Delfus turns the not-quite-paper around and points at a rough illustration showing something that looks like one of those inverted pyramid stepwells. Except on the illustration are tiny little millipedes climbing up and down the well and instead of water, the bottom is a simple black void.
Rosha looked up at the millipede blocking their way and back down at the illustration where the “small” millipedes take up maybe a tenth of the path, if that. “Is that accurate with the size?”
Delfus shrugs, “Possibly, they might have drawn the millipedes bigger so you could recognize them.”
Yeah, the group was quiet for the rest of the walk to the next house. Which when they spot the place, thankfully looks, well, not normal? But it looked like an actual house to some degree. Still had bamboo, though! Except this bamboo was in large planters on a proper roof.
There was only one thing. The walls looked like a solid piece of wood, even if it did appear like a “normal” wall.
Delfus has the packet for this house ready and begins to explain. “Okay, so this isn’t a living house, which, given your reaction to the last place is probably a good thing. However, the building was once a living house. Similar to those around it, this place was originally a giant squat tree.
“Except the tree died.
“So they sent a crew of carvers, carpenters, and one wizard who had a bevy of specialty spells. The woodworkers carved everything up, removing things like bark and any delicate features, like small coat hooks. After all, if they broke you can’t exactly grow a new one to replace it.
“Then, once it was all carved up and made to look normal. Oh, and they removed the top two floors? They don’t always do that. It isn’t in my info packet, but I’d guess what killed the place did something to those upper floors.
“Anyway, the wizard then cast a bunch of polymerization spells. As in to polymerize. Though from my understanding the words share a root meaning? Whatever, the outer layer of the bare wood was treated, any bacteria or pests inside the now sealed wood gets killed, and the house before us is the result.”
Courtney nods, “Okay, that doesn’t seem too bad. Does it say why they didn’t try to revive the tree or simply replace the entire place?”
Delfus shrugs, “No, but I know something about it from scuttlebutt. Well, not for this place specifically, but all of the three-story tree-based living houses.
“They don’t try to revive them because they’re simply too big. Maybe the roots and a bit of the first floor could be brought back, but the Mana requirements to do the entire house is simply outrageous.
“As for replacing them? It takes too long. While magic can be used to speed up plant growth, there are limits and that isn’t even based on needed Mana. For a structure, you need a certain amount of structural stability and growing too fast? Well, it doesn’t let the tree adapt to the city enough. Like a tree grown in a greenhouse without any wind.
“I don’t know why they aren’t using wind magic to mimic such things? But I’m not a magic user, so it’s not really something I need to know.”
Rosha shrugs, “Eh, there’s more to a city than wind and physical stress. For such a large plant, I bet they’re bombarded with all kinds of magical events as well.”
Delfus snaps his fingers, “That just might be it! Anyway, I’ve got the key right here, so let’s go take a look around.”
The group enters the building and are met with a mudroom that extends back a short bit and ends with a door directly across from the front door.
Jason, “Huh, this is smaller than the last place. Not that being smaller is a bad thing.”
There are quality benches along the sides that blend in with the wall. In fact, when Rosha looks closer, it is revealed that at one point they probably were growing right out of the walls. Now, though they are separate pieces of furniture.
Moving into the next room reveals a large open space which takes up maybe two-thirds of the floor space. Though that’s just a rough estimate as the space starts at the right wall of the mudroom and extends all the way to the left. Along with that, the front and back left corners of the room aren’t actually corners, as two more rooms are located there.
Well, the front left corner is sort of a separate room. There is a section of wall along the ceiling and a counter with an opening along the bottom.
Delfus points at that, “Yeah, that’s the kitchen space. My notes indicate that if you have some sort of standard mana storage device, you can plug that in to activate an air shield across the middle of the counter. That way you can block smells and smoke.
“Also, there is a normal wooden screen hidden in the upper part you can pull down. Though with how it’s written about, the screen isn’t as effective at keeping stuff in the kitchen. Err, well, it is more effective at preventing spills from spreading. A spilled glass of water will go through the air shield just fine. It only prevents stuff in the air.”
He turns towards the back left corner that is fully enclosed. “Now that is the WC and full bath. Come on, I’ll show you the setup as it seems there’s more to it than just a single room?”
The group walks over to the door that is closer to the left. Looks a bit off, but when the door is opened, they can see why it was placed like that.
There are actually three “rooms” in the area. On the left is a small triangle space with a door that houses the quite modern-looking toilet. While the area you walk into isn’t much bigger, it is rectangular in shape and has a sink and mirror set up along with a medicine cabinet on the side. Then on the right, through another door, is the bath. Not one of those rounded-corner rectangles, but a corner tub, what with it being built into a corner.
Delfus points in there and gestures, so the group peek their heads in and notice what they missed. After all, this entire area was in a corner and yet the middle area is a rectangle? Well, that little bit of space behind the middle wasn’t wasted. Instead, it had a shower built into the space. Though it was a little tight.
Jason smiles, “Well that’s a nice setup.”
Rosha raises an eyebrow, “Someone thought much too hard over how they wanted their bathroom to be designed.”
Jason shrugs, “Too much, or just enough? The mirror won’t be steamed up after a shower and you can keep things separate for cleanliness.”
Courtney sighs, “I have to admit, this isn’t a bad setup.”
Rosha crosses her arms, “I didn’t say it was bad.”