Chapter 28: Black Axe Tribe (3)
Knowing how to do something doesn't mean having the ability to turn that wisdom into something real, and Blake knew the true meaning of that phrase only when he came into this world.
It had taken Blake a year to learn how to handle wood. A year where the only thing he did in his spare time was carve with an old, almost dull bronze knife. A year where the smell of wood permeated his lungs.
He learned about proportions, how much he could force a piece of wood just by holding it between his fingers, and how to recreate his thoughts in something physical.
To value time and wait patiently.
"Always remember, image in great detail what you are creating, you must take every aspect into consideration, or you will fall short by not choosing the right piece of wood, on the other hand, you may also choose one that is too large wasting your time."
Blake stood next to a young tribeswoman, she was carving the head of a deer, and one of the antlers had a crack in it, it looked like it was about to crack.
"Mistakes don't mean failure, they are aspects of the personality of the work, there is no equal, your job is to ride those failures through to the end, giving birth to each work."
Blake walked out of the carpenters' room, entering the tanning and tailoring room.
"Remember, when our tribal brothers walk alone in a storm, the only thing that will protect them from the inclement cold is the garments we make, make sure they keep them, so they can come back and see their children love their wives, and honor their parents."
Blake corrected and complimented them, also scolding them if they did mediocre work, for the raw materials were precious, and not to be wasted.
Finally, he walked to the woolen weaving room, where he had built and set up a loom. He had spent a lot of effort, for, although he had seen several, it was far from easy to replicate.
The woolen blankets were products that they did not sell frequently but were used to make clothing for the tribe.
The workshop had some outside rooms and a kiln that was used for some clay work such as blocks or tiles.
After a few hours of work and direction, Blake left the workshop. He looked at his watch, it was 10:30 a.m. and walked toward the Haunted forest along a stone path that led from the east gate.
The tribal walls had been extended to the east and south, adding four more watchtowers.
The walls of the new towers had been built on stone bases, making them much stronger.
Stone bases were also used in the construction of the new workshop, storehouses, and stables using Song dynasty architecture, which allowed Blake to make larger and stronger buildings.
They could not use stone bases on all the houses as the mortar they had was traded with the Night's Watch, limited, and Blake had no way of making his mortar yet, so the huts were retained as common dwellings.
Blake used the design of a large temple of about 40 meters for each of the buildings, and with the help of the builders he trained in his workshop over the past few years, he was able to make a satisfactory replica.
When they finished the first building, many of the older members of the tribe wept in disbelief at what they were able to do with their hands. Blake even saw his father's eyes water, and how he tried to hide it by shouting that the day was a celebration and to bring out all the wine and prepare food.
After about a kilometer or so into the Haunted Forest, Blake's view of the trees opened up, revealing an area free of trees that stretched for half a kilometer.
This was where Blake had succeeded in farming.
The Haunted forest protected the crops from the cold breeze coming in from the Frostfangs, and the trees helped to keep some of the heat in and keep the snow out.
Last year, everyone thought summer had arrived, but the weather only warmed up for a couple of months, then snowstorms came and washed away several projects Blake had in mind, however, the weather had warmed up again and Blake, hopeful that summer had now arrived, began the creation of this growing area.
The plan was simple, cut down a deep area of the forest, remove all the roots, rocks, and weeds, prepare the area to be cultivated with compost and charcoal, and pray to the ancient gods that the crops would not die.
The surrounding trees would absorb all the water in the area, so Blake built, with the help of his builders, a huge water wheel, along with water channels made of logs, to carry water from the Milkwater River to the tribe and eventually to the crops.
So far it had been a success, onions, carrots, and beets were growing. Blake had specified to the Night's Watch that he wanted seed from crops that grew in the north. And if the crop was successful, Blake would create more such areas within the Haunted forest.
Blake returned to the tribe, this time he went to the training area.
"Keep the shield up!"
Wymond was training a handful of kids in the drills Blake laid out necessary to make up the phalanx.
Blake didn't interrupt, he walked over to Wymond until he was next to him and looked at the children straining to keep the wooden shield up.
"That shield protects your brothers on the left, if you lower it, you will leave them unprotected, I don't want to see any shields lowered!"
"AAAAhhhhhhh!"
A young boy just over 8 years old shouted as his shield lowered to touch the floor.
"At ease everyone, Dan as the first to drop the shield will carry the weapons back to their place."
Blake watched as the children began to drop their wooden weapons to the floor, laughing as they watched Dan, who with a grim expression began to carry the weapons to their places.
"They're doing well."
"Yeah, they're going strong."
Blake and Wymond began chatting about the training. Oswin had left for Shadow Tower as Blake arrived from the outpost fortress since one of the two always had to be with the tribe.
Although Blake had taught the phalanxes to the tribesmen so they could learn to fight as a team and follow orders. The training he arranged was not like the brutal Spartan workouts, he knew that the body needed rest and food to gain strength, so the workouts and the clansmen were divided into blocks.
First, they trained their legs and coordination, making them run with armor and weapons all over the Haunted Forest and the Frostfangs.
Second, they trained in the phalanx formations, where they repeated the movements and commands until they became familiar with them.
Third, they learned to swim in the icy waters of the Milkwater River, as Blake did not want his men to die if they fell from a boat in the sea, or crossed a river.
After each training they had two days where they spent hunting in the Haunted forest or fishing in the Milkwater River, although several young men did the training but worked in the shop, not needing to hunt.
Blake's influence on some was so great that they preferred to become builders or tanners, although it was a fairly low margin as only ¼ of the boys chose to work in the workshop, in return the girls were the opposite, where only ¼ of them trained to become spearwomen while the others learned in the workshop.
Blake was satisfied with this arrangement, since, although the warriors would be indispensable, so were those who were in charge of logistics, and the tribe, both had the same level of respect since to belittle those who did this work was to belittle him, something they did not dare.
Finally, as it was getting dark, Blake went to a building in the center of the tribe that was already surrounded by a few children and adults.
Dinner for the day had been done an hour ago, and these people were the ones left when everyone went home.
"Okay, let's go inside."
Blake opened the doors to the building, which was as big as the workshop, and everyone went inside sitting neatly on the floor.
"Light the fires."
At Blake's command, 2 young men lit 6 fires in the corners, and Blake lit several bonfires in the middle of the room that lit the room well.
Blake saw the faces of the people in front of him, 30 children, 12 teenagers, and 5 adults. He couldn't complain, he would have liked more adults and teens, but most were exhausted after a day's work.
"Okay, today we'll learn a few more phrases."
Blake unfolded a huge piece of paper on the wall that he would use as a chalkboard, writing a few words.
"We started with father, mother, and gods. The gods were the ones who provided us with the world and all that makes it up, our mother was the one who gave us life and fed us in the first moments so we would survive, and our father is the one who protects us and gives us sustenance as we grow. These letters describe the three pillars that make up a family."
Blake said, circling the 3 words, and writing the word family underneath, indicated by an arrow
"Blake!"
A boy raised an arm, following the rules Blake had laid out. Blake pointed at him nodding, for him to speak.
"My father died and I was raised alone by my mother, you mean I grew up incomplete?"
Blake shook his head, stressing the word mother several times.
"No, it just means that you must work twice as hard to help and honor your mother, for she is superior to many men for doing the work of both."
Another boy raised his arm and Blake gave him the floor.
"My mother died when I was born, many tell me I am a cursed child, for murdering her, only my father took care of me."
Blake shook his head, this time emphasizing the word father.
"It happens the same as I just explained, you must work twice as hard to honor them. You're not a cursed child or anything like that either, your mother died to give birth to you, so she lives on in you, looking through your eyes, protecting you."
"But my father beat my mother to death, who should I honor?"
Blake sighed inwardly, for the harsh conditions of life among the savages, almost everyone had lived through one tragedy after another.
He drew an arrow from the word "family" to the right, and wrote the word "tribe."
"Honor the gods, the tribe, and the Magnar. Your father received the punishment he deserves thanks to the Magnar, as no one has the right to take a life within the tribe besides the Magnar, and you can continue to live, eat and wear thanks to the tribe. Remember, the whole black axe tribe is a family, we protect each other. The lucky hunter shares his meat with his neighbors, so whoever was unlucky can continue to live, and next time when he gets prey, he can return the favor by sharing the meat of his prey. The lone wolf dies in the winter, but the pack survives."
This was, of course, a school Blake had recently opened to teach children and adults, not only how to read, write and count, but also values they could draw on, mainly inspired by the ancient gods.
After a couple of hours, when Blake noticed they were tired, he signaled.
"Well, we're done for the day, you can take a piece of paper and charcoal with you to practice writing these words."
When he finished speaking, Ygritte passed by handing out a piece of freshly baked bread to everyone present. This was the incentive Blake had used to motivate the children and adults to attend school.
They all took the piece of bread, were happy, and went to their homes.
"Let's go to Ygritte, did you like the class?"
"I already know everything you taught, but I didn't get bored, they always ask a lot of questions."
Blake and Ygritte went back to their cabin, the girl to sleep and the boy to work, the night was long, but never long enough for Blake to get all the things done in his head.
Blake started making arrows while thinking about the future of the tribe.
At least, after so much effort, the tribe had the basic infrastructure of a village, being partially self-sufficient, and with the forces to protect itself in case of attack.
Although Oswin had steadily absorbed settlement and lone savages, in the population they were still very few, about 700, barely having enough men to stand toe to toe against the major tribes beyond the wall, but in terms of weapons and supplies...
"They must be taught what it means to mess with the black axe tribe so that no savage will dare try it again."
Blake continued to make arrows in his cabin workshop, he would soon need them.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
papudepapus
papudepapus Hi, I've been very busy today and I hardly wrote anything, so there may be some mistakes. I don't like to release chapters without thinking well the main theme in advance, but I want to keep posting at least one chapter a day during the first month.
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