[Sanctuary] Building A New Life

[Kavala]

Timestamp: Early Winter 509 AV Location: Ocean Wind Sanctuary and Stables Status: Open to all - remodeling a business This was going to be her life for a while, for a long while, Kavala thought as she began unpacking the cleaning supplies she had brought with her. But when she took her first look at the building the Akalak were going to let her use, she was thrilled. Strangely abandoned, the building itself needed a ton of work. But the layout was amazing. Its living structure, a two story center edifice faced out over the ocean, giving a lovely view of the Suvan Sea. From the spacious two story building, wings flanked out on either side, then bent to right angles to form a large square that would work incredibly well for a twin set of stable blocks. Between the wings was a lovely internal courtyard that ended in a large gate at the far end big enough to drive a wagon team through. Each far corner had a second story little apartment as well. They were only one room, but they had a nice view overlooking the courtyard and the sea beyond or the city behind. But, unfortunately the place was filthy. It looked like it had been occupied by men who weren't too clean. The area surrounding the courtyard had been little workshops, though of what kind, Kavala couldn't tell. There'd have to be workman in to divide up the workshops into stalls and put in doors and windows for the horses. The downstairs area below the main living quarters was the perfect size for an animal clinic, especially if they borrowed from the workshops on either side expanding the room a little. However, it was cowbwebbed and dusty, and in dire need of a new coat of paint. Kavala was thankful the Akalaks of the city had provided a whole host of cleaning supplies and whitewash for the walls. She wiped her hands, sighed thoughtfully, and got to work. Kavala walked each room, each workshop, and explored all the upstairs areas. She decided right away she wanted to just simply remove the trash first and foremost. Every space had to be swept out, preferably into a large pile in the center of the courtyard, and then burned. She'd start from the main building, working clockwise around until she was back in the main building. It would be backbreaking work until she had some help, but Kavala was willing to put her mind too it. Afterwards, she'd put up a notice in the city, advertising for some assistants. And lean on the help that would come in the form of carpenters to remodel the workshops. But until then, there was a lot of work to be done... starting with cleaning out a place for her to live. Even the windows, on the upper story levels were so dirty with dust (and having been left open to allow leaves in) that they'd need a good scrubbing before light could be let in.

[Kavala]

Cleaning the main floor took the better part of a single day. In the middle of it, a carpentry crew had arrived to start converting the workshops on either side to stable blocks complete with turnouts behind them. Those turnouts in turn lead to a larger pasture on either side of the facility where the horses could easily graze. The carpenters cut logs that were dragged up to the building specifically for the purpose of fencing and installed the runs right off the doorways they cut into the workshops to make stall doors. Doors were placed on both the inner courtyard and outer walls as well. With the excess wood, they were well able to install an arena and round pen within the courtyard as well. When Kavala moved upstairs, she ended up hauling large canvas sacks of leaves down to the ground level and burned them in the arena with the other trash that was amassing. It was hard work, but she spoke little to the people that helped, other than to smile occasionally here, or thank someone there. She made sure there was fresh water and warm tea, though beyond that there was nothing she could do to warm the workers who were busy in the chill. They managed to create two stallion boxes at the north end of the courtyard which she moved Windsong into almost the moment the last nail was hammered in. Once the upstairs was clean, Kavala moved out of Godivas and into the sanctuary, officially opening for business even though the work wasn't done. She healed birds, house cats, treated dogs for worms and healed the occasional broken bone when required. And in the mean time she bandaged hurt workers and patched up cuts and bruises when they happened. When they found out she was a healer of sorts, aching backs and cramped muscles got worked on as well. When the carpenters were done, there were sixteen stalls total to the facility, which seemed an enormous expanse to Kavala who was used to her family keeping their valuable animals in a tent completely devoted to stabling. The masons took a well that was located in the southwest section of the property and piped it into a bath setup that made it rather nice to either bathe horses or people... for the tub was expansive for the people, but the floor was tiled with a large shower that could be used on horses if necessary. It would also work for therapy for injured animals, for swimming often helped restore movement to injured limbs. And by Rek'Kali, she knew there'd be a lot of wash up after dealing with blood. The two smaller apartments were also cleaned. Kavala did most of the work and found them both containing serviceable furniture (much like her upstairs) that could be used if mattresses were restuffed after being cleaned and the cobwebs, rodents, and leaves removed. They would make lovely rooms, larger than most people could expect, so that grooms and trainers or assistants could live on site. The main gate needed some work - hinges oiled, a sign hung up, and a lock secured. But otherwise the building was completely finished in no time. All that was left was the main floor of the main building and the basement itself. The main floor was divided into six rooms - an office for Kavala that had a stairway leading upwards to her living quarters, a waiting room, philtering lab, surgery, exam, and supply room. There was a mysterious stairway in the philtering lab that needed some stairs shorn up, and once that was fixed Kavala was well able to get started putting the kennels together down below. She needed a place for animals that were recovering from injury and illness to rest and relax in peace and quiet. In that light, the Konti (with the help of the carpenters) create an elaborate kennels in the basement that would allow her the needed room for any guests or charges she might have. It was a surprise that she discovered the two secret rooms off the basement. They were well concealed and thoughtfully placed. Kavala didn't know what she'd use them for, but she knew she'd need them someday. All in all the cleaning took fifteen days, nearly a quarter of winter. And with the finishing of the cleaning, and the waiting on the new furniture, Kavala was able to open for business... though she would need a trip to Endrykas to buy some horseflesh for Riverfall to complete her stock.

[Kavala]

The work was never done. Even though the main carpenters had left, there was still a great deal of construction and carpentry left to do. Kavala had volunteered to do most of it, after having had some demonstrations from the carpenters themselves. Her first project was going to be fencing off either side of the Sanctuary for paddocks for the horses. The project wasn't going to be an easy one, especially in the physical shape she was in, but it was going to help her grow stronger. She took four corner stakes, and plumed the pasture so it was square with the building, driving stakes at the four corners, and running string along their boundaries to outline where her pasture fence was going to go. Then, once she'd created a three acre pasture on the far side of the barn, she walked the length, carefully measuring out and marking with an X created by two shovel marks, where each post hole was going to go. That gave her a good estimate of how many posts she'd need. From there, she took her order into town for the wood, arranging to have it delivered as soon as possible. She repeated the process on the far side, so that Sanctuary had two ankle high string pastures outlined on either side of the building complete with marks for post holes. Then she took her post hole diggers and began the grueling process of setting posts. She'd take the double bladed diggers, drive them into the ground, grab at the soil, and then pull it upwards, removing the dirt. There were hundreds of holes to dig, and she took too it in small goals. Kavala dug ten this day, twenty the next, five the following due to being overly sore. It was a gradual process, her hands blistering even in her gloves and working until her back ached. Often she wished she was stronger, larger, and not so beaten down. But gradually her strength returned, working the post hole diggers, burrowing them into the earth, reclaiming pasture one hole at a time. Kavala set the posts as she worked, needing some visual reference for her accomplishments. It seemed almost surreal to her how the line of posts grew, eventually making it to one corner, crawling at a snails pace down the back pasture, and finally turning the last corner to make the run back towards the building. She left gaps to build gates on either side. And though she wasn't sure quite how, when she went to talk to the blacksmith to purchase the hinges and latches, he assured her he wouldn't mind installing them when he delivered them. And so it was she finished the first pasture and stood back looking at it, marveling at all she'd accomplished. It took her a full twenty days, and she figured it would take at least that many more to finish the other side. It didn't. It took only twelve. Working like she did, Kavala fell into bed exhausted. She didn't dream, didn't worry, didn't remember. All she did was simply work. And the work seemed good for her. It was a quiet penance for a half imagined crime... taking Wind down the dry wash thinking it was safe. She finished the outside paddock on the opposite side 35 days into her project and then moved to digging holes for the round pen and arena. They went considerably faster. Forty days into her work, she was ready to hang the fence rails. This was a new kind of pain, the agony of holding rail up against pole and driving nail after nail into the hard wood of first the rail then of the posts. And not only did she have to do one rail per section, but there was three to hammer into place. She had to carry the wood over, three planks at a time, and brace it up, place one nail, go to the opposite end, place another nail, then go back over adding three nails per fenceboard. That was eighteen nails a section, and after just a few sections Kavala decided it was absolutely backbreaking. But she kept going, taking days and days to finish. In between resting from pounding nails, she tackled the gardening.

[Kavala]

The grounds had flower beds, herb beds, and all sorts of places for vegetables to be grown. The problem was, they were overgrown terribly and probably had been for ages. Most of the beds were raised, in brick and mortar, which once again made her curious as to what had been in the beds before and indeed what Sanctuary's purpose had been before the Council had turned it over to her. It hadn't been used for years, that much was certain. And never, she guessed, for horses. Only manufacturing or some sort of business of the like. Well, one thing was for certain, first and foremost the beds needed to be cleaned out. Kavala took to them with a vengeance, clearing away the debris first and foremost in front of the facility. She wanted the clinic side to be neat, clean, and presentable. And though she discovered a hoe in one of the old storage rooms out back, the konti soon discovered that the best way to clear weeds was to indeed simply kneel down and pull them by hand. There was a certain harmony, she discovered, in caressing the soil with her own hands and carefully meticulously pulling out the dead and unwanted denizens. She kept a bucket alongside her, and as she pulled weeds and cut brush back, she refilled the bucket and hauled the discards to the burn pile out front. It was somewhat impractical to use the one between the arena and the round pen because she'd have to walk all the way around the facility each time she wanted to dump the bucket. So... a burn pile in front, a burn pile in back, and one in the center. She kept filling them with dead branches, leaves, and even freshly pulled weeds that would burn after a day or two drying out. Once she got the debris cleared away and the bare soil exposed, there was only one thing she could do. She took to the soil with a shovel and began working it accordingly, breaking up the years where it had been unattended and reconstituting it. Next, she hauled wheel barrow after wheel barrow of horse manure and dropped it into the flower beds and vegetable garden she'd cleared and mixed it deeply into the soil. Fertilizer was important, Kavala knew, and thus having the horse manure mixed in would keep the soil in perfect shape for when it came time to plant in the spring. Then, once she was done doing that, she hauled heavy burlap sacks from where she'd purchased grain for the horses and began covering the beds. There was no use planting in the heart of winter, but once the beds were ready, they might as well be protected from weed growth until the spring sun could come warm the soil up enough after the rains to keep. And so it was she spent five days cleaning out flower and vegetable beds and another two days covering them up. And during that time, it gave her a lot of ability to think. And in doing so, she decided on three more things. They would need a milk cow, a goat or two, and about ten chickens. So, the next thing on the agenda was crafting a chicken house and coup.

[Kavala]

It would probably take her all the rest of the winter. But now that the stalls were done, the arena finished, the house cleaned out, and the clinic all set up minus some of the lab equipment, all Kavala had left to do was really work on external smaller projects. The chicken House and the lean-to for the cow and goat both counted as those projects. They weren't going to be big. Kavala planned to let the goat run around wild most of the time with the rest of the animals like they did in the grasslands, but the cow would have to be confined, she figured. The same with the chickens. Much like she had to do with the original planning of Sanctuary, Kavala sat down and started to sketch out her chicken house. She knew she could get metal mesh from the smithy made from a strong wire to deter foxes and wolves. So she included that material into her plan. The Konti also indulged in her whimsical artistic side as she made the doors so she could paint the panels in bright colors. The contractors had left an assortment of 'leftovers' when they'd painted the original clinic rooms and her quarters upstairs. So ink and pen in hand, she began to lay out the drawings for both the chicken coup and the cow's lean to. They would be built off the right and left flanks of sanctuary in the shelter of the trees respectfully. The lean two was easy... It had two walls and was supported by the stone bones of the facility itself on the third wall, with the fourth wall open to the world. The roof would be the bent metal sheeting she could get in town, and all in all it was just a simple frame that had to be sunk into the ground solidly so the cow rubbing on it would not take it down. The chicken coup was a different matter. She wanted it free standing so they could move it if ever it required being moved. She made it open, decorative, and appealing for herself as well as the fowl. Using the mesh, it was a frame, with a double set of doors, more metal roofing, and nesting boxes along one end. It wasn't hard to design. The hardest part was talking the blacksmith out of the fasteners, hinges, and pulls for both projects. And ordering the mesh. Once the mesh came, the fasteners were all done and delivered, Kavala felt free to begin. The lean to came first. She used Wind to drag the poles around to where they go, and then took most of a day cutting the beams to length. Once they were cut, she set about digging the holes to sink the beams into. Then, riding to town once more, she got a pair of sturdy lads to come back to the facility with her and sink the beams as well as place the one singular one over head. Windsong helped with that one too, thanks to the use of a come-along and pully system attached to one of the old oaks that would also be shading the lean to. Once it was framed, the lads said their goodbyes and Kavala was left to frame the rest of it in and add the roof. The roof actually required more help, but she waited a full ten days to ask the lads for their assistance again. They came out, and after declining lunch (evidently the last time she'd fed them they had grown ill), they departed. After that, all she needed was the fence to the little cow paddock. It didn't take long, since she was already a veteran by then of digging fence posts, nailing up rails, and adding gates. Soon enough, there was space ready for a cow and a goat when she could afford one. Kavala was left, all at once, with only the chicken coup to complete. It only took her three days, and she was surprised by that. It might have been that she was so determined. But the truth was probably more likely that she was ready because she was used to hammering, sawing, and squaring her little buildings now. Having the drawing helped a great deal, and in no time the structure came together. She scrounged two doors that came off of internal rooms during the remodel that she thought might have looked silly already decorated, but in fact looked charming on the little structure. And for added support, she filled the roof with dirt so she could plant chicken-friendly plants on their ceiling to help insulate them and keep them fed with a variety of good things. All in all, she was proud of it when it was done. In fact, the whole facility was 'done' enough for horses and to open. It scared her a little, facing the rest of her life like that. Now, all she needed was horses - a trip to Endrykas would fix that - and a few paying customers... some kittens, dogs, and other things to help boost her business... and she'd be ready to go. Yes. As she stood looking at the finished chicken house, ready for chickens in the spring, she knew she was looking at the rest of her life. Swallowing hard, she hoped it was what she wanted... exactly what she wanted.

[Charon]

Thread Experience Awards Kavala XP: +1 in Medicine, +1 in Drawing, +2 in Gardening, +2 in Carpentry, +5 in Construction Lore: Animal Clinic Construction Mod Notes: Great work, Kav! And not too shabby a season of construction considering she had no prior experience- only the observations of the workers and advice from others. Breathe now that you're finished with this!