Basically Quercus is putting the proposal of a 3 stage construction plan fr the large houses to the council:
Large house (1 story). Enough space for a lab so we can start doing stuff. It would be especially intersting if Quercus can teach everybody wizard's communion, for example.
Build a proper 2 story house.
Tear down the first large house and expand it.
Not as efficient as building the large houses straight (the end result will be more expensive overall) but we do not seem to have the proper resources right now for that plan without ringing a MASSIVE "we are magicians" bell. Spreading expenses through time might asllow us to end up with the end result and an usable pair of buildings in the meantime
We're really short on funds, and don't have any immediate sources of income visible on the horizon beyond a trickle from sea trading. That means we have to be careful with how we spend the very little amount of cash we have.
A two-story house is much, much more expensive than a one-story house (more than twice, I would imagine).
It seems ludicrous to plan to tear down one house before we've even started on the third house.
Therefore, he suggests that we build the two smaller houses first - one for the grogs and one for the magi. Then, if we have any money, we should look to the two-story houses.
Speaking of money, although it pains me to say this, we should seriously consider selling some vis. Frankly, right now we need money more than we need vis. We need to get our labs set up and we need to get the start of a library going. We can't do that without money. And the only significant asset we really have right now is a source of vis.
Yes especially since the oak seems to produce Perdo vis which we really don't have any major use of at the moment.
Well Perdo Terram of course, forgot about that. Nevertheless I agree that we need money more than vis at the moment. Perhaps Bertrand can help us sell the vis on his travels?
Have we examined the shore at the bottom of the cliff from where we are building? I don't seem to remember. Japik went there and started examining the sea floor. Is the beach big enough to land our ship or the small boat Pytheas brought?
I still want to find a way to connect us to the sea as you know. If not completely by excavating the rock all the way down then maybe Japik excavates a cave at the bottom and keeps it as his sanctum and laboratory. Then he could learn some flight magic to transport himself up and down.
Quercus agrees that they need a lab and money. He was suggesting a 1 story large house in order to put a lab in it (half of the space dedicated to a lab). We have 2 labs in storage, and getting some active would be great. He agrees that we need money more than vis, but warns that we should be careful in the selling not to overflow the market and raise suspicions. Bernhard can surely help here. The idea of tearing down the house is not immediate; it is just that we need at least one lab ASAP, and the easiest way to get that is with a single story house. Eventually we will need more space, biut for now this is the fast and dirty method to get us going.
For the first project he would like to teach the other magi Wizard's Communion. The tree seemed eager to talk, and it would be a good idea to have a conversation with it, but alas, he alone cannot do that yet given his Arts. It will be also be important if they plan on casting an Aegis in the future.
Since it seems they will need to get accommodation for the grogs in the town down below it might be a good idea to check housing prices there for a house with a barn (for the ship trade). They can use it in the meantime while the obberland houses are being built and place the library there since they do not need an aura to read. Teaching can also be done there easily without major problems. How do you see this?
So for the time being he suggests this:
A) 1 large house and 1 small house constructed in the Obberland. Large house finished by autumn so a lab can be installed there. Might require contracting extra hands.
B) Buy 1 house in the town with a barn for use in ship trade. They need to know prices for several sizes of houses for this
C) Teach WC to the other magi so they can fully investigate the tree (InVI and InHe) and exploit the vis source without damaging it.
As a side note I (as a player) suspect the tree is a Herbam or Creo vis source (or maybe Rego or Vim, but less likely), and the moss is a parasite feeding on it and turning the tree vis into Perdo vis. The eagerness of the tree to talk and the fact that the grass around the tree is superior to that of the rest of the obberland suggest this. I also suspect that the spinning woman has (at least) supernatural abilities if she is not directly a failed apprentice or has other kinds of hermetic experience.
You don't get an answer right away, as Bernhard only comes back a bit over two weeks later. When he does, he says (nervously, of course) that he will only be able to sell one or two pawns before drawing undue attention. Raw vis is almost never sold for mere silver, because of its scarcity. He is not sure how much silver he will be able to get -- the more silver he tries to bargain for, the more conspicuous it will be -- but he thinks that about 20 pounds of silver per pound might be reasonable with a discrete (though somewhat shady) Verditius that he knows. How much silver are you hoping to obtain this way?
The southwestern shore right at the base of the cliff is quite rocky and beaten by waves, so although one can land there if careful, it is not a good place to do so regularly. A better place might be a bit farther north, a little distance from the plateau, where the shores is more sand than rock. It might be concievable to build a second set of stairs, close to the covenant, that would bring you down to the lower inland plateau (of white rock) and then to the a spot close to the shore. There doesn't seem to be anyone living there, so that would give you a private access to the sea. One disadvantage to this plan is that the authorities might see this as an attempt to smuggle stuff in and avoid paying taxes...
After checking around, there are very few unoccupied houses in Meden -- and those that are unoccupied have a good reason to be. Warehouses tend to be rented out (such as the one Bernhard arranged for you), or belong to merchants. There are no "barns" as such, as there are very few large animals on the island. It might be possible to buy a house or two in the poorer section of town. That will take some time (weeks) to inquire about who would be willing to sell, or who an unoccupied house might belong to. There are no such thing as a real estate agent on the island...
You mean 20 pounds of silver per pawn of vis? Then 2 pawns would be 40 pounds of silver which should make it possible to bring in some extra hands and expert craftsmen to maybe get at least one of the large houses up with 2 floors and cellars before winter. Maybe the two smaller 1-storey houses could be done as well which only leaves us with the second large house remaining for later.
Japik would prefer something inconspicuous. Smuggling could be one thing he would support the sailors getting involved in and he is not above using Imaginem magic to cover it. Are there any caves, grottos and such on the sea level along the rocky part of the shore? If so, Japik would examine them to see if they could be developed into something habitable for a dolphin Bjornaer.
Yes, per pawn. Sorry about that. But Bernhard isn't certain of the exact amount he will get for the vis, nor how long it will take to find the right buyer and have him gather the silver. This is a tidy sum, and even magi don't necessarily have that much silver just lying around.
When he explored the shore, he didn't see any significant cave cutting into the rock of the plateau. There is a band of rocks at its base for most of its length. In a few spots, the rock has been eroded some, creating a slight overhang, but these don't seem safe -- lots of cracks and broken rocks. And even those are not very deep, perhaps ten feet at most.
Yes, to the extent that we can find a house for sale down below, even if it's a fixer-upper, I say we go for it (finances permitting). We may need to wait until the money comes in from the vis to do that, however.
Upon hearing of the plans for the buildings, Benarec says he has a question. "If the plan is to put up a lab as soon as possible, why not put one in a small house? Aren't they large enough for that? And since the locals can build those without much help, wouldn't that be less costly and avoid having to tear down one of the large houses to rebuild it as a two-story house?"
(Yes, that is more than a single question. But Benarec is a fisherman, he doesn't do much mathematics. )
I never really understood why we have to build something that we then need to tear down. Let's build what we can and try to get together money and people as quickly as possible.
The proposal was made before we redesigned the covenant to be basically a bunch of huts and spread people across the island. As such, the small houses were being designed to grogs ad would have been in 100% use by the time, so no space for a lab there. However, in the current design of "let's spread to diverse locations (and security be damned)", we do not need large houses at all, in fact, so 90% of our negotiation with the villagers is quite unnecessary complications that antagonized the villagers to us and nothing more.
I'd say that it is more a matter of time before you can centralize most of the covenant's activities on the plateau. You can probably get the two small houses built this summer -- one for living quarters (enough space for a magus and a few grogs) and the other dedicated to a lab. This will also give you a presence on the plateau so that you can supervise the construction of the first larger house, beginning either in the fall or the next spring. How long that will take depends on how much money you can pour into it.
A note about the lab in a small house. If things are designed properly, it will be possible to move the lab to a dedicated room in a large house in a single season. By "designed properly", I mean that shape and layout of the small house will need to be pretty much the same as that of the eventual room in the large house. Ideally, one of the magi should supervise the construction of both -- this would represent a 10-day distraction for the construciton of the small house, and a second 10-day distraction when the large house is constructed. Moving the lab itself will take a full season, but any improvements made to the lab before it is moved will be carried on to the new location.
Dietlinde asks whether the magi want to buy a house outright, or arrange a long-term rent for one. Either is possible, but buying outright will require more money up front, of course. Also, how large a house should she be looking for? How many people are to live there?
To recap the plans as I understand them, along with things that need to be adressed (in red):
Start building one of the small houses right away, to be used to install a lab. Will one of the magi keep an eye on it to facilitate the eventual moving of the lab in a larger house at a later date?
Obtain a house in Meden town. Dietlinde asked whether you wished to purchase or lease such a house and how many people would live there. She basically is trying to determine how large a house that should be and how to approach the current owners.
As soon as the first small house is completed (or almost so), what next? Build the second small house or begin on a larger one? Are the magi hiring outside workers such as stoneworkers?
Sailors (Dutybound to Japik):
Trond, captain of the ship
Mikolaj
Stanislaw
Fearghas
So 12 in all, 16 with the 4 magi. But the sailors should never need to stay on Oberland in my opinion.
I guess when Pytheas retire his grogs will go as well, but then Trogdor's magus and his grogs will take their place.
If we get a house in Meden how many will stay there when the sailors are away or is it just to be used as warehouse?
I think we should try to get a stonemason from mainland Europe as soon as we got the funds. It should be worth it.
House in town: We need to have a place for people to stay in for quite a while still, while the houses are being built, right? So we want a house for about 15 people, dont we?
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