Turn 005 — Build capacity without starving the fields
The trials have earned a next step, not a full rebuild. Claybank can now repeat a small controlled batch, but defects remain and no one has proved food-safe storage or production scale. This month Alin's field work and the coming harvest preparation keep first claim on carts, animals, hands, and ordinary food. Behind that priority, I authorize a staged start on the dry terrace: make the site and supply route real, then construct only as much pilot firing capacity as the evidence and reserves justify.
Field and household priority
Alin retains first call on carts, draft animals, and field hands for tending, drainage, harvest preparation, and any late work on the soft lower edge that she considers safe. No kiln crew may take those resources by assumption. She will announce when a particular day or group is released; any kiln work stops and returns people to the fields when she calls them back.
Daia continues ordinary food shares and injury limits for both households. The more mobile worker may choose light seated sorting or records; the other receives no heavy assignment. Miri's public account records food and labor issued to field crews, injured households, and the terrace project separately, so a promising craft project cannot quietly consume the reserve.
Stage the dry-terrace project
Hobb, Rusk, and Alin will present Rusk's costed proposal at a meeting of kiln, field, and digger households. I authorize only its first, reversible stage: maintain the staked drainage line, clear a hand-load path, and gather a measured inventory of sound salvaged brick, suitable timber, and dry fuel. Hobb controls ground safety and may close the drainage work; Alin controls any field-adjacent access; Rusk identifies which materials are technically useful. Miri records sources and contributors.
This stage uses one small hand crew on days Alin releases, with no field cart claimed and no clay taken from the closed old path. Clay for any later work comes only from safe, hand-carried exposed material upstream. If rain redirects water, the terrace softens, or the path would damage a field, Hobb or Alin stops the work and the crew returns to field duties. We do not turn the preferred site into a permanent claim by clearing more than this stage requires.
A limited pilot, conditional on reserves
After the harvest-preparation threshold Alin sets is met, and only if Miri's count shows enough dry fuel remains for ordinary household needs plus one pilot firing, Rusk may build a small, reversible pilot firing structure at the dry terrace from the measured materials. It is not a production kiln: no large wall, deep pit, bulk clay extraction, or promise of vessel deliveries is authorized. The structure must preserve the standing compact—firm drained ground, a named tender with immediate vent control, and an unconditional worker and safety-witness stop.
The pilot's first use is a small batch of marked non-food vessels. Rusk directs craft preparation and teaches at least one backup tender; the named tender controls the fire. Daia observes worker safety, Hobb observes ground and runoff, and Miri records fuel, labor days, materials, weather, defects, and any stop. A failed pilot is dismantled or left cold after a safety inspection; it does not receive a second fuel allowance this month. A successful pilot proves only that this structure can support a controlled batch. It does not authorize regular production, food-storage certification, or a standing Ferryend delivery.
If Alin's threshold is not met or fuel is insufficient, no pilot structure is built. The crew completes only the drainage and inventory stage, and Rusk's proposal returns to public review after harvest.
Keep trade and exploration bounded
Venn may make one ordinary, daylight Ferryend crossing only if Alin releases him and river conditions are safe. He carries no jar offer and makes no recurring promise; he reports any firsthand hazard change. Claybank will not send a lakeward party toward Merehaven this month. We lack current knowledge of that settlement, a demonstrated surplus, and a need worth diverting food, a punt, and a skilled boat worker from the harvest.
My role and decision gate
I will chair the public proposal meeting, protect Alin's priority, and publish the labor, fuel, and material limits before work begins. I will personally inspect the first-stage drainage and the pilot's start, but Rusk, Hobb, Daia, and the named tender retain their technical and safety decisions. At month's end, the account must show whether Claybank has a safe site, an honest reserve, and enough evidence to justify pilot firing—or whether patience is still the cheaper form of security.