The Domini saga : lich lords favor

After traveling from the Stonemetal Hills, Kynes and Bren enter Neverwinter quietly, their rolled house plans tucked beneath Bren’s cloak. In the craftsmen’s quarter, nearby stalls display dressed stone, treated beams, slate, and iron fittings.

Bren identifies a timber-framer’s yard behind a low plank fence. Its owner is a broad-shouldered middle-aged man with weathered hands, ash-brown hair, and a green work apron, measuring cedar beside a stack of beams.

The framer studies Bren’s cloak, then the rolled plans without reaching for them. Beyond his shoulder, a slate merchant, a middle-aged woman with a sturdy build, sun-browned skin, dark hair wrapped in a blue scarf, and a gray work dress beneath a leather apron, argues over delivery, while an ironworker, a young adult man with a muscular build, soot-dark skin, cropped black hair, and a brown leather smithing apron over a red shirt, tests fittings against a wooden hinge.

Bren glances toward Kynes, leaving the answer and the size of any meaningful deposit to him. Halven waits beside the measured cedar, patient but plainly attentive to their terms.

Kynes steps to a nearby exchange stall and trades a minor personal arcane ornament for coined silver, securing the deposit without exposing their destination. He returns with the money openly in hand.

Kynes places the coins on the measured cedar, then indicates the rolled plans beneath Bren’s cloak. His terms are precise, protective, and plainly backed by immediate payment.

Halven counts the coins, then marks a private appointment in the margin of his work slate rather than entering a destination. The timber-framer’s manner shifts from cautious assessment to committed business.

Bren gives Kynes a quiet approving glance. Their first builder is secured, their privacy terms are accepted, and a reliable route to the future site is now available.

Kynes approaches the slate stall and borrows two displayed samples, setting them beside the ironworker’s fittings. He compares thickness, grain, weight, and the cleanest edges for the roof and waterworks.

He tests the slate against the drawn roof pitch, then checks each iron hinge, brace, and fastening against the timber-framer’s proposed construction. The materials reveal exactly which sizes will endure rain and repeated use.

A thin slate sample snaps at its edge during the final stress check, and one small iron bracket bends beyond use. The loss is modest, but both pieces must be replaced before the order is complete.

Kynes returns the surviving samples with clear specifications for the build. The inspection succeeds: the order now has suitable slate and iron dimensions, though the broken sample and bent bracket add a small replacement cost.

Kynes places the required silver beside the slate samples and iron fittings, including payment for the heavier roof grade, thicker pins, and both replacements. The merchants inspect the coins, then begin separating the ordered materials.

The slate merchant wraps the sound pieces in waxed cloth and marks their sizes in chalk. The ironworker sets the replacement bracket beside the thicker pins, its unfinished edge awaiting only final shaping.

Bren watches the completed exchange, then looks toward the timber-framer’s yard. The house order now includes every tested roof and waterwork fitting, with the added costs settled without dispute.

Halven writes the collection time in a private margin of his work slate, then carries the arrangement to the two merchants himself. Neither receives a destination, only his yard and the guarded load.

The route is secured and the collection arranged without exposing the destination. The cost is concrete: Halven accepts responsibility for the guarded transfer, while the ironworker adds a storage fee to his account.

At the appointed hour, Kynes slips through the craftsmen’s quarter by side lanes and covered passages, avoiding the busier stalls. Halven’s rear yard opens only when the timber-framer recognizes him.

The slate merchant’s wrapped bundles and the ironworker’s secured fittings wait beneath a canvas cover. Halven checks each marked package against his private work slate while Kynes watches the quiet yard.

Kynes gives Halven the secluded location privately, along with the safest approach and the point where the covered loads should be unloaded. The information leaves no written trail.

Halven seals the slate and iron beneath fresh canvas, then moves the packages into the rear wagon space. Kynes leaves by a different lane, with the materials collected and the destination known only to their chosen builder.