'Til Kingdom Comes - The Banished Prince Vol 2: Here Comes The Witches

Engineering Guild

"Hahaha... We got another gem here, Eagle. It seems that he could be an asset to us, after all." I laughed as I slapped my thighs. It had been some time since we had another person who is literate, especially coming from a random person that was considered as a previously known Sorcerer.

Earl laughed too because he was used to giving presentations and ideas that he had forgotten that he was literate after all. This was the first time the group noticed about the additional talent that their member had.

After making a top-down view and a front view of a privvy, Earl then began his explanation. "Your Majesty, a privvy would be 5 feet in length, 3 feet wide and have a door that has a clearance of 1½ feet above the ground. In this manner, anyone can see whether the privvy is occupied or not."

"The floor of the privvy would be covered with gravel, which is no problem to handle and a collapsible wooden plank with a hole in the middle, called a cheek spreader, would be emplaced. I believe the privvy in the domain here are all sitting pans type, am I right, Your Majesty?"

Earl showed the design for the collapsible cheek spreader and everyone liked the idea since some would have weak thighs and need to sit in order to complete their business.

He then continued showing how the system works as it would be a network of underground pipes which he could summon to be made and it would be deposited right into the latrine pits.

"Once the privvy is complete, we could raise the sides of the latrine pits and closed it up. A small vent would be inserted to let out harmful gases."

"The height of the side wall would be 4 feet high and the ventilation pipes would extend out to 6 feet high. In this way, the fumes would not affect anyone."

"So, the pit would be closed forever by then? I like the idea and vouch for it, my friend...!" Frank lauded the idea as it would be safer and neater. Much like the privvy in the domain, the pipes brought the night soil over to the latrine pits 30 feet away. So that would be upgraded soon enough.

"I have a suggestion, could we design the squatting pan to be made of clay? At least the hole in the ground would not be enlarged by accident after pouring water down on it to flush?" Ben voiced his opinion and it was immediately upvoted by everyone and it seemed a very good idea then.

"Walter could draw water from the ground to design a kind of aqueduct above ground. This also could provide freshwater into the privvy to wash their hands et cetera." Penelope suggested and it was once again upvoted as it was a generally good idea.

"If not, Walter could design an individual privvy sink to wash and flush. What do you think, because an aqueduct is going to be a permanent fixture? Walter, you could do that right? That one incident where you use a simple bamboo to constantly supply water from the farmlands." Penelope highlighted and Walter snapped his fingers as he remembered the simple yet effective tool.

"Yes... Yes... I remember. Just use a clay sink, fix it at the side of the privvy and there you have it, a place where one could do washing and flushing with a simple scoop...!"

I pondered at the idea when suddenly I met a huge wall in front of me. Not a bump on the road, not a pothole even, but a big wall that thwarted the whole process because of winter, which would be approaching in 3 months time by 1st week of December, right till March...!

"Won't we need to shift the houses in a 4 corner type of manner and have a common hearth in the middle to warm the houses later on?" I buried my head after I had announced that and everyone got stumped because, in order to move the houses, the privvy might be in the way.

"Your Majesty, we don't understand what you mean by placing the houses in a 4 corner manner. Could someone draw that out for us?" Penelope was a bit confused since this new topic arises and saw me get so worked up after announcing it.

Frank stood up and drew 4 rectangles and placed them in a manner where each doorway faces one another in a squared circle and then drew a fire symbol in the centre.

"Owh...Your Majesty, I have a solution for that. Its called a hand warmer and it is just a piece of flat pebble, wrapped in a pouch and it would stay warm till eternity. There won't be a fire hazard at all too. It's only warm to touch but has no burning effect at all." Farah exclaimed as she took out a small pouch from her robe and placed it in the table.

Eagle came forth, received it and passed it to me for close scrutiny. It was definitely warm to touch and the heat seems to be radiating constantly. Within a few short breaths, I could feel myself all warmed up.

I handed the so-called 'hand warmer' to the rest of the Ministers to try them out and they liked it immediate. Heather wrote on her minutes about the hand warmer after she had completed the privvy matters and the clay sink within the privvy to wash hands and for flushing. Heather even highlighted clay vat instead of the sink so it would be on the floor and water can be scooped up instead.

Heather then noted that privvy = small individual bath house.

"Wonderful concept Farah... Let me see, we can make this available in the Gracehaven's General Store so anyone could purchase it. Besides its non-flammable and it could be used forever."

"Wonderful... Simply wonderful. Mark them down, Heather. We put a price as 10c each because cloth is required to make the pouch after all." Heather nodded at me and wrote down the suggested price. Not only would this be sold in our town, but Marcel would also be delighted to sell these too.

One thing for sure, if its good to be used to generate income, it would be good for Gracehaven to rake in the coins.

"Another matter, your Majesty. Since the bakers are using firewood to heat and bake the bread and such, would you mind if we implement something that would be something like the handwarmer and the latrine pits? Besides, the ovens are continuously baking, am I right, Your Majesty?"

"What would you be implying, Farah?" I inquired since another new innovation and the improvised subject came up and this perked up our interest greatly.

"Without the need of using firewood and a constant radiated heat, the baking could be completed faster and all products would be uniformly baked, Your Majesty...!" answered Farah as she looked on with anticipation.

We were all surprised at the newly improved suggestions for the oven and these should be answered by the bakers since we would not know of the temperature inside these ovens at all.

Jennings was summoned and she came hurriedly over. After listening to the idea she was greatly piqued with interest and asked Farah to follow her since the Ovens were being utilised right now.

After checking out the temperature of the Ovens, Farah has an estimated gauge of 450°F which was considered as moderately hot. Anything hotter would char the bread products and anything lower would be a slow bake.

"Well, big sister. Very soon your Ovens would need no more stocking of firewood, no more messy ashes to clear and no need to check on the temperature. It would be constant for Eternity." Farah announced confidently as dealing with the Ovens was no big deal. If she could design an incinerator at such a magnitude size of a latrine pit, what was a mere oven be?

"Hehehe... Thank you, thank you, little sister. Eh... I would bake you a special cake once its done, OK?" Jennings was over the moon when she learnt about the improvements that would be made for the Ovens and was so elated that she was going to bake her a cake.

We all wonder what kind of cake Jennings would be baking this time...!

So, in that single after-conference meeting, I had concluded several things with Heather. The firstly would be the privvy designs, secondly would be the clay vats as a watering pot inside the privvy, thirdly would be enclosed area for the latrine pits once the privvy had been fully set up, fourthly would be the hand warmers that would be in sale and last but not least would be the improved baking ovens for Gracehaven's Finest Bakery.

After making sure we didn't forget anything, we place our latrine pit behind the domain as the last priority. The important part would be the wellbeing of the whole community and this would be prepared under a new production area — The Engineering Guild of Gracehaven.

With an Engineering Guild, anything is possible and what we need is a sample and everything could be replicated. Michael has the ability to gather minerals and Farah would be the one to produce them. In case for Andy, he would need to make finer adjustments to the arrowheads that he was going to design for Gracehaven.

The whole board members were elated at the arrival of the Priests and Priestesses that had brought boundless benefits for the community of Gracehaven. Their involvement within the projects really means a lot for everyone.

I whispered to Heather and she nodded her head and went upstairs to take her petty cash box down.

"This remuneration was what I had promised to the citizens before. It was 2 silver coins a month. Even if it is just a day you all have been here, we would like you to have this so that you have a headstart in life. Andy is included too as well even though he is not classified as Priests and Priestesses."

Heather took out 18 pieces of silvers and then went about to distribute it to the group. They were delightfully surprised as they received this windfall and they accepted it earnestly.

It was considered as an honour to receive such gifts especially from Her Majesty who casually held each hand and pressed the two silver coins into their palms. No royalty would hold a commoner's hand, so much so for the previously known Witches and Sorcerers...!

This shows how benevolence and fair the rulers of Gracehaven were. If only other kingdoms were to follow their footsteps I think everyone would be treated equally as all would live harmoniously together.

"Alright, let's wrap this thing up. We have an early day tomorrow and we have a new building that we would be putting up pretty soon. It may be a building or just a storefront, so what would it going to be?"

"Your Majesty, I would like to propose a storefront instead. At least we would be emplaced within the courtyard and would still be mingling with the general public. But the best thing is to have space within the blacksmith area since we would all be dealing with metal works." Penelope suggested and old Jack seconded the notion.

"Splendid idea... Ben, do you think the blacksmith could extend on the sides and the back as well? At least Farah could work in peace as the front is going to be occupied by me and Andy. He's going to make some wonderful arrowheads and this could be used to arm the Shadows as well as the hunter-gatherers."

Ben looked at Old Jack and he nodded so that concludes the post-conference meeting that was held in our domain. "Alright, go along now... Your new friends are waiting at the Gracehaven's Greasy Spoon, am I right?" I waved my hand off as the group excused themselves, bowed and said their thanks and went ahead to the eatery where right now, more than 6 dining tables were set outside as 'outdoor dining'.

"I guessed the chilled ale really worked its wonders, don't you think?" I remarked as the other Ministers also went to Gracehaven's Greasy Spoon to grab a mug and join in the joyous merriment.