He nodded deeply to Melita in heartfelt greeting, and made room for Yuna beside him while he showed Maeve the plans.
"Safrin warned of the instability of the ground here," Hadama murmured with a respectful shake of his head at Maeve's suggestion. "And I have asked the engineers. With the sand, it will be safest to dig two wells, straight down--" He shuffled another shell plan on top to show her, "One in the canal, the other beside the fountain, to the sandstone. About five feet down from the bottom of the canal. Perhaps fifteen from the land level inside the Court." Assuming the canals were already ten feet deep? "Then a rounded tunnel to connect them beneath. Any shallower, and the weight of the building above could collapse the tunnel where it passes underneath." It meant more work, but that was the price of working through sand.
"The mer will begin our well here. The humans will dig the well within the court. Reinforcing the walls so the sand does not slide back in will be the difficult part," he admitted. "On the dryland side, fire magic may fuse the sand to stability while you work." Like the lava tubes of the Fingers. "Or perhaps wooden boards may be used to hold the sand back while you dig." If fire was unavailable; he didn't know the full complement of abilities the human team possessed. "Underwater, we will use the giant clam shells. Assemble them in rings the width of the well and sink them into place as the sand is removed, so it does not slip back." He nodded to Yuna and the other merfolk helpers. ”Please ask if you have any questions.” And there were wiser heads than his among those gathered who could hopefully answer.
”We will meet here again when the wells are finished, before we begin the tunnels.” Which would require a different approach. For now, though, Hadama dove down to the broad circle indicated with stones on the canal’s bottom and, snagging a large curved shell, began to dig the sand away while another mer used a delicate application of water magic to move the sandy water downstream and keep the working area clear.
Round 1: All’s Well That Ends in a Well!
Human tasks:
1. Digging sand out
2. Stabilizing the walls of the hole (magic, materials, something else creative?)
Mer tasks:
1. Digging sand out
2. Assembling the giant clam shell rings that will become the well’s walls (how you connect the shells is up to you!)
Both PCs can do both tasks or divide them; feel free to use NPCs to assist or fill in as needed!
"Safrin warned of the instability of the ground here," Hadama murmured with a respectful shake of his head at Maeve's suggestion. "And I have asked the engineers. With the sand, it will be safest to dig two wells, straight down--" He shuffled another shell plan on top to show her, "One in the canal, the other beside the fountain, to the sandstone. About five feet down from the bottom of the canal. Perhaps fifteen from the land level inside the Court." Assuming the canals were already ten feet deep? "Then a rounded tunnel to connect them beneath. Any shallower, and the weight of the building above could collapse the tunnel where it passes underneath." It meant more work, but that was the price of working through sand.
"The mer will begin our well here. The humans will dig the well within the court. Reinforcing the walls so the sand does not slide back in will be the difficult part," he admitted. "On the dryland side, fire magic may fuse the sand to stability while you work." Like the lava tubes of the Fingers. "Or perhaps wooden boards may be used to hold the sand back while you dig." If fire was unavailable; he didn't know the full complement of abilities the human team possessed. "Underwater, we will use the giant clam shells. Assemble them in rings the width of the well and sink them into place as the sand is removed, so it does not slip back." He nodded to Yuna and the other merfolk helpers. ”Please ask if you have any questions.” And there were wiser heads than his among those gathered who could hopefully answer.
”We will meet here again when the wells are finished, before we begin the tunnels.” Which would require a different approach. For now, though, Hadama dove down to the broad circle indicated with stones on the canal’s bottom and, snagging a large curved shell, began to dig the sand away while another mer used a delicate application of water magic to move the sandy water downstream and keep the working area clear.
Round 1: All’s Well That Ends in a Well!
Human tasks:
1. Digging sand out
2. Stabilizing the walls of the hole (magic, materials, something else creative?)
Mer tasks:
1. Digging sand out
2. Assembling the giant clam shell rings that will become the well’s walls (how you connect the shells is up to you!)
Both PCs can do both tasks or divide them; feel free to use NPCs to assist or fill in as needed!
