Arc 721, 56 Ymiden
"I know - I'm sorry but we still have a lot of work to do."
"Meeeeeoooowwww!"
"We can't not go to work just because you want to sleep in."
"Meoooooowwwwwwww!!"
"I don't care if you are mad. Go find someplace to sleep off your bad mood."
Flicking his tail irritably, Sir Storm of Haven showed his displeasure. His girl was acting unreasonably, as were the others, but that was fine. He simply needed to find someone to give him the attention he deserved. If they wouldn't, perhaps he would find someone back in Haven. Denying the others of his presence would teach them a lesson anyways, so instead of curling up next to the building site, the feline began sauntering slowly back towards the settlement.
Amused, the Haven settlers chuckled as they watched the cat's dramatic exit, with Gilbert turning to their leader, arching his eyebrow a bit. "He seems a bit vexed. What now?" Shrugging a bit, Elisabeth smiled and turned back towards the work they had to do. "I keep offering to exile him, but you all love him too much to bare the thought."
Progress had been made on a few fronts. The farm's barn and stable was coming together beautifully. It had been money well spent and the young settlement leader was thrilled at the excitement of the people, watching the structure come to life, knowing that soon, they would be that much closer to the shared vision they all had for Haven. As for the farmhouse, they had needed a few trials to go back over some previous work on the foundation and two existing walls. Elisabeth had been a bit disheartened by the idea of going backwards, but Herman had assured her that is was common, especially when working with labor that were just learning the skills of the trade. He wasn't bothered by the idea and, he said, had built that time into the schedule, knowing it would be required at some point. Things had been righted and now, it was time to move on.
Herman gathered them all together again, ushering them back to work. They had a third wall to construct, just like the first two they had done, and then they were going to start framing the inner walls while the structure was still exposed. Elisabeth got busy helping nail together the frame of the third wall, and then the actual wall itself. By this time, the group was familiar with the process, having done it twice already, so things moved along quickly. The conversation was plentiful and the settlers, it seemed, were in a good mood, seeing their efforts materialize into something real and tangible.
The over-protectiveness of the settlers, while still present, had turned into something of a contest of wills between the young leader and those she was charged with leading. Occasionally, they caught her off-guard, getting away with helping her with something trivial that she could have done on her own. The settlers had gotten smart though, often preempting her by anticipating her needs before she verbalized or showed inclination in needing something. Stacks of boards were always plentiful near her, as was water. She knew the guards had tried their best to live up to their end of the bargain, but their heart hadn't really been in it. Everyone knew Elisabeth was a healthy young woman in excellent physical shape, but their worries persisted, although were slowly lessening over time. She was simply going to have to be patient.
Arc 721, 57 Ymiden
Soon enough, they were securing the third wall in place.
As they did that, Elisabeth noticed Herman drawing on the foundation flooring with something that looked like chalk. She surmised that he was drawing where the walls were going to be, but didn't know for sure until he called them all together again to explain the next part of the process. "Well done! Now it's time for the inner walls. First, we need to take boards and secure them along the lines I've drawn. Those are where the walls will be. You'll noticed gaps in the chalk lines. Those are where the doorways will be so make sure to keep those clear because we will create the doorways as we go."
The group was getting better about following directions without needing explicit detail, so they got to work, following the chalk lines as they started framing in the walls and building the skeletons of the doorways. As the work went on, Gilbert came over to the area Elisabeth was working in, giving her a hand and speaking softly. "I heard that you were asking some of the settlers about those we lost during the eruption, and I thought I should speak to you before you came looking for me." Grinning softly, Haven's young leader nodded, replying in a gentle, teasing manner. "Well, you know me. I like to do things right. Why do you mention it?" Shrugging a bit, the man pounded in a nail firmly, giving a sigh. "I knew a lot of people that were lost. I figured there was a reason you were poking around about it."
Nodding, she stopped her work for a second, considering him. "After the Forging, I was approached by Ethelynda. She's the Immortal of Nobility, Honor, Protection and Serpents. She set a task for me - to figure out a way to honor and remember those that were lost. I'm not sure what I'm doing yet, but I figure gathering information is the first step." Gilbert glanced at her, a look of shock passing over his features. "Another Immortal? And that sounds like an awful big job. What is it that you need from us?" Chuckling a bit, Elisabeth placed a nail, and using the technique she had been shown, hammered it into place.
"Well, mostly how people think they should be remembered. I want to learn about them so I can better figure out how to best memorialize them. Can you help me with that?" The man considered what she said for a moment, nodding. "I can tell you about Faldrass people. They have a spirit that, I've always felt, mirrors the volcano. Something like an inner fire that never dies. The people that died, they did so protecting their homes and loved ones." Elisabeth listened, and already, an idea was forming. "Thank you," she said. "You've actually given me something of a thought. I promise to come talk to you further once we get the farm completed."
The trial wore on and Elisabeth finally decided to call it. "I think dinner is waiting for us back in Haven, and if I'm not mistaken, it's bonfire night. Well done all! Let's go back and get some food, and rest, and we can start again in the morning!'
Arc 721, 58-60 Ymiden
The evening prior had exceeded Elisabeth's expectations. When she conceived of the idea to have a bonfire during the cadouri's stay in Haven, Elisabeth had thought that at least it would help the cadouri understand a bit about the notion of community she was trying to promote. However, the settlers and cadouri took it to a whole new level when a few settlers started asking questions about Saoire. She was the one that had moved Haven, and as such, they were curious about her. Elisabeth had told them what she knew, but the cadouri had information from their own unique perspectives and had been only too happy to tell of the Immortal, of her kindness and work within the school.
The young Haven leader had sat back and watched the unexpected magic happen.
She had a story for the cadouri too, telling them about the adventure she and Darius had gone on in Scalvoris Town, helping a group of young cadouri that had been stealing clothing from people for their own little tea party. It had been an innocent thing really, but a lesson for the little cadouri, who had parted on positive terms with the pair.
The groups picked back up, working quickly as they began to frame the inner structure, conversing throughout, with Herman, Miles and Melinda providing needed guidance when the time was right. People were dispatched to saw boards to particular lengths when requested, but it was a fairly smooth step all around. As always, even though they were getting better about things and picking up speed, it took a few trials. That was alright though, for everyone was learning and learning took time. She refused to ruin the process being impatient, and the time spent was important to her, and she thought, perhaps, important to the settlers too. They were worried about her, and she hoped the more she worked with them, the more they would understand her and her work ethic. Not that it would assuage their fears, but hopefully it would ease them just a bit.
She had an idea on the other front, but wanted to discuss it with Balthazar first.
Herman bustled around between people, making sure the framing was going up appropriately. "Good, good," he exclaimed once that had been done. "Time to build the inner walls over the frames! The frames are in place so all that is needed is to cover the frames. Start from the bottom and work your way up, boards horizontal. Separate into smaller, two person teams for this part. Makes it easier to work in the space we have available."
Elisabeth began noticing patterns to the way things were put together in the farmhouse. Frames, covering frames. Frames, covering frames. They had frames the foundation, then filled in it. They had frames the walls, then filled them in. Now they were repeating the process with the inner walls.
OOC
Putting this here to keep everything organized and noted.
