It had been a few weeks since the rain had passed and the bricks were finally dry. After breakfast Lenris began the next phase of construction on the trade hall. The tree branch responsible for the damage was still laying on the building remains. Three fourths of the bricks in the problematic area were broken or displaced or both, scattered across the ground inside and outside the hall. he decided he would need to remove nearly the whole section of the north wall that was in disrepair. The branch was heavy but with difficulty Lenris managed to lift it up and out of the immediate area. He then brandished his tool for deconstruction, a smallish, sturdy mallet with a flat headed spike on the back side. Using careful, precise blows he proceeded to knock the partially dislodged clay material from the rest of the structure. He used the reverse side of his tool to take care of the left over mortar to make way for the new. A bucket of wet, constructive, grayish and formally prepared sludge-like mortar was then plastered all over to pave the way for the new bricks which were placed in ascending order and set to dry.
After his work was sufficiently smoothed he was done. The roof had a gaping hole but repairing the thatch would be a job for some other person. Lenris examined the job he had done, wasn’t his best but it would definitely last a good long time. The bricks were a slightly off color from the others making the fix extremely apparent. “I wish I was better at this, then I‘d be able to match those colors.” he thought. Lenris had hardly noticed when he missed lunch and the noon bath, now it was almost time for dinner and he was very hungry. He cleaned up his supplies, put the broken bricks in a pile, they could be used in a foundation later, and swept the work area free of small clay pieces. Most of the day was over, the hot sun beating down was starting to end it’s cruelly forceful regime. Lenris was very relived that the irrigation system was finished and his crops were safe from the high temperatures because they were sure to get all the water they needed. On the way back to the center hall to his right was a massive expanse of swamp and to his left was a forest where a couple of trappers were talking and laughing together while checking their snares. Lenris stopped to take a quick dip because of the uncomfortable heat but that was his only stop before arriving at the center hall.
The first thing Lenris did upon entering the center hall was find the elder Ahvimech. Ahvimech was eating at a table with other elders, they were probably discussing their respective responsibilities. The elders each had specific spheres they had authority in like Yulphres who made all judgments about justice and laws. Ahvimech was in charge of keeping things moving forward, the general maintaining of the village’s functions and hitting the quotes. Lenris approached and addressed Ahvimech “elder I’ve finished the trade hall, it’ll be dry by the time the Naukem are here.” A wave of relief seemed to roll over Ahvimech’s face in stages. “Excellent, with this we can begin the real preparations for them.” With a nod Lenris left and wondered to himself if his work would be good enough, maybe he should have experimented with different kinds of clay to get a color that matched better. Why didn’t he do that before? Why didn’t he think of that? “Am I ever going to do things well?” he thought to himself and sighed.
