(Bi-)Weekly Digest 88 - (#278 - #281) (Patreon)

Under Serious Consideration

"Now, some of you have been understandably concerned about the new houses that her Bindership started building some weeks ago," Rian said. It was before breakfast, the kitchen almost ready to start distributing food. "Especially in conjunction with the news that certain families in River's Fork—the blameless children of one such are currently in Binder Shanalorre's care because their parents wished them to be safe here where we have a functional dungeon to shelter them—"

"Rian, cease with the narration of things everyone already knows and get to the point," Lori interrupted.

"Your Bindership, important as our discussions are, not everyone bothers to eavesdrop on us when we're talking. They need the context."

"No, they don't. Just tell them what I told you to tell them."

Rian stared up at the ceiling again. When he looked down, his face was… strange. It was an expression she'd never seen before. If they used it in theater, it was probably too subtle for her to really make out, even with the help of lightwisps to let her see the stage better. "Ah, you've learned so much, your Bindership." Huh? "Why, you've gotten so good a dealing with people, you're even telling me how to do it. Would you like to show me how it's done, as you have clearly surpassed me in ability in this field?"

Ah. His face was different, but she'd heard those words from her mothers—or something like them—before. B-but NO! She was a Dungeon Binder now! She wasn't going to be intimidated into silence! She was going to… she was going to…uh… what did she fantasize yelling at her mothers when they had done this to her? No, no, setting him on fire wouldn't solve anything! Ah, right, she'd fantasized about getting up and proving them wrong by doing exactly what they'd dared her to do!

…

No. No, she was not talking to people when she had someone to do it for her!

"Rian, stop wasting everyone's time and get on with it!" she snapped.

"Are you sure, your Bindership? Perhaps you should tell me how to—"

"Get on with it!"

"Well, if you insist, your Bindership. As I was saying, we have some more new houses up now. While people probably thought they'd be going to new people moving in from River's Fork, they're actually going to people who live right where, whose families are a bit too big for the house they currently live in. While that was probably an advantage last winter, since they would all have someone nice and warm to share blankets with, it's going to be a nightmare when summer comes back around, so we're fixing it early!"

There were almost but not quite cheers, and the usual murmur of people talking in her dining hall rose in volume as people became more interested.

"No, unfortunately, people can't apply for the new houses," Rian continued. "It was decided beforehand that they would go to the families with the most members, to give them more space. Granted, there isn't a lot more space right now, but it should be possible to build in a loft space, or even a small second floor, provided everyone is fine with a relatively low ceiling. And there will be more room for everyone to have a bed, and even little places that just for them… but as I said, it has already been decided these will be for families with many members. I'm sure we can all count and figure out who those families are."

There was a brief pause. Then Lori heard a distinct rise in excited talking some distance away by disturbingly Mikon-like voices.

"That means us, right?"

"We're getting a bigger house?"

"Does that mean we can actually sleep on beds now?"

"Do you think if we also slept with—"

"This decision was made purely based on which families were biggest and not affected at all by ANYTHING ELSE!" Rian said loudly, though not loudly enough to drown out what was being said, or the laughs, teasing and everything else that ensued.

"No one believes that, Rian," Lori said. "And if that's obvious to me, it should be even more clear to everyone else."

"Now, that's just not fair," Rian sighed woefully, very clearly being theatrical. "What have I done to make people doubt my honesty? Do I seem like the sort of person to be dishonest about that sort of thing? Also, why would I lie about that?" He waved in Mikon's general direction. "Does it seem like the sort of thing I'd feel any need to lie about?"

Lori stared at him. "Rian, if you only prefer men, perhaps you should have said so far earlier—"

"No, I don't. What does that have to do with anything?"

She imitated his wave in Mikon's general direction.

"What does that have to do with— No, no, we've digressed a long way from the point of this announcement! Back to work, back to work." There were disappoint groans, along with a cry of 'No, keep talking!". "Back to the announcement so our Binder can get on with her breakfast! You all know how she gets when she's annoyed. No one wants her muttering about setting people on fire."

Lori rolled her eyes at the blatant distraction, but she was getting a bit hungry. "Then get on with it, Rian."

"I've been trying! Anyway, just to be clear for those trying to count, the four houses are going to the families of—" Rian rattled off some names, all presumably those with large families, and at least one set belonging to Mikon's own relatives. "Now, this means we have four empty houses, slightly used. Also, people will notice that there's one new house that hasn't been assigned to anyone. It will remain unassigned so far, as Binder Lori has plans for it." He glanced at her for a moment. "However, I don't think she'd object to it being used to store firewood or something until then?"

Lori considered it, then waved a hand dismissively.

"She doesn't mind! So, we have one more temporary storage space! Be careful, since it'll be used by people in future, but we can probably store dry things there. More firewood, maybe ropeweed when we have it… maybe people can use it as a rest spot when it rains, though you'll need to bring benches in. Just remember it's temporary."

"Now, once the families have moved into new houses, the houses they used to live in will be empty. While Binder Lori also has intentions for them, at the moment we've decided that they'll be used as workshops while they're available. One will be for the use of our chandler, Bonn, to hopefully make his life easier as… well, as thanks for supporting this demesne's bathing." Surprisingly, there was a round of approving-sounding voices and even a smattering of applause. "You'll, ah, need to open the windows, and we'll have to ask her Bindership to put in something to help vent out the fumes, but for now, you'll have your own little space to make soap. Another will be set aside for our cobbler and those making shoes for the children, perhaps leather work in general. I'm willing to listen to suggestions for the other two houses—later! Later, people."

The loud surge of people yelling out suggestions quieted down.

"Now, this is only temporary, but I've been told our Binder, who is the very best and very good to us—" there was another surge of noise that almost sounded like cheering, "—intends to make more permanent workshops for those whose work are… well, a bit too smelly for her to want it in the dungeon, where any smells will get everywhere."

There were reluctant mutters of agreement.

"All right, that should be it for now everyone! Please don't rush the families to move out just because you want their house. If you want them to move faster, help them with whatever still needs to be built with the house they'll move into. The heads of the families in question, meet with me after breakfast and we can get around to you picking which house you'll move into. They're all pretty much the same, but you might have a preference… somehow. Enjoy your breakfasts everyone, and have a good day!"

With a sigh, Rian sat down. He gave Lori a flat look for some reason.

Next to him, Mikon leaned against his side. "Don't worry, Rian. I believe you."

"Thank you!" Rian sighed, then looked at Lori. "So, a thought occurred to me for the next time we went to Covehold. I was wondering if we could recruit a wizard."

"No."

"Ah, but things have changed," Rian said. He looked self-satisfied for some reason. "Your objection has been that you didn't want another wizard in the same demesne as you, exempting Shanalorre because she's only a savant, correct? What if the wizard was in another demesne? What if we recruit a wizard, but they stayed in River's Fork? With you and Shana here, they wouldn't be able to take River's Fork's core."

Lori paused. Her head began to tilt sideways in thought.

"With you here, there's probably no point in recruiting a Whisperer, and there's nothing we really need a Mentalist for," Rian continued. "However, if we get a Deadspeaker… then we'd have someone to both maintain the demesne and, most especially, help accelerate the growth rates of our crops. Since Shanalorre can maintain Deadspeaking after it's been made, they can provide the magic for any sort of extended… uh what do you call Deadspeaking things again?"

"Meanings," Lori said absently, heads still tilted as she hummed.

"Yes, those. What do you think?"

For a moment, Lori sat there silently. "I will put it under consideration."

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After breakfast, Shanalorre approached Lori to inform her that the younger Dungeon Binder was going to begin the integration of the two demesnes legal codes for Lori's approval. Lori was a bit dubious about the prospect, but since she wasn't the one doing the work it was no trouble to let Shanalorre do so. Besides, if there were parts she didn't like or didn't understand, then she could simply strike them out.

Before Lori went to the wood storage sheds to cure the wood there, she took a look around her demesne. Since she had made the smaller boats operational again earlier that week, they were being used to get to the other side of the river. From what Lori could see, people were gathering some ropeweed from the other side, and there was already a batch in the retting tank. The spinners and weavers would have work soon, and hopefully people would have new clothes. Rian had suggested they make leather and hide trousers for everyone, but she wasn't sure how serious he was about that.

Some of the ropeweed was also being used for its namesake, the children beating the stalks and braiding it into simple cord to make retrieving their seeling rods easier. The brat and a few of the other older children were at the river despite the cold water, trousers rolled up and skirts girded around their loins, spread out and looking for suitable seels. The long, sinuous fursh were numerous and loud, though many seemed to be on the opposite shore. Lori supposed they were either starting to learn, or the children were a bit out of practice and had scared them off for the moment.

Lori found herself staring at the brat for some time. Her offer… shaking her head, Lori turned away to get to work.

Being back in her demesne was such a stark difference from River's Fork. The sky was open, and even when cloudy or overcast, everything was just so much brighter compared to River's Fork, with its self-imposed gloom from the dome over the core. Her demesne was also filled with sounds of industry and activity. As she walked, she could hear the wood being cut at the saw pit, the splashing from clothes being washed, the ringing of copper being hammered into shape, all rising and lowering with proximity. Even the slightly nauseating smell of the hides and skins being tanned and processed into leather, interspersed with those working yelling to each other, was a sign of productivity.

As she prepared her seat next to the shed to start curing the wood, Lori began to plan out where she would be putting the buildings that would function as workshops, and gave Rian's proposal the serious consideration she had said she would…

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Consequences Of (More) Theft

Lori hated it when Rian had a point.

However, as she thought about his proposal while she ran the curing shed, she found that she couldn't really refute his points. And if she was being honest with herself—and that was the only person to whom honesty mattered—the thought of having another wizard about to do things she could, things she had taken for granted as being done back when she had lived with her mothers… it appealed.

She couldn't even really argue his suggestion to recruit a Deadspeaker. Shanalorre could do little with her connection to her demesne's core—already as surprise, because Lori had thought she could do nothing—but one of the things she had confirmed she could do was to imbue meanings that had already been created by someone else. If they had a Deadspeaker… well, River's Fork's impending food crisis, while probably not solved, would certainly be greatly alleviated. Accelerating the growth rate of the crops, turning the need for weeks into mere days…

They'd actually have a significant surplus. Even with the proposed limitation of restricting the recruit to River's Fork, with the proper infrastructure, allocation of worker, and possibly pointed and painful public examples should the malcontents be… well, malcontent, they might be able to start being able to use the vigas for more than bread. They'd have a large emergency supply in the event of a dragon. They'd be able to replant and recover their crops faster in the event of a dragon.

Of course, this would require sending the Coldhold to Covehold. It would be several weeks, and to make the voyage worth the effort, they'd need materials to trade for goods they needed. While they had salt, it was unlikely that others weren't also operating in htat market. Most likely, they had managed some kind of profit because they had arrived before the winter, when people had been busy trying to preserve food, and there had been high demand. This early in the year, while there would still be a demand, the prices might not be as high. More people might have also moved into the market as well. Even if people had somehow not thought of building a boat out of ice before, the idea would almost certainly have been introduced by the Coldhold's visit.

Rian would also need some days to try and see if her unmarked beads could be sold to those who wished to imbue their bound tools, or at least those made by Whisperers. That added perhaps a week to the expedition. Given how the Coldhold was currently occupied transferring herself and other things to River's Fork, it was unlikely they would be able to mount a return trip any time soon. Possibly not until summer. So she'd have plenty of time to give the idea more consideration, then.

Lori was most definitely not procrastinating! She wasn't Rian, after all.

Unfortunately, the matter of the brat's proposal was, according to Rian, not something she could put off. She tapped away at the thought all day, her flow of thought going around in circles. Ultimately, however, she reluctantly decided to take the brat's offer. Despite being a child, she had knowingly volunteered—Lori didn't understand why, but that was perfectly normal for her when it came to most people's motivations—without being prompted, indicating a willingness to do so for her own reasons. In doing so, she alleviated a difficulty Lori was having, and could potentially train others to take over for her.

Despite the logic of her decision, it still made her neck itch in what might almost have been guilt.

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The next day, they were slightly delayed as the new door meant for River's Fork's food storage area was loaded onto the Coldhold. Unfortunately, its dimensions were just a bit too wide to fit through the hatch that went down to the boat's main storage area.

"Yeah… that was a bad oversight of our parts," Rian said as they considered the problem. Below, the barrels were still being secured. "We might need to have the carry the door behind us on your ice boat. It will be more stable laid down on. Our other alternative would be to lay it out on its side on the deck, and to be honest that would be far too disruptive, along with a risk of it falling overboard."

"Lori's Ice Boat," Lori corrected.

"That's what I said, your ice boat."

"…fine, get it done."

Rian nodded. She'd told him she was taking the brat's offer at dinner last night, and ordered him to see to any preparations needed for it: talk to her parents, talk to her, inquire what the brat needed, whether the parents were willing to come to River's Fork and assist with the farming there, all those things. "Right. Come on, mens, let's get this door off so we don't need to worry about falling off our boat and make it Clowee's problem. Also, someone get Clowee, we need her to bring this down to the Fork with us."

People laugh at that for some reason, even as Rian and some of the men picked up the door to carefully try to get it off the boat and back on the dock. Clowee, it turned out, was the ferrywoman who operated Lori's Ice Boat on a regular basis. They stayed long enough to watch the door be carefully placed on the ice boat before the Covehold finally got underway.

Once they arrived, the door had to be carefully removed from the smaller boat and taken to the mine, where Lori was finally able to mount it to the stone walls. It took some adjust to make sure it didn't scrape against the ground, or any other part of the stone frame around the door, but fortunately a year of mounting doors like this gave Lori enough experience to adjust the door herself without any of her demesne's carpenters.

With the food storage now secured by a door that can be barred—they were still working on a lock, since that was a bit delicate, and Lori wanted one that couldn't just be opened by someone with a carved stick—Lori's peace and quiet in the mine was broken as people started transferring food from the root cellar. Fortunately, Lori had to be outside anyway to make ice for the meat that had recently been brought in by the hunters with them. It gave her something to do while people labored to move the food, while Riz, Rian and other people had kept an eye out for people trying to steal food.

The most common excuse, not all of them from simply the malcontents, seemed to be that they had to eat their house's emergency food cache because they hadn't been satisfied after a meal. People honestly seemed to think this would get Rian and Yllian—Lori checked her rock. Yes, his name was Yllian—would let they keep the food they were blatantly stealing. Perhaps it would have, had Shanalorre still be in charge of River's Fork.

"Twenty lashes each for theft." Yllian had a darkly satisfied look on his face.

"If any children are willing to step forward and admit to any such wrongdoing because their parents goaded them to, they'll be let off with warning," Rian said. "I know how hard it is to tell your parents no, even when what they're asking you to do is something you know is wrong."

Five adults had their hands secured to posts and punished while the work paused a moment for people to watch. Lori didn't know if it was mercy, or Rian's own form of cruelty, but instead of a knotted rope, leather belt, or supple branch, they were lashed by what looked like a soaking wet towel that was twisted before each lash. It left interesting wet spots on their clothes, but from the sounds it was no less impactful.

Once they were done, Rian smiled at their pained or glowering faces. "Now, we're not unreasonable. If you ate your emergency supply, then of course we'll allow you to replenish it. We wouldn't want you all to starve in an emergency, after all. Dormin, you and the boys are going hunting this afternoon, right?"

"Yes, Lord Rian."

Rian nodded, and exchanged looks with Yllian. The two of them nodded at each other for some reason, and Rian's smile actually widened. "Well, the five of you are excused from work to help Dormin, Aska, and some of the other men go hunting outside of the demesne," he said brightly. He spoke loudly over their exclamations. "No, no, no need to thank me. I'm sure you're all eagerfor the chance to get as much food as you want with your bare hands and replenish your home's emergency stores. Going out there and having to kill beasts yourself will let you do just that! Don't worry, it'll be easy! If it wasn't easy, I'm sure you five would have had far more qualms simply taking food from the stores like you were doing, so of course it must be so simple anyone could do it! Right?"

He stopped and made a show of listening to their exclamations for a moment. "All right, all right, I'm not unreasonable," Rian said. "if you truly think don't have what it takes to go out there and help our brave hunters and ferrymen risk their lives to bring back some fresh meet, then you don't have to… provided you can beat Yllian or myself in a fist fight. Yes, even you Missus Asil. Everyone is equal under Binder Lori's laws. You have as much right to punch someone in the face as the men do."

Rian spread his arms invitingly as Yllian moved to stand with his fellow lord. "So, who wants to try? Which one of us do you want to face? We'll even give you a chance. Circle rules. Manage to force us out of the circle, and you win."

After that, transferring the food to the new food storage went much more smoothly. It would mean that her mine wouldn't be as peaceful anymore, since there'd be people coming in to get food for lunch and dinner, but Lori was resigned to that. In fact, people were coming and going the whole day as they filled the barrels with fresh water from the river.

When one was filled, Riz would indicate it to Lori, and she put a binding of lightwisps to fill the container with unseen light before it was sealed shut. It wasn't a perfect measure—a part of her wanted to boil the water, but they didn’t have the time or the equipment beyond just using bindings—but given the circumstances it was the quickest and most efficient way of making sure the water was pure enough to drink when it was needed, for now. Other methods could be worked out in the future, when the water was replaced to keep it fresh.

It took the rest of the day to move all the remaining food supplies once the thieves had been sent off with the hunters. The next day, Lori was able to get back to excavating. The change in arrangements allowed them to free up people from having to protect the food, since Riz and those with her would effectively be doing the same as they watched over Lori.

On the last day, with more space excavated, Lori used the stone to build a protective stone building around the water wheel and ventilation fan. Making an arching roof would normally have been difficult, especially since she didn't have her connection to her core to be able to control the earthwisps at a distance, which was why she'd been leaving the stone she'd been excavating around the water wheel, letting the piles build up. On the last day, she had enough mass make the stone piles rise up, and then, very slowly and carefully, using both her staff and her hand in either hand so she could control the earthwisps of both at the same time—meet in the middle. After that, it was all a matter of trimming the excess stone away, leaving an arching roof over the structure that supported its own weight over the water wheel shaft, and fan.

Unfortunately, she had to leave it at that, since without her connection to her core, she had needed to move slowly, such that it was dark by the time she'd finished. Rian had even come over to check up on her and remind her it was dinner time, then had left to bring food for her, Riz, and the others with Riz who hadn't gone to the dining hall because Lori had still been busy.

By the time Lori had finished, everyone else's bowls were empty, and the last remaining bowl that Lori had chosen when he'd first arrived was cold in his hands. Fortunately, it wasn't anything she couldn't rectify with some firewisps. By the time they'd walked back to the dining hall—which only had a few people left—the bowl had cooled down enough for her to eat it as Rian moved some of the brazers that had no one near them and still had some fuel over to where she sat.

Yllian was one of the people still there, and he joined Rian sitting opposite her as she ate. Neither of her lords said anything as she ate several mouthfuls, chewing on the boiled vigas. Finally, she swallowed and said, "All right. What do you have to report?"

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Making Farmable Land

The air started to get a little bit warmer as the days passed.

The next time they went to River's Fork, the brat and Shanalorre accompanied them, the former carrying three sharpened sticks as seeling rods along with her bedroll, blanket, and a small pack with a change of clothes. The children who now resided in Shanalorre's house, most especially her cousin, had been left in the care of two of Mikon's cousins, who had also started sitting at the table with the children during meals.

Neither of the brat's parents had come to accompany her, though they had spoken a lot to Rian. At least, Lori assumed that's who the man and woman with the four children who had accompanied the brat up to the dock were. Rian had spoken to them for some time while Shanalorre had spoken to her cousin, then the two Mikon-cousins, then all the children who had come to see her off. Lori distinctly saw the rock she'd given to Shanalorre solemnly being passed to the younger girl, who gripped the rock tightly and nodding several times as the children all tried to get a look at it.

Lori had invited the brat to spend the trip with her in her little private room, but for some reason the girl declined, deciding to spend the journey outside. Perhaps she wanted to get an idea of the concetration of seels outside Lori's demesne? That was likely it.

Once they were at River's Fork, she didn't see the brat much. The most she saw was during meals, and a little bit after breakfast near the river, while she was making ice for the food storage. Lori would sometimes see the brat, accompanied by Shanalorre and someone she didn't recognize except as she might have seen them on the Coldhold, walking along the river with a seeling rod and a spare in hand. As the days passed, the brat started to be accompanied by some of the children who still lived in River's Fork, who also started carrying crudely sharpened seeling rods.

While Lori didn't actually see her seeling, the results soon became visible. Wooden frames made from branches started to appear, on which were secured seel hides laid out to dry in the sun when it was out. The addition of what she recognized as seel meat in the food. A seel waiting for her with an amused Riz, which was taken to be added to the next morning's pot.

It took five more shifts for the dragon shelter in River's Fork to be ready to Lori's standards. The dragon shelter was mostly a large space interrupted only by stone pillars that supported the ceiling. There was a line of latrines near the ramp that could be accessed from the mine tunnel to be cleaned. Without her connection to her core, it was useless to put any bindings on it, and she desperately wanted to. Airwisps to keep the smell inside, waterwisps and firewisps to desiccate and dry the waste for easier cleaning, lightwisps so that she could add full doors in front of the latrines for privacy…

Well, perhaps it wasn't quite up to Lori's standards, but until she claimed the core, there was no practical way to maintain the bindings she wanted to anchor there. At best, she could place some lightwisps from her eyes for illumination, but there rest… she'd been some kind of container to place blood from her veins if she wanted to put in a binding of waterwisps she could maintain from outside. In the end, since the dragon shelter was meant to be used only in the event of a dragon—or at worst, a powerful storm—it was probably best not to put in any bindings—save for the lightwisps—that would encourage people to occupy the dragon shelter when there wasn’t a dragon passing over.

After that, they then had to bring in the carpenters and stone masons to add the things she couldn't. The stone masons added steps to make the ramp into stairs, helped her even out the floors, walls and pillars, and pointed out places that might need more stone for support. The carpenters measured and made the wooden doors to seal off access to the latrine's contents to mostly keep the smell of the latrine out of the mine tunnel, bench seats with a hole in the center for people to sit on while using the latrines, the doors to give privacy in the latrine, and even wooden lids to cover up the hole in the latrine bench to try and keep the smell in when people weren't using it.

The lids didn't seal in perfectly, but the carpenters were confident the lids will work to try to limit the smell. Apparently most latrines would have these, but because of the bindings she put on the ones in her demesne to trap the air and desiccate the waste, it wasn't needed. The carpenters also built fittings for a cold room for the meat and ice that Lori fitted into a corner of the cold room. The idea, apparently, was to put the ice in a separate chamber over where the meat is actually stored, to prevent contact with the melt water.

This involved using some of River's Fork's copper to make metal sheets to lay the ice on that would better transfer heat from the meat to the ice. It stored a much smaller amount of meat than Lori thought would be sufficient for River's Fork, but according to Rian and Yllian, this would be better for the demesne's circumstances, since there wouldn't be so much meat that some going missing would be unnoticed.

"That sounds dangerous," Lori said when they explained it for her. "Shouldn't we be working to store a surplus for winter?"

"That's what the harvest is for," Rian said. "Besides, if there's a surplus, people are going to start trying to steal it. Or eating too much. Or both. Or start trying to ferment it to make booze."

The low, only mildly indignant mutter that had risen had indicated reluctant agreement, though Lasponin—and it almost physically hurt Lori that she managed to remember his name—started loudly saying that it was all a means of trying to control the good people of River's Fork—

"Yes, because some of them are unruly, selfish, prone to theft and violence, and selfish!" Rian yelled back. "So they can't be trusted when there's food lying around! They tried to steal food from Karina! What sort of adult does that? The kind that clearly need some controlling to keep them from doing something selfish, stupid and selfish!"

"You said selfish four times," Shanalorre noted from next to Lori.

"It needed emphasis, so I repeated it. Repeatedly."

Despite some people not learning even as they were repeatedly sent out to hunt beasts, the demesne was actually doing pretty well when it came to food. With the beast meat bring brought in, the seel meet the brat and some of the other children were bringing in, the fruit that was still growing quickly on some of the trees of the dome, what they'd been able to gather in the hills around the demesne, and the remaining vigas from the previous year's harvest, Yllian calculated that they'd be able to now last until harvest, and a little beyond… provided that the influx of meats continued.

The hunters, the people being punished for theft, and the men who operated the Coldholdcontinued to hunt beasts for the demesne. While the arrangement worked—event the thieves had stopped complaining about the danger and just complained about how much the work smelled—it wasn't something that could go on indefinitely, given the plans they had. The Coldhold was needed for collecting salt and eventually heading for Covehold to trade.

"We might have to ask Clowee to move here with your ice boat to help the hunters get around and transport the game from the edge back to the center," Rian suggested during one discussion. "That one has enough space for the hunters, their assistants, and the game they bring back. It won't have as much capacity as the Coldhold, but Clowee can make multiple trips while the others are out hunting."

"While that might be workable, will it not impact the work to be done on the other side of the river in Lorian?" Shanalorre inquired.

"We have another boat, but yeah, it probably will," Rian nodded. "At this point, we might have to make a fourth boat."

Lori raised an eyebrow. "'We'?"

"Yes, because the carpenters will be needed to make the frame and driver components. Unless you want to try to make the frame out of bone? Then it'll be all you."

Lori thought back to the bones of the island shell she had buried.

When the crops were finally planted, people were directed towards clearing more land and readying it for planting. This was difficult, both because of the position of River Fork's settlement—between where two rivers met and merged into one—and because of the rather hilly and rocky terrain. What soil there was didn't go very deep before hitting solid rock, and Yllian said that during the more intense rains the water that came down from the hills around them tended to make temporary streams that would wash away any crops that were planted in the wrong place.

While there wasa moderately flat stretch of ground that could have been used for planting… unfortunately, some idiot had planted a giant dome made of trees in the center of it, and then put houses all over it to keep it from being usable. The ground was a bit more workable on the other shores on either side of the dome, but unfortunately, there was no easy way to cross them for the sort of regular work setting up a new field would need. There was a rocky part of the river that didn't lead back to Lori's demesne that could be traversed over if people were careful, but that was almost a taum upriver.

And so, they had to make do.

It was Rian who suggested that, since there was no nearby flat level ground that wouldn't be awash in flooding water when it rained, they should make their own.

"No, I don't mean make it with Whispering," he said before Lori was able to progress from her flat, unamused look to saying what she thought of such a stupid idea.  He started sketching on his plank. "I meant make something like the tuber planters we have on the third level, but bigger. We have a lot of rocks and somemud, and there as some spots on the slopes of the hills that doesn't become a waterfall. If we use the rocks to make some kind of… of terrace that we can fill with decent soil, we could plant there. With some proper drainage, even if water gets redirected into it, it shouldn't be a problem."

He turned the plank around to show Lori as Yllian and Shanalorre—she was visiting this shift, alternating between staying with the children and reminding the people of her demesne she was still alive—both peered at it as well.

"Is this supposed to be the hill?" Yllian said, pointing.

"No, that's the edge of the terrace, which we'll have to build up with rocks, but it's not like we don't have a lot of that lying around. We build it one the side of the hill, and now we have level ground to plant on."

"I don't see how this is any different from simply using soil to create an area that can be farmed in already level ground, Rian," Lori said.

"A lot of that level ground tends to get very runny when it rains, remember? If it were possible for plants to grow there, they'd already be growing there. if it's bare, it's because the soil tends to get washed away. If we do it like this, while it might still get flooded with water, this will actually trap soil, at least until it fills to the brim."

Lori considered that, even as she peered at the drawing.

Then she shook her head. "No, I still don't understand."

It took Rian building a little model using mud and river rocks to finally properly convey the idea he had. Once he did, however…

"That would actually be a workable idea," Yllian mused as he looked at the little model that Rian had built up against the side of one of the Deadpsoken houses, which acted as the hill. Little rocks had been stuck into the ground in curved, the open end towards the 'hill', and then the space inside the curve had been filled with mud, which had been flattened to make Rian's 'terrace'. "If we choose the right location, it could actually be made fairly large."

"I see what he meant about drainage as well," Shanalorre said. "Properly made, this shouldn't flood. The water would just pass through the rocks and towards lower ground, taking relatively little of the soil with it. I remember my mother—" Shanalorre trailed off, staring blankly at nothing. Then she twitched, and her left arm rose and slapped herself on the cheek. She blinked, then shook her head. "Apologies. My direct predecessor told me they used such structures for farming in mountainous regions such as Open Hand Demesne, when the ground isn't secure enough for a large vista."

Lori examined the structure as Rian and Yllian looked at each other for some reason. Eventually, she said, "Do we have enough people to construct this?"

"Moving all the rocks shouldn't be a problem," Rian said, looking like he was resisting the ruge to wipe his muddy hands on the front of his trousers. "There's still plenty of rocks along the river. If needed, we still have the mining tools, so if you designate one for us to use as raw material, we can break up one of the piles of stone you excavated from the mine. The biggest difficult will be to build this in such a way that it can support weight, especially when there's soil behind it."

"Consult with the stone masons about this. Though you probably already considered that."

Rian nodded. "I'll talk to Kolinh about it too. He or someone he knows might know how to build something like this."

Lori frowned at him. "Who?"

"Captain Kolinh, retired, formerly of Lomabuyar Demesne's militia engineering banner," Shanalorre said.

"Engineer Kolinh," Rian said. "He's the one who led the work on the first and second row of houses after you go done putting up the walls."

Lori titled her head. "I'll take your word for it," she said, shaking her head. "How long will this take?"

"A storm month, at the very least," Yllian said thoughtfully.

"Possibly longer, since I wouldn't be surprised if it collapsed on us a few times as we try to figure out what we're doing," Rian nodded. "Then we'd need to fill it with soil and plant it. Best to see this as a long term project. Something for people to do over the next few years to increase the usable farmland."

Lori nodded. "All right," she said. "Find a spot and build one." No doubt Rian already had a location in mind. "Once the stone has been placed, I will consider securing it to the ground. And let's see about building one of these back home, as well."

The dragon shelter was done. And it had only taken… a pale month and a half? There were probably a few more days there somewhere she wasn't counting. The days had blended together while she was underground, after all, and she hadn't really bothered to keep count. Still, as far as she concerned, a major part of her responsibility to her new demesne had been fulfilled. She was going to home and staying there for a week. Let Rian take care of going back and forth between demesne for a while. She wanted her rest and she was going to have it!

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This Probably Wouldn't Last

Lori knew this probably wouldn't last.

At some point, she'd have to go back to River's Fork again. Perhaps to build something, perhaps to fix something. Perhaps someone would do something so monumentally stupid that she'd need to become involved, like trying to attack the brat for her seel meat. However, it probably would be for some days yet. For now, she was back home and she was going to enjoy it.

"Your Bindership, remember the plan to move the malcontents here?" Rian began in lieu of any reports.

"Yes…?" There was… something wrong with this face. She couldn't quite place it…

"Going over what we have from River's fork over the past month, they should be able to survive if given the current population and the rate we've been bringing in meat," Rian said. "Granted, we need to maintain that rate at the very least, and hopefully increase it so the demesne will have a bigger reserve, but moving any more people here besides the children should be unnecessary. If the planting terraces work, that should be achievable. "

Lori considered that as she waited for Riz and Mikon to bring breakfast. Next to her, Shanalorre was acting as a post for her cousin to lean against as the young girl dozed. She obviously hadn't taken a bath yet, or else she'd be more awake. "Are they making themselves useful and taking to the new discipline being imposed?"

"Well, they're still malcontents, but they've been stealing less now," Rian said. "Admittedly, that's because we've been making things harder to steal more than any discipline on their parts. Though if they're not going to improve their behavior in River's Fork, they're not likely to do it here." He sighed. "And our demesne isn't a secured against theft as River's Fork. All the food is basically stored in unsecured buildings. The vigas, the mushrooms, the meat, the tubers, the little wild vegetables—"

Lori blinked. "We have wild vegetables?"

"What do you think is keeping our meals from being bland?"

"Salt?"

"That too. Besides, this way, you don't have to make any workshop buildings. The empty houses will be sufficient for now. Unless we need more storage for something, you probably don't have to build any more buildings until we begin construction on the sawmill, gristmill, and drophammer."

Ah. Yes, they were building those, weren't they? "Have they found sites for them yet?" During the winter, the river had been frozen over, so it hadn't been possible to find a good place along to build the waterwheels that the facilities needed. With the floods over, however…

"They've found some good spots," Rian said. "Though I'm having them build it downriver. That way our own water won't be full of sawdust floating down." He sighed. "I don't know how well they'll survive dragons, to be honest. A part of me wants to build them mostly underground and have the waterwheels be the only thing above ground, but that's just wistful thinking. The engineering would be a nightmare, and you'd definitely hate all the excavation involved."

Lori tilted her head. Yes, he was right, she would hate the amount of earthwisps she'd have to move to make a completely underground building… but she could alsounderstand the appeal of protecting something from dragons in that manner. "Have them find a rocky area to make raising walls easier," Lori said. "I will confer with them about what sort of building will be needed once all other construction is finished."

"Are you counting the meat-smoking shed in that?" Rian said as Riz and Mikon finally arrived with food. He stood up to help them to put down the bowls, cups and platter of breads as loti had first pick of everything. Shanalorre's cousin went next, awakened by the other Dungeon Binder. The others seemed inclined to indulge the girl, handing her the bowl of food filled with pieces of meat, tubers, some vegetables, and a few pieces of mushroom. The pieces were mostly tasteless, all their flavor drawn out in the creation of the broth that was the watery stew's base, but they chewed nicely.

Tearing her bread to pieces for a moment to give her some time to consider, Lori eventually said, "Yes, we might as well do that one first. Will it be possible to make the whole shed out of wood?"

"Hmm…" Rian 'hmm'-ed thoughtfully, stirring his bowl to try to get it to cool. "I'm concerned it might catch fire if it's all wood, but I'll admit I don't really know how to build a building for smoking. Though it mightneed a stone floor, or at least a packed dirt one, if only because there are more chokers running around on the other side than here, and they might be able to dig under any wooden walls to get at the meat."

Lori blinked. "Can chokers dig like that?"

"I don't see why they can't. They've got the limbs for it." He held his arms up, hands drooping down to mimic the common pose of many beasts, and scrapped his fingers over the table in a movement that could be construed as digging. Shanalorre's cousin giggled at the sight, making Rian smile, which widened as she imitated him.

She rolled her eyes at the byplay as she took one of her pieces of bread and dipped it into her bowl. "Yes, I see your point. Something beneath the walls of the structure, at least. For the rest, dirt will keep from burning as well as stone, and less likely to crack." She put the bread in her mouth. For a brief moment, it was a bit too hot, before the food merely became pleasantly very warm. Ah, delicious. Though she might have to wait a little.

"It will probably flood next spring, but that's a next year problem," Rian said. "We'll have all winter to empty it out, anyway. All right, I'll inform everyone involved of the order we'll do things. You'll probably need to cure more beams and planks for it in any case." He scooped up a spoonful from his bowl and blew on it before putting it in his mouth. He immediately reached for water.

Lori grunted. Yes, she would, wouldn't she? "The first one we'll build will be the sawmill," she said flatly.

Rian let out a little laugh, and the wrongness of his face finally vanished. "What a coincidence. I was hoping you'd say that. So is everyone else. No one likes working in the sawpit when it's full of mud. At least there's a ladder now, unlike last year." He shook his head, still smiling. "So… except for curing the wood, what are your plans?"

Loir shrugged, reaching for her spoon. "I need to make more solidified air for the cold rooms." She frowned. "And I suppose it's time to do maintenance on the reservoir." She could excavate the third level, or at least dig out more farm plots… but she didn't want to think of moving around and earthwisps for a little while. Maybe in a few days.

Rian nodded as she ate. Ah, she missed never having to worry about burning her mouth! "So… you have time to make a few beads? I don't know how many we have stockpiled already, but the more we can sell…"

Lori blinked, and her eyes widened in understanding as she swallow. "Colors," she swore at herself. Argh! She'd stopped after winter had ended, since there had been work to be done, and the whole thing had completely slipped her mind.

Her lord nodded again, smiling in amusement. "Yeah… I thought it was something like that. When you're done with curing the wood that's been stocked in the curing shed, do you want to take your boat and go out to the edge to look for a good spot for a shed for you to work from? Unless you plan to expand the demesne too, in which case… uh, I don't know exactly."

She twitched. While she knew she it was probably well-advised for her to go back to growing her demesne properly, she didn't want to be laid out in bed for half the day. Perhaps in a week or so, but not now. "I'll think about it while I'm curing." She always had time to think while she was curing. "I'll need to plan the steps."

"By the way, have you checked the large bead lately?" Rian said. "It's been in that alcove for a while."

Lori stared at him. Then she swung her legs over the bench and ran down to the second level.

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The large bead they'd broken open was unchanged from when she'd left it months ago. Lori had to resist the urge to start rearranging things in the alcove, instead sealing it shut again and going back upstairs to finish breakfast.

"So…" Rian said, glancing sideways at Shanalorre, "will you be continuing your experiments where you left off last time? Our last discovery was… well, I honestly thought you'd be revisit it sooner, given it's likely application in… well."

Lori also looked sideways at Shanalorre, who sat there looking blankly at them. Then she shrugged. "It's not like she can make beads, Rian. And even if she could, what could she do?"

"It always sounds so rude when you put it that way," Rian said.

"So? We will resume experiments when I feel like it. I have to review our notes."

"Uh, will you lend me those notes too? I don't remember them very well."

"… fine. I'll give them to you when I'm done."

"Ah, finally," Rian sighed happily, "reading material."

"Should I make myself scarce?" Shanalorre said. "This appears to be a matter I am not to be privy to."

Lori waved a hand dismissively. "Not at this time. I'll tell you when you need to be absent."

"Ah, I see. Very well, Binder Lolilyuri."

"Shana, please don't encourage this sort of behavior, it's going to set a bad example for Yoshka."

Shanalorre seemed to consider this, then turned to her cousin. "Yoshka, don't act like Binder Lolilyuri. Her behavior is not suitable for anyone who is not a Dungeon Binder, understood."

"But you don't act like that, Shasha."

For some reason, Shanalorre stared at her cousin. "As long as you don't act like that," she said eventually. "Now, clean your bowl."

"I don't have any more bread…"

"Use some of my bread."

"Yah! Thank you, Shasha!"

"I really hope this doesn't mean she's going to start more acting like you," Rian sighed. His own bowl was empty and clean. Good.

"And what would be so terrible about that?" Lori challenged.

"She'd be more likely to break her word, ruthlessly do everything she can to strengthen herself, and try to kill you when you're most vulnerable?"

Lori stared. Then she turned to Shanalorre. "Shanalorre, don't act like me. That's an order."

Shanalorre gave her a flat look. "Yes, Binder Lolilyuri. How should I act, then?"

"Continue acting as you have been."

The flat stare continued. "Yes, Binder Lolilyuri. I shall endeavor to follow your command to the best of my ability."

Lori nodded in satisfaction, then turned back to Rian. "The matter has been dealt with."

For some reason, Rian lowered his head and sighed.