Forging ahead [Kavala, open to Sanctuarians]

[Flick]

Looking up at Kavala with dark eyes, Flick nodded slowly, knowing the konti wouldn't bring harm here. It was hard to shake the feelings of anxiety and fear, even if the man was controlled and obviously a friend. Still, she knew Kavala could sense her feelings, her emotions. Listening carefully, she giggled as Kavala called Radis an ass, smiling as the idea of a competition was relayed to her. Looking over at Akela and Radis, she finally glanced back at Kavala and spoke.

" 'Kay."

Watching as the woman spoke about the forge, the plans and what they needed to do, Flick frowned a little. That was a lot of work. Heavy work. For bigger hands. Somehow, she felt like this was one of those projects where she was going to Get In The Way. Fidgeting with the end of her glove, the kelvic suddenly brightened and spoke up as Kavala mentioned things - small things - in the shed.

"I can get those!" The sandy blonde said loudly, her broad grin almost splitting her face. Turning, she dashed towards the staff quarters, sniffing out the shed rather than remembering its location. Shed's always smelt like must and sawdust. Reaching the door, she tugged hard a few times, before it came open with a dull popping sound - wood slightly warped. Entering the darkened room, she sniffed deeply, sensitive ears picking up the small sounds of tiny creatures...and instinctively her stomach growled. Ignoring its grumbling, she found the toolbox and picked up the level. It didn't take much to find the rest of the things and holding them in her arms, Flick left the shed, balancing everything in one arm to shut the door.

Returning to Kavala and the others, she smiled at them and waited to be told where to put the things, practically squirming with delight that she could help.

[Hatot]

“I’m always annoyed, Butch.” Radris said to Akela as he began slipping off his teethed gauntlets and tossing them onto the table’s surface. “All you have to do is show up.” Radris then grabbed of water skin, opening the top as he tipped his head back. The stream of water continued to fall from the spout as Radris drank more than his fill, emptying half of the skin before finally straitening himself again. A loud belch rolled out from his mouth, echoing through the halls of Sanctuary for a moment before Radris finally gave a light sigh and dragged his wrist along his mouth, wiping it clean. “Alright," Radris said, standing up and corking the water skin once again before tossing it to the table, “tell me what you want me to lift, because my buildings skills aren’t worth what comes out of a cows rear end at this point.” Radris moved over to the cart he had dragged up, tipping it slightly before it was turned and the back gate of the cart itself faced the workspace. His hand swung down like a hammer as latches keeping the gate fixed in place were slapped free and a simple nudge saw the gate to the cart swinging down with a subtle bang as it fell all the further the hinges would allow.

[Akela]

Almost about to counter Radris' reply with one of her own, Akela was silenced by Kavala laying out the plans for the forge. Kavala had always been the planner of the duo, which suited Akela just fine as it lifted the burden of thinking over things she didn't enjoy. However, for a burden lifted, another was about to fall upon her shoulders and it looked a lot more physical.

She watched, slightly slack-jawed, as Kavala illustrated the project and its steps, and if she was trying to sound intimidating then it was definitely working. Akela had used forges before, but she didn't have the foggiest idea of what actually went into their construction. "Ah," was all the Konti had to say about the intricate construction plan, all the braggadocio suddenly drained from her voice. Had the employer been anyone but her sister, this would be the point when Akela started looking for excuses to bail out or have others do the hard work for her - things like "I just remembered I had a duel scheduled at the tenth bell, see ya!" She hadn't come to be hated in the Pavilion for nothing.

It was at times like this that a mark from Nikali came in handy. Kavala had wanted the forge for a long time now, and her desire would be fueling Akela's efforts today and in the many days that would follow. There was another, less healthy component to the Ranuri that Akela was likely to absorb from her sister to whom she was pledged. No matter how hard the others labored on the forge, she knew Kavala would work herself harder. Kavala bordered on self-destructive when she had work to do. Akela wasn't looking forward to sharing that feeling and finding it delicious. She much preferred the anxiety of a deadly standoff and the quick release of energy in a swordfight to long hours of backbreaking labor.

And so, she kind of envied Flick's genuine enthusiasm as the Kelvic scurried off to get the tools. "How many people do you need to outline the forge, sis? The rest of us can begin making mortar in the meantime." It was, at least, an opportunity to exercise her arm muscles a little.

[Kavala]

Kavala silently grinned when Akela's back was turned and pointed a finger at Radris after she caught Flick's eye. Lifting her other finger, she silently awarded Radris a point in sarcasm for the 'butch' comment where the young fennec and only her could see. Obviously, Kavala and Flick were going to start keeping points on which one was getting the better of the other. It was too bad they started after Akela had used her own initial volley of sarcasm.

As Flick scurried off, Kavala used that moment to pull out a great number of buckets. Some where older, more worn, and these she indicated they could mix mortar in. The mortar was bagged in burlap and needed to be carefully measured into the buckets. The newer looking buckets she loaded Radris down with and pointed towards the pump on the well. "Can you fill those and bring them back? We'll start mixing mortar so its ready once we get the dimensions laid out." Kavala said sending him off with a playful push on his shoulders.

Once flick was back with the items she'd requested, Kavala carefully laid out the area the forge fondation was going to go - careful to keep it square with the courtyard and centered exactly where she wanted it using little marks with the chalk. Once the marks for the corners were in, Kavala drove heavy nails with a hammer into the courtyard earth and then looped string around them so the outline of where the forge would be was all laid out. Once that was done, she handed string to Flick to put away, grabbed another pair of gloves, and produced sticks for stirring. When Radris got back, they carefully laded the water into the powdered mortar carefuly measuring while everyone grabbed stirring sticks and began to mix. They mixed until the powder turned into a thick mud which Kavala set Flick to spreading within the stringed outline of the forge all around the edge - wide enough that the foundation bricks would just barely cover it.

While Flick started on one side, Kav did the other. Radris was set to moving bricks into place. Akela was tasked with coating the bricks she handed Radris with mortar on their edges so that when they were set in place, and nudged up against each other, there was mortal between them as well. The bottom bricks were heavier, larger, designed to take the weight of the structure and support it. in no way did she want her design to fail.

And after a while, she assumed they'd get into a rhythm, which Flick keeping the mortar fresh by stirring after her initial job of spreading the bottom layer of mortal.

[Flick]

Flick stirred with gusto, moving to spread the mortar when requested, absolutely bursting with happiness. She was doing something for them all, and she was wanted.

Grinning from ear to ear as she mixed, the kelvic hummed a tune Reghitaar had sung to her when she was only a little kit. Almost skipping between the mortar bucket and the bricks, the fennec fox relished her job. Occasionally, she would glance at Kavala, waiting for any sign she was doing something wrong or had something else that she needed to do. It was obvious that the bond the konti fought still hovered around, edging around her aura and struggling to find a hole in her defences.

But they were darn good defences.

[Hatot]

Radris paused for a moment, looking over to Kavala as he took on a mock expression of surprise. “You mean I can’t just sit here and watch all the women work and build up a sweat?” Radris said looking over the trio as they began to move about. “That in itself is sort of work on my libido.”

Radris then caught the look that Kavala shot him, one that told him he was about to receive another lecture. He quickly released a grumble as he pushed himself off his seat, grumbling under his breath. “Fine, fine. The mule shall go about to lifting stuff.” Radris uttered as he took a step over, grabbing a few buckets and dragging them over towards the pump. He would soon return, buckets filled as they were dumped one by one, at a annoying slow pace, into the powder mixture.

A disgruntled scoff and slight bickering later, Radris found himself moving back over to the cart, grabbing handfuls of brick, bringing large amounts over to the work area. He’d set them down centered between Kavala and Flick as they laid them out, while Akela slathered the mortar over the bricks themselves as they were laid out. On one particular trip, he saw all three of them on hands and knees, doing their respected task. A slight grumble escaped his lips, noticing that most of them had kneeling or sitting jobs, while he was tasked with the one that presented heavy lifting and being on his feet. In that moment, his grip faded along his current load of bricks as they all went slipping to the ground below.

As he looked down, he noticed a small pile of them had landed along his foot and the skin under his eye began to twitch. “Oops,” Radris simply said before pulling his foot out, moving back towards the car for another load. He paused at the cart for a moment, his fingers reaching to the straps to his leather armor as they fumbled over them for a moment, unfastening them. His armor and shirt were then removed in short order, revealing that a layer of sweat had already formed over Radris’ upper frame.

[Kavala]

Kavala worked alongside her brethren for the rest of the day. They bent and twisted and stacked and mortared until slowly a forge rose out of the raw materials the Sanctuary staff used. Between Akela and Hatot, it was necessary. With what would come in the future - the plans they made - they'd need the forge and all it would entail.

One brick at a time. Their lives flowed through their fingers in symbols. One stone. Mortar. Another stone. Kavala started to see the symbolism in the process. Akela was mortar in a lot of ways. She had a flow to her life that kept her moving, growing, expanding... she got into the cracks in things and held on. She knew structure and in knowing that knew courage. Kavala couldn't help but admire her and what she'd become. Despite what her gnosis mark said. Despite the jokes between the sisters, Akela was no slave. She manipulated the mark as neatly as the mark attempted to manipulate her. It often made Kavala smile.

And the Akalak with them... Hatot and Radris. They were unknowns. Friends yes, but there was a bond growing that bespoke of family despite the oddity of their coming together. It was as if the Akalak knew things Kavala did not. Perhaps he did. His height and stature gave him a viewpoint the smaller Konti sisters would never have living so close to the ground. She was grateful for the help, despite them being male. Despite them being Akalak. She was learning, slowly, that Riverfall was more than it appeared and she loved every bit of it, even its darkness.

And so it was their forge was more than it seemed. One brick at a time it rose into being with a group effort and a concentration to detail. At the end of the day, even though the mortar hadn't quite set or finished hardening, they had something to be proud of - all of them. And something that would be a lasting symbolism to the group effort Sanctuary stood for.

[Tabarnac]

XP Award! Akela XP Award: Observation +1; Leadership +1; Masonry +1; Construction +1; Body Building +1 Kavala XP Award: Animal Husbandry +1; Horsemanship +1; Leadership +2; Mathematics +1; Architecture +1; Masonry +3; Teaching +1; Construction +3; Body Building +1 Bonus: A forge attached to the Sanctuary fit for smithing various and sundry items from nails to swords to farm tools. Hatot XP Award: Body Building +3; Masonry +2; Construction +2 Flick XP Award: Tracking +2; Stealth +1; Masonry +2; Construction +2; Body Building +1 Additional Notes: I think this is the first time I’ve seen a thread where multiple characters were working toward such a substantial goal, and you all made it fun to read too, which mods always appreciate! So per Kavala’s agreement with Charon, foals were traded for the materiel and the labor was not professional, but enough to get the job done. Well done! Flick, I gave you a point of Stealth, which is the same as the Hiding that you have on your CS, so you can combine them, but Stealth is the skill on the skill list, fyi. Kavala, I presume the added facilities will also increase your seasonal earnings, but you will have to speak to Baku about that, or whomever is officiating as DS. Akela, either Baku or that interim DS might also award you seasonal XP for weaponsmithing if you speak to them! Wink, wink, nod, nod! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns. Keep writing!