It’s a fairly short walk out to the western woods on the edge of Grand Brooks. The area is densely filled with brush and trees, and I can already tell we’re going to have our work cut out for us clearing enough of it to set up our guildhall. 

Lambda and Rosanne are by my side, and help me scout a patch of level ground. After some searching, we’re able to find a small clearing in the forest - not large enough to hold a whole guildhall, but large enough to make our efforts to clear the area significantly easier. 

Turning to Lambda, I give her a look. “This is your area,” I say. “Just a grind to clear the whole area of trees and get the ground level and prepared. Here, I’ve got tools to start us out, you can start on the groundwork while we wait for Kate and Viv.” 

Lambda grins, and nods. “Alright!” she chirps, her voice even higher than Rosanne’s is in her body. I know from voice calls that it’s not a far cry from her real voice - unlike most of us, Lambda was given a female body by the luck of the draw, though she’s some flavour of nonbinary in practice. 

Taking up an axe and hoe from the pile of tools, Lambda sets to work, and starts hacking away at the forest. Seeing her enthusiasm, Rosanne picks up a set of tools as well and gets to work - and, well, I might as well pitch in too. 

“No building buildings until the other girls are on,” I warn the pair of them. “We’re just clearing ground.” 

“Gotcha,” Rosanne confirms, and Lambda nods as well. “We’ll do our best to hack this forest away.” 

So saying, we get back to work. 

While in reality, clearing land would take literal months of back-breaking work, much of which would involve tearing stumps out of the ground that were rooted deeply and intertwined hugely with the sod, in Skål there are some concessions to expedience. We still have to cut down the trees one by one, but it only takes about three axe blows to fell even a massive tree, and then the resulting log can be stripped and prepared into usable timber through the interface. When clearing a large patch of land for a guildhall like this, I’m damn glad that they took shortcuts on the VR experience. It’s better than burning half the forest trying to get the stumps out of the ground; instead you can just hit the stump with your axe and it vanishes. A little more work, but given the amount of area there is to clear with just five people, there’s still plenty of work to be done. Leveling and clearing ground is similarly accelerated, too. 

As such, by the time that Viv and Kate come back on and rejoin us, Lambda, Rosanne and I have hacked a good big gash into the forest. Our simulated bodies are feeling the fatigue even after only a few hours of hard work cutting trees, but we’ve cleared the immediate area, and have space to build. 

Viv and Kate arrive from the east, carrying water and a little bit of simulated food, and wave with a smile at us. “Hey you three!” Viv calls, waving her own battle-axe over her head in greetings. “I see you’ve been hard at work!” 

I laugh, and hug her. “Hey, love. Great to see the water, and whatever’s in that basket smells great.” I can smell something fruity - blueberries, I think. 

She hugs me back, a little awkwardly with her hands full, and we part with a smile each. She sets down the food at the edge of the clearing, and steps forward to take a look at the build site. 

“Looks really good so far,” she says. “What kind of shape of building did you want, Clan Leader?” 

I grin. “A longhouse, obviously. With some private rooms in it, too. Probably it’ll take most of our saved stone to do the foundations, but I want something of a decent size so we can all be cozy in it. Kate, you have any thoughts?” 

“A longhouse sounds great to me,” Kate says with a thumbs-up. “Building’s not really my area, so I think we should leave the design up to Lambda and Viv to hash out. They always come up with great stuff.” 

I look over my shoulder at Lambda and Rosanne. “How do you two feel about that?” 

Lambda points at Viv. “She’s the one who’s been planning this for ages. I can do some curlicues and additions, but we should start with what she’s got planned out for the basic foundation, at least.” 

Rosanne nods. “Yeah,” she says. “I mostly just want to see the place finished. The less we need to improvise the better.”

I look over at Viv. “Sounds like it’s your design then, love.” I smile and ruffle her hair. “Knock their socks off.” 

Viv smiles, and comes to the center of the clearing. “Alright,” she says. “I want a root cellar to store ice and perishables, so we’re going to start by digging and reinforcing the foundation of that. Let’s put it here -” She snaps on her build grid and starts putting markers into the soil, pulling wooden stakes out of her inventory to mark the edge of the basement. “Then atop that, the main floor in a T shape, stone, then atop that the wooden second floor and roof. That’ll give us three floors to play with. Remember to build the hearths properly so the smoke can escape. Hearths here and here -” She marks one point of the T and a little ways down its side with standing signs. “- staircase up to the second floor here -” she marks the other side of the T with it as well - “and then we build the frame up to a sloped roof to shed rain and snow. Those of you who are new to the game, the build pieces menu opens when you’ve got a hammer in your hand - pick one up and the rest should be obvious. Yes, even for stone. I’ll handle the fiddly bits, for now start filling in these outlines.” 

“Heard and understood,” Lambda says with a smile. “Alright, all, let’s get to it.” She passes out hammers and shovels to everyone, and the work begins in earnest. 

With five people all at work at once, the shell of the longhouse starts to form very quickly. The basement is hacked into the ground in record time, then reinforced with stone to keep the earthen sides from falling in. The second floor goes overtop, and the stairs up from the basement let Lambda and Kate rejoin me, Viv and Rosanne on the main floor. The main floor of wood goes up easily, and then the stone walls go up - at least, as far as we can manage before we run out of stone.

I sigh, looking at the incomplete section. We’ve used everything Viv had saved, and we’ve still got a whole section of the T to close. 

“Anyone want to volunteer to go break rocks,” I ask, not really expecting a volunteer for the exhausting work - but to my surprise Kate steps forward with a grin. 

“Sure,” she says. “I’d just get in the way trying to lay more walls, I’m not familiar with this build system. Breaking rocks at least is easy.” 

“Just pick any random boulder in the forest,” I say, and hand her a pick. “There should be plenty from world generation.” 

“Gotcha,” Kate says. “See you soon.” She takes the pick.

Rosanne raises her hand. “Can I get a pick too?”, she asks. “I want to see this done today.”

“Alright,” I say, and hand her one as well. “You two can go break rocks while me, Lambda and Viv plan the second floor and get the hearths in.” 

Rosanne and Kate fistbump, and head off as one into the forest. 

That leaves me with a partly-finished longhouse, needing finishing details, and a pair of builders. Viv looks pretty fresh, but Lambda’s showing signs of wear. 

“Okay,” I say. “Lambda, you rest and have some water, Viv can handle the details of the hearths and the start of the second floor. We can’t make huge progress without stone to use anyway.” 

Lambda nods and goes to grab the water from the picnic basket, which she takes a big swig of from the waterskin and lets out a small sigh. Then she settles in next to the basket and watches while me and Viv finish up the hearths, putting in the campfires and the cooking skewers and getting most of the second floor in where there are walls to support it. 

Kate and Viv come back about thirty minutes later with inventories full of rocks, and I help them unload and finish the base floor walls. 

“Great work so far everyone,” I say with a smile as the base floor walls and second floor’s actual floor are put in. “Everyone rest, now. I know you two brought us something tasty,” - my hand takes in Viv and Kate - “so let’s chill for a second and eat.” 

Kate and Viv open their basket, and pull out a whole blueberry pie and some sandwiches full of sliced meat and cheese. “Here,” Viv says, handing me a sandwich. “A special treat for my love.” She grins and kisses my cheek, and I duck my head in embarrassment. 

Rosanne flops down on the ground gratefully, rubbing her aching arms, and takes a sandwich - which disappears in short order. 

“Strange,” she says. “I can hardly tell the difference between real food and virtual.” 

“That’s because it’s relatively simple food,” I explain. “Anything with extensive spices, well… They haven’t figured out how to simulate all the modern spices’ tastes yet. Which is why most food in VR is pretty simple stuff. Sugary stuff is easy to get to taste good and not fake, but anything with meat tends to come out… kinda bland at best.” 

I take a bite of my own sandwich. It’s not trying too hard to be fancy cuisine, so it’s tasty enough. Viv has a good eye for what sims well, as usual. 

Lambda sits as well and accepts a sandwich as well. “I have to say,” she says. “This has been pretty fun so far. I guess VR’s making a decent argument for me to try it, after all.” 

“Yeah,” I say. “Skål’s got a pretty friendly community, so we haven’t been bothered too much, and I know you love the building projects. Any chance you’ll be back tomorrow?” 

“No promises,” Lambda says. “But I’ll consider it.” She looks over at Viv and Kate. “You two should eat too,” she says. 

“Yeah, don’t let the pie get cold,” Viv says with a smile. “Once the basket’s opened it starts to lose heat again.”

“Someone’s going to have to cut the pie,” Kate says. “Five pieces, that’s tough.” 

“Let’s do six and see if we can tempt Rockhawk on with simulated pie tomorrow morning,” I decide. “We’ve already got an icebox set up in the basement, so it won’t spoil.” 

“Sure,” Kate says. “You’re guild leader.” She passes me the pie knife, and I cut it in sixths as best I can. Everyone gets a plate and a fork out of the picnic basket, and I serve everyone their piece, leaving one behind for Rockhawk in the morning. 

Taking my piece, I munch away happily. This feels… Really pretty great, honestly? I’m surrounded by people I love, and it’s amazing.

“Sho,” Viv says, swallowing a bite of simulated pie. “If people like the pie, we can do it every day here, no need to worry about our health. It’s pretty cheap to afford through questing, and it’s tasty.” 

“We can be pie club!” Rosanne perks up with a smile. 

I laugh. “Sure, Cuties Incorporated Pie Club, every weekday in the evening.” 

Kate laughs, but there’s a sparkle in her eye. “Sure,” she says with a smile. “Sounds great.” 

“What flavours have they got back there?”, I ask Viv. 

“Apple, blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry,” Viv says. “It’s a pretty decent selection for a fantasy world.” 

“Sounds great,” I say. “Lambda, you interested?” 

She shakes her head. “I’d rather cook in real life,” she says. “All these simulated flavours fall short of the real thing.” 

“A supertaster, huh?” I nod to Lambda. “Valid of you. Still, I think we’ve got four votes for pie club, so I’m afraid you’re outvoted.” 

“That’s cool,” Lambda says with a smile. “Hope you four enjoy. And I might drop in, from time to time.” 

“You girls let me know when you’re available in the evenings,” I say to the assembled group. “Text me once we’re done here, or what have you. In the meantime…” I stand up, finishing off the last bite of my pie and turning back to the almost-finished skeleton of the guildhall. “Let’s get ‘er done.” 

“How country of you,” Viv says with a smile. “Alright, you heard the boss woman, let’s finish this thing!” 

The next hour is a blur of work, as we finish off the second floor, and by the time we’re ready to knock off for the night the guildhall stands complete at last, furnished comfortably thanks to all of Viv’s saved up cloth and fur and a good helping of fine wood and newly-quarried stone.

There’s a large hall at the front, with a large table, a crafting bench and forge, two hearths, and a throne for the guild leader to hold audience; a root cellar on the bottom floor, with plenty of space to store all our valuables; and the second floor is dedicated entirely to bedrooms, well-appointed with furs and pillows, complete with furniture. 

It’s been a long day’s work of a project, but at last, we’re done. 

“Alright,” I say, standing on the second floor balcony where the stairs come up with everyone in the guild gathered around. I beckon to Viv. “I’m retiring to my chambers for the night with Viv. Anyone who wants to come with, speak now or forever hold your peace.” 

Kate shakes her head. “Not tonight, I have work in the morning.” 

I look over at Lambda and Rosanne. Lambda shakes her head as well, but Rosanne… seems to be blushing rather heavily…

“Something you’d like to say, Rosanne?” I ask with a small smile. 

“Um,” Rosanne blushes, and looks between me and Viv. “I’d like to - with Viv - if that’s okay?” 

My smile widens to a broad half-moon grin, and I nod. “Brave girl. So long as she’s fine with it, I’ve got no issue.” 

Viv steps in and gently wraps an arm around Rosanne’s waist. “You’re sure?”

Rosanne presses in against Viv, and nods. “For sure,” she says. “I want… the full experience, you know?”

I open the door to my and Viv’s room, and Viv ushers her in.

Lambda gives me a little wave, and Kate gives me a thumbs-up. 

“Be good to her,” Kate says softly. 

“We will be,” I say. And with one last smile, I close the door behind Rosanne.