[Sanctuary] The Dog Days Of Summer (Open)

[Kavala]

Timestamp: 12th of Summer, 512 Av
Location: Sanctuary
Purpose: Rebuilding (yet again!) the kennels/Architecture/Carpentry/Reimancy
Status: Open

Kavala gathered her supplies. A builders toolkit which included hammer, nails, all sorts of measuring devices, saws, a miter box and saw, chalk lines, etc. She had parchment and ink spread across a table that had been pulled up near the staked out site of the new kennels with a clearly drawn diagram of the old kennels firmly laid out. They'd left plenty of room for a change in the facility, additional runs, smaller or larger planning... it all depended on what the new kennel master wanted. Kavala had promised to meet Tamilin there and together the two girls and whomever else decided to show up was going to be putting up the structure. It would be framed of wood, mostly salvaged from the old buildings that the djed storm had destroyed. Then, quite thoroughly Kavala would cover it with granite and make the building stone. The more she built the more she made the walls less solid and jointed like a carpenter would with space between them so if there were ever shaking the buildings would flex more easily than solid stone would.

It was only the outer wall of Sanctuary that was sixteen feet high and solid, easily replaced by any reimancer that could do work on stone, but quite thoroughly protective against wildfire and predation. Again she studied the staked out marked area for the kennel and then studied the map.

"Well, what do you think Tamilin? Do you want to make any changes?" She asked, curious. Everything had room for improvement, that much was certain. She just didn't know what the girl's tastes were in terms of layout.

[Tamilin]

With thoughts full of the myriad hounds that roamed the facility, Tamilin walked toward the area set aside for the new kennels. She'd examined the staked area before, judging the space of the proposed kennels and runs, the space set aside for her own use. It had spawned many thoughts, had initiated a count of the dogs now under her keeping. (Something best achieved during feeding time, when all were still for a brief moment.)

Green eyes spotted Kavala standing beside a tool-strewn table, and the young woman picked up her pace to a light jog until just a pace or two away before slowing back to a walk. There she joined the Konti with a grin, and gazed down at the diagram that showed on a smaller scale what was staked out in the grass.

"Yes, if that wouldn't be too much of a bother." She replied in response to Kavala's question. "There's only enough space now for the adult dogs we already have, and we've plenty of puppies that are quickly going to get big enough to not need to stay by their mothers. I'd rather not have them more than two to a kennel, especially since they're all the larger varieties." Here she gave an amused grin, and glanced down to the ever-present sykanis that sat patiently at her side.

"And really I would rather not double up the males, in case there's fighting when the females come into heat. So with doubling the females we'd have easily half the kennels full, then the puppies would fill the rest. And I'm not sure how quickly we can sell the pups." She suspected that the watcher pups would be in high demand with a little training, what with the storm still fresh in people's minds. "I was thinking we could add another four or six kennels, make sure we have plenty of space. Perhaps a second whelping kennel as well, just in case."

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Kavala had told him some of the plans they had in the works, and his camp was right beside the Sanctuary now, so he made a point of wandering over where one of her employees told her she was for the day. He hadn't much in the way of building skills, but he was stronger than he looked, had Fire and Water to share, and was willing to follow when the necessity arose. He liked to help, and he wanted to do right for the Konti-Drykas, whom he considered all but family. After all, he had ridden all the way to Avanthal during the Winter on her behalf. He liked Ragnor well enough, but he liked Ragnor best for guarding the Sanctuary and Kavala. "Ho, Kavala!" he called ahead before he could see her. He was quiet on the Sea of Grass, but among people, he could be rather boisterous. Besides, he was trying hard not to think too much on Issima's impending delivery and the threat of Oriana's curse. "Oh, hullo," he said, when he saw she wasn't alone. "I'm here to lift heavy things, I think."

[Ronan]

Ronan had been spending most of his time with Kavala - and so it was no surprise that he had heard about the plans to rebuild the kennel. It was certainly needed, with the dogs craving a larger space to call their own again. He had intended to help from the first mention. When he turned up, he was pleasantly surprised to find Sama'el there, offering his services, and another young lady alongside Kavala. He had seen her in the Sanctuary before, and he guessed she worked within the ruined stone walls. He caught the end of Sam's introduction, and he marched up to stand alongside his Drykas brother, grinning stupidly. "And me. Plus a little Geomancy." He gave Kavala a warm smile, before his eyes flitted to the other woman. "Hello there," he said softly, "I'm Ronan." He nudged Sama'el, a gesture of camaraderie. "And this is Sam - we're your resident Drykas handymen."

[Raiha]

Kanikra always paid attention to the kennels, even if she and Raiha had rarely used them. Raiha was not in the mood for interacting with people still, and she doubted she would be for a long time yet. And pregnant or not, she could lift things and swing a hammer. There was nothing like hard work for getting over a disappointment. Wasn’t that what Raiha had kept telling everyone? Of course it was. Then she needed to believe it. Oh, Kanikra had had this argument with her a thousand times over in the last couple ten-days since the glassbeak attack. She knew that it was very different to lose a building than a mate. But why don’t you explain that to Kavala? I’m sure she’d love to hear that you think her life’s work is insignificant because your boyfriend got himself killed.

She was getting better at coming up unannounced and quietly, Diallo trotting along at her side as the tall woman listened to Tamilin discuss her plans for the kennels. She remembered the original sketch, that Kavala had made when they had put them up less than a year ago, only to be torn apart and demolished. The fencing had had to be straightened and stretched out again, but at least that had been salvageable. Kanikra folded her arms, listening to the Makath around her, as the Drykas males joined in. Ronan had miraculously kept his promise to return. She had to give him that. She hadn’t expected it. She nodded in greeting at them, and just kept listening, her face almost blank. There was nothing uncommon about that expression these days. At the mention of expanding it, she tilted her head slightly and eyed the girl.

“You needn’t worry about the deerstalkers, if they are figuring into your numbers,” Kanikra told her dryly. “I do not kennel them unless one of the bitches is in heat, and if space is an issue, I will have a spare flight in the mews for them. They have too much training to do rather than be kept in pens all day. Quality, not quantity.” It wasn’t even softened with a smile, but Raiha did precious little smiling these days. “The golden rule of dog-breeding is this. If a trait is good and you do not select for it, you will lose it. If the trait is bad and you do not select away from it, you will get it. As nice as money coming in may be, we cannot allow a reputation for poor pups now. But do continue.”

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

There were several new faces around the Sanctuary now. A few Drykas had made camp outside the Sanctuary. It was good to have a few more helping hands around here. They needed it for the rebuilding desperately. But today it seemed like the Kennels would be the focus of attention; which was a good thing considering that they had a new Kennel Master as well. Tamilin…he hadn’t spent a ton of time with her yet. He didn’t really even know her. But these things came with time and well time right now was better spent doing something productive. They were going to rebuild, strong as stone. Valuable lessons had been learned from the storm; they were not nearly as safe or protected as they had originally thought. And now they were going to harness this knowledge and use it in the rebuilding.

He didn’t know what the rebuilding plans would entail exactly. But he woke up early and met Kavala, he was going to lend his hand and meager skills however possible here. At the site there were already plenty of hands. Two men from the Dryka camp outside the walls whom he did not know, Raiha, Kavala, and the new Kennel Master. He approached the table just in time to hear the tail end of Raiha’s discussion; more like adage really. She did always seem to speak her mind openly. And Serrif had learned to say little around her lest he want a tongue lashing himself.

Although Raiha did speak truth, he could never fault her for that. But sometimes she had an air of superiority about her…and why shouldn’t she? She knew the Akalak thought they were superior to everyone and everything except their God and Goddess. And Raiha was the offspring, the very rare and powerful offspring, of an Akalak and a Konti. And this likely only fed her view of herself. But she had every right to be so in his mind.With a nod to Kavala he stood at the table-side waiting for the general consensus to be reached before he leant a helping hand to the group. He didn’t feel it pressing to speak, so he did not; choosing instead to remain quiet. He was here to aid, simple as that. And Kavala or Raiha would have a far better idea what was required; he on the other hand didn’t have much of an idea at all what was required. He had only seen the Kennels a few times before they were completely destroyed.

[Kavala]

Kavala nodded to Tamilin and quickly put charcoal to the parchment, increasing the dimensions of the kennel to 60 feet from 48 feet and added enough runs on either side to make Tamilin's required additions. She also marked out the dividers between the two pens adjacent to the doorway so there'd be more welping space or at least larger kennels. Kavala knew the dogs weren't always penned up, but they honestly needed to house most of them somewhere if emergencies struck. They also needed a place for feral animals and kelvics if such a need arose. Not all of the kennel would contain Sanctuary's dogs. Some would contain patients in the clinic as well.

"Raiha's right. Also, the last litter we had was born in front of the Hearth down below. I imagine that will happen again, more than once." Kavala said, smiling. When Sama'el and Ronan put in an appearance, Kavala quickly introduced them to Tamilin. "Tamilin, this is Sama'el and Ronan. They are visiting Drykas from The Sea of Grass. They are always welcome here and will come and go as needed. I seriously hold their building skills suspect though because if its not pitching a pavilion, I don't know where in the world they've seen hammers and nails before. She touched the eighteen year old man's shoulder lightly and smiled at him trying to lighten the air of tragedy that seemed to hang about Sama'el. When she glanced at Ronan though, her smile broadened and Kavala moved inside the older Drykas' space without thinking as if she was comfortable there and had no awareness of boundaries.

"At least they will save us from buying some slaves for the day... heavy lifting indeed." She laughed.

"And you might already know Raiha. She's a resident here and runs the mews. She's been taking care of most of the dogs since our last Kennel Masters accident. We lost him to glassbeaks out hunting, so do be careful. Take big dogs with you if you go alone, though I'm going to make sure I teach these warhorses of mine glassbeak detection and combat, which means acquiring a few captive glassbeaks to teach them with. But that process will take time and they are no where near ready to be effective babysitters if your out hunting. Though eventually even if you dont' ride, I want them to the point where they can even just go along on a lead as guardians. Horses see, hear, and smell better than we do, especially when its getting dark." Kavala said, putting down the charcoal and letting Tamilin have a look at the modifications.

When Serrif joined the group, Kavala almost had to laugh. She should have spoken to Raiha about her attitude around Serrif long ago, because something had happened between the two and had put the girl off about the human. But in the Akontak's defense, Raiha was still a very young teen by Akontak and Akalak standards. Everyone, but Kavala, often forgot that fact. Raiha made sure they did as well. And Serrif was no exception. He wasn't the first, nor would he be the last, victim of an unhappy teenager locked in her angst. And even though Kadrath had managed to get Raiha with child, the girl was still a child, and undoubtedly would be until her six season long gestation came closer to an end and she was forced to grow up with the birth of a daughter or son. And having been one forced from her childhood early by accidental slavery and abuse, Kavala was not going to force Raiha to grow up faster than necessary.

The fact that Raiha wouldn't give Serrif the time of day or a break from her haughty attitude simply told Kavala that Serrif hadn't found a way to gently correct the teen and win her over. He had come into Sanctuary on a dark and snowy night where he would probably have frozen to death despite his fire because of the temperatures and an incoming blizzard. He'd professed himself an Opal Order healer and had said he wanted to record all there wisdom for the Opal Order, which to Kavala, was on par with seizing and stealing. Sure he hadn't meant it like that, but he had come across like a ton of bricks. Raiha hadn't forgotten, and evidently, hadn't forgiven.

Kavala introduced them.

"Serrif, this is Tamilin. Tam, this is Serrif. He's with the Opal Order I believe... here collecting information for Mura." She added.

Then, in true leader fashion, Kavala got everyone started. "The first thing we need to do is expand from 48 feet to 60 feet. Then we need to stake out the entire floor plan, decide where we are going to frame the building at, then frame it so our Reimancy has a base. Instead of two stories, I want it to just have one story, with a roof access to clean gutters and storm control. Then I want the boys here to cut and frame in the side walls and front of the structure, leaving the entrance open. Once we get the sides raised with the wood and nails we have here, we'll need to layin the stone, turning the framing into a base for the reimancy. Ronand and I can get started by bringing up fence posts, since we'll need dozens. Ronan, I'll show you how to raise pillars of stone for the corner posts, then make stone posts for the run at every wooden stake. We need to measure, double measure, and triple measure to make sure everything measured right before we frame and cover it with stone." Kavala said softly, handing out lengths of tape measures and bundles of stakes.

"Serrif, you and Sam work together. Tam.. walk the stakes, double triple check, Raiha... get with Tam as she does so and make sure you two have thought of everything before we lay stone... and Ronan... lets go start on fence posts." Kavala said, letting the others go off and beckoning Ronan to the northwest corner stake, measuring out the additional twelve feet, adding marks for the stakes and driving the corner in. Once she'd checked and triple checked the measurements, she knelt down in the corner, laid her hands on the ground, and began producing Res, calling stone from the earth and forming it upwards into a pillar that was perfectly square corner post that rose about ten feet high.

[Teahvan]

Teahvan took a moment to adjust his sight to Auristic for a casual scan of those nearby that were gathered to help Kavala with building the new kennels. He had learned a few new skills when using Auristics, while also learning how easy it could be to get lost in the Sight and overgive; this was why he kept his Sight tightly focused and/or used it quickly. One of those skills allowed him to detect other Reimancers and to know their affinities. Kavala now had tiny spheres of green orbiting through her aura, indicating her to be a Reimancer of Earth now; She had not been a Reimancer 2 years ago, as far as he could recall from their brief meeting then. From where he stood, the male and female, introduced as Serrif and Tamilin respectively, did not show any Reimancer Affinities. With the distance involved, and the quickness of the scan, he could be wrong. The female introduced as Raiha had tiny blue spheres orbiting through her aura; An affinity for Water. Next came the final single affinity Reimancer present within range; He looked to be a Drykas named Ronan. His aura had small green spheres orbiting through it, like Kavala did. The last other Reimancer he noted within range, was another male double affinity like himself, but not like himself. Where Teahvan, when he looked at himself with Sight, saw middling small spheres of either green or white orbiting through his aura; This male Drykas, who had been introduced to the others as Sam, had small spheres of either red or blue orbiting through his aura. From this quick scan he would guess that not only did Sam have an affinity for Fire and Water, but that he was more skilled then Teahvan was. {Well we have a plethora of Reimantic Affinities gathered together in one place; Three with Affinity for Earth, Two with Affinity for Water, One with Affinity for Fire, and One with Affinity for Air. What coming event is gathering so much together here or what are we really building here?} As the group started to seperate, Teah noticed some of Kavala's spheres slow down and focus into her hands just before she raised a post of stone out of the earth. He could feel the world around him coming more alive, sounds were becoming more vibrant, smells were more stimulating,...time to turn off the Sight, before he become lost to the Overgift. Teah rose from where he had been sitting and headed over to the site for the new kennel to offer himself to the effort of rebuilding the new Sanctuary and all that would be involved in its formation.

[Teahvan]

Although Kavala was now an Earth Reimancer of some power; Teah noticed her Ability seemed focused on strength and speed, whereas he focused more on stability and subtlety. Teah began producing Res of his own as he moved to the general area of the new kennel; allowing the res to seep into the ground, then using the senses of an Earth Reimancer, Teah began studying the structural support of the surrounding earth that would be under the new kennel along with the other various stone reinforced buildings of this improved Sanctuary. Now began the long and arduous process of shifting earth to better support the new weight on its surface without leaching to much of any element from the surrounding land, thereby creating a wasteland from the imbalance of elements. Teah still had much to learn about keeping things in balance and harmony and fervently hoped that Semele would not disapprove of his work through Reimancy. The work that Teah was performing may be subtle in comparison to some Earth Reimancy; that did not mean it would go entirely unnoticed even to the non Reimancers of the area. The immediate area seemed to vibrate with a near subsonic hum as materials were slowly being shifted beneath the surface. Wherever and when ever possible Teah brought material, similar to that used in the creation of Kavala's pillar, together into clumps near the surface. This way the other Earth Reimancers would not need to stretch so far or change material so much to form the rest of the pillars for the new kennel. Also there would be less disruption of the area for Teah to go back over trying to balance and stabilize after the work was done. As Teah came nearer to Ronan during the morning, he recalled a "difference" in Ronan's aura around one of his hands; there had been something new but at the same time familiar about that swirl of colors around his hand. Teah did not recall anywhere he had seen that pattern before despite the haunting familiarity it aroused in him. Hopefully one day he would discover what particular pattern meant.