Weekly Digest 72- (#221 - #223)

Finalizing Agreements

"While my demesne is ideally positioned to control your access to the ocean, and therefore to Covehold Demesne," Shanalorre said bluntly, "I have not done so, because it would not benefit us to bar your way. Purely for practical reasons, we have no way of enforcing such a toll save your voluntary participation without an extensive building project that we currently have neither the manpower, materials nor ability to do. Additionally, unless we are able to construct boats of our own, you are also our only access to Covehold Demesne, and more importantly, a reliable supply of salt. Therefore, I propose simply making this arrangement official."

Lori raised an eyebrow. "What do you have in mind?"

"I will officially guarantee free passage for you through our portions of the river," Shanalorre said, "in exchange for two services in exchange."

Lori's eyes narrowed. "What services?"

"Firstly, we would like to ask for salt every time you go to the ocean to gather it. Not a percentage, just a flat fee. We need it for food preservation, and salt is less ephemeral than ice and keeps better. As toll fees go, it is hardly onerous."

"How much salt?"

Shanalorre inclined her head towards Rian. "The amount that Lord Rian has previously gifted to us in prior times would be sufficient."

"Hmm… and the second service?"

"Passage," Shanalorre said. "Specifically, passage on your vessels when you go down to Covehold with your goods and back, should we need to send someone there. Two people and enough cargo space for a box of goods."

"One person, and anything they can personally carry aboard the ship in one trip, unassisted," Lori said flatly. "If they have more, we will be willing to rent out cargo space for the purpose."

"We will need at least two people to accomplish what is needed in a timely manner. Two people and what they can carry."

"Two people and what they can each carry in a single container," Lori said. "Any more cargo space beyond that must be paid for. Every bit of space we're not using for our own goods is profit lost."

Shanalorre paused to consider. "What are you asking for in terms of cargo space?"

"One twentieth of the gross sales of whatever it is we will be transporting. I assume whatever cargo will be for sale, otherwise it would be a waste of both of our time and effort." While the profit was nice, it wasn't the most important part. The intention was to make the other Binder consider if it was worth it to bring the cargo along. "This is assuming there is any space left for your cargo. We will be prioritizing moving our own goods. If you need more than that, you need to arrange it in advance, as part of planning for the expedition."

"If you're going there to buy something there and bringing it back, I would suggest making arrangements on a case by case basis," Rian said. "Loading the cargo can't be done carelessly, after all. If the ship is unbalanced by the weight of the cargo, it could tip over and everyone on board will drown as the ship sinks."

Shanalorre considered that. "Two people and what they can carry, and any further cargo arranged depending on the situation."

Lori considered that. "Agreeable," she said. "Very well, then. I agree to this and I am willing to accept your request to construct a dragon shelter for your demesne."

Shanalorre let out a small breath. It wasn't quite loud enough to be a sigh. "Shall we draft the agreement?"

"Rian, please tell me you wrote that all down?"

"I wrote it down," he assured her. "Though anymore and I'll have to start writing on the table. I'm out of space on this plank."

"We still have the mine to discuss."

"Writing on the table it is, then."

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They discussed renewing the mining agreement next. Lori deferred renewing it until later in the year, since she didn't want to commit any of her demesne's workforce when everyone might be needed. After all, at the very least they would need to perform maintenance and repairs, as well as set up more farmland, both inside and outside her dungeon. While Shanalorre looked reluctant, she accepted that reasoning.

Then came the request to build a bath house.

"I had thought you were managing your hygiene situation adequately," Lori said.

"My experiences in your demesne has me shown the value of centralizing such a facility into a specialized building," Shanalorre said. "Unfortunately, as with the dragon shelter, we simply do not have enough people to devote to such a project without impacting essential work. And my guide mentioned you were able to build your bath house in a day…"

"As I'm sure you are aware, a Dungeon Binder has certain advantages in their own demesne," Lori understated. "Even if I should be inclined to do so, I doubt constructing a bath in your demesne would be as simple. Besides, have you not already specified a bathing area in your dragon shelter?"

"That is an emergency bath. I speak of a bath house for daily, regular usage."

"You realize that it takes a lot of magic to make our bath house actually work the way it does, right?" Rian spoke up. "Magic to move the water, magic to heat the water, magic to drain the used water so it doesn't accumulate and the water stays clean, magic to provide light and ventilation to an enclosed building… if you try to build a bath house like ours in your demesne without a Whisperer to keep it running, you'd end up with a dark, cold shed that quickly gets flooded."

The look of disappointment on Shanalorre's face was almost humorous despite how subdued it was. For that matter, the fact her lord looked equally disappointed—if equally subdued—was humorous.

She wondered how long before they noticed the agreement to build a dragon shelter didn't include providing light, heat or ventilation?

The discussions concluded, and using Rian's notes, the specific terms of the agreements were written down. Since they didn't have any paper—at least, paper and ink that wasn't her almanac and Lori was not using that!—Binder Shanalorre allowed the agreement to be written into a pair of stone tablets. It was almost naïve, really, since Lori could easily change either copy if she happened to get her hands on them. Not that she would, since she intended to honor her part of the deal—to the letter—but it was still careless on the other Dungeon Binder's part. Lori supposed the next time they went to Covehold she'd need to get Rian to buy her some paper and ink for any further agreements…

It was late morning by the time they finished discussion, and Lori had to work until lunch to finish making both tablets, so she didn't have time to go out to the edge to make more beads. She still sent Rian anyway so he could move the jar further from the edge, before retiring to her room to expand the demesne. It probably wasn't necessary, but given how relatively refreshed she was, she knew she'd be able to expand the demesne more than three times this afternoon, so Lori decided to err on the side of caution.  After all, she didn't want to go to the edge tomorrow only to find not Iridescence to work with since the jar was inside her demesne.

Besides, Shanalorre's militia were still about…

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Nothing noteworthy happened during dinner. Lori was again unable to play chatrang, but that was because Shanalorre ensnared her in a conversation asking her where the ideal place to put the dragon shelter would be.

"For the sake of convenience, I would want it within the dome for easier access for everyone," Shanalorre said as Lori nodded absently, "but Lord Rian's reminder about flooding has me concerned."

"I would recommend against building it there, purely for practical reasons," Lori said. "Given what I have observed of many of the deadspoken structures in your demesne, would it be safe to presume there were originally living trees original planted in those positions?" At Shanalorre's nod, she continued. "Then there would be extensive root systems beneath the surface, which will both complicate excavation and might compromise the structural integrity of any structures I build. In addition, the proximity of the river does make flooding both during construction and afterwards a real danger." Lori gestured around the dining hall. "I needed to perform extensive work to seal the stone so as to prevent water from the river and groundwater penetrating inside. Outside of my demesne, I am not confident I can repeat it."

"Where do you recommend, then?"

"I would suggest excavating a hill," Lori said. "One well above the river. We will not have to worry about flood after construction, and it is easier to drain in the event water gets in because of rain or seepage of grand water. Additionally, having to simply excavate solid stone simplifies matters greatly, as the building material is already present. "

"You just want the opportunity to claim free ore," Lord whatever-his-name-was muttered.

Lori shrugged. "I have no particular preference as to which hill is used, but given this is a dragon shelter, one would want it to be nearby, would you not? Besides, I'm sure you have enough experience to know that there's always something that needs to be carried into the dungeon that wasn't carried in earlier. In that regard, Binder Shanalorre's desire to place the shelter under the dome would be best, but would require far more work than is practical or timely."

"Because of the presence of roots and the risk of the excavation flooding."

Lori nodded. "Exactly. And even if we find an ideal location with no roots that we manage to sufficiently waterproof, the dome itself would threaten it, since over time the dome's growing root systems will probably start to damage the shelter's structures."

"That would take years, surely," Lord whatever-his-name-was said. "We'd have stopped using it and built a better shelter by then."

"How many of the essential things you rely on in your demesne now were originally built with the intention of htem being temporary until you built a better, more permanent one?" Rian asked.

"Well, if I remember right, the houses were supposed to be temporary because we were going to build better ones with stone foundations and fireplaces," Riz said.

"You remember correctly," Shanalorre said.

"If you really want to try building the shelter in the middle of the dome, it would be doable if the shelter was built above ground," Lori said. "Unfortunately, that would mean transporting all the building materials there, and unless the entrance were above ground level, would still put you at risk of the shelter flooding. And without sufficient mass between yourself and the dragon, you are vulnerable to things falling from a great height and being surrounded by abominations. Worse yet, if the dragon were somehow to turn your dome into an abomination…" She shrugged. "The more I consider it, the more I come to conclude that situating the shelter under the dome is actually the more dangerous option."

"Unfortunately, I must agree," Shanalorre said. "I shall take Binder Lolilyuri's suggestion of excavating a hill into consideration. We might have to seriously consider integrating the shelter into the copper mine."

Lori shrugged. "If you wish for me to have no opportunity to claim ore, we can try excavating at a point higher than the current expanse of the mine. However, that will add its own difficulties when it comes to evacuation. It is difficult to carry things uphill, leading to the possibility of the shelter being undersupplied when the time comes."

"So noted, Binder Lolilyuri," Shanalorre said.

"Inform me when you have settled on a location. I cannot prepare a plan for construction until I see what I have to work with."

Rian made a strange face. Was he constipated or something? Rian, don’t make faces like that over dinner.

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Flood Preparations

"Good morning, Binder Lolilyuri."

"Good morning, Binder Shanalorre."

The two of them stared at each other for a moment. Then they both turned away and Lori took her usual seat in the middle of the table, Rian opposite her. Said lord was glancing between her and Shanalorre with another strange look on his face. Umu sat next to him, with the other two absent, so they were probably getting the food.

"Now, what's this about flooding?" Lori said.

Rian blinked at her for a moment, looking confused, before shaking his head. "Ah. Well, like I said the day before, from the looks of things we're definitely going to get flooded, and we should probably prepare the demesne while we can."

"Yes, but why are you so certain?"

Rian gave her a look that she was better able to recognize. "Your Bindership, how much of the demesne right now is literally covered with more than a pace of water? What happens to all that water when it starts getting warmer?"

…

Ah. When he put it that way…

Lori glanced towards the entrance of her Dungeon. Then she glanced towards the stairs leading down to the lower levels.

"Yes, exactly," Rian said. "Now, because of how you've been building, we shouldn't have too many leaks, but what leaks there will be only you will be able to seal up. If I'm right in my guess of how high the water could potentially rise, you might need to be ready to seal off all water pipes into the Dungeon."

Lori almost swore, and barely remembered there was a child a pace away from her. "Ah," she said instead, frowning. "Yes I can see that. The current arrangement of the water hub shed is based on the normal water level of the river. If it exceeded that level…" Yes, she'd have to seal off their water reservoir. "How high do you guess the water will rise?"

"The riverbank gives a fairly good indicator as to how high the flood waters are likely to rise. I'm willing to bet the entire river bank is underwater when the snow thaws. Conservatively, I'd say that it might rise up about a pace above the average level of the river bank. Off the top of my head, our permanent structures that are likely to be affected by flooding are the old baths, the remaining shelter, the Um, the clay pit, the laundry area the docks although that's only a worry if they take damage, the mushroom farm, the bone pit, maybe the tannery, and some of the houses near the Dungeon. Oh, and my house, of course. If the other side of the river weren't more flat, I'd be more worried, but it's likely most of the water will spill over that way."

"You're… probably correct," Lori said as she remembered what little she recalled of how natural water tables worked.

"So… can I move into the Dungeon until spring?" Rian said brightly.

Lori paused and glared at her lord.

"What? The alternative is trying to build a new house on higher ground in the middle of winter. Given its more important to focus on flood proofing the Dungeon, I clearly have to be prepared to move."

Lori continued glaring at her lord. People were just going to keep living in her Dungeon, weren't they?

"And of course, there's making sure our vigas fields are protected from flooding, to make sure the grain that's been growing over the winter under the snow doesn't just get washed away," Rian continued. "I'm told we need to clear out the snow once it starts to thaw so they don't get flooded and start rotting in the ground."

Lori sighed. "Well, I'll leave that to you then, you already seem to know what needs to be done."

Rian nodded. "We'll have to prepare moving everyone still living in the shelter into the Dungeon. And the furnishings of the Um, I suppose, though I think I can reasonably be sure in saying that people would probably want to leave that for last."

Lori rolled her eyes. "Of course they will."

"At best, you can probably seal up both and just open them again when the water recedes, but I'm not too sure how well anything left inside will fare. And given the back half of the bath house is made of ice, that will probably take a little of work."

Lori tapped th tabletop thoughtfully. "Rian, have a watch kept on the river outside to warn us of any possible flooding."

"Yes, your Bindership."

That should at least give them some warning, although by the time there were visible signs it would probably be too late to do anything substantial. Still, better than nothing…

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Lori fell into routine as she considered of how to deal with her demesne flooding. The clay pit getting flooded wasn’t too much of a problem. At worse they'd have to rebuild the kiln if something carried on the flood water struck it hard enough to break it, which was relatively trivial. The baths, Um and shelter had wooden fittings however, and while they'd been treated to withstand humidity, they probably wouldn't fare well to being underwater for hours, or possibly even days depending on the severity of the flooding.

Rian's suggestion to just completely seal up the buildings was looking like an easy, simple, viable solution, though it would mean the second bath house would soon find itself very crowded. The laundry area getting flood would be problematic, though. Unwashed clothes would soon start being malodourous and eventually cause people to be ill, and people would likely start washing their clothes in the bath house all over again.

Either way, she might have to raise up flood barriers of some sort to divert water away from the area around the Dungeon. That would… she'd have to go outside and movea lot of snow, but it was just water, that would be simple. At least what she'd have to build wouldn't be complicated.

As to people living her Dungeon should the flooding reach the shelter and some of the houses… well, she'd resigned herself to it already. After all, it was only a few people, as opposed to the entire population of her demesne. And Rian would be there to keep them in line. She'd just have to… not just wander down into the third level without making a lot of noise, because with the Um either flooded or sealed to protect against flooding, that's where people will likely go to slake their lusts upon one another…

These thoughts and more occupied her as she rode with Rian and those two accompanying them out to the edge of the demesne. She could feel the wisps in the river below them, water flowing under the ice. Had that ice thrown thinner? Should she be worried? No, no, it still seemed solid, and if need be she could bind it solid again. She might actually need to do that to control the river's flow. She'd never considered it before, but… well, she was a Dungeon Binder, wasn't she?

After she made the day's bead and left a binding of firewisps in the jar to grow more Iridescence, she made sure to bury it near a tree, well away from where she could feel the river bank. Just in case.

Once she returned and stored the beads in her room, she went out again to walk outside and evaluate what had to be done. She had to put on snow pads since she would be walking on snow, which made for an awkward gait, but it was the best way to not sink. Some people were lashing whole planks to their feet, but that made turning in the tunnels awkward, and putting it on by yourself difficult unless you did it on one of the benches in the dining hall.

The wind was only mildly cool on her face as she walked, Rian and Riz following her, though if she stood in one place too long the snow under her would start melting to slush and she'd sink, so Lori kept moving. She actually went out and walked over the river to get around to the other side of the hill her Dungeon was built into, since the overland path was still buried in ice and only reached up to the mushroom farm. That would probably be easier to seal up completely then just open when the water receded…

On the other side, she recognized the area the children used to hunt for seels in warmer days. The snow might have covered the terrain and the trees were bare of leaves, but she could recognize the location well enough. It wasn't like it was face after all, full of minute, insignificant differences that people expected you to be able to recognize at a distance after one glance, much less remember.

If she raised a low wall to divert water from here back into the river, that should hopefully be able to divert any floodwater away from the tannery. While the building was still mostly buried in snow—including the chokers that had been housed near there and were probably dead at this point—if a flood came the alchemical substances they had stored there would mix into the water and would both be a great loss to their ability to prepare hides, as well as possibility tainting the water downstream for some time. And since the Dungeon was downstream….

In addition, she was a bit uncertain how high the terrain of the usual path people took to get to this point was. There was a very real possibility that a small trickle of water might be able to trickle in on the path and be trapped behind any flood barriers they made, flooding them anyway, if much slower. So she had to raise some sort of wall here as well, just in case…

With another wall in front of her Dungeon, maybe one extending all the way past the laundry area, she might be able to keep water back entirely, so that they'd be able to keep things functional.

Of course, it's completely possible she'd underestimate how much floodwater there would be and the water would overtop her walls, so that the water would be trapped behind them once the water receded. Well, if that happened, at least she'd be able to completely seal off the passage into her Dungeon and open up a higher entrance. That should be easy enough. The outlet vent was already under water and shouldn't be bothered by having more water on top of it as well…

It would be easier to judge for sure if there was so much snow in the way, though…

…

Well, she was out here already so…

Lori began to make a binding of airwisps…

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"Thank you for your hospitality, Binder Lolilyuri," Shanalorre said at lunch later. "My stay here has been very pleasant. When you next come to stay in my demesne, I shall see about making your stay equally pleasant." After two days and no indications that either mother or child had gotten infected or were becoming ill, Shanalorre and her militia were finally returning to their own demesne… at least until the next pregnant woman gave birth, which was apparently due in a few weeks, although with the human body it was uncertain and they birth could occur earlier and ugh.

"I'm glad to hear you regard my demesne so highly," Lori said. After a whole morning of being outside and using bindings of air to blow away snow into large piles so she could see the terrain and the ice of the river, even she was a little chilled and enjoying the warmth of her Dungeon. While it was possible the other Binder would be able to make good on her boast, Lori found it unlikely. "We shall keep the alcove prepared for you." No reason to move the bed, after all. And if the alcove was needed… well, some lucky family had a bed. She'd tear down the wall though, as it wasn't needed anymore.

"If there's any change in my patient, please call for me immediately."

"Of course, Binder Shanalorre," Rian said brightly, causing Lori to give her lord a look. Oddly, she noticed Lord whatever-his-name-was doing the same. "I'm sure Missus Keyyara and her daughter will be glad of the visit. Hopefully we won't need to, but you never know how things will turn out."

"Also, thank you for agreeing to check on all those people yesterday."

"It was the least I could do as a guest."

"What is this?" Lori asked.

"Ah, you were busy working in your room yesterday afternoon, you didn't see. Binder Shanalorre offered to heal some people who weren't feeling well." Rian's tone turned wry. "Mostly it was dripping noses and such."

"You were first in line, weren't you." It wasn't a question.

"I can't help the fact I'm sensitive to the cold!"

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Infrastructure Assessment

The day after Binder Shanalorre had finally left to go back to her demesne—though probably not for very long, since there were more pregnancies due—Lori woke up with the firm intention of assessing the ability of the riverside infrastructure of her demesne to deal with the possibility of flooding. She'd left several bindings of airwisps anchored in place the night before to blow away snow in the areas she intended to work—finding place to anchor them that hadn't' been snow had taken a while—so hopefully there wouldn't be much for her to clear herself. Or at least, not as much, anyway.

Then she could get to work on the exposed ground, using the surplus stone in the pile next to the entrance—which was… still covered by snow, but no matter—to try and make barriers against possible flooding. The question was whether the measure would only be temporary, or if they would become permanent structures…

Oh, who was she kidding, of course they'd be permanent. She can already here future generations complaining about why the area around her Dungeon's entrance kept getting flooded…

"I need your authorization to change our food," Rian said as soon as she sat down at the table.

She stared at him for a moment. "Repeat that, with context."

Rian nodded agreeably as Riz sat down next to him, closed her eyes, and immediately went to sleep with her head on the table. "Our reserves of meat in the cold rooms are running low. I need to authorize opening the vigas reserve to add to our food. Eating a reduced meat ration is better with bread to pad it out, so our morale isn't affected. Also, given the month—if Shana's correct about it—we need to start building up everyone's reserves of energy to get them ready to work, and that means feeding them more filling foods like the vigas to supplement the tubers that's already there."

Lori straightened in alarm. "How much meat is still in the cold rooms?" she asked.

"About a quarter of what was there when we started the season," Rian said. "It's best to make it last until after the start of spring, when we can start hunting again and replenish out meat supply, though. Besides, it's about time we had a change in what we're eating. Even without honey, it's an easy way to keep up morale."

Lori frowned and looked around. She might not be any good with faces, or understanding how her idiots think most of the time, but in her cursory inspection it didn't seem like anyone needed their morale raised. "No one seems to need their morale raised."

"When people look like they need their morale raised, it's already too late," Rian said. "Besides, even if you do manage to raise their morale at that point, the increase is less than what it could have been if you'd raised it earlier… Look, trust me, all right? It's a 'dealing with people' matter. Just something to break the monotony of winter while preparing for spring."

Lori sighed. "Fine, fine, do it."

Rian nodded, then grinned. "If you want, you can also authorize a little bit of honey, and we can have sweet honey bread for dinner," he said in a low voice that people in other table's probably didn’t hear. "After all, Shana's probably eating some of what we gave her, so you should too. You know, for the morale."

"Do I look like I need my morale raised?" Lori said flatly.

"Honestly, it's always hard to tell with you, so I just err on the side of caution and try to raise it at every opportunity. But you do look like you'd appreciate having some honey bread for dinner. Come on, it's not like I'm asking for a holiday… though I point out the time on that ban has already long expired."

Lori glared at him a little longer, but… well, she didn't really disagree with the logic. There was probably a lot of work to be done in the spring, so it was best to start bulking up for it, and everyone knew grains and tubers were good for that. And she was hardly going to say they wait for all the meat to be gone before they touch the grain. As long as they had enough for planting and a little bit for emergencies… "Fine. But the honey is only for tonight. Will there be enough flour ground by tonight?"

"We have a lot of people with big, muscular arms with very little to do, I don't think that's going to be a problem," Rian said.

Lori nodded. "You and Riz are free this morning. We're not going out to the edge. I have work to do closer to the Dungeon."

"The flood preparations, right?" Rian said. "If you start work in the immediate area around the Dungeon's entrance, I can accompany you to the rest after I finish organizing the milling. Don't look at me like that. You're the most likely to accidentally slip and fall in the snow out of all of us, since you start to melt it if you stand still long enough."

Ugh, she hated it when he had a point. "I'll be careful," she ground out as Umu and Mikon arrived with food and water..

"You always are, but things happen regardless." He sounded resigned.

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After breakfast, Lori grabbed her stone-shaping tool—in case she felt like making any immediate changes— and, after some consideration, her hat, and headed out of her Dungeon towards the water hub shed.

Unfortunately, the binding of airwisps she'd left overnight to blow the offending snow away wasn't as successful as she'd hoped. Of course, she'd hoped that it would be able to clear the snow all the way down to the dirt. Enough of the way was clear that she was able to make her way to the stone shed.

If there was going to be flooding, then she needed to make sure that this particular conduit to her Dungeon wasn't going to be the reason it was flooded. The pool where water was usually boiled to clean it before being sent to the reservoir and other places was still and cold, barely being kept liquid by the binding that kept the water around the output vent for her Dungeon's air near boiling to discourage bugs and abominations from using it as a way in. She found all sorts of larvae in the pool, taking advantage of the heat, and shuddered in disgust.

Shaking her head at herself, Lori restructured the binding to contain heat around the water of the vent instead of merely generating it. That would eventually cause the water in the rest of the pool to freeze, hopefully killing the bugs. She'd have to clear out the pool before she restored the bindings that provided them with water, but flooding would probably do that anyway…

Lori also checked the vent itself, hidden under the water. It still seemed secure, so even in the event of a flood it shouldn't let any water into her Dungeon. The air pressure from the vent should be more than enough to keep any water out, and while she could add a binding of waterwisps… it really didn't need it.

Ironically, a flood would be a greater danger to their water supply, since such an event could rise up and fill the boiling pool where the water was heated to kill dustlife before it was drawn in to the reservoir, and from there redistributed to all the bath houses. She'd have to shut down the hub before the reservoir was fill with contaminated water. Even if it didn't have dustlife, flood water would have a lot of suspended particulates and possibly debris, which the bindings she had in place wasn't meant to deal with.

In the event that happened, she'd have to build something to specifically deal with particulate-heavy water, but that was best done when she knew what the flood's water level was…

She was starting to see why Rian thought procrastinating might be a solution to problems…

No, no, not a good idea! Back to work, back to work!

Lori looked towards the docks next to the water hub shed. The Coldhold was covered in snow, making it look like a half-buried hut. On the other side of the stone dock, Lori's Ice Boat was completely buried under snow. She hoped there would be time to recover it before flooding started…

Well, back to inspecting.

She wasn't sure if the clay pits need to be protected from flooding or not. On the one hand, it was just dirt… but on the other hand, flooding might alter the composition of add impurities or something. She'd have to get Rian to find out for sure. However, it looked like the issue was likely not to matter, since there might not be any bedrock for her to properly anchor a flood barrier in front of the clay pit.

The laundry area… probably didn't need to be protected. The infrastructure was stone and well-anchored, and none of it was likely to be ruined or irreparably damaged by flooding. If she raised a wall, they might be able to use it during a flood… no, that wouldn't work. The laundry area was designed to drain down to the river. If they used it from behind a floodwall, she'd have to add new infrastructure and bindings to drain out the wash water so they could continue to use the laundry area from then on. She'd have to think about that…

Raising a flood wall to protect the bath house, shelter and Um would be simpler, though as she looked at it, she almost didn't think it was necessary. From this angle, she was reminded that they were a bit higher up the slope than her Dungeon's entrance, making them slightly less likely to be flooded. They were still low enough that flooding was definitely a risk, but as things stood they were in a safer position than her Dungeon.

Lori considered her option. Of course, she could just more a permanent barrier along the river bank… but that would mean demolishing the water hub shed, the clay pit, the laundry area and possibly even the docks, or at least finding a way to integrate them into such a wall. Such would be more time and material intensive, and she wasn't sure she could do it in the time they had left, especially given the weather.

The easiest thing to do would be to just seal up all affected buildings, create a flood barrier to keep water out of her Dungeon, and then just wait it out… except that would mean having people in her Dungeon, reduced necessary infrastructure while the bath house and laundry area were flooded—and the Um too, she supposed—and there was no knowing how long the flooding would be. Judging from the fact that the area hadn't been flooded when they'd arrive during the rainy season, it probably wasn't that long… or the previous year had been uncharacteristically mild, and this year could be worse.

There was also the option of not building anything and just setting waterwisps to divert floodwater from the town when flooding occurred, but in her opinion that seemed extremely dangerous. Such a binding would require a lot of imbuement, not to mention need to be anchored in place, so she would still need to prepare solid structures for it. Of course, she could set the binding to instead turn potential floodwater to steam or ice, but that would be so irresponsibly dangerous she might as well kill her idiots herself, and and further bindings needed to make such a thing 'safe' was an added expenditure of energy. So, no.

…

Well, one step at a time. First, build something to keep floods from getting into her Dungeon. Hopefully building such a barrier would put her in a proper frame of mind to consider the problem properly. All these months of not properly building something seemed to have taken their toll…

Humming to herself, still shouldering her stone-shaping tool, Lori went to get her stone stockpile unburied of the snow that had fallen on it since they'd added the additions to the chimneys.