Construction is loud.
Construction is tiresome, it smells, and it eats a lot. And not just food, the trees taken down for the road weren’t even enough to build the base foundation of the house. The man designated a large area behind his stump to collect lumber from. After just the first day, around half of the hundred foot by hundred foot area was clear to dirt. And still it wouldn’t be enough.
The project became much bigger than the man expected.
Dave the foreman had walked the area with him and it encompassed more than a thousand square feet. The man couldn’t even imagine what he would do with so much space. Dave even mentioned the ease of expanding the planned structure which further boggled the man’s mind.
Currently on the second day most of the builders were preparing lumber while the rest did the fine work of leveling the foundation of the house.
The man understood the importance of a level home. Currently he lived on a slant which caused him to inevitably slide and roll when he slept. His bedding area was opposite his storage area, yet each morning he found himself in the storage area. It was a nuisance.
When he explained that to Dave the foreman laughed and reminisced on his very first construction project. It seemed it too shared the problem. Round fruits couldn't be stored on the counter or table.
"Right, is there anything additional you’d want?" Dave asked as the man began cooking lunch for the second day.
"Additional?" The man asks glancing up from his vegetables.
"Right, you deal in herbs right? I saw you grinding a bunch this morning. So what about a mill? It could also serve to give you some additional income."
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"A mill?" The man ponders setting the knife down. He wasn’t dumb he knew what Dave was implying. There was no running water in the area but the northern winds were fairly consistent.
"Right, we’ve got a guy, Autly, they used to call him ‘windmill whisperer’. He’s an expert of experts. He already suggested building one on top of the eastern side of the building."
Indeed a mill would reduce the work he has to do by hand. There were many ingredients he now used that were milled. Even the salt he received from the goblins was a bit to coarse for his taste forcing him to grind it by hand.
Not to mention the ultimate problem he face when grinding the flower by hand was the inconsistency. He had made do by separating the thicker chunks out with gravity but he ended up with endless amounts of chunky flakes in order to produce a single pound of fine powder.
Perhaps a mill would be strong enough to grind the coarser parts of the flower. The thought sparked a strong desire in his heart.
"Do it!" The man says nodding firmly with a grin.
"Right." Dave nods in return. He then gives a nod to a shorter builder who was carving away at a hunk of stone wood.
The dwarf grows a large grin at the approval of his idea. The moment Autly arrived at the site he had imagined a large mill in the dense woods. It would be a bizarre and beautiful picture. One that would be almost impossible anywhere but here.
Instantly, after taking a deep breath of the familiar air, Autly began drawing up the designs in his head. Fins would need to be different to properly handle the gusts in the forest as well as over-rev protections. For a human it would be impossible but a dwarf familiar with the construction would have no problem.
Near lunch time Autly’s idea was solidified. He set an order of lumber with the team in charge of the forest and instructed the foundation team about the additional structure. His idea wouldn’t change much just a few additional braces to support the added weight of the mill stones and torque of the mill.
Everyone readily accepted the change. Everyone typically became more amicable during lunch.
Breakfast and dinner were prepared by the cooks but the man in the forest cooked lunch. He claimed it was in appreciation for their work.
In reality it was him testing experimental recipes. But he would never admit it.