Annan looked out at Gemstone City, still a sprawling construction site.
There was nothing wrong with letting the Envoy delegation see the city under construction, but showing them what made Gemstone City special would help with future trade and cooperation.
"How much longer until our school is ready?" Annan asked, summoning Eli Gravel.
"We haven't started. We only just finished the Orphanage..."
"I'll send you a hundred Earth Elementals to help. We need it finished before the delegation arrives." Annan thought of the filthy recruits and residents. "And the Public Bathhouse, Flower Garden, and Street."
The Flower Garden and Street would be easiest. The huge stockpile of cement that had failed to sell could finally be put to use, and the Flower Garden could be finished at the same time. Building the bathhouse would be easy too. Getting people to use it was another matter.
Annan had to admit that bathing was utterly foreign to most people from the Northern Frontier, as foreign as women were to many men. The reason was simple: during the long Deepwinter, getting wet was no different from courting death.
So from Star-Moon Bay to Gemstone City, the residents had never developed the habit of keeping clean. But this was Middle Earth, close to the birthplace of civilization. The climate was mild, moisture was plentiful, and there were no outside threats. It was paradise for Lice and parasites.
Soon after the people of Gemstone City arrived, their greetings changed from exchanging pleasantries to scratching each other's itches... Annan had tried to get them to bathe, but it had done little good. Even forcing them to wash only worked for a few days. They would rather take a dip in the sea and come back crusted with salt than waste time heating water for a bath.