Create with the heart, build with the mind, and don't hammer your thumb! [Video/Action]

[so_dark_a_road]

[ On the south shore of North Island, Ignis Scientia and Curufin Fëanorion stand in front of a stack of boards. The construction of the North Island pier has commenced. It will be a low, narrow, and simple structure, but solidly built. Shovels, picks, hand-crank drills, and sledgehammers are leaned against the embankment, where it is obvious that some earth-moving is already taking place in order to accommodate the structure as it goes up. The logs that will stand upright to uphold the walkway are already cut and shaped and are ready to be driven into the muck at the bottom of the water. Saws, hammers, pliers, and other tools are stacked neatly in their bins near the lumber, and cans of nails and fasteners. Gleams of sunlight break through the clouds occasionally, although a faint mist lies on the water, and the breeze is slight. It's a great day to work, not too hot and not too cold. ]

Welcome to our humble construction site! We intend to make life easier for anybody who uses a boat. Now you won't have to moor offshore and wade to get to the beach, just tie up at the pier and stroll along the walkway. When we're finished here, we'll move on to the other islands and do the same, so that everybody has a place to dock. We have some highly skilled people lined up to work with us already, but everybody who can dig or wield a hammer is welcome. We'll find you something meaningful to do!

[ They also won't mind if you show up just to cheer them on or serve the food. There are some tables with sandwiches and drinks, but the workers won't object if you bring more. ]

[ OOC: Ignis or Curufin or both will respond, and of course feel free to mingle! ]

[ And the post title is a quote that I mangled, from Criss Jami's Killosophy. ]

Comments

action

[bythewaves]

[ At some point, Maglor will wander over, because He is a stalker two people he likes are here, one of which he's related to.

Also, pier! Place to sit and stare at water! ]

Do you need a hand?

action

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin turns and smiles. The workers have dug out the land foundation for the walkway, and now its time to start laying the structure. ]

Macalaurë! Of course! That would be perfect. You could start by helping me carry that stack of boards over here. [ He points to one of the lumber stacks. The boards are various sizes, but all can be picked up easily and carried under an arm or on top of a shoulder. ]

action;

[claritatis]

[Ignis is poring over a few drawings, taping a pencil back and forth over the paper. Even when he's still, his hands are always fidgeting, and there are a couple of small, unrelated doodles in the corner of a couple of the sketched plans for their current enterprise.

He glances up, meets the elf's gaze with a brief smile, then looks down again.]

I've concerns that we'll not be able to sink the supports as deeply as we need to. [He mutters, frowning at the sketches.] Come here, tell me what you think.

Action | OTA

[knifecollecting]

[It takes Jo some work to get to the North Island, but she manages it and eventually finds the group. She looks ready to work, and she does have a hammer.

First, she's going for the food.]

action

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin waves when he sees Jo approaching. ] Jo Harvelle, you are a welcome sight! Brought your own hammer, too.

Have some coffee and a sandwich! [ He's going to join her for a moment, so he pours them both some coffee. ]

action;

[claritatis]

[Ignis is avoiding the coffee (because it's terrible and he won't subject himself to it) but he is having a quick snack when Jo walks over. Their previous conversations have been brief, and... usually about Kate, but he smiles slightly and nods in greeting as she heads over.]

Good to see you. It seems we're drawing in help from all corners.

[Video]

[yearrounder]

Are the plans working out? I can come out and help if you need it.

[Video]

[so_dark_a_road]

Absolutely! On both. Nice drawings, by the way, in case I haven't said that already!

How about if you come and tack them up on a signboard, so everybody can see what the finished product is going to look like? And then you can help keep us on schedule. If you want to pitch in on the physical labor, you're welcome to, but we definitely need someone to keep track of the materials inventory and share the site manager kinds of duties.

video.

[puzzlingly]

Working hard as ever, Curufin.

「Some things never change, and that's good sometimes too. Atem greets him with a smile.」

video.

[so_dark_a_road]

Atem!

[ It's been at least seven weeks since they've spoken, and that was during the gods' Senses Fail event. Atem had lost an important body part -- namely, his whole body! ]

Yes, I'm working again. And you, my friend, you're looking much better.

[vocarrah]

[Ianchus looks...tired. His eyes are red-rimmed and hard, and his lips, which are usually habitually smiling, have settled in a pout. Still, he's come ready to work, hair tied up out of the way. He's dressed in a tank top and pants that are comfortable enough. When he sees Curufin, he walks over to him, pulling a tight smile. ]

Well! As promised, I've arrived.

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin notices the difference immediately, of course. ]

Thank you for coming! We definitely need your help. But you look a bit under the weather. Are you all right?

Action

[castintofire]

{Another brother comes wandering by at some point. Maedhros inspects the tools and wood for the project and smiles at his little brother.}

First a boat, now this? We are lucky to have you, Curvo. How can I help?

Action

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin grins when he sees Maedhros. ]

I don't know if its really luck to have me around, but we'll let that pass. Thank you for coming! What would you like to do? You have enough craft work to your name, I doubt that hammering a wooden structure together is going to give you much trouble.

Right now we're making a caisson or framework that we can later float out on the surface of the water and then sink so that it gives us a place to stand while we sledgehammer the piles in place. The rest of the pier is going to rest on those piles.

[ He offers a hammer and leads the way to the structure that is being built. There are a few other people working on it, in the interests of speed. ] Can of nails is there. . . [ Indicates a cart with all the hardware and more tools ] Drawing of the structure and detailed list of what goes into it is here. . . [ He indicates a series of architectural drawings made by Annabeth, all tacked up on a makeshift bulletin board. The caisson is included, even though it's not part of the pier itself, but only a temporary aid to the construction of it.]

And I'll be working with you. [ Grin. Isn't this good news? ]

Action

[dreamsallotted]

[Seel, being an ass, was quite tempted to let them have the North island and take the West or the East for himself. But, they had a lot of the tools, so he supposed he could be a team player. It would certainly go quickly and at least most of them seemed like they knew what they were doing. Seel certainly hoped so for their sakes. And his. He was sawing away, working on some boards, measuring and sanding and looking quite content, until he looked up and saw someone doing something he didn't quite like and did his best to keep it to himself.]

Humble construction site. Curufin, I do hope you don't plan on letting just anyone in.

[Seel at least had standards.]

action

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Seel! What would we do without you! XD Curufin looks up from his cement-mixing project. He sees the same thing Seel just saw, and goes to help the person who was making a mistake. The matter is quickly and amicably sorted out, and that person is left more knowledgeable and more confident, as should be the result of a team effort. ]

Actually, I am planning on letting just anyone in. [ Smile. ] If they don't have skills we can use, then they can serve the sandwiches. Or they can stick close to me and learn basic carpentry.

[ Despite the acerbic manner, Curufin's very pleased Seel is here. Seel is an unusal craftsman, swift, accurate, highly skilled and knowledgeable. The finished work seemed to flow from his competent hands, the same way it does from an Elvish master craftsman's. ]

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[so_dark_a_road]

[ In case Ignis needs to discuss anything, Curufin's always available! At the moment, he's drinking a cup of the terrible coffee and wolfing down a sandwich. ]

[claritatis]

Curufin, I hoped I might take a moment of your time.

[Ignis is straight in with the question, not even waiting for Curufin to swallow what he's eating before he speaks. He'll wait for the answer, at least, while he takes up position beside the elf and turns his attention towards the people working around them.]

Maglor tells me that you have ways of ensuring that our foundations sink as deeply as required. I wondered if you could explain that to me.

action + OTA

[abyssalarcana]

[Someone heard there was coffee. Is it real? Caedra has been doing her best to enjoy a package of something or other from the shops that doesn't quite seem like real coffee but is easy enough to reflavor. But she's running low, and watching for a new package hasn't yielded much recently.

Besides, she also wants to check out this pier. Look at all of the hard work people are putting into building it! Wouldn't it just be a shame if it were damaged after its completion. A few weak posts, a few cracked planks, and anything could happen if someone put their full weight on it-

Nah, who is she kidding, it's much more fun to burn the whole thing up in one go. One of these days, perhaps. After they've put all their effort into it.

For now, she's on the lookout for hot drinks, and perhaps to glance around at who might be working on this, so she knows who will be the most upset some day down the road.]

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Let's just say there has been some debate about whether the coffee is real or not. Curufin drinks the stuff, but he inclines towards not.

He turns around and sees Caedra and gives her a bright white smile, one she will perhaps remember from a few other occasions -- including the Ironhold of her dream. ]

Hello, Caedra! Nice you could make it. Would you like a sandwich?

action;

[boats_n_hoes]

[ Floki was such a recluse normally, he would have had no idea this was all going on had Curufin not invited him. Sleeping outdoors or on his handmade boat was where he could normally be found, and even then he had a tendency to drift around now the vessel was fully seaworthy.

As he approached the shore where the construction was going on, Floki raised the horn of a dead crab-monster to his lips ( one he probably sacrificed during the confusion event earlier in the month,) and gave it a loud huff of air! Blowing out a bellowing sound to announce his arrival.

The sail was red, patchy in places but that could be fixed, after all, there was only so much vegetable and fruit peel he could use to dye all of the scraps of fabric he'd scavenged to make a sail of such a size. It fluttered in the wind before Floki started to reel it in, letting the momentum carry him closer to the shore. ]

Curufin! Await me on shore!

[ Yelling at the top of his lungs, making sure he was heard before talking to himself. ]

What a sight! So much timber and so many tools! By the Gods, this is a good day!

[ Making a gesture at his forehead with his finger and thumb as he trailed it down his face. Although Floik was here to work today, he was all dressed up in his very best. Charcoal makeup around his eyes, at the tips of his ears and down the back of his neck and shoulder, like the markings of a serpent. His hair was spiked in places with a homemade gel of sap and oils. This was a good day indeed! Floki could feel it in the waters. ]

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[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin turned when he heard Floki's shout, looked up, and there was a Viking boat with a red sail coming around a little cape in the shoreline! Curufn grinned, dropped his tools, and waved with both arms. He pointed towards the best place to moor, although Floki probably already knew, having spent time exploring the islands and their anchorages. ]

Welcome, Floki! We await you!

[ Floki seemed to have dressed and decorated himself for a celebration, which was fine because it honored the people he had come to work beside. Curufin was feeling jubilant, too. The work was going well, but it would go even better with the Viking shipwright here. ]

video;

[storyseeker]

I wouldn't mind helping out. I've built IKEA furniture—that's close enough, probably.

video

[so_dark_a_road]

Hello, Elena! It takes a skillful hand to cut, shape, and assemble an item of furniture. The pier is not such a different problem, except the scale is larger and the finished product does not have to be varnished! You will be welcome.

What is this IKEA?

[action] 7/6

[onlyanautomaton]

[He must find a way to thank Dr. Alphys for everything she has done for him. To think he once harbored doubt as to whether her competence in handling electric robots could be successfully applied to the effort of repairing a Voralberg automaton...

Though it is indisputable that Dr. Alphys's servicing has corrected some issues, he will continue to take care that he doesn't strain his joints too much while also attending to tasks. Without the availability of replacement parts, this body will never be 'good as new'. It is still quite susceptible to breaking down if he is not careful.

That morning, he is confident that it is prepared again for utilization in tasks consisting of manual labor. He makes his way over to the section of the shoreline that has been earmarked for the construction of the northern island's pier. He surveys what progress has been achieved so far with keen interest, satisfied by the rate of productivity; it has only been two days since the project commenced and there is more than enough evidence that those working on the site have seen to their duties with excellent coordination.]

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin looks up to see Oscar arriving and smiles. The more help, the better! And Oscar is very apt to any task he sets himself to, being highly precise in his thinking and gifted with many skills. ]

Oscar! Thank you for coming!