CHAPTER 44: GROUND BROKEN
Brokk broke the first stone at dawn.
No ceremony. No announcement. He simply arrived at the Convergence Hall site with Dolgrin and Maerik, positioned the foundation stone according to the survey stakes, and began work.
The crowd arrived anyway.
The halfling families were first — the Goodwheats had been watching the eastern quadrant since Pip mentioned what the buildings were for. Then the Stonehatch women, then Gervin's patrol rotation finishing their night shift, then Aelindra from the perimeter wall.
By the time the sun cleared the tree line, half the settlement was watching Brokk's family lay the first course of foundation stones.
"Nobody told them to come," Kasimir observed, standing beside me at the edge of the construction site.
"No."
"Pip told the Goodwheat family. The Goodwheat family told everyone else." He paused. "The settlement knows what we're building."
The Trial Hall site was staked twenty meters east, Coppervane's containment specifications visible on the marker posts. The construction would begin there once the Convergence Hall's foundation was stable — Yennefer's requirement, to ensure the primary containment structure was properly anchored before the secondary building added magical load to the substrate.
Several settlers had already asked if they could help with construction. Brokk was putting together a volunteer rotation for the simpler tasks — moving materials, clearing debris, preparing mortar.
The community investment was higher than I'd expected.
The notification arrived as Brokk set the third foundation stone.
[GATE STATUS UPDATE]
[DETERIORATION RATE: +8% ABOVE BASELINE]
[CURRENT RATE: 0.108% PER WEEK]
[CORRELATION: LOCAL MAGICAL OUTPUT]
[STATUS: AMBER — MONITORING ACTIVE]
I kept my face neutral. The notification was amber, not red — below threshold for critical alert. But the numbers were clear.
At 0.108% per week, the gate would lose approximately 5.6% per year under current conditions. The settlement's magical activity was already accelerating the deterioration beyond the baseline rate I'd measured during the initial investigations.
The Trial Hall would push that number higher. Yennefer's magical oversight during procedures, Coppervane's containment systems, the ambient discharge from the mutation process itself — all of it would contribute to the load.
Both spines were structurally linked now. Building the settlement meant feeding the thing that was failing beneath it.
[TIER III ADVISORY: GATE INVESTIGATION RECOMMENDED AT CURRENT RATE]
I filed the notification and returned my attention to the construction.
That evening, I found Yennefer in her workspace reviewing the Trial Hall's magical containment specifications.
"The deterioration rate has increased," I said without preamble.
She looked up from her notes. "How much?"
"Eight percent above baseline. Current rate is approximately 0.108% per week."
She was silent for a moment, processing the number. Then she did the arithmetic I'd already done — I could see her working through it, translating weekly percentage into annual loss.
"5.6% per year," she said. "Under current conditions."
"Yes."
"And the Trial Hall's operational phase will increase that further."
"Substantially. The magical density during procedures will be higher than anything else in the settlement."
She set down the specifications she'd been reviewing. The lamp on her desk cast long shadows across the workspace, the same quality of light as the evening I'd told her she wasn't property.
Neither of us discussed whether to continue.
The discussion that would have been necessary was replaced by silence — the sound of two people who had already made a decision they would not undo. We'd known the cost before the ground was broken. We'd broken it anyway.
"The gate investigation," she said finally. "You mentioned it during the initial disclosure. Proximity visits, signal analysis."
"Yes."
"When is the next one scheduled?"
"I hadn't set a date. I was waiting for the rib injury to fully heal, and then the halfling integration took priority."
"Schedule it." She returned to her specifications. "I want to be there."
I left her workspace without further comment. The foundation stones were in, the deterioration rate was climbing, and Yennefer wanted to see the gate for herself.
The decision was made. The only thing left was to live with what it cost.
Outside, the construction site was quiet under the evening stars.
Aelindra was still on the perimeter wall, watching the foundation stakes where the Trial Hall would rise. She said something quietly, in Elder Speech, that I couldn't quite hear.
"The last time my people built something this deliberately in Velen," she repeated when I approached, "it had already been burned twice first."
I stood beside her, looking at the same stakes. "You think we're building something that will burn."
"I think everything burns eventually. The question is what it does before it does."
She didn't look at me. She wasn't looking for a response.
I returned to my quarters with the gate notification still logged in my peripheral awareness. 0.108% per week. 5.6% per year. Higher once the Trial Hall became operational.
The foundation was in. The cost was climbing.
Neither of us had stopped.
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