NOVEL WEB Chapter 1867 Tent Town
--- Kat ---
With so many buildings clearly temporary and made to come down in a hurry it was interesting to look over the more permanent structures. Especially when they might be the main hub for sidequests. The blacksmith was the most obvious one. Kat was a bit surprised she couldn't hear it from a distance. Now that she was closer the regular clanging of metal on metal rung out quite clearly… but nobody around seemed to mind?
*Must be a sound dampening enchantment. Does… that not count as an illusion though? Or I guess the point is just not to bother people with the noise…*
Either way the forge was quite cool. It had a squat stone brick front with heavy doors that could be locked shut at night. Even if they got picked, Kat had a feeling the real issue with opening the doors wasn't the lock but actually opening the doors. The forge inside was burning hot and there were actually a few spots to forge weapons at. Clearly the blacksmith had an apprentice or two… but Kat couldn't see them at all. Still, you could see inside to the back where the work was being done. *I wonder if this is also his house? It's quite large but surely you wouldn't want to leave too close to that heat.*
The next notable building was the bakery. It wasn't as easy to spot but the smell pulled in plenty of attention. While the blacksmith's building was a purely functional workplace the baker had actually put in some effort into their construction. The store was built to look like a large cake. It was made of marble that had been blended together to hide the seams. Probably be an earth mage. Perhaps the baker was one.
The candles on top of the cake let out the occasional bit of smoke and acted as chimneys for the ovens inside while the regular 'dots' of some kind were windows that let you seen inside. Kat was tempted to stop inside and see what they were baking… but Daryl was still leading the way forward and she could always come back later if she wanted. A building like that wasn't going anywhere.
There were three more proper buildings to spot… sort of. The potter's house was the least interesting and still sort of weird. There was a kiln out the back, that made sense… but only half of the house was made out of stone. The half next to the kiln. Kat could easily see why they'd want some stone in their construction… but why not just go all the way? Kat would've asked by the potter seemed to be away at the moment.
The next building… Kat didn't know what it was. It looked a bit like a longhouse and took up some prime real estate right along the lake. It had stone walls and a tiled roof and looked a bit like it was using an upside-down boat as it's roof or perhaps a fish tail. The tiles were all merged together to make them look more like scales. Not completely separate, but not fully connected either. "What's that building?" Kat asked.
"That's the town hall. It serves as both a meeting place and as shelter for less then total floods. It's got enough space for everyone in town if we squeeze in, an sometimes we still have the children stay inside during storms," explained Daryl.
"Surely you couldn't also fit everyone's things right?" asked Kat.
"That's correct. We do have a system for that though. We practically have to specialise in waterproof chests that can also float. They're tied down, loosely of course, and essentially just… left to float. We can get everything back afterwards if things are bad and if not then nothing is going to get wet. If it's a proper flood though? We can simply drift off to the ocean with the chests following alongside us," explained Daryl.
"Ah… that makes sense. Though… where is the mayor's house or whatever they're official title is?" asked Kat.
"Still further along. They're technically outside of the town proper. Not to stay 'separate from the common people' or whatever nonsense some of the other areas of the island practice but because their family also runs the local quarry and it can get loud there. Luckily, the household I'm going to is on the edge of town as well, just not quite as far out of the way," explained Daryl.
Kat nodded and they got back to walking. As they approached the edge of town more and more stone or marble features started to pop up. Not full buildings, but decorations for the most part. There was also the occasional fence made up of stone or stone pillars. Otherwise? There were bird baths, statues, pathways, tables and even a gazebo. That last one also seemed to be the home Daryl was aiming for.
It was easily the largest tent Kat had seen in town and looked to actually be multiple tents all connected together. There was the big central tent that was the same size and shape as you'd expect from a circus tent… just with much less interesting colours. The tent here was a dull tan colour. Attached to it where four smaller tents. They had a corridor connecting them, which might technically count as extra tents because they seemed to be tied together instead of one piece but they weren't that big.
Two of the smaller tents were still quite big. Rectangular in shape and just as boring to look at. The third and final one though was tiny. A perfect square and barely big enough to fit anything inside it so Kat had to wonder what it was for. "Alright, this is it. You want to stick around or head off to the mayor? And yes that is what we call them,"
Kat shrugged, "Is the mayor likely to be home? Busy?"
Daryl scratched a the beard on his chin for a few moments. "Home yes… busy? Probably? It's not easy to run the place but if you don't at least get your foot in the door you might be waiting a while for an appointment."
"Sounds like it's no rush though?" offered Kat.
"Ah nah. Despite his passion for stonework he didn't inherit any earth magic himself and he's more or less chained to that desk. He still wanted to help the family out so he took the mayor's position… and has been buried in paperwork ever since," explained Daryl.
Kat glanced around as she decided in that moment to stick around. This seemed far too interesting to miss and she had questions. Plus, with Lily and Hedera sleeping she wasn't in a rush as she couldn't get too far away from the town or the secret passage in the ravine. "Does this place really take that much paperwork?"
Daryl nodded, "Oh yes. Mostly because he does most of it himself. He's got to process the tax records, approve any major developments, deal with who owns what land in the case of disputes and while he isn't the judge, he does need to look over any of major cases that come through our tiny court system.
"Any one slice is easy to handle but he's got no real support team for this and he's awful at delegating. Perhaps it's part of why he never sleeps. Also why he doesn't have a husband or wife. He's got no spare time for that even when he really should. See, I was-" Daryl paused as the tent flap flew open and stern looking woman strode out with a smaller 'kid' attached to her side.
The child was just Thyme in makeup with fake elf ears. It was easy for Kat to tell, and unlike Weaver who made it difficult… you could SEE the wood grain quite easily, everyone that glanced at the kid knew it was Thyme. Possibly another dryad, but probably not. The woman was in a slightly fancy dress with messy hair that looked like she'd just gotten out of bed despite it being the afternoon.
It didn't affect her demeanour though. She looked vaguely familiar, She wasn't wearing anything on her feet, and her blonde hair was braided together with flowers. She was looking down at Daryl like he owed her lunch money and this was helped by the fact she was on the taller side of things. Only technically matching Kat's height due to her horns and shoes, and Kat didn't really think that counted.
"Daryl. What a surprise. Why have you got our beloved family pet locked up in such a cruel manner?" asked the woman.
"Well Del, I found the little shit trying to steal my finest jerky. Again," answered Daryl.
Del laughed, "Well it IS just a monster after all. Going for the tastiest bit of meat is to be expected. That's no reason to be cruel about it though,"
Daryl sneered back at her. "Oh, well if this upsets you so much… why don't we come to an agreement? I'd be perfectly happy to let the little bastard go… for a price,"