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Old 04-30-2006, 06:50 PM   #285
Celuien
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Assigned to Mordor
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Garstan thought hard. Eodwine was correct. He hadn't thought of the alder, but he had seen it. Lčođern and Linduial had climbed into it one day, using a sturdy branch as a vantage point to look over the rear of the inn yard. There had to be some way of working around the tree. Garstan pictured the area in his mind. The tree stood near to the former rear wall of the kitchen, dangling branches over the building's roof. It was too close to the hall. Where could he move the kitchen without injuring the tree?

A deep frown crossed Garstan's face as he puzzled over the inn's geography. The rear was the only area with enough space for the expansion. Some 50 feet stood between the back of the building and the property edge, ample enough space for construction. But only 30 feet were on the sides. The kitchen would stand directly against the neighbor's property if he built there. That would never work. But there were no trees to the side of the building. Merely an open expanse of grass and shrubs, the same as the ground to the rear of the alder. If only there were some way to put the kitchen behind the tree and connect it to the main hall.

Then it dawned on him. There was a way. A little less convenient and a little more difficult to build, but a way to save the tree.

"My lord," said Garstan, "it seems that there is a way. Suppose the kitchen were built behind the tree. Maybe even with a window to look out upon it. And then suppose the hallway were built off the side of the Great Hall to curve around to the back and make a courtyard between the kitchen, hall and corridor. It would save the alder and make it the centerpiece of a sheltered garden. It would be more difficult to build, of course, and I would have to make a second stove in the new kitchen, since the old kitchen and its stove would become part of the great hall, but the tree would be safe. Does that meet with your approval?"
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