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Brine Pools and Pan Foundations

Perimeter drainage ditches successfully diverted rainwater runoff away from the brine pools, preventing freshwater from flooding or diluting the concentrated brine. On an inland pan, Nessa carried out a low-intensity test boil using salvaged driftwood and deadfall, ensuring the core dry billets remained untouched for domestic heating. Fen monitored the western bank at low water throughout the test; the packed clay and turf sod reinforcement held solid under low heat, showing no signs of cracking, slumping, or renewed seepage.

Fuel, Stores, and Village Life

At the hollow shelter, work parties split the freshly cut willow and alder billets into thin laths and stacked them on stringers beneath the thatched roof. The thinner cuts are curing under the open-sided shelter to accelerate seasoning in the autumn breeze while remaining protected from rain.

Orin kept the two fishing skiffs safely inshore, launching only during calm weather windows to avoid risk in rising autumn swells. Sava’s drying racks were positioned in the shelter beside the longhouses, allowing the cured catch to finish drying cleanly without risk from the rain. Daro’s weekly storehouse inspections confirmed that the lifted roots, grain, peas, and cured fish remain entirely free of mold. In the evenings, families gathered around shared longhouse hearths, combining warmth to stretch dry fuel reserves.

Creek Reconnaissance and the Northern Shore

Following the shingle path north past the marker beach, Evi and a companion reached the southern bank of the northern creek under cover of the dunes. From a concealed vantage, they observed an active boat yard on the opposite bank, noting timber sleds, an overhauled fishing craft, and permanent thatched dwellings. This confirms a substantial, permanent neighboring settlement situated just across the creek. Having observed the shore without making contact or being detected, Evi and her companion withdrew safely to Saltmere before nightfall.

Visible Costs and Immediate Pressures

As mid-autumn closes, several unresolved pressures face Saltmere heading into late autumn:

• Fuel Reserves: While splitting billets into thin laths accelerates drying, the green wood under the hollow shelter is still curing and cannot yet be burned clean. Dry billets remain strictly reserved for domestic heating as cold weather approaches.
• Salt Production: The reinforced bank withstood low-heat testing without seepage, but full boiling has not resumed. Sustained production remains limited by available drift fuel and the bank's endurance under full working heat.
• Seasonal Weather: Stronger late-autumn winds, intermittent frost, and wetter conditions are expected next. These will further restrict travel on the sound and limit outdoor drying.
• The Northern Presence: A substantial settlement with boat-repair capability is now confirmed across the northern creek. While Saltmere remains undetected, decisions regarding trade, contact, or continued concealment must soon be made.

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Structural Underpinning of the Boat Shed

The temporary props have been replaced with a permanent timber and stone foundation. Mara and Ivo jacked the shed cross-beam with timber wedges to relieve all downward weight from the weakened corner, excavated through softened earth down to firm subsoil, and seated a broad, flat river stone plinth. After sawing away the decayed foot of the post, Mara charred the cut end over coals to deter fungal rot. A seasoned squared timber block was fitted onto the raised stone plinth and sistered to the sound post with heavy hardwood splints, bored through and pinned with treenails before being sealed with pitch. The shed frame now rests securely above ground moisture, stabilized against the autumn winds without temporary shoring.

Timber Hauling and Yard Reserves

Taking advantage of dry weather before continuous rains softened the ground, work crews corduroyed boggy dips along the uphill track and cleared obstructive stones. Using the two heavy drag-sleds, logging teams brought down straight trunk timbers for planking, naturally curved framing knees for the hull, and bundles of windfall deadwood. At the yard, the timbers were stripped of bark to ward off wood-boring grubs and stacked on raised skids beneath thatched lean-tos beside the boat shed, where they will air-dry through winter in preparation for spring construction. Deadwood and yard offcuts were split and stacked along dry leeward walls to build household fuel caches.

Swales, Hearth Safety, and Fiber Works

Tor directed households in digging runoff swales along the uphill sides of the dwellings and boat shed, channeling surface drainage safely into the creek to protect wall bases and interior floors. Tor also inspected central hearths and stone surrounds across all dwellings, ensuring smoke-hole flues and framing poles have proper clearance to avoid ember hazards as indoor fires burn continuously. Straw-lined root and bean storage pits were culled for softening produce, which was diverted to evening stew pots before spoilage could affect the main stores.

During wet stretches that prevented outdoor hauling, labor shifted indoors. Under Pell's instruction, apprentices processed harvested nettle and bast fibers, retting, stripping, and spinning them into binding twine and light cordage. Near a sheltered fire, workers rendered gathered resin, wood ash, and powdered charcoal into troughs of black caulking pitch to supply future boatwork and seam repairs.

Scouting the Western Beach and Southeast Ridge

Ivo completed both reconnaissance missions, adhering to strict turnaround times before dusk:

• The Western Marker Beach: Ivo reached the beach via the half-day coastal route. He confirmed that the marker stake remains standing and intact, and noted faint tracks along the shore gravel nearby, showing recent passage along that stretch of coast, though no boats, encampments, or travelers were present.
• The Southeast Ridge: Following the pack trail to the first ridgeline, Ivo occupied a concealed observation point overlooking the broad basin. He observed managed herds of pack goats grazing across the distant upland shelf before withdrawing at midday. The presence of herded pack animals confirms organized pastoral activity beyond the ridge, though no contact was initiated.

Immediate Pressures and Open Decisions

• Approaching Late Autumn: Weather patterns point toward heavier late-autumn winds, shortening days, and oncoming frost. Outdoor hauling and drying opportunities will soon close entirely.
• The Upland Pastoralists: The managed pack goat herds confirmed on the upland shelf demonstrate that neighbors inhabit the grazing basin southeast of the ridge. Their numbers, camps, and intentions remain unknown.
• Activity at the Marker Beach: The faint shore tracks near the western stake verify human movement along the coast, though it is not yet known who passed or whether they will return.
• The Spring Hull: Building timbers and knees are seasoning on skids, pitch and cordage are accumulating, and the unfinished vessel remains protected under thatch. Arel and the fishing households continue to rely on the overhauled creek boat, awaiting the fulfillment of the yard's promise to complete the larger vessel once winter passes.

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The Harvest Secured and Loft Rotation

Hesta watched the sky closely, seizing every dry interval to send sickle teams through the final standing barley. As the last cut stalks were brought in, Beren kept the wool loft hurdles in steady rotation, moving cured bundles down to the threshing cloths during dry, breezy stretches while newly harvested sheaves took their place on the racks above. Winnowing kept pace with the flails. The entire barley crop was cured and bagged without suffering rain spoilage, while bundles of clean straw have been set aside for goat fodder, bedding, and insulation.

Storehouse Protection and Winter Fuel

Inside the storehouse, Leth supervised the stacking of all newly harvested grain sacks exclusively atop the raised timber dunnage, keeping them set back from the cold outer stone walls. Daily inspections of sack bottoms and floor timbers have detected no returning damp. On the driest upper racks, Beren has secured the prime seed grain in marked sacks, kept strictly separate under his custody for next year's planting.

Outside, the pack goats and hauling teams worked steadily between rain showers. Deadwood, dry brush, and cut upland peat were gathered from the shelf and upper slopes, then hauled back and stacked tight under covered eaves and lean-tos to keep winter burning fuel dry before ground saturation sets in.

Village Unity and the Household Rota

As heavy field cutting gave way to indoor processing, Cal adapted the household rota to match the seasonal rhythm. Light threshing assistance, basket mending, and fuel stacking were woven naturally alongside the continuous tending of children and elders. With domestic care openly valued and the covered bowl set aside and witnessed at each evening meal, household unity has held firm across the settlement.

Meeting at the Stream Ford

The eastern approach brought the month's most significant encounter. Jun, observing the spring and ford, was hailed from the eastern bank by an unarmored party of four advancing openly along the alder path. The delegation was led by a woman named Del, accompanied by a guide named Seli and two companions.

Jun held the crossing while word was brought up to the shelf. You and several village elders met them at the water's edge, exchanging peaceful greetings across the stream. Del presented a woven gift basket containing cured smoked fish and clean sea-salt, explaining that their settlement is a coastal fishing village named Ternhaven, and that they have come seeking peaceful trade with the upland shelf. High Barley maintained the stream barrier throughout the exchange, concluding the greeting warmly without admitting the visitors up the ridge path toward the village.

Pressures Ahead

The granary is stocked, prime seed is safeguarded, and fuel is banked under the eaves as mid-autumn deepens toward late-autumn gales, shortening daylight, and winter frosts. High Barley’s immediate survival through the cold is anchored in its own stores. However, the arrival of the Ternhaven delegation introduces immediate unresolved decisions: whether and how to open trade with Del's people, what goods High Barley might offer in exchange for coastal salt and fish, and how to manage the stream crossing as seasonal rains cause the water to rise. Meanwhile, to the northwest, the upland pack trail over the ridge remains quiet and unmapped.

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Embassy to the Stream Ford and High Barley

Del and Seli returned safely along the alder path with their two companions, reporting that their embassy to the stream ford succeeded in opening formal, peaceful contact with the upland people.

Upon reaching the ford at the meadow's edge, the party observed a stone boundary cairn marked with a woven willow ring. Before attempting to cross, they were hailed across the water by a ford watcher named Jun. Shortly thereafter, the upland leader and elders came down to the stream to meet them.

Del presented the gift basket of Ternhaven’s smoked fish and sea-salt, which the upland hosts accepted courteously. Del set forth Ternhaven’s hospitality customs—shelter and a shared hearth meal on the first night, followed by reciprocal labor or peaceful departure with travel rations—and opened discussions regarding future barter between coast and upland. The upland community, identified as High Barley, affirmed peaceful relations across the stream. However, their elders kept the entire council strictly at the water boundary, neither crossing to the eastern bank nor inviting Ternhaven's delegation past the ford.

Stores, Hearth, and Runoff Defenses

Back at the landing, Ves and Wen acted ahead of the driving mid-autumn rains to protect the settlement's food and water:

• Clearing the Upper Ledge: Work crews stripped all dried split fish and sliced roots from the exposed racks on the upper ledge, carrying them safely into the landing hall before rot could set in.
• Indoor Curing and Dunnage: Preserving continues over the central landing hearth, filling the hall rafters with smoke. Ves oversaw the stacking of root bundles and sacks of meal onto raised split-timber dunnage, keeping stores off the damp ground and away from the outer walls.
• Wellhead Protection: Wen supervised the digging of shallow diversion ditches uphill from the fresh-water wellhead. These channels successfully diverted autumn mud and hillside runoff away from the settlement's primary drinking source.

Inlet Fishery and Indoor Craft

With rain and autumn swells battering the coast, Ruan and Kiri prioritized craft safety:

• Sheltered Catches: Ruan strictly confined all boat operations to the calm water of the inner hooked inlet. Whenever winds rose and heavy swells pushed against the shore, both fishing craft were hauled above the storm tide line onto the inner beach.
• Mooring Inspection: During slack tides, Kiri inspected the re-rigged outer mooring to confirm the line remained clear of underwater snags and was holding soundly.
• Hall Labor: On days when rough seas and squalls made fishing impossible, Ruan’s crews moved inside the landing hall, twisting fresh cordage from stored bast fiber and repairing torn net meshes around the hearth.

Immediate Pressures and Open Questions

• The High Barley Boundary: While High Barley received the gift courteously and agreed to peace, their insistence on keeping the meeting at the stream ford leaves the exact terms, frequency, and safety of future trade to be determined.
• Late-Autumn Weather: Mid-autumn rains have driven drying and craft work entirely indoors. With late-autumn winds approaching and winter frosts ahead, fuel, smoke ventilation, and indoor store conditions will require constant vigilance.
• Maritime Limits: Ternhaven's boats remain preserved and effective within the sheltered hook, but navigation beyond the bar remains untested and dangerous during rough ebb tides.

Review

Delivery Approval Id

T002-A-DELIVERY