Weekly Digest 109 - (#350 - #352) (Patreon)

A Lorian Interlude: Mikon

After dinner, Mikon and Umu left the table so that Binder Lori could talk to Erzebed, the Lady Binder and Master Kolinh in relative privacy.  While the dungeon wasn't hot, it also wasn't all that cool. After a day of many people being out in the hot sun, the dungeon felt a little warm and smelled a bit sweaty, making lingering in it after dinner not as comfortable as it usually was.

And so, everyone in Lorian spent their nights outside, sitting on the outdoor benches and stools and enjoying the breeze from the river that Binder Lori had made with her magic. After the heat of the day, the night was cool and refreshing as long as everyone was outside. Many people opened the doors and windows to let the interiors cool, setting up stools for them to sit at so they could ward away bugs from making themselves at home while this was happening. Instead, people lit little piles of leaves—both dried and freshly fallen—that would smolder and smoke to try and keep the things away while they waited outside.

Waiting for their stomachs to settle, tired from a day's work but waiting for the insides of their houses to cool a little, people sat outside as they talked, played board games, took care of small chores, or just sat around to enjoy the cool after a long, hot day. Karina, Koyan and Kayas kept an eye on the children under the Lady Binder's care while she was still occupied talking to Binder Lori as the children ran about, tiring themselves one last time before they had a bath and got ready to sleep.

Mikon waved and nodded to people she knew as she and Umu headed for their house to get it ready for the night. Without Rian, no one had gathered around the log benches and fire pit in front of their house. Normally, this was a pleasant turn of events since it meant they could be alone with Rian sooner, but with him gone to Covehold Demesne again…

They didn't speak as they arrived in the house that had been was now their home. Mikon opened the back windows, Umu went to the ashes of the fireplace and the tongs—made of flexible wood with pieces of bone at the end to keep from burning—to draw out one of the banked coals there, blowing it back to life before using to light the wick of the oil lamp. The oil lamp was new, since Rian needed to bring his glowing rock with him to light the inside of the boat at night, so he'd gotten one for the three of them to use while he was gone.

Judging from how it was made of stone instead of pottery, he'd asked Binder Lori to make it for him.

Just another small sign of how special he was, that he could ask the woman to make a stone bowl for him, and she'd grant it.

Once the lamp was lit and moved to a corner of the house to keep it from being put out, Mikon opened the door and the rest of the windows, letting the evening breeze into the house. Unlike every other house in the village, their house had a stone roof, and while it was strong and sturdy, it became very hot during the day and took some time to cool at night. With the windows and doors open, the breeze cooled the interior, though it would take some time before the room was cool enough that they could sleep comfortably.

Even with all the doors and windows open, they didn't have to worry about bugs getting inside, the way other people did. Bugs couldn't enter house, barred by something Binder Lori had done. At least, Mikon felt the same strange tingling feeling entering the house as she did when entering the dungeon, and they hadn't had to drive out a bug hiding under the bed in weeks. The only other house so favored in the village was the Lady Binder's, and that was probably because it had the most children sleeping in it. They even had a bound tool to create a breeze inside the house! Even Rian hadn't been able to get one of those!

Mikon supposed one needed to be a child—or probably a group of several children—to be that favored.

The flame of the little oil lamp burning on top of the table wasn't as bright as Rian's glowing rock, but it was enough to see by as she and Umu got the bed ready. First they laid out the bedrolls. The two of them then laid out their winter robes on top of the bed rolls, the down-stuffed clothes adding more cushioning. Finally, their blankets were laid out on top as the bed surface, to minimize the poking and keep all the layers beneath from moving around. The topmost blanket, the same one they put on every time, was starting to smell.

Mikon and Umu finished putting together the bed covers with some relief and, after carefully lighting a little sliver of wood and blowing out the lamp wick to conserve the oil, went outside to sit in the cool of the seats at the front of the house. Erzebed still wasn't back, and wouldn't be for some time. It was Erzebed’s turn to mind the Um and make sure that everyone who went in were noted so they could help clean the insides at the end of the week. From the times Mikon had kept Erzebed company this summer, the building was also hot from the stone roof and took much longer to cool since there were no windows to help circulate air. That didn’t stop the people who went there for privacy, however.

It had still been mildly embarrassing when her Aunt Kasco and Uncle Haqunoh had come in when she’d been flirting with Erzebed though. Especially when her uncle had given her an encouraging nod. He’d never judged her, and had always treated her like on of his own daughters, and she loved him for that, but it also meant that he was as embarrassingly affectionate with her as with her cousins.

Well, it had only been mildly embarrassing.

They used the burning sliver to light a small pile of dried and newly fallen leaves in the bonfire circle they'd gathered earlier, which began to give off smoke to keep away bugs now that they were outside the house. Mikon sat on one of the crude long benches that could fit three people, making it clear that Umu was welcome to sit beside her. Umu hesitated, glancing towards another seat, but the smoke was drifting directly towards it. The smell of smoke, while delicious on meat, was less desirable on clothes, and if Umu sat there she would have started coughing. With a sigh, Umu sat on the far end of the log bench from Mikon, all but perched on the edge of her seat.

It made Mikon want to sigh, but she put an encouraging smile on her face and let the other weaver be.

They sat there quietly, the two of them just enjoying the cooling breeze and listening to the sounds of people enjoying themselves. Up above, the red and storm moons together cast everything with a pinkish light, pale glimmers of lightning flickering over the latter’s shadowed crescent. When she’d been younger, she’d been told that was a sign that a new dragon had been born on the storm moon and would be coming down soon…

Mikon turned her face away from that thought and pretended it didn’t exist as her mind walked hurriedly away from it like she owed it beads. No such thing was going to happen. Binder Lori and Rian had both given a lot of thought to when he would be setting off for Covehold Demesne, and had agreed that soon after the first dragon of the year would be the best time because no other dragons were likely to appear for at least the next two months afterwards. He would be safe.

He had to be…

But while he was gone, she had to take care of the house, and everyone who lived in it.

On the other end of the bench, Umu had her head bowed, staring into the pile of smoking leaves as if it were a fire. The breeze made her bangs and the long locks framing her face fly back and whip about. The rest of her hair was pulled back into a bun so that her neck and shoulders wouldn't be so warm. If no one roused her or drew her notice, she could stay like that for hours, Mikon knew. She’d seen it when Umu worked, ignoring the gossip and conversations of the other women around her, hands and feet moving as her eyes followed the loom’s shuttle intently.

"We should probably do the laundry tomorrow," Mikon eventually said, breaking the silence—well, not really silence, as the dark of night was loud with the cries of bugs and the yelling of children having fun a little ways off—and making Umu glance towards her. "There's not a lot of clothes piled up yet, but the smell of the top blanket is getting a little strong."

Umu made a face at that, giving her a sideways look. "And whose fault is that?"

Mikon shrugged unapologetically. "You do it too," she said, a teasing smile on her face.

The blonde looked away. The light coming from the corners of the house left her face in shadow, but Mikon was fairly certain she as blushing. "Fine. Let's do it in the morning before breakfast so we can get it down by noon." That was a bit optimistic, but the clothes would probably be dry enough by then. Umu looked towards the baths, then stood up. "I'm going to take a bath," she declared. "Are you coming? Your cousins are done, so you won't have to deal with them."

Mikon glanced that way as well, seeing a group of people coming out of the baths. As Umu had said, she saw several of her cousins among them, as well as her Aunt Taji. Vidts and Gutsi seemed to notice her and waved, which prompted the others to look and wave as well. She raised a hand and waved back. Yes, she did notwant to have to bathe with her cousins, at least if Umu or Erzebed were going to be there. There would be far too many waggling eyebrows and teasing comments. It always made Umu uncomfortable and Mikon frustrated at her cousin's lack of subtlety.

Yes, it was them being supportive, but it was still frustrating!

"I'll put out the leaves," Mikon said.

––––––––––––––––––

After a refreshing bath, the two of them went back home and got ready for bed. The lamp was lit again so they could see as they closed the doors and windows. With everything closed once more, the two of them undressed again, adding their clothes to the ones they would wash tomorrow. The air was just pleasantly warm on their freshly bathed skin as they got their clothes for tomorrow ready. Mikon also readied Erzebed's bucket for her in case the woman came home wanting a proper bath. It wasn't likely to be needed, but Mikon wanted it ready so that it would be found without lighting the lamp again.

Umu went to bed ahead of her as a result, lying down on the side of the bed she had claimed. When Rian had left, the three of them had tried going to sleep with nightclothes on again—the other two because they had felt awkward sleeping as they had without him, Mikon because she hadn't wanted them to be uncomfortable—but had quickly reverted back for being too warm. Umu had tried sleeping with a skirt on, but even that hadn't lasted long as her legs had sweated through the night, making her kick restlessly.

Once she was done, Mikon blew out the lamp again, plunging the room in darkness as she carefully made her way back to the bed from memory. She sat down on the bed as she heard Umu making herself comfortable, stretching out her legs to do the same as she felt for her pillow to place it under her head.

Then she lay back, folded her hands over her stomach, and waited.

She kept her breathing quiet and even as she slowly adjusted to what little light was entering between the seams of the shutters. Mikon ignored the low sounds that Umu eventually began to make on the other side of the bed. Let Umu have her illusion of privacy. Once the other weaver finished, her breathing slowed as she fell asleep, leaving Mikon to her vigil.

Eventually, the door opened.

Erzebed came inside with a tired sigh, not closing the door behind her and letting in the pink moonlight.

Mikon sat up on the bed. "Welcome home, Riz," she greeted quietly.

The other woman wasn't surprised. "You know, you don't have to wait up for me," she said, even as she reluctantly closed the door until only a small sliver of light shone through, keeping it open by extending the latch so it caught on the doorframe.

The familiar phrase made Mikon smile. "Well, I wanted to," she said, carefully sitting up. Fortunately the bed didn't creak or shift as she did. "How was your shift?"

"Hot," Erzebed groaned quietly, mindful that Umu was already asleep. Militia took letting people sleep very seriously, unless they thought it would be funny. "I wish Lori would let us have a bound tool, the breeze isn't really consistent even when we leave the door open…"

Mikon nodded as she listened while Erzebed undressed. The militiawoman was messy, just dropping her clothes on the ground. With a sigh, Mikon rose from the bed and began picking things up.

"You don't need to bother, I'll take care of it tomorrow."

"We're doing the laundry tomorrow. I'm adding this to the pile."

"Those clothes are still good! I only started wearing them a few days ago."

"Riz, you've been following Lori as she goes downriver to work. Your clothes are full of sweat. They're getting washed. Stop complaining, it's not like you're the one washing them."

"But they're still good…" Erzebed muttered, even as she sat down heavily on the bed. Mikon winced, but Umu remained asleep.

Mikon put the clothes in with the others to be washed as the militiawoman made herself as comfortable as she could without actually rubbing shoulders with Umu. It meant there was little space left on the bed, but that was all right. After closing the door properly and latching it shut, Mikon went back to bed. Settling on her felt side, she pressed up against Erzebed's arm. "Good night, Riz," she whispered.

Eventually, Erzebed tiredly said, "You too."

She only sighed as Mikon leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

Mikon closed her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep, telling herself once again that she'd push her luck tomorrow night…

––––––––––––––––––

A Little Bit Evil

As it turned out, counting the wispbeads happened faster than I had thought.

We were in a small, nondescript room in the back of the merchant house's stockyard, next to what looked like barracks for their workers. At a glance, it looked like someone's office, presumably the manager of the stock yard, or maybe where they kept immediate copies of inventory records. Another of Ravia's brothers had met us when the wagon had come into the stock yard, directing the sacks of beads here. Presumably it was to minimize the number of people who'd see the sacks of beads before the merchant house was ready. Someone had taken a pair of calipers and measured several of the wispbeads to confirm their diameter. Once they'd gotten an average, someone else had brought out several wooden trays and started dropping the beads into them without counting them.

"The trays are what we use to count out large beads," Ravia explained as I watched the beads being counted by presumably trusted people. "They'll hold a hundred beads each when full. Much simpler than counting every bead one by one. Though given the direction matters are going, in future we might have to invest in ways of more efficiently counting large numbers of beads quickly."

"I'm sure someone can design something," I said. "I can already think of some off the time of my head, but I'm not really much for making things. Though speaking of which… can I borrow something to write with for a moment?"

Ravia raised an eyebrow, but immediately went to a nearby drawer. From it he drew out a pale slate and a piece of chalk. "Here. You may use these."

"Thank you," I said, starting to write. "I sold some beads to a few workshops yesterday to test the market. Don't worry, they were specifically set aside for the purpose, so it won't affect the count. Could you approach them when you're ready to start selling the wispbeads? I wouldn't want them to have to worry about where they'd get further supplies."

"Ah. Master Yhosed was one of them, I presume?"

I nodded. "I'm just listing out who they are and what I can remember about the directions to get to their workshops. At the very least, it's a list of people who won't doubt that the wispbeads are real. You probably won't have all that many problems finding customers for the beads, but I'd appreciate it if you can let them know they can buy from you. Call it due diligence on my part. I'll try to tell them myself if I pass by, but I might not have the time."

Ravia nodded. "I understand perfectly, Master Rian. A pity you seem to be already employed. I would very much like to hire you to work for us."

"I take it as a high compliment that people wish I'd work for them instead," I said with smile, then glanced back at the beads being counted. "Wow, they're working fast. I have to remember this. It would make out own counting much easier."

"It's not something most people would need to know about," Ravia said, also watching the counting being done. The beads were measured out and then placed in canvas sacks that were far larger than the sacks we had brought. "Few people are in a position to have so many beads."

"And most of the ones who do usually have people to count it for them."

Ravia laughed. "Yes, that too."

I finished my list, handing it to Ravia, who took it graciously and actually looked it over, then took the chalk and began to mark the names. "I'll have to ask, but I think we do business with some of these workshops already. Very likely, if they're nearby. I'll see about informing them about availability. We'll need people who can spread word in the right floors, after all."

––––––––––––––––––

When the beads were counted—and the number of 'eleven thousand' was confirmed—I received a receipt confirming the amount, as well as the total for them I was owed for them. It… was honestly a lot. Well, it probably wouldn't last very long for someone living in Covehold Demesne, what with the prices of everything, but we’d only be staying a few more days.

Now that I had a large amount of beads that the merchant house technically haven’t gotten around to giving me yet, I set about on the second phase of this trading trip, which was buying the things that our demesne needed.

Bolts of sturdy cloudbloom cloth, to make more trousers for everyone. Paper, both the thick, heavy sort that we can use for windows, and the thinner sort for writing on, so we can finally stop writing on pieces of wood. Ink. Pens. Thick leather for soles so that our cobbler could try to make new shoes, or at least repair the ones we already had. Seeds or cuttings—preferably the latter—of cloudbloom and tressflowers to grow for fibers and oil. Mesh screens, because our smiths didn’t have time for those. Wire, now that we could afford it. Bread riser cultures, brewjelly and vitrioljelly…

It was a long list.

The first time I’d come to Covehold Demesne, I thought I’d need to run around the town looking for and sourcing what we needed. Thankfully, I found out about the merchant houses before I did, or else I’d have wasted a lot of time. For a relatively small fee or small markup, the merchant houses would source and assemble the materials you were looking for, and depending on the house might even be willing to deliver it to your demesne for you. After all, I wasn’t the only one coming from another demesne who didn’t have the time to go looking for the what they needed.

While we couldn’t have things delivered to Lorian Demesne—it was too far over land, and not on the same river Covehold was on, so it couldn’t be brought upstream by one of the small boats—they could gather the materials for us. Their rates and margins were reasonable, which was why I’d also used them to gather the materials we’d been bought last time.

“It will take a few days to assemble all this, Master Rian,” Ravia said.

“I know,” I said. “We were hoping to be able to leave in five days, so if possible see about fulfilling this only with stock that’s already available.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem.” Ravia’s smile became slightly smirk-like. “Especially if the workshop in question has a bound tool for drawing wire that they can now use.”

“I leave the matter in your capable hands then,” I said cheerfully. “Also, I was wondering if you could inquire about bound tools that people would be willing to sell cheaply since they can’t use them anymore?”

Ravia’s smile became less ‘like’ and more definitely a smirk. “Ah. I believe I understand. As soon as I get these orders arranged, I’ll make the inquiries. There will only be a small window of time before word spreads, so we should move quickly. Are there any sorts of bound tools you’re looking for in particular?”

“Wisplights and small, hand-held bound tools,” I said promptly. “Saws as well, as long as it’s not too big.”

Ravia nodded slowly. “We will probably start purchasing such tools ourselves soon,” he said with a slowly growing smile, “but as our partner, I’m sure father wouldn’t mind if we provide the tools to you at cost before the price changes.”

“Why, thank you.” Honestly, I’d just realized that people might have started selling off their bound tools because they couldn't use them anymore. And while Lori’s bound tools were usable, I’m sure she’d like some samples she could examine and study to improve what she could make.

––––––––––––––––––

We got the sacks back, which was nice.

"All right," I said out loud as we stepped out of the merchant house. It was early afternoon, so there was still a lot of daylight ahead of us. "We need to buy food to bring back for the others later, so keep your noses open for anything that smells great. Booze too if you see anyone selling them in big enough bottles or casks."

"Right, Rian!"

"Slug skewers!"

"No slugs!" Multaw and I cried.

"Aw…"

"I'll buy some for you if we find any. Multaw, don't tell the others and I'll buy you something too." Ugh, now I have to remember to get the others something for when it was their turn to eat out. I thought I'd left acting like a parent behind with Lori. "But food is for later. We need to recruit those Deadspeakers Lori said we could finally have. So let's go find some Deadspeakers willing to change demesnes for a free baths, a small house, most of their needs taken care of, and living under Lori."

The three of us considered that as we started walking, Cyuw carrying full of the sacks.

"It all sounds good until you actually meet Lori," I said eventually. Multaw and Cyuw nodded. "And then it sounds good again once you realize she's not that bad, or at least you don't need to talk to her." Multaw and Cyuw nodded again. "No, no, that won't work. They'll be Deadspeakers. She might actually talk to them regularly, if only to give them orders." More nods.

I considered the problem quietly for several steps. "Well, by the time we get them home, there'll be no escape!" I concluded cheerfully. They nodded. "Is that evil?"

"A little bit," Multaw said.

"Just a little, though," Cyew added.

I nodded. "Well, I'm sure I can live with myself afterwards. Now, let's find the poor fools—I mean, lucky people who'll be our new neighbors!"

Our search for poor fools—I mean, lucky people led us to walking around looking for a job-placement office. It was a little stall, but the three walls were covered by little bills listing jobs that were looking for people to do them. I was familiar with them. I'd gotten my job at the lumberyard from a job-placement office, and had even placed bills with them to hire other people. The system was familiar to me, and moving to another continent didn't seem to have changed it.

That being said, there had been few changes. Back in the old continent, if you didn't have a bill that you'd written already office had let you have some paper for free, as well as a pen and ink. Granted, it was a small piece of paper, but it was free. The larger sheet that was less likely to be overlooked, they charged for a little for. I remembered it was usually 5 bead-yutani per sheet of very cheap paper.

In the placement office we found, they offered the small sheets for twice that much, and the larger sheets for 25 bead-yutani. The pen and ink, we could borrow for ten bead-yutani for writing on one sheet. If we wanted to write on another sheet, we had to pay again. I'm surprised they didn't charge for the writing surface, but I kept that thought inside so I didn't give them ideas. Posting was a single bead-yutani, but by that point they'd already made their profit. Most of the bills posted was on their paper.

Another change was the postings were divided into three categories. One wall had the job placement bills I was familiar with, where people who were hiring wrote down what sort of people they were looking for. Another wall, bowing to the market pressures of the area, had listings from demesne trying to recruit people, looking for farmers, carpenters, farmers, sawyers, farmers, weavers, farmers… it went on like that for a while. I didn't know if it was from there not being enough farmers or people making the mistaken assumption that more farmers meant more or faster-growing crops

The third section was the inverse. People had posted bills about themselves. There were no names, but people described what they could do. Carpenters, smiths of various kinds, a surprising number of Horotracts and Whisperers who were unemployed by implication… presumably, it was in the hope that people looking for skilled workers would hire them.

I wasn't sure how effective that was, but it couldn't be completely useless if people were using it, could it?

Checking over the listings unfortunately didn't bring up any Deadspeakers. At least, none that I would hire. The Deadspeakers who'd posted of their services listed prices first thing, as well as used vague language and seemingly random letters that probably meant something to someone. It meant nothing to me, but I got the feeling it was probably something illegal.

Shrugging, I bought some paper and paid to use the pen as I started writing out our bill recruiting Deadspeakers.

––––––––––––––––––

Going Out Tonight

The man at the desk of the job-placement office rad over my bill before nodding. "All right. Where should I send applicants?" he asked, taking out a book.

I blinked suddenly feeling stupid. "Oh… ah, we've just arrived, we don't… uh, can I come back later?"

The man nodded, sliding the bill back towards me. It seemed this wasn't an irregular occurrence. "Come back once you find out the address of the inn you're staying at. Be sure to have someone there to receive applicants." Yes, this definitely happened a lot.

"I will," I said, taking the bill and adding it to the leather folder so I didn't lose it. I took out the bead I was going to use to pay for posting the bill. "Thank you for the help."

He seemed pleasantly surprised as he accepted the little bead. Sure, it wasn't a lot, but it was a bead and he could probably use it for something. I had to wonder what the prices were in the general stores and such like. We should probably stop at one later to check it out. It would be a good way for us to be more familiar with the local prices.

I considered what to do. It was clear that for the next five days we needed some kind of base, somewhere to work from. An inn was the simple solution, but if we were going to be spending beads anyway… well, it was only five more days. We could afford paying the docking fee for that long, and it meant we wouldn't have to go out so far at night or in the morning. And while the story of someone stealing a boat was concerning, security had… probably been improved. Maybe.

…

I could, alternately, get a room at an inn for myself and tell the others to stay on the ship, but that was unfair. I didn't want to be that kind of leader, even if most people expected lords to be like that.

Sighing, I almost decided to call it an early day, but then a thought struck me.

Well, it couldn't hurt to give it a try.

We weren't that far away from Emborin and Sons, so after a little walking and navigating and buying Cyuw some slug skewers, with some beast skewers for myself and Multaw, I found myself back at Master Yhosed's carpentry workshop. The bound tool was uncovered and wood was being cut on its saw. The person moving the wood through was clearly trying to keep from falling into the temptation of moving with unseemly haste and just barely succeeding.

I spotted Master Yhosed at talking to another man and waited until they were parting before I called out, "Master Yhosed!"

Fortunately he heard me, and I saw his expression change a little as he realized who it was calling him. Instead of walking towards me, however, he got the attention of the man he'd been talking to, said a few words, and the two of them both walked over to me.

"Master Rian," he said, sounding pleased. "Good to see you again. Just the man I was hoping to see."

"Master Yhosed," I said. "I see you're getting good use out of your bound tool."

"I am," he said, smiling. "I'm hoping to get more use out of it this week. Vov here was just telling me he'd like to get as much use out of his bound tool."

"It's nice to meet you, Master Vov," I said, exchanging grips with the man. The man was leaner than Yhosed, his build more wiry, but he had the same strong, working man's grip. "You have a… saw and planer, I believe?"

"Yes. Yhosed here tells me you're the one I have to talk to about that," he said.

"Well, I do have a couple on me," I said. "If you're willing, I can offer you some at the same price as what I offered Master Yhosed yesterday?"

"I was hoping I could get some more as well," Yhosed said.

"Ah." I leaned towards them a little, which they reciprocated. "Don't spread it around, but you should be able to buy them from Emborin and Sons in a few days." I winked. "However, until then… as I said, I do have a pair I could offer you. Perhaps somewhere private?"

I had Multaw and Cyuw wait downstairs, handing Cyuw the folder, then Yhosed led me upstairs while Vov went off, presumably to get his own beads. Two wispbeads came out of my pouch, and Yhosed gave me another small mid-large bead for them.

"Thank you," he said, making the wispbeads disappear into his own belt pouch. "Now, what can I do for you, Master Rian?"

"It's a bit complicated, but to put it simply I'm looking for a Deadspeaker to recruit for our demesne," I explained. "However, they need to be someone with experience in woodworking. I was wondering if you could recommend any Deadspeakers might have the skills but are looking to live in a smaller demesne? Perhaps someone you wished you could hire if you had more beads?"

Yhosed crossed his arms, tapping the fingers of one hand on the opposite forearm thoughtfully. "Hmm… well, I know a few people, but I'm not sure they'll be willing to leave…" He lapsed into silence for a moment, then nodded. "Come back in two days, and maybe I'll have something for you then."

I nodded. "I'll bring more beads."

––––––––––––––––––

Master Vov was quite glad to pay ten bead-tani for two wispbeads as well, and I was able to ask him if he knew any Deadspeakers with a familiarity with woodworking who might be willing to move to another demesne. I briefly considered going back to all the other workshops I'd visited yesterday, then dismissed that idea. It would take too long to check up on them in a timely manner.

I decided we'd stop early, and the three of us headed for the docks. My feet were aching again, and I wanted to get back to the ship. Along the way, we picked up a paper bag of dumplings, and a leaf-lined paper bag of more meat skewers for the others. I insisted on being the one to carry the food, otherwise if there was trouble the two wouldn't be able to react as needed. The regret came quickly, as not only did I have to carry so much hot food in my arms, I had to smell it the whole way and it was delicious.

The things I do to be a good leader.

Fortunately, we didn't run into trouble on the way to the docks, which was always nice.

"Hello Yhoe," I greeted when we got to the dockmaster's office. "Multaw, could you take the food for a moment? I need to talk to the dockmaster for a moment. Yhoe, how much for us to dock here for the next five days?"

It turned out that after the ship that was stolen was… well, stolen, they'd been able to hire more guards to patrol the docks and warehouses at night. I got the sense it was mostly the latter that was being protected, since it contained large amounts of goods to be brought back to the old continent that had not yet been paid for. I wasn't able to get the dockmaster to lower the price for docking that many days, but an offer of a bag of dumplings for him and all the guards who would be there that night secured us some consideration so that they'd keep an eye on us. Free food was free food, after all.

I sent Cyuw off to buy another bag of dumplings for the dockworkers as I signaled the Coldholdand had them dock. Once the ship was secured again, I could finally sit down, which I did with a happy groan. Everyone had already opened up the bags and were happily eating. I accepted a dumpling and two skewers and joined them with tired enthusiasm.

It occurred to me that I might have been a little bit too free with Lori's beads. Uh… I can probably justify it as necessary expenses for expediting things?

…

Ugh, I'm going to have to spend the rest of the afternoon writing down expenses so far. That's the responsible thing to do.

After everyone had eaten and were pleasantly full, I sighed and summoned the energy to try to be responsible again. "All right everyone, we need to talk," I said. Everyone was already sitting, so I just had to wait a little bit until everyone was paying attention to me. " First, Multaw, Cyuw, I still need to go out tonight… as soon as my feet don't ache anymore. So don't get too comfortable, all right?"

The two men sighed a little, but nodded.

"Secondly, we're sleeping docked here for the rest of our stay, now that we can afford to," I told them all. "So we don't have to worry about navigating in the dark." Liggs let out a sigh of relief. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep watch. Ravia told me that someone set fire to one of the warehouses—” I waved at the large buildings on the shore,”—and used that as a distraction to steal a ship. I don’t want that to happen to use. Do you?”

There were mutters that averaged out to a consensus in the negative.

“Right! Now, tomorrow morning, I want you all to take the boat out of here and gather more salt, because it never hurts to have more things to sell. It will help pay for our food that’s not the supplies we brought along—” there were fervent nods at this, “—and give you all something to do while keeping the ship safe. And we’ll need drinking water for the trip back anyway.”

“Multaw, Cyuw, we’re going out tonight to the bars and taverns and see if we can recruit there or find people we can recruit. So nap for the rest of the afternoon, as short as that is, then we’re going out again. Have you all decided on who’s going to take Multaw and Cyuw’s place accompanying me tomorrow?”

“I’m going with you, L—Rian, and so is Liggs,” Hans said.

“Then the two of you get as much sleep as you can,” I said. “We’re going back to the merchant’s tomorrow, and we still have to visit the lawyer who’s working for the Golden Sweetwood Company to find out if there’s been a reply already.” We really should have gotten to that today, but… the lawyer was deeper into the demesne, closer to the Dungeon, and that was a long walk.

Ugh, I’d need to find that authorization letter from Yllian. The lawyer and I and already met, but it would still require the authorization letter to have him talk to me.

Sometimes I wished I’d refused become Lori’s lord. So much work to do, so many matters to attend to… but then, it wasn’t like I would have been good for anything else but carrying things and doing what someone else told me to do. If I was going to just be doing what someone else told me to do, with no expectation of skill on my part, then it might as well be where I could do the most good.

I glanced out over the water. It was late afternoon, but there was still maybe an hour or so left before nightfall. “I’m going down to get some rest,” I announced. “Could one of you wake me up when the boats all start coming in? I need to take a quick rest. You should too Multaw, Cyuw.”

“Go ahead, Rian,” Yhorj said. “We’ll take care of things up here.”

“Thanks,” I said. “When they start coming in, all right?”

I headed downstairs, carefully climbing down—my feet protesting being used again after their short rest but resigned to their fate to the hold, heading to the common area. Flipping down one of the beads along the wall, I took off my boots and socks—groaning in relief as I did so—and laid down, my feat doing over the edge of the bed to keep pressure off them. Adjusting my belt pouch so I didn’t have to remove it, I lay back on the hard wooden surface and closed my eyes.

Just a short rest. I was just going to have a short rest, and then it was back to work…

The darkness of my soul behind my eyes claimed me, and I…