It took a little over a week for Hazel to finish the first two copies of the Scrabble game. This had, apparently, less to do with how much time was required to make the game and more to do with it being a new thing he hadn't tried making before. Figuring out all of the complex details as well as experimenting with some of his own ideas took time. In fact, he would have preferred to spend even more time trying things out, but had chosen to limit his own creativity for the sake of delivering a final product in a timely manner.

"Since I've gotten more familiar with the terms and drawings in the "Ancient Woodworking" book you lent me, I've actually learned how to do a lot more since last year.

I actually decided to hollow out a section of the main game board and install a little drawer that can slide in and out for holding the letter pieces. I also had an especially thin slab made that can fit in the bottom of the drawer before asking Basil to carve the instructions for the game on it.

Some of the workers are in Fern's classes since I promised them a small raise if they learned, but none of them are quite as skilled as Basil is at both intricate carving work and writing quite yet. Actually, he insisted on carving designs on the side for these two copies since they'd be for us."

Iris smiled gratefully as she replied

"Well, you two did a great job! I do have some concerns about being able to mass produce them, though. Basil should have time away from work without having to spend all of it carving stone tablets."

Iris felt a little guilty as she finished her sentence. Most of her husbands had sufficient time away from work to spend on hobbies, relaxing, or spending time with her and the cubs. That was, all save for Hazel who had been working the hardest of all of them. Since all of the large-scale building plans for the city had been completed by the end of the harvest season, things would be easier for him from now on, but she still felt guilty.

Hazel didn't so much as look upset about it, though, as he reassured

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. Like I said, I told everyone who works in the carpentry and stone masonry workshops that I would see to it that they get a bonus of one crystal per week if they learned to read, write, and do math. They were also told in no uncertain terms that only those with the appropriate education would be considered for long-term team leader positions, which come with an extra crystal per day pay, as we previously discussed.

The workshops aren't even fully open this season either. I've mostly just been allowing anyone in for a few and training them on the skills we use in the workshops. Most of the official workshop workers have also been coming in to work on their detail work. They want to be able to make more impressive furniture so they can impress their mates, get more interesting jobs, or be in a stronger position for promotion.

So, I imagine a few of them should be in a position to make the Scrabble boards themselves by the end of the rainy season. We'll just have to limit things to the classroom and game tournaments for now. That's only twenty of them so long as the classroom uses the same boards as the game tournament. Really, a four player game is much easier than a two player game since fewer boards are needed."

Iris did feel better knowing they wouldn't have to spend a ton of time on everything. Twenty tablets wasn't nearly as bad as she had been thinking. The extra pay for even normal workers was a new one, but she didn't actually feel bothered by that. In fact, she turned to Caspian as she asked

"The workshop workers getting extra pay isn't a bad idea. I know we talked about increased pay for team leaders, but are there any other jobs that would benefit from such a skill set?"

Caspian looked thoughtful as he replied

"I'm not sure. I mostly oversee the farmland, orchard, and livestock areas. Ember is in charge of the guards, but I don't see any reason they'd especially benefit from additional education.

I feel like hiring people for cooking positions who can read would be more ideal, but that isn't really a regular thing. Fawn and Holly are already in classes as well as several of their mates. So, I imagine they can keep track of their side of cooking and keep track of harvest numbers."

Iris pursed her lips as she replied

"I'm sure there are small day to day benefits to the education, but I guess there is no reason to offer extra pay if the position doesn't call for it. The clinic also works based on commission, so it wouldn't really matter how useful the knowledge would be there. I should probably talk to Basil about..."

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Just then Basil walked in, he smiled in amusement as he asked

"Ask me about what?"

Iris blushed as she replied

"Well, I was just thinking it might be useful if you made some copies of the information on plants for the clinic and pharmacy workers. Then you wouldn't have to spend as much time actively teaching your apprentices and could have them review the tablets when they need reminders."

Basil nodded as he replied

"I suppose I could do that, but they'd have to take the classes first. Pearl and her mate Hudson aren't here right now and my other two apprentices didn't sign up for the classes. As for Alder, I'm afraid he likely won't make it until the rainy season..."

Iris didn't know what to say about that and just remained silent. Luckily, Basil broke the silence as he said

"Oh, by the way, Fern and I finished preparing lunch and snacks for our family game night. We were thinking we'd eat some soup in the kitchen before moving to the living room."

Iris just nodded before attempting to stand up. However, she was now a little under halfway through her pregnancy and it was beginning to get difficult to get back up after sitting down. So, Basil had to rush forward to help her while Ash supported her from behind.

The soup was more of a rich stew made with well browned cubes of auroch meat, veggies, and a brown gravy made with auroch stock, roux, and pureed tomatoes. It was well seasoned with plenty of green herbs, garlic, and onion, lacking nothing in flavor. There was even some nice crusty bread and butter to enjoy alongside it.

Fern had seemed apologetic about serving a "simple" meal. He had even explained that he had to be more reserved with the ingredients to make up for those used for the game night snacks. However, Iris felt there was nothing lacking about their meal and happily even ate seconds. Really, their quality of food was much better now than it had been the previous year, especially so close to the end of the cold season.

Ash had volunteered to wash dishes from their meal, which had led to Ember also doing so. Their rivalry was a bit one sided at this point, but it was still thriving nonetheless. Iris had felt a bit guilty about not being in a position to help out herself, but ended up mostly feeling amused as she watched the two.

Ash knew how Ember felt and was clearly antagonizing him on purpose, but mostly just seemed amused by the whole thing. Meanwhile, Ember seemed to hate Ash less, but still felt the need to constantly try to prove he was better than him.

As such, when it finally came time to start playing Scrabble, Iris took the initiative to declare

"Alright, we need two groups to play Scrabble. Why don't we have Caspian, Ember, Hazel, and Birk play together and then I'll play with Basil, Fern, and Ash."

Ember clearly seemed like he wanted to protest against it, but gave in when Caspian and Birk led him away. There was only enough room for Iris and those playing with her in the living room. Normally, their whole family could sit there, but the snacks required space and things would be too crowded if the eight of them crowded around two coffee tables. Instead, it was better if Caspian's group and the cubs played in the kitchen.

Iris had made her decision regarding teams less based on who her favorite mates were and more so based on other factors. So, there was no reason for anyone to protest against it. Fern was the one teaching people and who had to oversee others playing the game. Meanwhile, both Basil and Ash were quite intelligent and would prove challenging to play against.

Iris didn't mind the idea of playing with her other mates who might struggle with the game at other times, but this time was different. She wanted things to be more fair and to offset her advantage from being the only one with experience playing the game.

At first, everyone watched Iris carefully, not taking the game too seriously. Iris drank her tea and munched on cookies and tea sandwiches as she watched the others take their turns. She only spoke up when they tried to play an incorrectly spelled word or otherwise needed correction.

The first round, Iris kept score, making sure everything was kept fair. However, the next round, she passed the job off to Basil. She planned to have them each take a turn before making Fern the primary scorekeeper. He would need to be familiar with all of the ins and outs of the game if he was to teach others, after all.

Basil was the first to catch on to the game, but Ash wasn't far behind. Admittedly, Iris didn't really know how he was taught about reading and writing, nor did she know if there were any differences in how the words were spelt here. However, if Ash noticed any differences, he certainly didn't make Iris aware of it. He just easily accepted her corrections before continuing on with playing the game.

Fern wasn't exactly bad at spelling, but he still caught on to the game slower. He often came in last place when it came time to tally up their scores. Yet, he remained in a good mood throughout their entire playtime. Iris felt bad for her rabbit husband, but she was grateful for his neverending positivity.

Everyone ended up enjoying their family game night quite a bit. Apparently, Caspian's group had a much slower and more calm game. They struggled a bit, at first, to figure things out, but, eventually, got things figured out. Birk had learned from Fern when he first joined the family, so he had less experience than the others, but Ember was the one who struggled the most.

That, of course, only reassured Iris that she had chosen the right match up. Both Basil and Ash had the tendency to stir up trouble, especially where Ember was concerned. Meanwhile, Caspian and Hazel were more calm and likely to keep things peaceful instead of making them worse. In fact, everyone agreed they should have nights like this more often, even Ember.