^^ Siren ^^

Repairing my ropes was more difficult that most anything else, to be honest; they were industrial-grade paracord that had been braided to proper width, and as such were rated to hold up to 1200 pounds without any stretching whatsoever. But, if you add a Knot into the mix, things get... very interesting, very fast. So, in the end, I simply set aside the twenty feet of rope that had been around my waist, as I was sure it could be used for something else, and laced a new harness, slowly and carefully.

My fear of heights seemed to make people think that I would be trepidatious about the mountain and hanging in the air 140 feet above solid rock. Hanging from a rope. Alone. And, I mean, they weren't wrong, but so what? Do I just... stay away from heights my whole life? That's stupid. Fear was just an emotion, like all the others, but most of the time it was logical, so you could reasonably be expected to follow it sometimes, but that didn't mean just don't do things that scare you, it means do them safely. So, despite my acrophobia, I simply got back to work, after a day of 'rest'.

I actually managed to finish a rough outline of the entire statue, in about three days more work, and I noticed that the Bottomless Bag did, in fact, have a Bottom, as I could now see the last rocks I put in, and they didn't disappear. "Just in time, I'd say... into the pot you go!" I grinned, and rappelled down, disconnecting myself and heading over to the Silicone Tower.

"How's it going up there, ya fuckin Lunatic?" Rhea laughed at her pun, and then pulled a large tray out, carefully turning the spigot on the tower and filling each of her clay molds.

"Going good, I brought granite stone, if you or anyone else needs it?" I whistled to Johann, who I was sure needed stone for his smithy, and then poured some of stone from the bag out in an open spot of the plateau for anyone who wanted it. "Some will feed the Tower, I believe, so let's see if it can survive on only stone, for now? Set aside all the trash in a compost pit for it, but I'd like to test any changes in the composition of the slime, Okay?"

Rhea shook her head. "Already tried that, actually; needs organic material, or at least Carbon and oxygen, -which organic material is Carbon-Based and oxygen is not difficult to come across,- or the slime stops altogether. But yes, I will feed it the granite, as well..."

"Huh... Alright, good to know." I nodded.

"Also, it seems to separate and purify anything it doesn't need into base components or base compounds, so when we fed it Granite, which is a mixture of Quartz and Feldspar, it kept the Silicon from the Quartz, grew a little, then spat out a variety of crystals and metals; namely: Aluminum, Potassium, Iron, Sodium and Chlorine(salt), Calcium, Cobalt, Barium and Iodine... we need Salt with Iodine, as well as Potassium, Calcium, and Iron in our diets, which will hopefully help keep us a little more healthy, even with a restricted diet like we have for now. The Aluminum and Barium was sent to James for his Thermite Project... but, the Silica actually stuck to the crystal, so I worry about it getting too big for its britches..." she hummed.

"That is worrisome... well have to break off several pieces a day, but honestly that can only help us, considering we need to grow more of it in order to study, and also to power some of our things. Magic Crystals are essentially their Batteries here, so if we can get a reliable source of those, and move away from electricity..." I hummed.

"Why move away from electricity?" She asked, flipping the molds over each other and sliding them into the clay oven she'd had built, powered by induction.

"As a general rule, I don't like to rely on anything that can break, not without several backups." I explained easily.

"You climb mountains with only one rope." She raised both eyebrows at me blandly.

"With handholds, and a belay line, and a back-up line, and an axe to catch myself, and a smaller hatchet, in case the first is too clunky..." I raised an eyebrow back.

"Hmm... Alright, point conceded. Yes, I will have James climb up there and break off a few crystals." She chuckled at my pettiness, and then pulled her molds out of the oven to cool for a moment, turning them over with her bare hands, like a badass, and then sliding it back in.

"I'll handle it for you, don't worry... and after this, one of the golems will handle it when they clean out the tray that catches all the little fragments." I commanded the golem standing by to do just that, and climbed up the ladder to the wrap-around walkway that was at the halfway-point up the tower, only about fifteen feet up. The north hatch opened with the small key Rhea and I both had a copy of, and I looked inside at the Crystal Heart.

It was more jagged, now, different from its relatively smooth appearance the last time I'd seen it, with spikes of silica growing off of it in little horn-like pieces. I reached in with my hatchet, and smashed all of the horns, sending the pieces down into the mesh pan/net that was under the heart and sifting the crystals out of the slime currently dripping off of it. It was designed like a bird's cage, with the tray to catch all the droppings, except the liquid was let through, and the solids were what we were gathering. The liquid slime then turned to mist, rising up to the second half of the tower, where it was collected by the air-tight roof, and dropped down in a liquid format into the spiraling tube that slid around the walls of the tower, eventually depositing it in the massive tank at the bottom half of the tower, a 30,000 gallon fish tank of silicon that was continuously heated to keep it liquid.

I walked around to all four hatches, breaking all of the pieces, and collected a few of the biggest ones, before re-locking all of the hatches and double-checking them. "Alright, you good here? Need anything at all?" I asked, climbing back down.

"No, dear, I'm handled quite well. Sam is watching Nick, and I believe spoiling him with various types of food, so that he develops a 'Refined Palate'. Hmph." She laughed softly at the absurdity of an infant having a Palate at all.

"Well, at least he's well fed and happy." I smiled.

"There is that, yes." She pulled the molds out and sliding them along the counter to the small outdoor freezer she'd built. This was a leftover magnet layer over another layer, which cooled everything inside of it, just like a normal refrigerator... if normal refrigerators were flat anti-griddles that you lowered a steel cover down onto and turned on with an Igor-esque lever. She left it for two minutes, and then lifted it, letting out fog that was cold enough I felt it seep through my winter clothes, easily -80*F.

I stayed and watched for a bit, as she cracked open the molds and began removing the extra creased material with a scalpel, and adding final touches to the seven different models. "I can get you the metal you need for the final molds, if you like?" I offered, seeing her look around.

"No need, already handled!" Helen grinned and set a small sack of metal down next to us. "What are you making first?" She asked, trying to lean over Rhea's shoulder, then realizing she was too short, so she stepped around and inspected the choices.

"Well, a variety, just to test the waters... I've got a few that are more adventurous, but that'll have to wait a bit." She sighed sadly, and I left the two to their conversation with a wave.

Seeing Johann dragging some of the heavier stones, I assisted, and we carried them to his building in record time. "Anything else you need?" I asked, checking before I went off to the village to see if they needed anything. The rest of their clan arrived tomorrow, so anything that needed doing needed to be done now.

"No, I'll have this all carved and ready for an induction-plate before morning! If you could tell Helen and James that I'll need that ready for installation, that's all I could ask." He smiled and started chipping away at the rock with the back spike of his fire-axe, happily working.

"Easily done!" I nodded and jogged back to Helen, letting her know about the Plate Order.

"Hmm? Oh, That was quick! Sure, I'll have it ready, it's no issue, but he'll have to lay the wire himself." Helen explained.

Assured of those three being fine, I headed off for another cluster of people, and into the greenhouse I went. Inside, I found Cassidy, Sam, and Nick, who was in fact being fed some sort of pasta. "Hello lovelies, how's it going? Anything you need?" I asked, smiling at the young toddler, who was reaching for me. "Oh? You want ups? How many ups?" I asked happily, picking him up and setting him on my hip.

"Ups!" He pointed up at my shoulder, pouting.

I hummed at him slowly. "More ups? How much more ups?"

"Ups!!!" He demanded petulantly, pointing seriously.

"Hmmm... I dunno, you gotta ask nicer than that..." I kept a straight face this time, with an internal Fist-pump at resisting the baby pout-face.

He grumbled, and leaned against my hip, refusing to speak again.

"Can I get a Please?" I asked, bouncing him gently in my hand, and rubbing his back.

"Ups..." He muttered, and reached for Cassidy.

She accepted him from me, and then very calmly sat him in his high-chair. "No ups or zoomies unless you are nice."

He pouted at them, and I laughed, giving them both hugs and the baby a kiss on the nose. "I'll maybe be back to take a shift with him tonight, let you take a break if you want, but I've got to go see the village, for now."

"Have Fun, Be Safe." Sam nodded, and Cassidy echoed the sentiment as I walked out, though the baby just pouted at us all.

—

The village was almost entirely complete, by my estimate; the wall was finished, the interior tents were slowly being replaced by buildings, and the exterior where all the smaller huts would be was leveled out and ready.

I approached the open gate, and hummed at the foreman, who was scurrying about and sweeping a wooden platform, to the annoyance of the two guards under him, who were getting hit with the dust and pebbles he swept away through the cracks. "Important guests coming soon, Foreman Geman?" I called up to him.

He perked up, and whirled around. "Lady Theodora! Yes, big news, the Clan has heard of our progress, -now two weeks ahead of schedule, with your help,- and they want to come today, not tomorrow!!!"

"Ah... I'll let Sam and Cassidy know to begin cooking the Welcome Stew... so this stone I brought, should I put it somewhere specific? You'll need it for proper foundations on this wall and those buildings, no?" I held up the bag, and pulled out a big handful of granite.

"Well... we appreciate the offer, but no, we don't use Stone for our fortifications; if we increase our defensive powers excessively beyond a predetermined point, it's considered a Fort, and that could cause problems, you see? Forts are required to house soldiers, and cannot export Goods, which would undermine our entire way of life. So, I appreciate your effort, Lady Theodora, but I must refuse your assistance in that regard." He bowed deeply in apology, sighing.

"Oh... I was unaware, forgive me... what about the golems, do they need to leave? I don't know what counts as Excessive Defensive Power." I hummed, looking up at the plateau.

"I think Golems... count as Guards? I'm not sure... but I don't think it's an issue, no." He shook his head, and dusted some dirt off the shoulder of one of the guards, to which he received an annoyed glare.

"Alright, well, if you need the stone for houses, let me know; I'll be basically hollowing this mountain out soon enough, for the monument I'm building, so there'll be plenty stone around, and it does need to go somewhere." I chuckled.

"You're hollowing a mountain? Why? How?" He asked incredulously.

"Hmm? I'm building a Monument, a Tribute to Yeera and Dream, because they blessed all the members of our Clan, and I appreciate that, and I appreciate them? And I'm just chiseling the stone, it's very simple. Speaking of, I'm wasting daylight!" I grinned and jogged off with a wave over my shoulder at their confused faces.

—

In the end, I dumped the stone outside the northern gate, and directed the golem's to build a 'quarry', walled in by clay, which would probably become some kind of labor-camp later, for bandits, or maybe a work-site for some of the villagers? I'd happily pay some people to break rocks and hammer metal, if James' range-finder finally pings us some Iron and Coal to Mine. (We didn't intend to burn the coal, but rather to turn it into anthracite or graphite crystals and mix it with iron, which would create Steel without Pollution going into the air or water.)

I was hanging upside down from the side of the slope, carving one of the wide, billowing sleeves of the statue when someone cleared their throat above me.

"Yes?" I sighed, and stuffed a rock into the Bottomless Bag. I'd set up a net below the work site already, so I didn't need to be so cautious anymore, but it had become habit by now.

"Can I... speak to you? Or will your ass do all the talking?" A woman spoke, chuckling softly.

"I am quite busy, so if this is about the Welcome Dinner, talk to Sam and Cassidy, they're in charge of that. If this is about Merchant Business, talk to Helen. If this is about the Village or Plateau needing something that isn't on that list, then I can help." I explained, trying not to sound like an automated message. (Press # for more options!)

"This is about your marriage proposal to my sister." She snorted.

I paused, and slowly crawled up to the edge, turning and staring at the woman, who did look quite a lot like Luna, if Luna's hair were wild and unkempt, instead of long and beautiful and meticulously cared for. "My WHAT?!?" I snapped at her.

She raised an eyebrow slowly. "You sent my sister home to her clan with a Wedding Gift of 200 Gold Pieces' worth of Chadian Sprigs. Did you not intend that as a wedding gift?"

"No! It's just a Gift!!! She seemed like she wanted some, so we gave her some, that's all!!! We have enough to share, so we didn't think twice about it! Fucking Christ, should I tell Sam not to use any in the fucking stew, or is that going to turn into a mass Harem for Sam?" I snapped, irritated more than confused now.

She grinned. "Ahh, Good, Good, I was worried you were trying to Buy my sister's affections... and I do caution you against using that spice casually, it's a very high-quality item... I've only eaten it twice, and I'm the Chieftain of the Blue Rock Clan, a prominent Earthenware Business here in the Highlands."

"Hmph... well, I appreciate your concern for your Sister, but tonight will be your third time, I suppose. It's one of our most important Traditions, to spread the best meal we can make for guests and friends and new Family Members... but we can only make enough for about eighty people, currently, unless someone helps Sam and brings another cauldron, so maybe just the elders and kids?" I hummed, and disconnected my harness, letting the rope drape over the side.

"Oh, I didn't realize it was that kind of... alright, we can provide some cauldrons? And some vegetables and meat?" She tilted her head a bit, curious.

"The vegetables would be appreciated, but we have some delicious wyvern and Moose meats that I hunted myself, and those have to be cooked before spring, which is apparently soon, according to Luna." I explained, leading the way down the slope.

"Oh? I'd heard you hunted some Wyverns, when you first got here, but you haven't eaten all of that yet?" She asked.

"Well, there's only ten of us, and three of those don't eat meat, so, with an addition of potatoes, rice, and vegetables, it's lasted a good while, though this will likely be the last of it. And the Moose Meat is only about a week, maybe a week and a half old, I hunted it not long ago." I grinned and waved to Sam, who was using my cauldron already.

"Ah, Yes, I'll be right back." The woman darted down the slope and spoke to a small group of men and women she'd brought with her, apparently. One of the younger men sprinted off towards the village, while the others looked at the plateau and the statue looming over it curiously.

She returned after a few more remarks, and smiled, holding out an hand to shake. "I've yet to introduce myself, haven't I? I'm Siren, Luna's sister, and the Chieftain of the Blue Rock Branch Clan."

I shook the hand sternly, measuring her grip strength, and nodded at her slight wince of pain. "Hello. I am Theodora, one of the Children of the Half Mountain."

She frowned. "Not the Chieftain?"

"No, that's Rhea, the Clan Mother of sorts. We've generally elected her because she's the one who we're all quite afraid of, so she's a perfect pick for our Leader." I laughed softly. "Also, the goddess gave her the name of the Clan, not us, which means she's definitely in charge."

She nodded slowly. "Oh... alright, that makes sense... which one is Rhea?"

I looked around, and found one of the newcomers, approaching Rhea and speaking to her quietly, one hand questing for her ass. I winced when he fell almost instantly, the back of her Fist having nearly taken his jaw off.

"That one." I pointed unnecessarily, as she began to savagely kick the groin and stomach of the man on the ground. "Wonder what he said?" I asked myself.

Siren raised an eyebrow at the scene, and then purred, surprisingly. "Oooh, I like her..."