Teraille's Exam
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Harper
Office (#2732)
The
office is cheerful, the light reflecting off of whitewashed walls and ceiling. A
pattern mimicking musical notation in colors runs along the tops of the walls,
shelf upon shelf rising from the floor to meet it. Desks, cabinets and filing
drawers are arranged about the room, workplaces for those whose job it is to
keep the harpers and hall in order. The air is fresh, tangy with sea and hides
and well-seasoned woods. A decorative object has been placed in the center of
the room, right in the way. Perhaps you should ask its owner to move it. The
window looks out over
You see Staff Tackboard, Lesson Schedule, Tas, Useful Facts for Harpers,
Paybox, and Opree here. Caramak is here.
Shinnai (#1357)
A slender woman of medium height and skin the color of tanned cherry wood. Her features, while not really pretty, are distinct - high cheekbones, a straight nose between deepset almond-shaped eyes of an aqua so deep as to appear nearly black. Her face is shadowed by escaping wisps of dark brown hair, its length wound into a woven bun at the nape of her neck. Her figure is draped in light but voluminous robes, typical of those who dwell in the Igen deserts. Off-white cotton makes up the inner layer, covered with a robe of indigo and sashed, in the only ornamentation, with a broad, embroidered silk cloth of harper blue. Across her back is slung a gitar case, well-cared-for and yet well-beaten-up, in its time. A neatly-fashioned knot of harper blue and white is accented with a strand of orange, a Harper Master's knot next to a badge of Blacksands. Shinnai is 35 Turns, 1 month, and 24 days old.
Shinnai smiles to
Caramak.
Caramak settles
himself at a desk and smiles back at Shinnai. "There...Think we're just
about all here...Do we think we're ready for her?"
The door creaks
slightly as Jeranium, a journeyman of epoch proportions (*grin*),
shuffles in. He seems tired, and slumps into a chair with a brief nod
to the two masters.
Caramak glances up at
Mordred. The flit glares
back. Mak frowns at him. Mordred glowers. Mak narrows his eyes.
Mordred decides that Mak is bigger than him, and obliges the humanpet. Mordred suddenly flicks into ::between:: with as little
warning as possible, hoping to startle someone.
Jeranium is,
apparently, startled by the firelizard's abrupt disappearance, and
blinks, then glowers. "Harrumph. She's late."
Caramak stiffles a laugh.
"Jeranium, she's been waiting. I just send Mordred to go fetch
her."
Teraille walks calmly and with purpose in from the
ballroom. Teraille steps just within the door, stopping just
within.
Shinnai smiles placatingly to
Jeranium, who seems unimpressed.
The lump-like journeyman stares at Teraille almost accusingly as she
arrives, but says nothing.
Teraille nods slightly to Jeranium as she feels his gaze, then surveys the rest of the room, offering nods and smiles to everyone within.
Shinnai warmly returns the apprentice's
smile, welcoming her to the room. "Ready?" is her encouraging
question.
Teraille nods. "I am," she says calmly, remembering deep breaths.
Caramak smiles and nods to
Teraille. "Ah...Good. Mordred
didn't get side tracked along the way...I'm amazed, honestly." He
shakes head. "In any case. Let's start out with the formality: Please
state your name, rank, place of birth, specialty," he pauses to take a
breath, "voice level, main instrument and, uh...name of journeyman
project." He glances in Jeranium's direction to see if he missed any;
that worthy would /surely/ love to correct Mak on any he might have
missed. Another Journeyman, apparently an import from Fort, takes up a
pen to record the responses.
Jeranium raises one fleshy eyebrow and adds, "And your age, please."
Teraille nods. "Teraille. Senior
Apprentice. Born in Nabol." She pauses slightly. "As of yet, no
specific specialty. Voice level soprano, main instrument gitar,
journeyman project Open Concert." A glance at Jeranium. "Age
26."
Jeranium nods, as politely as is possible for someone that looks
like Mr. Potato Head.
Shinnai, sitting behind a desk, jots down the information on a ready hide. "Thank you, Teraille." She gives a real smile, as opposed to Jeranium's.
Teraille nods to Shinnai and shifts her weight slightly, hands slipping behind her back. "If I may ask a question briefly?"
Caramak bites his tongue to keep down a smile at
Jeranium's addition. Somehow, he always finds the sedentary Journeyman
far more amusing than said Journeyman finds anything else in the world.
Mak nods as Shinnai finishes writing, looking down at his notes then up
again at Teraille. "Surely...Ask away."
Shinnai nods her assent,
although Jeranium grunts briefly.
"Some of the faces here are
unfamiliar to me," Teraille says, a bit hesitantly. "Could I have names
to go with them?"
The look on Jeranium's portly visage seems to say
that such a thing is not necessary; after all, Teraille is the
examinee, not the examiner.
Shinnai volunteers her own name; it's been quite a while, if Teraille met her at all. "Shinnai. I used to be a regular here, as Jeranium, the journeyman to your left, will tell you. Caramak, I'm afraid there are some new faces to me as well, so if you'll perform the rest..?"
Teraille nods to
Shinnai, recognizing her
once she hears the name. Jeranium -- Upon hearing his name her eyes
light in barely supressed mirth.
Caramak smiles slightly and nods.
"Alright...Going quickly around, we have: Jeranium, Brindle, Rowan, Amar," he points to each in turn, Amar being the
scribe, and sitting
beside Shinnai, "then Shinnai and I hope you recognize me, Tayre,
Veldan and Blanton..."
Teraille nods. "Thank you, sir."
Jeranium
seems oblivious to any humor he might present, for he nods
grumpily. Puffy circles beneath his eyes are due to more than
indulgence, and speak of long and recent hours with the youngest of the
apprentices as they learn to play their instruments.
(ouch!)
Teraille would wince sympathetically if she understood the
language of puffy circles.
Caramak glances around the circle once more. "Alright, then...All set to begin?" He glances at his notes once more and then up again.
Teraille nods slightly, again shifting her
stance.
Shinnai readies her pen, dipping it lightly in the inkwell and
keeping it poised above the hide. Amar, beside her, has in front of him
the agenda, and Shinnai glances at it and then looks to Caramak.
Teraille tries very hard not to fidget, by locking her eyes
directly on the wall in front of her.
Caramak looks up at
Teraille.
"Alright. Suppose that you're researching a Conclave that was two full
Passes ago which /might/ have witnessed the altering of the border
between Ruatha and High Reaches. One would think that such an usual
event would be well recorded; but the case is unclear. Maps from that
long ago are generally blurred, but an old one was recently
found which
seems to indicate that there /was/ a change; this Conclave
is remembered as being a tense time, but the reasons are left
unremembered; the obvious hypothesis is that this shift might have
caused it." Mak pauses in his recitation and leans back in his chair
somewhat. "Where do you go to try and find clues about this? What are
your first steps?"
The corpulent Journeyman leans against the back of
his chair, which creaks in protest as Jeranium covers a
yawn.
Teraille considers. "The first thing I'd have to look for would
be records from before that time from the areas that would have
changed. There may be something there that mentions an allegiance
illogial with current boundaries." She pauses, considering. "I'd also
have to look at who drew the maps and what other records we have of
that person. It's quite possible he's not overly reliable." She thinks
for another moment, her eyes falling to the floor as her brow furrows
in concentration.
"Also," Teraille adds, "there might be songs of it.
If it was a tense conclave. . ." She glances at Caramak.
Amar considers this answer gradually; his expression transparent as the thoughts pass across his face. "Where would you look to find this information?" the young archivist asks.
Teraille smiles. "Well,
first, I'd consider things like weather and agricultural reports.
Perhaps tithe records." She considers, beginning to get into this.
"Even diaries, or such things. People mention little things. Of course,
there is the issue of whether they would have been preserved, so I
would have to go with things /like/ the tithe records. . .Actually,
that's probably where I'd begin. And then at records of what certain
holds produced. . . The songs are everywhere. I could go through
the
archive vault and check. Chronologically. Or even go with smith records
and the like. They'd likely have records of postings -- postings! I
didn't even think of that! Where people were posted, cotholds
they stopped at just on one side of the border. . ."
Shinnai prompts
quickly, "And you would find these records by
travelling where?"
"Well, HarperHall first," Teraille begins. "It's
a good place to start for records. Then the Weyrs. Beginning,
obviously, with Fort and High Reaches. Then the Holds themselves.
Ruatha and High Reaches. Then the other crafthalls, neighboring holds.
. ."
Shinnai allows Amar to take over recording for a moment, shaking
out a slight cramp in her fingers. "And suppose you found what you were
looking for?"
Shinnai continues the questioning. "How do you
go about recording this for posterity? What are the legal ramifications
of such an event, and who could have gotten this to
happen?"
Teraille raises an eyebrow. "Actually, that's an interesting question. It could be a matter of dispute between High Reaches and Ruatha today, depending on who lost or gained land." She pauses. "In terms of the recording, the best we can to it to write treatises on it and such. We cannot go back and write it into prior works. That would be cheapening everything. As for the why. . . " She trails off, deep in thought.
Jeranium prompts, his voice and manner hoarse from reprimanding children all day, "Why would a Lord give up a holding? What could force him?"
Amar scribbles quickly away at his sheet of
hide, glance up occasionally. It's quite obvious the young man is a
scribe by trade; the pen flicks over the paper lightly. As she trails
off, he glances up again, the flow of his pen ceasing
temporarily.
Teraille takes a deep breath. "There are a few
explanations I can think of. One is that the people who lived on that
land wished to move, and, for the sake of simplicity and avoiding
conflict, the Lord Holder allowed it. The other explanation is that he
was ruled not capable of managing as much land as he had. The others
could have taken away part of it for that reason."
She pauses again. "Or perhaps it was mutually decided. It's possible neither gained or lost land, that the border was simply reshaped." "Or perhaps -- " Teraille breaks off, her eyes mildly unfocused.
Shinnai watches Teraille, wondering if she's had so little sleep that
she's disoriented.
Teraille looks directly at Jeranium as she
continues, her eyes coming back into focus at the though solidifies.
"Perhaps he was dead. Perhaps he died without naming an heir. That
would have to be researched, too. There are too many possibilities, and
we can't know for sure without a great deal of research."
Jeranium harrumphs; perhaps he was satisfied, perhaps not.
Teraille glances back
at Shinnai, then Caramak.
Caramak keeps his face impassive, but glances
at Jeranium for the next question.
Teraille follows Caramak's eyes
back to the journeyman.
And so, Jeranium fires off another one, his
pedantic instincts reawakening for the moment. "As a journeyman, young
Teraille, your responsiblities would greatly increase." This is a fact;
there is no question here. "And suppose that you are posted to a small
hold. You take a new student and are acting as her mentor. After an
uneventful month, this student disappears. You have no word for a sevenday, and then she returns. What do you do with
her?" He seems to
be implying something rather directly in this question.
Teraille
flushes. "Um. Yeah. I was expecting something like this. . . "
She pauses for a long moment. "I check to make sure she's all right, first. She's going to be at the healers before she can even open her mouth to explain. After that. . . " She sighs, considering.
Jeranium
grunts, and settles back in his poor chair again. The effort
isn't worth the trouble, it appears.
Caramak nods slightly. "She's
fine. She's a little thin...she hasn't had much to eat in the last
sevenday, but she's come out of it ok." He considers a moment. "She
seems rather sheepish...but doesn't really volunteer
information."
"Well," the senior apprentice says thoughtfully, "I'd ask where she'd been. If she doesn't tell me, she's going to be out of the hall fully as quickly as she was at the healers. If she does tell me. . . well, it depends on where she was. For not contacting me, she's going to be, at the very least, confined to the hall for twice the time she was away. Two sevendays, in this case. After that. . . Well, it depends on her reason."
Shinnai smiles slightly, looking directly at Teraille. "The reason she gives is that she heard an old woman singing in distinctly odd keys, and wanted to record it. And in fact, she has recorded it remarkably well, for she has a good sense of relative pitch and has documented a 14-step scale."
Teraille sighs and rubs at her
jawline. "And why didn't she ask me before she left?"
Shinnai grins,
and shrugs as if she were the guilty apprentice caught by circumstance.
"It's tough to come back for permission when you don't want to lose
your quarry."
Teraille nods. "Why didn't she ask the old woman to stay?"
Caramak sits back and watches Shinnai with just a touch of
amusement. She does the part of the guilty Apprentice well.
Shinnai
looks innocent. "Well, she never really thought of that." A
simple answer, really, though not much of an excuse.
Teraille sighs.
"How old are you, precisely?" She unconsciously slips into the
role.
Shinnai also slips into the role, following Teraille's lead.
"Fourteen turns, Ma'am."
Teraille nods. "That's fourteen turns of
dealing with people, and how many turns working with a craft that
specializes in communication?"
Shinnai looks down at the floor, guilty. "One and a bit, Ma'am."
Veldan tries not to look incredulous. Fourteen
Turns indeed...Why the woman's older than him! (Just turned thirty.
Poor guy feels ancient.)
Teraille raises an eyebrow. "And yet you
couldn't manage to communicate either with me or this old
woman?"
Shinnai slips a wink at
Veldan, who looks far too serious, and
is back in character with hardly a lapse. "No, Ma'am. I had to follow
for two days before I caught up with her."
Teraille blinks. "Did she
never /sleep/?"
Shinnai manages to look tired and hungry. "Not long
enough," is her long-suffering response.
Shinnai tells the rest of
the story in brief. "On the third day I finally caught up with her, and
she let me learn some of her songs, but when I woke up the next
morning, she was gone again." A sigh. "_Then_ I had to
get _back!_"
Veldan blinks at Shinnai's wink, then resettles himself
with a wry smile. Mental note: learn not to leave your face open as
the books you read.
Teraille rubs at her forehead. "Well, since you
seem to have suffered a severe lapse in communication skills, here's
what I want you to do. First, we discover what it is like to live
without it. From the time this meeting ends, I do not want to ehar a
single word leave your lips for three days. In that time and the
following time, you will do some small tasks. First, you will write
five different versions of letters you /could/ have sent me. Then you
will spend some time dealing with all the communications those
of higher rank deal with -- all the letters we get, all the questions
we get asked. You will spend time reading speeches which have been
transcribed. This is what you will be doing during your confinement.
Then you get to spend some time communicating with a whole new group of
people. The drudges. You will be working with them for a week. Do you
understand?"
Shinnai nods to Teraille, subdued.
Teraille nods, then
turns to Caramak. "If, by the time her drudgework is to begin, she does
not look recovered from her journey, I will caution people that she is
to be given relatively light tasks for the time."
Amar breaks into a
grin as he records the response, controlling his pen so that it doesn't
shake with his silent laughter. Punishment appreciated.
Shinnai returns
to her own, 35-turn-old self, and gives a smile. "I think she's learned
her lesson," she remarks to Teraille. "Any further notes?"
Caramak
leans on the desk, his chin in his hand and his mouth mostly covered by
his fingers; just the faintest hint of a smile peaks through. He
gives the faintest of nods, and glances from Shinnai to Teraille and
back, and then once at Jeranium, just for his own
amusement.
Jeranium doesn't seem to have appreciated the humor in the
situation, but grunts approvingly at the mention of drudge work.
Teraille considers. "If she does speak in that time, her
confinement to the hall will be extended by one hour for every
word."
Amar gives a quiet
"oof" and adds that note.
Teraille thinks
about this. "And after the drudge work, she will be back to the
original standing with me. I will, of course, send a report
to HarperHall for filing."
Shinnai nods, and glances to
Caramak.
Caramak drops the hand away from his mouth again and nods.
"Mmmm." He glances around the circle to see if there are any other
comments, then plunges onward. "Now...to change the subject.
Performance. And don't," he adds quickly, "pull out your gitar yet,
because first, we ask you some questions about it..."
Teraille takes
a deep breath, nodding.
Caramak folds his hands in front of him to keep
himself from playing idly with something on the desk. "We all have
strengths and weaknesses in performance. You're about to be a
Journeyman; one of your tasks will be to help people with their
performance, to empasize their strengths and downplay their weaknesses.
So. What would you tell someone...if on the day of his performance,
this Apprentice came down with a cold? He's an all around decent
performer, nothing spectacular...But he can't get out of
the performance, either."
Teraille considers. "Could I have more specifics, please? What instrument? Who will be at the concert? How severe a cold? Why can't he get out of it? Is he stuck with a specific piece, or could he choose another?"
Brindle interjects. "Gitar; say it's his Journeyman exam. You happen to know you won't be on the panel, so it's not like there'll be a conflict of interest or anything...He /can't/ chose his piece, but he could admit to having a cold and ask that they be nice to him." The white haired Journeyman glances Jeranium's way; he knows exactly what the planted one would think of admitting to being sick. "The cold isn't all /that/ severe, though. Lowers his voice about a third and makes it just a touch scratchy if he tries to go up as high as usual."
Teraille nods. "So his voice /is/ going to come into it." She considers for a moment. "He should go easy on the voice, if it becomes necessary to sing. Keep it soft, and try to carry it more through feeling than technical proficiency. Your ear sometimes goes when you have a cold, so just make sure the gitar is there. If it becomes necessary to go too high, think about it. Decide in advance what you can do. If you can't, consider alternate melody lines that fit into the gitar. And explain that you aren't feeling well. If you think there will be trouble in advance, ask the panel if they'd prefer him to push through or take that initiative and improvise it. And try to put the emphasis on the performance, not the music." Her brow furrows. "That was fairly scattered. Sorry."
Jeranium looks dubious, his bulbous features set in an
unreadable mask.
Shinnai smiles, and nods. "All good points, although
don't mistake volume for technical proficiency. Good vocal technique
will make up for a lot."
Shinnai expands upon the initial question
then, with a different scenario. "And what is your advice for a person
who is a fantastic composer, a talented instrumentalist, but has a
voice the quality of a wherry's? How can they give a good performance
all 'round, in a place where they have to both play and
sing?"
Teraille nods. "But I'm sayong that if the technical details of
the music can't be there -- for example, forte on the G or something
sickening like that -- to go for feeling abover that. Or if you can't
hit the notes at all, to try and let the feeling be there. And don't
decide it's all over if you make a mistake. We're all human. Even the
examiners." A quick glance at Jeranium. "No matter how it looks." She
grins.
Amar gives a quick grin, sharing the joke and carefully not
looking at the plant-like journeyman.
Teraille considers. "Define voice like a wherry's. Do you mean there voice simply isn't appealing, or that they don't have technical proficiency with it, or that their range is poor, or what?"
Caramak puts his chin in his hand again,
carefully covering a smile from Jeranium's sight. Wouldn't do to be
caught /smiling/ during an /exam/. How improper.
You say, "Pretty
much all three, although the apprentice has had some vocal training. He
knows how to breathe, and sings on pitch, but the tone of his voice,
even at its best, leaves something to be desired."
Teraille nods. "The first thing I'd suggest is something along the lines of the first chorus of Master Caramak's song "Will I Still Love You." Something that has the words spoken, not sung. Spoken word and music can mingle very powerfully." A pause. "Also, depending on the mood of the song, an unappealing voice can be a plus. If it's about an uncomfortable topic. . . Or to show contrast, perhaps. . ."
Shinnai nods. "Luckily for him,
he's an excellent instrumentalist and knows how to write for himself.
How about another one, Caramak?" She turns to her fellow Master,
awaiting.
Teraille shifts her weight slightly, hands slipping behind
her back as she looks to Caramak.
Something on Jeranium's face leads
one to believe that he's heard too many wherry-like voices in his
time.
Caramak smiles slightly. "Yes...One more. Suppose the Apprentice
who comes to you has a wonderful voice; great range, lovely pitch,
intoxicating tone...But has next to no technique on her
instrument...harp, say. How would you advise her to improve /her/
performance, in general?"
Teraille sighs. "Practice. Or try a new
instrument. Or try simpler melodies. Don't aim for complicated chords.
Simplify. Play things softer. . . "
Shinnai chuckles softly,
glancing at Amar's notes briefly as she listens.
Teraille takes a deep breath. "Play slower pieces, ask someone with knowledge in harp for help, run things by people in advance and see what they think, never have the instrument alone if it's avoidable. . ."
Teraille smiles
wryly. "And don't give up hope and smash it."
Teraille (#7076)
An
air of presence follows this young woman, whose five feet and eight inches of
height don't seem enough to describe her. Her long brown hair is carefully
tooled into a fishtail braid falling more than halfway down her back. Confident
green eyes sweep the room, seeming to take it in with a single glance. Her
stance is easy, and her footing solid. As she speaks, her hands move easily in a
silent illustration of her points. Lightly tanned skin covers a figure toned by
exercise and hard work. Her eyes, though not hard, are firm, and still carry
with them an air of serenity and self-satisfaction. A hidden light sparkles
behind them still, but it is under control, and adds to a subtle maturity. Her
chin is held proudly, adding to the appearance of height.
Teraille's tunic and leggings of Harper blue have obviously seen better days.
They are faded and have clearly been mended a few times, but they are clean and
neatly worn. Chosen for comfort and ease of movement, they are loose and easily
stretchable, falling across her shoulders and hips gracefully. Two bracelets of
carved silver with tourquise inlay of dragonwings rest loosely about her wrist
sliding against the skin and one another.
A new knot graces Teraille's shoulder, that of a Harper Senior Apprentice. She
wears it with the pride and dignity she knows her craft deserves. Teraille looks
a bit worn, but in control of it. Her slipping poise has returned to her, and
she holds herself tall and proud. Her eyes are just slightly reddened, but her
smile seems natural. Teraille is 26 Turns, 8 months, and 1 day old.
Shinnai grins wryly in response;
then asks, "Well, presuming your own instrument is still intact, shall
we hear a bit of practical knowledge in performance? You should know
the old Teaching Song 'the Harper's Chore', I presume."
Teraille
nods. "I do."
Jeranium goes through this one at least three times a day, it seems, for all the enthusiasm he shows at the prospect of hearing Teraille perform. He gives a quiet 'harrumph', and settles his midsection more firmly on his nether regions which, in turn, utilize the everpresent forces of gravity to become melded around the seat of the chair. The unfortunate chair gives every indication of falling in; but luckily, the floor still holds.
Teraille glances at Jeranium and smiles apologetically.
Shinnai waits for a moment, and when it looks as
though Teraille hasn't moved, adds, "Perhaps you could perform it for
us, then."
Teraille flushes, taking her gitar from the floor beside her
and tuning it as quickly as possible, mere adjustments from the work
she has already done. She glances up at Shinnai before
beginning.
Shinnai smiles, waiting for the apprentice to
commence.
Teraille hesitates. "Shall I sing and play, or simply
play?"
Shinnai raises an eyebrow. "Are there words to the song, and
an accompaniment?" she asks rhetorically.
Teraille nods, glancing
down and checking the tuning one last time. Stall, her? Never. Finally
she begins, her fingers beginning the piece a bit slower than usual.
The opening notes seem almost hesitant, but weave themselves into a
more coherent whole as she reaches the vocals. Her eyes remain riveted
on her instrument as the words seem to come naturally, mingling in and
around the music, just slightly louder than the chordings are. The
words are clear and carefully dictated, and the chords seem to
blend
together beneath them. The tempo moves up slightly to where it
should be as she plays, and the notes seem to grow more confident as
the words do. Her voice trails out just slightly before the music,
which again winds down to the diminished tempo before resolving
themselves and finishing.
Jeranium doesn't even seem to be listening,
so it must be relatively pleasant.
Teraille's hand wraps around the
neck of her gitar as she watches the others in the room.
Shinnai, in contrast, listens closely, watching Teraille's guitar technique closely. As the apprentice finishes, she first nods approvingly, and then questions. "Teraille, I notice that in the first verse, you accented the chords which underscore the words "duty", and also "pride". In the score, these accents are unmarked, and as one says the words, the accent falls elsewhere in the sentence. Tell me, what is the thought behind that?"
Tekran walks in.
Teraille smiles a bit.
"To be honest, I hadn't noticed myself doing that."
Tekran waves and
smiles to all preasent
Jeranium glances up, his mouth set in his usual
expression of displeasure, and notices Tekran. His eyebrow raises
questioningly, and his bulk shifts slightly in his chair. "Ahem. Yes?"
He challenges.
Tekran turns to Caramak, "Are you
Caramak, or do you
know where I can find him?"
At Jeranium's comment, Teraille turns,
and her face becomes an interesting shade of crimson. She turns back to
the ranking people, a pleading look on her face.
Tekran (#8626)
Tekran
is about five feet with rusty brown hair that swings wildly about when
he walks. He is about 15 turns and 12 days. he looks ready and rested. He
has green eyes, a long face, and strong build. His eyes pick up every detail
of the room with their sea green color, and his lips are a light redish
color.
Caramak raises his eyebrows at
Tekran. "I would be the one you
seek...But we're in the middle of a Journeyman examination...Could I
request that you return at another time?"
Tekran bows, "Yes, of
course, till later then."
Jeranium harrumphs, loudly.
Teraille's
face returns to a close facsimile of its earlier color.
Caramak sighs
and shakes his head. "Sorry about that. Should've locked the door
before we started..."
Teraille nods. "It's all right."
Shinnai
chuckles slightly at Teraille's answer, and responds, "Well, at
least you're candid with us. Would there be a reason why you might want
to accent those chords, if you had realized?" she wonders, after the
newcomer has left.
Caramak props his chin on his hand again and
re-emerses himself in the exam.
Teraille considers. "In part because I
think that is a major part of the harpercraft for me. Duty -- " She
pauses, ordering her thoughts. "Duty is what I thrive off of, I think."
Her voice lowers slightly in volume, still audible, but just so. "Duty
is what compels me. Duty towards friends, towards the craft -- towards
Pern, mostly." She considers again. "I think that sense of duty is the
most important part of me, to be honest." In some sense, she seems to
be talking to herself more than the examiners. "Duty towards myself, I
think, above anything else, though -- Though I think I would rather
hold Pern in higher esteem. I don't believe, in my deepest heart, I do.
I would be hard-pressed to sacrifice /me/. My life I could give up, but
I would find it hard to decide if someone asked me to change who I was,
and I knew it would be good for Pern. I don't know if I could go on
living my life after such a betrayal of self. . ." She trails off,
her eyes staring indistinctly at a random point in the air.
Tekran
walks in from the ballroom.
Shinnai watches Teraille's self-examination
with some curiousity. "An interesting observation. But I think I see
that Journeyman Blanton has a question for you, as well."
Tekran
glances at Caramak, "Good time yet sir?"
Jeranium, firmly planted on a
chair, snorts somewhat louder than is polite as he sees the boy stick
his head in yet again. "Ahem. We will let you know, child."
Caramak
raises his eyebrows at Tekran. "No. Exams take a long time...Tonight
will probably be taken up..."
Teraille glances up at Shinnai speaks,
startled. She starts again st the voice from behind her, but doesn't
turn this time, just closes her eyes and tightens her lips.
Tekran
blinks, "When may I see you then?"
Caramak sighs and closes his eyes.
"Try me tomorrow?"
Amar's pen pauses; he has captured Teraille's
soliloquoy verbatim, but looks up to watch the interruption.
Tekran sighs himself, "sorry to bug you, when are you free tommarrow?"
Teraille's eyes open and she casts a mournful gaze at the
ceiling.
Tekran drops hhis head, "sorry, I'll leave then."
Caramak opens his eyes again. "Try me around noon. Now please...?"
Tekran walks
out into the ballroom.
Teraille lowers her eyes again, sighing
slightly.
Jeranium also watches Tekran with a less-than-tolerant gaze.
Finally, he closes his eyes. When he hears the boy close the door
behind him, his wish has been fulfilled, and the first _ever_ hint of a
smile appears on the aging man's visage.
Caramak sighs and rubs his
temples. "Oy. Blanton...? If you haven't forgotten your question by
now?"
Teraille glances over at Blanton, reaching up a hand to brush a hair from her eyes. She leaves it near there, rubbing idly at her collarbone.
Blanton smiles wryly and nods. "No, I haven't." The young
Journeyman, younger than Teraille, relaxes. He'd been looking jumpy for
a while previously. "In the ...seventh measure? Yes, that was it. The
seventh. You used a Db major triad instead of a Bb minor seventh
chord...Can I ask why you made the substitution?"
Teraille
shakes her head. "Because I can't get to the Bb minor," she confesses.
"Gitar has never been my strong point, and the chordings move quickly
just there. I can't get my fingers to obey me on that one, so
I substituted. I've worked with this piece enough to know that the Db
works in that spot. Besides which, I've /always/ though dropping a
minor chord in there makes it sound a bit off. It gives it this feeling
taht just. . . I don't know. It doesn't feel right. Which," she admits,
"is likely the reason I never nailed it home for myself. I could have,
if I'd truly worked at it. I didn't." SHe makes the admission
easily.
Shinnai glances to Blanton and to
Caramak, but doesn't appear
to have anything to add.
Caramak glances around the room, looking
for any more comments or questions. Then back to Teraille.
"Alright...Just one more. Teaching. You're going to be doing it. How do
you go about preparing a good lesson plan? How do you keep the class
interested and involved? How do you try and make it /enjoyable/, so
that you don't go insane over it?"
Teraille considers this. "Well,
first you need to know what you're going to be doing, and you need to
have some knowledge of it. . . more than you plan to impart on your
students. You have to be willing to admit that you don't know something
if you don't. You need to be prepared to have the lesson change if it
starts to drift off course. . . " She pauses to think. "You want to get
them into it. Have them teach each other as much as you teaching them.
Ask them questions, and listen to the answers. Consider what they have
to say, and be willing to change your ideas based on it. After all,
we're harpers. We have to be openminded, to consider everything and be
willing to change."
Caramak nods to the answer and stands up, glancing
up and down the rough line of Masters and Journeymen.
Teraille's
eyes follow Caramak while the rest of her doesn't move.
Shinnai nods
agreeably, while Amar scribes. Jeranium, on Teraille's left, doesn't
move, but merely grunts.
Caramak reaches into a drawer of the desk and
pulls out a neatly braided knot of Harper blue, a size bigger than
Teraille's current one. "Congratulations, Journeyman," he pronounces
solemnly. He steps around the desk with two strides of his long legs
and offers her the knot.
Teraille blinks, looking at the knot. "Don't
you need to confer or anything?" She looks back up, her eyes
wide.
Jeranium hefts himself from his chair and grunts
softly, although not as menacingly as perhaps a moment. "Don't look a gift
runner in the mouth, girl," he advises. He might even be joking with her.
Nah.
Caramak
laughs lightly. "Didn't you see them nod? I don't think there
was really any disagreement..."
Teraille glances at
Jeranium, Shinnai. . . then the others, one at a time, finally returning to
Caramak. "You mean -- You're saying I passed?" She can't seem to get
this through her head.
Shinnai chuckles. "I'm sure you'll do the craft
proud, Teraille."
Caramak nods, still holding out the knot. "Didn't I
tell you...? Now, before my arm gets tired..." He wiggles the
knot.
Amar, putting the final seals on the hide record, stands and
brings the pen and hide to Teraille. "You only pass if you sign here,"
he grins openly to the new journeywoman. "Without this, it won't be
official."
Teraille blinks a few times, not so much in confusion as to
get the tears out of her eyes. She accepts the pen before the knot,
signing her name and looking at it for a moment, then hugging Amar
before turning to Caramak and hugging him. She pulls back for a bit of
distance before accepting the knot and looking at it, almost in
disbelief. "Thank you. . . Thank you all."
She turns, her look
encompassing the entire room.
Shinnai's eyes reflect her soft smile.
It's always nice to see someone pass.
Teraille moves around the room,
hugging each of her examiners in turn, even Jeranium. Whether he likes
it or not. An almost ludicrously wide smile curves her
lips.
Jeranium is an awfully large bit of flesh to hug, and takes to it
poorly. He stands, uncertain (he probably hasn't been hugged in a
while) and waits for it to be over, and then harrumphs,
characteristically.
Teraille beams at
Jeranium, then everyone. "Thank
you," she repeats.
Shinnai shakes her head. "No, thank you,
Teraille.
It's not often we get an apprentice as well-prepared as you
were."
Teraille smiles and flushes slightly, then stops. "Hmm. I'm a
journeyman now."
Shinnai grins. "Notice I said 'were'."
Teraille
smiles. "But this mean I can do things like have relationships. Legitimately."
Caramak laughs and nods. "One of the many little
side benefits..."
Shinnai's eyebrows go up. Yep, this one's quick
alright.
Teraille grins, glancing at
Caramak, then away. "Don't know
how much use I'll be getting out of that one, though. . ."
Caramak opens and closes his mouth once, then bites his tongue.
Teraille smiles
a bit, shrugging.
Altra walks soundlessly in from the
ballroom.
Teraille rises, looking at
Altra. "May I help you?"
Altra
drops to one knee in cold respect.
Teraille raises an eyebrow.
"Apprentice. What may I do for you?"
Altra says in a neutral voice, "I
wish to speak with you....alone."
Teraille nods. "If you'd like." She
glances back at the others. "You will excuse me?"
Jeranium
harrumphs, ignores the apprentice (he deals with too many all day) and
gives a nod to each Journeman and Master left. Then, his heavy
steps lead him back out the door.
Shinnai helps Amar with the
finalization of the document which promotes Teraille to Journeywoman,
then looks up as the Fortian scribe makes the final notes, his quill
scratching on the smoothed hide. "Teraille?" she softly queries the
newly promoted.
Shinnai nods. "Of course. All finished,
Amar?"
Teraille shakes her head. "I'll handle it. Please, follow
me. Teraille walks calmly and with purpose out into the
ballroom. Amar nods, leaving the document to dry on the desk, and
gathers up his portfolio quickly.
Altra rises, and walks without a
sound toward the door. Altra walks soundlessly out into the
ballroom.
