116
Read to everyone:
The pre-dawn light is pink and orange in the east as you step out of the lodge. Grethe stands at the top of the hill, just to the side of a post-mounted torch. She beckons you over without calling to you, keeping her voice low when she speaks.
“I like you already, newcomers — up early and ready to work.” She hands out bundles of twine-wrapped leather from a pile next to her, each of which is slightly warm to the touch. “Breakfast and lunch,” she explains, “you’re going to need it.”
Looking around, she gets a conspiratorial look, lowering her tone even more, though no one else is within earshot.
“I can tell you have more skills than just mallet and saw,” she says, nodding at your weapons. “I’m glad to see it — not all the help we’ve gotten is as ready to defend themselves. You should know that one of the reasons our lumber supplies are falling behind is because of increased machine presence in that area. I would appreciate if you could keep your eyes open as you work — we can’t afford another day lost to skittishness.”
A group of four approach, yawning and half awake. You recognize them as the quartet from the dinner table last night. Grethe hands out more food bundles, nodding in silence as she does.
As you walk down the hill to the main gate, if Haldred or Van are in your party they will hear their names called out. Jineko sits on a log stump at the far side of the forum, next to a pile of machine parts, picking up and inspecting them one at a time. She waves as you pass, wishing you luck for the day, and will call over Haldred and/or Van:
“When you get a break, for lunch or whatever, walk around the area. Trust me. Eyes open. Watch your step.”
She won’t say more than that, though her eyes dart around, examining the others in the square.
Pren, who has by now introduced himself and his workmates if he hadn’t already done so last night, leads you to a pile of tools off to the side of the main gate. He guides you through roping together a pair of lumber carts — each not much more than two wheels and a bed — before piling on and lashing down a number of axes and saws.
Exiting the main gate, you can see a trio heading north in the distance, one of whom might be Uln with his bright blonde hair.
The others wheel the carts along the road to the east as Pren explains the finer points of timber selection. You don’t stay on the path for long, instead hugging the rocky base of the mountain which forms the natural wall of Mother’s Watch. You travel maybe twenty minutes, more from wrangling the cart than from distance. Pren points out a half dozen trees closest to the rocks, which you can see have been marked with little strips of cloth dyed a pinkish red, which you recognize as coming from the tall grass that is ubiquitous in Nora lands.
He spends the next hour going from tree to tree, explaining why each would or would not make for good lumber, or might be better to leave as cover, and so on. Each tree becomes a discussion among the quartet, with maybe one in ten trees getting a pink-red banner, until a short dozen new trees have been marked.
This discussion gives the sun time to rise above the mountains to the east, leading to an explosion of yellows amongst the pinks and oranges of the dawn.