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[Malcolm]

91 Ashan 327
Ne'haer Lysoria, The Salt Lake

They had sailed for almost seventy trials, a few more than they had taken stock for. The crew, who were already on the brink of starvation, cheered and smiled as they sailed up the coast of Ne'haer, towards their new home. Malcolm had been at the wheel for the last three breaks, but lacking the experience to guide the ship into harbour, handed the reins over to their captain, joining the rest of the crew on deck to help with the rigging and pull up the heavy, windswept and sea battered sails. He put one hand in front of the other, pulling hard on the thick ropes that hung from the masts, happy just to see land after what had seemed an age without it.
On shore a few of the crew had crawled down the gangplank and kissed the ground, closing sand and earth between the fingers to make sure it was real. So many trials at sea had made some of them a bit stir-crazy, two having been cast overboard part way through their journey, believed to have gone mad, found eating rats down in the cargo hold that had gotten into the grain. They spoke in strange tongues, staring at nothing with wild eyes and cowering from all sorts, shadows, seagulls, and other people included.
It was a three day trek to the Salt Lake near Lysoria, a small township just getting off the ground northwest of the thriving City of Ne'haer, and by the ninety-first day of Ashan they arrived at the house by the lake that Avari had told them all about. It felt strange seeing her now, seven arcs after the first day he had laid eyes on her, when she had been a girl of twelve arcs, now nineteen, and a woman, Avari Krome had spread her wings and done right by the people enslaved by her king.
"There are only three rooms so you'll have to share, one for myself, Estelle, and her young son Finn, and two for the men," Avari explained.
"There are fourteen of us and only three of you," Tony complained.
"Six," another countered, "the rest of us will work for food and a room in the Lysoria township."
"Kind of you," Avari smiled.
"Take him with you," Estelle snapped, tired of Tony's whinging.
"Will do missus."

Malcolm sat down on the steps outside with his belongings folded up in a cloth, an old, blank writing book, ink well, and his longsword. The house by the lake wasn't too bad, much better than the living arrangements he had suffered for the last seven arcs, huddled like cats together on the cold, stone floor of their cell for warmth. He felt too weak to go on to Lysoria, and though he hated the idea of putting Avari out, he knew his best choice was to stick around for now and be as helpful as he could.
"Clothes," the young woman held her hand out.
"Only what you see on my back," Malcolm told her.
"Good, take them off, I'll wash them and stitch the holes up for you."

Malcolm got to his feet, slipping out of his ratty old, white shirt, or at least it had once been white, no dirty and grey with sweat. Once upon a time it had boasted long sleeves, but even those had been warn back. Avari would cut off the loose ends, fold them over and stitch about the crease to tidy them up. He got out of his pants carefully, the slave brand burned into the flesh of his right leg still fresh, and handed them over.
"Well," Avari waited, "come on, your skins too, it's not like I've never seen sausage and beans before."
Malcolm laughed and shook his head, pulling down his underwear to offer up. "Happy?"
"Not bad," she grinned and pointed to the lake. "Go wash up, the salt water will be good for your wound."

[Malcolm]

It didn't matter how warm the day felt out of the water, the temperature of the lake was freezing, especially to a man with no meat on his bones, having been starved and over worked for the last seven arcs, forced to fight if he wanted a meal, surviving on onion soup and half a handful of black beans, not nearly enough to keep a grown man fed, especially a gladiator. His skin still bore the scars of every test on the arena sands, and the lash of his master's whip. Though Malcolm had been a slave for seven arcs, unlike the rest, they had not managed to break his mind, beat and starved his body, yes, but mentally he was far more sound than half of the men that had sailed west with them.
He washed the grime from his skin, scrubbing hard with a cloth, as if with the dirt, he could rid himself of the memories too, of the lives he had been forced to take, and the countless times he thought he had been pushed to his breaking point, only to learn that for a survivor, there was no breaking point, that as long as he had the will to live, somehow he would always find a way.
The calluses on his fingers and the pads of his feet were unbearably painful, even after half a season at sea. His hands were rubbed raw with rope burns, and the salt water stung every cut, burn, and graze, tired eyes not spared of the same suffering. Estelle brought a towel out to the man within half a break, and he accepted it with a warm smile, even while his teeth threatened to start chattering.
Inside the house there was a warm fire to sit next to, but the damp wood burned slow and very smoky. Avari explained that she had tried to store firewood under the house, but the tidal lake had flooded her land during Cylus, drenching all of the wood she had stockpiled.
"We will get something built for you," Malcolm offered, "in the next few days.
"I've got plenty of tools out there," Avari smiled, "and the land is very rich with resources, you can take wood from the nearby forest, and stone from the earth."
"Malcolm nodded and fed some more kindling to the fire in order to get it burning a lot healthier. "First thing tomorrow then."

[Malcolm]

92 Ashan 327
6th Break, Dawn

Malcolm had managed to rise a break prior and sort out some breakfast for himself, heating up a portion of the stew that had been left over from the night before. He wasn't much of a cook, but watching a pot on the stove over the fireplace, and giving it a stir every now and then didn't seem too difficult. Somehow though, he managed to overcook the leftovers, evaporating all of the stock and charring the meat on the bottom of the pan. It was eatable, but the man thought he might leave the cooking to Estelle or Avari in future.
Outside the birds were lively, chirping away in the treetops while the rest of the world seemed to stand frozen in its sleep-like state, a light frost having dusted the surrounding fields with what looked like ice, while the sun crept above the horizon slowly, attempting to stir the world to life. Malcolm could tell it was going to be another beautiful day, watching steam rise up and curl away from the treetops in the surrounding forest. He started his chores by feeding the horses, topping up their water, and putting down a few armfuls of straw for them away from the gate, where he hated encouraging animals to linger.
His search for an axe ended ten bits later behind the house, where he spotted the long handle of a wood cutting axe leaned up against an old cart that had been stripped of its wheels. He took the tool with him, carrying it over his shoulder towards the woods and a few straight, lean trees that he had been admiring through the kitchen window all morning. A couple of hefty swings at the trunk of a tree saw him cut out a small wedge that didn't quite put enough stress on the tree to see it being itself down. He put his back into it, growing more and more confident with his axe wielding ability as pieces of wood chip jumped away from the tree, and the morning went on.
By the time he got the first tree down, Malcolm's hands were already stinging, reminding him of the painful calluses, especially on his thumbs. As he set to work on a second tree, Avari appeared from the house and had wandered over to join him, offering up a pair of old leather gloves.
"They aren't much but they might save your hands," she smiled.
"Thank you," the Mortalborn grinned half heartedly and slipped his fingers into the five corresponding points of the glove, wriggling them until they were on right.

With a second tree felled, Malcolm knew he had taken down as much as he could manage today and set about stripping the bark from the trees. By now a few of the others had come out to help and Malcolm explained what he was doing and soon they had both logs ready for sawing into planks. With no heavy equipment, the best they could do was sit the logs up on two cross stands to secure and hold them in place while they took up a two man saw and slowly cut along the logs, following a taut line of string as a guide. The planks were all slightly bowed and full of splinters, but it didn't matter, considering all they would be used for was a small woodshed that kept the firewood covered and up off the damp ground.
Malcolm measured up a frame and took up a one man saw to cut the planks into the right lengths, using string again as a makeshift measuring divide to see that they all turned out the same size. Next he found a spade and dug down into the earth while the rest of the men processed more timber. They dragged posts into the holes and filled in around the foundations with crushed rock and lime, packing the posts in tightly. Avari came out to check on progress again and smiled at Malcolm. "Looks like you have the team all working together nicely.
"Hope so," he agreed, Keri, Adam, and Kenneth are all working on the logs, and I have Ethan looking for nails, we managed to find an old hammer under the house."
"He will be looking for a while then," Avari replied, "I didn't expect you to get this far in such a short amount of time, I will need to travel to Lysoria and buy some nails."
"Let me," Malcolm offered.
Avari stared at the man, "Can I trust you not to run off with the coin and a horse?"
"A few gold coins and an old horse isn't going to tempt me away from the warm meals we get here and a roof over my head, my lady."
Avari fixed her hair nervously, "Wise man, Malcolm. All right, you can go, but I expect you back by sundown."
"Yes master," he teased.
Avari only smiled.

[Malcolm]

Avari had three horses, all of which were between fifteen and twenty arcs, old for a working horse, especially horses used to pull heavy wagons. They were stocky, standing a few hands taller than the average horse at the shoulder, their dark bay coats littered with white hairs, most of which were concentrated around the muzzle and eyes, which the man knew was often a sign of age in animals. Malcolm picked the only horse that didn't look lame, a mare called Sally, with four white socks and a thin blaze. She had a dark, thick mane and a short tail, and seemed gentle natured enough.
Malcolm picked the horse's front feet up and picked the dirt out of them to make sure she would make the trip to Lysoria.
"All set?" Avari asked.
"Just looking for a saddle," Malcolm told her.
"A saddle, that will fit her? Good luck!"
Malcolm frowned. "A bridle?"
"I've got a rope halter?"
"Guess that will do," the man smiled and picked up from rope to use in place of reins.
"Here," she grinned and looped the rope halter over the horse's neck to lead her over to the water where the animal bowed her head to drink and Avari was able to do the ropes up.

Malcolm tied the rope he had found to the sides of the halter, crossing the ropes under her chin before he looked around for something to stand on that would help him climb up onto the horse. The wooden stump used for cutting firewood seemed like his best option and he led the horse over to the stump in order to attempt climbing up onto her back.
"What are you doing?" Avari laughed.
"What's it look like?" He frowned, climbing up onto the stump beside the horse.
Avari stepped back to watched, trying hard not to smirk, not hard enough it seemed. "Have you ever ridden bareback before?"
"First time for everything," Malcolm said breathlessly as he jumped up and winded himself on his own fist.
"First time bareback or first time on a horse?" She laughed.
"Both."
"Come here!" Avari giggled, "you're doing it all wrong!"

Malcolm led the horse over to the young woman and stood beside it, awaiting instruction.
"Right side," Avari waved.
"Does it matter?"
"Yes that's the side I train all my horses to accept riders on.
Malcolm scratched his head and walked around the horse. "I don't think she can tell the difference."
"I'll give you a leg up," Avari offered, stitching her fingers together. "Hold her mane, put your left foot here and jump up before throwing your right leg over," she explained.

Malcolm took the horse's dark mane in his hands and steadied his left foot against Avari's laced fingers before jumping up at the horse while trying to throw a leg over. Avari leaned against his backside in an attempt to hold his weight as long as she could, to no avail. As the tall man sank back to the ground with his left foot still trapped in Avari's hands, he turned to look over his shoulder at the hysterical woman.
"What in the world are you laughing at?" He smiled, amused by the woman's laughter.
"Try again!" Avari insisted, wiping a tear away from her right cheek.
"Ready?"
"Ready!" She smiled.

Malcolm jumped up again and the horse sidestepped, causing the man to cry out as he got his leg half over the animal and hung like a sloth from the horse's back. Avari had let go of his foot too soon and doubled over with laughter, sinking to her knees in the grass as she covered her face. The Mortalborn slipped from the horse and waved at the woman before leading the animal over to the stump again.
"You're no help!"

A few bits later and finally up on the horse, Malcolm tugged on the makeshift reins to get Sally's attention and pull her head up away from the grass she had been tucking into. Avari had finally managed to compose herself and stood with her arms folded, the back of her right hand touched to her mouth.
"Lysoria is that way, follow the road to the fork and take the left, then head north until you reached the township. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Of course," Malcolm nodded, "easy see?" He nudged the horse in the sides and she lurched forwards unexpectedly, leaving Malcolm as white as a ghost as he clung to the animal's mane like a monkey glued to its mothers back.
"Easy," Avari echoed in jest and waved the two of them off.

[Malcolm]

Malcolm hadn't spent long in the Lysoria township, just long enough to pick up some nails and flour as Avari had requested. He now knew how to trot the horse and had even managed a short canter, not quite daring to go beyond that, though he doubted Sally could manage any long distance galloping. He steered the mare back towards her paddock and leaned down from her back to push open the gate. After dismounting he took the halter and rope from her along with his supplies and headed back to the house to drop them off, taking the nails with him. He left Avari's change on the kitchen worktop, two silver and four copper, and went outside to see how progress on the woodshed was coming along.
The men had managed to fell, strip, and cut three more logs into planks in the time that he had been gone, and Malcolm tasked them with the job of taking two more down, preferring to end up with more supplies than they needed, rather than run short. He had Kenneth help him start putting up planks, instructing the young man to hold the wood in place while Malcolm hammered two nails into each end and one in the middle, following the line of the posts they had put into the ground in order to make sure the nails were going into the posts set behind the planks.
By the time the sun had started setting, Malcolm and Kenneth had finished putting up two of the four walls and started debating on the type of roof that would go on. Kenneth was keen on building a flat roof while Malcolm argued for something pitched that the rain could run off, hopefully into a catchment system that they could direct into the animal's water trench. They put together two triangle shaped frames the same size, with a support through the middle and had the rest of the workers help them lift it onto the posts before hammering it into place.
Everyone was quiet over dinner, too tired to say much. Malcolm smiled across the table at Avari, who hadn't been able to stop giggling after retelling the day's events to Estelle, who didn't quite find it as amusing. He helped wash up and fed the leftovers to the dogs before going to bed in order to get some rest for the following trail when the work would start all over again.

[Rosamond]

SKILLS

Animal Husbandry 2
Cooking 1
Carpentry 2
Construction 2
Detection 3
Endurance 1
Leadership 1
Mount 3
Navigation 1
Seafaring 1
Strenght 2
Teaching 1

BASIC KNOWLEDGES

Location: Salt Lake, a small settlement
Avari: The girl grown up to a woman

SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGES

Detection: Reading The Signs of Nature
Seafaring: How to be at the wheel and steer a ship at sea
Endurance: Surviving starvation and other trials on a long sea journey
Cooking : Making overcooked leftovers
Animal Husbandry: Examining A Horse's Shoes
Carpentry: How to fell trees by using an axe
Carpentry: How to strip bark from trees
Carpentry: How to saw logs to planks
Construction: How to build a small woodshed
Mount: How to Mount and Ride a Horse Bareback
Mount : How ride a horse at trot
Mount : How to ride a horse at short canter
Mount: Removing Riding Equipment From A Horse.

COMMENTS

A small cleancut gem. The exhauseted Malcolm stays in a small settlement to rest and recover. In order to give something back he builds a small shed. I found the thread advanced and interesting to read. It has depth and very good characterization. When I came to the end I started to look for more posts. I had been completely drawn in. I'm going to read all the threads about Malcolm now.

And as this is my very first peer review ever, I also want to say thanks to Jade for guiding me through it, and to other staff that may have been involved.