[Mkguild] Fit to Print (6/6)

[Indagare]

Chapter 6: Pressing the Point (late June, 708)

“That’s it! Up and defend!” CLANK! Lodo was feeling overheated as he
defended himself with a sword. Jack DeMule had been teaching him the basics
of swordplay. He’d never be an expert, but at least he could defend
himself. “Say, is your nose supposed to be glowing?”

“My what?”

“Uh, not nose. Comb. It’s pretty bright!”

Lodo could feel it himself. He carefully touched the area. It was just
beyond where he could make his eyes meet. It felt hot. “Well, I can’t sweat
like I did as a human. I suppose this ridiculous comb allows blood to be
cooled through it.”

“Interesting. Well, I think you’re about as far as you’re ever going to get
with swords. At least if you need to use one you can. We should see if you
have a knack for anything else.”

“Well, I’m pretty good with a throwing knife.”

“Oh? Well, let’s try that.” Jack led him to where a number of hand-held
knives were. Lodo tested each one and found one he liked the balance of.
There was a far-off target and he launched the knife with speed and power.
It struck dead center.

“Right. Note to self, do not challenge Lodo at darts. Hmm, if you’re good
with this, what about a bow and arrow? Crossbows are easy as a start.”

Lodo went to the crossbows as Jack removed the knife. He picked out one
with a good balanced weight and, after being instructed, aimed and fired.
He hit very nearly the same hole. “My! If I’d known this I’d have taken
archery years ago!”

“Right. So other types of bows take more upper body strength to use, but
I’ll bet if you practice you could master it. We do have a bow teacher
here. I’ll introduce you to her.”

“I’d like that very much! It’s strange. I never thought I’d like a weapon,
but I feel like I’m drawn to the bow.”

“Har har. You should get together with Wanderer sometime. The two of you
could make corny puns together.”

***

Aleria Alban stood almost a head taller than Lodo. Her physique was
stunning and statuesque. She had a head of white feathers that almost
seemed to glow. Her eyes and beak were a stunning yellow, and what he could
see of her body feathers looked like burnished bronze. That she was an
eagle, there was no doubt, but Lodo had no idea what kind. Nor, somehow,
did it seem to matter.

“Jack says you’re a fair hand with your marks. I’ll help train you more
with them. Pick up one of the lighter bows–you’ll need more muscles for the
heavier ones–and we can start.”

Lodo nodded and picked up one of the bows and its accompanying arrows.
There were several targets at different distances, some almost insultingly
close. “Hit each of those as close to the center as you can get. I know
some seem too close, but it wouldn’t be an accurate test if they weren’t.”

“If someone can’t hit those closest ones, they have no reason to be here!”
The closest had to be no further than the average dart board! Each target
seemed to be about three yards further than the last.

Lodo did well until he got a bit past the mid-range mark. He felt
frustrated at not being able to hit his targets, but Aleria seemed very
pleased. “You’ve reached about the maximum range with that type of bow. Go
get yourself a heavier one and I’ll fetch the arrows. We’ll see how far you
can get next.”

Though his arms were feeling sore, Lodo was determined to prove himself. He
was sorely tempted to try the largest and heaviest bow, but he knew he had
neither the skill nor strength to manage it–not yet. *I will, though! I
really like this! Not giving up my art, though.*

The bow was better, but with each shot Lodo could feel his arms beginning
to burn and strain. Finally Aleria called an end. “I’m all for
self-improvement, but don’t take it too far! If you hurt yourself it’ll
only make training take longer since you’ll first need to recover! Here’s
some ointment for those sore muscles. They sell more of it at the
apothecary–I’d advise you to stock up!”

Lodo nodded. “Thank you, Aleria. I greatly appreciate your help!”

***

“Finally finished them!” Misha entered Lodo’s shop with a joyful expression.

It took a minute, but Lodo stopped his work and got up! “That’s fantastic!
When do you want to start?”

“I was going to head by the Writers’ Guild and see if they’d want to see a
demonstration. They’ve been putting this off too long and I want an answer
one way or another!”

“I need to finish a few pieces I promised customers, but I can get there by
this afternoon if that would work?”

“That’d be fine. It’ll give me time to visit Pascal for the ink and set the
last bit up.”

“Wonderful! I’ll be there as soon as I can!”

***

The inside of the new press building had many onlookers. Tallis, Nahum, and
Madra were closest, as were all the senior copyists. Others were near, but
in the back. Fortunately there was no crowding. Misha led the
demonstration. “Before you is a machine that was created by Weldon
Trendahl. He was a great uncle to Edward Snow also known as Drift.” He
paused and let a few murmurs go around. Drift had been fairly well-known
and his current state was more rumor than fact, but nearly everyone knew
something bad had happened to him. “Lodo and I were able to create or,
perhaps, recreate the device from a schema we found. We’re now going to
make a copy of the Canticles for you.”

More murmuring arose but both Lodo and Misha ignored it. They placed the
paper, prepared the lettering, inked it, pressed down the paper, and
pressed it. Page after page went through this process until the full of the
Canticles had been printed out in what was a surprisingly short time. Lodo,
however, was glad he’d been keeping up with his arm exercises.

They hung the pages on lines to let the ink dry. “If you are worried about
illumination, you will see that there are spaces on the pages where they
can be easily created. Further, the copyists need only have the paper
available and change out the type, which I can show you how to do. I took
into consideration that there will be older letters needed as well, and you
can find them alongside the others. Will you help us to make books more
available?” asked Misha.

“Yes,” said Madre.The goose looked fierce as she said it. “This will enable
a new era of literacy!”

“Yeah!” said Tallis. “This is a great idea! It’ll be interesting to see
where it goes.”

“No reason not to,” said Nahum. “As long as the Writer’s Guild can do its
thing.”

Misha and Lodo smiled. “Glad to hear it!” said Misha. “I’ll show you all
how it works and then we can get started!”

As the copyists gathered, Lodo and Misha showed them how to change out the
type, how to ink the type, how to lay the paper, and finally how to press.
It didn’t take them long to learn, and before the day was over there were
more copies of the Canticles translated into Common.
The excited scribes began thinking of what valuable tomes could next be
made through the wonderful press, and even discussed how best to do
bestiaries–something of deep interest to anyone at the Keep.

A new chapter had begun.
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For the full story, complete with italices and apostrophes:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EJwVrtRmZg1YadOn33tpx3ZQDpvuNwiFZL33-_Dcb4Q/edit?usp=sharing
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