From Londoner To Lord

Taniok furrowed his brow, his gaze fixed on a spot in the distance as he processed the idea. After a moment's thought, he offered a slow, deliberate nod. "It's feasible, my Lord," he admitted. "The concept is sound. Building even a single longhouse before the snowfall wouldn't be easy, but with sufficient materials and a team of capable workers assisting me, I believe it's achievable."

He paused, then added, "You mentioned building two of these structures, my Lord?"

Kivamus confirmed his statement with another nod. "According to our estimates," he explained, "close to a hundred villagers currently lack proper shelter. This includes the homeless, orphans, and those who lost their homes during the bandit raid."

"That number sounds about right," Taniok acknowledged. "And where do you want to make these longhouses, my Lord?

"Regarding that," Kivamus continued, "you might have heard the announcements made in the village earlier today."

Taniok dipped his head in agreement. "Indeed, my Lord. And I must confess, I wasn't expecting half of what I heard. The villagers will be incredibly grateful for your initiatives." He paused for a moment, then continued, "The guard captain also mentioned plans to clear the forest surrounding the village. That would undoubtedly provide a plentiful supply of logs for construction. Does that mean you plan to build the longhouses in these newly cleared areas, instead of within the village?"

Kivamus nodded decisively. "Indeed," he declared. "It would be difficult to find enough empty space within the village right now to build the longhouses. And we'll be clearing a significant area of the forest anyway. My aim is to create enough cleared land to begin farming there in the spring. Also, for added security, we'll be clearing roughly five hundred paces of space encircling the entire village."

He gestured expansively. "This way, we'll have an abundance of space and timber for constructing the longhouses."

"Space certainly won't be an issue, my Lord," Taniok acknowledged. He paused for a moment, a contemplative crease forming on his brow. "However, the eastern side wouldn't be a suitable location for the longhouses. The terrain there becomes quite hilly as you move further in that direction."

Kivamus acknowledged this with a curt nod. "Precisely. And since there's a stream flowing southeast of the village, I am planning to designate the entire southern region for agricultural purposes. That leaves us with the western and northern regions of the village. So, I'm thinking of building longhouses in the north."

Taniok considered this for a moment, then offered a curt nod. "Either of those directions would be suitable, my Lord."

Gorsazo, who had been silently following the conversation, interjected. "But wouldn't that delay starting the construction until the forest in those areas has been cleared?"

"That it would," Taniok conceded. "However, preparations for building longhouses will take time as well, since we'll need to saw the logs into planks before we can start the construction. So, once the trees start coming down, and there is a steady supply of logs coming in, I can begin preparing the planks and stockpiling them. That way, as soon as enough space is cleared, we'll have a ready supply of lumber and planks for rapid construction of the longhouses."

Duvas chimed in, "Of course, that means, we'll have to begin clearing the forests in the north before we do it in the other regions. Since winter is not far away now, it means building longhouses has to be a higher priority than the farms, for which we have until spring to prepare the land."

Kivamus nodded. "Certainly." He thought for a moment, before adding, "But if we just had a watermill here, like I saw outside Cinran on the Kal River, it would make sawing the logs much easier and faster as well."

Taniok added, "Indeed, my Lord. But there was never any need for a watermill in Tiranat, since there is a very low demand for new planks here. Mostly I do repair work here in Tiranat, which I can easily do manually. This is the first time since the founding of the village that so many large-scale projects are being started together, including the longhouses, new farms, and clearing the forests."

"Hmm…" Kivamus looked at Duvas. "You mentioned that stream in the southeast, near the hills. How big is it? Can't we make a watermill there?"

Duvas shook his head. "No, my lord. It's only a small stream, not a river. It would be enough for irrigating the farms, but it's neither deep enough nor fast enough to install a watermill there."

Kivamus gave a slow nod. "Of course, with the vast forests surrounding us, the wind speed wouldn't be high enough here to make a windmill either - unless we make it much higher than the towering trees surrounding the village, which is not practical anyway."

Although if he could make even a basic steam engine here, it would allow them to have a continuous source of power, for sawing and so many other purposes. He could draw up the blueprint for that easily enough, but he didn't even know the level of metalworking in this place, and whether the blacksmith would be able to create the required components in a good enough quality. He'd have to add it to his growing list of things that he needed to find out before he could try to invent something new here. For now, he had to focus on the current situation.

Taniok leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping to a respectful tone. "If I may offer a suggestion, my Lord, I'd recommend focusing on completing only one longhouse first. This way, we can ensure that at least one longhouse is fully completed before winter arrives, rather than having two partially finished structures."

Kivamus's lips curved into a smile. "That aligns perfectly with my thinking, Taniok," he replied. "Even a single completed longhouse before the snowfall would provide much-needed shelter for the homeless villagers, even if it might be a bit crowded and uncomfortable."

He straightened in his chair, his gaze turning serious. "As you're aware, the road to Cinran, our primary source for external supplies, will be impassable soon. Therefore, any materials we need to acquire from outside the village must be brought in before that happens."

"I have a merchant who's leaving for Cinran tomorrow," he continued. "I can give him a list to purchase whatever supplies are necessary for building the longhouses. While I'll try to source as much as possible locally, to help the local craftsmen and smiths as well as to save our limited coin, there might be specific items we'll still need to purchase from Cinran."

Taniok nodded in agreement. "Indeed, my Lord," he said. "There will be no shortage of logs here, that much is certain. However, I currently possess only two saws and my workload in the coming weeks would be many times of what's usual. So if the saws break or become unusable during the project, I'll be unable to continue sawing logs into planks. So, adding a few more saws to the purchasing list would be incredibly helpful. And of course, with the sheer number of trees you're planning to cut down, a significant number of axes will be required as well."

He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in. "May the Goddess forgive me for speaking ill of the dead, but the previous baron was never interested in providing work to the locals. He preferred buying everything from traders coming from Cinran, so that he could levy more taxes and duties on them to raise his profits. However, you, my Lord, have said that you will prefer the local craftsmen for this, so I thank you for that."

Taniok added, "Regarding that, I'll have to add that the village blacksmith, Cedoron, is a good lad, and he can make all of those things easily. However, it would be difficult for him to supply a large quantity of saws and axes, since he works without an apprentice. But I'll still suggest asking him first, my Lord, so that he can tell you how much of it he will be able to supply himself. And for the rest, you can add it to the purchasing list you'll be giving to the merchant tomorrow."

Duvas scribbled the list of items onto a piece of parchment, his brow furrowed in concentration. He added, "Indeed, in the earlier announcement in the village, I had asked the villagers to let Cedoron know that the baron wants to talk to him. We were already planning to speak to him later this evening about that."

Kivamus looked at the carpenter. "Well, carry on. What else will you need?"

Taniok gave a nod. "Now, regarding the construction itself," he continued, "while the beams for the longhouse frame can be connected using traditional wooden pegs and joints, acquiring a good stock of iron nails would significantly improve the construction speed when it comes to attaching the planks."

Kivamus listened intently, absorbing the carpenter's insights. "That's true," he acknowledged with a nod. "Please, continue."

Emboldened by the Baron's encouragement, Taniok elaborated. "Typically, for structures solely used for storage, a single layer of planks for the walls is enough. However, since these longhouses will be housing people, I recommend using two layers of planks with a small gap between them for better insulation and overall sturdiness, like this manor house. Iron nails would not only simplify the process of securing these two layers but would also considerably speed up construction."

Duvas chimed in with a thoughtful observation. "But wouldn't that require a substantial quantity of iron nails?" Looking at Kivamus, he added, "They aren't cheap, my Lord, and for buying that many iron nails, the cost would be significant."

Kuzunalis

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