[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/146572ed-ee3b-477b-a1cb-fbd6adb87448.png[/img] [b][color=96512B][h3]Gerrik Far-Teacher[/h3] Level 6 Hain Hero 17 Khookies[/color][/b][/center] In Fibeslay, Gerrik taught those hain which would listen what he could. Bread making and leather working caught considerable attention. Gerrik taught them new uses for the many herbs and plants they harvested, from the collective wisdom of dozens of other villages, while also taking note of any uses that he did not know. Gerrik made note of the fishing practices of the people of Fibeslay, of their nets and traps. Gerrik even took the time to learn to paint, and used those skills and his memory to reproduce detailed images of important plants, for it was much easier to show someone a picture of a plant than try to describe it with words alone. Within the expanded territory of Fibeslay was Hillisle. [url=http://i.imgur.com/zzUfybk.png]Hillisle sat on a coastal island[/url], a short boat ride from Fibeslay. In times past, when the Chippers were considered the enemies of Fibeslay and the neighbouring villages of Longgrass and Birbeye, Hillisle was a refuge for the Chippers. Until the Fiberslayers invaded. To this day Hillisle was under the dominion of Fibeslay. Gerrik had not known of those events until he heard about it from some of the older residents. But hearing of these events made him melancholic. He could perceive the evidence of the battle buried under the ground. To the Chippers, this invasion must have been like the Horde of Chaos sweeping through innocent villages and razing them. Gerrik could only speculate on what may have happened if he had been around, and think deeply on what was necessary to prevent such a thing from happening again. But aside from the dark memories, one feature in Hillisle drew Gerrik's attention. A hill overlooking the sea had been cleared of foliage, as though something was to be built there, but little sign of construction was present. He inquired with some of the locals, who said the chief was wanting to build big something there. So Gerrik headed back to Fibeslay to talk to the village chief himself. It was quite easy for Gerrik to receive an audience with Bard Fiberslayer. In fact, the chief had been anxious to meet Gerrik as soon as he had arrived in Fibeslay. "Gerrik Far-Teacher! I have heard incredible tales about you. Come in, come in," greeted the chief. "Thank you, chief Fiberslayer," Gerrik replied, entering the chieftain's house. The chief gestured for Gerrik to take a seat on a mat, and he did the same across from Gerrik. In reach were wooden cups filled with some fermented beverage and two bowls of bony fish soup. The chief said, "It is an honour for the chief of the Chippers to visit my lands. I have seen with my own eyes the improvements your knowledge has made to this village in such a short space of time." Gerrik bowed his beak slightly. "It is merely what I do. It is an honour to help a village as grand as Fibeslay." There was silence for a moment, and Gerrik could perceive subtle signs of unease in Bard's body language. "There is something troubling you." "Well..." the chief began nervously, "Fibeslay has a history with Chippers, back in my predecessor's time, and-" "I harbour no ill feelings about this village's past, if that is your concern," Gerrik interrupted. "This village is hardly the place it was thirty years ago, and you're quite a different man to the last chief." The chief's jaw and elbows relaxed in relief. "That is good to hear. The Chippers are the best source of new knowledge and skills that I know. I had feared that the actions of my predecessor had all but frightened them all away, for we rarely get visits." "That is still somewhat the case, I have observed," Gerrik replied, "but I am harder to scare off than most. And I can see when there is nothing to fear." Gerrik took a small sip from his cup before setting it aside in favour of the soup. The chief drank a mouthful of his drink before also picking up his soup. Gerrik then spoke again. "I noticed something over on Hillisle." The chief finished chewing on some fish bones before saying, "What did you notice?" "There is a space you have reserved and cleared so you can build something, although nothing has been built yet. What are you planning on making?" Gerrik asked. The chief set his soup down. "It's going to be a lighthouse, a sort of beacon on a tall tower overlooking the sea. Travellers will see it and know a village is here." Gerrik stopped and thought for a few moments. "Interesting. And how did you come up with that idea?" "Actually, to tell you the truth, it wasn't my idea," Bard Fiberslayer replied. "A group of travellers bearing a message from the Eventide Star suggested it." "That group wouldn't happen to have consisted of the human huntress Susa, a lizard person, a really tall person, and some Mutilator-kin being?" Gerrik inquired. The chief's eyes widened and his beak tilted towards Gerrik. "Yes, that is them exactly. How-" "I met them on the way here. They even recommended that I visit this village," Gerrik said gleefully. "And now I see what they have been trying to establish." There was a pause, before Gerrik continued. "So why is the lighthouse not being built?" "It is a difficult task. We have never built anything of the sort before, and the labour required to construct it would be immense," Bard answered. Gerrik flicked up a palm. "You're in luck, then. I happen to have experience in building big things. You have heard of the village I helped defend from the hordes, have you not?" "Yes, but-" "In under thirty days we had built sturdy walls about the whole village. It is a small extension to help you build this lighthouse." "Now, Gerrik, you don't have to do this," the chief protested. "I'm sure you are a busy hain. I would hate to steal your time away from you." "Nonsense," Gerrik retorted. "Anyone can learn and teach, but it takes someone special to coordinate a project like this. It is my god-given duty to fulfil such projects. If you will accept my help, we can begin planning immediately." Bard Fiberslayer thought for a moment, then extended out his hand. "Alright, Gerrik Far-Teacher. I accept your aid to build the lighthouse." Gerrik shook the extended hand. "Excellent. I look forwards to building it." [center]~~~[/center] It began with designs and plans. Using the same medium in which Bard painted scenes of Fibeslay's heritage, Gerrik painted detailed designs for the lighthouse, down to each part which was necessary. Each log, brick, nail, stone and rope was accounted for. These designs were duplicated, and segments of the designs extracted so that they could be passed on to those who would create the individual parts. Without any looming threat to force the work to go faster, the pace of construction would be slow, with a small number of craftshain allocated to fashioning the pieces, and larger groups of labourers occasionally being volunteered for a day's work to fulfil the larger tasks. But Gerrik was unconcerned, for he had time. The first step was to fell a few trees. Gerrik personally selected trees which had straight trunks and were made of sufficiently strong wood. For ease of transportation, Gerrik found trees as close to the site on Hillisle as possible. Once the trees were felled, they were stripped of branches, cut down to the necessary size, then carried using ropes and many strong hain to the site of the lighthouse. These logs, of which there were five, would form the pillars which would hold up the beacon. These logs were tall, strong and sturdy, but the challenge was getting them upright. As labourers dug the holes in which the logs would be placed, Gerrik thought over this problem, using sticks and string to help him model it in small scale. He realised that if one log could be placed upright, then the others could be pulled up using ropes over the top of the first. But the toughest log would be the first, as there was no other point nearby which was higher than the log, and this problem baffled him for a while. Eventually, though, he devised a solution, and put it into action. A wedge-like box was constructed, about as tall as a hain. This box was strongly reinforced with thick wood, for it would take a lot of the weight of the log. One end of the log was guided into the pit made for it, with a trench added to put it at an angle and guide it in. Around the other end was tied several thick ropes, all longer than the log. As three hain held each rope stead, the wedge was force in underneath the log, and more hain with a couple of long wooden poles, with the ends carved to match the log's curvature, helped push the log up. These hain all pushed and pulled, as directed by the keen eyes and authoritative shouts of Gerrik, until after much strain and careful balancing the log was finally upright, and fell a metre further into its pit, securing it in place. The other logs were somewhat easier to set into place, for the prior logs could be used as a pulley to lift the logs from above, rather than push from below. After putting these logs in place, labourers filled in the holes with dirt, to keep the pillars steady. Gerrik then checked up on the progress of the other components in the village. The ladder, with which hain could ascend to the top of the lighthouse, had been finished a while ago, as it had been needed to get to the top of the standing logs. Of more interest to Gerrik was the wooden platform which would sit atop those logs. Gerrik's plans were very specific, and he wanted to be sure that no shortcuts were being taken. The platform needed to be sturdy, but it was also being constructed in parts, so it could be more easily lifted to the top of the lighthouse and assembled there. Progress was going well, so he moved on. The final component was the fire pit which would hold the beacon. Wood was obvious an inappropriate material for this, so Gerrik had chosen clay. The clay was being dried into bricks, and these bricks would lay a foundation for the fire pit and also be used to build a roof over the fire pit to protect it from rain. After the base of the fire pit was laid, a continuous layer of wet clay would be pasted over the top, and when that dried it would form a sealed layer, which could allow the fire pit to contain oil. It would be a while before all the bricks were ready, though, for they had to dry. When the parts of the wooden platform was ready, Gerrik had them taken over to Hillisle. As the parts were being carried over to the lighthouse, Gerrik spotted a particular hain circling the lighthouse and admiring the building. "Hello Shammik," Gerrik greeted, "It's impressive, is it not?" Shammik was taken by surprise at Gerrik's arrival, baring his palms to Gerrik. Quickly, though, Shammik regained his composure and tried to act calm. There was silence for a moment, until Shammik reluctantly answered, "I suppose it is." "This is one reason I seek out and spread knowledge. It is so grand ideas like this one can be brought into reality by the hands of craftshain like us," Gerrik said. "Shall you stay and help us build?" Shammik's beak flicked to the left then right. "Actually, I have other things that need doing." Gerrik could tell Shammik was trying to avoid him, so he did not press the matter further. "Fair enough." He then turned to the labourers who had just arrived with the rest of the platform. "Now, first we will want to get these border pieces up to the top," he instructed. And construction continued. [hider=Summary] Gerrik Far-Teacher does his standard teaching thing in Fibeslay. While doing so, he initiates the practice of making accurate illustrations of plants to make communicating the functions of various herbs easier (-2 Khookies). Gerrik visits Hillisle, which was the site of an invasion and massacre of Chippers a generation ago, and the territory is still owned by Fibeslay. This makes him sad. (The map linked in this section was made by Double Capybara) Gerrik notices a construction site, and goes to talk to the chief of Fibeslay, Bard Fiberslayer, about it. It is the site for the lighthouse commissioned by the First Parade. Gerrik offers his services to help design and build it. Gerrik draws up detailed designs for the lighthouse and distributes them amongst elected craftshain (-2 Khookies to invent technical drawings). A labour force is assembled to help build the lighthouse, with new techniques developed by Gerrik to erect the tall supporting pillars (-2 Khookies). Bricks are being dried for the fire pit. There is a brief encounter with Shammik, who is spotted admiring the lighthouse's construction. He avoids working with Gerrik on it. The lighthouse is currently partially complete. Khookie Summary Gerrik Far-Teacher Start: 17 Khookies Spent: 6 Khookies (for botanical drawings, technical drawings, and construction techniques) Earned: 8 Khookies (11000+ characters) End: 19 Khookies [/hider]