I see. Is it likely to be necessary?" Lori tried to recall if there were any markings on the rocks that indicated how high the water could reach, and couldn't remember any. Did that mean there was no flooding, or that all the rocks became completely submerged.

"Given the topography of the hills on either side of the river, as well as the relative flatness of the ground on which the dome stands, any flooding on either branch on the river is likely to converge at our fork," Shanalore said as Mikon moved a different militia. "In truth, we are uncertain as to how bad it is likely to be. Given the elevation of our buildings above the usual level of the river, it is hoped that any flooding will not reach us. However, with the hills lining the rivers on either side, the floodwater has nowhere to disperse as it does here."

Lori nodded, understanding the dilemma as she recalled the hills that rose on the opposite sides of the two rivers that met near the Deadspoken dome that was at the center of the demesne. "Do you have sufficient material?" She moved her Horotract.

"We have the tailings from the mine, as well as rocks along the river," the Deadspeaker savant said. "However, as we are without a Whisperer such as yourself, all the rocks need to be moved manually, and given the season that has proven… difficult. Should the area beneath the dome flood badly, the only safe places would be the homes built into the central tree, which are finite in number, and the mine."

Lori nodded. It sounded like a lot of very difficult work, especially since they'd be doing it in the cold and snow. "It sounds like a lot of very difficult work, especially since you'd be doing it in the cold and snow. My sympathies."

"Thank you," Shanalorre said as Mikon moved her own Mentalist. "It is difficult, but it has to be done."

"I am familiar with the difficulties. I myself also still have things I need to build before the probably spring floods arrive. Will your projects be done in time?"

"It should be," Shanalorre said. "We are simply dumping the mining tailings and any other debris we can move into a crude wall. The problem will be properly waterproofing the barrier. We are covering the surface of the barrier with mud and attempting to bake it by lighting fires on top of it."

Lori considered that. "That might work, but the quality is likely to be very poor and brittle."

"So we have found," Shanalorre said. "But we've been gathering a large supply of wood over the year, and once of the first things my…. father…"

Shanalorre trailed off, staring blankly at nothing. As Lori looked on in bemusement, the younger Binder twitched, and her left arm rose and slapped herself on the cheek. She blinked, then shook her head. "Apologies. My predecessor used a taming to cause a stand of wood outside of the dome to continuously grow branches, which I have been able to maintain. Unfortunately, the dragons damaged several over the past year, and the current cold has reduced the growth of the few that remain. We have been regularly pruning their branches and gathering firewood over the past year, as well as refining it into charcoal, which helps supplement the deadfall gathered from the hills around the dome. Even with the loses, we should have sufficient fuel for this project, as long as people are careful."

Meaning the demesne was probably on the edge of running out of fuel. Though it made their sabotage of her warming binding earlier that winter when she was refining the ore even more idiotic. Or possibly lazy. Or simply deliberate malice…

"I see…" Lori said. "How convenient."

Shanalorre nodded. "Yes, the stand makes for a convenient place to dump waste to keep the trees constantly fertilized as well. Though people have to be careful where they step when they're pruning, and we've had to punish a few who nearly damaged the trees."

"There are idiots everywhere," Lori nodded as Rian and Umu came back, Lord whatever-his-name-was following after, all of them carrying bowls of soup and platters of round flatbread, as well as a few slightly greenish honey bread. Well, it had been the community meeting, so Lori had allowed herself to be talked into letting them use some of the honey.

As Lori picked one of the bowls of soup and her share of the bread—though there seemed to be one more piece of honey bread than there should have been—she thought of how difficult it had been to make her own demesne's flood barrier, even when it only covered such a small area. She considered how truly difficult it must be with only hand tools, rocks, mud and a limited number of people.

Then she shrugged as she tore a piece off her bread and dipped it into her soup. Not her problem.

––––––––––––––––––

Raining And Still Freezing

Over the next few days, Lori continued with the things she had to build to prepare for the thaw, whenever it came. A stone pipe was added to the corner where the two segments of floodwall met, with an opening at the bottom of a small recess on the landward side of the wall were water could gather, and the other opening at the top of the wall on the river side. She placed a binding of waterwisps at the base of the pipe—another thing she had to remember to imbue—which would only draw in liquid water so that it could be be siphoned up and then dumped into the river.

Once that was done, Lori proceeded to make… it wasn't really flood barrier, was it? More like a slight lip to keep loose water out. She added one to the entry of the passageway into the dungeon, a short step made of stone a little past ankle height, instead of the knee-high one she had originally thought she needed. After all, the water would mostly be flowing downhill past her the passageway, and would be siphoned out into the river, so the water was unlikely to reach knee high.

After far too many reports of people tripping on it—even though most people saw her building it—she added some lightwisps to illuminate it so people couldn't possibly miss it. This, strangely, caused even more people to trip, as now they claimed they couldn't see it because of the light, so they didn't know to step over it. Normally, she would have just ignored all this complaining but…

She tripped over it. Twice.

Finally, she decided that instead of making a little wall that people had to step over, she'd make a sort of landing that people stepped up to, and then down again as they walked into the passage. It required far, far more stone but people finally seemed to see and step over it now. For texture, she took a broom, and passed it back and forth over the stone while it was softened so that lines would form, giving water somewhere to drain if people stepped on it with wet feet.

She had to include a similar step to the baths, blocking the doorway to prevent any melting snow or possibly rain from getting in,

Once that was done, she found time to add an observation platform to the flood barrier, so that the volunteer Rian had found could keep an eye on the river to see if it was melting. She'd need the warning so she could properly secure their boats when the time came. Building the platform was simple enough, and involved adding more stone to the upper corner until she could shape a relatively flat area. The intake for the siphon pipe was directly underneath it, but that as fine. The platform would need a ladder to reach, and there were no rails or barriers to keep people from falling off, but the drop wasn't so far that such were needed.

Then, with all the preparations finished, Lori went back down to the third level and continued preparing farm plots. After all, there was still a lot of soil and mud down there, and it needed to be deal with. Fortunately, Rian was able to find her more workers. She didn’t like how so many of them were children, but apparently they’d heard of about how the previous volunteers had been able to shape the softened stone, and some had volunteered simply to try it out themselves.

Lori had been worried one of the children would try to throw the handfuls of softened stone they were working with, most likely at someone else, but thankfully that hadn’t happened. Perhaps they had thought the handfuls too heavy. Perhaps it was the way the brat had glared at anyone who looked like they might try.

Eventually, most of the children who had only volunteered out of curiosity stopped, and Lori was left with people who were actually willing to work. That still included the brat and two other children, but they seemed to be taking the matter seriously, and didn’t seem to be there because their parents wanted them kept ‘out of trouble’.

There were enough volunteers that Lori was able to divide them into three groups, one for each size of rock to be shaped for the farm plots’ drainage. Snow was brought down, the waterwisps bound to keep them solid, so that the volunteers would have a surface to lay their finished rocks on and keep them from sticking to the stone floor.

To give herself something to do while the volunteers did this, Lori also tried an idea Rian had proposed, laying a long log of softened stone on top of a long block of bound ice. The ice had a curved depression in the middle to hold the stone in place, and she used her stoneshaping tool to divide the stone into smaller pieces. It worked… to a degree. Because of the depression in the bound ice, her stoneshaping tool couldn't cut through all the way. However, by dividing the stone log like that, she could separate the rocks by putting a little weight on them and breaking the little pieces of stone connecting the pieces she divided.

Well, it worked well enough, so she got some of the bigger volunteers, made more blocks of ice, and had them start dividing tubes of stone, and then breaking them apart after she'd solidified them.

Rian, for his part, worked on taking the finished stones and putting together new farm plots. Biggest rocks at the bottom, then smaller ones, and so on, while she made stone slabs to put on top of them before the soil—mixed with some desiccated latrine waste—was shoveled on top.

The work was interrupted after a week while they harvested the vigas they had planted in the farm plots. The vigas had been allowed to dry on the stalks, with Lori doing her best to control the humidity of the third level. Harvesting the vigas took less than a day, as despite their best efforts, the dungeon's farm wasn't thatbig. Though it actually took longer to clear the plots of the remains of the vigas and get them ready for another planting.

In the middle of that, Lori was surprised to hear that things were starting to thaw.

"It is?" she said to Rian at breakfast a week and a half after Shanalorre had last left.

"I honestly can't tell," Rian said with a shrug. "It's all painfully freezing cold to me. But apparently we're starting to get rain instead of snow, and the sun's warmer now when its clear and sunny."

Lori frowned. Like Rian, she couldn't really tell herself, since inside her demesne she felt either pleasantly cool or simply just the right degree of warm. "How does the river look?"

"Honestly, it looks the same as usual, but I hear that's normal for frozen rivers. Personally, I wouldn't be sure that things have started to thaw until I looked outside and see the snow turning into slush. Though if we are starting to thaw, maybe you should reinforce the ice tunnels? We wouldn't want the tunnels to collapse on anyone."

Lori frowned, closing her eyes for a moment and focusing on her awareness of the wisps in her demesne. The river felt solid for the moment, but that meant little. It would be solid right up to the point it melted, and she wouldn't really be able to tell what temperature it was. She opened her eyes and nodded. "I suppose that's a reasonable precaution," she said. Another thing she needed to imbue. A thought occurred to her, and she frowned. "How many more pregnant women are left?"

"Only three more about to give birth soon, which is what I think you're asking about," Rian said. "Not that I'm trying to rush them, but I hope they go into labor soon, while the snow between here and River's Fork is still reliable. The closer we get to things thawing, the less confident I am about trying to use the sled to bring Shana here and them taking her back home."

Rian's concern turned out to be justified. When the next woman started giving birth a few days later, Rian went to fetch Shanalorre—and her escort of militia—and brought them to Lori's demesne. In the middle of her usual three day wait to see if the mother or the child would get sick—it had happened one time, causing Shanalorre to stay two more days afterwards to make sure they wouldn't get sick again—the river started to flow.

It wasn't much, just a seeming trickle of water flowing along the middle of the river, cutting a path through the accumulated snow, but it meant that temperatures were warm enough that water was more likely than ice. Through her awareness of wisps, Lori found that while the river was still mostly ice, it was starting to melt in the middle—or at least stay liquid—though the areas near the banks were staying solid.

"Great Binder, we should head back," Lord whatever-his-name-was said as he stood next to his Dungeon Binder outside, standing on the now-cramped platform the overlooked the river. "With water in the river, it's only a matter of time before it all starts to crack."

"I agree," Rian said. He was standing on the narrow level band on top of the flood barrier, standing near Lori as he looked out onto the river with a frown on his face. "We don't know how long before it starts melting, and I'm not confident in our sled's ability to travel over wet slush." He had never gotten around to giving her any plans to turn Lori's Boat into a proper sled.

Lori and Shanalorre both stood on the observation platform, its usual occupant displaced to the ground below to hold the ladder on the muddy ground. Occasionally, water trickled out from the output of the pipe on the river-facing side of the wall, sending water flowing down the wall's side. Water that actually reached the snow at the bottom instead of freezing, and was starting to turn the snow into slush.

"I have no objections to you leaving now," Lori said. "We don't know the weather patterns of the area, so it's best to err on the side of caution. The river might stay like this, slowly melting, for another week, or it could break apart at any moment."

Shanalorre looked out over the river impassively, before shaking her head. "I understand your concern," Shanalorre said, "but it's just one more day to make sure mother and child don't fall ill. We can wait that long, can we not?"

"If we knew that for sure, we wouldn't be suggesting you leave earlier," Rian said dryly.

With this indicator that things were finally starting to thaw, Lori double-checked her flood barriers and other measures. She had to alter the binding on the siphon to be able to deal with mud, altering the binding so that it rotated the water in a vortex to prevent the mud from accumulating and blocking the pipe. At Rian's suggestion, Lori also made holes along the bottom of the ice tunnels through the snow, to keep water from being trapped by the tunnel when the snow melted.

It was during this that she was surprised to realize that the tunnels weren't completely buried in snow anymore. With the inside of the tunnels being lined with for better insulation, the view through the ice had been blocked, but it was soon clear that portions of the tunnels were now well above the snow line.

It was at that point that Lori decided to bring down the ice tunnels. It kept her occupied for the rest of the day as she bound the waterwisps in the ice and carefully made the tunnel sag down in segments, removing the arching roofs and adding the ice to the walls on either side, making them thicker. By the time she stopped for dinner, most of the ice tunnels had been brought down, and the paths and streets of her demesne's village was open to the sky with was clear and cold and already being tinged with the light of the red moon.

––––––––––––––––––

"I don't suppose you could be convinced to put the ice tunnels back up?" Rian said at breakfast the next morning. His winter robe was damp, his hair was wet, and even with Riz and Umu wrapping their arms around him from either side—and lightly glaring at each other across his back—he was still shivering slightly.

"I spent all of yesterday bringing them down, so no," Lori said. "Why are you even asking?"

"Because it's raining actual, wet rain right now, and it's still freezing," Rian said, actually looking miserable. He glanced sideways at Shanalorre. "Sorry, your Bindership. I don't think it's safe to try and take you back home today."

"No need for apology, Lord Rian. You did advise me to leave when I could," the smaller Dungeon Binder said. "Would you like me to heal you so you don't get sick?"

"Please—achoo!"

"Rian, cover your mouth when you do that, that's how diseases get spread."

Lori made sure she was healed too, just in case.

––––––––––––––––––

The Coming Of Spring

With the state of the river being what it was, and more and more snow turning into slush and mud every day, Binder Shanalorre and her militia had to stay over for an indefinite period of time, at least until the river became navigable by one of their boats. Fortunately, the laundry area hadn't started to flood yet, and thus they were able to wash the limited clothes they had available. According to Rian, their friends among her idiots also lent the visitors clothes.

One of Shanalorre's militia had volunteered to try and go back to River's Fork overland to inform them that she was all right and not, to give a random example, being held against her will by Lori. Lord whatever-his-name-was had been willing to allow it, and Shanalorre, after some consideration, reluctantly allowed it, but only after Rian had suggested one of the demesne's hunters accompany the man. Lori had been against the suggestion, but had also reluctantly agreed once Rian pointed out they needed to find out the disposition of the beasts outside of the demesne's borders so that they could assess when it was safe to go out hunting again.

In the end, three people had gone out. One of Shanalorre's militia, one of the demesne's hunters, and one of the men who, according to Rian, had scouted the demesne to make the map of it that Lori had tucked away. They headed out, armed with spears, dressed lightly but with warming stones on their persons, and enough food to go to River's Fork and back.

They came back the next day, all of them injured and carrying the scout, who'd been incapacitated when a pack of beasts had surrounded to eat. The only reason he wasn't dead was because the beast's talon that would have ripped his leg open had deflected off one of the warming stones he was wearing, and only tore the back of his leg. They'd barely made it back into the border of the demesne, and even then they'd had to make their way in and climb a tree because some of the beasts had followed them back inside. According to the three, the beasts had stayed inside the demesne even as they started bleeding heavily from the thousands of wounds of covering their body that no longer had iridescence sealing them shut, either too disoriented by hunger and pain or too drawn to the possibility of prey. The scent of blood and screaming had drawn even more beasts into the demesne, who had also started bleeding and screaming, and a few had started attacking other beasts out of hunger or perhaps panic…

As the three men had been taken to the doctors and medics, Shanalorre offering her assistance to heal them, Rian had ordered everyone to arm themselves, and get the children into the dungeon. Once a large enough group of people had heavily armed themselves—Rian had put on his sword even though he was wielding a spear—everyone else had gone into the Dungeon and the door had been sealed while the group investigated.

They had come back lightly injured, having encountered some of the beasts when they'd been maddened with pain. It had been dangerous putting them down, but the group had been equipped with enough spears to keep the beasts at bay until they finally bled to death.

They hadn't brought back any meat since the beasts had been injured for long enough that their wounds had probably gotten infected, but once they managed to ascertain that the interior of the demesne was properly clear of beasts—Lori had assisted by identifying voids of wisps in her awareness—they were at least able to partially recover teeth, bones, hides and feathers.

That had ended any more attempts to try to contact River's Fork overland while the local beasts were still hungry from their winter fast. Fortunately, the injuries had been light, and while some might have been debilitating or even crippling in normal circumstances, Shanalorre was present. Thankfully, the other Dungeon Binder was more than willing to heal everyone's injuries.

Even before the three attempted messengers had gotten injured, Shanalorre had already made it known that she would still be available to everyone who were feeling ill or otherwise unwell for the duration of her unexpected stay. Naturally, this led to a stream of children being sent to her with runny noses, as well as anyone else in the demesne with some kind of ache or pain. She sat outside of the alcove in the second level that had become her room, poised patiently on a stool, and handled all the people who came to her.

The recently pregnant women and their newborns had taken to keeping them company, along with the older women—usually mothers or aunts, sometimes an older sister—who they were apprenticed to, as Lori had decreed. The spouses sometimes joined them as well, being taught how to hold the babes properly, how the head should always be supported, and of course how to clean and change the child's diapers when they inevitably soiled themselves.

Lori had needed to alter the way air circulated in the area so it wouldn't be so drafty, as well as making it a bit warmer for the sake of the children. This, of course, led to more people lingering in the area, men and women sewing clothes, sharpening and maintaining tools, cobblers repairing shoes and boots…

Not that everyone was just lingering in her dungeon. With the coming thaw, the fields that had been covered in snow were being cleared and aerated, the vigas that had been buried over the winter were checked on, and Lori was able to start reactivating the plumbing she'd needed to shut down over the winter. All waste water was once more directed towards the irrigation cistern after she'd checked the stone and pipes for cracks and other possible expansion damage from the cold. The pit they'd been dumping waste into before the winter were cleared of snow, and started seeing use again. The mushroom farm, no longer buried and snow or freezing cold, was also being tended to.

While the injure messengers and the need to make sure there weren't any pain-maddened, injured beasts in the demesne had forced a sudden halt on these activities, once they were sure all the beasts that had entered were dead and gutted—the trails of blood had been easy enough to follow by the other scouts and hunters—work quickly resumed. A few of the former militia men had been selected to stand guard with spears, just in case, and some spears were left stacked where people could quickly run to them, just in case.

Shanalorre had also ordered her own militia to assist with the lookout, and most of the men had been deployed to keep watch as well, with only Lord whatever-his-name-was staying at his side. Lori had been glad for the offered assistance. It annoyed her to have to put the other demesne's militia up for several more days, especially since none of them had been actually doing anything productive. Oh, they guarded Shanalorre, but it was in shifts of two at a time, meaning that for the rest of the day, the other four could probably be found in the baths, or at least just lazing around. Unfortunately, they weren't hers to command. They were Shanalorre's people, and if she was willing to let them sit around doing nothing…

Now, at least, they were earning their keep.

Lori had her own work to do. The new farm plots on the third level were finished, four new rows of bare soil with drainage beneath it. The small amount of soil left was added to the tuber planters. Now that the farm plots were ready, the Dungeon Farm was readied for planting. Desiccated waste, ground bone, and some sawdust was added to the soil by the farmers and other workers, and all the mud being tracked into her dungeon was dumped into the third level to add to the soil there.

With the snow gone, the old dining hall was finally unburied. Lori used airwisps to air it out, and the benches and tables that had been stored inside had been checked for rot and mold. The tannery was also uncovered, the roof inspected and repaired, and the containers full of alchemical substances had been checked for leaks as the place was put in order for the coming year. The chokers that were being kept there were dead from being buried and exposure, and their skins were the first to be tanned that year.

She also did her part to try and deal with the mud by solidifying the dirt on top of the major walkways of the village outside her demesne. Ruining the soil for planting wasn't a concern there, as given they were thoroughfares, nothing was supposed to grow there in any case. She'd done this before earlier in the year, but the dirt had come apart over time, no doubt from wear and water soaking in expanding during the winter. Lori made a note to get around to having the road, such as it was, properly paved this year. They hadn't had time before because of all he work, and because the rest of the year had been dry enough that the footing hadn't been a concern that had been brought up.

Since they were no longer really needed, the waste desiccator and the snow melter were dismantled, the stone used to build them added back to the stockpile. Since it wasn't flooding yet, Lori cleaned out the water hub shed of bugs by filling it with steam to kill anything in there, followed by a brief burst of lightning wisps, before having Rian send people inside to clean it out. Once it was clean, Lori reconnected all the pipes in the stone and rebuilt the bindings. She also added in a distilling stage to the water, since the river wasn't as clear as it usually was. While she already had a distillation stage after the reservoir, she wanted to lessen the amount of silt and sediment that got into it.

Despite the flood watch being kept on the river, Lori made sure to come out and check it at least once a day. The smooth, white expanse she had seen and traveled over for months was gone, replaced by flowing dark water that frothed white with turbulence. The water level was clearly far more elevated than usual, the dock wet from waves that occasionally lapped up and over the stone surface. Every day, the water seemed to rise higher and higher, and the stone dock was constantly wet and for all practical purposes under water. It at least confirmed that she hadn't made the flood barrier for nothing and that the river was going to overflow its banks.

Rian and Lord whatever-his-name-was both agreed that it was far too turbulent to navigate safely with the boats the demesne had. While it was certainly possible, even survivable, neither of them wanted to try it with Binder Shanalorre as a passenger, even on the Coldhold, where she could theoretically be secure inside. Additionally, while they could probably travel downstream, Rian was unsure as to how well any of the boats would be able to travel back upstream. With the further danger of debris in the form of driftwood in the water threatening to damage the ice of the boats hulls, both lords strongly recommended they not try until the river was more settled.

Well, Rian strongly recommended. Lord whatever-his-name-was bluntly told his Dungeon Binder that he wasn't letting her on board such a deathtrap in the current conditions. Lori felt her fists clench at the blatant disrespect, and the imagined repeatedly striking the man's head with her staff…

Still, she kept her peace. The man wasn't her lord after all, and if Shanalorre was willing to let him speak to her like that… well, that was her problem. Though something inside Lori cringed as she watched the younger Dungeon Binder simply nod and take it.

Really, if Rian spoke to her like that, she would be reaching for her staff.

…

Well, she would hold back if he had a very good reason since she wasn't unreasonable, but if he didn't, then the staff it was!

Since neither was going to be used any time soon, and to prevent damage from the aforementioned debris, both Lori's Ice Boat and the Coldhold had been stored away to avoid risking losing them. The former's ice had been removed, the wooden frame, fittings and driver stored down in the third level in one of the incomplete excavation corridors, where the carpenters had checked all the parts for swelling and damage. Some woman had volunteered to make sure all the components were stored properly and in good order.

The larger of the two boats had been encased in stone and sunk under the water, fused to the ground so it wouldn't budge. When Lori had formulated the measure to protect the boat for when a dragon came, she hadn't expected that she'd need to use it for something more mundane. Given how many different parts and bindings comprised the Coldhold, however, simply keeping them imbued and just encasing the thing just easier to do than removing the ice.

With so much to do, so many structures that had been covered in snow needing to be inspected, so much piping that had lain dormant that had the be checked, Lori barely had time to try and expand her demesne. She barely managed to squeeze in a single expansion in the time before dinner most days, and she certainly didn't have the energy for games afterwards.

Thank goodness there was bread to look forward to.

"Binder Shanalorre," Lori greeted as she sat down for dinner. After almost a week of eating together again—tomorrow would mark ten days exactly—in addition to all the previous times over the winter, having the other Dungeon Binder sharing her bench had become routine, even if Lori did wonder how much longer she'd be staying.

Shanalorre nodded right back. "Binder Lolilyuri," she said. "You look tired again. Are you well?"

Lore waved a hand dismissively. "I'm fine, I'm fine. It's just been another long day." Opposite them, Lord whatever-his-name-was watched the kitchen, ready to stand once food was being served. Lately, Rian and the other three had been coming to meal times later and later. The presence of the man seemed to stifle their willingness to flirt, which was strange because they never seemed to have a problem doing it in front of her. The delay wasn't for very long, but it meant that she was lacking her pre-meal reports from Rian. "And you? Any problems today?"

"None. I am pleased to report that all the recently born infants are progressing well and are continuing in good health without my intervention."

Lori nodded. It was the same report for the past several days, but that was good. It meant there were no problems in regards to the health of her most delicate subjects. Said subjects would probably grow up to also be idiots, but given their parents, that couldn't be helped, unfortunately. "I see. Again, thank you for your assistance, Binder Shanalorre."

"Of course, Binder Lolilyuri. It's the least I can do while we enjoy your extended hospitality."

At this point, Rian finally arrived with a cheerful, "Hello, everyone," sliding down onto his spot on the bench opposite Lori. Despite his appearance, he was clearly tired, sitting down with the sort of heaviness that only really, reallywanting to take your own weight off your feet could bring. "Ah, that feels so good…" He sighed, then shook his head. "All right, enough of that. Your Bindership, I'm told we'll be ready to plant the Dungeon farm with vigas soon, possibly tomorrow."

Lori nodded. "That shouldn't take long then. What else?"

"Well, it's not exactly a flood, but the person I have watching the river told me just now that he thinks he spotted seels in the water."

Lori blinked, then straightened. "Seels?"

"He's not sure," Rian cautioned as Riz walked up and sat next to Rian… on the side awayfrom Lord whatever-his-name-was. "Thinks it might just have been his eyes playing tricks on him. But he says he saw something dark in the water that was moving upriver. I think we should have people scout along the river tomorrow, see if they can spot more, and maybe tell us if the seels have decided to avoid our little spot of river from all the seeling we did last year."

"Do it," Lori said. She could already taste the meat… "Tell them not to venture too close to the edge."

"No chance of that," Rian said as he unconsciously started leaning towards Riz. "With the snow gone, the colors beyond the edge are visible again."

Ah. Right. She must have become too used to the nearly undifferentiated white when she'd been making beads beyond the edge. "Warn them regardless. I don't want anyone becoming beast food."

"I'm sure they'll be touched that you care so much," Rian said with a bright smile. "Speaking of the river, we've started seeing some new growth of ropeweed along the banks… "