It felt good to talk to a friend again. It was almost good enough for Balthazar to forget he was being watched and reported on but not quite. When Praetorum mentioned that he had access to a forge he could access twice a trial, Balthazar's eyes seemed to grow a little distant while his head began to flood with different thoughts and requests he could make. He had been given a bag by an old friend that allowed him to produce enough food or weapons to arm a dozen people so he didn't really need weapons made but it would be good to have some. However there were much more basic needs that he thought would both help the settlement and help Praetorum improve in his ability to craft. He mentioned he was no master smith, so Balthazar considered a simpler project.
"What do you know how to make best? We could always use more nails and tools to build, mine, and cut down trees with if you know how to make those." He wouldn't turn down armor for the guards if Praetorum had pursued a more combat oriented approach to his smithing but he did not ask for it. Instead he'd asked what the ithecal knew how to make best.
When Praetorum asked about issues with bandits, animals, or monsters Balthazar looked out towards the direction he knew the Badlands sat. He shook his head slightly.
"No bandits, animals, or monsters yet- maybe they're afraid of me." He gave a small grin and then continued,
"But the danger is certainly still out there. The people of Haven have been concerned about the Badlands ever since we arrive but no danger yet. When I was imprisoned I was worried something would attack this place but... nothing did." They were long overdue for a
bad trial. So after a few trills of thought about Praetorum's offer, Balthazar nodded.
"A wall is an excellent idea but it might take more than magic to get a strong one up. I'll talk with the build crew in the morning and see if we can get someone to supervise for us or give me a quick lesson in wall building. If we could, I'd like one between the settlement and the Badlands and maybe another between the settlement and beach." Balthazar figured he should probably explain why.
"The first wall would serve as initial protection and the second would give us a second location to fall back to if the first wall were breached." Balthazar looked towards the garden and then back at Praetorum.
"Then again, I'm open to other ideas."
Praetorum seemed happy to train Elisabeth which was a bit of a relief for Balthazar. When asked if she was restricted the way that he was, Balthazar shook his head slightly but said nothing. He was apparently wearing the bindings she had been wearing in prison, but Praetorum didn't need that detail.
"I'm sure she will be glad to show you her improvements as well." How often did she tell him she was better than the others? Probably not as often as it seemed to him.
When Praetorum asked about the projects going on, Balthazar took a deep breath.
"Follow me, I'll show you." He picked up his pace a little bit and moved towards the back of the settlement where the slowly growing farm sat. As they made their way there, Balthazar explained the projects Praetorum would have already seen.
"On the way in you might have noticed we don't have a dock built yet so that's really the most pressing one, but we're also working on a small clam farm and few other things. There are woods nearby we'll harvest trees from sooner or later." They'd arrived at a small wooden building sitting a good distance from the rest of the village and near a small fence of stone pillars Balthazar had pulled from the ground to create a windbreak when Balthazar finally stopped.