The village had changed noticeably in the past week.
The fourth scorpion had been finished and mounted on the northwest watchtower. Each corner watchtower now had one of these mighty ranged weapons. It was still not enough though. The north and south middle towers needed scorpions as well, and in time every corner tower should have an extra one up there to cover the larger area they overlooked. But Darora could not build everything at once. Even if he tried, he could build maybe one more scorpion before the mercenaries arrived in a few weeks, but that wouldn't improve the defenses of the village by any noticeable amount.
So the next scorpions would have to wait until the farming machines were built. A reaper, a thresher, and a winnower would matter a lot more once harvest drew closer.
The adzee meat had finished smoking properly, and the manor’s meat-storage room was now nearly full for the first time in months. That only made it clearer that the room would have to be expanded soon. The wheat harvest was still a couple months away, but they would also need several large warehouses ready by then to store the grain. Every completed project seemed to reveal two more that needed workers, timber, tools, and time, and Tiranat never seemed to have enough of any of them.
Trevalo had left the previous day with a barrel of smoked adzee meat among his cargo. He intended to sell it in Cinran to nobles, wealthy merchants, or better inns that could afford the delicacy, and Kivamus hoped the small quantity would bring a good profit without attracting too many questions about how Tiranat had obtained it.
Kivamus had also been talking to the merchants who came from the north to learn more about the political situation in Cilaria, since they were the only available source of news in this world without the presence of any newspapers or TV channels.
With the winds blowing from the northeast in the island of Cilaria during the colder months, and bringing the frigid air from the North Pole of this world, it meant Binpaaz was easily the coldest kingdom on the island. On the other hand, the winds came from the west during summer and brought hot and humid air to Reslinor from the Dujtaar Ocean in the west and raised the temperature much higher than what it would have been otherwise in this place. That's why the probing raids by Binpaaz at the border near Tolasi hills had eased off in late spring, and had completely stopped during the summer, since these months were said to be unbearably hot for people from that wintry country. Of course, the next winter was only a few months away, which meant this temporary peace would not last forever.
But it was a good thing that the raids had stopped when they did because Reslinor did not seem prepared for any kind of full scale war right now.
The visiting merchants had also been telling him about the rumors they were hearing in taverns in Cinran and Ulriga, and even in the other cities up north, the news passed over from merchant to merchant until it reached the ears of those who visited Tiranat. They told him that the demand for iron and weapons had slowly started rising all over the kingdom.
That meant, important people and nobles of the kingdom had finally started realizing that the times of peace between the three major countries of Cilaria which had lasted for over two decades might not last for too long in the future. Binpaaz hadn't been this adventurous since the last war ended, whether because it sensed a weakness in Reslinor or because of its internal reasons.
As a result, iron prices had slowly started rising from the dirt cheap prices the ingots were selling for earlier in the year, but they were still below the usual price they sold for in the past years. From what Kivamus estimated, iron prices would reach their normal rates in a few months by winter—especially if Binpaaz started raiding again when the weather became colder—and then the prices would keep rising from there. How much they rose depended on how serious Binpaaz got this winter.
That's why Kivamus had told the visiting merchants to bring as much iron ingots as they could bring, and Tiranat would buy it all. It wasn't that big an expense at the current prices, and Kivamus knew that until he secured a long-term source of iron, he had to rely on buying it from outside. So it was better to stock up on it now when it was cheap, than to wait for when it became costlier.
With no shortage of iron in the village, steel was no longer arriving as a rare experiment either.
New batches were coming from the cementation furnaces every week, and Cedoron had begun setting aside ingots whenever no urgent piece demanded the metal immediately. Tiranat still did not have enough steel to waste, but the small stack of steel ingots had started growing in a storage room in the manor. If the village had more blacksmiths, they could have used those immediately but Cedoron was still doing his best to fulfil the orders, while training his apprentices at the same time. He had already provided the first batch of around half a dozen steel weapons a few days ago, and the next batch would arrive within the week. Hudan had been happy as a clam to see those gleaming weapons, and had already divided up the weapons amongst the veteran guards, while the iron swords and daggers had been given to the new recruits.
More people were arriving too, which would help with the persistent labour shortage in the village.
Some were refugees running away from a harsh life serving a greedy noble. Others were runaway slaves who had heard that Tiranat accepted people willing to work without worrying about their slave status. A few people came with nothing but the clothes they wore and a name they might or might not have chosen for themselves. The longhouse blocks were filling quickly, faster than Kivamus liked. The fourth block was nearly full already, and each new group made the need for more housing sharper.
The animal pens in the south of the village had also grown crowded. There were more pigs and cows now, along with goats, chickens, rabbits, and sheep. The rabbits and chickens were multiplying well, which was useful, but it also meant more feed, more pens, more cleaning, and more workers needed to manage them. Growth solved some problems and created new ones with equal speed.
The first batch of clay tiles had also arrived yesterday.
As expected, they were not good enough.
The surfaces were uneven, and several had warped or cracked during firing. The village potters overseeing the kiln had not seemed surprised. They had almost expected the first batch to fail. Rather than treating it as a loss, they had said the broken tiles would be crushed into gritty fragments and mixed into the next batch of prepared clay. According to them, fired clay grains would help the next tiles hold shape better in the kiln.
Kivamus had accepted that. The potters knew clay better than he did.
He had also visited the first tenement block site yesterday. What had been only a marked foundation a week ago had begun to look like a real building. Posts were in place, wall frames had started rising, and timber lay stacked in long ordered rows beside the road. Finn had been hard at work, shouting at men to check lines twice before fixing anything permanently. He had reported that the outer structure should be complete within a week, and the internal room divisions would take a few days after that.
The stone chimney would have to wait.
Taniok was still at the losuvil encampment in the eastern hills, and Finn had enough sense not to pretend that he could match the older carpenter’s stonework. Once Taniok returned, he would finish it properly.
The barracks compound had progressed even faster.
The palisade around it was now complete, and the first two-story barracks building had been completed. Workers were inside now, fixing planks for bunks and finishing the interior. In a few more days, the first barracks would be ready for use.
They would not wait for the second barracks to be finished before moving men in.
The male guards currently sleeping in the longhouse blocks would be shifted into the barracks as soon as the bunks were ready. That would clear dozens of spaces in the longhouses for new arrivals. It would also place the guards closer to Nesser, Hudan, and the training yard, which should help discipline. The second barracks meant for female guards would follow after that, but Tiranat needed those bunks too badly to leave the first building empty while waiting for the full compound to be complete.
The latest supply wagon from the eastern hills had brought more news from the encampment.
The palisade there had been finished last week, and the small longhouse for the workers and guards was nearing completion. There was no shortage of timber, not with the weekly supply wagon regularly bringing fresh construction material from Tiranat, but construction in the hills still took time. Once the longhouse was ready, Taniok would start the larger hall where the losuvil leaves would be processed. The current estimate was just under two weeks before that hall could be ready.
Syrene and the medicine workers would immediately leave for the encampment the moment it became ready.
Syrene knew it was coming. She had spent much of the last few weeks asking Kivamus as much as she could about Earth, plants, medicine, simple chemistry, and anything else she thought might help her when she was away from the manor. She wrote quickly, using a shorthand that looked like a private code in places. Kivamus had seen her reread her own notes and add marks to them hours later without needing anyone to explain what she had written.
By now, he had suspicions that Syrene was a hidden genius who just didn't get the proper training and guidance for her intelligence to be useful. Thankfully, that wasn't a problem now and she had no shortage of study material now.
The guard in charge of the defense of the encampment, Torig, had sent one request from there that Kivamus had not accepted.
He had asked for a watchtower to be built inside the compound.
Kivamus had discussed it with Feroy before the man left for the rumor-spreading work, and Feroy had rejected the idea almost immediately. His reasoning was that a watchtower would make the place easier to notice. Right now, a traveler could cross the next hill and never realize there was a walled compound on the other side. Someone might pass within a hundred meters of the hill and still see nothing but trees, slope, and scrub.
A watchtower would change that.
Feroy had said it would be like raising a sign that begged people to look closer.
There was no real threat of bandits or mercenaries wandering into those hills. The encampment did not need a high tower to kill an adzee either. If anything, a tall structure might make the compound easier for a bakkore to notice from above, and they had no good answer for those huge flying beasts. A bakkore was on a whole another level from an adzee, since it could carry off a fully grown adzee in its claws if hungry. Men on a watchtower could not stop one if it decided to descend just by having a watchtower there.
Feroy had also pointed out that the extra height mattered most when a compound was surrounded by open ground or known enemies. The encampment’s best defense was secrecy. If no one knew it existed, no one would come looking for it.
Kivamus and Hudan had agreed after some thought.
Still, Torig’s suggestion had not been foolish. It was good that he was taking command seriously and thinking about defense before trouble came. Kivamus had sent word back with the next wagon praising his initiative, while providing a different solution. Instead of one tall watchtower, Taniok would build small raised corner platforms only a little higher than the palisade. They would give guards a better view over the wall without making the compound visible from far away.
Later, when Tiranat had enough scorpions, they could mount one on each corner platform. That would help against men climbing the hill and even against an adzee pack. Feroy had doubted whether scorpion bolts would pierce a bakkore’s hide when shot upward—the consensus had been that it would feel nothing more than a pinprick to those humongous beasts—and aiming at a flying beast would be nearly impossible anyway, but even the former mercenary had admitted the scorpions could not hurt to have.
The platforms would be built by Taniok after he was done with the other buildings there. The weapons would come later.
Kivamus rubbed his tired eyes, then looked back at the shelf where the repeating crossbow drawings rested.
Darora was busier than ever these days. The fourth scorpion was finished, but the lathe was not. The first lathe would take about another week, perhaps up to ten days if something went wrong. Only after that could Darora begin the repeating crossbow in earnest.
Once the first lathe worked, every later machine would become easier to make. At least, that was the hope.
The repeating crossbow could not wait too long either, with the mercenaries expected to arrive in a few weeks.
The rumor-spreading teams were already moving through the northern roads and settlements there. This time two teams were out—one male and female guard under the supervision of Feroy; with the other made up of the two guards who had gone with the ex-mercenary last time, along with a third man. The people assigned to this work had begun spreading the ideas and opportunities they wanted people of the north to hear, while keeping the real strength of Tiranat hidden as much as possible. Kivamus did not know yet how well the effort would hold once the mercenaries came closer, but even imperfect confusion should be enough to entice more people to move here, while keeping their enemies as far away from the truth as possible.
He stretched both arms above his head and felt stiffness pull through his shoulders.
It was time to stop.
The hall still felt too hot, and the light coming through the shutters had softened only slightly. He had worked through most of the day, and if he kept staring at drawings, he would only start changing things for the sake of changing them.
Darora would come in the evening to discuss the repeating crossbow. Until then, Kivamus needed food, water, and a short rest before the heat and lack of sleep made his thoughts useless.
He left the rolled drawings on the shelf and headed toward the inner rooms.