19 Ashan 721
Fortunately the world was larger than a single island and Balthazar had seen a lot of it. He had met a lot of people, been on many ships, sailed past many places, read countless books, and developed countless 'friends' everywhere he went... and he could remember it all. His simple idea was to make a well (he'd seen enough of them) in the middle of town so that everyone could draw water from it for whatever they needed but the issue he assumed they would find was that the water beneath them was as salty as the water striking the beach. Still, a well gave them a place to draw water from that they could rely on if they found some way to separate the salt from the water. Alchemy and chemistry initially lead Balthazar to think the best solution for their water issue would be to boil the salt out of the water but when he thought about it more, he realized that he did not know how they'd manage to collect enough of the water to make it viable.
Alchemy did present other options in the form of reagents. Alchemy was a complex art of imbuing properties from one thing into another but if you looked at the base materials used, you could find many interesting things. The hide of a Golden Salamander was resistant to heat. Balthazar knew that because of the sheath around his Faldrunium blade. Faldrunium was a metal that grew stronger as it got hotter! Another good example of how there were many strange things in their world that could serve multiple uses. So what did he know that could separate salt from water?... It would have paid to be a sailor rather than a farmer in his youth... or to have not used the Untold so much. Luckily for Balthazar, there were plenty of intelligent minds in Haven now.
A few trials ago four scholars from the university had come to Haven on ships and discovered nowhere to dock. It was amusing to Balthazar but it did present another important problem, they could not have flourishing trade if they did not have docks for the ships to come in. The scholars were brought ashore on rowboats and they explained their reasons for coming to the settlement. They were after Elisabeth's clams. They wanted to study the new species that had been discovered on Haven's beach. Balthazar thought about immediately turning them away because at the moment the clams were the settlement's alone. They were a useful resource and if they found more pearls they could probably make some decent nels off them. Unfortunately Balthazar hadn't had the infrastructure created that he would want before allowing scholars to see or collect samples of their discovery.
He could assign a guard to watch the beach but it would be a waste and if he didn't assign a guard there, then the scholars would be able to take the clams at will. He had, however, discovered that there was a flaw in the justice system on the island. One transgression, no matter how small, could cost someone thirty trials of their life and after that their fate was left to a single person who could be swayed for or against them. It took a bit to figure out how he wanted to address the issue to the scholars but he'd figured it out. He invited them to join him and his guard on the beach and they were running a little late. When they arrived, the scholars were in the midst of a debate about something Balthazar couldn't quite overhear.
"Hello," Balthazar said to the group gathered in front of him, stealing the scholars' attention from their debate. "I've heard you have settled in, welcome to Haven. It has been brought to my attention that you four are interested in studying the ingis clams we discovered. Correct?" The scholars looked at each other a little apprehensively and then nodded in general agreement with what Balthazar had said.
