There was no slacking. Making a home in the wilderness started with mere survival. But the people of the Empyreal Demesne had planted their feet and made headway towards permanent residence. The tower provided much needed shelter, sufficient to house everyone. living within it was still very communal in nature, but the tower provided solid shelter and comfort to all. No one begrudged Kelski the top floor. Her jewelcrafting had funded the entire venture, and it would be asinine to deny her space to continue her lucrative business. But, like Dess, many of the people there gladly helped the Kelvic into the top floor simply because Kelski had saved their lives.
They were on their way to self-sufficiency with seed in the ground and a small amount of livestock, and the arrival of Svefra provided a means of trade without having to rely on Zeltiva. There was much work do to still, not the least of which was the boathouse to facilitate more trade, and the manor itself, the home of the Meraki.
Kelski had a grasp on their path forward. The Sea Eagle was ambitious, intelligent and thoughtful, laying out each step as they progressed. But Dess's mind explored other contingencies. He was raised to defend and protect the K'etir, and his thoughts often contemplated the security of the people that were still arriving on Empyreal Beach. An organized band of mages like the Meraki, as they grew, would no doubt acquire opposition. Opposition that could become enemies. And there was the looming danger of the Drust, should they learn of Kelski and Dess's presence. The unfortunate risk was that those around them could be placed in harms way.
While a greater strategy needed to be developed, Dess looked around at the immediate need. They were a band of settlers, vulnerable to bandits, or even hostile Svefra. Their defenses were light. Vasin and Anja with their swords, Djinn with his bow, Kelski's array of weapons, his own martial arts, and a few ferocious Kelvics. But everyone would need to be part of defenses, should the need ever arise. And not only by a straight forward assault. Enemies could come with subterfuge, to steal, murder or kidnap, just as Kelski was stolen from them. Dess and Kelski had agreed that those unskilled should be taught some basic combat skills. He would begin by educating some in unarmed fighting. Looking ahead, he realized they would need space for training and practice and not only for fighting. A place to test area affect magic would be helpful as well.
All he needed to do was find a good level spot for his proposed practice grounds. He would find it in a very unlikely way.
Scruffy was raising a ruckus. The buck goat bleated relentlessly. Dess was passing by, and stalked over to the pen where the goats had been gathered to have their hooves trimmed, but had not been released. Dess was only learning about the animals, and tried his best to figure out what had Scruffy so bent out of shape. Then he counted the nannies. One was missing. A quick glance around revealed no errant goat. With a sigh, Dess picked up a coil of rope hanging over a post and went to look for the goat. He finally spotted her, traipsing into the woods. The Damazar ran after her.
The goat had passed through a small section of woods, stopping when she came into a meadow with lush grasses and clover. She was content to feed. Dess laughed. The clearing was almost perfect. fairly flat, it was roughly oval in shape, and long enough for a short archery range as well. Dess began to lay it out in his brain.
"Alright, come on..." Dess coaxed the goat after tying the rope around its neck. After a short tug of war, Dess won and the goat followed him. Only when the nanny was returned to the herd did Scruffy finally cease his bellowing.
Taking a moment, Dess went to his bed and pulled out the ink from his chest, then a quill and a note book. He began to sketch a layout for the practice grounds.
Words: 696
Accidentally written over, this post was rewritten 8/3/19
