"Clang, clang, clang..."
The wooden mallet struck the bronze bell with a dull, resounding clang that carried down the entire street.
As the first rays of dawn fell over the silent Bichi Town, it came to life. Men and women in hemp clothing emerged from their low houses, carrying hoes, shovels, and shoulder poles.
There were few tall houses in Bich Town, and even single-story homes were rare. Most were half-story kennels built from earth and timber.
Kennels-that was a comparison even the people of Bich Town accepted, because their homes really did look like them.
The houses of the people of Biki were all half-story dwellings. Their walls were low because most of each house lay underground. When building a home, the locals first dug a pit, then filled it with timber, stones, and similar materials.
Once the foundations were laid, they scattered limestone powder inside, or sulfur powder mined from the nearby mountaintops.
The working folk knew nothing about the properties of lime and sulfur powder, but practical experience had taught them that scattering some underground when building a house did them good.
After laying the foundations, the locals built their homes with stone and timber. Since these were half-underground dens, the walls did not need to be very high to create a habitable shelter.
The advantages were obvious: they saved materials and cost little, though they did not save time.
Digging a pit was no easy task, but it certainly saved money, because the timber and stone belonged to the noble lords.
The benefits were considerable, and the drawbacks were equally obvious, so there was no need to elaborate here.
Fortunately, Bich Town received neither particularly heavy nor particularly light rainfall throughout the year.
The Kaslo Mountains blocked the storms blowing in from the east, keeping them