[Haven] Somewhere Only We Know

[Balthazar Black]

3 Cylus 721

"So what's the plan?" Nimue asked, materializing beside Balthazar who was standing on the deck of a ship nearing Faldrass. She'd been silent for much of the voyage over but it seemed that the ghost had grown restless in the silence... just like the mage who she traveled with. Balthazar turned his head slightly to look as his spectral companion and then he turned back towards the sea. The plan. That was a loaded question if he'd ever heard one. He knew that Nimue wanted him to go right back into his work with the Elements, solving cases, fighting crime... fighting. Nimue wanted action and Balthazar had relegated himself to building homes for refugees. It would be more than that, he knew it would, but for the time being all that mattered was getting a roof over the heads of all the refugees on the ship with them. Still, she'd spent her considerable effort to appear and speak with him so he'd respect it.

"Serenity Garden." Balthazar said simply as he looked out at the waves crashing into the ship. He could see the Sentry from where they were out at sea because of his mutations inverting his vision but they weren't going towards the Sentry. "A few of the refugees knew about the garden before the collapse. I'd heard about it but never been. The current hope is that we'll be able to disembark the ship somewhere near the garden without having to walk through much of the Badlands." Balthazar explained. Nimue seemed a little disappointed at the notion they they'd be avoiding as much of the Badlands as possible but it was only for the beginning. Even if Nimue was too short sighted to see it, Balthazar knew they would have to learn to conquer whatever the island threw at them.

Saoire's words lingered in the back of Balthazar's mind. They'd been haunting him ever since he stepped onto the ship after speaking to her and Faldrass with Darius. "A leader knows not just how to solve a problem, but how to teach their followers to solve their problems for themselves." He couldn't solve every problem the settlers had. He needed to help them learn to survive independently of him. He had time but the task before him seemed more daunting than fighting any war had. Fighting in a war as a quick solution. He saw a target and he destroyed it. That was the end of the issue for him most of the time. It was the same with cases. He brought the criminal to the Elements, and the job was done. This was different. He would not build a house and leave the settlers to live inside it.

He needed to do more. He needed to lead... and he needed to know they were willing to follow him. Faldrass spoke of a trial coming to the settlers and Balthazar couldn't help but worry about what awaited them back on the island. He thought about Saoire's offer and how he would inevitably visit her academy on the island. His greatest shortcoming had always been his teaching. He had incredible skills and had learned to do amazing things, but he was terrible at passing his knowledge on to others. Elisabeth was learning but it was only because they were spending so much time practicing. If Saoire could help him become the leader his people needed, he would turn to her. "Serenity Garden... sounds awful. What is it?" Nimue asked, making a face like someone who'd smelled an unpleasant odor. Balthazar grinned and shook his head slightly.

"It's not much better than it sounds. It's a... garden on the west end of the island with tall trees and a few places to sit- or at least it was before the eruption. We'll have to see how much of it survived when we get there." Balthazar explained causing Nimue to groan. "The natives said that there were great views all around. I figure we can set up at the entrance to the garden and build east of it."

You'll run into the Badlands. Fuego's voice chimed in Balthazar's head as the flaming rock sat down on the railing next Balthazar.

"We will figure out where to go from there but if the garden isn't destroyed, it may be nice to have somewhere for workers to rest while we build."

"Build?" Nimue said it like it was a poisonous word, "And how are you gonna do that? You buying all these people houses?" Balthazar laughed once and shook his head before turning to face the ghost beside him.

"Well I'm hoping to get them all to contribute but I'll do what I must. You know I live a rather expense free life." Balthazar said, unsure of why he was trying to win Nimue over. He knew she wouldn't ever really approve of staying but so long as it kept her around, she'd do it... for now. Things had grown more and more tense since Yeva was resurrected. Nimue wanted things Balthazar could not give her and as time dragged on it seemed like she was beginning to blame him for it. It didn't matter, for the moment. All that mattered was getting these people settled, and so that is what Balthazar would do.

[Balthazar Black]

4 Cylus 720

The task was immediately more difficult than Balthazar expected it would be. When the ship got close enough to the shore they discovered there wasn't really a dock for them to stop at. The dock most people were familiar with seemed to be a little more south than the garden and it had never been a problem before because people could go through the resort to reach it. Obviously the resort was no longer an option so in the long run they'd have to solve the issue of not having a dock to anchor their ships at but for the time being, Balthazar could help them manage. The ship stopped a little bit out into the water and dropped their anchor while Balthazar stood on the deck looking out at the beach. He took a few deep breaths to clear his mind, assessed the distance from where he was to where he wanted to be, and then with a large circular motion like spinning a wheel he tore open a loud, flaming portal to the beach. People seemed nervous to go through it at first but they grew more confident as they realized they'd made it. They were home.

Those who wanted to move were forced to wait while the rest of the crew began unloading the basic tents that had been brought to serve as housing while they built the wooden homes that would replace them. Balthazar was not quite confident in building wooden homes on a volcanic island but it was the cheapest material they had the most access to and if rumors about the Serenity Garden were true, it was a material they would be able to replenish... although Balthazar was hoping not to take trees from the garden but instead from the nearby badlands if they had decent lumber. The tents were unloaded and the ship began drifting off back towards the port that had delivered it. Balthazar had spoke with the captain briefly about making a return trip the following trial once they'd assessed needs and the captain seemed to agree to it but until the ship came back, Balthazar would be nervous about it.

Nimue returned to the Beneath when the moving began because it bored her and Fuego climbed onto Balthazar's shoulder while the mage and the thirty settlers behind him moved forward to set up their new homes. It took another two breaks to set up the entirety of what would one trial become a more lasting settlement. Balthazar wasn't experienced in city planning, he didn't have many of the skills he thought he would need. That was why he'd joined the military, not the council. However so long as they were just living in tents, Balthazar didn't really think it mattered who set up where. He made sure no one moved too close to the actual garden and he made sure no one moved too close to the Badlands. They had a decent amount of space and everyone got to pick their neighbors so long as they got their tents up. The majority of the tents were set up along a single straight path and there was an uneven amount of space between each on but it was a start. Fortunately the refugees knew how to set up their own spaces.

While they worked, people complained that they were cold and were assured that once their tent was finished, it would shelter them from the cold. Well, once the tents were up the people were still cold. In Cylus there was a very loose sense of trial and night but while the settlers slept through the 'night,' Balthazar and his three volunteer guards gathered to discuss solutions to the problem that they were having.

[Balthazar Black]

4 Cylus 720

Balthazar stood in a small circle with the settlement guards; Silk, Balder, and Ronan, while they considered the options they had to solve the temperature crisis. Well, calling it a crisis at this point was a little extreme but Balthazar was uncomfortable with the thought that the settlers were suffering from an ailment he could not possibly understand. He hadn't felt the sting of cold for a long time. The closest he ever had felt was when he'd been struck by and ether bolt. All the same the trio of guards seemed to agree with the general mass of settlers, it was cold without the trees that had once been there.

"I thought the sand would make up for the lack of trees." Balthazar admit to the trio who stood in various states of distress. Silk hated the cold for personal reasons but Balder hated that the settlers were uncomfortable. Ronan was just doing a job. The orange sand radiated a warmth that seemed to help a little but it was clearly not doing enough. "I can get a few fires going but we don't have much wood to burn."

"We could send someone to get Yellow Dragon wood from Scalvoris Town. It'll burn longer than anything we collect around here, maybe help fight off the cold." Ronan suggested with a shrug. He didn't seem invested but he was also wearing a thicker coat than most of the other settlers. Balthazar thought about it for a moment and before he could say anything, Silk cut in with a very valid point.

"Fire is only a temporary solution. We are going to need more than tents eventually." Silk wasn't wrong. "We should have everyone move their tents into a circle and create a pyre in the middle to keep them all warm."

"And where do you suppose we get those supplies?" Balder asked.

"We can have whatever group takes a ship back to the mainland get more wood to build more lasting houses to replace the tents. We brought some building materials didn't we?" Balthazar responded quickly, making sure he was heard before another one of the guards spoke over him. "We'll need builders too. I don't know about you three but I've never built a house that lasted."

There is a metal in the volcano you could use. Fuego's voice chimed to Balthazar who took the cue and immediately presented it to the others.

"Does anyone know about any unique metals on this island that might help us?" But the trio seemed to have nothing so Balthazar dismissed it. He would have to look into what Fuego had mentioned later. "Alright, for now, focus on getting the people warm. I'll go around and try to shape some more comfortable beds out of the sand for everyone to sleep on. Hopefully it'll buy us time to build."

[Balthazar Black]

4 Cylus 720

Balthazar would spend the next few breaks of the night, stretching into what had already become the fourth of Cylus without him knowing, moving from tent to tent in the settlement and creating a small pit in the sand large enough for two people to lay in. Balthazar explained to every family that the sand would keep them warmer than their cots so they should move their blankets and settle in the pits Balthazar made. He was hoping that by digging a little bit into the ground, the warmth would surround those who chose to rest inside it. Some of the settlers seemed eager to try out the little pit the mage made for them but others seemed content to remain in their cots. One even seemed aggravated that Balthazar had made their floor less even but Balthazar wrote them off as cranky and moved on.

As he walked through the settlement, going into and working inside of each tent, he let himself slowly attune to the location. He'd attuned to Scalvoris Town once before and found that it granted him incredible abilities, so he was hoping that by attuning to his settlement he would be able to protect them a little better. He knew that at the very least, it would allow him to watch over them while he was away. The sun never rose. It didn't rise in Cylus, but at some point the work was clearly done and Balthazar found himself settling into the tent that had been set up for him and the other guards. No one really had their own tent. Everyone was sharing with someone else and so Balthazar's situation was no different.

They hadn't solved the problem and because of that, the mage had a little trouble sleeping. The pits in the ground would keep them warm for a while but the cold would not end. The sun would not rise. They needed more than tents and warm sand. In the morning, they'd go back and get the rest of the supplies from the beach where they'd left them and Balthazar could get a small group onto a passing ship with a portal so they could fetch more materials. Then they could begin building some real houses.

For now the settlers could rest, even if Balthazar could not.

[Jackalope]

Experience: +10 xp

Knowledge:

Logistics - Planning a settlement layout to maximize a small source of heat
Logistics - Dedicating a small team to a task to avoid losing focus on the bigger picture
Leadership - Act on problems swiftly to help maintain confidence in your abilities
Politics (Governance) - Personally helping each of your subordinates will make them loyal
Politics (Governance) - Some people just can't be pleased
Attunement - The Frequency of Haven

Skillplay: Appropriate to level. No oversteppings.

Renown: +10 for actually making landfall, planting the flag (figuratively), and making it through your first night.

Comments: Colonies don’t come with instructions, do they? It sounds as though Balthazar has as much of a handle on this situation as could be expected. It will be interesting to see how he handles his responsibilities as a peacetime colony governor. I agree that making sure the colonists have adequate shelter and fuel to keep warm should take first priority -even over food and water. Hypothermia can kill in a matter of breaks. But you will need to sort out those things soon. Using materials such as the orange sand and Yellow Dragon firewood sounds like it will be a good expedient to help with that.

I would have been tempted to add Discipline to skills used, since you managed not to deck the guy who complained about his tent floor not being level.

Let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy your rewards.