The discussion went on as Rian asked for specifics on the known malcontents. Their names (what did that matter?), their families, their positions and skills, and the things they were known to have done.

"I think I remember some of these people," he mused, looking down at the list he'd made while Lori contemplated between laying her head on the table to nap or simply lying back across the whole bench. She was the only one sitting on her side, after all. "I honestly didn't think they were the type to steal food like that. Senn is Naineb's brother whose family has been taking care of her children since she and her husband were exiled, right?"

"Yes," Shanalorre said as Lori once more wished she had a chair with a back she could lean on. "I initially excused their breaches of rationing in light of that fact. However, they abused the consideration."

"Probably for petty revenge. And this one…" Rian sighed. "I remember him. Is he still going on about how people don't need the Binderarchy?"

"Yes. His rhetoric is that while a Dungeon Binder must exist to create the demesne, there is no reason they must possess supreme authority, and that all should be free to govern themselves. He uses the current state of the demesne as support for his argument that a demesne does not require a supreme authority."

"And these people wanted land when they were here… though unlike some people, they didn't really make as much of a fuss about it…" Rian muttered as Lori tried lying down on the bench, only to find it just narrow enough to be uncomfortable. "And they were pretty well behaved when they lived here. A bit afraid of Lori, but not exactly a problem… what changed?"

"I suspect they are among those who think the demesne won't survive under my leadership and are indulging recklessly as they count down the days," Shanalorre said. She glanced at Lori. "A belief that is not uncommon."

Lori shrugged unapologetically.

"If they do it's sort of unconscionable that they're planning to get their children killed with them instead of just trying to come back here. I've been coming by all winter, and they didn't even so much as try to talk to me about it." Rian sighed. "Well, I'll have to consider all this later. Binder Lori, do you have any thoughts as to what will happen to River's Fork once you've officially taken over there?"

She straightened up from leaning backwards to try and relieve the muscles on her back. "Since this is all conditional on the demesne's core being where I'm told it is, I will be checking that first," Lori said. "Then I'm properly securing it with stone. Afterwards, we will be moving as many of the population here as possible. I am inclined to leave the malcontents there to their own devices and simply come back when they're dead."

"Please don't," Rian and Shanalorre said in chorus. The two looked at each other, and Rian made a gesture of acquiescence.

"We cannot depopulate River's Fork," Shanalorre said. "The trees with meanings to accelerate aspects of their growth need regular maintenance, otherwise they will consume all nourishment available to them and die. While I can imbue the meanings my father made, I cannot replicate them. Well maintained, they will provide a rapid, additional source of food and wood."

"If you just leave people there to their own devices, they'll ruin the place trying to survive," Rian said. "Accelerated or not, River's Fork has reliable access to more fruit trees than we do, which will be a great addition to our diet. In addition, there's the mine. We'll be the ones operating it now, so it's in our interest to have people in River's Fork to work it. While I agree we should move the current population away from there and bring them here to better integrate them with the society we're forming as well as properly impose discipline, River's Fork needs to continue to be populated and functional. It's… uh, I don't know exactly how big it is, but it's an entire area with no Iridescence. Hilly or not, we can use that space."

Ugh, yes. Ruining perfectly good resources because they were unsupervised idiots was exactly the sort of thing people would do, wouldn't they? It was why she put some many protective measures around her reservoir! "Fine," Lori said begrudgingly. "We will keep River's Fork populated. However, there cannot be a repeat of these circumstances. At the very least, food will no longer be individually rationed out to families and will instead be served on a communal basis. That will at least limit the food expenditures to a sustainable amount. Rian, see to it."

"We'll need to organize people to cook for the entire demesne on a regular basis, the way we do here," Rian said thoughtfully. "It should be easier, since there aren't as much people, but that will still be a big job. At the very least though, it should be able to keep people out of mischief while they adjust to the new order." His fingers tapped on the table at seemingly random. At least, the tapping didn't sound like a tune. "Actually, if we just want a quick and dirty solution to the food problem, all we need to do is reduce the number of people in River's Fork. Uh, without killing anyone, let's be clear. If we move a family or two here, depending on how much food is left in River's Fork they just might be able to make it until harvest. Not a full relocation, but just enough to reduce the strain on the demesne's resources until we have the proper infrastructure set up to accommodate more."

"That would certainly help," Shanalorre said.

"Though, the most logical people to remove from River's Fork would be the malcontents," Rian said as he turned to look towards Shanalorre and Lord… uh, her lord. "They are, after all, the ones whose actions have been most ruinously affecting the food supply's longevity. So I have to ask… has all this been some kind of ruse to foist them off on us, and then declare your independence from her Bindership's authority?"

Lori blinked, then straightened as she realized what Rian was saying.

"No," Shanalorre said as Lori directed a flat stare at her. "That is not the case. I am a woman of my word. I have submitted to Binder Lolilyuri and am content to remain so until she, for whatever reason, chooses to release me or kill me so she can claim my core once my usefulness expires. Though I cannot fault your reasoning regarding the malcontents, as I also came to such a conclusion."

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"Removing the malcontents would certainly help improve morale," Lord someone-or-other said. "We've considered getting rid of them ourselves. However, their families, especially those with children, are of varying degrees of innocent. And even if we wanted to rid ourselves of them, we didn't have the means."

"You could have just killed them," Lori pointed out. Militia killed people all the time, after all.

"Under militia law, while they were certainly guilty of theft, it was not a to a degree worthy of execution," Lord something-something said. "And unless I misread, it is the same by this demesne's laws as well."

"We're getting off topic," Rian interjected. "All right, so you're not just foisting them off on us. I had to ask. It was in my Dungeon Binder's best interest that I at least bring up the possibility."

Lori gave him a flat look, then huffed in annoyance. "Do it sooner," she said.

"I will attempt to increase my paranoia to Binder-approved levels from now on." Good. He knew how important her safety was.

"We understand that you don't completely trust us yet," Shanalorre said. "That is only logical. However, please believe me when I say that we have more to gain from surrender than from deceiving you. Deceiving you merely creates enmity where there is no need, and which we have no capability to stand against. I have no intention of being audited again. Consider me disciplined."

Hah. Like Lori would just believe that. Still, Lori acknowledged that lingering on the point would serve no purpose now. Best to pretend she believed it. "Rian, organize the shelter to be ready to house those that will be moved from River's Fork. Tomorrow, I will begin construction of the houses for the petitioners, so that the shelter will be mostly empty by the time we resume contact with my other demesne. The malcontents can be placed there." Her other demesne… it felt nice to say out loud. "In addition to the malcontents, Binder Shanalorre's relations will also be moved here." Her uncle was a known malcontent, and so removing him from the place would probably be useful for instilling discipline.

"Um, while I agree with the idea in principle, her uncle is also one of the only two doctors the place has," Rian said.

"You say that like it will be easy," he muttered.

"I… must raise a possible issue. My aunt is one of the authorities of the demesne, charged with maintaining organization, finding and solving possible problems, and maintaining morale. If she is removed, who will be her replacement?"

Lori stared at her. "This despite her husband's incitement?"

"Keeping my uncle reasonably restrained was within the purview of her duties."

Lori considered this. On the one hand, the woman was already a part of an organizational structure in place… on the other, the structure was obviously an incompetent one given the demesne had reached the point that it had. "The state of the demesne shows she was incapable in her position. I see no reason to retain her. They will all be deported here to remove their influence from the area, your uncle especially."

Shanalorre frowned slightly. "What will become of him?"

"That will depend on his actions," Lori said.

Rian coughed loudly for some reason. "Well, I suppose we'll have to move more people there anyway so there's enough to farm the land and work the mine after we move out the malcontents, but people probably won't be willing to go back on a permanent basis until we can significantly improve the available infrastructure. A proper shelter that they'll be safe in should a dragon pass overhead that has water, air, lights and food for one thing. I know River's Fork survived without any casualties last time, but that was probably as much luck as preparation."

"Definitely luck," Lord something—Lori checked her note—Yllian said, actually shuddering. "I could hear those abominations even through the rocks we piled up to block the entrance of the mine, and they could surely hear us. If they had started digging… or if the vent that was letting air into the mine had been blocked, or worse, entered… we'd have all died."

"But you didn't," Lori sighed regretfully.

Rian sighed as well, clearly understanding her annoyance. "We have a resident healer now and that's a good thing," he reminded her. "Now you can ride on as many rocks as you want."

"Please don't," Shanalorre said. "The possibility of you predeceasing me fills me with terror. But to return to our discussion, a proper shelter is the one thing the demesne needs above everything else, Binder Lolilyuri. That is why I was willing to give up so much for you to build one for us. It is still a necessary priority if the demesne is to be maintained."

Lori hummed thoughtfully. "Can we move everyone to this demesne until the construction of the shelter is completed?" That would simplify matters in the event of a dragon, since she doubted they'd have enough time to evacuate people once a dragon had become perceptible to her…

"The people can be moved with no issue," Shanalorre said. "But as I said before, with no one to maintain the plants with meanings that accelerate their growth, they will exhaust the available nourishment in the soil and die."

"What sort of maintenance are we talking about?" Rian said.

"Regular watering and fertilization with latrine waste."

"Ah. The kind of job we wish we can give the malcontents but can't because they wouldn't do it."

Shanalorre nodded. "Unfortunately, it requires reliable and disciplined people, else the maintenance will likely lapse."

"This just makes finding people willing to move there harder," Rian sighed. "Well, either way, it seems to me our first step when we can finally go back there, once we've sufficiently secured her Bindership's authority, is to move the malcontents to this demesne and begin construction on a proper shelter there. One that we can somehow adequately protect from whatever a dragon may throw at it. Unless you think there's something I'm missing, your Bindership?"

Lori grimaced but… well, that was indeed the only actionable plan, wasn't it? "I'll inform you if something occurs to me. In the meantime, start finding people to move there. Ones that can be trusted to remain disciplined with minimal supervision."

"Yes, your Bindership."

Lori pushed back her bench and rose. "You two, go to the hospital. Rian, get to work." She had to go get started on building those houses. And then there was the dehydration shed as well, which would have to come after that. Then there were still the inspections…

As Shanalorre and Lord whoever rose to do as she had ordered them, Rian said, "Hold it, Yllian. Now that I have you, I'm putting you to work."

Yllian looked at Rian, face even. "The Great Binder ordered me to remain by the Gr—… uh."

"Keep calling her 'her Bindership' so you don't get the two confused," Rian said. "And I wouldn't dream of stopping you from doing as she ordered you. However, if you're just going to sit around all day in the same room as our little Dungeon Binder, then you might as well be useful. Come with me, we're passing by my house before you go to the hospital. I have the demesne's latest inventory list and I want you to compile it all together to see how much of what we have and how long it's likely to last at the rate we're going through it."

Yllian stiffened, and he turned to Lori. His eyes didn't go wide, and his face was still even, but his stare at her was… emphatic, somehow.

Rian, too, looked at her. "Is that all right, your Bindership?" he said brightly.

Lori waved her hand dismissively. From the light coming through her Dungeon's door, most of the morning was already gone. She'd barely have enough time choosing a building site. "Yes, yes, as long as it doesn't interfere with the duty I set him."

"Wonderful!" Rian grinned. "Come on Yllian. I have a nice, big plank you can write everything down on. Don't get anything smudged, or you'll be writing it all down all over again."

Leaving her lords to their duties, Lori went outside, Rian's theatrically slightly unhinged laughter trailing behind her.