Weekly Digest 119 - (#380 - #382) (Patreon)

Not Completely Useless

At dinner that night, Lori handed Taeclas—she'd checked her now-triangular rock just a moment before—the nicer of the two river rocks she'd found the afternoon. Like Rian's, the rock fit easily in the palm, rounded and smooth, with a flat side that would let it lie evenly on a surface. The opposite side glowed from the heavily imbued being of lightwisps, shining brightly. "Here," she said as she held out the rock to the Deadspeaker.

"Oh! For me? Thank you!" Taeclas said as she reached for the rock, which Lori let go. "Ah, Rian had something like this. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised he got it from you. Now we don’t have to use the oil lamp so much!"

"I told you you'd get one," Rian said.

"Don't lose it," Lori said. "Best you keep it in your belt pouch at all times."

"I will!" Taeclas said cheerfully, doing just that. "This will be really convenient for going out to the latrines at night. Even with the lights outside the houses, the way to the latrines is a little dark."

It is? "It is?" Lori said, looking towards Rian.

"I've never thought there was a problem," Rian said.

"Eh? But it's so dark! There's that slope going down to the pavillion there, and then there's another dark stretch on the road until you reach the path to the latrines."

Her lord looked genuinely confused. "That's… why don't you just use the latrine a little bit uphill from your house, at the end of your row?"

"There's a closer latrine?"

…

Was their Deadspeaker an idiot as well as insane? Actually, idiocy would explain naming a plant as well. But… she was a wizard. One couldn't be acknowledged as a wizard without the intelligence to having studied sufficiently! So she couldn't be an idiot! But she was acting like an idiot! So… how… how…

…

Lori decided to just not think about it. Though she wasn't going to let Taeclas use Deadspeaking on her at the moment. She'd see how the crops turned out first.

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The next day, Lori headed for River's Fork, as much as she didn't want to.

With the boat back, she'd have preferred to use the Coldhold, but as it was just her, Riz, Shanalorre, and the ones Riz had chosen to escort her, the Coldhold would have been too much, so it was Lori's Ice Boat again. This time, however, Rian followed behind them on Lori's Boat, up until he overtook then because he had only himself as a passenger. He had to stop a few times to letthem catch up.

They still managed to arrive in River's Fork a little past mid-morning, and fortunately or unfortunately, she hadn't seen the typhon beast drinking on the shore of the river on this trip.

Lori had disembarked and was watching as Lori's Boat was beached—she'd removed the bone panels that acted as stabilizers to keep the boat going straight beforehand—instead of being tied to the dock as normal when Yllian finally arrived. "Great Binder," he greeted, which Lori acknowledged with a nod.

"Yllian!" Rian called from where he was helping move the wooden boat further onto shore. "Could you call some more people over to help lift this out of the water? And call Lidzuga too? Her Bindership wants to talk to him!"

Once there were more people, it was relatively easy for all of them to lift Lori's Boat out of the water and place it on the trestle stands that usually supported it when it was stored in her dungeon. Once the boat was in place, the outriggers needed to be removed so they wouldn't weigh down the boat and make it wobble on the trestles.

By the time that this was done, with Rian using a wooden mallet to remove the wooden wedges that squeezed the locking mechanism holding the beams of the outrigger in place, Lidzuga had revealed himself. "You called for me, your Bindership?" the Deadspeaker said.

In reply, Lori held out the less nice of the two river rocks she'd found yesterday afternoon. Like the rock she'd given… whatsername… the crazy, possibly idiotic woman who'd named a plant… the rock fit easily in the hand. Its surfaces had been smoothed by time and the river's waters. One side was mostly flat, which would let it lie evenly on a surface, but rather than being rounded, it was irregularly shaped, with seven sides in total and had a pointed, if blunt, protrusion on the side opposite where it was flat. "Here," she said as she held out the rock to the Deadspeaker.

"Uh…Oh! Thank you, your Bindership! This will be really useful at night!" He glanced back towards the dome over the settlement. "And a bit in the late afternoon."

"Don't lose it. Keep it on your person at all times."

"Of course, your Bindership!" The Deadsp—Lidzuga seemed to have recovered from her chastisement. Lori wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"I am told you've been performing maintenance on the houses and other structures of the demesne."

"Yes, your Bindership. Binder Shanalorre and I have an arrangement where she'll imbue any meanings I tame and leave deactivated overnight. It's really helped me with imbuement-heavy meanings. I'm almost done with all the houses that are occupied, there's just the ones that are high up on the central tree."

"So you haven't begun working on accelerating the growth rates of the crops yet?"

"Not yet, your Bindership. Lord Yllian and Binder Shanalorre both said that performing proper maintenance on the houses and the dome was to come first for public safety, and then Lord Rian said that a special wire was being made that would help me with claiming and taming the life in the crops.  "

Well… she supposedly she hadn't exactly given him anything to do for his probation, so it only made sense that Yllian—and Shanalorre, apparently—decided to assign him productive work. "Good. I'm here to assign you further tasks. They will count towards the fulfillment of your probation."

"What do I need to do, your Bindership?" He sounded eager.

"Have you conducted an examination of the load-bearing portions of the dome yet?"

"Only of the broken portion, your Bindership," Lidzuga said promptly. "I'm told you were the one who wrapped it in stone? It seems to be holding, but Lord Yllian asked me to fuse the tree back to the stump, and there as enough contact that I was able to. If you could remove the stone, with Binder Shanalorre's help I should be able to fuse more wood to the stump for a more secure support, once we've collected enough."

"Collect enough material to do so first," Lori said. "Unless there's an imminent structural risk, the matter is not a priority." She gestured at Lori's Boat. "This is our oldest boat. I am told it was built by Shanalorre's predecessor, who was also the one who built this dome. I need you to examine it and provide what maintenance is needed. Do what you can to waterproof it."

Lidzuga stared at the boat. "It's a box," he said, his tone strange.

"It was originally intended as a cargo barge that would be pulled from land. After I acquired it, it was modified it to suit our needs. The modifications had to be as they were since we could not repair the boat should it be modified with carpentry."

"Oh… I guess that makes sense? Truthfully, I don't really have much experience with boats. The Coldhold and the one that took me here to the new continent is the extent of my experience with them."

"I'm sure Rian will be more than willing to answer any questions you have," Lori said. "However, that shouldn't be necessary. You are only to do maintenance, reinforcing the structure, check for rot, add more wood as necessary, and study the structure of the boat."

"Study it?" Lidzuga said cautiously.

"After some consideration, I have decided that directly comparing your productivity to Taeclas during your probationary period would be difficult to quantify." Possible, but difficult. It would need accurate record keeping and calculation, and they probably didn't have any people to spare for that. Something easier to confirm was better.

The feeling of hating Rian having a point was a familiar one to her by now. Not pleasant—being wrong would never be pleasant—but at least it meant future mistakes potentially avoided. Being annoyed that a mistake wasn’tmade was far preferable to being annoyed that a mistake had happened.

Lidzuga looked hopeful at her words, and fortunately for him that was all he did.

"Finish performing maintenance on all Deadspoken buildings under the dome, and maintenance on the dome itself. Keep the dome from collapsing and crushing everyone beneath it. Are you capable of that?”

Instead of answering, the Deadspeaker looked towards the dome, eyes narrowed critically. “Hmm… I could, but with this sort of structure, Deadspeaking alone has its limitations. It would be better if we had people would could climb to prune the branches and reduce growth that way. Without that… I would need a way to claim the entire dome and have Binder Shanalorre imbue it, simply so I’d have the sort of fine control needed to alter the shapes of branches enough to structurally weaken them.”

Lori grimaced. That sounded extremely inefficient. "Do what you can that's reasonable. I'll see what can be done about manually…pruning? Pruning. Well, so be it. Maintenance of Deadspoken buildings will be your responsibility from now on, although you need only take action about an occupied building when a matter is brought to your attention. Inspect unoccupied buildings once a month at your discretion. The dome is to be actively maintained, lest it collapse, but how you go about it is up to you. If it because structurally weak and collapses during the next dragon's passing, I will want an explanation as to why. Is that understood?"

"Yes, your Bindership. House repairs when asked, storage repairs when needed, don't let the dome collapse."

Lori nodded. “Once you've finished inspecting and performing maintenance on the buildings and dome, your regular duties will be caring for the crops and accelerating their growth. A wire is being made to make it easier for you to claim the life in the crops."

"A wire? Not a mesh?"

Lori blinked. "A mesh?"

"Oh, you haven't heard of those?" Lidzuga said. "Well, no surprise, it's relatively recent. I heard some smiths were starting to make them and selling them to the farming demesnes outside of Covehold. You take wire and mount it to a wooden frame, arranging the wire into a lattice like a giant bugswatter. The lattice is mounted on a haft with a wire running down it." He mimed holding a long staff-like tool. "You hold the half and lay the wire lattice on the crops you intend to claim and it lets you have a contact the size of the frame head. Properly arranged, the wire lattice can touch most of the crops the frame is laid on, and it's a tool that only needs a single person to use."

Lori stared at him. There was something about that smile… "Inform Rian," she said. "Explain every detail to him. He's the one arranging tool construction with the smiths. Whatever tool you receive, however, I expect you to get started on applying meanings on what crops we have to accelerate the harvest. At the moment, this demesne is subsisting on meat procured from hunting and seeling. With the typhon beast that settled outside of its borders, hunting has ceased, and what sealing is being done is not providing sufficient surplus for the demesne's winter stores."

For some reason, an eager smile broke out over Lidzuga's face. "There's a typhon beast outside of the demesne?"

"Yes, and you will not go near it until it's dead. Anatomical drawings can be made no matter what its vital state."

"But… the opportunity…!" The man looked like he was in actual physical pain.

"At the moment, the opportunity I'm concerned about is the opportunity to hunt and feed my demesnes, which its presence is preventing. So it will die."

"… can I at least be present when you deal with it?" he pleaded. "Just to see it alive and in motion…?"

Lori gave him an unamused look. "Convince me of your reliability by providing me with a harvest as soon as possible."

"Yes, your Bindership! You can count on me!"

Well… at least he intended to work. "Can you reproduce the meaning that's been used on the fruit trees?"

Again he paused, looking thoughtful. "Yes, although it will take time. A large amount of the trees are part of the meaning, so I'll need to claim relatively large portions each tree I intend to place the meaning on. Though I respectfully suggest I don't use the exact same meaning."

"Why not?"

"The meaning on this one is a northern-style binding. As a side effect of the accelerated fruiting, the leaves and some other parts of the plant tend to run hotter than is normal for a plant. In the north, this wouldn’t be a problem because of the climate, and actually lets them grow fruit trees from warmer environments, but with the summer we've been having, the parts of the plants under the influence of the meaning have been slowly dying because they've been getting too hot. I've taken the liberty of temporarily deactivating the meanings on the trees and letting them rest for the moment."

Lori frowned. "That is unacceptable," she said. "We need the fruits the trees provide to augment our food supplies."

"With all due respect, your Bindership, the fruit trees need time to recover. I could use a meaning to assist the trees to heal, but that would require altering the meaning on the life of the afflicted areas, and I'm not sure I could reconstruct the meaning in question."

Her eyes narrowed. "I thought you said that you could reproduce the meaning given time?"

"Yes, but that time would have been spent studying the meanings and trying to plot out its flow diagram. Whoever made this binding had either far more experience with it than me or had a flow diagram they were following, and I wouldn't know which. If there is a flow I could follow, that would make things easier, but I'd still need to modify it for each fruit tree. That's another matter, the lack of adjustments to the meaning to account for the trees' growth, nutrient supply and pervading weather conditions have been part of what's harming it. The fertilizer and regular watering have helped, but…" He shrugged. "You don't just leave a meaning unattended on something alive. The living change, and the meaning has to be changed to account for that."

That last adage was a familiar one. She hadn't heard it in school—she'd been a Whisperer, after all, and had attended lectures meant for Whisperers—but it was often a sentiment she'd read in some form or other in her novels. She supposed this was probably evidence that it was true.

"We'll have to deal with that, then," she said. "In that case, in addition to monitoring the fruit trees and activating them when conditions are right, I will need to you find local fruit trees and apply an equivalent meaning to them. Once applied, be sure that people know to provide the fruit trees with waste and water. Yllian should be able to direct you towards the local fruit trees."

"Um, wouldn't it be better if I simply started raising a small grove of the fruits in question nearby?"

Lori looked at him. "That leads to the second part of your probation," she said eventually. "I have decided to assign you projects. These once your probationary period is over, completing these projects will earn you… time off…" she allowed her face to convey what she felt about the concept, "for you to conduct your research. But after your probationary period! You still need to prove your capability!"

"Yes, your Bindership! Thank you, your Bindership!"

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Projects

Lori gestured towards the Lori's Boat. "As I said, you are to study that. As a probationary project and assessment of your skills, you are to build at least five boats to the same dimensions and quality during that period." She paused. "Well, not the exact same modifications. Speak to Rian, I'm sure he'll have modifications in mind."

"And that's my cue!" Rian said cheerfully as he entered the conversation. Given the fact he'd finished with removing the outriggers some time ago, he probably meant that literally. "While I do have modifications in mind, I believe you should try to reproduce the Lori's Boat first, since it's a simple design and mostly straightforward angles."

Lidzuga blinked for some reason. "Its name is Lori's Boat?"

"Yes. Not to be confused with Lori's Ice Boat, that's the one made of ice covered in planks," Rian said, pointing at said boat.

"No one is likely to confuse those two, Rian. They have completely different dimensions," Lori said, shaking his head as she turned back to Lidzuga. "As I was saying, you are to make five boats during your probationary period, after you have done your regular duties. You will inform Yllian when those duties are done before you proceed with the boat-building project. In addition to the boats, I will also consider starting a new grove of fruit trees as a project for you to complete. The grove should have at least three trees of each of the fruits we have available. That project is considered completed once fruit can be harvested from the tree. Is that clear?"

"Five boats and a grove of fruit trees," Lidzuga confirmed. "The first boat will be a direct reproduction of… Lori's Boat, and subsequent ones will have modified parameters."

"Don't worry, they should be relatively simple," Rian said. "Most of them are modifications intended to get the boats to balance better without the outriggers. Even if they don't work as intended, we should still have functional boats." He turned to Lori. "What resources does he have to draw on, your Bindership?"

"Did you also deactivate the trees that grow firewood?" Lori asked.

"No, your Bindership," Lidzuga said. "The meaning on them isn't as taxing on those trees, it just makes them grow quicker and express it in certain areas so that the branches are easier to cut. This heat's hasn't caused as many adverse effects, and I was able to heal what I could and recreate the meaning."

"Then source your raw materials from there," Lori said. "Put meanings on more trees if you need to."

"I… see. Um… do I need to do the work all by myself…?"

"They are projects intended to assess your capabilities."

"Uh… can I borrow tools, then?"

"You may ask to borrow tools. However, no one will be under any obligation to lend them to you or assist you. These are your projects."

With each word, Lidzuga looked more and more pained.

"You need not complete these projects," Lori continued. "You need not even do them. However, then I will have no basis to do anything but refuse your requests for time off to do research. If you cannot prove that your productivity during the times you work is sufficient to cover the resources you will continue to consume when you're not working…" Lori shrugged. "That said, if you manage to complete all five boats, or the grove and two boats, before the end of the probationary period, I will consider your probationary period concluded. Each project you complete after that period will be rewarded with half a day off at minimum, at my discretion."

Lidzuga's gaze sharpened at that. "Really?"

Lori nodded. "If you manage to complete enough projects to end your probationary period early, then if you complete the remaining projects or project, you may have a full day off from sunrise to sunset once I have inspected the result of the projects and confirmed you have completed them to my satisfaction."

"Or you could not do the projects and just do your research at night," Rian said. "You have a light source now. You can stay up to draw as much as you want." As Lori gave her lord a flat look, Lidzuga touched his belt pouch, looking like he was giving the suggestion serious thought. Well, it didn't matter to Lori. As long as he contributed to the demesne when work needed to be done, she didn't care what he did at night.

She shrugged. "As I said, these projects are optional. You could simply not do them, and continue on your probationary period doing the bare minimum. Gather what samples you can, research and study at night. Be tired the next day. "

"…how many more days of my probation do I have, your Bindership?" Lidzuga asked, face set in a thoughtful expression

"As I did not properly assign you anything to do, the period begins today. You have four weeks."

Lidzuga nodded, face still thoughtful. "I can do that…" he said distractedly, before nodding again. "I'll have to borrow a saw…"

"Before you start sawing, you have maintenance to do," Lori said, pointing at Lori's Boat.

"Ah, yes, your Bindership!"

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They ate lunch in River's Fork. After all, if Lori was going to be traveling back to her demesne in the middle of the day, she might as well not do it on an empty stomach.

"Shanalorre, do you know where your predecessor's effects are being kept?" Lori asked as the two ate together. Rian looked up sharply at the question, and for some reason Riz sitting next to him winced.

She managed to eat two mouthfuls before there was a slapping sound. "Why do you ask, Great Binder?" Shanalorre eventually said.

"LIdzuga needs the flow diagram for the meaning that was tamed onto the fruit trees to be able to replicate it in a timely manner," Lori said. "If such a flow diagram exists, it would be in your predecessor's effects. If you know where it is, tell me so they can be searched for the flow diagram we need."

Lori managed to eat another two mouthfuls before there was a slapping sound. "The effects in question have been secured and stored in my house, which my cousin Verik should be maintaining twice a week. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, any written material wouldn't be there."

Lori frowned. "Where would it be?"

Shanalorre sighed quietly. "My uncle laid claim to all such material when he was attempting to teach me Deadspeaking, stating that he needed to study it before he could teach it to me. They should still be with him, unless he destroyed them."

Across the table, Rian groaned, resting is forehead on both hands as he slumped down.

Sighing, Lori continued eating. She was not going to be dealing with this problem on an empty stomach.

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“Excuse me doctor, but we need any papers or notes of Binder Koshay's in your possession,” Rian said with an amiable smile on his face, because this was exactly why Lori had him. “Shanalorre told us that you had them.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Shanalorre’s uncle said, splitting his glare between Rian and Lori. Next to him, his wife wore a neutral expression, sitting next to her husband but remaining relatively uninvolved beyond her gaze boring at Lori.

“We have a witness who says otherwise,” Rian said, still smiling. “Right, Shanalorre?”

“Otherwise.”

Standing behind them, Lori shifted her gaze to turn her unamused look towards her lord and her subordinate Dungeon Binder. Had they rehearsed that? No, she’d been with them both all though the meal when the subject was broached.

When she turned her attention back to Shanalorre's uncle, his glare had moved down to look at her subordinate, who met the gaze evenly.

“There you have it, Lasponin,” Rian said. “Now, I'd like to politely ask you to let us have the papers please, or—”

“Even if I had such papers, I’d have a right to them,” the doctor interrupted. “It’s right there, isn’t it, in those 'rights' you promised? I have a right to own property. You have no due cause, and nothing you can compensate me with!”

“—or,” Rian pressed on cheerfully, “are we going to have you charged with theft? As the previous Dungeon Binder’s property, it should, of course, go to the next Dungeon Binder. Or if you prefer, as Binder Koshay’s property, it should go to his next of kin. In both instances, that would be Shanalorre.”

“He was mybrother, you—”

“Why do you want Koshay’s papers?” the doctor’s wife asked, interrupting what sounded like a personal attack.

“We have reason to hope that among his papers is a flow diagram for the meaning he used for accelerating the fruiting of the fruit trees around the demesne, Mistress Vyshke,” Rian said, turning smoothly towards the woman. “If it’s there, Lidzuga would have an easier time with the maintenance he’s doing on the fruit trees. If it’s not there…” Rian shrugged. “Well, at least we looked and made sure.”

"And if what you're looking for isn't there?" the woman pressed.

"Then the papers will be returned Shanalorre as their rightful owner. They did belong to her parents, after all. She deserves her inheritance. Or do you disagree?"

The last was directed at the doctor.

There was silence for a moment as the man gave Rian a hate-filled glare, eventually interrupted by the sound of Shanalorre's hand slapping against her own cheek.

The doctor glanced at her with a frown, only to find the same even gaze as before. "Why is she doing that? What have you done to my niece?"

"I wish I knew," Rian said. "She does that every time certain subjects are mentioned, and unfortunately Yoshka's not around to stop her from doing it. So, are you going to have mistress Vyshke hand over the papers, or are we going to have to search your house?"

For some reason, the man looked past Rian to glare at Lori. What? She hadn't even said anything. All she’d been doing was keeping herself from punching him in the face every time he opened his mouth to say something idiotic!

The doctor, it turned out, did have several notebooks and loose sheets in his possession, several of which were wrinkled and generally shabbily treated. Fortunately, the papers were hardy and well made, and despite ill handling most of them were still whole and readable. Every book and sheet of paper was confiscated, despite the doctor's attempts to protest.

"Doctor, we have absolutely no reason to trust you," Rian said cheerfully. "We're going over each of these—with your wife's supervision, of course—to ensure that you haven't decided to hide anything. Don't worry, Yllian assures me he's familiar with the late Binder Koshay's handwriting. I assure you, we will return all of your papers and books back to you."

"This is an outrage! Those are my papers!"

"We know, doctor. Hence why we'll help you sort through them, since your papers seemed to have gotten mixed together with the late Binder Koshay. Don't worry though, Yllian will be as quick as possible. We have no reason to take any papers of yours, after all."

Sorting through the materials was quick. Once Yllian had identified several pieces of paper with Binder Koshay’s handwriting on it as examples, it was easy to set aside the ones that didn’t, have that handwriting. Lori was able to identify the flow diagrams herself. Despite the different notations used in Deadspeaking, she recognized the general appearance from her almanac, and immediately set those aside to peruse. With the three of them sorting through the papers and notebooks in Shanalorre’s office—and the Vyshke woman there to see they were hiding or trying to destroy anything, unlike her husband—Lori’s subordinate had wandered off because there was no more room in the building, presumably on some errand.

While she hardly knew how to read them, a few looked strangely incomplete to her eyes, with lines and arrows that just stopped. Some of those were likely scratch work as Binder Koshay worked out the flow order of something or other. A few seemed complete, although she couldn’t tell what they did, and the few notes weren’t helpful, reading more like reminders than explanations, such as ‘adjust metabolism’ and ‘test tomorrow’. Binder Koshay clearly hadn’t meant for anyone to read them but himself.

“Hey, Yllian, do you recognize who’s handwriting this is?” Rian suddenly said. “It looks like a there’s a third person’s notes mixed into this.” He held up a sheet of paper, passing it to the other lord.

Yllian glanced at the paper with a frown. “Ah, that’s Laven’s handwriting. I didn’t realize any of hers were in here.”

“That’s… Shanalorre’s mother, right?” Rian said, glancing at Yllian and the Vyshke woman. At their nods, he shrugged and set the sheet next to the ones they’ already identified as Koshay’s notes. “Well, these should go to Shanalorre too. Unless you have some sort of objection, mistress?”

“Give it to Shana—”

“Shanalorre,” Lori corrected, not looking up from the flow diagram she was looking at.

“—Shana. I’ll deal with my husband.”

“Thank you.”

“Do not misunderstand, young man. What I do, I do for my niece, not for you or your Dungeon Binder.”

“Noted. Yoshka is doing well, by the way. Thought you’d like to know.

“So Shana has already said.”

In the end, a smaller pile of papers and notebooks were returned to Shanalorre’s annoying uncle. The flow diagrams were given to Shanalorre—who had returned from her errands smelling like rotten fruit—who in turn gave the papers to Lidzuga. Everything else was carefully wrapped with a carry cloth, which Shanalorre carried back with her when they returned home.

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Accelerated Harvest

Rian looked up from the almanac Lori had handed him, having apparently finished reading the entry on the typhon beast. “And you want to kill one of these things?”

“It’s necessary,” Lori said. “Its presence has disrupted the hunting in the vicinity of River’s Fork, impacting the available food supply. Until—” Lori reached into her belt pouch and felt around for the rocks there, glancing between them to find the note signifying gender, “—Taeclas can significantly increase our crop yields, we are still dependent on hunting the local beasts and seels for a significant amount of our food. As such, the disruption the beast is causing must be dealt with.”

“And so you want to killone of these things.”

“Yes.”

“Did you find out how to do Mentalism without telling me? Because unless you’ve found a way to fly above this thing and throw down lightning, any attempt at trying to kill it will have to be done at ground level, where it can eat us.”

“Do you have a better suggestion?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean trying to kill it as we are is a good idea! We have a river, can’t we just hunt on the side of it the typhon beast isn’t? And it’s river’s fork, so there another river to be on the other side of!”

“We have, but the hunters have not been as successful in their hunting there due to the a noticeable lack of beasts.”

“… Are you telling me that beasts—dangerous beasts that are bigger than us, faster than us, and have more claws than us—find this thing so terrifying that they don’t think being on the other side of a river from it is safe enough… and you still want to go after this thing?”

“I don’t want to, but it’s necessary to keep our food supplies for the coming winter stable, and we need the experience should we have to deal with another one of these things in the future.”

Rian groaned, closing his eyes and burying his face in his hands. Lori took the opportunity to take the almanac back from him, inspecting the pages for residue or stains before properly closing the book. “Rian, stop being theatrical.”

He didn’t, raising his head slowly as if he was doing it for dramatic effect. “Do you at least have some sort of plan?”

“Find the area where it regularly drinks. Place a lightningwisp-based trap. Kill it.”

“Ah. And have you figured out where that is yet?”

“The hunters are still ascertaining the location.”

“Ah. And… this trap you want to set up… how long will it take to prepare? Because I doubt you want to have the typhon beast show up while you’re still in the middle of preparing.”

“…”

“…have you at least practiced preparing your trap and timing how long it takes so you know how long you need?”

“…”

Rian sighed. “Well, at least you haven’t actually tried to kill it yet.”

“We were waiting for you. Killing the typhon beast is a major undertaking, after all.”

“I have never been more glad you don’t want to do anything that needs coordinating with people without me,” Rian said, sounding very fervent for some reason. “All right… tell me about this lightningwisp-based tra—”

“No!” Riz exclaimed. “Rian, please, don’t ask about the trap until after we’ve eaten!”

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After the lightningwisp traps was described, Rian offered the suggestion that the issue of the typhon beast continue to be deferred until the hunters had sufficiently ascertained it’s habits such that they could reasonably predict where it would be. The plan he was able to quickly formulate was… honestly annoying in its simplicity, but it relied on learning a bit more about the typhon beast’s habits, as well as the loss of some meat from both their stores and from their freshly butchered seels. Until those habits were learned, they waited.

This didn’t mean they were idle.

Over the next few days, the carpenters focused on making frames so that everyone could have paper sheets on their windows. While the addition was simple enough, and sort of silly to Lori, it meant that people could have light come in through their windows while they were technically closed. As such, some people could work in their homes without the doors and windows being open to let in light, meaning the bugs could be kept out.

The weather made it all seem like a sick joke. It was so hot that apparently people waited well into the night for interiors to cool before they went to sleep, and at midday her dungeon’s second level and dining hall were full of people avoiding the heat. No one was spending time in their houses if they could help it.

Still, the frames were made, the paper glued onto the frames, and the finished screens mounted onto people’s windows. Just because it seemed unnecessary now didn’t mean it would be so forever. Once the weather shifted next season, it would be more useful for those who worked in the workshops that had been converted from houses after some families were moved. Some people, like the chandler, she couldn't allow to set up a workspace in her Dungeon because of the odor. She'd actually had to set up bound tools to draw air up the chimney to keep some of the workshops ventilated. It didn't do much for how hot the house was, but it pulled air in through the open door, keeping the smells mostly contained as the odors were vented well above the nearby houses.

Lori assisted in mounting the new paper screen shutters to the windows once the carpenters finished assembling them. The woodworking went on noticeably faster compared to how long it took to make shutters the previous year, and the carpenters were almost childishly enthusiastic as they used their new hand-held bound tools. Part of that was no doubt from how much less materials the screens used, since most of the screen's surface area was composed of paper.

The wire lattice on a pole' that… whatshisname, annoying male Deadspeaker…uh, Lidzuga… suggested was made, though as a proof of concept test, one of the mesh screens was given to… whatshername, crazy plant-naming Deadspeaker… Taeclas to see if she could use it as a contact for claiming and taming stalks of their crops. When it was shown to work—and the mesh they used for the test wasn't damaged—Lori authorized the wire to have three of the poles made. The final result was a tool consisting of a wire lattice on a pole three paces long, on the sound logic that some reach was needed. They wouldn't be able to use the full three paces when holding the poles horizontally, but the length made a decent counterweight so that the lattice could be controlled and not damage or dislodge the heads of vigas.

The length of wire with handles was retained in case it had some utility. Rian had started muttering about putting the ends of the wire on poles and hanging mesh screen from there wire, and Lori could almost see what he was thinking.

With the wire in her hands, whatshername started working her Deadspeaking on their crops on the fields outside. According to Rian, she woke up early in the morning, the rock Lori had given her tied to her forehead for light, and used the new pole to claim and tame meanings on to their crops until breakfast, after which she continued until it was far too hot to work outside, at which point she moved on to claiming and taming meanings onto the crops, tubers, vegetables and saplings in the third level.

Lori had learned this when she'd found the woman napping in one of the alcoves in the second level one afternoon, and Rian had hurried intercepted her to explain that the woman had technically already done a day's work. She left the woman alone after that. Lori wasn't unreasonable, after all. As long as the woman started working before sunrise, she saw no reason to interfere with a well-deserved afternoon nap.

For various reasons, the limiting factor soon became Shanalorre. In addition to having difficulty using the poles as she tried to imbued the crops due to her small size, she needed to spend more time on the crops to imbue them to the amount of magic that would sustain the meaning for five days, which was the amount that Taeclas said would be enough to push the crops to maturity so they could be harvested. Shanalorre also started waking up before dawn as a consequence, to take advantage of the relative coolness.

In an attempt to try to help Shanalorre get her imbuing done faster, Rian had, on his own initiative, tried to find a way to increase her productivity.

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Lori arrived out in the fields to find Rian, Riz, Shanalorre, and both wire lattice poles in the demesne—the third had been sent to River's Fork to be used there. Despite everyone wearing wide-brimmed reed hats to keep the sun off them, everyone was sweating.

Her lord and Riz were standing on either side of Shanalorre, holding the wire lattice poles and laying the heads—gently—on top of some of the crops that Lori supposed… whatshername…—she checked her rocks, feeling around for the one of the right shape—Taeclas had probably already tamed with meanings and just needed imbuement. Riz was wearing an expression of tired exasperation, but was at least holding the pole properly so the wire lattice only rested lightly on the crops as Rian spoke to Shanalorre.

"Rian," Lori said, repeating herself until her lord finally looked up to face her. "What are you doing?"

"Seeing if there's any way Shana—"

"Shanalorre."

"—Shanalorre could imbue twice as many crops at a time!" her lord said cheerfully. Up close, her lord was clearly less uncomfortable in the mid-morning heat, while both northerners were sweating so much they looked like they were taking baths. Slightly less uncomfortable.

"By using twice as many poles, I presume," Lori said.

"Yup," Rian chirped. "After all, the limitation is how many crops she can imbue at once, not how much imbuement she had. At least, I presume that's the case if her access to magic as a Dungeon Binder is the same as yours."

"It appears to be working, Great Binder," Shanalorre interjected, one hand wrapped around each pole as she imbued the meanings on the crops through the wire in her grip. "However, I am unsure if doubling the number of meanings I can imbue in this manner is efficient. Adjusting both poles to make contact with the next set of meanings without overlooking any meanings in between takes notably more time than maneuvering a single pole by myself."

"I see. Do you have a rebuttal to this, Rian?"

"I'm sure that we can fix that problem with a little practice," he said with persistent cheerfulness.

"No," Lori said firmly.

"But—"

"I am not losing you to being Shanalorre's pole carrier during the mornings and before, Rian."

"It doesn't have to be me!"

"So Shanalorre will have to begin from the start with someone else, thus losing more time?"

"I know we'll lose a few hours as they start, but once they know what to do—"

"Rian."

"Yes, your Bindership?"

"Let Shanalorre get back to work and put the other pole back to wherever it's supposed to be stored." Huh… where were they storing those things?

A sigh. "Yes, your Bindership."

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Unfortunately, the initiative did not bear fruit—or grain, as it were.

Despite these difficulties, Shanalorre and Taeclas’s work yielded good results. When it became too hot to work outside, Shanalorre took a bath, checked on the children in her charge, and then moved on to imbuing the crops that were being grown in the dungeon’s third level.

The crops in the dungeon farm were the first to mature enough to harvest. After Shanalorre had imbued them, Taeclas had activated the meanings so that they were all affected on the same day. They had reached maturity within the week, and had promptly been harvested, the gathered sheafs laid out in the sun to dry—it had been judged that the sun would do a far better job than the desiccator sheds—before the grains could be winnowed. Word had also arrived that River’s Fork was in the process of harvesting. As Shanalorre technically still claimed the demesne’s dungeon’s core, the imbuement of the crops there had been much easier.

Lori had needed to take a trip to River’s Fork and form a binding to keep bugs from devouring the drying grain. It had been an effort taking sticks topped with softened rocks and arranging them around and between the stacked sheafs. With the stone to let her anchor the binding of lightningwisps, she’d been able to establish bug repellant binding over a wide enough area. Some softened stone, a short length of wire, and the reduced but still very large wispbead that had been used to imbue River’s Fork’s dungeon shelter defenses were used to keep the binding imbued as a crude but usable rudimentary bound tool. After all, she wasn’t going to waste a bound tool core on something like this.

It was only a small harvest, but Rian asked her for a holiday anyway.

“In this heat?” Lori said incredulously.

“Well… admittedly, everyone will probably spend the holiday in the dungeon,” Rian admitted, “But come on! It’s our first harvest that was accelerated by Taeclas and Shanalorre’s Deadspeaking… and Lidzuga’s too, down in River’s Fork. Something like that is worth celebrating, even if people will be celebrating by staying indoors where it’s cool.”

“What, no roast meats? What kind of holiday is that?”

“It’s a bit too hot for roasting, though…?”

“Then what’s the point?”

Rian stared at her. She stared right back.

“Right… so, just to confirm… you’ll authorize the holiday if there’s roast meat?”

“It’s the only part of holidays I like. If there’s not going to be any roast meat, I see no reason for their to be a holiday at all.”

“I was thinking we’d have honey bread with every meal? You know, to celebrate being able to harvest the crop in the dungeon farm?”

“… and the roast meat?”

Rian opened his mouth… then paused. He closed his mouth, tilting his head thoughtfully. “As long as there’s roast meat, right?”