[center][b]Ards[/b][/center]

[b]C) Improve Infrastructure + F) Improve Technology[/b]

[hider=Breakfast]
A small group of men were seated in Danr's mead hall, eating their breakfast together. The mead hall was at last quiet enough to allow Danr some peace; with the existing longhouses expanded and more homes built besides, the chieftain had told most of the people who regularly sheltered in his mead hall to find another place to use as a home. Now there was just Danr, his son Dag, and some close friends (renowned warriors or nobles, almost all of them) that inhabited the spacious hall.

Of course, he kept around one or two servants as well. One of them was now bringing food to the hungry men assembled around the tables. Danr looked down at the wooden bowl before him, containing a porridge made from boiling oats. [i]Porridge.[/i] There was not much else that could be made from the oats that the Ards were now growing. The cabbages could be mixed into stews and such, yet the rye even more useless than the oats. Traditionally the tribe had grown rye as animal feed and for brewing into beer or baking bread, yet the wolves would not eat feed made from the rye and the tribe had neither the means of brewing beers nor that of grinding flour and baking bread. So for now, the rye was simply put into storage while the cabbages and oats were eaten.

Danr ate a mouthful of his porridge. The stuff was hearty enough, albeit mushy and bland in flavor. No doubt the others at the table thought the same, for they began to mix honey into their food for flavoring. The honey had caught on quickly and was now a favorite of the tribe, yet it was somewhat scarce so the people had to ration themselves. Dag and the others at the table stirred just a few drops from the cup of honey into their bowls of porridge, while Danr callously poured a spoonful or two into his. Being the chieftain had its benefits.

Now that they were eating, the men could begin their discussion about what the tribe would do next. It started with one commenting, "The lumberjacks we sent along the coast are sure taking their time." 

Another countered, "Finding a forest, chopping down a dozen trees, lashing them into a raft, and floating it back takes time."

"Still, something could have happened to them?"

Danr put that notion to rest with a terse reply, "What could happen to band of men with big axes? Maybe I'd have worried a while back before we knew that we were alone in these hills, but I already made myself look like a fool running about looking for skraelings." He took a moment to eat some porridge, and after swallowing, he confidently waved his hand and stated as fact, "There are no skraelings in these parts that could have killed them. Wolves or bears wouldn't attack a group that big. I'm sure that the lumberjacks are fine."

"The miners came back. Said they've dug up tin, copper, and iron, and a great bounty that is. To find all three in one spot is nigh unheard of," one of the warriors optimistically said after a long silence.

Danr gave a mild response, "Good. Our old weapons and tools are all dulled and a fair few are broken. It's about time we made more. Find the smiths and whatever idle hands are available, and have them build a smithy for the village."

One of the others objected, "The mine is days away. We're talking about having men carry sacks of rocks from that mountain all the way back here to the smiths? The smithy should be over at the mine so that we only need to bring back the finished crafts, that's only common sense."

Danr considered that for a moment. "Well then we'd need to send the smiths to live over there, and their families would want to go too. So then we'd have to build houses. We'd be always lugging entire sacks of supplies over there to support so many families, so it wouldn't even spare us any work. Unless they made enough supplies for themselves, but by now we're talking about building an entire village and sending away half of the tribe." The chieftain shook his head and continued, "No. The miners can smelt the ores into bars over there to spare us bringing back 'sacks of rock', but we aren't giving that mining camp an entire smithy."

That was reasonable enough, the others figured. "So be it," one of them said, "we'll send the miners over there more supplies, and tell them to build a smeltery. A charcoal kiln too, as they'll need fuel to melt the ore. For now, we have no choice but to dedicate a few people to always journey back and forth, bringing the miners whatever supplies they need and carrying back the metal bars."[/hider]
[hider=Dag's Invention]
Their meal finished, the men stood from the table and made their way to the large doors out. Dag unbarred the heavy wooden doors, and with a mighty heave he pushed the things open. Snows had evidently come during the night, as the stuff had piled up outside the door to the point where opening it had been difficult even for Dag. The men filed out of the mead hall and into the cold snow, the conversation now shifting to less important matters.

As he held open the door, the chieftain's son gazed out at the snow-covered, wintery landscape. It brought back some of his fonder memories of the Fatherland, where there had been no shortages of snow. He recalled being a small child, playing with others in the snow, and going down hills with skis and sleds. Dag felt a surge of pride as he witnessed one of the mighty wolves that he had captured and tamed. The beast was off in the distance, sniffing at something. Suddenly, as he mused to himself of sleds and dogs, his thoughts came together! Dag began to feel the obsession that he was wont to have, the same one that had led him to tame the wolves.

Interrupting his father and the others men, Dag suddenly spoke for the first time that morning, "I have an idea. Do you remembers the 'sleds' that we once built as toys for the children, the things that could slide down snowy hills?"

They looked irritably at Dag, seemingly annoyed that he wanted to build playthings for the children when there was far more important work to be done. Before they could open their mouths, Dag went on, "The wolves that the hunters and I tamed are quick and strong. They have good endurance too. Do you think that they could pull a big sled, one with people or metal bars in it?"

Some were skeptical, but others immediately saw the brilliance of Dag's idea. In any case, even the skeptics were standing with snow above their ankles. Making the journey to the mine on foot would be a nightmare with so much snow, especially carrying supplies or bars of metal. So they all decided that using dog sleds would be worth trying.

Dag had no clue how to go about building a sled or lashing the dogs to it, so beyond coming up with the idea he had nothing to do with the work. Others took it upon themselves, using what they had available or could find nearby to build a dog sled. The Ards hadn't trained the wolves to pull a sled and so they didn't expect it to be especially maneuverable or easy to control, but hopefully the crack of a whip of prodding of a stick would be enough to drive a few wolves forward with the sled being pulled behind. With any luck they would manage to make a working dog sled that could cut down on the travel time to the mountain and make transporting things back and forth much easier. Of course, it would only work when there was snow, but during the warmer seasons the mining camp could be abandoned and the miners could work on the farms or other things.[/hider]

[b]Summary:[/b]
[hider]
-Danr is completely unconcerned about the lumberjacks that haven't come back yet
-A smelting furnace is being built at the mine, as well as a small charcoal kiln to provide fuel for it. 
-An actual blacksmith's forge is being built in Njor. 
-Danr has decided to have the tribesmen process the ores into metal bars at the mine, but they are still sending the metal back to Njor to be worked by smiths.
-Dag came up with the idea of a dog sled, which the tribe is building in the hopes hopes that it will be able to make the journey back and forth from the mine faster, at least as long as there is snow on the ground. If it works, the sled will be used to regularly carry supplies to the miners and bring back the metal bars.
[/hider]