27 Pinch

I made it to the blacksmiths just as night was finally set in. The blacksmiths and their apprentices were still hammering away at iron even after the sun has set really letting you feel that a craftsman's work is never done…

I don't bother knocking or announcing my presence as I just walk straight into the workshop and start looking around and spot a dozen or more iron shovels laying in the corner dirtied from a hard days work..

One of the blacksmiths…..eddy….. I think his name was, noticed me and dropped his hammer as he dipped whatever he was working on into the oil quench making it bubble and hiss before making his way over toward me..

"M'lord!, it's good to have you back! The town grew dimmer without your presence"

As he announced my visit with little subtlety the rest of the metal folk quickly turned away from what they were doing as well to make their way over with "m'lord" this and that as well before I put up my hand to silence them all…

"Alright fellas, it's good to see you all as well but I just popped by for a shovel to start working on that sewage system tonight, I was told it's gonna take years at this pace and I don't like that, so imma do it myself…"

All of them looked to the corner where the shovels were tucked away before one of the apprentices almost sprinted over to bring one over to hand it over.

I take the shovel in one hand…..it looks more like a child's sandbox shovel in my hand….this isn't gonna work….

"Hmmm, not a problem….you guys mind if I whack up a new shovel for myself real quick? These are a little small for me to use properly"

"Of course m'lord! The smithy is yours!"

"Sweet, you two run and grab me a couple big chunks of iron, and start ramping up the furnace, this should only take half hour.."

I ended up taking nearly an hour pounding iron as I decided a pickaxe might make it a little easier as well, and with a couple logs I had on my inventory and my trusty valerian axes I carved out a few handles and fixed em to my new excavation tools with some big iron nails I rigged up..

They're not pretty by any means but they'll last long enough for me to finish the few jobs I'll need em for hopefully.

I was out of the workshop and into the big long ditch within 10 minutes of fixing the last nail, shovelling away at the fertile and semi solid soil making outstanding progress over the hours of mindless repetitive work only taking short breaks to make sure I was still on the right course..

The sewage system is being built with expansion in mind and with a slight constant incline toward the south west toward the ocean halfway between stoney shore and Newtown..

It would take me maybe three weeks of working night shifts to finish this alone at this rate and I wanted it done asap…..I was sick of shitting in holes and I'm not a big fan of the chamber pot…

I worked throughout the night in pleasant mind numbing Labour leaving the dug out dirt on the sides of the massive trench I was building for later use..

And before I knew it the sun was starting to rise and the day was beginning anew, and it wasn't long before a crowd of workers was starting to form around watching me work with vigour…

I felt like a council worker with all the guys with shovels watching me dig without helping and I was ready to let 'em have a good talking to until I took a moment to look around to find there wasn't really anywhere for them to work from….I took up a good chunk of the trench and they would be in the way if they tried to help, so they didn't….only watched in fascination at the freak of nature that is their lord doing the work of 50 men without breaking a sweat.

"Alright boys, I'm gonna stop here in a second and let ya'll take over but before that, I want you guys to grab some big straining cloths and strain all the rocks out of the the soil I've dug out of these trenches on the side here and cart it and dump it around the back of my manor….I got plans for it later…and make sure to pile the stones and rocks to the side, they have their uses too"

You could practically see what they were thinking "strain the rocks from the soil? Why?" But I gave a big meaty clap interrupting them before they could

"No questions fellas, day light is burning and you bums have work to do…..where is Will?"

"….r-right here my lord!"

Will pushes his way through the crowd of gawkers with penny under his arm and two wolf pups at his heel….he's basically my animal sitter at this point..

I climb out of the twelve foot tall trench with a quick jump and a "hup!", dust my self off….not that it helped, I was caked and mud from my night of hole diggin..

The workers snapped out of their trances and seeing I wasn't about to explain myself further a few of them started rushing back to town to grab some more people,staining cloths and hopefully some wagons probably while the rest who thankfully brought wooden ladders with em started hopping down into the ditch to continue their day job..

Penny flew out of Wills hands and onto my shoulder with some effort while Thor and Loki nudged my legs looking for a little attention…I happily kneeled down and gave me just want they wanted while speaking to Will.

"So I kinda dropped the ball yesterday with all the new people, I was to happy to be off that boat to really give thought to anything but being on dry land again….so how's that going? Everyone find a place to sleep for alright or was it a big drama?"

"At first people were a little out of sorts just being left on shore but it was sorted out soon enough by locals who opened up pretty quickly to the new comers…the sleeping arrangements while tightly fit did work out for the night, there were a few more than we were anticipating but that can be worked through….most of the people sorted themselves into new work almost immediately this morning with a little nudge, filling in some much needed manpower we were lacking."

"Oh sweet, like what?"

"Well the kilns got some more people working them now which really took off some pressure, being former thralls and salt wives the majority of them have some useful skills to help Newtown out in ways we were lacking….a few of the farmers came in this morning to pick up or drop things off and ended up taking a few handfuls of the rescued home after learning they had farming experience, I'd say we might have a few new farms being built in the coming weeks, we have a few more crews put together for your acquired ships from the refugees, but unfortunately not nearly enough to make use of all the ships you brought home…..oh and the livestock you brought was taken this morning toward the ranches near the farms"

"So everyone's good?"

"Well we have a few stragglers who haven't found a place proper yet but I don't think it would take long"

"How many?"

"About 30 m'lord"

"Yeah we can work with that….I was thinking of carving out some furniture for myself for my home this morning and maybe starting on getting my kitchens working properly…oh I'm gonna need some more servants for my place as well so put the word out for that yeah?"

"Very well m'lord I'll see to it…"

"Oh and also amongst those new guys put out a recruitment notice in looking for men to train up into soldiers, like 13-15 years old would be the sweet spot but older would be fine as well, but let me know it's gonna be gruelling training but also it's a permanent paying position"

"Yes m'lord"

"Well I suppose I'm going to head on out for a bit and scour the place alone to see what's going on and what I've missed in my time away"

I bid Will a goodbye and started skulking around Newtown to see how things are progressing, and while it's still a muddy shitshack shanty town it's coming along just fine….there are massive stacks of bricks under hastily build covers keeping them out of the weather….plenty to start working on some houses…but a good chunk of these will be going into the sewage walls…the ground will be stone, but the walls will be brick…

I ended up out by the farms to see farmers working their hearts out with contentment tending to the fields, and the ones that looked done seemed to be breaking new fields not to far away in hopes of upping their yields….

I make my way home to see some guys have already started bringing sifted dirt around the back of my new and empty mansion and dumping it in big piles….I'll be making some raised garden beds and green houses out back here sooner or later…might as well get the dirt now…

Before I forgot I wandered down to the empty basement and unloaded all my loot from my little raid on lord…..what was his name again???….meh…

I unloaded everything carefully making sure i didn't break any of my hard won spoils and started to look around with pride at my stash and notice some of the fabrics that have been sitting there awhile before grabbing some and heading upstairs….before turning around and heading back downstairs forgetting The maids need some stuff….I load up some of the fanciest bedroom furniture and head back up stairs to the foyer before unloading it again just before one of the maids pops out to let me know lunch was almost ready..

"Hey uhhhhh….what was your name again?"

She gave me a brief curtsy

"Rebeca my lord"

"Well becky you and the other maid, who's name I also don't know take your pick of whatever you want from this stuff for your personal rooms….and find someone else to carry it up because I'm busy….a bunch of fellas are delivering dirt so ask them I guess"

Becky glimpses at the noble looking bedroom sets with a bit of panic and a touch of glee before she quickly admonishes politely

"I couldn't possibly m'lord! These look far to valuable and you havnt even decorated your own chambers yet!"

"Don't worry about it Becks, this stuffs no good to me, to small and flimsy, I plan on carving out my own stuff from ironwood over the next few days and…..oh wait a sec"

I rush back downstairs as she's looking over the stuff trying not to imagine herself using it as it would be above her own station…

I duck back downstairs and swoop up all the carpets and rugs before dashing back upstairs and dumping it in a big room next to the foyer before guiding becky in…..I don't really plan on making rugs and carpets…way to time consuming….

"So yeah, this stuff too, pretty up the place a bit would ya? I'll be carving more furniture for most of this place eventually but this will do for now? Take ya pick and start setting up some of the rooms…just leave my room for now though…"

"But m'lord I-"

"Up up up…..none of that, just do what I said yeah?"

She wanted to protest again before a look shut up her and she just started looking through everything..

"Oh and take penny, Thor and loki for some food alright, I don't need any just yet, I'll be back for dinner though….I just gotta make a quick run to the wolfwood for some….supplies before I start carving…oh and don't hurt penny…..she's a friend, not food…."

She looks at me for a second and then toward my pets before nodding….penny just hopped off my shoulder and onto Becky's before I took off at a mild jog toward the wolfswood to pinch some ironwood from the forresters territory….