I stand up, grin and clap my hands together. It's time to do some work.
"Maces, shields and arrows. These 3 things will be our first step in improving our offense and defense. To explain, the maces are going to be very simple. Big rock plus wooden stick, done! Arrows, simple as well. Lots of them, however, the head is not a point instead it will be something like a ball of flammable objects. We can use tree sap, small vines and tinder to create the head of the arrow. These arrows will be set alight before firing them and even if they miss the target, having lots of these will reduce the area of where our opponents can move."
"Are we using fire as a weapon?"
"Yes, David we are and it is a very effective weapon used correctly. Lastly is the shields. They are the most difficult thing we need to create and I will be working with old man Hus and Lime to complete it. Lucina, Melody, Robin and Howard will be creating arrows. David, Frank, Owen and Noah will be creating the maces. Celine, Gobi and the goblin troops will be patrolling the area. I want the wolves with Celine at the bottom of the canyon alongside 3 goblins while the rest is spread in the forest. Do not go too far and retreat immediately if seen. Does everyone understand?"
I look around for a bit, observing each person's expression before moving on to the next.
"Can you explain what kind of size you want the mace to be? As well as a description of it?"
Owen steps forward to confirm about the mace and I was glad he said something. After Oscar's death, I wanted Owen to be more proactive. Searching for things to do and things to improve on as well as interacting with other people and asking for answers when needed.
"A mace is a relatively simple weapon to create. Its base design is a club and all you need to do is find a rock with a hole in it and drill to the other side using old man Hus's hand drill and slide the club into the hole. Secure it with some vines and you have created a mace. Stone plus stick."
"Why is this weapon going to be helpful? Wouldn't our axes already be enough? Both is a stone plus stick."
With a smile old man Hus answered the questions for me.
"Young Owen, what do you use to break stone? Is it an ax? No, you use something of similar material or higher which means you use a stone to break the stone. A hammer or a mace are one and the same, with the same function of breaking."
"I see…The hard skin of the stone monsters is why we need maces."
"Yes, exactly. While I do think our axes will work, creating them takes a longer process as the blade of an ax needs to be sharpened. Maces however are easier to create and maintain."
"Ian!"
I snap my head towards the voice and find myself looking at Robin.
"The arrows won't work. How will they fly if the head is a ball?"
"It doesn't have to be a ball, it can be vines wrapped around the tip of the arrow covered in tree sap and tinder. It just needs to be able to carry enough flammable objects on the arrow so that it stays alight all the way until it lands on our target."
"Okay, and how many do you want?"
"The more the better. We might use all of them in the following battle and if there are any leftovers then they are used in future battles."
"Understood."
"Any more questions before we begin?"
I look around once more making sure to double-check so I didn't skip anyone that might be hesitant about asking a question.
"Okay everyone you know what your job is so go and complete the task. If there are any questions come and talk with me. Old man Hus and Lime let's go to your crafting space."
Everyone dispersed into their own little group talking with each other about the roles needed to complete their tasks. I could see Robin's group that the girls had already run into the forest to collect the materials while Howard was setting up another fire further away to test their arrows. Noah and Owen were going down the river in search of large rocks while David and Frank headed to the forest to find a solid stick to the handle.
I lead the way towards old man Hus's crafting space while thinking about how to create a scutum. I had researched about it on the internet prior to coming to the game and luckily for me the scutum was made out of layers of wood stuck together by a glue of some sort and leather. Since there was no leather or glue in HavenFall I thought about using vines and some homemade glue.
"Lime, I have an important job for you. I need you to collect a lot of sap and charcoal. The charcoal is from the fire we burn, around it is a lot of charcoal. However, the sap will have to be from the trees in the forest. Grab one of the clay pots and collect it until it fills it all up. While this is happening I will be constructing the basic skeleton of the shield with old man Hus. Do you understand?"
"Got it! I'll be back soon with everything you asked."
I watch Lime run away with a clay pot in her hand as she joins up with Lucina and Melody on their sap collection.
"Lad, so what do you want me to do for you?"
"Old man Hus this shield might be a bit hard."
"Why is that lad?"
"Because of the detail. I want this shield to be light but durable and big enough that even David can hide behind it and his body won't be shown. At the same time light enough for the goblins to be able to pick them up and walk or run around with it."
"That…That's impossible. You would need to cut the wood into very thin pieces but the thinner it is the more likely it will break."
"That's why I need the glue solution. Old man Hus, the scutum is not one piece of wood as the shield. It is layers of wood that create the shield."
With a confused look old man Hus blinks at me waiting for me to elaborate.
"Okay, the shield is bent outwards. We can make a mold using some of the wood we have to create an arc shape. Once we have done that we cut out the wood so that it can bend enough to fit the curvature. Then, apply the glue and place another layer of wood on top of that. Do this so that there are 3 layers of wood and then let it dry and we have finished out the first shield. Sound easy?"
I let old man Hus contemplate the idea while I search around his area. Since he was using the front of the food/armory shelter as his own personal crafting space there had been quite a lot of material piled up waiting to be used.
Howard or David must have helped him cut down some trees as he had logs cut into smaller logs placed evenly along the back and side of the shelter. By sheer coincidence, the sizes of the logs happen to be close to the desired length. I lift one of the logs up to compare the size kneeling a bit I was shorter than the log. I smile to myself at the coincidence and was ready to make the shield.
"Lad, I have an idea to improve on your idea of the shield. You want three layers of one solid piece of wood correct?"
"Yea, that sounds about right."
"What if instead of 3 large pieces, each piece is cut into 3 pieces since the wood we have does not come in large sizes. Then when constructing the first layer will be up and down while the second layer is across and the third layer is up and down again."
"Wait…Old man Hus that's brilliant! It solves the problem of our resource plus having both horizontal and vertical points of the shield allows for a different area of protection. If a blow is too heavy on one side, instead of the whole shield breaking it could just be one part. That's brilliant!"
"Hahaha, thank you, lad. It was because of you that I can keep my mind moving with new ideas."
Excited at the new method of creating an ancient shield I quickly went to move the logs closer to us. Old man Hus went to grab his makeshift saw which was just a stone he had sharpened to cut the log into thinner pieces.
There were no machines to do this step for us so a collaborative effort was needed. I hold onto the sides of the log balancing it vertically. Old man Hus stepping onto a flat rock to get higher starts to cut into the log. Slowly by surely, he makes his way from the top to the bottom. The sawdust fly onto my face and body, making breathing a challenge but ultimately I had to close my eyes and ask for breaks every so often.
Lime had come back with a clay pot filled all the way with tree sap. The tree sap was still hard and in lots of clumps but that is okay since the point of the tree sap was to slowly melt it.
I had Lime create a smaller fire near us using some tinder and small branches and start to melt the tree sap. With her trusty pair of large sticks to transfer the hot clay pot away from the flame, she started to move the tree sap around as it melts. I warn her to not let the sap boil but instead, continuously move the melted sap with the nonmelted sap to make it melt faster as well as keep it smooth and even.
Keeping an eye on Lime's mixture as well as stabilizing the log got easier as old man Hus got lower. With less sawdust in my eyes, I could look at Lime as she mixes the paste together. I get her to crush some charcoal on a rock until it is a fine powder making sure to look out for the paste as we don't want it to burn or boil.
Once the tree sap was at a consistency of sticky bread dough just shy of a liquid I made Lime add the charcoal. Mixing the two ingredients together created a black swamp-like creation in the clay pot, dying the inside jet black. After incorporating the charcoal evenly into the mixture I had Lime apply it on a stick. Gradually layering the black glue until there was only a little left sticking to the clay pot.
Our black glue stick is about the size of a remote controller both in length and width. Sticking the nonglue side into the ground we let it cool off to the side as I continue to help old man Hus cut down the logs. I ask Lime to make more glue sticks and by the end of the day as night is about to roll in I and old man Hus had cut down approximately enough wooden planks for 10 shields and Lime had made 5 glue sticks. While the width of each cut is a little bit different from one another it was fine since that just added to extra protection in parts of the shield.
I head to the mud house to relax and get some shut-eye keen for tomorrow as old man Hus and I would be assembling the shield.
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