It ended up being 6 days later that the first snow hit. During those 6 days Bjorn and Meira worked together to widen the sides of their hole and make it so that it was a little larger than the area they were planning on building the house. It was in the middle of the night on the 6th day when the snow storm first set in. It would be a good way to torture test their lean-to’s ability to protect them.
Winds howled as the first winter storm of the year tore through their makeshift camp. It snowed for a day and a half. The entire time Bjorn and Meira were huddled inside their tent underneath layers of blankets staying surprisingly warm. Even though they could hear the wind and the snow hitting their lean-to they stayed surprisingly warm. So much so that while in their tent they didn’t have to wear any heavy clothes to stay warm while under their pile of blankets.
It wasn’t until the morning of the 9th day after they met with Aiden and his kids that they finally decided it was time to leave their tent for more than to use the bathroom. They found that one side of their tent was covered in a wall of snow, the other side though, was leading inside their lean-to. When they exited their tent they found that their shelter held up surprisingly well. When Bjorn used his identify on it, it had only lost 3 durability points. And if he was any judge, the storm that they just experienced was a worse storm than normal.
The snow itself was around 3 feet deep all the way around. So taking his spade, which was nowhere ideal for digging in snow, he began to clear away some of the snow that managed to sneak around the edge of their shelter, as well as clear some of the snow off of their other exit to their tent. It took a while but they eventually cleared away enough snow that they could finally make their way out of the shelter.
Outside the amount of snow was actually pretty close to right around their lean-to. It was extremely deep and made it hard to traverse. During the last day it sounded as if the wind had been coming out of the east. Which meant that the snow also had been blowing out of the east. This made it so that there was a massive snowdrift that had been piled up against their shelter. There wasn’t much to worry about because of it so they left it for now.
The air was a bit brisk as they made their way out into the morning sun. Probably around 10 degrees Fahrenheit if Bjorn was to guess. They made their way over to their hill and started to mount the hill. Which was surprisingly difficult to do. Who would have thought that climbing uphill in 3 feet of snow would be difficult. Not Bjorn, that’s for sure. This wasn’t a problem for him in the past, as he and Medera had made him a set of snow shoes for his first winter, and that he was in Lief’s Crossing for his second.
When they crested the hill reaching the top they found that it was completely flat. During the night with the snow it completely filled in the hole with snow.
“Well I don't think we are going to get anything done here.” Meira said as she was standing almost waist deep in snow.
“Yep. Let's go to town. I think now is as good a time as any.”
The pair began to pick their way back down the hill and back to their campsite. That was where they packed up all of the goods that they planned to take into town to sell or trade. Once they were packed up they began to make their way towards town. Unfortunately as it sat they wouldn't be able to cross the river right next to their house. Before the snow had set in the water that ran through it was low, making it easy to cross without getting their feet wet. Now however a constant flow of water, and unstable grow due to the snow cover, they didn't want to chance crossing it.
So instead they moved up river a bit, up to where they had found a more natural crossing. Of which there were two kinds, one where the water became shallow and the river grew wide. And the other being the exact opposite, deep and narrow. The crossing they had found was more of the latter one, where the river narrowed to just over 3 feet across.
Soon they had crossed the river and began making their way to Leefside. Before the snow set in, Aiden said that it would take nearly 30 minutes to get there. Now that it had, however their progress forward was considerably slower. It took them nearly 3 hours to make it to the small village. All the while they had to break their trail and get tripped up by the smaller plants that got buried in the snow.
The town of Leefside was actually built considerably different than any other town they had come across was. Every single village they had come across in their travels was built in such a way to pack as many people into a small area as they could. This made sense as it was easier to build walls to protect themselves if all of the structures were huddled together.
The next odd thing that they first noticed when they approached was the fact that there was no real defensive structure at all around the town. It was set up in the middle of a clearing in the forest and situated right next to a larger river. This was an odd choice for any type of defense but Bjorn wasn’t one to judge, not anymore, not after Lief’s Crossing. As soon as they approached the town and saw the state in which their defensives were in Bjorn immediately became suspicious. As the only other place that they came across without some sort of protections in place was a town of werewolves.
As they pushed through the trees they were greeted by a vision that Bjorn never thought he would see. Almost 50 people were playing with the new 3 feet of snow. Kids and adults alike were making snow angels, jumping off the roofs of buildings into deep snow piles that they had built. There were even a few large snowmen that were being built. All in all it was a vision of pure joy and happiness that Bjorn had rarely seen in the Eld.
The pair of them just stood there for a few minutes watching the chaos unfold. A wicked smile crossed Bjorn’s face. He turned towards Meira to see her expression. She had a soft smile on her face while her head was cocked to the side watching everything before her. A smile that lasted all the way up until she got hit in the face by a snowball that Bjorn had made and threw at her.
She turned to Bjorn and the smile was replaced with a look of fierce determination. She charged at Bjorn slamming into him trying to bear him to the ground. At first when he had activated Latent potential and had his stats returned to 9’s across the board Meira was significantly stronger than him. Now however, he stood more of a chance. Even though she was still stronger than Bjorn he managed to stay standing. He quickly slipped out of her grasp and began running as fast as he could through the snow out into the clearing.
Shrieking, she ran after Bjorn. As he ran he picked up handfuls of snow and threw it at her. Even though Bjorn had a head start he ultimately lost the race. He was breaking the path which slowed him down considerably. Meira on the other hand was running after him in his already broken path. She caught up to him and tried to tackle him again. This time she was successful and she began to wipe snow all over Bjorn’s face.
When Bjorn and Meira broke into the clearing the adults who were playing momentarily stopped what they were doing and watched the newcomers warily. That changed after they watched the petite looking elf tackle the larger human into the snow and start wiping snow in his face. They all relaxed and started playing with the children, albeit with a little caution as they kept an eye on the newcomers.
Bjorn and Meira were both laughing as Bjorn yielded. “Stop. stop, I give up, I yield, you have bested me!” Bjorn said in a half joking half desperate tone. She relented and let Bjorn up. He struggled to his feet and stood there half panting. He put his arm around her shoulder and the pair began to walk forward again.
Unbeknownst to Meira Bjorn had a handful of snow in his other hand as he walked. As they drew nearer to the play group Bjorn casually betrayed her and slammed the snow in his hand on top of her head. At the same time he pulled away from her and took off through the snow again.
Laughing she grabbed a handful of snow around her and threw it at Bjorn. She didn’t take the time to pack it so it just poofed in the air after she threw it, missing Bjorn entirely. By then he had made his escape. He began making snowballs and throwing them back at her, his years playing baseball in his youth doing him justice.
As they threw snowballs at each other they soon drew the attention of the kids who were also playing in the snow. One of the more braver kids made his way over to Bjorn and started making snowballs to throw at Meira. It was the boy from a week ago. Not long after, one of the girls joined Meira’s team.
This went on just a 2 on 2 for a minute until the boy on Bjorn’s team threw a snowball at one of the adults hitting him squarely on the chest. This brought him into the fight as well. It didn’t take long for the entire field to devolve into a giant snowball fight.
Quickly two teams formed, one was Meira’s team, the other Bjorn’s. Soon orders were being thrown out, and both teams began to entrench themselves in the snow, as snow forts were quickly being built while under direct fire. Other’s became delegated to making snowballs so that the fighters could throw snowballs at the other team.
Things continued to escalate as things grew more and more heated. It eventually got to the point where a bring blue glow began to shine from the trenches of Meira’s side. It lasted for a few moments before fading. Afterwards Meira stepped out of her defensive line and began throwing snowballs indiscriminately.
With her exposed position the very quickly became the target of all of Bjorn’s soldiers as snowballs flew directly at her fully exposed form. As it turned out her weather shield spell apparently classified snowballs as a normal weather phenomenon. Each snowball that was throwing at her traveled the distance just fine, but when it got within 3 feet of Meira they stopped dead in their tracks and fell to the ground.
“Hey, no fair. No magic is allowed” Bjorn called out from their trench. This got the attention of the adults on both sides. Magic users were rare, and were often feared in the Eld. Internally they were conflicted. They knew what had been hounded into them ever since they were young, and that they should fear mages. On the other hand one of those feared mages was in the middle of a harmless snowball fight. The kids on the other hand had no such qualms. They even took it as a challenge and renewed their attack on Meira, trying to break through the shield.
“Alright. You’re right, using magic isn’t fair. I’ll drop the spell, but I call for a brief ceasefire and I call for a truce in the middle of the battlefield. Send out your leader to talk to me.” She called back.
Bjorn who was in the trenches with his team knelt down as the kids huddled around excitedly. In a low voice he spoke to them. “Alright what do you think? Should we hear them out?”
A little girl probably around 9 said. “No! We need to show them who's boss.” Her statement brought a chorus of cries from the other kids on Bjorn’s team.
“We should hear them out.”
“I think we should tunnel through the snow and attack their lines from underneath.”
“My hands are cold.”
Bjorn held out his hands. “Alright, settle down, let's hear them out. Maybe they want to surrender.” This was met with both equal cheers and pouting. “But that doesn’t mean we have to stop. Let’s make a plan. You, I think the tunnel idea is fantastic, you should start working on it right away. You, go inside and warm up. We will be at this for a while, you have time to join us. And I need a volunteer to join me when I go out there.”
All of the kids raised their hands excitedly, wanting to be picked as the one to join Bjorn to hear Meira’s terms of surrender. Bjorn ended up picking the boy who had joined his team initially. “Alright, we will go out there, but lets still have a plan. I don’t trust the enemy. So everyone be ready, incase negotiations go bad, be ready to throw snowballs at Meira and her ambassador.”
He stood from his position and called over the field, “alright we are coming out to hear your terms of surrender.” After he turned towards his troops and said in a hushed tone. “If you see a black glow coming from my hands that means that the negotiations failed and for you to attack.”
The kids nodded solemnly, understanding the job and their task. Bjorn and his lieutenant made their way into no man's land. From her line Meira and the girl who had been in the clearing, obviously her second in command. They walked towards each other and met in the middle of no man's land.
“We have both fought valiantly, I think it is time for these hostilities to come to an end.” Meira said. “The terms of your surrender are thus. First you must Openly Cross the field of battle with your arms raised. Next you must kneel before the might of my army. Then you must stay there as each and every one of my soldiers wipes snow in your face. Do this and your army shall be spared.”
“Me surrender? Why should we? I thought you were the one to understand that you were the one at the disadvantage.”
Meira and her lieutenant scoffed at the thought. “Why would we? We have more troops than you, you are outnumbered. Our snowballs shall blot out the sun.”
This time it was Bjorn's turn to scoff, he couldn't help but let a smile cross his face. “Then we shall fight in the shade.”
“Very well.” Meira said as she started to turn her back. She paused and cocked her head to the side, as if she was trying to hear what Bjorn was saying underneath his breath. Her eyes grew wide in understanding, but just a moment too late.
Throughout the entire exchange Bjorn had his hands clasped behind his back. This didn't raise any red flags to Meira as Bjorn stood like that often. No, what alerted her was the soft muttering that Bjorn was doing.
The muttering lasted only a few moments, but it was the signal to his army. At the same time that a barrage of snowballs flew across the field aimed at Meira, Bjorn pulled his hand out from behind his back. A darkness that was completely devoid of light sheathed his hand as he finished his incantation.
Black tendrils of dark energy shot froth from Bjorn's hand and shot at Meira. She tried to dodge, but at such a close proximity she wasn't able to. The tendrils slammed into her body as they quickly ran up to her eyes, obscuring her vision.
She opened her mouth to protect him using blind on her. It managed to take effect, making it so she couldn't see for a few moments. Those moments was all that they needed though, as nearly 30 snowballs came hurtling from Bjorn’s line and mostly pelted into Meira.
His treachery completed, he turned to run. At the same time he and his lieutenant got hit with a few snowballs from his own line of fighters. It couldn't be helped as he and his helper ran back to their defensive lines. Meira’s troops threw snowballs at the retreating backs after they betrayed the banner of truce.
Meria’s helper helped her return to their lines, as she was still blinded by Bjorn’s magic. As they retreated they continuously got hit by snowballs.
From there they snowball fight continued to devolve. An hour later it was near lunchtime and a few adults had prepared lunch for everyone. When they left the house to tell everyone to come eat they were greeted by a rather unfair sight. Meira had actually erected an air shield in-between The two lines of fighters which effortlessly deflected the snowballs that flew towards it, completely defending their front line.
After the air shield popped into existence Bjorn’s team began constructing defensive positions on either side trying to make a defensive position to attack Meira's lines. They split into two armies each trying to sneak around the shield on opposite sides of the shield. Meira kept her force in place, becoming the defensive army in the snowball fight.
One of the parents took in the sight and just shook her head. “Stop playing in the snow, lunch is ready, come and get it while it is hot.” She turned and walked back into her house without seeing if her order would be followed.
Laughter and joy could be heard from the kids as they scrambled to get inside and eat some lunch. They excitedly talked amongst themselves at the total cool new friends that they had made today. Their choice to join in the festivities actually worked out in their favor, as the adults who at first looked at them with worry and apprehension now looked at them with smiles as if they were now a part of the town. The worry and apprehension that had returned when they showcased their magic abilities was soon gone as they played in the snow. They even had a few invites to join people for lunch. Which they politely declined.
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The invites they had gotten were from individuals wanting to get to know the new friendly magic users better. Instead Bjorn and Meira decided to join the masses as they scrambled to 2 different sets of tables that had been set out and were filled to the brim with fresh bread and smoked meats. Those were left alone though as almost everyone went after a croissant looking piece of bread. Curious Bjorn took one and bit into it. As it turned out it was a sort of beef bun. The inside was filled with cubed up beef that had cooked inside letting the fats and juices soak into the bread making it juicy and tender.
Bjorn and Meira were sitting down eating their meal, she had a little 7 year old girl who was talking excitedly sitting in her lap. The girl just babbled on inanely as kids often did. Bjorn and Meira just listened as he broke off small bits of his food to hand to her occasionally. She would grasp it with her whole and and then stick the food in her mouth, barely even chewing before speaking again.
A middle aged man and woman approached Bjorn and Meira where they were sitting. “Hi, I am assuming you guys are the ones who Aiden told us about.” The woman said.
“They are!” The girl exclaimed. “And she promised me that she would help me catch butterflies and turn them into rainbows!”
The man looked down at her fondly with a smile on his face. “That’s wonderful Cass. Why don’t you give us some space so we can talk for a bit? I think there is at least 1 more bun left for you if you hurry.”
The little girl hopped off of Meira’s lap and took off running over to the tables to try and get herself a second helping of lunch. Bjorn stood and held out his hand, which first the man clasped and then the woman. “We are, My name is Bjorn, and this here is my lovely companion Meira. We just took over the farm to the south of here. We were hoping you could provide us with some stuff that would make it easier to make a living out here.”
“I think we can help with that. My name is Charissa, and this is Hunter, we are the sort of leaders of this village. Why don’t you come with us, we would like to have a word with you.”
“Sure, we would be honored.” Meira said as the pair got to their feet. They wiped a little bit of snow that was stuck to their butts off and then followed after the two leaders.
They followed them through the village, which had had some extensive snow removal done throughout the morning. Paths were cleared through the snow connecting the houses together, giving them an easy way to move about. They made their way through the snow paths and into a large building. From the outside it looked like it was some sort of town hall building.
Once inside they found that was exactly what it was. The exterior was made out of red chiseled stone. While the inside was lined with two different tones of polished wood. The walls and decor inside were separated almost in half, with the bottom half being a rich dark brown color, and the upper half being a more pale, almost birch looking wood. As with almost all buildings there were large wooden support pillars holding up the roof, these were covered in intricate carvings and scrollwork. Bjorn tried to get a closer look but he got pulled away as Meira followed after the older couple.
They followed them through the large open room and over to a small round table that was big enough to sit all 4 of them comfortably. “So I think we should get right to the point.” The man started. “We are always wary of strangers around here, especially ones who can use magic. Doubly so when both can. Triply so when we saw 3 separate schools of magic being used. But after watching you interact with the kids and townsfolk we are willing to show you some trust.”
Meira nodded her head in understanding. “That is fair, and I don’t fault you for your fears at all. I just wanted to be as forthcoming with who we are, and what we are capable of. After all we do plan on settling down here, it wouldn’t do for us to hide our abilities from you.”
“That being said just to give you a little bit of our background.” Bjorn picked up as Meira finished speaking. “We both do have access to different schools of magic, Meira had 3, and I have 4. We learned our magical abilities helping out the gnome you know as Dornan, who is now Duke of Blackrock Bay. We provided him with a service that he rewarded with the deed to the land that we now occupy. More than that I am a fairly skilled alchemist as well as a magic user. Skills that I am not afraid to use to help the village out.”
The older couple took the news that the new neighbors were rare, probably powerful people in stride, without really batting an eye, almost as if they expected it. “I understand and would gladly use your services. But with that being said, what brings you here? Like what really brings you here? Based on the scars and missing limbs, no offence, the two of you are likely adventurers or soldiers, maybe even skilled fighters. What made you want to settle down in our backyard?” The woman asked.
“None taken.” Meira said, just a hint of steel in her voice. “You are right. We are both powerful mages, I specialize in magic, where Bjorn dabbles here and there. He mainly provides protection for me while I handle issues at a distance. As to what brings us here is that in our travels we have recently lost 3 of our travel companions. With the kind of lifestyle that we led, that kind of loss hits you hard. The people you travel with become family, no more than family. And the loss of them can be damning.”
“I am sorry for your loss.” Charissa said.
“It is a risk we all take.” Bjorn said dryly. “After the loss of our travel companions and the loss of Meira’s leg, we decided to give that life up and come here to make a living. To settle down as it were. We want a slower lifestyle and one where we don’t have to worry from day to day whether we will live to see the next morning. We want to make somewhere our own home.”
The woman’s face was filled with sympathy as she looked at the pair sitting before her. At first when she looked at them she saw two strong, unknown, powerful people. After hearing a bit of their story she saw through the facade that they put on. She could see the hurt that was hidden behind their eyes. The pain that made their smiles fade just a little too fast.
“I am sorry to pry.” The man said. “But our job is to make sure that the village is taken care of and safe. I hope you understand why we had to ask about your past. You were unknown.”
“We understand, that is why we were open about it.” Meira said. “Granted there is still a good amount we haven’t told you, that is for us to share if we deem it necessary, but until then that is for us to know.”
“Of course.” Hunter said agreeing almost right away. “I wouldn’t expect you to share if you didn’t have to.”
“One more piece of information that I am willing to share that will likely be of interest for the pair of you though is that I am a life mage.”
This bit of news definitely got the interest of the pair. When they heard Meira said life mage their eyes grew wide and mouths hung slightly agape. “Are you willing to use your magic to heal for us?”
“I am. It is all good experience which lets me advance as a life mage. I will only charge a slight fee, that being said, I won’t charge for anything that is life threatening. That isn’t right, and I won’t do it.”
It looked like a weight was lifted off their shoulders. “That is much appreciated. I will thank you in advance for your willingness to provide that service. Honestly for both of you to provide your services. By the sound of it your presence will be a boon to the village, just having you around will be that.” Hunter said.
“Now we shan't keep you any longer. I would suggest taking some time before it gets too late to try and collect what you need. As great as it is watching you interact with our children, it would probably be in your best interest to get what you need early in the day.”
Bjorn and Meira stood at the same time the other two stood. “Of course, thank you for your time. We will be back here in a few weeks I assume, I am sure we will forget something and will need to come back into town.”
They left the meeting hall and made their way into town. The first place they went was the blacksmith. As they figured that they would be able to get anything that they needed for tools there, and if they didn’t find what they needed he would be able to make it. It didn’t take them long to find the blacksmith. They only had to ask for directions once.
He was tucked away running along the edge of the river. There were two main reasons for this that became apparent. The obvious one was that metal hitting metal was loud, as such the placement was to not annoy any neighbors. The second one was something Bjorn hadn’t expected to see. There was a large water wheel that was situated in the river. He watched it as it turned for a little bit as they approached. The forge itself was open to the elements on two sides, one being the north, and the second being the east.
As they approached the forge they found it cold and empty. What he did notice though was that there actually wasn’t really any snow inside the forge itself, he made note of this. There was a house that was built right next to the forge. They approached and knocked on the door.
After a few moments the door swung open and a gnome woman stood in the doorway looking up at the two standing over her. “Yes? Can I help you?”
“Hi, we were wanting to buy some tools from you, or at the very least have you make a few for us.” Bjorn said, surprised that the smith was actually a gnome.
“Sure, give me a second.” She said, and she turned towards the inside of the house. “Chrome get your ass out of bed and over here. There are two people wanting to buy some tools from you.” She turned back to the pair and smiled. “He will be over here shortly.”
“Damn it woman, close the door, it is too damn cold out today. Besides, who in their right mind would want to buy something on a day like this? Tell them to come back in the spring.”
“Put a shirt on, we have company.”
“I’ll greet them however I want to.” A portly dwarf made his way around the corner and came into view. He was short for a dwarf, but considerably wider around than most dwarves. He honestly looked like he if laid on his back you could roll him down the street. A sight that was further punctuated by the fact that he was bare on the top half, showing off all of his size in its full glory.
He ambled up to the door and looked up at the human and elf looking down on him. “Hmmm? What have we here? I don’t know you. Ah I am guessing you are the ones that Aiden was talking about.”
“Hi, yes. We were wanting to pick up a few tools from you if at all possible.”
Chrome grumbled under his breath a little. “Are you sure you aren’t wanting to come back later? It’s too cold to be doing business.”
“We would like to get on with this as soon as we could.” Meira said. She seemed to be battling the urge to look at the walking blueberry that was Chrome. She would look at him and then advert her gaze with a look of disgust on her face. Then her eyes would inevitably be drawn back to the impossibility of the situation.
“Alright, give me a few minutes, let me get dressed. I will meet you out in the forge. Don’t touch anything, I don’t want you messing something up.” He ambled out of their vision heading back around the corner.
His wife’s face came back into view. “Sorry about him, he never had much in the way for manners. If you want to go over to the forge I will make sure he will meet you over there.”
They followed directions and talked towards the forge, with the door closing behind them. When they made it into the forge itself Bjorn stood at the edge looking at the house. “So, do you think he will be able to fit out that door? My money is on no.”
Meira laughed and smacked Bjorn lightly on the arm. “Don’t be rude, and I think there is a strong possibility that you are right.”
“How is that even possible? I have honestly never seen a fat person since I came to the Eld. I figured with our magically enhanced bodies it wasn’t possible to gain weight. But apparently I was wrong.”
Bjorn was right, there were many wondrous things that came from having stats that you could increase as you leveled. One of them being that it actually physically altered your appearance, so much so that he was willing to bet that everyone back on earth would pay good money for that ability. With your dex and agility stats making your more lithe, and your strength increasing your muscles, either in mass or density, he had assumed that it was impossible. An assumption that was backed up by 3 years of seeing no one fat, and everyone being thin and fit. Bjorn himself even had the ability to eat whatever he wanted and how much he wanted and he didn’t gain any weight at all.
“It is uncommon, but possible.” Meira said. As they talked the door opened once again and the short round dwarf waddled out of the door, he had to turn sideways to fit through, but he somehow managed. He made his way over to the forge and then they started talking about what they needed.
The dwarf did both woodworking and blacksmithing. Although he did less on the wood working and more on the blacksmithing. As such they were able to easily purchase tools for woodworking. They bought a few different kinds of hammers, some saws, draw knives, axes, chisels, and even a set of porous stones that had been cut into squares, apparently they could be used for the exact same purpose as sandpaper. They even managed to purchase a shovel that was more like a flat shovel from back on earth.
As they were buying their items Bjorn got a better look on the inside of the smithy itself. And he now knew as to why the waterwheel was attached to the building. In an impressive feat of engineering the dwarf had rigged the waterwheel up to a complex system that made a set of bellows run on their own. It even looked like there was a box set up that allowed him to change the rate at which the bellows worked. Which brought his mind back to a question that he had when they first found the smithy.
“I have a question.” Bjorn asked. Chrome and Meira stopped what they were doing and looked over at Bjorn. “I see here that you have walls built on your smithy on only the south and west side of the building, but none on the north and east side? As a stand alone building, why did you do this?”
“That’s a simple answer.” Chrome said. “For the most part the wind here only ever really comes out of the west and south. There is no need to protect the smithy from the east and north. And this way it allows heat to bleed out of the building, so it doesn’t overheat when the forge is hot.” After the short distraction he turned back to Meira and they began talking again.
Bjorn took that piece of information and filed it away to the back of his mind for later use. After their dealings with the dwarf were done they paid up, which ended up costing them a total of 1 gold 3 silver and 83 coppers. Which Meira gladly handed over.
It was quite a haul, they had nearly everything that they would need to build the house. At the end of their dealings Bjorn actually inquired about chisels and mallets that could be used for stone cutting. Which Chrome gladly handed over and added to his tally. They decided to wait on buying tools that they would need for farming until closer to spring, as they currently didn’t have anywhere to really store them and keep them dry.
The next place that they went was the leather worker and tanner. For the same type of reason as why they went to Chrome’s house. There they got themselves tools that they could use to build themselves some snow shoes, as well as other bits of leather and needles to make bags, straps, and a dozen other useful things. They left with punches, rivets, needles, thread, lace, and carving knives. This too cost them a pretty penny, but they needed it all.
Finally they stopped by the house of the local mason and got a few tips from him. They decided that they were going to make the basement out of cut stone blocks. More than that Bjorn had plans to build a small stone bridge that spanned the river allowing them to make use of the meadows on either side of the river itself. They talked for a while as the mason gave them tips on how to cut and shape blocks, as well as how to make mortar that could hold them together while being water tight. He gave a few different ways to make the mortar all with local ingredients.
By the time they finished with talking to the townsfolk it was early evening. Although it would be faster to make their way back they still wanted to make it back to their home before night fell. The pair bid their farewells and made their way home. As they were leaving the little girl named Cass ran over to them and held out a package to them. They took it from here thanking her and looking inside. It was more of the beef buns that they had for lunch, and by the steam rising off of them they were still warm. Bjorn was going to thank her but Cass had already ran off.
They ate as they walked and before night fell they made it back to their attempts at a house. Due to it being a long day they didn’t do much before they decided to call it a night. As they lay there drifting off to sleep Bjorn thought about how odd it was that no one made a comment about their abilities to make items disappear as they placed them in their portable pocket or bag of holding. Either way, Bjorn didn’t care all that much and was soon drifting off to sleep.
The next morning they decided to split their focus and each work on different things that day. Meira climbed up to the top of the hill and began removing the snow that filled the hole that they dug.
Bjorn on the other hand made his way over to the field of granite stones. While there he began excavating the stones from the dirt. He then took the stones and put them into his bag of holding where they fit. With a mouth that was 2 and a half feet by 2 feet wide it was pretty easy to get the stones into the bag itself. And those he couldn’t fit he decided to start cutting down to more manageable sizes. The stone itself was dense, heavy, and plentiful. The pocket in the trees where Bjorn found the granite was littered with hundreds of granite stones of all different shapes and sizes.
It took the better part of 2 days but he eventually collected a simi-large pile of granite that he could use for the walls and floor. They talked about it and they settled on making the foundation something that would last a very long time. As such they settled on making the stone blocks themselves into 2 feet long, 1 foot tall, and roughly 1 foot wide as well.
On the third day they split their efforts once again. By that point Meira had cleared out a small area on the eastern corner of their hole of snow exposing the half frozen mud underneath. Meira began finding and collecting everything that would be needed to build the mortar that would hold their stone together. Even though it was made with local ingredients Meira still had to search around to find the ingredients that she needed. She knew what she needed, just not where they were.
Bjorn began to slowly take his mallet and chisel and cut the large stone blocks down into shape. He would look at the large stone that he wanted to work with and move it around to give himself the area he wanted to work with. From there he would take the chisel and mallet and begin slowly cutting the stone how he wanted it to go.
It took a long while but eventually he got the stone to shear off giving him a mostly flat side to work with. He turned the stone onto that side and began slowly cutting away the next side, then the next one. Then he moved onto the ends of the block, and lastly the last non flat side. It was a time consuming and laborious process but he was left with a stone block roughly the right size of what he wanted it to be.
When he finished he was greeted with a prompt, as well as he used W.A.I.L.A. on the new block.
Congratulations you have gained the skill: Masonry. This skill is not a fast skill, nor is it an easy skill to learn. But for those of you who want to build something that will last long after you have passed, you have found your calling. Today you have taken your first steps down that long and arduous path.
