Asgeir had slept as well as he ever did in the bed of his wagon, a swath of grass for a pillow. Despite looking at Sangi'lak as his home, it felt more natural to him to sleep where he had always slept.

The carpenter had spent the majority of the past three days working on the relatively small corral. For now it could be used communally by the animals, but Asgeir knew by next time the cows and ewes entered their seasons, he'd want to have separate pens for the males of each species so their breeding habits could be controlled to an extent. He had controlled Sunny and Speck for the same reasons, fashioning a covering for Sunny so Speck could mount, while ensuring no foal would result. He could not afford to have a slowing down, even if it were a cute one.

He had set the beams for the corral, three by three the first night. Then the next day he collected small rocks and water. Asgeir had made a layer of rocks, then used a bit of the dirt he had scraped from the holes to make a thick mud that he put on top of the rocks. He continued layering, rocks, mud, rocks, mud, till he reached the top of the hole, which he covered with plain dirt. When the mud within dried, it would make a seal around the wood and would hold each beam in the hole a bit better. When the posts were standing, he had used his charcoal and a knife to make small, tapering holes that extended just under halfway through the beam. These were where the pegs would go.

The following day he had planed wood, somewhat unevenly, and made tapering holes in them, too. Then with some help, and using mud as a glue, he banged the pegs through the boards and into each beam. It took several tiring hours, but the corral was done and the animals were herded into it. The rest of the day he used cutting down small trees to fashion more beams and, less important, to plane more wood. Each tree yielded between two and four tall beams, and he cut down about a pawful and a couple more trees.

The next day, X'yrin stirred him in the cool of the morning, and he sat up, stretching. He was to lead the building of a barn today, a structure for each individual animal to stay in and then some. It would be a massive undertaking and he did not expect it to be done today. But they would try. Most of the wood was in his wagon already and he headed along the mountain, westward, to the place they had planned to meet to construct the behemoth barn.

They would use nails for this, mostly, he had decided, so he had not concerned himself with fashioning more pegs. He left the beams long, and set out several. He turned his horses loose; they wandered south, exploring but not straying too far. Then he stood, straightening himself from his normally hunched posture to look for the appearance of those who would help them.

When the only thing that came to the man's eyes was the sight of a jackal and a white wolf, herding the sheep just within eyesight, Asgeir turned to the lovely X'yrin. The Issor had ridden to the construction site with him and assisted him in carrying the wood nearer to where they needed it. He stood for several minutes scratching his head as he surveyed the ground, wondering where to start.

When X'yrin had proposed the building of the barn that needed to contain four horses, five piglets that would someday be big sows and boars, three sheep and as many cows, as well as maintaining room for more animals that would undoubtedly spawn from these and that would come in with immigrants, he had begun planning in his head. But now that he was looking at the grounds, Asgeir knew it was going to take a bit more than what he had thought. The man struck around looking for a stick, and found a suitably dusty space on the ground. He was no artist, but the shape of the barn was clear in his sketch. The base of the building would be fifteen feet tall by an immense 80 feet long, give or take a bit, which would allow for thirty-two, five foot square boxes, more than enough room to move about in. The ceiling would be roughly double a wolf's height, and while the tallest might have to stoop under the doorway, it would not be an uncomfortable amount.

Once he had figured out the dimensions for the building, Asgeir began working out how to frame it. For maximum durability, having a cross-bar of beams roughly every five to ten feet would be best. Doodling a bit more, he decided on five feet for the front, and ten along each side. He would need to do some serious work with the wood to prepare it best, but before that he needed to get the holes dug. He motioned X'yrin over to his "blueprint" and worked it out with her. Each small side would need six holes, with a mark in the middle to denote doors, while the long sides would need eight holes. The smaller side's holes would be five paces apart, the longer would be ten paces. The holes would have to be plenty deep to ensure each beam would sink enough to stabilize it. Without further ado, Asgeir began working on a corner hole, planning to dig past arm's length.

Asgeir and X'yrin worked long and hard on the foundation of the barn. Though it took the morning to complete, by the time the early afternoon arrived the holes were dug and the wood to hold up the structure was cut to its proper length. X'yrin and he had nearly placed the sum of them when she turned to a voice coming from the east. He placed his before turning, and received the one X'y had been hauling to place it in the next hole, leaving a scant dozen left to fill. All dangerous objects otherwise occupied he turned to also greet the visitors, a generally friendly expression on his face and his black tipped tail wagging broadly behind him.

The first newcomer was introduced to him indirectly as Jiva, a young man with light brown fur and a reddish mane which stuck up in a line from forehead to the back of his head. The man was shorter than he by a fair amount, and Asgeir's first reaction was to dismiss him till the man's claim that he could do "anything". Given the way Jiva's eyes took in the skeleton of the barn Asgeir assumed he meant building, and took some amount more interest. His eyes traveled to the young lady standing next to Jiva, who was introduced by the same as Palaydrian. She was a gorgeous cream wolfess, much as his Karina had been, but with darker points. He offered Jiva a curt nod, extended into a half bow for the lady, and began to answer Palaydrian's query of where he wanted them to work when X'yrin spoke up again, stating intention to call for a break -- then her statement broke off as the small voice of Zeus piped up.

Palaydrian reacted first, crouching to speak to Zeus and then X'y followed, scooping the youngling up to ensure he was alright and chide him for venturing so far from the caves unattended. She concluded her thought to break for lunch and to discuss the project, and Asgeir cleared his throat. I'll ride back to the dens and fetch back some food. Zeus can come with me, if he likes; he can be my big helper. I'll take good care of him, he adopted the solemn tones of the lad, I promise. He whistled once and within a few moments, the white-dappled bay hide of Speck appeared behind him. He swung himself aboard, then led the horse to a rock for ease of mounting by X'y, offering a hand to her for better balance with the sandy pup seated on Speck's withers in front of him. When she was aboard he handed Zeus to her, and allowed a moment for them to get settled to ride before nudging the stallion.

The horse set off at some pace slightly smoother than a trot but not as fluid or as fast as a gallop. He did not wish to startle or scare Zeus, and so talked to him and X'yrin the entire time, til they got to the caves. He assembled some food, leaving X'y atop his steed. It was perhaps not a feast but enough to sate the ones gathered. Asgeir slung the bag over Speck's ample hindquarters, and carefully remounted the stallion. The return journey was as smooth as the departure had been, and took next to no time. When they arrived, he slid from the horse and set the sack down, then assisted his Alphess off the horse's back so she could distribute food.