Ralph and the Pixie

The true reason the Street of Scribes was so named was because of a number of shops which were at, below, and just above street level, where the tools of Scribing were manufactured, imported, exported, and sold.

Scribing, then, was for the most part a business, supplying the labour and tools of commerce. Funding for the purely academic side of the trade came entirely from the state in the form of taxes. The academic aspect of Scribing was therefore a sideline on which, except for state funding, as little time, money, and resources were expended as possible.

As the man approached within hailing distance, the Adjutant muttered quietly, so as not to be overheard, ‘That is no Adjunct! He’s too old, for one thing. And look at his bearing; the way he walks-’

‘I know him,’ the other replied. ‘He’s been vouched for.’

‘Vouched for or not, he is no Adjunct-’

‘My superior,’ the other said pointedly, ‘has said that he is to be freely admitted; that no questions are to be asked. As your superior, I am telling you to take no overt notice! Is that clear?’

Carefully hiding his anger and suspicion, the Adjutant replied, ‘Perfectly.’ But he watched as the false Adjunct ascended the stairs with the poised equilibrium of an athlete, or a very well-trained soldier, nodded curtly to his superior who opened the door for the fellow, and closed it. Both of them, he noticed unobtrusively, his superior and the Adjunct, carefully took note that none in the square marked this occurrence with the least curiosity, or more importantly, with carefully concealed intent; something, to the best of his knowledge, only well-trained soldiers did, and then only under very particular circumstances.