Day 60: Starday the 17th, Neth, 4707
The first day of our move, Savah and I both woke up early and got dressed. Savah said that she still had a headache today, but that she was feeling distinctly better than yesterday. I told her that I was happy about that and that I would get her some breakfast. I went out and fixed up some foodstuffs and saw that Oren and Arika were both getting ready for their shifts. Oren said that he would be done with work in the afternoon and that he would help move things then. I told him that it would be best for them to just make sure that everything that would need to be packed was packed, and if I could get Jonathan available today, he could move things en masse. Oren thanked me but said that he would probably do best getting his stuff packed up tonight after work and bringing it over then.
I brought Savah's breakfast and coffee to her, and gave her another dose of the acetaminophen from my kit. She gratefully took it and ate her breakfast. I got dressed and took Bailey out for their morning constitutional. Bailey wanted to run along the beach so we went down there. While we were down there, I checked for the cave that I had killed the goblins in and it was empty. Nothing had been using it from what I could see, so I felt fairly good about James staying in the place all by himself. At least until he gets more help anyway. Bailey and I got back to the Glassworks and Savah was already dressed and packing up her store's inventory in her cart.
I asked if she wanted my assistance, and she agreed. We finished up the packing fairly quickly and got ready to head over. Before we headed out, Veronica sent me a missive saying that the workers had arrived and were working on the second floor. She also asked me what to work on, and I told her that she should route the wiring that she had made so that we had the potential for having electrical power throughout the whole building, wherever I could or would need it. Veronica sent back a message of right away boss and I relayed to Savah what Veronica had told me. Savah nodded and we headed over to the new house.
There were not a lot of issues along the way. It was early in the morning, and it wasn't a market day, so most of the people were just going about their business. We got there and Aesrick was just getting his crew together. Aesrick gave Savah the grand tour of the place, indicating that only the Library, the second floor common room, the kitchen, and the pantry remained to be finished, and that they should be finished by the end of the day today. Aesrick noted to me that the construct had saluted him when he showed up and had gone to work shimmying up and down the insides of the walls running some kind of wrapped metal wiring.
Savah looked at me confused, and I told both of them that I was having Veronica install some of the extra peripheral things that I didn't want to trouble him with. Aesrick nodded and said that he wasn't really worried, it was just that he had not really given any thought to this. I noted that it was mainly so that I could get a single location for power generation and storage, and it could be distributed around the house wherever it was needed. Aesrick said that he might like to talk about it later. I told him that we could discuss it later, but that first we needed to unload Savah's goods into the store and the storage area.
Aesrick got to work with his crew and we set everything up for Savah's Grand Re-Opening on Moonday. I apologized to Savah that we were moving her store so soon after moving into the Glassworks, and she shook her head, noting that this would be a much better set up in the long run, as it was close enough to Das Korvut's place that she could direct unruly customers there easily. I laughed and we unloaded all that was in our carts. We locked the store up and waved to the crew before heading back to the Glassworks.
We loaded up again and headed back to the new house. We quickly unloaded and made our way back to the Glassworks to repeat the process again. We were making fairly good time, and had just gotten everything move over from the store in the Glassworks over to her new store when we both decided that it was time to stop for lunch. Aesrick noted that his finishing crew were done with the Kitchen entirely, and were now left with the last bit of the shelves for the Library, pantry, and the common room. I thanked him for the update and asked if it might be good to get his crew a small treat.
Aesrick asked what I was thinking, and I looked to Savah and she nodded, so I told him that at the close of work today, I'd treat everyone to dinner at the Bolting Barghest. Aesrick said that he'd check, but that he doubted that his crew would say no to free food. Savah and I both took off to head to the Barghest, to get lunch and to prepare Jonathan for the rush that will occur when the work day ends. When we got there, the bards were there going through their training. This was certainly fortuitous, as I could provide them with some training on the different flavors from back where I was from. Both of them took to sampling each of the flavors, especially as I went through different types of root beer and named each of them.
I started to go through all of the different types of soda that I had ever tasted, and all of the different variations of them. For once I was glad that I had went to Five Guys so much. From RC Cola to Dr. Pepper, from Coca-Cola Classic to Crystal Pepsi (don't judge me, I was thirsty and that was all that was available), from Sarsaparilla to Cheerwine, from Faygo Rock n Rye to Shasta Cola, and everything in between. All of the different flavors could now be available for anyone who wanted to try it. For a small upcharge a person could now have vanilla/cherry coke flavored cider. There were enough varieties that a person could come here every day of the week for a few months and not have to get the same flavor twice.
After around forty-five minutes of this, Shayliss got the bards back on track for learning other aspects of the establishment. Jonathan came over and told Savah and I that Shayliss was taking a lot more of a focus in the restaurant since her father Ven broke off all communication with her. I told him that I was really sorry about that and Jonathan shook his head. He told Savah and myself that Shayliss seemed a lot happier now that her father wasn't pushing her around. Savah said that this was good, and Jonathan agreed. I just noted that I wished that we could have found a way to save Katrine. Jonathan solemnly agreed and changed the subject by asking us how our move was going.
Savah noted that we had already moved out all of the store goods, and were now looking at moving the larger of the non-store related things. I told him that there were a few items in particular that we would definitely need his experience and ability with. He asked what they were, and Savah told him that one of them was the four poster bed that we had secured from Nualia's abode. He laughed and noted that it seemed like he would always be lugging that thing around for me. I thanked him and told him that we also would need him to move the hot tub, the tank for hot water, the two heat treatment boxes for the boron, and the tank for the argon. Jonathan said that he could help right away, as Shayliss had this well in hand.
We all went over to the Glassworks after settling up on the bill and providing a deposit for the crew's meals tonight. Jonathan started off with the bed, getting it out of the bedroom and at a place where he could freely move it. Then he got the heat treatment boxes and gently placed them on the bed. He went to lift up the hot tub tank and realized that it was too heavy to put on the bed, so he got the Argon tank instead. He placed that gently between the two boxes and lifted the bed up. He was concentrating on it, so he slowly got on the back of my motorcycle.
I drove fairly slowly as Savah was on her bike right beside me. The levitating items were also slowly moving along. Well, not exactly slowly, but not as fast as the bikes can normally go. We made our way to the work site and got there without much issue. Sure, we would have been causing a scene, but we were also known as the Saviors of Sandpoint, so I guess that gave us some leeway. Jonathan set down the items that he had lifted and got to work levitating them up to where they should go. The addition of the porches on the upper levels was helping a lot. Aesrick had a brilliant idea when it came to that.
It was fairly quick that we had unloaded this batch of things and Jonathan was ready for the next batch. While we were riding back, much faster than riding there, Jonathan asked how I would have done this back where I was from. I told Jonathan that we had large vans back there, and that we would load everything up into the vans, drive them to the location and unload them. Jonathan nodded and asked how fast the vans would drive. I told him that they could drive over a mile a minute. Jonathan nodded and we made our way back. This time, Jonathan got the iron tanks and all of the large tools from the workshop, while Savah and I loaded up my cart with whatever we could that would fit. We were getting down to odds and ends, so Savah volunteered to stay behind to collect everything else, since we were left with the hot tub, the hot water tank, and the remainder.
Jonathan and I headed back to the new house, and unloaded everything into the workshop. Veronica peeked out from behind a bench and saluted, before going back to work. Jonathan looked at me and I just shrugged. We got everything where it needed to be and I noted that I could set up the Argon generating system later. We headed back to the Barghest, and Jonathan checked in on everyone. They were all doing fine, and he gave some better estimates to Shayliss on what would be needed for the crew. We both headed back to the Glassworks and Jonathan got the hot tub and the hot water tank down and out of the building. Savah was ready with everything else that needed to go and we loaded up my bike and hers. I asked her if we would need to be coming back and she shook her head, noting that we were already fully moved out thanks to Jonathan, and all that remained was what Oren and Arika would have to move tonight.
I nodded to Jonathan and he lifted up the last two items with his mind and we drove back to the new house. Again, we drove slow enough that Jonathan wouldn't have issues with his concentration, but we still made excellent time. Jonathan lifted the Hot tub into the upstairs bath, and the hot water tank into the ceiling above it. Savah and I offloaded the rest of everything from the Glassworks. I thought about it for a minute, and asked Jonathan if he'd be willing to do a little bit more to secure the Glassworks from the temple ruins that we had to deal with underneath it.
Jonathan agreed and we went back to the Glassworks. We took a fair amount of time to move large amounts of sand and water as well as working together to mix up a fair amount of rudimentary cement and pour it down the ruins of the stair cases. We filled the roughly cut passage in with alternating layers of sand, rocks, and finally cement to bind it all together. It wouldn't stand up to any real destructive efforts, and it certainly wasn't up to any kind of code for earthquakes or lahars but It should at least pose a deterrent to those who would try to go this way again. We also filled in the cave that my attack had occurred in. I thanked Jonathan and we headed back up to the Glassworks. We did a final sweep, and Jonathan noticed a few minor things that Savah and I missed, and I got those things into my bike's cart. Bailey jumped up in the cart and I thanked Jonathan again for all his help.
Jonathan went back to the Barghest to prepare for the feast, and I took Bailey to the new house. Bailey immediately took to the new surroundings by running off into the woods and coming back immediately with a large bone. I looked to Savah who shrugged and said that at least we wouldn't have to worry about dinner for the dog. Aesrick cleared his throat and told us that a group of farmers had dropped off foodstuffs for the house just before the pantry shelves had been completed. Aesrick noted that his guys had moved everything in to where it was supposed to go, as a gesture of good will. Savah and I thanked him for that and he told us that when the guys heard that we were going to treat them to dinner, they decided it would be the decent thing to do.
I unloaded the rest of the things form the Glassworks and ensured that everything was about done. Savah was already putting thing up on display in her new storefront. Veronica was working away at running the electrical wiring and Bailey was chomping away at her new chew toy. I took a walk around the place and noted how this would be my new home for a long time. Sure, there would be expansions, but this would be the core of my new life.
Aesrick came up to talk to me to tell me that everything was done and asked what I would like done with the slim folio that the mysterious stranger left for us as thanks for the use of the house for the night. I asked to look at it and Aesrick handed it to me. As he did, I noted that on the cover was written, 'The Forge of War" and it was written that it was authored by a one name author, Tark. Aesrick noted that the stranger that had visited had been a cultured half-orc who wasn't a Sandpoint native, but he thinks that he remembers that he was named Tark. I committed that to memory and thanked Aesrick for giving this to us.
Savah noted that she had made up the bedroom and set up everything in the lavatory for us. I thanked her and noted that it was time to head to The Bolting Barghest with everyone. Savah smiled and we shut and locked everything as we went. I told both Bailey and Veronica that they were the only entities on guard tonight, and that if someone was to do anything to the house, it would be tonight. Veronica saluted me and started walking around the house, doing rounds. Bailey walked outside with us and did a lap around the house with me. They looked at me with far more intelligence than I would normally ascribe to a dog and laid down in front of the door to the back part of the house.
Savah and I headed out to the Barghest, with us taking only one bike, with Savah riding behind me. Aesrick and his crew would be showing up shortly thereafter. Jonathan noticed us arriving and ensured that there was sufficient seating for everyone to sit comfortably. Savah sat next to me and whispered to me that this was a nice gesture for the guys. I told her that I was glad that they had done the work promptly and correctly, and that I was hoping to leave all of them with a good feeling about us for when we had made enough money to start building our school. Savah suggested that it would probably be a bit quicker than I expected, especially if I ended up landing a contract with Magnimar for more of those shock maces.
It wasn't long after that when Aesrick and his crew filtered in. The whole crew showed up, apart from one person who said that they had made previous plans with their wife. I made a note of that individual and Savah agreed that we would keep an eye out for them to ensure that we got a similar reward into their hands for their good works. As Aesrick and his men sat down, Jonathan and the two bards came out and took the orders from everyone. The bards started listing off all of the options for drinks, and I was asked what each one was. Eventually the crew all ordered something from the foods that Jonathan offered and flavored ciders. Aesrick himself ordered a Dr. Pepper flavored one and a bacon cheese burger.
Jonathan and his crew got their food and drinks and one of them asked me why I was doing this. I sighed and told them that there were quite a few reasons why I was doing this today. I told them that firstly, getting the crew a meal at some time during the job was something that was a cultural thing back where I was from. They were working hard for you, so you should show them that you appreciate it. I added that I wouldn't mind them possibly thinking well of me when I eventually get around to having the rest of the school made. A couple of them laughed at that and everything seemed to go much better from there. One did ask if this was going to cut into their pay at all, and I told them that I had already provided Aesrick what was required for the job, and that this was just a side benefit.
About halfway through the meal, Aesrick broached the subject of the power tools. I told him that they were his to keep, but that he would be responsible for the upkeep and supplying of water for them. I told him that the best thing that he could do would be to get pure water from Ven Vinder's distillery, if he still had one. If he didn't and wouldn't put it back together, I would find a way to ensure that he could keep getting access to distilled water. I cautioned him that if he just decided to use regular water, that the machines would get less and less efficient until they were no longer functional. I told him that frequent Mending and Prestidigitation (cleaning) could forestall this, but that he would need someone on retainer to do this at least once every week, and that would be stretching it. Aesrick said that he would consider this information and thanked me for the tools which were making his jobs much quicker.
Our meal went well after that, and eventually Jonathan came around with a dessert cake for everyone. The crew each got a slice and I felt that we all enjoyed the whole of it. Savah and I bid Aesrick, Jonathan, and the two crews good night after settling the tab and leaving a decent tip. One our way back on the bike, Savah whispered that this was why she liked me, that I was thoughtful and considerate. I thanked her and told her that it just seemed like the right thing to do. I didn't tell her that the custom was one entirely of my own making, or that it basically wiped out my petty cash. I figure that I will be back to performing for our meals for a little bit until I make up more cash.
Our trip home was uneventful, and Veronica relayed that no one had breached the premises while we were gone. I thanked her and asked her to work on the piping for the hot tub and the lavatories. Veronica said that she would and wished us good night. Bailey greeted the both of us and walked into the house with us. They followed us up to the bedroom, but went back downstairs. Savah and I got changed and while Savah was getting ready for bed. I finished up my notes for the day. I think that I will start work on either Faunra, Chelger, or Shayliss' armor upgrade tomorrow. Once I finish off all three, I'll start Veronica off on the shock maces.