By the ti I erged from Grivis's old office, the sun was high over head, shining directly into the depths of Tetherfall.
The villagers should've been out and about, yet it was emptier than the old corner gas station on a Sunday morning. After a second of poking around, I discovered most of them swarming over the mats, laughing and singing as they worked the cliffside. It was almost dizzying to watch. I'd thought they were mobile in the confines of Tetherfall, yet now they were bouncing up and down with vocal glee.
There was even a man who must've been over sixty years old running along the cliffside, held up by a single thin rope as he dashed along.
"This is…" The general feeling was so foreign to , I didn't really have words for it. They seed happy though.
"Hey boss," Tanis called, his words oddly high-pitched as he flung himself towards . A second later, he landed on the corner platform I'd been watching from. A platform I belatedly realized must've been recently installed, considering its position around the corner from the old limits of Tetherfall.
"What's going on?" I asked, waving at the madness all around us.
"Cliffracing, boss. Now that the mats are extended, people are stretching their legs," Tanis said, giving a nod that touched his chest. "Making good ti today."
"Is that what they're doing? Also, why are they singing. And why's everyone so… happy?" I felt awkward even as the words were out of my mouth.
The look Tanis gave didn't help none either. He slowly slid his lower jaw to the side, his eyes narrowing as he stared at . Then he chuckled, slapping one of his thick hands on my shoulder. "Good one, boss. Good one. As if you didn't know everyone's enjoying the feast. Knots, even when I was working with Grivis, I never ate so good. Why didn't you ntion your little sneaky friend was so good with smoke?"
"Sneaky friend?” I hesitated, thinking for a second he ant Bevel. Except he would’ve called her Bevel or Wood Rat. Which only left… “You an Tresla?"
"That's the one, boss," Tanis said, squeezing my shoulder with his hand as he turned to look down towards the long bed of coals suspended below us. While I was still calculating just how much of a fire risk that setup had to be, Tanis pointed out where Tresla was standing on the far end, amidst a thick cloud of smoke. Sure enough, she was surrounded by a dozen villagers, and they were all grilling away, following her instructions before handing off the fruits of their labors to villagers waiting with baskets. Then those villagers would take their bounty, lifting it to the top of the cliff. Once there, they’d gather in groups of four before racing along the cliffside to Tetherfall’s storehouses. It was inefficient, but I wasn’t going to point that out, considering how much fun everyone was having getting it done.
"Gonna be a sha when we run out of at though. Everyone's been enjoying the change," Tanis added with a sigh.
"Right. We need to address that," I said, looking upward. "First, we're going to need a proper pasture. It'd be nice if we had so actual shepherds too."
"Whatever you say, boss."
"Wish Inertia hadn't torn apart Fang, I could really use a proper map. If only I had a scout or…"
"Boss?"
"Sorry. I just… Inertia can fly," I said, giving him a slight grin.
Tanis nodded back, then waved goodbye as he returned to guard duty. I really did need more guards. Selvi and Tanis were the only official guards, even if Calbern, Inertia and I were able to help with bigger threats.
Speaking of, I found Calbern and Inertia together working on Fang. While I'd been sleeping, Inertia had implented several of the design changes I'd been toying with the day before.
As soon as she saw , she started whistle-hissing, waving at Fang's Forgeheart. I didn't need Tresla around to tell what Inertia wanted. Considering I wanted Fang back, I was happy to help. As I started casting the first Minor Heal, I said, "Inertia, once we've got Fang up and running again, could I ask you to do a favor?" The tilt of her head was enough to let know I had her attention, so I continued, "I don't have a solid grasp of the land, hereabouts, and I was wondering if you could fix that. Take a quick spin around, and let know what I'm working with."
She didn't respond imdiately, her attention shifting to the Forgeheart, the thin blades at the tips of her wings directing the repairs of Minor Heal.
Once I was done channeling, she made a couple more adjustnts before turning to . Holding up two blade-like fingers, Inertia whistled several high pitched notes.
"Okay. I'm guessing you have so conditions. Still don't speak Forgeborn, so we should probably wait for Tresla," I said, waving in the direction of the hanging cooking platform.
While I might not have spoken her language, I could still recognize the huffing steam-whistle of Inertia's laughter as she nodded in response.
We continued working on the Forgeheart for most of the afternoon, only stopping as the sun set over the distant horizon. I hadn't noticed before, but the sun skimd along the edge of Mount Aeternia, only avoiding casting Tetherfall in shadow early by a couple thousand feet.
The entire mountain lit up in reds, blues and purples as the sun slid away, standing boldly against the horizon. It was in that light that Bevel's lessons for the evening began. That evening Bevel wanted to know more about how I’d beco a mage, so I ended up teaching her about the generally accepted theory of mana-saturation.
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“That’s stupid. If that was true, then wouldn’t all your workers be mages?”
“Yeah, like I said, it’s just the leading theory. No one’s actually figured it out. Might be… uh…” I tried to rember the Elinder word for biology, my mouth hanging open as I squinted at the sky.
And so it was with my mouth catching flies that Tresla found us, joining us with a heavy tray of thin wraps with ground at inside. I still didn’t have an exact word for biology in Elinder. The closest I had was a word that ant the ‘study of wild environnts and the life in them,’ which didn’t apply to anything ‘civilized’.
Inertia broke off to join us, breaking free of my thoughts. She sat down next to Bevel who stared up at her with more than a little awe, our previous conversation completely forgotten.
"So, what were your conditions?" I asked as I tested one of the thin green wraps. It was surprisingly sweet. And very tasty.
Smoke rings rose from Tresla after a couple quick whistles from Inertia. They spent a few minutes engaged in their smoke talk, ti I used to polish off every one of the little green wraps I could get my hands on.
Polishing off my seventh wrap, I was licking my fingers when Tresla nodded, turning to . "Inertia will gladly help you scout out your territory. She says she doesn’t have any conditions, but wanted to remind you she can only give you a dragon's eye view."
"That's all I'm asking for," I said, retrieving the map I'd jotted down in my journal and laying it out between us. "This is what I was shown in Althon, though I've already noted several discrepancies. Like the fact the beacon isn’t anywhere in the village."
Tresla glanced over at Inertia, receiving a nod before saying. "Inertia would also like to remind you that she is your guide, and this falls well within her expected duties. However, she doesn't know what you want her to do with the drakes while she's scouting. She expects it to take her a week to scout your domain properly, though if she has to co back to check on the drakes every day, she expects it to take closer to three."
"Wait? She’s checking on the drakes every day? Nevermind. We'll see if we can find soone to help with the drakes. And if she can just do a quick flyover to give a general idea of how much things’ve changed from our maps, that'll at least let start. At the mont, I'm looking for sowhere close by where we can raise goats," I said, waving towards Mount Aeternia. "I think they need grass, though I honestly don't know. For all I know, they eat tree bark or fuzzy rocks."
After a burst of noise from Inertia, Tresla turned back to . "She suggests getting several villagers to watch the goats in their natural environnt for a few weeks. Then have those villagers look after the goats."
"We can probably do that," I said, feeling a grin pulling at my cheeks. "Anything else?"
This ti Tresla didn't have to wait for Inertia. "Yes. Inertia will need to take with her, so I can create a proper map." As she spoke, Tresla pulled out her pipe. With several slow puffs, a mostly flat road surrounded by several ridges and narrow valleys appeared, rising as if out of mist. It only took a second to realize it was the road leading into my domain.
"Done," I said even as I jotted down notes in my journal based on Tresla's display. There were details I'd missed on our initial approach, likely due to our speed and my focus on the upcoming eting with the villagers. The eting that ended with in conflict with Grivis.
Not my best mont. Far from my worst.
After jotting down the changes, I actually took a few seconds to look them over. There was a valley only a couple hours away by foot that might've been a good place for the goats. Unfortunately, it was between the village and the drakes, and I didn’t want to stick the goats too close to the drakes. Then again, more than half the area Tresla displayed fit that description.
Still, it was worth checking, once Fang was repaired.
Instead of working through the night again, I summoned Tanis, Selvi and Calbern for what I'd hoped would be a short eting.
"So, I can't help but notice you two are the only ones taking watch shifts," I said once Tanis had co flying up from Tetherfall. "I thought we were going to start training new guards?"
This was mostly directed in Calbern's direction, since he was the most capable person I knew, guard or otherwise, but it was Tanis who answered, "Well, you said you wanted volunteers, boss. And no one wants to volunteer."
"You're feeding us too well," Selvi said, before I could respond. "The main benefit to being a guard was the extra food. There are a couple people who're thinking about it, but most don't want to take the risk. And a lot of the others don't feel comfortable topside."
Tanis was nodding along, though he held up a hand. "There's a couple kids, Elvi and Orn, who're excited to join, but they're not old enough, least by old Balthum's rules."
"And that was how old?"
"Fourteen Storm Seasons," Selvi said, her scarred face twisting into a grimace. "Always said it was too young."
I rubbed my head, though I found myself nodding. "Agreed. Let's make it eighteen. At least for full ti guards. Fourteen is old enough to start training though. And to serve as sentries. They won't have combat duty, but we do need eyes watching over Tetherfall."
"If I am provided such ample ti for training, master Perth, I believe I can fashion excellent guards," Calbern said, giving a slight nod.
"Getting ready for the future is great, boss, but don't we need guards now?" Tanis asked, scratching his chin.
"Which ans incentives," I said, tapping my fingers against my thigh as I thought. "Don't suppose we could pay them more?"
"Pay, boss?" Tanis asked, glancing over at Selvi.
"He ans giving us those little bits of tal that Grivis and Magus Dominus Balthum traded with the clans," Selvi said, rubbing her fingers together.
"What would we even do with those?" Tanis asked with a laugh. "Hang them around our hos to make them pretty?"
"Wait, hold on a second," I said, rubbing my forehead. "Are you saying we don't even use money here?"
Selvi and Tanis traded another glance, Selvi shrugging. Tanis moved his mouth slowly as if unfamiliar with the word as he asked, "What's… muh neh?"
The slight twitch of Calbern's lip didn't feel particularly supportive as I stared at Tanis and Selvi.
It wasn't bad enough I'd been sent to a village in the most mana-desolate reaches of the continent, one that was one bad harvest away from starving. No. I'd been sent to a village that didn't even know the most basic of economics. What else didn’t they know how to…
I looked around the village again. At the complete lack of signs or writing. And Calbern had said Selvi was a relative scholar with a basic understanding of Elinder.
"Selvi… how many people in the village can read?"
"Hmm. That'd depend," she said, looking up and to the side as she ticked off a single finger before glancing over at . "How many people did you bring with you who can read?"
"Four," I said, knowing that everyone of us could read more than one language.
"Six then," Selvi said, before glancing at where Bevel was napping on her log. "Seven, if we include the wood rat."
A community of people who didn't know money or have basic literacy.
I couldn't hold back a laugh as I shook my head. Then I brushed off my hands as I stood up. "And I thought I had a rock-bottom education. Welp, guess that's just one more thing we'll need to work on."
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