[Sanctuary] Preparing For The Newcommers (Open)

[Hatot]

Hatot gave a slow nod to both Kelvics as Kavala introduced them. “You’re both in good hands, there is not one among my own race who I would put before Kavala when it came to both healing and caring for those one healed.” Hatot then said before looking to Vhan, who’s agape mouth and stunned surprise over his skin tone caused Hatot to tilt his head slightly, and look to Vhan curiously. “Yes, my skin is, indeed blue. It was a lighter shade when I was born, but darkened slightly when I reached my twentieth year of living.”

Hatot slowly reached out, his hand resting along Vhan’s large shoulder. His touch, despite his own size, was surprisingly light, giving testament to Hatot’s own control over his body mechanics. Hatot’s free hand then opened up, as it began motioning towards the two temples that stood visible from behind Riverfall’s walls, despite the distance Sanctuary stood from it. “You see Vhan, like Kavala’s birth race, the Akalak were born from the union of two deities. There was Wysar, the god of integrity, wisdom and discipline.” Hatot explained, his tone calm and fluid, like that of a teacher. “Then there was Akajia, the goddess of night and shadows, the darkness, secrets and stealth. For whatever reason the two of them had come together, whether it be love, convenience, or the ever strong desire for companionship, has either been lost in time, or was always kept to themselves as per Akajia’s wishes. In the end, however, their union bore the first of our race. Wysar especially, has a deep blue skin tone, as does Akaija. Hence, why our skin tone is blue.“

Hatot searched Vhan’s reaction to the explanation, letting his hand fall from Vhan’s shoulder. He hadn’t been certain how much of theology Vhan was knowledgeable in, but before the chance of the question could be posed, Hatot answered it. “No, the Akalak are not Alvina, or any sort of gods ourselves. To say we were born from their union, is more to say that they came together, and decided to create our race.” Hatot then explained. “It is for this reason, that we call them Father and Mother.”

Hatot then gave a simple nod, then motioning to the work that needed to be done. “Enough of such for now, however.” Hatot then suggested as he began moving over towards the post diggers. “Idle discussion over theological origins will not complete the work needed to be done today. For the moment, let us just say my skin is blue, simply because it is, and worry more about the specifics later.”

Hatot then slowly slide off his cloak and armor, revealing the shade of blue skin that ran over the entirety of his upper body, and not just the parts that showed earlier. It also revealed several scars, many of which Kavala recognized mainly because she had been the one to mend the wound that caused the scar in the first place. The tall, sleek, yet finely toned form of Hatot’s body, as well as his scars suggested both the training he had gone through, and the experiences he had endured over the years. None of that, however, managed to cover up the inexperience he had with the manual labor of simply digging a hole as he raised the post digger up into the air before it was plummeted into the ground sharply, only closed due to the handles having been pulled apart during its decent.

[Vahn Gremio]

The moment the Akalak began speaking about religion and the complete history of his people, Vahn's mind went blank. He had never been one to understand, nor care for, religion or the long, and he did mean LONG, history of a race of people. He was powerful, and wise in some areas, but never did Vahn boast about a high intellect or understanding of other races. However, he did smile and nod every so often, until Hatot finally cut it short and simply stated that "his skin was blue because it just was". That was when Vahn actually agreed, his ears burning a bit from the very long explanation of the Akalak history.

Looking to the side towards kavala and the other Kelvic, whose name escaped him at the moment. The two were heading off to do their own work, leaving him with Hatot. He never even noticed as the man took the post digger from his hands, watching the man try to use the tool to no avail. Even Vahn was not entirely certain how to use it properly. He had taken note of how Kavala had used it and tried it himself, amazed that it had worked. There had been a trick to it: she kept the handles close together, which made the bottom part stay open before she shoved it into the dirt.

Walking up to hatot, he placed a hand upon the pole digger, gently taking it back with a smile, and held it up for the blue-skinned man to see.

"I think this is how it works...I saw Miss Kavala do it this way." he pulled the handles together, pointing at the shovels below, which now remained open. "Have to hold it like this when you shove it into the bround, then pull them apart and pull the whole thing up."

He slammed the tool into the dirt as a demonstration, pulling the handles apart and ripping out a good sized chunk of dirt. Twisting his body slightly, he pulled the handles together, letting the dirt fall onto the floor and handing the diggers to hatot. "Care to take turns?"

[Kavala]

She cut wood as the boys set the corner posts. Kavala was no stranger to a hand saw and even pregnant it was something she did to strengthen her arms. Lifting it up onto sawhorses that Aweston conveniently placed for them helped out - putting them right at waist height to give her the perfect angle. She didn't say much, just cut and cut and cut until she had a whole pile, enough to cover one end of the barn. Then she started on the other end, cutting lengths for them.

Kavala liked building, which was unusual for a Konti. She blamed it on her father, who had a legacy of cairn masters and webbers behind him. They all built, in one way or another, even though on the grassland building was extremely limited.

The Konti glanced around, hoping they had enough wood. The lumber yard in the city had delivered just the right amount after she showed them her designs if she didn't waste any or make any more useless cuts. She'd paid them in foals, like she had earlier in the year, this time letting go of her last best colt and one of the fillies to the owner. She would also have to train them when they were older, but that was fine with her.

Hopefully by then the bloodbanes would be producing and be adding extreme intelligence to her horses' bloodlines. She wanted their fierceness, loyalty, and intelligence in battle. But to get it, she'd have to do some serious manipulating and probably put Vahn's life at risk a few times to get them in foal. She knew he was up to the task, but still she worried. Thats why they built extra fortified stalls. Winning over the bloodbanes that were coming from Ravok would not be easy. They were horses of war, bred to be killers, and ate red meat rather than grass. Even getting them to cross-breed was going to be interesting and tricky.

But she'd see what she could do.

Kavala continued sawing, not ready to start nailing up boards until the gentlemen had all the corner and support beams in place.

[Vahn Gremio]

((Was hoping someone else would post by now, but looks like that's not going to happen, so I will post again.))

Vahn wiped the sweat from his brow as he finished digging the post holes, looking at the other man with a shrewd look. If the man had not wished to help, why had he offered to do so in front of Kavala? Vahn practically did most of the work with digging each hole, some he had to do multiple times due to a lack of training with tools, but he was gifted with intelligence as his ancestors before him when his race was originally created. He might not know how to read or write, or how to be "properly dressed" at times, but he was far from stupid in figuring out how to use a simple tool.

Placing the post digger on the ground near the workbench, he made his way over to where Kavala and the other kelvic were located, ready to offer his help in building the structure there. From the look of that drawing Kavala showed earlier, this building was going to be made far sturdier and more secure than the other stables. He wondered why this was...weren't all stables the same? After all, what horse would want to break down their own home? Unless, of course, they were kept there and not allowed to run freely when they wanted, which was a fate worse than death in Vahn's eyes...

Reaching the spot where the other two were at, Vahn offered a warm yet slightly weary smile. "The holes are done, Kavala. Anything else I can help with?"

[Kavala]

Kavala nodded, looking thoughtful. She gestured to the support beams and walked over to them. "Help me set them in place. We get all these beams in, then we can frame out the outside and work on the roof. It won't take long to frame and finish, honestly. " And that was the truth. And though she was heavy with child, Kavala went to the nearest beam and began tugging it towards the nearest hole, nodding in gratitude when enough hands joined her that the beam was easily lifted into place.

Once all the posts were in place, beam style, Kavala set the men into tamping them to secure them into the earth. Then she herself measured for both short walls and began cutting lumber to secure the enclosure. She used a hand saw and found it was hard work, but kept going switching arms when the first one was tired. Before long she had enough lumber cut to nail up the north and south shortwalls, and passed them off to the helpers to get them to nail up.

Then, she took measurements for the internal walls and started cutting those boards too.

[Vahn Gremio]

((I take it Hatot and Descant are no longer RPing in this thread? If so, I will delete this post. if not, guess it's back to just us two.))

Vahn nodded and went to work almost immediately, lifting the poles in his arms and carrying them to the holes he and Hatot had dug up. Before slamming the pole into the ground, he transferred each one to be closer to the area they had prepared, making it much easier in the long run, as well as making it more convenient for Kavala if she chose to help. Seeing how stubborn she often was, the kelvic did not think she would rest liek they asked her to. There were times when she was more stubborn than even he was, and that said a lot about her determination.

Once all of the posts were laid in a pile near the holes, Vahn began to pick one up and slam it into the hole as hard as he could. Once the pole was embedded, he looked over his shoulder at Kavala with a slightly sheepish smile. He figured that the pole would go into the hole, but had no idea how to make it stay there. it felt wobbly, not as secure as they had hoped, and wasn't sure what to do next in this instance.

"Uh...Miss Kavala...what do i do now that it is in the hole?" he asked, placing one hand upon the pole to keep it in place. He did not want to put anothe rpole into a hole until he knew exactly what needed done and how to do it: would rather do the job right at a slow pace than redo it multiple times when in a hurry...

[Hatot]

oocSorry about the poor activity.

Hatot had been off in his own little world for some reason, most likely bickering with Radris in the depths of their soul. He had managed to some of the heavy lifting, grabbing a pole here, carrying something else there, but it had seemed as though his mind hadn’t been fully into it at times.

Hatot then set to refilling the gaps between the edges of the hole and the posts themselves, stamping the earth and rock heavily into it and shifting the pole when it wasn’t completely upright so that it would stand strait. Larger rocks had been lined along the post to ensure a bit more stability and he rolled his eyes when at one point Radris mention groundhogs tunneling underneath to bring the whole thing crashing down.

As the lumber began to go up, being nailed to the short walls, Hatot then used his height, standing at the center and holding it in place when the highest boards needed to be nailed up. Once the tallest ones had been secured, he went to work with the others, at first simply starting the nails, using the strength in his wrists and hands to push the sharp point of the nail in enough that it would stay, moving ahead of the one with the hammer enough until it was passed to him.

His skill with the hammer was less impressive, missing the head of the nail with his swing more than a few occasions, but stopping his swing enough that only a light indentation was left in the lumber, instead of the hammer punching through it entirely. Overall, it likely took him dozens of more swings and a few chimes longer to drive a nail into the board than it did Kavala. He considered, at one point, just trying to drive the nail strait in with the palm of his hand. He had seen one of his former masters at the Sasoran do it once before during training, but in the end, he didn’t want to have to halt work to be healed if the nail had actually gone strait through his hand.

“Sorry I’ve been quiet.” Hatot said, then looking to Kavala and Vahn. “What is next?”

[Kavala]

Kavala nodded to Vahn's question, and showed him while he was holding the pole up how to take another board and begin tamping the dirt around the hole to tighten the pole in place. "Time will lock the soil around the wood and when we get the structure framed, it will go in even nicer. But for now we need to make sure we get these poles in the ground solidly, so we tamp around them pounding the dirt into the hole and making sure the pole goes up pumb or level." Kavala drew a level from her carpenter's kit and held it up to the pole. She showed Vahn how to line the bubble up perfectly to show it was level and then how to adjust how he could tamp the dirt until the thing was square. "We'll periodically check the poles, walls, and such to make sure they stay square. If everything goes up level and square, its easier as we build." She said thoughtfully.

Since Hatot stepped forward to volunteer to nail up the walls, Kavala cut enough lumber to properly see to the task. Hammering wasn't the best exercise in her condition so sawing made lighter work. Once the walls were up, they needed to cut the lumber for the roof and tack that in place after nailing supports across the top. Kavala had the supports and cross members all cut as well with the help of other crew members so that when the walls were completed, all they needed to do was frame the roof.

Kavala directed this, letting the taller stronger men lug the tresses they constructed on the ground up to the top of the walls and tack them in place. Once those were done, she cut planks for the wood and then got out a long roll of cloth coated in tar they would use to seal in the roof.

So, first the roof frames, then the roofing lumber, then the tarred paper went on next. She left the men to climb and tack these things in place while she kept sawing down below. They still had to make doors for the little barn and individual dividers to the stalls. That was the easiest part and the very next to come.

[Hatot]

Hatot started to sweat, despite the chill air of the season. He slowly looked over to Kavala as she began to saw at the lumber, wondering if he should try to do it for her in order to lighten her work load, but in the end, he knew he would just be scolded by her for suggesting it.

So Hatot then climbed, his long limbs scaling a latter in just a few steps . His muscles went taught as he pulled up the trusses by thick strands of rope. A drop of sweat rolled from his brow along dangling strands of hair at his banks before falling to the ground as he gave a final grunt, lugging the trusses up finally. He paid particular attention to his balance at that point, making sure ever ledge he stepped at would find his foot and weight centered along it as he began tacking the trusses into place, his body bending forward at ninety degrees at some points as both leg and back strength, with a little support from one planted hand, kept him from falling forward.

Slowly, he made his way upward, tacking down and doing the work, all the while wondering what a fall from that height would render him as far as injury. Radris would chuckle inside his brain, like a sadistic tickle at the base of his skull, telling Hatot to just drop and find out. That such would make good training for future conflicts they might encounter. In the end, Hatot shook his head at Radris’ comments, continuing the work until he had half of it finished. He wasn’t certain how long the whole time was, but he did know that some of the tac work was ugly, and the rest of it suitable, at best.

[Kavala]

While Hatot and the crew were working on the roof, Kavala carefully laid out and screwed in the hinges that would hold the stall doors in place. Then, cutting the lumber that would frame out the doors, she left it to others to nail the plants to the frame that was supported by a criss-cross of two by fours and then hang the doors. Latches went on the very next thing and she saw too that with a nifty hand drill and then a few twists of a screw driver. They made the six doors just as the sun was going down which was a good thing since Kavala was exhausted.

"Hatot, the roof looks well laid. Thank you for your help. I think one more day will be all we need to set the fence of this corral and have the bloodbane mares all secure and away from the other herd horses until we can judge their personalities." Kavala said with a hint of exhaustion in her voice. There was still the nightly feedings to attend too and then she'd have to make food for the group, but that'd be something she could deal with when they got back into Sanctuary proper.

With that, she turned to Vahn. "I'm going to leave it up to you, Vahn, to pace out what you think its a good amount of space for this corral and six somewhat violent mares and mark in the ground the spacing of the fence posts while the rest of us clean up. Our planks are ten feet long so each post needs to be just shy of ten feet apart. We'll use as many as we have and if we need more we'll order them so don't be afraid to make it as big as you see fit, not as big as the material pile we have left is." She added, giving him some room to make decisions on what would be his mares anyhow.

"While he's doing that, lets clean up folks and call it a night so we can get chores done then make ourselves something to eat. We can meet back in the morning and set the fence. I'd say we'd be done by midday or less if everyone helps digging post holes." Kavala said, preplanning how much help they'd need.