Read the previous part here.
The second artisan to appear before the king was a foreign man called Uir. Unlike his compatriot, Uir showed the king to a room in the castle with a large table, onto which he then spread large scrolls that displayed the walls and the fort of Waterfall both in their current and re-designed forms.
“Revered sovereign, my role in this project is the (User) Interface Designer. It is my responsibility to make a realistic design blueprint for the future fortifications of your city and do so utilizing Vide’s overall schematics.”, Uir explained while waving his hand over the sketches and plans he had made. Some of them were very crude while others were much more elaborate in their specificity. “I had some of these drawn up as exact replicas of the buildings in their current state and then started improving on them. For example, the old walls are very clunky-looking and inconsistently built. I would even go so far as to claim some portions of them were quite haphazardly patched together in some sense of urgency and it’s a small wonder they haven’t at least partially collapsed yet.”
King Old Faithful grimaced, remembering the corners that had had to be cut and the shortcuts that had had to be taken during their construction as materials and time were running short. Uir saw the pained expression on the king’s face and, quite unceremoniously considering his royal status, smacked Old Faithful in the back, accompanied by a hearty chuckle. “Fret not, my liege. We are going to replace them with a more elegant, yet just as sturdy design while making sure they are properly built this time. For the fort itself, I have a few ideas here as well…”
Uir continued to explain the changes, their functionality and how they would improve both the city’s outlook and the actual use of the constructs. The king was captivated by Uir’s tale as he had not realized how much of an impact the simple placement and design of towers, guardhouses, access points or any of the other myriad details Uir pointed out could have on, well, everything. A plethora of what seemed like small, almost insignificant things on they own, like which way the castle keep’s doors opened or how fast one could get from the main gate to the keep, quickly piled up with everything affecting everything else, forming a mutually affecting web of triggers and mechanisms the king hadn’t realized was there before.
To illustrate his points, Uir’s visual materials and sketches provided ample examples and demonstrations so that the king and all those present managed to grasp the big picture and structure the magnitude of this undertaking properly in their minds easily enough. As the light of day faded and it came time for all to retreat to their slumber, the king thanked Uir and retired to his chambers, exhausted but excited.
The story continues with Part IV »
