IC IX: Turning the Tide

[CoffeeIncluded]

Lander walks with Natalia towards the edge of the town. "You should know," he starts, "good stone is hard to come by in Woodhelm. When we need it, we have to carve it from a shallow quarry eight miles away and haul it here, and we had to build the wall in a hurry. So we used stone for the guard towers and for the foundation, but the wall itself is made of wood- of which there is plenty available"

Natalia can see that there are eight stone guard towers around the perimeter of the camp, lined by the 30 foot high wall. Rocks make up the bottom few feet of the wall, with two layers of thick, flat lumber sprouting from it, separated, it appears, by a thin wooden chassis meant to reinforce it.. The walls are buttressed from the inside by additional planks every few yards to keep them from being pushed in. The work is clearly rushed and inelegant- the buttresses are not even sanded- but as Natalia studies the structure she can tell it was crafted with an expert eye for engineering, with the positions well chosen against outside forces. Along the top of the wall are the battlements, with corridors for guards to patrol- these too are ugly but functional.

Lander points to a spot along the wall that looks newer. "That's where the fire giant broke through," he says sadly. "Didn't take too long to break through both layers, even with us filling him with arrows from above."

Natalia nods, and as she investigates the wall it's clear that he did what he could with the stone he had. The wall is extremely well done, and it's clear on her face, the admiring look she gives him. She runs her hand along the wood, even pressing against it, and can't feel any brittle orange, or springy green where green shouldn't be. The stone is cool, and tough, and thick, and feels flat and gray. Its only weaknesses that she can think of right away are the materials, and...active defenses.

"Lander, did giants break or burn wood?can you...wrap wood in iron, or get stone, steel from firm? Or help from institute? I joined for engineers." She pauses, pacing around the wall. "you want traps?"