The Ultimate Stonemage: A Modest Autobiography by Duncan McKenzie Page B
Authors: Duncan McKenzie
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rocks and earth, placing them upon the outlines, whereupon either I or one of my assistants would encase the rocks in Sheet Walls and fuse them at a great temperature with various incantations of fire and furnace, as I had done with the floor and walls of the foundation. An endless stream of carts and wagons from the alchemical merchants brought supplies for the enchantments—waxes and sepia inks and jay feathers and reticule leaves and horse chestnuts, all in such great abundance that the land was stripped of these resources for miles around.
All this, of course, is standard stonemage technique. What was more remarkable is that we used no winches or pulleys during the construction. Instead, the building proceeded slowly upwards, in two-foot segments, with each segment forming a cross-section of the entire building. I had made the walls very thick, so they might not only add strength to the Grief , but also provide a suitable surface for walking during the construction—so, if you can picture it, each cross-section of the building formed a maze of pathways, these being the tops of the partially completed walls. In a similar fashion, the great central ramp, which spiralled up through the tower, gave us access to the higher floors as we proceeded slowly upwards.
Now you will wonder how, using this method, it was possible to create the ceiling of a level—which, of course, served also as the floor of the subsequent level. The answer is very simple. When the walls were of a sufficient height, I would place a large and powerful Sheet Wall across the surface to be covered, save only for the central ramp, through which we gained access to each level. Then the myrmidons brought large quantities of rocks, evenly covering the area. I covered the rocks with a second Sheet Wall, applied more spells of fire and furnace, and fused them into a solid surface. The bindings were removed, and—piffeta!—the finished surface would drop a fraction of an inch onto the supporting walls.
Although I was anxious to complete the building, I was determined it should be perfect in every regard and the task should not be rushed. Therefore, after completing each floor, I spent several days decorating it, carving beautiful sculptures in the rock. I also added a fine carpet made frommashena, very like that which I had placed in the towers atLuthen but crafted in purple rather than red. Only when a level was as perfect as the abilities of mortals would allow did I permit myself to move upwards to the next stage.
Upon the outer walls, I bonded quartz in various colours—shades of pink for the skin of the king, and shades of blue-green for the sheets. All the exterior surfaces were then covered in a type of permanent sheet binding known as aBlind Veneer, which armoured the walls very effectively.
The Grief emerged slowly from the ground like some huge plant. Thus I had heeded the words of the great stonemage Henry Eagles, who wrote, “As a tree from the earth does the great tower grow forth.”
The work proceeded in this manner for nine months or so, and we fused hundreds of walls and placed countless thousands of cross-bindings—although the design was so sturdy in itself that I believe it would have stood firm even without these enchantments. At last the winter came once more. The statue was now complete up to the centre of the chest, and yet I still did not know how to solve the building’s two great problems, these being its property of speech, and the difficult angle of the right arm.
During the winter I turned my attention once more to the duties of my various posts, while simultaneously pondering the construction problems.
The speech was a secret feature, and so nobody knew of it, save only for thebishopa, whom I told in an intimate moment. The arm, however, was clearly detailed in the plans, though without the binding scheme, and, throughout the winter, my two assistants would frequently ask me how I planned to set the arm at such a
All this, of course, is standard stonemage technique. What was more remarkable is that we used no winches or pulleys during the construction. Instead, the building proceeded slowly upwards, in two-foot segments, with each segment forming a cross-section of the entire building. I had made the walls very thick, so they might not only add strength to the Grief , but also provide a suitable surface for walking during the construction—so, if you can picture it, each cross-section of the building formed a maze of pathways, these being the tops of the partially completed walls. In a similar fashion, the great central ramp, which spiralled up through the tower, gave us access to the higher floors as we proceeded slowly upwards.
Now you will wonder how, using this method, it was possible to create the ceiling of a level—which, of course, served also as the floor of the subsequent level. The answer is very simple. When the walls were of a sufficient height, I would place a large and powerful Sheet Wall across the surface to be covered, save only for the central ramp, through which we gained access to each level. Then the myrmidons brought large quantities of rocks, evenly covering the area. I covered the rocks with a second Sheet Wall, applied more spells of fire and furnace, and fused them into a solid surface. The bindings were removed, and—piffeta!—the finished surface would drop a fraction of an inch onto the supporting walls.
Although I was anxious to complete the building, I was determined it should be perfect in every regard and the task should not be rushed. Therefore, after completing each floor, I spent several days decorating it, carving beautiful sculptures in the rock. I also added a fine carpet made frommashena, very like that which I had placed in the towers atLuthen but crafted in purple rather than red. Only when a level was as perfect as the abilities of mortals would allow did I permit myself to move upwards to the next stage.
Upon the outer walls, I bonded quartz in various colours—shades of pink for the skin of the king, and shades of blue-green for the sheets. All the exterior surfaces were then covered in a type of permanent sheet binding known as aBlind Veneer, which armoured the walls very effectively.
The Grief emerged slowly from the ground like some huge plant. Thus I had heeded the words of the great stonemage Henry Eagles, who wrote, “As a tree from the earth does the great tower grow forth.”
The work proceeded in this manner for nine months or so, and we fused hundreds of walls and placed countless thousands of cross-bindings—although the design was so sturdy in itself that I believe it would have stood firm even without these enchantments. At last the winter came once more. The statue was now complete up to the centre of the chest, and yet I still did not know how to solve the building’s two great problems, these being its property of speech, and the difficult angle of the right arm.
During the winter I turned my attention once more to the duties of my various posts, while simultaneously pondering the construction problems.
The speech was a secret feature, and so nobody knew of it, save only for thebishopa, whom I told in an intimate moment. The arm, however, was clearly detailed in the plans, though without the binding scheme, and, throughout the winter, my two assistants would frequently ask me how I planned to set the arm at such a
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