Sascha might have taken a while on his own, but with a crew of willing hands to help, he managed to get the first arch completed, and after that the next two went much faster. The individual pieces of wood came together well, fitting firmly and being hammered diligently into place. Once they were complete a short, slightly pudgy older man came over, humming cheerfully as he set his hands against the major joints of each arch in turn. The wood shifted, binding together even more strongly around the nails as he transmuted the joints to a stronger, denser type.
Amalia ‘s acrobatics earned an audience, the flashy moves of the leaping leopard catching the crew by surprise, but as she leaped up the scaffolding and from there to a still-stolid stretch of roof many of those below stopped what they were doing to watch her and break into applause and cheers of appreciation for her display. Her sawing doesn’t have the best angle and is a little jagged, but the same could be said for Jigano’s work. The bard took his raven form once more, hauling a saw up by brute force gripped in his talons, though he grunted and struggled to make it at the end. It didn’t help that Rory had taken his shirt off down below, thoroughly distracting the white-haired man as he had watched his lover working with appreciative eyes before Andira had cuffed him back to focusing on his own tasks. His own work with the saw was subsequently barely up to the task as he continued to steal glances down to the man working on the ground below, but luckily it was just barely good enough.
With the help of the crew,
Melita and
Rory were able to get the arches up to the top of the scaffolding and seated in the bases made for them amidst the new stone wall. As they steadied them, holding them as near to flush with the newly-smoothed ends of the old, broken beams a regal looking older woman, slender as a reed and with grey hair piled in a stately coil around her brow was raised on the platform that had been used to drill the pulley anchors before. Placing her hands on the new joint of first one, then the second, then the third arch as the platform was carefully shifted by means of ropes, she transmuted the old wood and the new to a single, seamless whole as the sun touched the horizon.
As everyone gathered at the base of the wall to admire their work, Jigano stepped forward once more, a tired but broad smile on his face as he looked around at everyone congratulating each other and wiping sweat from their brows.
”Thank you, to all of you,” he said, bowing deeply to the friends and neighbors who had all pitched in.
”I never dreamed that we could put the wall up so quickly, but thanks to the talents of us all – Abandoned, Attuned, Accepted, Ascended – each offering their strengths, we have done something today that the Loreseekers will be writing down in the history books. Only one task remains for tomorrow: putting the roof into place to cover the last hole. I know many of you are busy, but I ask a few more hours of your time tomorrow to see the job finished. Will you help, one last time?”
A few had to shake their heads regretfully, having given all the time they had to spare from their own lives and tasks, but there were enough that nodded that the bard relaxed, bowing his head again in profound gratitude.
The day dawned clear and hot again, the scaffolding inside the Atheneum providing a switchback path up to the top of the wall and the roof beyond. Wood and shingles had already been lifted up by the few Ascended, who had graciously worked through the night and begun to lay planking before the sun rose, and Jigano was helping to direct the flow of traffic as more people came to take a load up and begin hammering more boards into place.
”Pick your preference,” he called to his friends cheerfully as they showed up for the final push.
”Either help lay and hammer in the planking to support the roof, or follow behind the plankers and secure the roofing tiles to keep the building dry. We’ll be done by lunch, at this rate!”
Last round! Choose a job and let’s get this roof patched to keep out the rain!
No posting order!
