Weekly Digest 136 - (#428 - #430)

Reading Words

Karina hummed happily as she tended to the tuber planters in the dungeon farm, making sure they were properly watered and that the growing tubers were properly covered in soil. The walls of the tunnel where the planters were housed echoed with sounds from the main part of the farm, where inay and itay and the demesne's other farmers were checking on the crops that they'd transplanted down from the fields. They hadn't been able to move all the crops from the fields since there hadn't been enough plots that they could be planted on in the dungeon farm, but they had moved a lot, and Shana, Wiz Tae, and Wiz Lidz had said they would be able to get the crops ready to harvest before the dragon left!

It was the third day of living in the dungeon because of the dragon, and everyone was enjoying not having to go outside where it was hot, although the uncles and Lord Rian were all worried that the dragon would break the new sawmill, even with Wiz Tae and Wiz Lidz and Shana doing Deadspeaking things to make it stronger yesterday. Well, they hadn't said it would be stronger, Wiz Lidz had said it would make the sawmill 'springy' and 'bouncy' so that if the dragon dropped a big rock on it the rock might bounce off instead of breaking the roof.

Of course, there was still work to be done. The weavers still had their looms, though they had a lot of people to spin thread for them now, and the carpenter kuyas were getting planks ready for roof repairs. The floors needed to be swept since dust and sawdust had been building up in corners and under the alcove benches, and the stairs to the dungeon farm needed to be scraped since little clumps of dirt had gotten ground into the steps when they had been transferring the crops down from to the dungeon farm.

There wasn't anyone else helping Karina, but that was all right. She was nearly done anyway.

Once she was done, Karina stood up, wincing as the ache in her knees from squatting for so long. Picking up her now-empty bucket of water, she headed towards the water spigot to wash off. "Inay, itay, I'm done with the tubers!" she called out. "Do you need me for anything else?"

She couldn't see either of her parents, but she heard her itay's voice call out, "No, Karina, we'll be done soon! Go get washed up!"

"All right!"

Washing her hands in the basin that caught the water from the spigot—there wasn't a lot of water in it right then, since the cistern with the water that the crops didn’t drink up was still full, and so they were using that for watering—Karina ungirded her skirt and put her water bucket with the other buckets, taking a moment to look over them all to make sure none of them were leaking or anything. Once she was satisfied, Karina headed upstairs, her knees aching a bit more as she climbed the many stairs, thought she managed to resist the temptation to run. Running up the stairs was very dangerous, after all.

At the third level, she looked around, trying to spot her brothers and sisters. Usually, the second level was where everyone played in the dungeon, but today there were other people there. The alcoves were full of people resting, playing board games, spinning thread for the weavers, carding the fibers to be spun from retted ropeweed, sewing holes in clothes, or fixing things that had broken but had been put off. Not seeing the four of them, Karina headed upstairs.

Usually, the dining hall was full of tables and benches laid out in rows and columns, with enough space between from for people to walk through without interrupting the people sitting. Now, however, a third of the tables and chairs near the baths had been cleared and moved along the walls, leaving a large clear space, if one didn't count the pillars holding up the ceiling.

"No one tell Lori when she gets back," Lord Rian had said when he'd told people to start clearing the space the day after Binder Lori. "Understood? This going to be our little secret. If she finds out about this… I'm blaming all of you, because I'm not going to tell her!"

At this time of day, no one was dancing, so the other children were using it to play takas, piles of reed tsinelas marking out the borders of the playing field and the lines that that taggers could move along. As Karina climbed up, there was a game happening, children trying to reach the other end of the playing field and back again without being tagged, interspersed by yells that the taggers weren't on their lines, and the taggers' own yells that they in fact were on the line, and that the person complaining was definitely tagged and out, and that was a point to their side. Since the lines weren't actually drawn on the ground and were just the spaces between certain piles of tsinelas, there was a lot of yelling.

That wasn't counting all the ones sitting or standing around the field yelling out in support of one side of an argument or another, all with the wide grins of those want to see if the argument would turn into a fight.

Shana was sitting at one of the tables still in place next to where everyone was playing, Yoshka on the bench next to her. The younger girl was cheering and declaring that the tagger was on the line, her voice mixing with all the others as she waved her hands excitedly. From the sweat running down Yoshka's face and the towel next to Shana on the bench, the young girl had already had her turn at playing. There was a small smile on Shana's face as she sat with her back to the table, leaning back against it. At least, Karina thought it was a smile. It might have just been the fact Shana's head was tilted back.

There was nothing maybe about Karina's smile as she watched the two of them, glad that the two were happy. Shana had been sad and mopey and feeling lonely ever since her cousin had left to go back to living in River's Fork. While the dragon showing up was bad, the fact that it meant all the children in the other demesne had to come to Lorian meant that Shana’s cousin had a reason to visit again. The two had been practically hand in hand since then, which was good because with all the other children returned, Shana was busy being in charge of them again. That meant making sure they put all their packs into the alcove they were sleeping in, reminding them to wash their hands before meals, and to not be so noisy when people were going trying to sleep.

On the table that Shana was leaning against was Lord Rian, lying down on his back on top of the tabletop with a towel over his face, his bare feet hanging out over the end of the table. His hands were on his stomach, and from the way snoring was coming through the towel, he was probably asleep. He must have been really tired if he could sleep next to where the children were playing. There was a jar that probably held cold water and a wooden cup next to his head.

Karina let her gaze roam over the playing field, finally spotting her brothers and sisters. Cif was playing with a carved wooden horned-bug and a wooden sweetbug, making them fight, while Jivoy and Malli were playing pincer on a borrowed game board. Her youngest sister Siithia was a little apart from the other three, cheering on the game. It looked like they were behaving, so Karina could take a moment to rest.

Walking carefully around the edge of the space, Karina made her way to where Shana and Yoshka were sitting with a big smile on her face. Smiles made people smile, after all. Her friend saw her coming of course, and gave her a nod. It seemed like a happy nod, even if she wasn't smiling anymore. "Hi, Shana. Need help with anything?"

"Hello, Karina. No, everything is well in hand. Are you done with work?"

Karina sat down on the bench of the table in front of her friend. "For now. I'll check the tubers later if they need watering again."

Shana gave her a Binder Lori look. "Weren't you the one who told me that too much water is bad for tubers because it will make their roots rot?"

"I'm just checking! Besides, what if I'd accidentally given one of the tubers too much water just now?" Could she have put too much water in one of the planters earlier? Should she go back and check.

"If you did, then Wizard Taeclas and Wizard Lidzuga can be asked to prevent any possible rot from occurring," Shana said as she turend and picked up the jar on the table.

"I don't want to bother them. Besides, it's much better if we keep it from happening." Maybe she should go back down check, just to be sure…

"Karina… you work too hard," Shana said, pouring water into the wooden cup. "If it wasn't for that fact you choose to do all this work yourself, the Great Binder would no doubt have already threatened someone for making you do all that work."

"I just don't want people to be hungry!" Karina declared.

"And we are all very thankful. However, after all the planting is done and you've watered everything for the day, there comes a point where you should just let things grow." Shana tilted her head, though it wasn't as far as when Wiz Lori did it. "Unless you've learned how to Deadspeak, in which case the Great Binder would probably want to know as soon as she gets back." Shana held the wooden cup out to Karina.  "Here, have a drink. If the crops are going to be watered, then you should be too."

"Thanks." Karina took the cup, pulled it down in a few quick gulps as she realized she was very thirsty. Emptying the cup, she handed it back to Shana, who filled it up again. This happened two more times until Shana just handed Karina the jar.

The two just sat there, Karina glad to rest her knees and feet, her thirst sated. It was nice, just sitting and not having to do anything. While Shana had said she worked too much, Karina did know when to stop! She copied her friend, leaning back on the table to rest her weight on it. The line of wood pressing against her back was going to be uncomfortable if she did it for too long but for now it was another load off as she looked up at the ceiling.

Karina paused, staring, then frowned.

"Shana?"

"Yes, Karina?"

"You can read words, right?"

"Yes, that is something I can do."

Karina pointed up at the roof of the dining hall. "What do those say?"

Frowning, Shana leaned back, looking above her at what Karina was pointing at. Red lines glowed on the rock, forming what Karina was pretty sure were words.

For a moment, Shana was quiet, her head turning so she could see all the words. Other children were seeing them too, and one player ran across the field while the tagger in front of him was distracted, making the tagger yell about cheating.

"It means that we should wake up Lord Rian," Shana said. "This is definitely a 'dealing with people' matter and not a 'taking care of children' matter." 

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Cutting Wit

"I feared this day would come," Lord Rian said, looking up at the red words on the ceiling. He was standing at the edge of the space the children were playing in, the watching children peering around him. "It was only a matter of time, I suppose, but I'd hoped we'd have more time. Now even that hope is gone, and there is no escape."

Lord Rian's face was sad like he wanted to cry, his shoulder slumped like he was carrying something heavy, his hands hanging down at his sides.

"Lord Rian, Binder Lori isn't here. You need not be so theatrical," Shana said.

"Shana…" for some reason, Lord Rian looked over his shoulder like he was doing something he wasn't supposed to and was afraid his inay would catch him, "if you think I'm doing all this just for Lori's benefit, then you are sadly mistaken. This is all for me. Can't a man just do something to feel witty?"

"You can, it doesn't mean that you are."

"I see the famous Dungeon Binder cutting wit is strong in you. Lori would be proud if she was actually intending to teach you any of it."

Karina frowned, trying to understand everything as she looked up at the words on the ceiling. "Should I be scared too, Lord Rian?" she said. If he was scared of the words…

"No, you're fine, Karina," Lord Rian said. "It's just us old people and Shana who have to be afraid. Speaking of old people, could you do me a favor and tell Yllian, Tae and Lidz to meet me here?"

"Sure, Lord Rian!"

"While it is effective, I wonder why Binder Lori place it there?" Shana said as she Karina turned to leave.

"Oh, that's simple. It's because it was where I'd see it from where I was lying down. You just happened to see it before I did because I had a towel over my face to block out the light." She heard Lord Rian sigh. "It's been days and she hasn't remembered to dim the lights so we can—"

The lights in the dining hall suddenly dimmed, and Karina instinctively slowed, glancing down to watch her step.

"Oh, NOW she remembers!"

"No, I think it is simply to draw attention to what she's written. Look, the words are far more visible now in the reduced light."

Karina went to get the people Lord Rian asked for. She found Wiz Tae downstairs, taking a nap in the alcove that she and her wife had claimed when the call had gone out that a dragon was coming. Tito Kolinh was near there door, where a bunch of people Ateh Riz's friends were sitting around, the rack next to them full of spears in case dragon babies tried to get inside the dungeon and eat them. Wiz Lidz was harder to find. He'd arrived with the children from River's Fork, Karina had been busy helping Shana get all the children settled down, and she'd only seem him in passing when he and his sister had been stepping out of the boat they'd been on. She'd given him a big smile  and welcomed him to Lorian Demesne, but she hadn't really spoken to him after that.

Still, Karina knew everyone in the demesne, so she just walked around until she spotted someone whose name she couldn't really bring to mind—

No, wait, she didn't need to do that. In the alcove next to where she'd found Wiz Tae was someone with pale red hair, who was sitting on the floor of the alcove with some kind of wooden thing on his lap, using a pen—she'd seen Shana use one, but Karina had never actually touched one herself because Shana wouldn't let her—to write on white cloths. No, that was paper, wasn't it? In one of the sleeping niches on the wall, someone was sleeping on a bedroll, their face turned towards the rock. All Karina could see was really bright red hair.

"Excuse me?" Karina said politely, trying to keep her voice down because someone was sleeping. "Hello?"

The one writing looked up, blinking in a way that looked sleepy. "Uh, yes? Do you need anything?"

"Are you Wiz Lidz?"

"Yes, that's me. Does Rian need something?"

Karina nodded. "Lord Rian told me to come and get you. He's in the dining hall and needs to talk to you and everyone."

He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "All right, give me a moment, I need to put my lapdesk away…"

"Do you need any help?" That wooden thing on his lap looked heavy.

"No, no, I've got it."

Karina stood there, feeling awkward as he put away the pen into a little tray on the wooden thing. He picked the wooden thing off his lap and gently put down on the floor to one side. Standing up and wincing as he moved his legs, Wiz Lidz picked up the wooden thing and put it in one of the sleeping niches. "All right, let's go…"

"Follow me," she said cheerfully, turning to lead the way up the stairs, glancing behind her to see if he was following. Karina frowned up at his face. now that she was really looking at him, he looked tired. "Are you all right, Wiz Lidz? Do you want me to call Shana to heal you?"

"Thank you, but I can heal myself just fine, little girl," he said. "I'm just tired."

Ah, she hadn't introduced herself, had she. "My name is Karina! Nice to meet you, Wiz Lidz. If you're tired though, you should get some sleep."

"I probably should," he agreed. "After I go see what Rian needs."

Well, if he said so… he was a grown up, he should know what he was talking about.

When they got back to where Karina had left Lord Rian, the lights were bright again, though the words were still glowing like moonlight on the roof, and Lord Rian was sitting at a table a few down from where he'd been sleeping, putting distance between him and the children who were still playing. With him was everyone else that he'd had Karina call, as well as Shana, who still had Yoshka next to her. Yoshka was sitting on the end of the bench, trying to see the game, but wasn't yelling anymore.

"Ah, there you are Lidz—Lidz, did you get any sleep at all last night?" Lord Rian said. He turned towards her. "Thank you for getting everyone, Karina. You were a big help."

"You're welcome, Lord Rian!" she said, giving him a big smile that he returned. See Shana, what's how you're supposed to smile.

"I slept last night," Wiz Lidz protested.

"Lidz, I know what 'stayed up all night reading' looks like, and you’re close enough. Don't try to lie about sleep deprivation to someone with no self-control when it comes to reading. When we're done here, you go straight on to sleep, all right? If there's an emergency, we'll need you at your best."

Wiz Lidz winced, but sighed and nodded as he sat down next to Wiz Tae, and the two wizards exchanged nods.

"All right, I'll make this quick, as this really isn’t something that needs to be dragged out for too long," Lord Rian said. He pointed towards the moonlight red words. "Lori's finally realized that she has other ways to talk to us when she's away. Fortunately, she still seems to be working on it, because she's only sent us a few words. To spare you from having to try to work out what she wrote, I took the liberty of writing it down for you." He tapped a dark writing slate next to him, which had white words on it written in chalk. "'Dragon makes solid air. Prepare for cold'. As expected of her, she's left no instructions as to how to respond back."

Karina frowned in confusion as she sat nearby, kicking her legs back and forth on the bench. How did you make air solid? Air was air, right? It was… airy. Everyone else seemed to know what Lord Rian was talking about, though.

“Rain—” Wiz Lidz began, then stopped himself for some reason. “That’s going to be dangerous. If the dragon is solidifying the air outside…”

“I doubt it’s all the air, or else what’s coming in through the vents would noticeably far colder,” Lord Rian said. “At the moment, it doesn’t feel any colder than when I had everyone start staying inside the dungeon, but that might change over the next few days. I put a cup of water out on the balcony above the door, and from what I can see through the vent it hasn’t turned to ice yet. That’s a good sign that solidifying air or not, the air outside is still above freezing.”

“That and you can still see fog past the entryway,” Tito Kolinh said. “It’s not coating the stone in ice.”

“That, too,” Lord Rian nodded. He looked at Wiz Tae, Wiz Lidz, and Shana. “I don’t suppose the three of you feel any change in how fast the dragon is moving?”

They all shook their heads. “Still right on top of us, and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon,” Wiz Tae said.

“It is also still very low along the ground,” Shana added, looking up for some reason. “There has been no change in that area.”

Lord Rian nodded. “If it’s still low enough to be in your demesne, maybe that’s how Lori knows about it making solidified air,” he said thoughtfully, although it didn’t sound like he was talking to anyone.

“It is possible,” Shana said. “I can certainly perceive the meanings it is taming its life into, although I cannot understand what the meaning results in.” She titled her head. “While we are on the subject, everyone who remained in River’s Fork is still healthy and well, as far as I can discern from the state of their life.”

“That’s good to know,” Rian said. “Still, she wrote ‘prepare for cold’, so it’s probably not cold yet, but if the dragon is playing with solidified air, that means that at the very least we’ll need to find a way to keep the air coming into the dungeon warm. It’s the easiest way to keep the everyone comfortable.”

Wiz Tae frowned. “How are we going to do that, though? Even with all the wood we have stacked in the second level, we can’t really light too many fires. That will use up our air.”

“I’ve thought of that, actually,” Lord Rian said. “We collected the bound tools Lori made for heating the bathwater while we were getting everything ready for the dragon. They haven’t been used all summer, but there’s no reason to think they don’t still work. If we could take on of the barrels or jars and fill it with water, move it in front of the vents and stick the bound tool into it to warm it up, it should be able to act as a decent heat source for the air coming in.”

“Wait, we have bound tools for heating water?”

“Yes, Lori made them so she could stop maintaining the bindings in the bath houses.”

“A barrel or jar might not be enough to conduct the heat,” Wiz Lidz said, rubbing his eyes and making a face like he was trying not to yawn. “Wood doesn’t really transfer heat well, and while pottery isn’t as bad, it’s still pretty poor. One of the big copper pots in the kitchen would work better.”

“That’s a thought,” Lord Rian said, tilting his head. “The problem is we need all the pots for cooking our meals. And we don’t really have any spares.”

"Doesn't need to be a big pot," Wiz Tae said thoughtfully. "It just needs to be hot enough. And maybe have a lid so we don't have the water in it going into the air and making things humid."

"Do you have one of those?" Lord Rian asked.

Wiz Tae nodded. "I packed our pot when we left Covehold. I'll get it from our alcove and get it to you."

Rian nodded. "We have a plan, then. Lidz, go and get some sleep. That’s an official lordly order. Without Lori here, you and the carpenters are the only ones who can build things, and if gets too cold, at the very least were going to need you to build a shelf for us to put Tae's pot on in front of the air intake vent."

Wiz Lidz nodded. "Sleep. Got it."

"Once you find your pot, go back to sleep too, all right? I want one of you awake when Shana…" he paused, and sighed, "when Binder Shanalorre goes to sleep so we have a healer ready at all times."

"Binder Lolilyuri isn't here, Lord Rian. You don't need to use my full name if you don’t want to," Shana said.

"I dare you to say that to her face."

"That sounds like a 'dealing with Binder Lolilyuri' matter. Not under my purview. I take care of children."

"That cutting wit is getting sharper every day…"

…

Maybe they’d all like some water. Lord Rian and Wiz Tae had been napping, so they were probably thirsty. Karina turned and headed towards the cold pantry to get a jar of the cold water there… and she supposed some cups too, since these were grownups.

Karina really didn’t understand why most grownups didn’t like sharing cups. She and Shana shared the same cup all the time.

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Conspiracy

I worried about Lori.

That was part of my job, of course. As her lord, I was a professional Lori-worrier, botherer, feeder, and talker. Usually, I worried that Lori wasn’t getting enough sleep, or using her magic for too long, or deciding it would be more convenient for her if she killed everyone in the demesne—except for the children, of course—and lived alone. Usually she remembered she didn't know how to butcher beasts and seels, or know how to make her own soap (oil and wood ash at a minimum), sighed and resigned herself to have to put up with people a little longer.

Right now, I was worrying because I haven't seen her in days, and she was in a demesne—all right, she was in the one of our two demesnes—where people didn't like her as well as they did here in Lorian. Yes, most of the people there were devout dungeon worshippers, which was why they had been so accepting of Shanalorre's rule, but there were also the malcontents who'd left here for there. While they'd receded to quiet grumbling when Lori taking over had resulted in increasingly improving living conditions, there was still some resentment there. While Riz was there to protect her… well, things could still go wrong, and that just made me worry about Lori and Riz!

But that was my off-duty worrying. I had other, more lordly worries to worry about, because if I didn't worry about it, other people would soon find themselves worrying about them.

At the moment, the worry was the possibility that the dragon outside would be causing a dangerous drop in temperature. While it was proven that the dungeon could remain comfortable in winter and even blizzard conditions, that was nowhere near close to being cold enough to solidify air. However, given that the air coming into the dungeon wasn't freezing already, and what sounded like hail outside, it was probably safe to assume that the extreme cold wasn't occurring at ground level. Even through the slats of the dungeon's air vents, I think I'd be able to notice a big chunk of solidified air outside the entryway.

So, while the dragon generating cold extreme enough to make solid air was a worry, it didn't seem to be an immediately pressing one. My little cup of water hadn't frozen yet, after all. Even if Lori was being absolutely lazy and leaving our survival solely to us—a laughable thought, as that woman would tell us how to breathe if she thought we were somehow doing it wrong—it didn't hurt to make preparations anyway.

Tae came back with a pot that was in good condition, although it was surprisingly small. I'd been expecting bigger, but looking at the pot's dimensions, it made sense. The pot was tall, vaguely mug-like, and just the right size to cook a meal for two, ideal for Tae and Rybelle. "Will this do?" she asked, putting the pot down on the table and happily accepting a cup of water from Karina. "Ah, thank you Karina!"

"It's a start," I said. "If we need to do this, we can just get more pots. I have four bound tools, so we can make for hot water pots."

The bound tools in question were these things that had a bead receptacle on one end and the coppery shell filled with the white Iridescence on the other. Like most of the non-wisplight bound tools Lori had made, these had originally been embedded in stone to keep them from being used for something besides their intended purpose. However, when we'd realized that they had been left outside during the previous dragon, Lori had slightly altered them to be more easily moved so that they could be collected and transferred to the dungeon.

In keeping with Lori's penchant for making things as difficult as possible to use for something besides their intended purpose—and most likely to keep them from being removed from the baths—the stone the bound tools had been embedded into had been made removable. Thankfully, the stones weren't head-sized things, but anyone trying to make off with the bound tools would be immediately obvious.

The bound tools to draw water from the dungeon's reservoir to the bath was an even bigger and more awkwardly shaped.

To the best of my knowledge, people took Lori's stern instructions to not do stupid things to the bound tools seriously—we'd yet to receive a report of so much as a dropped wisplight, never mind the kind of damage that resulted in improper use—but Lori wasn't the sort of person to trust in people not doing stupid things with dangerous objects.

This was the same woman who basically didn't care who was operating the demesne’s boats. She was both so good and so bad at being paranoid…

To be honest, I wasn't sure if the bound tools would work as they were. It would depend on how Lori had configured the things to generate heat. While the bound tool probably used firewisps, after being removed from the baths they might no longer be working. I could just see Lori doing it such that the bound tool only worked when it was in place at the baths it was supposed to be used at.

Well, there was an easy way to figure that out. “I’ll get one of the bound tools and a bead. We can start experimenting to see if the bound tool still works and—”

“No, we won’t!” Taeclass interrupted cheerfully.

I pause. Yes, I know it’s a bad habit to just stop talking and let people interrupt you, but I considered it preferable to trying to talk over someone else and both of your being unintelligible. My sister was much better at being loud and obstinate and talking over someone else than I was anyway. “We won’t?”

“We won’t,” Tae confirmed. “Because you are going back to sleep like you’re supposed to. If you’re going to be night shift, then you need to be up at night, so that means you sleep during the day. I’ll handle making sure this is working properly.”

“Tae, I can’t—”

“Oh, hush. I’m a wizard, I know enough about proper scholarship to be able to handle analyzing this,” Tae said. “If your plan was just to stick the end that doesn’t have a bead receptacle in water and put in a bead, then anyone can do that. Not that I’m going to do just that. If Binder Lori made this, then first we need to figure out how she made it.”

“I’m almost sure she did it by making a binding and anchoring it,” I said.

“Well, yes, that’s true. But what kind of heating did she form her binding to do? Is she using firewisps to just generate heat, or are the firewisps set to raise the temperature of anything that intersects the binding to a certain point? And more importantly, what is the volume of the binding?”

“Volume of the binding?” Ugh, I felt so stupid. This kind of ‘repeat the last few words said’ exposition is the domain of badly written characters!

“See? You really must be tired if you’re just repeating the last thing I said in the form of a question. Go to sleep, Rian.”

…

I’m pretty sure this feeling of annoyance is why Lori hates me so much when I’m right. “Fine. But only after you give exposition about what you said.”

“…most people ask for an explanation, you know.”

“I know what it said.”

Tae let out a giggle. “Fine, but then you sleep like a responsible lord. Firewisps are one of two kinds of wisps that can be inside all three kinds of matter, the other being lightningwisps, and even them some kinds of matter resist the latter. Now, normally, wizards can’t claim, bind or otherwise affect wisps, thoughts or vistas inside someone’s body, not like a Deadspeaker can affect life. However, there are some exceptions, and one of them is firewisps.  While a Whisperer—and a Dungeon Binder like Binder Lori, I suppose—can’t claim the firewisps in someone’s body even when the Whisperer is physically touching them, there is a way they can affect the temperature inside someone’s body using firewisps. All they need to do is form a binding of firewisps , and then have someone step into the volume of space occupied by that binding. While the firewisps are technically only going to change the temperature of their environment, when someone steps into the volume of the binding they become part of the environment being affected, and the firewisps don’t count as being of that person’s body since they originated from outside.”

“All right… what does this have to… ah. We don’t know what sort of binding Lori used or the volume occupied by the binding Lori put on the bound tool, so until we do it’s dangerous to put a bead on it because we might accidentally be in the volume.”

Tae nodded. “Our internal organs need a specific temperature range to operate properly, and any binding of firewisps intended to heat water would probably warm that water to significantly above body temperature. At the very least, we need to ascertain what kind of binding it was the Binder Lori used, and if it was the dangerous one, find out the boundaries of the volume so we can build tools to safely operate the bound tool from outside it." The Deadspeaker gave me a bright smile. "Something I'm perfectly able to do all by myself, so you go find yourself somewhere to sleep, close your eyes, go into the dark, and get some rest."

The suggestion was very tempting, but—

"Wizard Taeclas is correct, Lord Rian," Shana said, and I blinked in surprise. Oh, right, she was there, wasn't she? I'm completely forgotten. "If I am going to be awake in any case, then you should sleep. There's no need for both of us to be active at the same time outside of an emergency, which will hopefully not manifest."

…

"I'll be honest, I forgot you were sitting there, Shana. Shanalorre. So you're probably right, I should maybe go to sleep properly." Lying down next to where children were being loud hadn't been all that restful, but I'd really just been trying to rest my eyes without going to sleep…

Shana nodded. "Wizard Taeclas, if the binding is possibly as dangerous as you say, it would be best if you moved somewhere safe before you begin. There are still some unfinished tunnels in the third level that are empty, you should be able to set up there. I will come to assist you once I have escorted Lord Rian down to his alcove and ensured he is actually resting."

"I feel like I should be offended that I'm actually being escorted to make sure I go to sleep. But yes, set up the experiment away from people first, just in case. I'll…" I sighed. "I'll go get the bound tool and a bead."

"And then you go to sleep," Tae said.

I rolled my yes. "Yes, and then I'll go to sleep. Is there some kind of conspiracy going on to get me to sleep?"

"Yup!" Taeclas cheerfully admitted. "Umu and Mikon talked to my wife, my wife told me, I talked to Shana and she told me about the last dragon, and now we're all making sure you go to sleep properly instead of staying awake for days on end." She frowned. "That's really not healthy, you know. Lack of sleep can cause your clapper to not work properly for ringing."

…

"Why did you immediately go there?" I said blandly.

"I've found men pay better attention to warnings about their health when I make it clear how it affects their clapper," Tae said cheerfully.

"Is this something you learned in Deadspeaking school?"

"Yes, actually. We learned it from one of my teachers, and its been really useful since graduating."

I nodded. "Fine, fine. I'll get the bound tool, and then I'll get some rest. Though I'd like to make it clear, I am not doing it because I'm worried about what you said, all right?"

"If you say so," Tae said with a grin.

"Yes, I say so. I'm doing it because I really want to go to sleep."

"Of course, Rian."

"I might be sleepy, but I can still recognize when you're humoring me."

With lofty dignity, I went to get one of the bound tools and a bead.