Weekly Digest 115 - (#368 - #370) (Patreon)

Annoying Introductions, The First

As soon as they were in the ship, Rian grabbed one of the bound tools—one of those Lori had made—and put a bead in its receptacle. It shined with light, but it also started moving air.

"Here," Rian said, handing the wisplight to Shanalorre, which started blowing her hair back from her face. "Wouldn't want either of you to overheat and get sick."

"Thank you, Lord Rian," Shanalorre said, holding the wisplight air jet with both hands. Lori made sure to add more imbuement to the binding of airwisps she had anchored around her own head keeping her cool.

Rian unfolded one of the beds along the wall to act as a bench. "Why don't the two of you sit down, I need to get the folder…" He opened a pack, digging around inside until he drew out a leather folder that Lori was fairly sure he hadn't had when he left. "Ah, here we are. I'll make this quick, we can talk about issues that need more extensive discussion later. First, the good news I'm sure you'll like: our earnings!"

Lori rolled her eyes. Why was she not surprised Rian focused first on a number that went up? Still, she supposed she could understand the desire to see this particular number go up. Even if she had a new demesne and home now, she hadbeen raised in Taniar Demesne. The profits for the salt and skins were modest but still sizeable because they had sold large amounts of it. The profits for her wispbeads, however…

"Only ten bead-tani each?" she said.

Rian shrugged. "We had to sell the beads at a price that the local workshops could afford to buy as a staple, like glues or resin. I asked around, and the most common type of wisbead available were mid-large tier. Obviously the price of these had to be less than that to be more desirable. Given how many you made that were marked for selling, it's still a pretty good profit. Most of our payment for it was in double-large beads, and it wasn't even the complete payment. They literally didn't have enough beads to pay us with."

Her lord sighed. "Look, this is an issue that will require its own extensive discussion. Can we discuss this later? Otherwise we'll be here all day. And while you two have your own nice little breezes, I don't and I still need to set up our new recruits with where they're going to sleep, and whether both will be living here or if one will be going to Lorian."

Lori waved a hand dismissively. "Very well, carry on."

Another sigh, though this sounded relieved. "All right. With the profits, I was able to buy…"

Rian went down the list in front of him. Lori nodded in satisfaction at things like the bolts of thick cloudbloom fabric for repalcmeent trousers and thick leather for boot soles. She still had the boots Rian had bought her last time waiting to be used, but know they had the materials for repairs and new shoes was its own kind of relief.

"—I also managed to buy those primers on magic you wanted—"

"Where are they?"

"I'm not telling you right now, because if I put a book in your hands, you'll want to read it and you won't get anything done today without great agony in your soul. Oh, don't look at me like that. You know I'm right. Besides, wouldn't you rather have your book time completely uninterrupted?"

"…exactly what books have you managed to acquire?" She hated it when he had a point.

“Rudimentary primers on all four variants of magic,” Rian said, “like you asked for. I figure once you’ve mastered those, we can just get more books later.”

Lori frowned. “Why did you waste beads on getting all four? I don’t need a primer on Whispering.”

“In case any of the children born last winter are wizards,” Rian said. “I doubt you’d want to be their fulltime-master. This way you can delay any sort of contact with them until they at least learn to read, which we really should get started on.”

…

“What else did you buy?”

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Lori climbed up from inside the Coldholdmostly pleased. Shewas glad of the coils of wire Rian had brought, as well as the chunks of broken glass. Both would assist her in furthering her bound tool development and research. The large and small barrel of booze… well, she wasn't happy about it, but she'd given Rian permission to buy it before he'd left, so she was resigned to it being there. While the amount he'd brought back was bigger than she thought was needed, she was willing to admit that the amount she thought was needed was 'none'.

"The seedlings aren't all ours," Rian said as he showed them the seedlings that had been secured at the cabin of the boat, where the planks had clearly been altered by Deadpseaking to more securely cradle the little pots and troughs that contained them. ugh, that would need to be fixed! "Some are ones that Taeclas and her wife brought with them. They'll probably be willing to give us some, but they'll need to grow them first. Should be a problem, though. She's a Deadspeaker, after all, and it turns out she's better with meanings connected to living plants than dead ones. Between her and Lidz, we might be able to harvest earlier andget a second harvest in before winter…" Rian sighed for some reason. "And don't worry, Taeclas promised she'd put the planks back the way they were before, so please stop making that face. You said it was my ship, remember?"

"They're the demesne's planks." It was petty, but as a Dungeon Binder, her every petty whim was law!

"Ah, there goes the last lingering feeling like I'm not home yet," Rian said, voice dry. "Well, if it helps, Taeclas and Lidzuga spent the journey helping fuse together planks to help improve the water-proofing of the deck, and they've done their best to do it so we can still remove the planking if necessary. So that's already some profit from their presence." He turned and met her eyes. "And with that segue, are you ready to meet them yet? Remember, you still need to negotiate with Lidzuga how often he can have time off to do his research."

Lori very much wanted to have Rian take charge of dealing with them. After all, this was definitely a 'dealing with people' matter. However… they were wizards, and a possible threat to her. Even if Rian had sought out only wizards who had no intention or desire to establish, he had misjudged people before. At the very least, she needed to meet with them so she could identify them and try to remember what they looked like. Their features would be pointless to remember, but knowing their coloring would be useful in narrowing down who they were. "Fine," she sighed. "but I'll deal with them one at a time."

Rian nodded. "Understood. I'll call Taeclas and her wife first, since she doesn't have any difficult requests like Lidzuga." He hesitated, then continued. "I know you'd rather have both of them far away from you here in River's Fork, but I think it would benefit us greatly if you decided to allow Taeclas to live in Lorian instead of here. From what I've seen, she has a lot of experience with meanings that will help with our farming, so it would be better if we put her and her wife in the demesne with more extensive fields."

"Noted," Lori said as she sat down on the cabin's bench that faced the rear of the boat. "Let's make this quick, then."

"Do you still require my presence, Great Binder?" Shanalorre asked, still holding the wisplight. Outside, the light that it emanated just faded into the hot sunlight, but the breeze from it was as strong as ever.

Lori considered that, then nodded, pointing at a spot on the other end of the bench. "Yes. You need to be able to identify then on sight as well, as they might potentially threaten you for River's Fork's core as well."

Rian, who'd been about to go off and retrieve the Deadspeaker he'd said he would get, immediately turned around and gave her a beseeching look. "Please tell me you at least know better than to say you'll regard them as a potential threat to your life to their faces," he pleaded. "Lie to me if necessary!"

She rolled her eyes at his theatrics. "Of course I know better than to say that to their face. What kind of fool do you take me for?"

Rian looked thoughtful for a moment. "You won't say it to their face because you don't want to warn them that you're ready for them."

Lori nodded. Exactly! "Exactly!" she said.

"Better than nothing, I guess," Rian said, sighing for some reason. "I'll go get them."

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Lori glared at Rian, conveying her displeasure. This was NOT what she'd meant when she'd said she'd deal with them one at a time!

"Taeclas, Rybelle, may I present the esteemed Dungeon Binder Lolilyuri," Rian said cheerfully as he stood between her and the more than one person opposite her. "Your Bindership, may I introduce Deadspeaker Taeclas and her wife Mistress Rybelle."

"Hello!" one of the two women said with a wide smile, waving at Lori like she wasn't standing two paces away. "It's every nice to meet you, Lo… Lol…"

"Call me Lori," she interrupted to avoid her name being further mutilated as she continued glaring at her lord. "Rian, an introduction is more useful when I know who is who."

"Oh, right," Rian said, laughing like some kind of idiot. "Taeclas, could you please step forward?" The woman who'd waved at Lori stepped forward, waving again, her wide smile still in place. "Again your Bindership, this is Taeclas. She's a Deadspeaker, with long brown hair, green eyes and the wide smile on her face."

Lori tried her best to remember the woman in front of her, even as she tried to convey her lack of amusement at Rian's witlessicism. Long hair of a shade of brown that reminded her of stained wood that was neither dark of pale… yes, her eyes were green, but that wasn't a very reliable indicator, you needed to be very close to see those… She wished she had her staff in her hands, just to have some kind of stick to swing… but no, this was a Deadspeaker, the wood and the wire of the staff would be used against her in a confrontation. Best not to have it, lest she be tempted to get too close…

"And by the process of elimination, this is Mistress Rybelle," Rian said, gesturing towards the other woman. Lori glanced at her briefly. Blue hair that came down to her chin, a nervous… was that a smile? Maybe? She made a little bow, which Lori absently acknowledged with a nod.

“Thank you for letting us stay in your demesne, L—er, I mean, your Bindership,” Taeclas—even Lori couldn’t forget someone’s name that quickly!—said, letting out a laugh as she looked embarrassed. “Sorry. I’ve never spoken to a Dungeon Binder before. But Rian told us all about your circumstances, so it feels like I know you already!”

Lori blinked, her gaze turning back to her lord. “My… circumstances? Rian, what exactly did you tell them?”

“He told us about how you’re not only taking care of your own demesne, but you’re also caring for the people in this one because it’s Dungeon Binder went to you and asked for your help,” Taeclas declared. “That’s so admirable. Back in Covehold we heard all sorts of stories about demesnes suffering because Dungeon Binders are so busy trying to take care of their demesne’s needs that they can’t spare anything to help their neighbors, so it was wonderful to learn that our new Dungeon Binder was such a kind person.”

Lori stared at the woman. Then she turned to Rian. “Rian, what sort of nonsense have you been telling this woman? I thought you’d know better than to try and use blatant lies during your recruitment.”

The two woman turned to Lori, staring at Rian as well.

“I didn’t lie about anything,” Rian said, his face set in such a theatrically innocent expression Lori wanted to punch it. “I simply told them about how Binder Shanalorre here approached you for help last winter about keeping the people in her demesne from starving. Really, how else was I supposed to explain why you’re basically running two demesnes?”

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Deadspeaking Work Logistics

Lori closed her eyes, sighing. "I do not have the time to correct the no doubt mistaken impression Rian has given you of that incident," she said. "Rian, tell—" No, wait, not Rian. He was the one who misinformed them in the first place! "Binder Shanalorre, please properly explain the circumstances regarding my conquest of your demesne, as Rian seems to have chosen to amuse himself by humorously mispresenting events."

"Yes, Great Binder," Shanalorre said.

The two women blinked and turned towards the other Dungeon Binder.

"You're Binder Shanalorre?" Taeclas exclaimed. She turned to Rian for explanation. "She's Binder Shanalorre?"

Rian actually looked apologetic. "It's not the sort of thing that's believable until you actually meet her. I mean, a child-Binder is the sort of thing that comes up in stories for children. It's usually a signthat the story is for children."

"I assure you, Binder Shanalorre is the former Dungeon Binder of River's Fork," Lori assured them. "Since she surrendered to my authority, she has become my subordinate until further notice. She is also not relevant to this discussion. I believe I must know what Rian promised you, to either confirm or deny it." She gave her lord a glare. If he could no longer be trusted.

"I didn't lie or mispresent anything," he said. "It's just some things are hard to believe unless we present actual, verifiable empirical evidence for it, like the fact Shanalorre is a Dungeon Binder. Or your own… extremely idiosyncratic approach to engaging in social contact."

"I don't engage in social contact."

"Exactly!"

Lori sighed and turned back towards her new subjects. "As should be obvious now, Lord Rian considers himself witty. It's best to simply ignore it."

"Rian is a lord?" They were the first words that Taeclas wife—what was it… Ri-something… Ribere? No, wait, Rybelle—had spoken in her presence.

The man in question shrugged. "It wasn't relevant when we first met. Actually, it's not relevant at all in day to day living, unless you have something you want to complain about. Then it's 'Lord Rian, do something about this', and 'Lord Rian, something needs to be done about that'."

"You should have quit back when you were only a temporary lord," Lori said dryly.

"Ah, to think the mistakes of my youth would haunt me like this. I shall never forgive you, Rian-of-a-year-ago!"

She rolled her eyes. "See? Best to ignore it. Now, what has he told you?"

The two women glanced at each other. They both had strange expressions on their faces, like they were trying to smile through constipation. "Ah, w-well," Rybelle said, "Rian—Lord Rian, I mean—promised that there were homes available that were rent-free…"

The woman’s face returned to normal as she enumerated what exactly Rian had promised her and her wife, and Lori breathed a small sigh of belief. It seemed that Rian at least hadn't misled about that, though he had still made omissions.

"All that is broadly accurate," Lori confirmed once Rybelle had finished. "However, even if the use of our available housing and other facilities is free, they still come with obligations. Or rather, the require that you will contribute to the demesne. Those who don’t work don’t eat."

"That's fair," Taeclas said readily, nodding. "What sort of contributions?"

"Assisting in food preparation, gathering resources from the woods, resource refinement…” Lori waved a hand dismissively. “Rian would be better able to inform you where any assistance is needed. In your particular case, your most useful contribution would be using your Deadspeaking to assist in increasing the yields of our crops. Healing and carpentry assistance would also be appreciate, though at the moment, the sanitary measures we have taken has significantly lowered the likelihood of disease. Until now, the doctors and Shanalorre have been sufficient at seeing to the health of my subjects."

Taeclas blink, regarding Shanalorre again. "She can heal?"

"Yes. It has been to our benefit that Shanalorre is a savant. Her healing meaning has been most useful, especially when it came to caring for the newborns we had over the winter."

For the first time, Taeclas looked alarmed. "W-what?"

"Is something wrong, Taeclas?" Rian asked.

Taeclas took a deep breath. “W-well… If it was done last winter, then it’s probably too late…” she said, fixing a frown on Shanalorre. “You two probably wouldn’t know, since from what I’ve seen you used to be a Whisperer Binder Lori, and if Shanalorre here is a savant as you say—”

“Binder Shanalorre,” Lori corrected pointedly.

The woman paused in her flow of thought. “What?”

“Even subordinate to me, she is still Binder Shanalorre and will be shown the proper respect as such,” Lori said sternly.

“But… you don’t call her that…” Taeclas said.

“Naturally not. She’s my subordinate. I outrank her.”

Rian leaned towards the two women. “Just go with it,” he said in a theatrical whisper. “Besides, she has a point.”

Taeclas and her wife had on one of those strange expressions Lori couldn’t identify on their faces. “My apologies, Binder Shanalorre,” the Deadspeaker said eventually. For some reason, the two women reminded Lori of her mothers in the way they were looking at the younger Dungeon Binder.

“I accept your apology,” Shanalorre said with a nod.

“… Rian said you used to have a Deadspeaker, but they’re no longer with you. Did they leave before the babes were born?” Taeclas asked.

“They died well before the babes were born, yes,” Lori said. Next to her, Shanalorre twitched for some reason.

“Oh…” Taeclas said, in a softer voice. “Well, I suppose that’s why Sha—Binder Shanalorre here wasn’t informed then. Not all meanings are safe to use on babes. Though if they’ve managed to survive since winter without developing notable deformities…” She paused. “They haven’t developed any noticeable deformities, have they? Have any died?”

Lori and Rian looked at each other, the former inquiring and concerned, the latter mildly panicked. “Uh… No, none of them have died. As to deformities… not that I’ve noticed,” he said, even as he was visibly going over his memories. “The mothers, doctors and medics haven’t mentioned anything to me…”

In the awkward silence, there was a loud sound of impact as Shanalorre’s left arm rose and slapped her cheek hard, making Taeclas and Rybelle start and turn to look at her. She stared back impassively as she lowered her hand.

“Then… well, Binder Shanalorre’s meaning probably didn’t harm them, but it would be best if I examined them, just to be sure,” Taeclas said. “If some harm has been done, I might be able to identify and correct it.”

Lori scowled. She wanted to keep the woman here in River’s Fork, but with that sort of concern raised… “I shall get a second opinion from… what was his name, Rian?”

“Deadspeaker Lidzuga, your Bindership,” Rian said, still looking preoccupied and trying to remember.

Lori nodded. “I will speak to him and get his opinion on the matter. However, to continue our discussion, while your greatest unique contribution to the demesne would be the application of your skills at Deadspeaking, assistance in other matters would also be useful. I can’t think of what those other matters might be, but I’m sure Rian has a list somewhere.”

Taeclas frowned, but eventually sighed. “Right, right… if they’re still healthy now, a few more hours won’t matter…” she said quietly. “I… well, I’m good at meanings to increase yields, but I’ll need to see your crops to say how useful it would be. Meanings like that need to take effect for most of a day to be much good, and that means a lot of imbuement. It’s more efficient to put it on a single plant that yields a lot, since I would have to imbue the plant myself." She glanced sideways at Rian. “Rian’s been hinting there’s a way get around that problem, but he hasn’t really said anything.”

“To be honest, it’s just a thought,” Rian admitted, “but could someone, say, imbue a plant, and then you just step in and use them imbuement to make a meaning?”

“That’s not how it works,” Lori said, and was surprised to hear Taeclas echoing her word for word. She glanced at the woman, before continuing. “In Whispering, at least, forming a binding requires that you bind wisps to your will after claiming it. While you can imbue wisps that you have claimed but not bound, doing so will cause the imbuement to very quickly dissipate after you’ve surrendered your claim. For the wisps to properly retain the imbuement, you need to bind the wisps to your will, with or without forming them into a proper binding.”

Rian stared at her for a moment. “Does it ever get confusing using the same word for two different steps in the process?” he said.

Lori blinked at the strange tangent. “What is there to be confused about? Binding to your will and forming a binding are completely different things.”

For some reason, he glanced at Taeclas, Rybell and Shanalorre in turn, who returned his look. “I suppose it’s a wizard thing…” he said. Rybelle and Shanalorre both nodded for some reason.

Lori found herself meeting Taeclas gaze, and they both shared an exasperated look and a shrug. Why did people keep asking that?

“Uh, to build on L—Binder Lori’s explanation,” Taeclas said, “the same thing happens with life, whether vital or inert. Simply claiming and imbuing life will cause the imbuement to dissipate if you don’t bind it to your will. For your suggestion to work Rian, someone would have to bind the life, and if they’re going to do that, they might as well tame it into a meaning.”

Rian nodded. “All right then. Thank you for the correction.”

“You’re welcome!”

“Since I’m not a wizard and don’t know, I have to ask, can a Deadspeaker also deactivate their meanings, the way a Whisperer can deactivate their bindings? And does doing so allow the meaning to retain most of their imbuement for an extended period of time?”

“Oh, yes. It’s very useful for when you want to imbue a meaning with a lot of magic.”

Rian nodded. “So… is it possible for you to just make the meaning, then deactivate it, and then have someone else come along to imbue the meaning?”

“Oh, yes, that’s perfectly doable,” Taeclas said. “Although the correct term is ‘tame’. A craftsman makes, a Whisperer forms, a Horotract defines, a Mentalist, and a Deadspeaker tames. Are you thinking of having me just make the bindings and Lidzuga will imbue them? That’s certainly doable, but it will still come down to imbuing all the crops my hand. I suppose if we had a wire we could tie all the crops together and imbue them simultaneously… but if I had a wire, I could tame all the life in the crops into meanings and imbue them.”

Rian glanced at Lori. “We have the wire,” he said.

“We’ll see,” she said.

He nodded and turn back to Taeclas. “Actually, I was thinking that if you could tame meanings into the crops but leave them deactivated, Binder Shanalorre might be able to imbue them for you. That would solve the problem of imbuement being the limiting factor.”

Lori and Taeclas both turned towards Shanalorre, who nodded. “Lord Rian is correct. I was able to imbue the meanings still extant in the demesne. I have no doubt that I can imbue any meanings that Wizard Taeclas can tame, since my connection to River’s Fork’s core will allow me to override her claim.” She frowned. “However, all those meanings were already active. While I would be able to imbue any deactivated meanings, I would not be able to activate them. As a savant, I have not been taught how. That step would have to be initiated by someone else.”

Rian cleared his throat. “I think this discussion is one we’ll have to continue later with Lidzuga present,” he said. “He might have something to add.”

Lori considered it, then nodded. “Yes. We shall have to curtail this discussion until then. This is a matter of work logistics. If you have no more questions at the moment, Rian can lead you to where you can have lunch.”

"Come on, you two," Rian said, gesturing for them to follow him. "If you have any questions, ask me. I should be able to answer most things. After lunch we can get you moved in, then Yllian can show you where the baths are." He nodded to Lori. "I'll bring back Lidzuga, your Bindership. Think about what you're going to say to his request."

"It was really nice meeting you, Binder Lori! You too, Binder Shanalorre!" Taeclas said before she turned and began following Rian, holding hands with her wife after they had stepped off the boat.

Lori let out a small sigh of relief. Ugh, she hated talking to people.

Well, she only had to do it one more time, and then she'd be able to go home today. Just a little longer…

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Annoying Introductions, The Next

Lori glared at Rian. He had to be doing this on purpose!

"Lidzuga, Kutago, may I present the esteemed Dungeon Binder Lolilyuri. Best to refer to her as 'your Bindership'," Rian said cheerfully as he stood between her and the more than one person opposite her. Again! "Your Bindership, may I introduce Deadspeaker Lidzuga and his sister Mistress Kutago."

"Hello, uh, your Bindership," Lidzuga said, smiling in an annoyingly Rian-like manner. Next to him, his sister said nothing, but her eyes were intent on Lori, her mouth set in a neutral expression. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm thankful for the opportunity to live in your demesne—Kuw, stop frowning at her Bindership."

"I wasn't frowning," Kutago said indignantly.

"Then what was that face you were making?"

"I wasn't making any kind of face!"

Lori let their words wash over her as she tried her best to remember the man in front of her, even as she conveyed her continued annoyance at Rian not bringing only the Deadspeaker. Again. Short cut hair in the style that many craftsmen favored so it wouldn't get into their eyes in a pale red…yes, his eyes were a sort of vibrant pale orange, but that wasn't a very reliable indicator, you needed to be very close to see those…

"You should be informed, but Rian likely embellished some of the things he told you, by omission of relevant details, at least," Lori said. "However, the offer of free housing, use of the baths, and food he at least managed to convey accurately. However, he tells me that you have a request?"

"Yes," Lidzuga said confidently. "Has Rian told you about why I joined your demesne?"

"Rian has informed me that you 'intend to sketch, record, and study the local plants, beasts, bugs and fursh'," I said. "And to do so, you are demanding 'time off'."

"Not demanding!" Rian interjected. "Definitely not demand. Asking, really. Asking very, very nicely and politely, since he passed it through me instead of just telling you directly. Right, Lidz?"

The Deadspeaker blinked at him. "Uh…"

"This is the part where you say 'yes', you idiot," his sister hissed from beside him.

Liduzga turned the other way to glance at his sister, who was merely staring at him intently. Finally, he turned back to Lori. "As Rian has said, your, uh, Bindership, I am politely asking for time off."

Lori nodded as she and he both ignored the other two. "I see. You’re asking for time off. You should know that a condition of staying in my demesne is that all need to contribute, and that those who do not work do not eat. What would be your contribution for your 'time off'?"

"Well, my research would of course be contributing to the completion of the alknowledge," Lidzuga said earnestly.

"How fortunate for the alknowledge," she said flatly. "Unfortunately, my demesne is not the alknowledge. It can't be sustained on knowledge, and requires food, resources, and the labor to collect and refine those things."

"I'm sure we can arrange some sort of schedule, your Bindership," Rian interjected. "Lidzuga no doubt understands the need to balance the amount of time and work he contributes to the demesne with the time he takes for himself to do his research.” He paused. “Actually… how much time do you think you need for research per day, Lidz?”

“Uh… well… I was thinking… half?” the Deadspeaker said.

Next to him, his sister closed her eyes, bowed her head and sighed.

“Half,” Lori said flatly. “Half.” She stared at the man, and the only things keeping her from sinking him into the ground was the fact she wasn’t in her demesne, and that he wasn’t standing on a surface she could soften with Whispering. She started taking deep, even, cyclical breaths to calm herself, feeling her lungs fill with air and her soul with magic as she did. While the intensity of what she felt at the stupidity in front of her did not abate, she was able to control herself. Fine. He wanted to negotiate so unevenly? She could do that too. “All right. Which half?”

Beside the Deadspeaker—no, she wasn’t going to bother remembering his name, she was too furiously annoyed—Rian winced, as if finally aware of her displeasure. Luckily for him, he was not the recipient of it at the moment.

“I’m fine with either half, your Bindership,” the recipient said, looking relieved for some reason.

“Very well then. You can work during the half of the day when the sun is up and have the time off you want during the half when it’s not. Or would you rather have it the other way around?”

Rian blinked. Then he smiled, before quickly turning to face away from the Deadspeaker and raising up a hand to cover his mouth. On the other side, the sister—her name also unfortunately forgotten—nodded tiredly for some reason.

“Um, if I do it like that your Bindership, then when will I sleep?” the Deadspeaker said.

“Whenever you want, as long as it’s not during work hours,” Lori said flatly. “Your previous employers would no doubt have been furious at you for sleeping on the job, and I am no exception. You’ll have half the day of. Whether you want to use that time to sleep or do research is up to you.”

“But… that’s…”

“If you say ‘unfair’, I will have Rian throw you into the river,” Lori interrupted coldly. “You come here to my demesne asking to be excused from work when you haven’t even done a single day of it yet?-! How dare you!”

“Rian said—”

A hand slapped over his mouth. “Brother, be quiet,” his sister said firmly. He squirmed, turning to look at her and muffled words came through his fingers. “I said be quiet! Stand back and let me do the talking.”

The Deadspeaker sighed though his uncovered nose, but obeyed, which was probably the first intelligent thing he’d done in her presence. The sister stepped forward, bowing slightly toward Lori, which was better than nothing. “Your Bindership. I apologize for my brother. While I could say he’s usually hard working… you’re probably not going to believe that right now.”

“No,” Lori said bluntly.

The sister nodded. “Very well. Then, I’d like to represent myself first. I don’t know if Rian has told you, but I was working as a papermaker in Covehold Demesne before someone decided to accept Rian’s offer to live here. However, that is not the full extent of my skills.”

“Oh?”

“In addition to papermaking, I have also worked as an apprentice printer, and I’m trained in bookbinding as well as document preservation and restoration to the standard expected of the Mystery’s libraries.” Lori, unfamiliar with what exactly that standard was, simply nodded in acknowledgement. “I know how to make writing ink, and while I’m not a trained carpenter, I know how to make the glues used for bookbinding, which is also used in carpentry, and I’m a quick study.”

Lori nodded. “Do you know how to spin thread?”

“No, but I’ve seen it done and I’m willing to learn.”

“Would you be willing to clean latrines?”

The woman made a face. “As long as the process is sanitary and I’m not expected to use my bare hands.”

Well, that was fair. “And do you have some sort of request? Time off, perhaps?”

“Yes,” the woman said immediately. “Please give my brother another chance. He’s a skilled woodworker, he’s diligent, and he does work hard. He simply said some very stupid things earlier.”

“Tah…!”

“Brother, stay quiet, I’m trying to wash away your mess!”

Lori considered the woman, idly regretting that she’d forgotten her name. Then she considered the Deadspeaker. On the one hand, Rian had made mistakes concerning people before, and this was looking like another one of them. On the other hand… her lord must have had some reason to think he was worth recruiting. Unless he and… uh, what was her name… Taeclas? Unless he and Taeclas had been the only ones who had accepted Rian’s offer… which was annoyingly not unlikely.

“In your opinion, how much time off do you think his work is worth?” Lori said.

“The offer you quoted, at minimum,” the woman said immediately. “However, once he’s had time to get to know your demesne’s carpenters and woodworkers and become part of the workshop, he will begin producing quality work as well as increase their efficiency. Given the necessary raw materials, my brother can make anything.” That last was not said with confidence. It was not a boost, nor was it announced with pride. It was a simple and straightforward statement of fact. “By then I’d say he’s earned half a day off a week as long as he’s finished all his work for the day.”

Lori considered that. Then she nodded. “You can stay. Welcome to my demesne.” Then she turned towards the Deadspeaker. “Your sister has asked me to give you a second chance. Consider your words very carefully.”

The Deadspeaker had a strange expression on his face that made him look like he was constipated. Then he looked sideways towards his sister, who gave him a narrow-eyed look in return. His expression became reluctant, but he sighed. “Your Bindership. As my sister has told you, I’m a woodworker. I have experience in both carpentry and furniture making. In terms of Deadspeaking, I am skilled in diagnosis, healing, woodworking, boneworking, leatherworking, plantworking, fleshworking, and deadcrafting. I have no professional farming experience, but I’ve worked in dungeon farms and know the necessary meanings.”

With everyone word, Lori felt less and less inclined to give him ‘time off’. All of those skills were very useful to the demesne! The more time they were being used for the demesne, the better!

“I’m afraid I will need proof of these skills, as well judge the quality of their output,” I said. “As such, I am instituting a probationary period of four weeks to assess you.”

“That’s… fair, I suppose,” the Deadspeaker said.

“The workday is from after breakfast is finished to a little before sunset. Your evenings are yours. Do research, sleep, I don’t care what you do then. For the duration of the probation, you will be given room, board and necessary sundries as promised, since you will be contributing. Do you understand my conditions so far?”

The Deadspeaker nodded carefully, as if expecting for some sort of trap.

“During that time, I expect you to at minimum exceed the productivity of Wizard Taeclas. You will not speak to her to convince her to reduce her productivity during this period. If you can exceed her productivity by a notable margin, then at the end of two weeks I am willing to reopen the discussion of your ‘time off’. If I come to a satisfactory conclusion, it will be implemented at the end of the four week period provided you are able to sustain that level of productivity. This will ensure that you are capable of a contribution equal to another Deadspeaker in less time, which will justify the time off. Do you understand?”

He nodded again, then licked his lips and said, “Yes, your Bindership.”

“If you fail to exceed Wizard Taeclas’s productivity, then you are clearly not capable of contributing enough to be worthy of special consideration. In which case, you will have a choice.”

“A… choice, your Bindership?”

“Will you use your nights to do your research regardless… or will you sleep to be better prepared for the next day?”