Close to one hundred people arrive at the Stables over the course of the day; most are unemployed or otherwise destitute, and are willing to try anything. Ten are told to stay and help; the rest are told to come back tomorrow morning, when construction will begin. In the meantime, Phaedrus is far from idle. The much-extolled foundations of Madame Zanzibar's are in entirely the wrong place; he looks at them disapprovingly for a moment, and they seem to melt into the earth. Then he consults his plans carefully, and slowly paces off a path around the edge of each new building site; the ground beneath his feet ripples and solidifies into level stone, forming new foundations. Then he returns his attention to the problem of materials. He stands motionless, and a huge tree trunk without branches thrusts up from the earth, reaching a towering height. As the huge log continues to grow, there is a loud snap of tearing wood, and the log breaks about six feet above the ground; the top section falls to the earth (strangely, it lands rather gently), while the bottom continues to grow slowly. There is a deafening snap, and the log on the ground suddenly splits lengthwise into fenceposts and boards of various sizes. Phaedrus' ten helpers quickly haul the wood out of the way, clearing the ground just in time for another huge section of log to fall, and so on... This process continues for several hours. Phaedrus remains still throughout nearly the entire time, stirring only once every half-hour or so to drink a potion or eat something from his bag (during which the log stops growing, and the ten workers take a welcome opportunity to relax as well). Finally, when the stableyards are piled sufficiently high with wood, the bottom of the log pulls itself out from the ground, and the hole closes up beneath it. Phaedrus silently thanks his helpers, gives them each the going rate of five silver pieces (produced from some pocket beneath his robes), and tells them that they will receive double wages for their later work if they choose to return tomorrow. They nod at this, and leave for their homes; Phaedrus plods wearily off to his office, to get some much-needed rest for himself... ----- The next day, everyone is assembled in the stableyard by sunrise. Those who weren't there yesterday whistle softly at the piles of lumber; many are expecting that Phaedrus will rest today after such an effort. But he emerges from his office on schedule, radiating warm thoughts and passing out copies of the plans for the new additions--a large building, nearly as large as the existing main stable, and three smaller buildings. Carpentry equipment is quickly passed out, and construction begins. The work proceeds quickly; all of the wood is already the proper size, and it's only a matter of putting it in the right place and nailing it together, and making sure that everything is thoroughly coated with fire retardant. Within a few hours, the frames for the smaller buildings are assembled and upright, and the walls are going up. Phaedrus is everywhere, hauling boards back and forth, watching the construction like a hawk, healing those who squash their thumbs with hammers or cut themselves with saws, and simultaneously performing his normal duties at the old stables. By the end of the day, the three smaller buildings are finished; the crews finish putting the sealant on the roofs just as the sun sets. The workers return home for the night, and Phaedrus, after happily inspecting the new buildings one last time, vanishes into the Druidical Society hall for the night. ----- When the sun rises once again, the construction crew has already gathered once again. They are rather surprised to see Kendrick walk up, wearing a rough leather jerkin and a tool belt; he hardly looks like the paladin they've come to know... however, they are very appreciative of the extra help, and he quickly meshes into the routine, even though the workers are still a bit careful of what they say around him. Today, the focus of construction shifts to the new main building. This is a much more difficult project than the smaller buildings; the pieces are much bigger and heavier, and everything must line up just right (and when you're working for Phaedrus, they'd better line up *just* right...). A merchants' caravan is in town today, so the stables are much busier than yesterday; Phaedrus is kept inside nearly all day. But Kendrick instinctively steps into the role of foreman, making sure that everything remains on schedule. And the workers discover the unique properties of working for a telepath: even while he's inside tending to the merchants' horses, his "voice" is still in his employees' minds, making cheerful conversation while pointing out misaligned boards and bending nails. The building frame is assembled and upright by noon; the boards for the walls go up quickly at first, but positioning them becomes harder as the walls get higher. By the end of the day, the walls are about nine feet high (with six more feet to go), and about half the ceiling has been laid. Phaedrus has finally finished attending to the caravan, and makes it outside just in time to thank his workers as they leave for the night. After inspecting the work once more for the record, and discussing the day's events with Kendrick, he retires to his office for the night. ----- There is tension in the air as the construction crew gathers today. Phaedrus has announced a "sizeable bonus" if the job is completed by sundown; knowing Phaedrus' reputation, a "sizeable" bonus could be very sizeable indeed... And, judging by what is left to be accomplished, the timing is going to be very close. Kendrick is back again today; he has definitely got the hang of this construction business. He does the work of two men; he certainly gets as dusty and dirty as any two of them. The other workers have overcome the bit of initial apprehension they had of Kendrick, and now treat him as one of their own; they swap stories and jokes with him as the work progresses, and find that Kendrick knows some surprisingly "colorful" tales. Apparently, he's been listening to his guardsmen talk after weapons practice... The stables are much less busy today, and Phaedrus is back on the construction site. Much to the workers' surprise, he throws himself quite physically into the work, muscling the heavy boards around the area. (He presents an extremely odd picture while doing this--a man hauling lumber around in the heat of the day while still wearing a heavy, full-length robe, a spell component satchel and a huge ranger's pack. Even his staff is still thrust through his belt, where it somehow manages to avoid getting in his way.) The workers get the odd impression that Phaedrus is growing larger and burlier as time passes, but they write it off to his activity and their overactive imaginations. Work proceeds at a rapid pace on the interior fixtures and stall walls, but at first, work on the exterior is slowed somewhat by the difficulty in getting the large boards up to the ceiling and roof level. Then Phaedrus creates eight small trees in strategic locations around the building; ropes are passed over the branches, creating an improvised pulley network. This makes the task much easier, and the pace picks up. Even with the rapid pace, however, Phaedrus' attention to detail is still undiminished. Everything is checked by him personally, and he orders several hurriedly-installed boards removed and replaced. All the nails are still driven straight and even, and no light shines through any point of the walls. After a few hours, Phaedrus' growth can no longer be attributed to even the wildest imagination; he is at least seven feet tall, and the sleeves of his robe (which has somehow expanded with him) bulge with muscle. At this stage, however, the workers barely even notice; the sun is starting to make its descent, and if Orcus himself showed up, they would hand him a hammer and put him to work on the roof... Soon, the last board is in place, but activity is still frenzied. The sun is dipping low in the sky, and the work is still far from over. Shingles and sealant are quickly applied to the roof, and the last coats of fire retardant are applied everywhere. Phaedrus towers over the roof workers, silently pointing out mislaid shingles and weak spots in the sealant coat. With only a small fraction of the sun still visible on the horizon, the last shingle is laid, and the last brushstroke of fire retardant applied. "Finished!", someone shouts. <>, comes Phaedrus' impish thought, as he points to the brand new sign, "EDGEKEEP STABLE ANNEX", sitting on the ground under one of the trees. Four workers pounce on it, slam it against the wall of the building (straight, of course), and simultaneously pound nails into each corner of the sign. <>, Phaedrus says gleefully, just as the last sliver of the sun disappears from view. A cheer loud enough to be heard throughout the city rises into the night air, as workers gleefully throw their hammers to the ground and slap sealant on each other with their paint brushes. Someone dumps a bucket of water on Phaedrus from the roof, and Kendrick spreads his arms and falls backward into a horse trough, producing a resounding splash and further cheers from the crowd. <> says Phaedrus cheerfully. He is at least eight feet tall at the moment, and reddish bear-like fur peeks out from underneath his soaked and dripping robe. <> They hasten to comply, and Phaedrus moves down the line, pulling small money pouches out of his bag and handing one to each worker (two to the ten who were there the first day). <> Cheers ring out from the crowd; thirty-five silver is enough to feed a man for weeks. Phaedrus basks in the happy thoughts. <> There is another roar of laughter and applause, and a rather motley crowd leaves for the inn--a throng of dusty construction workers, led by an extremely un-paladin-looking paladin covered in dust and water, and an eight-foot-tall walking bear wearing soaking-wet robes... ----- The next morning, there is quite a crowd outside the entrance to the Savings and Loans. Apparently, the tellers have anticipated this; they are out organizing the crowd before the place even opens. ("Form one line, please. Only one person inside the building at a time. Please have your note ready. Form one line, please.") A small delegation of the city guard is there as well, to make sure that there are no scuffles over position in line, and no one mugged for their note. Finally, the doors open, and the first worker files in; he stops and looks around the place in awe as he enters, as if he had never seen the inside of a bank before. Eventually, he steps up to the teller's window. "I'm here for my twenty, please," he says nervously, pushing the note at the teller. "Certainly, sir," she says, examining the note carefully. She has him sign it, then pulls a small moneybag (Phaedrus-brown, of course) from under the counter and hands it to him. He opens the bag, looks inside... and suddenly begins shaking violently, nearly dropping the bag. "Is there a problem, sir?" the teller asks, looking concerned. "THERE'S GOLD IN THIS THING!", the man shouts, emptying twenty gold pieces from the bag onto the counter. (A stirring immediately starts outside. "Did someone say something about gold in there?" "No, I think he said it's cold in there...") The teller seems a bit taken aback by the reaction. "Yes, sir; that was what Sir Phaedrus specified... of course, I can give it to you in silver or platinum if you'd like...", she replies, hurriedly collecting the coins before they roll off the counter. The poor worker nearly goes over the edge at the mention of platinum. "No, no, no; that's okay, that's perfectly all right. Did he really say twenty GOLD?" "Yes, sir, he was quite specific about it." "Ah, I see." The man's eyes are still boggling as the teller puts the coins back into the bag; you can see the wheels in his brain spinning, trying to figure out all the things he could possibly buy with TWENTY GOLD PIECES. Food for months, new boots, maybe even a new longsword, or a BRAND NEW SET OF STUDDED LEATHER... His mind seems to overload on the possibilities. "Do I... have to take all the money now? Could I leave some of it here, and get it later?" "Certainly, sir. We'll open an account for you, and you can take however much you need. How much would you like to take with you now?" "Ummm... just one, I think. Just so I can... keep it in my pocket and feel it. And a few silver pieces, and some copper... silver can be hard to spend sometimes..." So it goes, for the rest of the men in line. A few take all twenty gold pieces, and go off and buy a new ox, or a real shortbow, or something else that they could never dream of affording otherwise. But most take just enough to live on, and have a financial reserve to fall back on, for the first time in many of their lives...