Rebuilding Science in a Magic World

I wish I could say that progress was going well on the bridge and pavilion, but actually, it's been slow and frequently interrupted.  The rain has been pretty consistent, which means I've been digging in mud to get down to the stone level, and I'm having to remove water frequently as well.  The bigger issue has been more lizards.  In the past 15 days since I started this project, we've had three lizard attacks, which have resulted in another goblin death.  By the last attack, some of the goblins actually joined in to help me fight once the lizard was injured.  As a silver lining, at least we haven't been hungry thanks to the lizards, and I've gained a few levels.

<LESSER EARTH DEMON>
Level: 33
HP: 1191/1191
MP: 426/426
Traits: Mana Affinity, Earth Manipulation
Magic: Stone Shaping, Tectonic Sense, Earth Spike

A few good things have happened as well though, so it hasn't all been setbacks.  The goblin that I saved from before has been helping me work on my projects, and has seemingly started trying to learn English.  At some point the leader goblin must have shown them how we communicated before, and they've been asking all kinds of questions about how various things are said, usually by pointing or holding an object, and saying "how say."  They also assisted in the most recent lizard fight, and that night they prestiged.  They're a little bigger than before, but other than that, I can't see any noticeable differences, and they're nowhere near adept enough at English to properly communicate what they've gotten, if anything.

One other goblin prestiged as well, and considering they're quite a bit larger than before, I'm guessing they gained a trait that made them stronger, maybe something similar to when I had Mighty Imp.  All things I'd like to look into at some point in the future.  In fact, I have a lot of things I'd like to look into in the future.  Instead of any of it though, I'm back to remedial construction tasks.  However, this is all so I can properly dedicate time later, so I suppose it's fine.

Five more days have passed, and I've made a central pillar in the stream that I'll use to support the bridge crossing.  A few of the goblins have been looking at the pillar in the stream, confused by it, but the leader seemed to explain something to them, and they haven't questioned it since.  The more I work with the leader goblin, the more I'm perplexed by him.  Hopefully, when my little goblin friend learns enough English, they can work as a translator for me.

I also finished digging the pit for the pavilion, a hole 30 feet x 30 feet and down to the stone a few feet.  I haven't made the walls to the pit yet, because I want to have the bridge done first.  Mostly because the mud actually slowly drains the water into the stream, and once I put stone walls in, I'll have to clear water even more every day I work when it rains.

As I work through today, the goblin leader comes over to talk near the end of the day.  He says some things in the goblin language, and points out of the clearing, then to himself and me.  I have no clue what exactly he's saying, thankfully my goblin friend actually can help a little here, providing me some help.

"Go mountain, tomorrow, you, me, goblins."  He translates.  Honestly, not bad for a few weeks work.  It's at least enough that I think I understand what he's saying.  I count back in my head, and it does seem like it would be about the right time that he would normally go to summon imps.  I don't want that though, I'm not entirely opposed to him summoning more imps at some point, but I only want him to do it if I'm there, and I don't want to go back up there just yet, at least until I've finished getting the goblins some basic necessities made.

"You, me, goblins, no go mountain."  I say, and then repeat it, while tapping my goblin friends shoulder when he doesn't realize I want him to translate.

The goblin leader holds up his hand with two fingers, then curls them each down, and says something.

My translator seemingly thinks for a bit, "Two no goblins."

I think for a bit what exactly he means by this, when my translator says, "Lizards, two no goblins."

Oh, he means he's had two goblins die, and he wants to replenish their numbers.  I don't have a great response for him for this, I don't know how long he's lived here this way, but I don't want him to just replace goblins whenever they die, and not in the way he's been doing it.

"Two no goblins, no mountain.  Five no goblins, mountain."  I say, hoping that the translator gets it.  Maybe if I can at least convince him the need isn't as high, then we can delay any trips.

The leader ponders for a little bit, before nodding, and saying something before leaving.  My translator friend says, "Five no goblins, mountain."

I give him a pat on the head for his good work, and he seemingly appreciates it and smiles before helping remove more water from our pit that has started to collect from the ongoing light rain shower.

I finished the bridge after another eight days of work, in that time, I lost a half day of work thanks to another eclipse as well.  It's nothing too fancy, just a stone bridge wide enough for a few goblins to walk across side by side, with a railing, and supported enough that even a flood shouldn't wash it away.  The goblins seem to enjoy using it rather than walking through the water, so I'm glad that has worked out.  Obviously I'm using it as well as I trek back and forth between my house and the pit that will eventually become the pavilion area.  Tomorrow I'm going to make some furniture for my house out of the pit before I start building the pavilion itself.

Some of the goblins saw me carrying furniture into my home, and from what I can gather with the help of my goblin friend, seem to want me to make things for them as well.  I'm not going to give them furniture for free, and I don't really have anything I want from them, so I have my goblin friend tell them I'm not making furniture for them.  I just made them all spears already after all.  I guess this is what income inequality is though.  They want what I can make, but I don't have a reason to make it for them.  I'll think for a while if I want anything, then I'll let them trade me for it.

That evening, I come up with something, namely, I'm hunting, as we all have been doing.  I'd like to not have to hunt.  That evening, I have my goblin friend tell them, I'll trade them a days food for a basic piece of furniture.  If I don't have to hunt in the morning and evening, all the better.  Not that it's that big of an issue, since I need time to regenerate my mana anyway, but this way they can actually trade for things with me.  I try my best to let them know they should negotiate in advance, so that they don't all over hunt on the same day, although I'm not sure how well that translated to them.

For the past seven days, I've been able to focus on working on the pavilion basement walls, and made a piece of furniture each day for a different goblin.  As of last night, the walls to the basement are done, and the next step is building supports for the basement.  I was surprised as well by the fact that the chief participated in the food for furniture exchange for a chair.  Other goblins wanted all sorts of things, ranging from shelves to large pots.  I'm not entirely sure whether they are actually using these to store things, or if they're just considering it a novelty, but at least the chair I presume is being used.

Today I'll be laying out where I want supports in the pavilion basement, and since it's going to have storage, how I want it to be laid out.  I'm thinking about having some built in shelving, buckets and pots, and bins for the goblins to use.  I also want the stairs down to be close to the center, to help prevent rain from running down into the basement.  I suppose I could also level the basement purposefully to have water run to one corner, where the goblins could easily scoop it out from a small pit.  All it needs is a very gentle slope to accomplish that.

I actually should also consider supports for the pavilion roof, and run major supports all the way down to the basement level for that as well.  So I should cut long stone pillars out of the basement, and stand them up before re-attaching them.  The biggest issue with that is I'd need rope, and some labor.  The good news is, I have some eager customers who seemingly want furniture and goods produced for them who have plenty of free time on their hands.  I stop working in the basement, and start fiddling with nearby plants trying to figure out what works best to weave a rope with.