Lancescour 3: Olin and Avuz Find Love

1st of Felsite, 125.

We, the seven musician dwarf settlers of Lancescour, make progress carving out our new home. Our expedition leader Olin Oiledspiraled and my friend Avuz Zinethsword have been spending a lot of time together. We all knew something was happening, but it didn’t seem like they did. But early this month, we saw them kissing while gathering cranberries.

Kib dug and dug night and day, carving out our storage room.

Bomrek checked in on her, “You work so hard; can I get you anything?”

She said, “It’s almost done, but I’m so thirsty.”

He hurried out of the main hall, grabbed a willow bucket from the wagon, filled it with water from the brook, and brought it to her. She was so grateful and he smiled.

“Someday,” she said. “We’ll have some cups to drink our water.”

He agreed. “I hope it’s soon.”

Morul finished the stone floor and walls of our main entrance hallway and depot room. Kib completed carving out the storage room. They look so beautiful now that they are finished. The remaining five of us devoted a little over a week to hauling inside everything from the wagon and the plants we’d gathered.

The dwarves of Lancescour haul supplies into the general storage room.
The dwarves of Lancescour haul supplies into the newly dug general storage room.

Taking a break, I had a drink by the wagon with Zuntir. She grumbled about how she hates drinking without cups. I said it was nice to cut down trees as it made me feel useful, and that hopefully we could use that wood to make cups soon.

She crumpled her pigtail cap in her hands. “It’s awful to think we came all this way with no cups.”

The next day, I overheard Olin talking to Avuz about cutting trees. “It’s such an amazing feeling, when my copper battle axe makes that final cut and the tree falls.”

“That sounds wonderful,” she replied, mimicking an axe swing with a potato plant. “Hopefully we can use all that wood to make some chairs and some workshops.” And then she went into a discussion of the benefits of chairs and cups.

While we hauled stuff, Kib dug stairs down to the lower level and started work on some areas for a small meeting area and work shops. We’re all excited about having a place to make cups and beds soon. While digging, she found more native gold, and also olivine, cassiterite, and kimberlite. This land is rich in its surprises. Kib and Morul met in the storage room to share a lunch of raw rat meat, leaning on their copper picks.

Having completed hauling, Olin, Avuz, and Bomrek went back out to gather plants. Olin and Bomrek examined each other’s harvests and talked about what they were learning about each. By the end of the month, they both opted to become herbalists. “I am, of course, still the expedition leader.” said Olin. “Even if I am an herbalist who loves to cut down trees.”

I’m glad Olin and I love cutting down trees, because we have so much wood for building stuff now. And with Kib cutting out rooms for workshops, hopefully that will happen soon. As much as chairs would be nice and I definitely want some cups. it’s beds I want. I am so sick of sleeping in the grass and rain. It seems we’ve scared off all the dingoes, but I have seen a couple of opossums wandering about.

 - Ilral Amusewires 

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