If I Had a Hammer

[Deleted]

Soundtrack

She would have to make him see her use.

He'd spent the whole damn month just showing people she was there, sending her around the village. She had to grit her teeth. Everytime she was shown off like a flashy piece of jewelry, her hatred for Henri Corday grew a little bit more. And then he went off to Morith, leaving her with Old, Senile Jean for a few days.

Perhaps time had rusted his filter while slowing the flow, so that what little he said was always concentrated ignorant, bitter judgment. Would that she could hammer a nail in that sexist pig's head. It would put Henri in his rightful position, sure... but she didn't want him there, either. Where Jean was, being who Jean was, he was harmless. No one paid attention to little Corday, a treasure trove with low walls and weak allegiances. But no one cared about it, either, because its leader was an inert noble gas. But if Henri got in right now, with the Duchy being in the state it was--Hell, with Henri being in the state he was--bad things would almost inevitably happen.

And it was her job to patch it all up. Henri hadn't given her any orders before he rode off to play revenge-taker and empire-builder. But he hadn't told her to stay still, either. "If I had a hammer," she muttered to herself. She paced in the hay outside the tiny, cobbled-together forge in which, over the course of several years, only a few horseshoes and caltrops had ever been made. She'd found the iron stores and a pile of charcoal, and all the other materials, but had no clue where a hammer was. She couldn't very well make a single damn thing without a hammer.

For now, she supposed, she could go about molding raw metal into a hammer shape by sticking iron stakes from the store-room into the molten iron and rolling it on the anvil, until it got stuck, and then, she could flatten each end of it.... "Hmmm," she thought.

She tried it.

---

Mariliene DuPasca
Str: 13
Vit: 13
Agi: 13
Ch: 11
ST: 13
T: 10
D: 13
EN: 13
P: 13
K: 13

HP: 260
SM: 34
MP: 131

Iron Smithing I

-Deducting 1 Iron from Henri's Warehouse.

Forging a Hammer:

TY651nRh Iron Smithing I + 15, Simple (Iron) +30..., Knowledge and Strength? Definitely Success.

- canceled·

[Deleted]

The people were going to starve.

Sure, they could get food from the other lands, and they still had enough winter stock left over, but they were doling out milled wheat from Henri's personal stockhouse now. The idiot was still off doing things elsewhere in Cruinthe, and she was stuck here. They were all stuck here. They didn't exactly have freedom of movement when their jobs depended on constant, constant, constant work. Toil and trouble. They didn't even have much industry, certainly not enough to sustain a population this big--but if they built better farms, then... maybe they'd have enough to be self-sustaining.

She would cry out if she saw her people starving in the streets. For now, the government handouts helped. But what would happen if the trade stopped coming? What would happen in a time of war?

She went out to her makeshift forge, grabbed some iron, and worked it. She worked it until the sweat dripping from her brow stung from the acid heat.

When it was done... (success) she had created the means for the people to break the land and form it into food. She brought the farming tools out to the villagers, and delegated them immediately into turning the barren hills into bountiful fields.

---

Mariliene DuPasca
Str: 13
Vit: 13
Agi: 13
Ch: 11
ST: 13
T: 10
D: 13
EN: 13
P: 13
K: 13

HP: 260
SM: 34
MP: 131

Iron Smithing I

-Deducting 1 Iron from Henri's Warehouse.

Forging Farming Tools:

FUvOXIv2

[Deleted]

Finally, it was time to face the fire.

The forge, that is... it was shit. She was having a hell of a time trying to actually forge all those damn iron bars into anything satisfactory. It was way more work than it was worth. She'd have to remake the forge into something which got hotter, but to do that they'd need real coal, not any of the crappy charcoal lying around... Or something better.

Which meant they'd need to break into the Kushfires. Lucky thing, they were right up against the west border of Corday's Duchy. The black tar that lined the stones always seemed promising. It had much the same consistency as vegetable oil, but it smelled pungent. No one wanted to live around it, of course. But if they'd work at it, all of them would live better for it.

They'd need pickaxes.

She slammed another bar into the kiln, got it good and piping hot, and tried forming a sharp weight, with a counterweight so the swinging could really do some damage, dig into that hard rock.

(success)

And when she looked up, it was done.

The all-consuming Corday Industry had been birthed.

Damn, was she a good smith or what?

---

Mariliene DuPasca

Str: 13
Vit: 13
Agi: 13
Ch: 11
ST: 13
T: 10
D: 13
EN: 13
P: 13
K: 13

HP: 260
SM: 34
MP: 131

Iron Smithing I
+ Simple + Knowledge: threshold is 58 again.


-Deducting 1 Iron from Henri's Warehouse.



Forging a Pickaxe:

Y_Q_vhhQ

[Deleted]

"What next?"

Mariliene thought to herself.

The people had really liked how hard she worked, and admired her skill. So she figured she could assign a few jobs, here and there. Maybe work with the military.

She approached Henri's father, the real lord of Corday Duchy, Duke Jean. She asked him what she could do, and he let her know what his plans had been--to buy an expansive array of horsemen to patrol their duchy, eliminating the banditry that was so rampant in the area--though the real center of it all was a little farther south than their Duchy reached. Indeed, the Fraugencaof, an immense black borehole-crater in the south-central part of the Kushfire range, had been a bandit haven for longer than old Jean could remember. He seemed to have a particularly personal dislike of the place, and... anyway, he said that she should try starting a movement to build up fortifications--one in each county of the Duchy. He said that his vassals, the mayors of each township, would be able to help in organizing an effort to build the basic grods.

He said that though construction would take two months, she could start the effort in a day, and there were plenty of unemployed in need of work down in Cordelia.

So, she went down to talk to the mayor. First, she requisitioned the number of troops Jean had asked for for the bandit-police force, and second, she asked what it would take to begin building a grod on the hill overlooking the village, opposite the main road from the Mansion. With his aid, she drew up a blueprint for the construction of a basic grod, along with a ribbon of spiked palisades spanning 'round the village, encompassing a few small farms in the event of a long siege.

---

Mariliene DuPasca

Str: 13

Vit: 13

Agi: 13

Ch: 11

ST: 13

T: 10

D: 13

EN: 13

P: 13

K: 13



HP: 260

SM: 34

MP: 131

Actions:

IC buying the forces I bought OOC

Trying to start building a Grod in main County.

Rolling for any reason necessary, due to some rule which isn't in the Player's Guide or something: DYv3J4W8
(Possible Knowledges for use: Mason I)

And last, deducting 100 gold for the Grod.

[Azuloth]

Mariliene drew a very pretty outline of where the grod should go with the palisade and the fort. Boxes and lines. In all reality she didn't know the first thing about actually building the damn thing. There was a tradition to these structures and that tradition was rooted in the use of the structure. Does one horizontally arrange the posts for the palisade or should it be vertically arranged? How does one fasten the posts together so they aren't easily removed?

These are things the girl did not know. These are things the girl needed to know.

---

Quest Acquired:

-Tour the nation's fortifications, standing and/or ruined to acquire Fortifications I. (Requires a Lord/Lady)

---

Fortifications I is required to build new fortifications. See Schools of Knowledge in the Administration Center.

[Deleted]

"What do you mean you don't know how to build it?" She stared in disbelief at the mayor.

He shrugged. "It never came up."

"No one in town has the slightest clue of how to actually build fortifications like this?" She was hunched over the blueprint, gesturing at the lines surrounding the map of the town, its streets part natural and part planned. It was a rough sketch, sure, and would end up following the lay of the land in the end--but surely, surely anyone in town knew how to build the damn thing. "This is ridiculous."

He stood up, putting his hands on his hips. "Well I don't see you helping, miss." His orange moustache bounced with attitude as he spoke. "All due respect, but all us disnoble folk, yourself included, just don't have the mind for directing large-scale buildings like this. You know, forts have a structure that isn't just common sense. It's all planned, based on traditions and, and such... well, you know, I don't know. Ask Lord Corday if he knows much more about it, he's sure to."

"Duke Jean?" She asked. "I'm certain he--"

"Skaldishit. The old man's mind is utterly gone by now. Any knowledge he had stored up there is lost to the wind, and it'd only pass to Henri if the breeze happened to be blowing his way..." he shook his head and muttered, "A pity how much is lost in translation."

She nodded. What they really needed was education reform. And... a clue as to what "education" meant. "Well... so..." she circled the point, "We will have to wait for Lord Henri to return, and then send him on a quest to look over other fortifications in the area... I suppose."

"Yes, yes," the red-haired man sat down. "Or if he's already got the knowledge, that'd certainly help."

"Certainly would," she frowned. "Certainly would. Well, in the meantime--what else can we build? Any other business?" She flexed her fingers, aching to act before Henri returned. "I'm skilled with masonry--I could guide the workers in making, you know... Civilian buildings. Commercial, Residential, maybe some industry, too-"

A sudden loud noise came from the storeroom. From the pattern of clanging, it appeared as if a shovel had been dropped on a hardwood floor. Mariliene's eyes went towards the back door, but the Mayor brought her back into business.

"Ah!" the man said, "Of course! Well, you can improve Corday Manor, with our advanced Kitchen, Bedrooms, Cellar, and Construction fortification. I'm sure there's buildings you could, uh, create, or so, though you'd need to work at it... and uh... the mines, the mines," he tore through a few papers, "but anything too industrial, I'm sorry... we'll need to wait for Henri to come back. Unless you know a bit about mine structures."

She didn't. "I don't."

"Well.... that's it, then." He smiled up at her, a trickle of sweat curiously working its way down the side of his head.

"That's it?"

"I'm pretty sure that's all the business we can do here. Regarding, uh how you can manage the land while Lord Henri is away."

"Ah. So business is done."

"Unless something suddenly comes up."

She warily eyed the door. "Yes... safety. Ensuring our land holds in any situation that may arise. Can I double the size of our army forces? I'll have 400 more of Infantry and Archers each, 200 more Cavalry, and... 10 Mangonels"

"Oh, well..." he gulped. "I mean, I suppose you've got that power as... ah... Unofficial-Interim-Interim-Governor, or whatever. It'd certainly get the homeless off the streets." He chuckled. "We've got a lot of those. But don't you think the Crown might start... noticing? Especially what with the siege equipment?"

"Like they give a rat's ass about us." She smiled as she left the room. "Arrange for some men to come up and begin the construction on the Manor. And arrange for forces to double, between all the other mayors. Make it so."

"Of course," he said, and watched her leave, sinking his head in his hands. "Of course."

The figure in black slipped out the storage room door and into his office.

"What does she know?"

"Nothing," he said, "Nothing, my lord. Your secret is, uh, safe."

---

Mariliene DuPasca

Str: 13

Vit: 13

Agi: 13

Ch: 11

ST: 13

T: 10

D: 13

EN: 13

P: 13

K: 13



HP: 260

SM: 34

MP: 131

The army raising will cost 12,200 Ritz and 20 Oak.

The Manor improvements cost 9 Stone and 12 Oak.

Do I need to roll for anything?
MASONRY I
No Roll info is in the PG, so: If I need to check for all four, here are four rolls--take the first if I only need one check for all 4. However, tell me if I need to make separate posts for each improvement... in which case the first roll of this post is for the Cellar.

NScOVUI4 ···

[Azuloth]

Results:
Rolls 1-3 Succeed (13+5+30=43 Threshold)
Roll 4 fails.

As point of education you can do it this way, or you can do a separate post for each.

[Deleted]

-Several Days Later-

The work on the house was going along quite quickly; they'd dug the cellar first, and afterwards re-fortified the construction, fortifying the foundation above the cellar, and connecting it to the main house. It had been quite a project, but with so many hands working day and night on government dimes, they'd managed to finish the job fast. Then, they re-fortified the foundation and all the construction of the house while they built a kitchen extending over the cellar, including a revolutionary pulley system called a "dumbwaiter" to bring the wine up from the cellar into the kitchen. Sadly, though, the construction of the second-level bedroom above the kitchen wasn't going nearly as well.

The idea was that it could be heated in the warm months by the kitchen's working chimney, but integrating the chimney into the room was proving difficult; they decided to expand the size of the kitchen a bit more, and use more supporting beams while placing the fireplace in the middle of the kitchen and of the bedroom; in this way, the heat would circulate better and the kitchen would have multiple angles at which to place things on the heat, so a team of chefs could be used. The improvements and reinforcements to the kitchen structure went easily, but the bedroom still had to be built, the main difficulty being that it was placed on the second floor...

---

Mariliene DuPasca
Knowledge: 13
Masonry I
Threshhold: 43
Rolling build check for Bedroom improvement: j4MQPirO
Success!!

---

And with that, Corday Manor had a new expansion to accompany its already quite-nice furnishings. Lord Jean was moved into the bedroom above the kitchen as his leg was healing from... well, I guess we'll just find that out later.

The heat comforted him as he rested, though no doctors were available to help the poor man's ailing infection...