Timestamp: The First Of Autumn, 519 A.V.
As autumn gently fell across Syka, the only real change visible seasonally was the fact that cooler rains fell morning and night. Usually, Syka's sudden bouts of rain were warm and refreshing, like a heated shower. They took on a cooler chill and the nights grew slightly cooler, which was a refreshing scenario because the settlement often enjoyed the heat that lingered into the night. It did not rain more than usual though. No leaves rioted in color and fell to the ground. It was almost as if the rainforest had no clue the seasons were changing... and indeed it probably did not since the equator went almost straight through the Syka Settlement.
One thing that was universal though, was that even on a dim cloudy day, one could get sunburnt easily enough without Syna beaming her rays down from the sky. It had to do with how close the world was to the sun there. And at Syka's non-existant gates, they were close.
Mathias was out today, working in the Syka Commons alongside Randal. Mathias was an older man with salt and pepper hair while Randal was younger with dark chocolate hair and bronzed skin. Both men were easy in each other's company.
The Founders of Syka decided that one of the worst things about their new settlement was that there was often an extreme sense of isolation. To remedy that, they decided to create a sort of Commons area for the settlers to gather. The first thing they decided was to give it a lift, putting the area up in the trees along the beach to take advantage of the breeze. Because the sun is hot and the rains in the wet season can happen in a few showers a day, its multiple purposed. First is a huge deck lofted into the trees that have common tables and chairs forming small gathering areas.
The second section of The Syka Commons is the roofed portion, smaller than the deck section but still open to the weather with only the roof for shade and to shed the rain. The roofed portion has tables and chairs, but by and large the majority of the seating is along the edge where railing has been turned into seating.
Residents often wander to the Commons to work on crafts, fix nets, gossip, weave, write, paint, or just socialize. Often extra food will be left here if someone has a bounty or has harvested too much meat (such as killing one of the jungle deer) to eat before it spoils.
Settlement festivities, parties, and smaller more personal rites of passage are hosted here. The Syka Commons are accessed by a wide wooden stairway leading up. There are, however, slide poles to exit if people want to leave fast. Someone also hollowed out a washed up log to make a long section of an actual wooden slide for children to enjoy if they want to play in the Commons. Beneath the deck there are several swings. This is not surprising since the Commons is near the Mercantile and Swing Beach.
The two founders were shoring up a stairway that had several rotting planks in it. Rot was a part of life in the jungle, though they'd realized soon enough that not all building materials were equal. In the early days, they'd imported wood from Riverfall that had already been milled. That wood lasted far shorter periods than their own hardwood planks from wood harvested in the jungle. They'd debated between themselves if they wanted to replace all the wood now - because surely all the Riverfall wood would go bad eventually - or let it rot on its own and just replace boards as neeed.
Well, time had made the determination for them ultimately. Both Founders were busy men, especially Randal who was building constantly for the new Settlement. So he replaced boards when he needed too. And Mathias, knowing his crunch for time often turned up to help. It was good for the two settlement founders to work on the settlement publically. It kept their fingers on the heartbeat of the new growing city.
And when newcommers appeared, it made them more approachable because they were more than willing to get as dirty as they expected the settlers to get. Often, they would work shoulder to shoulder to new commers, even if what they did didn't benefit them directly.
It was during the completion of the last step replacement where both were sitting back and enjoying some cool water that Vancha would find them, open to converstation and just packing up their tools. Mathias had the old steps gathered to take to the kitchen where they would become firewood for one more duty to the Settlelment before being forgotten for good.
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