Logs:Untold Stories
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| RL Date: 30 June, 2015 |
| Who: Hattie, Celestra |
| Involves: Fort Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: A weyrwoman and a crafter muse about the authenticity of written record. |
| Where: Solarium, Fort Weyr |
| When: Day 20, Month 2, Turn 38 (Interval 10) |
| Weather: Clear as a bell, the sun shines in pale winter skies, though an occasional sharp breeze blows. |
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>---< Solarium, Fort Weyr(#2156RJs$) >---------------------------------------<
Up at the top of the stairs, the light grows stronger where a landing
opens up and leads the way into a spacious, nearly perfectly round room
with smooth walls. Small groups of couches, chairs, and low tables are
arranged in a circle around the edge of the room, large circular rugs in
summer colours sat beneath each collection. The walls are mostly bare and
washed with a pale shade of cream, though one wall is dominated by the
shallow etching and pale lines that make up a vast tree with many
diverging branches. The main attraction to the room lies up above, the
roof made up of multiple panes of coloured glass that glow warmly when
even faint light filters through.
In winter or during stretches of particularly bad weather, the roof
shutters remain shut and the room is lit with a collection of glow-lamps,
the glass stained to match the panes above and mimic their usual effect.
At the back of the room, a wide doorway leads through a short passageway
to the Sanctuary. The solarium is never a particularly rowdy place, unless employed for some event or another, and perhaps it's the pursuit of a calmer atmosphere than much of the Weyr that has brought Hattie to claim one of the glass-ceilinged room's comfortable chairs and curl into it, a couple of books resting on one armrest. She's not got to any actual reading yet, and dangles one arm over the /other/ armrest, to reach for the plate of biscuits that sit upon the small table next to her chair. They're her focus for the moment, as monotonous as the task must be to her, given the blankness of her expression, but already the goldrider looks far less haggard than in recent days past. Solitude and quiet can sometimes be difficult to come by when one is surrounded by children, their voices filling in every space of air available. So when given the chance, and not on duty in the Records Room, Celestra took the chance to find a new location to spend her time. There had been little exploring, despite her time at the Weyr so far, and it was a good a time as any. Several books, along with a drawing pad, were piled in her arms as she found herself in the Solarium. The Harper pauses at the top, blue-eyed gaze taking in every detail of the circular room. It doesn't take long for her to notice Hattie. She makes an effort to walk quietly over to one of the many chairs, plopping down her stack with as little sound as possible. "Good afternoon, Weyrwoman." is her soft greeting as she moves to pluck the pad from the top of the pile, placing it beside the books to get access to the book on top. Hattie minds her manners and doesn't attempt to speak and eat at the same time. She even covers her mouth with one hand while she tries to get to the end of that bite of biscuit quickly enough for her answer to not be munching or a resounding silence. "Journeyman," sounds a little too automatic, rank for rank, until she adds, "Celestra," a moment later. Her dark-eyed gaze roams briefly over the woman herself, then drops to the books, which receive something of a hungry stare before she blinks her focus away again. "I take it the day isn't treating you too badly?" The cover of the book is flipped open, bringing along with it the faint musk of an older volume. Celestra's finger flips through a thick portion of it, splitting it evenly down the middle. Her eyes can the page, flickering back towards Hattie at the older woman's greeting. A light smile is offered, the corners of her lips lifting ever so slightly. "As well as I can hope." the Harper replies easily, straightening her back only to lean against the chair. Her gaze drifts to the small stack of books on the goldrider's chair before focusing on her. "And yourself? About to do some reading as well?" Nevermind the biscuits. She can't help herself; before she can think again, Hattie blurts out, "What's in the book?" Whether it's one from the records or not, she's evidently not quite able to identify it with the distance between them. The weyrwoman turns a rueful, not-quite-smile to down to the texts balanced on her own chair, and, with a funny shrug of one shoulder, admits, "I'm going to run out of reading material long before I want to. I might go and plead at the Hall on a good day. Until then... rationing books and stories sounds quite ridiculous, I grant you, but it should make things last longer." Celestra can't help the amused smile that further widens on her lips at Hattie's outburst. The book in question is in fact a history on Moreta, a biography, if you will. The cover is lifted so that she may be able to see the title. "Moreta's Tale. It is rather interesting how much information they were able to retain, and it details much of what occurred during the Sixth Pass." the Harper provides, flipping another page until she gets to the spot she had left off on. "Reading is a great way to spend your time." Though she may be somewhat biased. "There's a rather good collection here, though." How fast did she plan on reading through them? "Depending whether the information supposedly retained is accurate and not at the mercy of author bias..." Hattie unnecessarily smoothes at her skirts, tugging fabric into line to cover her ankles. "When you've been reading through the records for nearly twenty turns, in a manner that some would term obsessive, you'll find there's very little left to surprise you, or that's new." Dry, that, more surrender to the evitable than complaint. "One of my eldest daughters works in the records. Tabitha. I think she'd quite happily sit and read her way through the whole lot, if she didn't have to /work/ too." She gives another little shrug. "Maybe I should just start importing stories from other regions." "That is true." the Harper agrees readily enough. "But consistency is key when it comes to several tellings of the same tale." Her fingers tap quietly on the page of the book, eyes seeing and not seeing the words written there. "I've read enough of both her history and records of the Sixth Pass to rule out what might be falsified or exaggerated." Celestra's gaze returns to Hattie, smile still present, "Though I do see how that may leave little to be discovered." In regards to twenty turns of record reading. At the mention of Tabitha, her head tilts just so to the side. "She does seem fond of reading." the comment is made lightly, having only interacted with the young girl a couple of times and not at any significant length. "Importing stories?" Now that's an idea. "Some stories are never going to be written down," Hattie replies, matter of fact. "And we might all just be telling the same tales with regional twists and names changed, depending on whether they're made-up or actual history." She wrinkles her nose, seemingly disappointed by that prospect. "It probably doesn't matter much, to most people. From what I can tell, much of the Weyr uses the records for research, and collecting and noting down the appropriate data. Which is its primary use, true..." Her sigh is soft, as she lets her head fall back against her chair. "The Hall likely has records of any relevant or particularly interesting regional tales anyway." "Unfortunate, but true." Celestra adds with a nod, the matter of fact words are something that all Harpers have moaned over. "The Hall's archives are rather extensive, that is true. But as you say, most people don't care for them and so many stories fall into obscurity, regardless of whether or not they were interesting to begin with." A sigh joins Hatties previously exhaled one as Celestra gives a slight shake of her head. "And because those stories are kept at the Hall, not many people have access to them. And with no efficient way to copy them, there they stay unless somebody specifically requests it." "Well... Maybe they can expect some requests from me, someday soon." Despite appearing perfectly comfortable, Hattie slips her feet back to the floor and makes to stand, gathering her books up as she goes. "I've no issue spending my own marks, if it's worth it. Not being of a mind to rush out to every Gather and spend extravagantly... things add up. Stories, however, are worth spending for." She dips her head in a farewell gesture. "I /was/ going to read. Elaruth now insists I must see something some of her green daughters are getting up to." And so, off she goes, if slowly. "Afternoon, Celestra." Celestra's smile widens even as her gaze watches Hattie's movements, observant. "I'm sure some of them at the Hall will be happy to have someone interested in those stories." The Journeyman was acquainted with several others who had been complaining about not having anyone wanting to read them the last time she'd been back at the Hall. "Some of them are very interesting indeed. I'm sure they won't disappoint." she quips, dipping her own chin as the Weyrwoman leaves. "Afternoon, ma'am." With her gone, silence returns to the Solarium and the Journeywoman proceeds to pick up where she'd left off in her book. |
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