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Demesne 475 - Frowny Face, Smiley Face
🕑 Added 2025-03-19 16:00:22 +0000 UTCShana stood on the roof of the Coldhold’s cabin as the boat sailed—was it sailing when they didn’t have sails?—downriver towards the approaching dome of River’s Fork Demesne. The wind made her hat flap and try to fly off her head, the ties pulling tight under her chin as her hair as she stared ahead, trying to prepare herself for the encounters she was soon to have. She wasn’t unaware of her appearance. Even among those in River’s Fork, it had taken her some time to earn their respect, something she would no doubt need to repeat with these new arrivals.
Her hands and feet were starting to ache just thinking of it.
In addition to that, there were other things she’d need to look into. After speaking with Wizard Taeclas and considering how many harvests they had accelerated, she intended to see whether they could start clearing different fields for growing crops, so they could let the fields rest and recover, or at least grow something else. Wizard Taeclas had said something about how growing beans was good for the soil, or at least put back things that growing other crops took away. The same probably held true for the fruit trees that were part of the dome and in their orchards, which unfortunately couldn’t be transferred to different soil, so that would probably need a different solution…
It took her a moment to realize what she was seeing, and Shana straightened slightly. There were people moving about under the dome in the middle of the demesne, and even a casual glance made it obvious there were more than the seventy people that resided in River’s Fork. People were talking, children were running around and climbing some of the dome’s trees, children were being yelled at for climbing the dome’s trees, children were running away to delay the inevitable, there were people along the river looking at how big the seels in the river were and no doubt comparing them to the ones in Lomabuyar demesne, and some people were carrying baskets and collecting fruits from the orchard.
Shana frowned at that last. The surviving fruit trees that they were cultivating could just barely provide for both Lorian and River’s Fork Demesne with a little surplus left over for foodstores. If the new settlers just started taking them, it would throw off their rationing and affect their winter stores.
It always came down to food, didn’t it? Lord Rian had reported that the settlers had brought along a lot of winter provisions, so why did they need to take fruit?
She did not have the authority to give orders to Lord Rian. The Great Binder had made that clear. While she as a Dungeon Binder would be treated with respect—because to do otherwise would devalue Binder Lolilyuri’s own title of Dungeon Binder—it was a respect with little power: she outranked Rian, but couldn’t order him to do anything.
In practice, this… was not so. While she couldn’t give Lord Rian orders, he always listened attentively to anything she said, and as long as the Great Binder had given no orders to the contrary he was more than willing to… do her a favor, as he put it. So did most everyone else in the demesne. After all, it would be disrespectful to not do Shana the favor of performing any small, reasonable requests she might have, would it not?
So when she said, “Lord Rian?” and he replied, “Just Rian is fine…Yes?” and she said, “Could you perhaps inquire as to who it is collecting those fruits and whether their doing so will have any effect on our foodstores?”, it was with the understanding that she wasn’t making him do anything, but rather asking if he would be so kind as to do her a small favor.
There was a pause as Lord Rian climbed a few rungs up the ladder to the upper deck so he could see the fruit trees. “I’m pretty sure I told Yllian not to let them do that… no, wait, that’s Lidzuga there. I think they’re just collecting today’s fruits? But yeah, I don’t recognize most of those with him… Well, if the new people are getting anything, I’ll tell Yllian it’s coming out of the demesne’s share.” He sighed. “So much work to do… I’d thank you for bringing it to my attention, but I probably wouldn’t be very sincere. Sorry, I know you’re only trying to help.”
Shana frowned, trying her best to look as displeased as the Great Binder would be. Were her eyes narrowed enough? She was certainly very displeased. Even if this was simply an isolated incident, or just the new arrivals providing assistance, it endangered the food supply of those she was responsible for, and she would not allow that to continue.
For the first time, Shana finally understood some of Binder Lolilyuri’s more callous comments, such as her recent one about running and leaving people to die. The new arrivals might contain people she knew, but until she knew who they were… until they became part of River’s Fork Demesne… they could starve as long as the people she was responsible for didn’t.
She knew it was a selfish thought, one that… that wouldn’t have been encouraged in a child. Had Yoshka said something of the sort, as a responsible older cousin she would have tried to teach her that it was wrong to do so. But… this was clearly the direction of many of the Great Binder’s flows of thought. Except she wasn’t selfish for herself… well, not just for herself. She was selfish on behalf of the whole demesne, and was so all the time. It was just another mark of how much less of a Dungeon Binder Shana was compared to her.
Although…
“Lord Rian…” she said as they began to approach the dock. They had long since drawn attention, with many of the new arrivals point at the Coldhold in either disbelief or astonishment. “Why are there so many of the new arrivals here? I thought they hadn’t yet officially agreed to settle in the demesne.”
“Officially, no. Unofficially… well, I don’t know about you, but I remember how relieved we all felt when we finally decided to finally stop and get started on making our demesne.”
Shana nodded in agreement. She could well understand the sentiment. Even she had needed to walk much of the distance between where they were dropped off by the ship that brought them here and River’s Fork’s final location. Learning they no longer needed to walk day in and day out had been cause for great happiness among everyone.
“Trust me when I say that even if there wasn’t already a demesne here for people to settle in, if someone ordered them to pack up and move to another location, the absolute best result would be that person getting thrown into the river by an angry mob,” Rian continued. “Because all the options after that involve… something more violent. Most people probably intend to live here now that they’ve arrived, so now they’re… well, they’re visiting the new neighborhood they’re going to be living in and seeing how much work they’ll need to do to make it livable. All the empty houses we’re not using for something are probably in horrible shape, so most likely people are all rushing to try and get one that’s nice, and the rest are probably picking out a nice spot for their house instead.” He shook his head, a condescending smile on his face. “As if Lori is going to give them that much choice regarding their living arrangements.”
Shana nodded. Yes, the Great Binder wasn’t going to let people just build whatever they wanted. It would be planned, it would be leveled, it would be squared, it would be built as a small part of a larger construction… people would be lucky if they got to choose which identical box of a house each family got to live in. “I see. I shall do what I can to properly set their expectations. What are your intentions once we disembark, Lord Rian?”
“… I’d tell you to just call me Rian, but we’ll probably need to be formal in front of Yhal to show we do in fact have discipline and structure,” he said for some reason. “Come on, let’s find Yllian to see about the fruit situation, and then… well, we civies have to make it clear who’s in charge of the demesne.”
“Yes. We must assert the fact that this is Binder Lolilyuri’s demesne.”
“… close enough,” Rian said for some reason.
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As Lord Rian went to find Lord Yllian and then arrange a meeting with retired Captain Yhallisu, Shana led Karina to her office so that they could drop off their packs. Consisting of a large, single-room structure that had been tamed from a once-living living tree reshaped with Deadspeaking, it was one of the original homes built the year before when they had first arrived and founded the demesne. It had been possible at the time because there had been a large number of large trees on the land where they had raised the dome, but now… well, all of those had been utilized.
Her office contained her desk—a repurposed table—as well as some chairs for herself and any she was immediately speaking to, a bench for people waiting to speak to her, three chests for storage, a high shelf that had originally come with the house, a much newer low shelf that she could actually reach that had been installed when she had taken semi-permanent residence in the house, and a small fireplace that was lined with clay and sand to keep it from setting the whole house on fire.
As Lord Rian had sent word to Yllian the day before, her office had been cleared of any effects he might have been keeping there, although some paperwork—some of which was now made of actual paper, although there were still bone tablets with notes written in wood char on them—remained on the desk. She would need to look it over later, but if it was something urgent, Yllian would inform Lord Rian of it.
She and Karina had just finished stowing their packs into one of the chest when the door opened of her office opened, and a woman stepped in looking around with the curious, vague impression of someone not sure where they were. She had the sort of lean muscles that many militiawomen possessed, making her former line of work clear, but her movements had a grace and smoothness to it that anyone who’d spent time with a Mentalist could recognize on sight. Her dark blue, almost purple eyes, framed by hair that most would call ‘coppery’ but was more accurately a dark orange, glanced curiously at the desk before she caught side of Shana and Karina. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize anyone lived in this house.”
“This is my office,” Shana said, moving behind her desk and seating herself on it. Fortunately, Yllian had been thoughtful enough to put her cushioned box onto the chair already, allowing her to sit at the table at a dignified height. Lacing her fingers together, she set her hands on the table, sitting up straight to add just that little bit of height. “How may I assist you, Wizard…?”
It had been some time since someone had looked upon Shana with a gaze that said they didn’t take her seriously, and someone was doing so now as the woman looked amused—likely at how ‘cute’ Shana was being—and doing a poor job of stifling the expression. “Ah, my apologies.” She raised her hands to chest level, her palms pressing against each other as she gave a small bow, confirming that she was, in fact, a Mentalist. “I am Nansi Hightown, and I beg your pardon for this rude intrusion into your… office?”
“You are pardoned, Wizard Nansi.” Only nobles were referred to by their second name, if they had one. “As to your implied query, this is River’s Fork’s primary administration office. It’s written outside on the door. I will be working here for the next week.”
Wizard Nansi blinked and glanced at the still-open door, where the word ‘office’ would have been clearly carved, if a little off-center, onto the door. “Oh! I’m sorry for missing that. I was hoping to find a house the no one had claimed yet, and… well, I should have realized this was in too good repair to be empty.”
She… missed it? She was a Mentalist, she never forgot anything she saw! How could she…?-!
Shana left that flow of thought. “Understandable,” she said. She was aware that Karina had moved to stand behind her and to one side. “However, it is unlikely that anyone would be allowed to simply choose where they wish to live. The Great Binder has set a precedent when it comes to prioritizing housing, or so I understand. Families with many children and infants will be housed first, as they would be in most need of shelter. The rest will be placed in communal housing to get them out of tents, and only then will the construction of new family housing be authorized. And the construction of new housing will not occur until we have managed to expand the dragon shelter to be able to accommodate the new arrivals.”
Wizard Nansi blinked at her. Shana kept her face smooth and impassive, controlling her expression to look as serious as possible, and willing her desk to lend her as much dignity as it was able. “Oh… I see.” She clearly didn’t. “You said you worked here… I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”
“I’m Karina!” Karina said cheerfully from off to Shana’s side. “Nice to meet you, Wiz Nansi!”
“Nice to meet you, Karina,” Wizard Nansi repleid with a smile. “Um, why are you carrying a spear?”
“It’s not a spear, it’s my seeling rod.”
“Karina will be catching seels in the river later to add to our food stores,” Shana said. “As we are, there is still not much margin for safety in our winter stores, so every bit of meat helps. Thankfully, since the new settlers brought their own provisions, we do not need to alter our rationing to accommodate feeding them, or else we would be at quarter rations. As for myself, I am Dungeon Binder Shanalorre.”
Wizard Nansi blinked, staring at her for a moment, the woman’s eyes flicking towards her hair. While hair color wasn’t an absolutely reliable means of identifying family—not-an-officer Erzebed took after her father Rolah in having dark pink hair, without any of the silvery paleness of her mother Mirralca, her aunt Milcarra, or even her sister Jerrisa—it was sufficient in most cases when one knew the people involved, and Shana’s hair was something she shared with her cousins and her uncle. “Oh…”
“Will that be all, Wizard Nansi?” Shana said, doing her best to sound like Binder Lolilyuri when she had other things to do. “I have many matters to see to in preparing my demesne for new residents.”
A Mentalist stared for a moment more. Shana merely continued to meet her gaze impassively. Finally, Wizard Nansi said, “Do you know where I could buy some fruit? The ones you have here are delicious, but someone said we weren’t allowed to just pluck them from the trees.”
“Unfortunately, fruit is not for sale,” Shana said. “All fruit produced into the demesne goes into the winter stores. As I have already previously said, we lack a sufficient margin for safety. The fruits you were gifted on your arrival was the entire demesne’s fruit allotment for their next four meals. They were only able to start eating fruit again this morning at breakfast.”
“…oh.”
Shana nodded. “It was very informative to speak with you, Wizard Nansi, but I must really get back to work. Please do not let me detain you further.”
Wizard Nansi stared at her a little longer, and only moved when Shana waved at the door, which was still slightly ajar. Fortunately, no bugs entered during the interval. The woman left, frowning as she continued to glance at Shana over her shoulder.
“See you later!” Karina called happily as she waved at the departing woman, prompting Wizard Nansi to wave back until the door shut behind her. “She seemed nice.”
Shana nodded in acknowledgement, but didn’t reply until her awareness of the demesne’s life through her core informed Shana that the wizard was some distance away, out of earshot. “She did not knock,” she pointed out.
“Oh, yes… well, she still seemed nice. You were great, Shana!” her friend exclaimed. “That was very Wiz Lori!”
Shana tried to straighten at the complement, and found she did not have any straight left. “Really?” she said instead.
“Uh huh! Well, you didn’t frown like her, you don’t really have the same kind of frowny face. But you definitely sounded like her, with the big words and everything!”
Shana touched her face self-consciously. Perhaps she should frown more? Would that give her a face more appropriate to her role?
Her friend seemed to notice, patting her on the shoulder with the hand not holding the seeling rod. “Don’t worry, you have a more smiley kind of face anyway.”
She kept her shoulders from slumping at the words. Karina meant well, after all, but if Shana couldn’t look as serious and dignified as Binder Lolilyuri, how would she be able to make these new people take her seriously?
Shana carefully got off her cushioned box. “We should go as well, Karina. There’s work to do.”
“And food to get for everyone!”
She allowed herself a smile at her friend’s enthusiasm. “And food to get everyone.”
They needed to increase their margin of safety, after all.
Comments
SCM2814
Unfortunately, Shana and especially Lori are NOT in the mindset to see that as help, or think it has efficacy, or are willing to believe anyone who claims it does. Someone making them sit down and talk about all their WEAKNESSES? Yeah, definitely part of tryin to kill them, not even a cool story bro, this is just pathetic. Besides, they have work to do. And even then, Shana's position is that she thinks she's weak because she's insufficiently Lori-like. So, clearly, the solution to her problems is to be MORE Lori-like... Role models. They'll fuck you up.
Eli Loeb
I love Shana but she hurts my heart I hope one of the Mentalists (possibly good with PTSD) can help her.
Nnelg
If the boat's travelling without sail power, it's either drifting, rowing, motoring, etc. Possibly cruising as well, if it's travelling at a consistent speed chosen for efficiency and/or comfort.
