Life as an architect

I wake up in my castle town apartment.
The room is quiet. Gera is still asleep. Nea rubs her eyes.

You left early yesterday.

I sit up and whisper.

The day before I was so tired because of the fighting and went to bed early.
And so I also woke up early and didn't want to wake you.

Gera mumbles without opening her eyes.

You could also have left a note.

I thought I would come back before visiting some association.
I already considered joining you again, Gera.
By the way, where have you two been last evening?
I was already excited to tell you something.

I just stayed longer. We're working on some project and want to finish it.

Me, too! Magic is very interesting.

Sorry, just go on. What did you want to tell us?

I found a nice association. I already promised them to come back, so I guess I have to stay there.

So...
Which one is it?

Oh, right. It's the architecture association.

Nice.
Maybe you can help me build a house in a few years.

Sorry, we don't build anything ourselves.
If there's anything I understood, it's that.
And they said I'm pretty good at drawing already.
But I should leave now. I can't wait to be back there.

I get dressed and then immediately head for the door.

Don't forget to eat something.

No time. I'll eat at the association.

I leave and walk back to the architecture association.
It takes longer than expected, but at least I don't get lost.
Still, I wish I was faster. I'm sure I'll figure out a better way, soon.

After I entered, Birch is already at his table, sharpening a compass.
He nods when he notices me.

Morning, village boy.

I grin and sit down.

Morning, jungle artist.

Just keep improving your drawing skills for now.
You'll get new tasks soon.

Still full of motivation, I start drawing.

After a while, Gregor enters, too, and immediately approaches me.

Nice, you really came back!
I'm going to show you our current project, a small bridge above a river in this town.
You probably never saw it.
Let's go there after lunch.
Before that, you can watch us plan the next project.
The castle will get a new balcony. The current one is very small.

Okay, I can have a look.

I get up and take a seat where I can see him properly.
Then I listen carefully as they plan the balcony.
Fist he suggests some general shape, then the shape of the railings, and then he asks about opinions for the best materials.
Some are more durable, but some are lighter or easier to work with.

After Gregor explained everything, everybody tells their opinions. Mostly questions why something is done in a specific way, but Gregor usually has a good explanation, and they only do a few small refinements.

And when everything is over, they agree to have lunch break.
They are kind of exhausted now and need some food.

So we all go outside together and buy some food.
Gregor invites me. We both get some meat sticks with a bunch of meat on them.

Then Gregor asks me to go to the construction site of that small bridge, and the two of us walk through the town while eating.

So, did you get everything we were talking about?

I can't remember all of it, but it generally makes sense to me.
At least I get what the general process is like.

That's a good start.

Soon we reach the construction site and watch some people working on some bridge.
It already looks like a bridge, but it probably still needs this ugly scaffolding.

Before we get closer, Gregor takes out a sketch of that bridge and looks at it.
I also have a look. The actual bridge doesn't look like it yet, but I can see how it's supposed to turn this way.

We get closer and Gregor greets the workers.
Then he takes out some measurement instruments and checks some angles and distances.

Once in a while he criticizes something.

This is a little uneven, but it's still okay. As long as this doesn't happen too often, it won't matter when it's finished.

They usually agree to improve and fix some things immediately.
Once, he even shows them how to do something right.

It's really exciting to watch them.
They seem very ambitious.

After watching for a while, Gregor comes back to me.

This will still take a while. If you want you can leave for today. The next days will be difficult enough. Just have fun in town or get some rest.

Oh, thanks. Bye. See you tomorrow.

I explore the town a little, but then go home early.
My roommates aren't at home, so I look through their stuff and find some books. Nothing too interesting. It seems that Nea has a few books on how to be a good slave, which is a little weird, but I also can't imagine Nea reading any fiction.
And then I go to bed early, so I can be back at the association sooner.

In the following days, I just watch some other members as they are working most of the time.
They teach me various things and also let me try something.
They ask me for my opinions, and sometimes they even like my answers, but most of the time it's just what you'd expect from a newbie.

And in the coming days, I get more and more responsibilities.
I always work with somebody else on their current project, and I do whatever they need from me.
From simple tasks like finishing some sketch to complicated ones like calculating how much materials are needed and how much they cost.

I'm really motivated when helping them.
I learn a lot of new stuff like how buildings have to be designed so that they are stable, where the raw materials come from and how they are ultimately finished.

And after a few weeks, it turns out that I was involved in all the steps of planning a small house.
And everybody I work with starts to have high expectations in me.

Actually I'm most interested in the design of buildings.
And it doesn't take long until I'm allowed to design a house for a rich villager almost on my own.
And soon I get involved in various smaller projects. In some of them I even have pretty important roles.

I'm mostly responsible for the design soon, and people like my ideas. I also have to ensure that it's technically possible and reasonable to build, so knowledge from the other areas is very important, too.
The others also check my designs and plan some of the details. So it's not necessary to be perfect.
And sometimes I still have to do other things anyway.

In my free time I start to meet some people to have some fun.
Nea and Gera often don't have time at the same time as me, so I most often meet that guy I met at the magic association, who didn't seem that convinced, and my fighting partner.
Usually we have some drinks together and talk about girls.
But once in a while we have some short trips.
They already get annoyed when I tell them how I would improve some building whenever I see something interesting.

It doesn't take too long until all the members of the architecture association value me very much. I don't even work here for a year yet.

So I want to use my reputation for good. Since we are there for the whole kingdom, we also build things outside of the castle town if they are important.
So I suggest helping with the renovation of the cave where I got to know the platehumans. They urgently need help because of the flooding.
And after talking this through together, we agree that helping there is important.

So I immediately visit the cave to inspect it.
And soon I meet Kalman again and we talk about his current plan and the next steps.

Kalman is really thankful and tells me about his ideas.

Morina isn't there when I come, but I also don't want to look for her. I have to focus on my job.

Back in castle town, I start to draw up the initial plans.
Talking to Kalman and inspecting the cave was very important in order to understand what the problems are and what they are trying to achieve.

So generally my life is great now. I have some friends, and some routine. I'm respected in my job.
Now the only thing that's missing is a girlfriend, but I'm sure I'll find one, soon.
Moving to the castle town was a great decision!