Morning found Linus much too soon and he refused to get out of bed despite being fully awake and loathing his accommodations. Apparently this outpost wasn’t built to host a noble. The best room in the building was only slightly bigger than the rest and was a corner room with plenty of windows on two walls, windows that now mocked him with sunlight coursing through and waking him up at this ungodly hour. He tried to roll back over with a pillow shielding his face but the mattress was more lumpy than comfy and the bedding rough and scratchy. How could he have known he should have packed linens for this trip? He’d have to have Archie look into this problem, surely a Tier 4 such as Galen wouldn’t be slumming it like this.

As if summoned by Linus’ thoughts a soft knock came from his door, followed by Archie poking his head in.

“Oh good you are up. You disappeared after dinner rather quickly last night before really talking with me and Luke.” Linus grunted in response, pulling the pillow back over his head. “Should we get ready for the day and head down for breakfast? It should be ready soon and everyone else will be there to see Galen off.” Archie continued.

“Why don’t you go ahead without me. Tell everyone I’m not feeling well and I’ll be down later.”

“Sir you know I’ll always support you but are you sure this is the first impression you want to make on the scouts that are staying with us? Plus I’m sure Galen will be passing on a message to the Duke once he meets up with the rest of the military.” This time Linus groaned from below the pillow.

“Even out here I need to worry about my behavior and what my father will think. Must I flee the country to get out of his shadow?”

“Likely if you went to any of our neighbors you’d be held hostage and ransomed back to the Duke… Now as I was saying, shall we get ready and head to breakfast?”

“I don’t want to. This damn outpost is more of a punishment than I thought it would be. Not only are we in the middle of nowhere living like peasants but there is not a single staff member. How are we supposed to live like this?!”

Archie stayed silent as the noble continued to complain, this was far from his first whine fest. For several more minutes Linus complained about everything and anything related to their situation until finally his snit wound down and he lifted the pillow off his head to make sure Archie was still there.

“Well?” He said glaring at his manservant. “Nothing to say?”

“I think you said everything that needed saying sir. Though I figured once you saw Galen off you’d want to check out the crafting hall to do some alchemy. If you’d prefer to mope in bed all day I’ll run and grab you breakfast…”

“Fine, fine. You’ve made your point, I'll get up and see Galen off.” Linus said reluctantly. He may have been convinced to get out of bed and act mature but it didn’t mean he had to like it.

At the dining hall Linus and Archie found everyone else already sitting at tables, waiting for Laure to finish cooking breakfast. They sat down with the group, with Archie joining in the conversation. Several minutes later Laure announced it was ready and everyone except Linus stood up and shuffled over towards the kitchen portion where a large pot sat on a counter next to a stack of bowls and some spoons.

They trickled back over as they served themselves and sat down to eat, with Archie bringing an additional bowl for Linus. He was surprised with how good it smelled despite being just oatmeal and dried fruit. Even better, he found the taste lived up to the smell as he started to eat. The group quickly finished eating and Emmet collected the dishes and dropped them off in the kitchen.

“While Laure always cooks for breakfast and dinner we all rotate doing the dishes each day and fend for ourselves for lunch since everyone else left.” Explained Theodore to Linus, Archie and Luke. Once Emmet returned they all got up and made their way over the gate before circling around Galen to say their goodbyes. The outpost rangers took the majority of the time, teasing each other about previous incidents and sharing messages for Galen to pass along to other military members once he met up with the main force. Several hugged him while the rest shook hands while Linus and his group awkwardly stood around the periphery.

“Well goodbye Galen, I’ll do my best to keep the outpost in one piece while you are gone.” Linus chimed in as the ranger’s goodbyes wrapped up.

“Safe and speedy travels” added Archie.

“Good luck” Luke joined in.

The gate was unlocked and opened by Sasha and they all waved as Galen set off down the path into the forest. They all hung around watching until he had fully disappeared, the gate being closed and locked immediately.

“How do you get in if there is no one here?” Luke asked as he sized up the gate and its locking mechanism.

“Don’t know,'' responded Laure. “There’s always been at least a few people inside and on guard duty.

“Speaking of guard duty, how do we want to set up shifts for that and scouting?” Asked Emmet. “Obviously we can’t keep up our standard shifts with our current number.” There was an awkward pause while everyone waited for Linus as the new outpost leader to comment. It was made more awkward by his complete obliviousness until Archie gave him a completely unsubtle nudge with his elbow.

“Oh, um I hadn’t thought about that at all. Do you think it's really necessary?” Luke covered his face with a hand in exasperation while Archie quietly sighed before interjecting.

“Why don’t we discuss this further at dinner so Linus has time to put together a schedule for your review and input?” The rangers mostly nodded in agreement or replied with short affirmatives.

“Yeah, yeah sure thing. Now should we go check out the crafting hall? I’ve got some alchemy to do.”

“While I’d love to join you sir, I’ve got a few things I need to sort out.” Archie deferred.

“I’ll come with you and show you around,” said Hanna. “Was planning to do a bit of crafting myself today anyways.”

Hanna and Linus headed towards the crafting hall while the rest of the group dispersed in different directions. Walking into the building Linus was underwhelmed. It was mostly one big room, with a partial stone wall blocking off one end that housed a forge and anvil. Other than that there were a bunch of long sturdy wooden benches throughout the place with a chair or stool next to them. Along the back wall was shelving units where a few materials were stored as well as the occasional tool. Wooden shutters along the windows let in a few rays of sunlight through their gaps to light up the dingy interior before Hanna went over to a couple and opened them up. The extra light didn’t help in Linus’ opinion.

“Where is the alchemy station and supplies?” He asked, hoping that there was a nice little laboratory tucked away that he wasn’t seeing. Surely no one would practice the noble and elegant art in this converted barn.

“Oh we don’t really have dedicated crafting stations here except for the forge at the end. We all have our usual benches,” Hanna responded as she pointed out the different ones that had been claimed. “Of course I’m sure none of us will mind moving if you’d prefer one of the taken benches. As for supplies I think there is some equipment over on that shelf, feel free to help yourself to anything that’s not on a bench or in the forge area. I’ll be over here if you need anything.”

As Hanna walked over to her bench and started working on one of her ongoing clothing projects Linus was having a minor mental meltdown. He poked around the shelves, starting with the one that Hanna had indicated. On it he found a sad metal cauldron that looked more like a kitchen pot with legs than a proper cauldron, several wooden spoons, a couple of empty clay jars and a few metal vials stoppered with cork plugs.

Other than that he found nothing that screamed or even whispered alchemy. Not a single piece of glassware was insight nor a mortar and pestle. Further searching yielded little more and made him realize there wasn’t anything in the way of ingredients either. This was not a crafting hall, no matter what any of the other outpost inhabitants said.