Chapter 14 - Scouting

How will I achieve hygiene? Modern solutions won’t work. There is too much infrastructure and too much technological knowledge needed. But why use a technological solution? There must be magic to achieve the same things.

Dawn spent the next day & night thinking, questioning the nature of cleanliness & what such a rune would be.

[Cleanse] came to her.

The power to remove what I consider unclean. So if I teach them what bacteria are, they can cleanse waste themselves. But…

Dawn tested the spell, finding it an incredibly draining spell.

And there’s something else going on in my head… perhaps spells have a cost other than mana?

----------------------------------------

“So, in nature, there are tiny, currently unseeable organisms. These cause illness. They appear everywhere, especially in human waste. What [cleanse] does is remove these microbes and thus prevent illness. You must understand such things exist to cleanse them.”

The teachers nodded.

“So, prepare an outhouse for people. On occasion, [cleanse] it. Any questions?”

“How often is occasionally?”

“Perhaps once a week? I don’t know. Keep watch for sickness, and if it crops up check if it was caused by the outhouse. Any more questions?”

“None,” Rosalia answered.

----------------------------------------

“So, Samuel. I will be heading out soon to map the area and see what else is nearby. You will be responsible for making sure everyone is fed. Assist the teachers in their projects to a reasonable extent, and I will leave it to your own judgement on other issues. When I return, I do want a report on such issues, though. Any further questions?”

“None, your majesty.”

----------------------------------------

Dawn gathered some clay from the river and fashioned it into a plate. She fired the plate with some wood she gathered from the woods, and some sticks to suspend the clay. With a plate functional, she grabbed leaves to merge into a bag. Before leaving the forest and getting back to the river, she hunted a few animals and tossed them in a second bag. She then plastered the wet clay on top of the fired sheet. She manifested a scalpel and began to carve thin lines upon the surface, representing the river she stood beside. She continued her lines, reaching the end of her sheet for the rivers representation. She carved a small line for her irrigation, lead it out and carved it back into her river. She then carved the farm, before looking around for what else she can draw.

I can see the bridge across the river, the forest, and foxshire from here. I’ll fire this sheet after that and make more.

With her first map fired, Dawn stored it in her bag and plastered her second sheet onto the sheet. She headed further up the river, keeping Foxshire to her right. Passing Foxshire, then the forest, she saw Plerith. She began to carve on this sheet her second map segment.

She captured the continuation of the forest, Plerith, and the turning of the mountains. She recorded how as the mountain range curved upwards, the river remained by it’s side. With her second segment made, she continued on, not firing this sheet. She followed the river as it turned upwards. As the sun began to set, Dawn had finally reached the bend.

I’ll rest here for tonight. I’ll set up a campfire, fire the sheet, and then sleep.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

----------------------------------------

When the sun rose, Dawn checked her bag. The sheet she’d be carving on top of, and her two map segments were fine, but the wet clay had dried over the night. She tossed it back into the river and gather some fresh clay. She continued along the river. As she went further and further, and dawn turned into noon, she decided to call it good going along the river this far. She carved the only things to draw, the mountains, which continued upwards alongside the curve, and the river, which still ran parallel to the mountains.

With this section done, she began to walk back to her camp.

----------------------------------------

The next morning, Dawn headed opposite the way she scouted yesterday, instead walking past plerith. With the new light, Dawn noticed a suspicious shimmering and approached. She eventually arrived, finding a large lake.

She jotted it down, before heading further down to the edge of the woods.

She camped out the night, then continued around the woods, mapping it along the way.

I have 6 map segments now. This should do for now.

----------------------------------------

“Hello again Samuel. Give me the report.”

“Ah, your majesty. Plerith requested to be fully integrated, so we’ve been allowing a few people to join as a test. It’s going well.”

“Anything else?”

“Well, the teachers got an outhouse set up. And they’ve begun some research on ‘cave reinforcement’, they called it.”

“I see.”

----------------------------------------

“So, how has progress been, Rosalia?”

“Ah, Dawn! Well, it’s been… alright. Plerith integrations is going pretty well, but writing is pretty slow. The miners have been doing some research on cave reinforcement, but it’s not going very fast.”

“I see. Advise them to test structures first, using the materials and weights. Then, when doing real testing, call me. I should be able to prevent their deaths during live testing. Show me your progress in writing.”

“Ah, uhm,” Rosalia was startled by the sharp change in topic, “of course. Follow me.” Dawn followed, eventually finding clay tablets, dried only by air, with characters carved all over them.

----------------------------------------

After several hours, Dawn's understanding of the current writing was complete. Dawn went home, slept the night, and visited Plerith in the morning.

She found the town silent, with everyone gathered in an orderly line, kneeling.

Dawn stayed silent and out of the way, watching. Jackson stepped out in front. “Welcome, everyone. Please, open your hearts and offer your beings.”

As Jackson spoke, priest-like assistants walked the rows, handing pieces of meat to everyone.

“First was blood. From the blood rose the first. They watched the sea and saw nothing, nothing besides themself. So they carved the [world], and it was born. With new land, they next carved [life], and life was born. We must thank and respect the first of blood, so they will lend us their power and knowledge. Now, everyone.”

“We offer this life to you!” Everyone chanted in unison before devouring the meat.

Jackson watched as everyone ate, and spoke again when the crowd finished.

“O First of Blood, please accept our offerings.”

The crowd bowed. After a few seconds, Jackson continued, “everyone is now dismissed.” The crowd began to leave in all directions, so Dawn approached Jackson.

“Hello.”

“Ah, your majesty. What can I do for you?”

“I have some questions. First, what was that just now?”

“Our ritual. We offer to the First of Blood some life we take. And, sometimes, we are given knowledge in return.”

“How often do you conduct it? What meat do you use?”

“We conduct it once per 14 days. And we use animal meat.”

“Then, when did you eat humans?”

“That’s a different ritual. This was the Prayer of Thankfulness. We ate people during the Offering for Knowledge.”

“I see. How, in your opinion, has integration been working?”

“Overall, not bad. Some of our more conservative citizens don’t want to join, thinking you’re an affront to the First. The more liberal ones are the ones joining Foxshire.”

“Thank you.”