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 Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 10:30 am
Julian hugged a scroll to his chest as he walked up the stairs to ground level from one of the archive rooms beneath the Chronologists' chapel. The ceiling of the stairwell was high enough that the tallest of the monks could walk comfortably, but it felt low compared to the vaulted roof of the main hall; regardless, the bare stone echoed at the novice's footsteps. He regularly practiced ascending these stairs without making an echo, but he still had trouble managing it when he was carrying something large. And his efforts were usually for naught anyway as he emerged into the main hall.
But it was more of a personal game than any regulation anyway, as evidenced by the unashamed clomping of one of the other monks starting up the stairs somewhere behind him. Julian gave up on his silence then and moved on to wait in the public area at the front of the chapel. There was a noble who had made an appointment with regards to this census record, which was why Novice Julian had been sent to fetch it. Another one of the monks was supposed to come to meet the nobleman and actually deal with him, since Julian was still technically in training, but as Julian arrived in the alcove containing the small rooms for consulting with others on matters of family genealogy, he did not see anyone else.
Julian looked around, glanced at the chapel front door, and fidgeted. He trusted his superior to be there before the nobleman arrived, but in the meantime, he was not sure what he was supposed to do. Just wait here, scuffling out awkward echoes as he held the scroll? He had left himself plenty of time to have this census scroll ready before the noble was scheduled to arrive, but he was still not wholly sure what he was supposed to do if the man showed up early.
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Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 11:04 am
Show up early he did indeed, not perhaps as old as might have been expected to be making requests to track lineage in pursuit of illuminated family trees. Though there was also a growing trend towards weaving them as well. He was at best five and twenty, black hair and bright eyes only a few shades off from being truly eerie in their color. His coat was new and well crafted, denoting his rank nearly as well, if not better than his face or bearing.
“Forgive my intrusion.” He said carefully, quietly. “I am here to see the about a history, I’m unseemly early I’m afraid.” He apologized. “Are you the scribe?” He glanced for a moment at your hair, that much like the young nobles eyes stood on the edge of ‘odd’.
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Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 4:08 pm
As the door opened, Julian tensed and glanced back over his shoulder; the monk who had followed him up the stairs was now walking down the hall in the opposite direction. No one else was around.
Mouth hanging open momentarily as he wondered how exactly to handle the young man's early arrival, Julian studied him briefly and then immediately directed his gaze to the smooth stone-tile floor. He was used to his hair being stared at, but at this moment, the young novice was pretty acutely aware of it.
He realized he should probably at least greet the other young man.
"Ah, h-hello," he offered, glancing up briefly enough to offer a small, shaky smile. "You are Master Bantock?" The novice's voice was light, and wavered less as he spoke more. "I have your census scroll here and ready, as you requested, and if you will just excuse us for a few moments...." Chewing his lip, Julian glanced back again, training his ears to listen for the echo of anyone else's approaching footsteps.
Would he get in more trouble if he handled this himself, or if he waited? He turned his attention back to the nobleman again, smiling nervously, and tried to get some sense of whether Master Bantock was the impatient sort or not.
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 4:31 am
“I am.” He confirmed to the query of who he was. “Please, don’t rush on my account, my duties for the morning will not suffer if they wait a handful of moments longer.” He gave a small bow that took his eyes off the bright hair color and back to the young man’s face. It was far from his place to say but there were chilling times when he wondered of those small traces of unnatural things were getting still more common.
Apparently at least he was patient enough, but apparently he did have things to get back to. That combined with the fact he bore no mask of any kind marked him what some called a ‘lesser’ noble, it meant he worked a trade or owned a shop.
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 10:39 am
Julian nodded, relaxing momentarily, but quickly becoming worried again as the silence stretched longer. There were no timepieces handy to see just what time it was, but, after what felt like several minutes of awkward silence, the young novice decided that the monks could not fault him for trying to help, and decided to start at least trying to do something. He did not want to keep the young master idle.
"Ah, I hope one of my elder brothers will be here shortly," he began again, clearing his throat slightly as his voice came out hoarse the first time. "But while we wait, if Master Bantock could tell me for which year he requires the records?" Julian shifted the large scroll in his arms slightly, glancing to the young noble again and moving towards a table near the wall to one side. "I can start finding the place, to save some time when my brother arrives."
If he could manage to avoid offending, that would probably be enough help. He had assisted with checking of records with nobles before - though he was generally sent off as soon as the scroll was delivered - so he was at least familiar with the first few steps.
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 11:05 am
The young noble unfurled a scrap of parchment, which indicated requested years and offered it to you to examine. “These, if that’s not too much to ask. “Do you need assistance with those?” He offered gently, offering to help you carry the precious scrolls you had with you. “I promise I won’t crush them or tear them, we keep our own records, if less vital ones.”
He paused and then added to try and ease off some of the deep discomfort. “It must be wonderful to work in such a repository for information.”
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 1:32 pm
"Thank you, but you need not trouble yourself, sir," he assured the other man. Julian set the scroll down on the table with the care of someone placing an infant in a cradle, and accepted the parchment scrap in both hands with a small bow. He scanned over the dates and nodded, then fetched a handful of paperweights from a drawer under the table. The weights were round and leather, filled with sand, each embossed with the Chronologists' tree, and worn to softness. Julian arranged them to keep the scroll on the table as he unrolled it, scanning over the records.
He smiled slightly when Master Bantock spoke, looking up briefly as he replied, "It is interesting. Seeing the names of all those who live here now, and who have come before us." He paused scanning the page and stood up straight a moment to advance the scroll as he searched for the first year in question, rolling the paper around the top and unrolling from the bottom carefully.
Still smiling, he added, "In some ways, it makes our record halls seem less lonely. So many names around you all the time."
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 6:27 am
“I am glad for that.” He said with a small nod, watching as the man carefully weighted out each scroll with a reverence and respect that did him proud. “I think sometimes it must be more peaceful here, but I suppose there is a down side to every kind of home.” He mused quietly. Admittedly some lives must have a great deal more in the ‘down side’ department in that a peasant’s life for example, must be exceptionally ah, interesting.
“My father has decided we need to poses one of those new tapestry family trees, he sighed and shook his head at the expenditure.
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Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 10:53 am
Julian felt his cheeks warming slightly, feeling at once more at ease that the nobleman was not angry at having to deal with an underling, yet nervous as his mind cranked through all the ways he could still slip up. He had dreamt sometimes what it might be like to find out his parents were nobles and that he could take up some sort of lofty title and move into one of the great houses. Julian was thankful to have a roof over his head, furs on his back, and food in his belly, and knew he was privileged in that he was receiving an education but ... had never considered how his present life might be somehow better than that of a nobleman.
"It is very peaceful," he agreed, keeping his eyes on the scroll. "But of course we cannot have fires near our records, so the storage halls can get very cold." The young monk smiled slightly, his finger tracing lightly over the page as he scanned for a break in the names for the next date. "There are a few places in the halls of records like little rooms to read, though, and I think they might be the quietest places in the city sometimes."
At the mention of the tapestry, Julian ventured to look up again, and noticed the nobleman's apparent disagreement with the need for the item. "Will it not be nice for Master Bantock to have all of his kin who have come before so close to him, though?" He honestly had no concept of how much it cost to commission such a tapestry, but Julian thought the idea of having one was ... comforting.
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 3:56 pm
“If he lets anyone outside the house see it, then it might be a very nice luxury, and at the very least the weaver whom he is commissioning will be well paid for the effort but it seems, unnecessary when we had room to expand on the simple scroll we have.”
He shook his head trying to explain, it was hard he thought when they lived lives that seemed so very different. “It’s nothing, I just wonder if it could not have been used for better ends that is all.” He admitted with a small shrug.
“Do you keep histories of all the people here as well? Histories of your order?”
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Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 9:11 pm
Julian paused a moment, the nobleman's words coming to him as a bit unexpected. He was not sure how to respond, and was still concerned about offending. He did not really resent the nobility their wealth, and the Order had brought him up with the idea that a certain structure was necessary to the ongoing survival of the city as a whole. That he was raised with the skill to provide a service, rather than scraping by on his own in the forest, showed that society had achieved a certain level of sophistication in the incessant cold. And if the nobility did not commission works of art, who would?
Master Bantock thankfully changed the subject then, and Julian nodded once. "We do, sir," he replied, though he was also not exactly permitted to bring up the circumstances of his own initiation. "Back as far as the census goes, and with small sketches of some of the Priors, too."
He then located the year and names Master Bantock had requested, and straightened, smoothing his hands over his robes as he glanced back into the chapel proper to see if anyone was coming to join them. The halls were still more or less silent, and his gaze flitted briefly to the nobleman's face before lowering to the floor again.
"Ah, would the master mind terribly if this young novice assisted fully with your inquiry? Apologies, I am not sure where my brothers are right now...." He fidgeted slightly, secretly really wanting to have the opportunity to pen the names down, to do a favor for someone in this capacity himself, but also worrying due to his lowly position.
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