All that remained at this point was the final finishing and assembly. Because we could count on the wood's natural hue to represent the colors in the badges, both stools are un-stained. We sanded each component smooth using a series of sandpaper in increasing orders of fineness until we achieved a semi-gloss finish on the raw wood.
We then assembled the components. Although we were able to get a clean, tight, stable fit using dry joints, we opted for the belt-and-suspenders approach, and added an adhesive. Due to the pressures of time, we eschewed a medieval hide glue in favor of a modern water-based yellow glue. Because this stool was to be used in a wide variety of conditions, including outdoors in inclement weather, and from the swamps of Trimaris to the plains of the Midrealm, and because we were unlikely to be around to keep them oiled in a medieval manner, Lord Richard and I once again opted to substitute technology for manpower, and sealed them with a semi-gloss water-based polyurethane. We used a 0000 steel-wool pad to knock the gloss down a bit farther.