Arc 721, 47 Ymiden
Happily, for Elisabeth, the dizziness that had plagued her in the first few trials of building the Munny Farmhouse had subsided, leading her to believe that, in fact, it had been her overuse of magic the trial before construction started that caused the issue. When Balthazar returned to the settlement, she would discuss the issue with him further, mainly because she was certain the guards would bring it up with him.
Unfortunately, there was a minor side effect to the episode that seemed to be lingering a bit longer, and the young settlement leader was unsure how to combat it. The settlers, while having their hearts in the right place, were becoming a bit overbearing about their settlement leader not overworking herself. Elisabeth understood why they were doing it, but it was getting in the way of normal, routine things that needed to occur every trial, and was boarding on frustrating.
Since building took up the daylight breaks, Elisabeth had switched her personal training to after dinner. In the past, no one had been interested in the young woman’s own weapons training, or unarmed for that matter, and yet now, she always had company. Silk, Ronan and Balder took turns ‘Elisa-sitting’, reminding her to take breaks and drink water at regular intervals. After several trials of the new behavior, she finally broke, and had called all three together.
“Every trial since I arrived in Haven in Ashan have I had the same routine. Every trial, I train with my sword and in unarmed. There’s never been an issue, yet now, one of you seems to always be around during those times.” She kept her voice calm and steady but emphasized a few words to make her point clear. Why?” All three looked at each other, but Ronan was the one that spoke up, grinning a bit. “Well, it’s a rather poor investment if we let you get hurt.” Silk smacked his arm immediately, causing a bit of a chuckle from the man.
Rolling her eyes, Silk tried explaining. “We just don’t want to see you overdo it again. There’s a lot going on, Elisabeth. Besides, Balthazar wouldn’t be….” Elisabeth held up her hand, arching her eyebrow gently. “No, no. Don’t start saying Balthazar wouldn’t be happy if I got hurt. You three know him better than that. He’s aware of my tendencies to get myself into trouble. Try again.”
Balder finally spoke, quietly communicating the sentiment the other two hadn’t been able to, getting straight to the point. “The settlers, they lost a lot in the eruption. Things haven’t been completely straightforward since Haven’s founding, but Balthazar, and then you, brought leadership and stability to the settlement, each in your own way. You are protective of us, and we are just returning the favor. We don’t want to lose anything else, and things seem to keep happening to you.”
Eyeing all three, Elisabeth took a moment to consider what they were saying. “I get it. I really do. I’m still trying to get used to everything too, and I appreciate that viewpoint and perspective. I will try to be more understanding if you three do what you can to reassure the settlers that nothing is going to happen to me. Deal?”
They agreed, but there was a fair amount of doubt in the young mage’s mind that the situation would change anytime soon. Sighing softly, she resigned herself to the idea that the ‘Elisa-sitting’ would probably continue for a while longer.
Progress had continued with the farmhouse. Boards had been pre-measured and cut per the building plans. Questions asked and answered. The building group met up each morning and quickly went over the goals for the trial. That particular one started with Herman taking a look at the plans again, appearing to consider something. "When we spoke, Bran - you said the walls of the clam farm, those were assembled on the ground and lifted into place right? I want to do the same here. I think it's worth it to build off the techniques you've used in the settlement already. There is no advantage to building them separately or on the structure, so let's just do that. It's a familiar process to your people, so in that sense, easy to build off of. Make sense?"
Bran, the settlement building lead, nodded in agreement. "As well, I'd like to suggest that we all work on things together, instead of separating out, unless there is a need for a specific job. I just think things will go a lot faster and people might be able to learn better if we are all working on the same wall, going through the same processes at the same time. " The cadouri instructor nodded his head enthusiastically. "That is an excellent point and idea, Bran. It is easier to learn using that method, and I approve. Students usually learn better when they repeat the same things too. Repetition is a wonderful teacher! Let's keep the same set-up with the two assigned to cutting boards as needed and the rest of us building the first wall."
Per that direction, just as they had built the floor foundation, the first wall was built. Measuring out the dimensions for the wall, boards were placed on the ground and secured together for the wall frames. Herman walked up behind Elisabeth, who was busily nailing a piece of the frame together, chuckling gently as he knelt next to the young woman. "Not the most textbook form of hammering I've seen, but Gilbert did say that you are something of a work in progress. Here, let me show you something."
Taking the hammer from her, the cadouri instructor tapped the nail gently into place until just after it was nestled halfway into the board. Then, he used two fierce blows to drive it home, then handing the hammer back to her with a smile. "People get into trouble because they start hammering too hard, too quickly. This usually results in hurt fingers or bent nails. Tap the nail in until it's secure in the board, and then give it all you have. You'll save the lives of a lot of nails."
Rising, he gave her a pat on the shoulder, leaving Elisabeth to continue practicing pounding the nails while more boards were secured. It was slow work, but she was enjoying the time spent with the settlers, even if they were a touch too protective of her. As she went to grab an armful of boards, Edwin rushed over and quickly grabbed them out of her arms before she had a change to argue. With a charming smirk, of course, he had tossed his head a bit, indicating for her to lead the way to where she needed the boards to be.
The young mage often took time to consider the building of the barn that was happening concurrently with their build, comparing the two structures during breaks and such. The barn was ahead of schedule, owing to the experience of the cadouri building it, but there was nothing wrong with that.
Before they broke for the trial, Elisabeth had repeated the action with another handful of boards. This time, when Gilbert came for them, Elisabeth was prepared with a firm grip and arched eyebrow. Chuckling, he backed off immediately with hands raised. “Alright, you win this time,” he had said.
Ending the trial with a victory, Elisabeth would take that win.
Arc 721, 48 through 51 Ymiden
It was about midtrial on the forty eighth when the group completed the first wall and immediately set out on the second one, which took another trial or so. With two walls done, it was determined that they could go ahead and erect them, connecting them to the foundation floor. Elisabeth and the rest moved the first wall into place, standing it upright.
Once it was there, six people remained holding the wall - three on each side - while the rest quickly secured the wall to the foundation. With each nail, the wall became sturdier. Finally, Herman determined that it would hold with two people remaining to steady, while the rest quickly grabbed the second wall, which would face the back of the house and contained a cut out for a door on the right side of it. It was moved into place, snugged up against the first wall.
The corner of the wall was secured first, allowing the two walls to counterbalance against each other, freeing people up to assist with the nailing into place. Elisabeth stayed holding one wall, and then again, knowing that her strength would be an asset, even though she got a lot of concerned looks from the settlers. The young woman didn't look it, but her weapons training had made her stronger than most, allowing her to assist more easily in that fashion than she had stumbling through nailing.
When they were done, the foundation was set and two completed walls were up. Herman glanced at the plans, nodding as he agreed with some unexplained thing on the sheet. "We need to put up one more wall, and then I think we will begin framing the inner walls. My thought it, that it will be easier to do so while there is still some space around the structure. Once we close it up with walls, it will be difficult for all of us to maneuver around." Elisabeth smiled, stepping over to Herman. She was more than happy to allow him to run things, but she was charged with the welfare of the settlement, settlers and their guests, and as such, she had made a decision.
"Of course, and we can do so first thing tomorrow. The settlers are preparing some stew and fresh bread, and it should be ready just about now. Shall we?" The whole group murmured happily about the meal, and soon enough the cadouri and settlers were sitting down on the beach, enjoying a well-deserved meal to nourish them before everyone set off to bed.
And Storm? He was happily curled up in his girl's lap. Building things was way too exhausting for him, watching all the activity and the noise, so he took the opportunity for a quick 'cat' nap before Elisabeth rose and trudged off to engage in her nighttime training. However, this time, when Balder moved to follow her, she turned and wagged her finger at him. Pointing at the bonfire, she smiled. “Sit. Enjoy. I will be fine.”
Waving mischievously at the group, she moved off, her mind already considering her training regime for the evening.
