Demesne 257 - Necessary Maintenance (Patreon)

She found the article in the almanac that she had recalled, a way of removing scents by exposing an area to unseen light. It had taken a while to find it because it was an article on the uses of unseen light, not a flow diagram. While it had many suggestions for utilizing the various forms of the phenomenon, it also had a lengthy list of reminders of its deleterious effects on the human body, which presumably extended to other bodies as well, such as beasts, bugs and fursh. Some of them, like blindness and growths of the skin similar to mild forms of blight, could be mitigated by a capable Deadspeaker… but they didn't have one of those.

Some of the things there she already knew, like how it killed dustlife—which was the same phenomenon that caused the illnesses from long exposure—but according to the article, it also killed mold with enough exposure. While removing mold would probably be beneficial, Shanalorre's suggestion for finding possible structural defects in the wood relied on the contrast between living mold and dead wood.

"Unless you can tell the different anyway?" Lori asked the following day after she had checked the almanac.

Shanalorre tilted her head thoughtfully, clearly considering. Finally, she shook her head. "No, I do not think I can. While it might be possible to differentiate between the two, it would probably take a more experienced and knowledgeable Deadspeaker to do so."

"You might still be able to use it," Rian mused. "Mold on the surface would die, but the damaging kind of mold is the kind that's gotten under the surface of the wood. That would probably still survive even when the surface mold dies." He shrugged. "And killing surface mold would probably be a good idea in any case. That can make a person sick, especially in an enclosed space."

Lori considered this.

Work on the interior of the Coldhold paused for the day as all the hatches were opened and Lori placed a binding of airwisps to create a turbulent flow of air within the boat, in addition to a binding of lightwisps to fill it with unseen light of the right variant. Yes, the place definitelyneeded airing, smelling of old food and old sweat, and since she'd be traveling in it soon, it was in her best interest to make the place more livable. To prevent possible blighting, Lori concealed the boat with darkwisps, blocking out the emanations of unseen light that might leak through the ice and any openings.

When all the bindings were deactivated after lunch, Lori herself checked the insides of the boat, and was gladdened at reduction of the odors. Some of the sweat would probably be introduced back in from all the people working inside it, but there was no helping that.

As the inspection of the boat continued, so did the construction of the new houses. The first of the new houses were finished while the Coldhold was in the middle of being inspected. It wasn't much. There was the door, the two windows on either side of it, cold stone walls, and the beams and planks of the roof several paces up. The fireplace was empty, the chimney built covered to prevent rain from entering.

"Tell those who petitioned for group housing that their groups can move in once two of the houses have been finished," Lori told Rian over dinner. "And that if they assisted with the construction, it will be done even faster. "

"Two so that there's no fighting over who gets to move in first, I take it?" Rian said. His bowl was conspicuously half empty of soup, and he was just getting started on dipping his bread into it.

Lori nodded. "And it motivates them to assist in getting construction done sooner—are you crying?"

"Oh, don't mind me," her lord said as she realized too late that those were theatrical tears. "I'm just seeing the day you don't need me anymore looming closer and closer as you learn how to deal with people. You'll be able to understand how people feel yourself—"

"Even if I can, I refuse," Lori said flatly.

Well, at least I'll always have work," Rian mused. "Now, if only it came with some kind of wage."

"You have a house, a boat, and soap, food and medical care are provided for. Stop being greedy. Next you'll be demanding land."

"Fair point, fair point… speaking of which, some people have been expressing resentment that the malcontents we intend to move here will be getting to live in the nice, new homes instead of people who've stood by you and have been loyal and hard-working subjects."

Lori frowned. "Why would…?" Oh, right, she had discussed this with him in her house. And given the timing, it made sense for them to come to that conclusion. "Please make it clear to them that the new houses are not for the malcontents. The malcontents will be residing in the shelter until such a time as residences can be found for them."

"Hear that?" Rian said loudly, glaring around at the tables around them. "Those houses aren't for the ones who left the demesne to live somewhere else! She said it, not me! Now will you all stop bringing it up and go back to complaining about other things that we can deal with?"

Somewhere in one of the tables, someone said, "But who are all those houses for, then?"

"People of this demesne who need them," Rian said in exasperation. "Go back to eating, Enso. You'll find out soon enough, anyway."

A grumbling voice faded away into the usual murmur of the dining hall as her lord sighed. "I'm going to have to check the houses to make sure the unfinished ones don't happen to have leaky roofs or something, won't I?"

"None of our people are that shoddy with their work, Rian," Lori reminded him. "To my knowledge, none of the houses built so far had been prone to leaks."

"People don't report things like that to you, they tell me," he pointed out. "And we've definitely had some leaks, which have been sealed with creative woodcraft, wax, and tree sap. Or possibly resin. I'm not sure what the difference is."

He probably had a point there.

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Lori had to be there to inspect the waterjet driver as it was opened up—she'd deactivated the bindings beforehand—and the blocks of wood constituting its parts inspected for any damage or deformity. While there were no cracks, some of the bone that she had coated the interior of the driver's tubes with had become worn from the water that had constantly been flowing through the driver.

In some places, the bone had been eroded down almost to the wood beneath. Had the bone actually been penetrated, the wood underneath would probably have swollen from absorbing the water, deforming and pushing at the bone coating from underneath, which would have resulted in damage that would expose more wood to water, which would also absorb water and swell…

Lori recoated the tube with bone twice as thick as what she had originally used, making sure to add even more bone to the spots where it had been very worn, hardening the bone as much as she could without actually needed to keep it strengthened with a binding of earthwisps. She'd probably still put a binding on earthwisps on it when she remembered, but the bone had lasted up until now, so it should be enough to keep the boat functioning until next winter.

She'd have to remember, or have Rian remember, to inspect the driver every two seasons for wear on the bone coating. Especially with the changes to the water jets she planned to make…

With the river now stable, Lori's Boat and the wooden frame and components for Lori's Ice Boat were also inspected for any damage, with Lori personally checking their water jet drivers. Their bone tubes were also worn and had to be repaired. The wear wasn't as severe as with the water jet driver on the Coldhold, but it was concerning nonetheless, especially considering how much the boats had been used in the previous year. If they had seen continued use during the winter, they might have failed…

The thought made Lori shudder. Such an equipment failure would have been an ironic death sentence, with whoever had been riding on them becoming trapped in the water until they had drifted to shore. Potentially safe from the Iridescence in definitely, but trapped where they were, unable to return to the demesne unless the risked leaving the water and trekking back over land. And if that had happed to the Coldhold while it was out at sea, collecting salt…

She shuddered again. Maybe she should make Rian put sails on the thing, in case the driver failed. Or perhaps oars…

In addition to the wear on the water jet drivers, the Coldhold also had some components that had become lose with wear, such as some of the planking, rails, and a few of the wooden components that regular got wet when they were gathering salt. Those were tightened, refitted, and replaced as needed. Once everything had been checked and the water jet driver rebuilt and resealed, Rian and those who had previously regularly used the boat to gather salt tested its functionality.

The crowd seeing them off was small, since many people had to work and the novelty of seeing a boat made of ice and wood moving seemingly without impetus had clearly faded. Still, there were some people watching. Some children were there, and Lori was aware that if the test was successful Rian would probably allow them to ride on the boat for a lap or two. She'd sometimes seen the children riding on the smaller boats when they crossed the river, though that could also have been because they had volunteered to help load and unload gathered materials.

Lori was there to watch the boat go as well, but it wasn't because she was concerned or anything like that! It was merely out of professional interest! She watched to see if she needed to adjust the output of the water jet to overcome the river's current, since the water still seemed to be moving swifter than it usually would. Her concerns were empty, however. The Coldhold proved itself capable of fighting against the current and progressing upriver as planned, although from the foam that appeared behind the boat, and a quick check using her awareness of the demesne's wisps, it had to move all the tubes of the waterjet driver into position and use its maximum capable thrust to do so.

Hmm, she might need to adjust the output of the water jets after all. While it was making its way upriver, it was quite slow in doing so, and that was just with the weight of its normal amount of passengers. If they loaded more people onto it to act as guards for herself, as well as Shanalorre and the people who had come with her…

Perhaps now would be the time to try the idea she had considered for the sled when she had been considering fueling its propulsion with snow, before the discarding the idea as currently impractical…

That would require tests, though. Such expansion would turn the water jet tubes into a pressure vessel, so they'd need to be better reinforced…

She'll have to think about this.

But later. She still had to pay attention to the Coldhold so she'll know for sure if she needed to renew the vials of her blood on the boat.