Roadwarden's Turn Report — Late Spring, Year 1
The Annual Reweighing and Certification at Measure House The delegation arrived at Measure House with the locked chest secure and undisturbed. Before the assembled clan representatives, Convenor Belen and the four clan witnesses conducted a formal inspection of the cord and seal set during the previous year's assembly, confirming them intact before cutting the cord. Placed upon the certified balance beam, Measure House's ordinary working stones balanced true against Stonecross's independent reference stone. With the beam resting level in clear view of all witnesses, the regional standard for Year 1 was formally certified. Following the verification, Reedhaven immediately executed its scheduled Month 3 grain-for-baskets exchange against verified tallies under the certified measure.
The Assembly Hearing, Restitution, and Custodial Settlement Following the certification, Barleybank brought forward receipts demonstrating a two-weight discrepancy dating from winter deliveries. In response before the assembly, Pia of Hearthmere acknowledged that eighteen dependent Hearthmere households had received emergency grain during the midwinter famine, proposing a formal Storage & Reserve Agreement to account for regional reserves. Oren openly admitted that he had utilized an uncertified receiving stone from the rear cupboard to secure emergency supplies at that time, stating it was done without clan malice.
Convenor Belen and all four clan witnesses deliberated upon the evidence and ratified a unanimous settlement. Under its terms, consignments of standardized ceramic jars produced by Hearthmere will extinguish the outstanding ledger balance, Barleybank will receive full restitution through priority jar allocations and harvest credits, and Oren will continue his duties as keeper under binding joint tally oversight with Sella and Belen.
Regional Trade Accords With the dispute resolved and standard measures reaffirmed, the four clans established mutual commercial pacts for the upcoming season. Reedhaven agreed to weave protective wicker sleeves and supply river barge transport for Hearthmere’s ceramic jars, while Barleybank contracted for harvest deliveries of storage jars in exchange for threshed grain. For our part, Stonecross confirmed that the upland road and our rehabilitated roadside shelter will remain open and maintained for traveling regional merchants and exchange parties.
Retaining Wall and Ox Welfare in Stonecross Back in the settlement, Una directed the infrastructure crews in laying permanent dressed stone along the road retaining wall foundation, successfully dressing rock directly from the upper bench to avoid long transport routes. Vann maintained strict rotational rest periods for the draft oxen, limiting heavy hauling to short, manageable intervals and allowing the herd to graze and preserve their strength as the spring pastures reached their peak.
Immediate Unresolved Pressures With our reference stone safely restored and regional trade accords established, merchant traffic along the upland road and through the roadside shelter will increase as summer approaches. Balancing continued masonry work on the road wall against the need to support traveling traders—all while husbanding our limited ox teams—will remain the primary demand on Stonecross labor in the coming months.