Ashes of the Fallen

The second real day came since I had initially set out from Dragon's Breach and the log lodge had yet to take shape. The oak timber was finally ready to go as I finished the prep work. Now I was waiting on the NPCs and a few players to help lay the logs out.

Sadly, oak was frustratingly heavy.

I tried to move a few logs by myself and failed miserably.

With the rising sun breaking through the thick canopy of the trees, my warriors finally started to get up as a few of the [Liberated Souls] guild members logged on to give a helping hand. Not everyone could be on at this time of the day, so I appreciated the ones who decided to take the time.

I would need all of their help, if I was to finish this by the end of the day.

"Alright, I already placed markers there that you should be able to see," I said to the other players, as the in-laid schematic system had a toggle option to be visible to others, outside of the NPCs. "We'll be stacking logs on top of each other, starting here and then working our way around, one at a time."

Pointing out what log went where, I kept the drawknife handy along with my small one-handed axe in case adjustments needed to be made. Slowly, but surely, the process had begun.

A dozen men hoisting up a log and setting it down into position required some patience. We continued our work one log at a time. After two hours had passed, the first story was complete and the second floor was starting to take shape. The roof would be problematic without machinery, and there wasn't much we could do to work around that.

In the end, a scaffolding of sorts was constructed, more akin to a ramp or a stack of logs really, but one that allowed us a way to lift the logs above the second floor.

By the end of the day, we were nearly done.

Nearly wasn't completely, though.

And the third day real-day passed on by, as if it weren't a thing.

I was frustrated with the amount of time lost.

Then the fourth day concluded with the lodge roughly ninety-five percent complete. Our quest to finish cut short due to a fitment issue with the roof.

And on the fifth day, it was finally over.

"I think, we're done," I sighed while languishing off to the side.

"Oh I just got a prompt! It's asking if I should make it a Personal Home or-" started Ellieby before I cut her off.

"Answer no, it will stay as a Large Open Residence, then select Yes and designate your Campsite as a Village," I began to explain as I stared blankly at the building in front of me. "After that, give the village a name, then decide if you want it known throughout the world, as a place for players to spawn at."

"Uh… well, that takes all of the fun out of it," replied Ellieby, slightly upset.

Her entire guild had gathered for this event, and Ellieby was looking at the same menus as everyone else, except she had been given control over the decision making process from this point on. They were mostly leery of me at first, and some still didn't trust me fully, but most of them were excited and thankful.

"Sorry, you're right, I'm going to take a seat over here, let me know when you guys are done discussing everything," I stated somewhat plainly as I sat down on a patch of grass and closed my eyes.

I had hardly slept at all the past five days, intending to rush the project to save time.

That proved futile, as the other works were slow.

I missed having my fellow carpenters with me… they made my life easier.

Cheering erupted in the distance as I was jolted awake from the noise, having fallen asleep over on a patch of grass next to a tree. Slightly dazed and confused as my sleep deprivation had fully kicked in, I was soon the victim of a vicious hug attempt as Ellieby joyously jumped on top of me.

"Wh-what are you doing you crazy woman," I managed to squeak out as I fell helplessly to the woman's unstoppable onslaught of cheers and random squeezes.

"We've got a village now! Sigurd we did it! Come on get up!"

"Sleep, I want, need, sleep."

"NO! You're partying with us, NOW!" she yelled as she grabbed my arms and pulled me up. Dragging me with her as she followed her guild members, the majority of them having already moved inside the two-story lodge to celebrate.

The structure was nearly eighty feet across, in both width and length, with a few excess feet on the edges for future expansion. Roughly ten foot of head-room for each floor led to a roofline that sat around twenty-six to thirty feet high.

There were cut-outs all around for windows, whenever they decided to invest in glass. The inside though, was largely empty at the moment. The large open room in the center doubled as the entrance and the welcoming or gathering room. Smaller rooms adorned the sides that could be used for storage or personal rooms, whichever was desired.

The centerpiece though, was the staircase.