Post by The Smith on Apr 4, 2008 13:09:43 GMT -5
Jack, palms sweaty and his face relieved, slammed the cover of the book shut and smiled. The children and adults alike stood and cheered aloud. He grinned like a little boy and quited the crowd down. "This be the first book of letters I have finished on my own," he said, holding up the book in his hand. "But it damn sure won't be the last." The crowd cheered again before they finally grew silent. "I have worked hard to learn this, but its not as hard as most of us here have thought our whole lives. Readin' just kinda comes natural after a while. Now, the maester has volunteered his good time to help teach everyone in Slateville to learn to do what I just did," Jack said, tugging the maester to the front of the room beside him. "If anyone here wants to sign up for sessions, then see this man here." The children in the front row sprinted to where the maester was standing and surrounded him, all wanting to be the first child to learn to read and write in the entire village. Jack, satisfied, smiled and left the distraught maester to fend for himself among the eager mob. Slipping into the keep's library, he grabbed two previously marked tomes and laid them down on a desk where he sat.
Architecture: The Creation of Cities, the first tome was titled. Jack had always been a good man for construction, and he had already built new homes in Highton with the help of some of his fellow villagers. But everything he knew had come from what he had observed with his own eyes throughout the years. Never in his lifetime had he dreamed he could also have access to the magic knowledge hidden inside written words. Smiling as wide as the children in the adjoining room, Jack flipped to the first page and began.
Hours upon hours passed as he soaked up the knowledge. He remembered someone bringing a candle and some hot stew, but that is all. He awoke when the sunlight was coming through a small window in the back of the library. Yawning and stretching, Jack remembered the events of the day before. He had finished his first book, and the maester had finally given him free reign to read any passage he wanted to, no matter the skill level. He rose and quickly visited the privy, grabbed some breakfast, and then sprinted down to the training yard for his daily lessons with the young men of Slateville. As always, Jack chewed them out and knocked them on their arse regularly, but even the slowest boy there could tell their master at arms was in a light mood. He ended the training an hour earlier than normal, and ran back to the library, where he attacked the passage once again. Around mid day, he entered the maester's chambers, smiling.
"I can build a city now. I can build a house more sturdy than this keep here, maester," he said, slapping the book down on the maester's desk. "Magic," was all he added, before leaving the bewildered maester alone. Jack returned to the library to attack the second book he had chosen.
The Art of Warfare and Generalship, Jack noted with hardly concealed anticipation. He had already scored several battle victories over the corrupt lords of Stoney Shore, and the peasants of the region viewed Jack as a sort of Aegon the Conquerer. However, all his knowledge of how to conduct a proper battle had come from his time and observation much earlier in life when he had been a hedge knight in the reach. He had never had the advantage of being able to study other general's battle plans, or looking at diagrams, or studying campaigns.
When he was done, Jack had a newfound respect for himself. How did I accomplish those victories without this knowledge? When my enemies had every access and more to it? He had learned twice as much from that single, detailed-laden tome than he had the previously thirty-four years of his life.
Finally, Jack went to bed, exhausted. He awoke the next morning and went on his daily routine, training his pupils twice as hard to make up for the easy day they had before. Afterwards he visited the villagers, drinking at the inn, talking non stop of the books he read. Draining a cup of ale, he looked forward to when he could retire to his solar and read the night away. That is if I ain't too drunk, he mused.
Results:
Jack raises architecture skill to noteworthy.
Jack raises battle command/tactics towards grandmaster but is not there yet.
Architecture: The Creation of Cities, the first tome was titled. Jack had always been a good man for construction, and he had already built new homes in Highton with the help of some of his fellow villagers. But everything he knew had come from what he had observed with his own eyes throughout the years. Never in his lifetime had he dreamed he could also have access to the magic knowledge hidden inside written words. Smiling as wide as the children in the adjoining room, Jack flipped to the first page and began.
Hours upon hours passed as he soaked up the knowledge. He remembered someone bringing a candle and some hot stew, but that is all. He awoke when the sunlight was coming through a small window in the back of the library. Yawning and stretching, Jack remembered the events of the day before. He had finished his first book, and the maester had finally given him free reign to read any passage he wanted to, no matter the skill level. He rose and quickly visited the privy, grabbed some breakfast, and then sprinted down to the training yard for his daily lessons with the young men of Slateville. As always, Jack chewed them out and knocked them on their arse regularly, but even the slowest boy there could tell their master at arms was in a light mood. He ended the training an hour earlier than normal, and ran back to the library, where he attacked the passage once again. Around mid day, he entered the maester's chambers, smiling.
"I can build a city now. I can build a house more sturdy than this keep here, maester," he said, slapping the book down on the maester's desk. "Magic," was all he added, before leaving the bewildered maester alone. Jack returned to the library to attack the second book he had chosen.
The Art of Warfare and Generalship, Jack noted with hardly concealed anticipation. He had already scored several battle victories over the corrupt lords of Stoney Shore, and the peasants of the region viewed Jack as a sort of Aegon the Conquerer. However, all his knowledge of how to conduct a proper battle had come from his time and observation much earlier in life when he had been a hedge knight in the reach. He had never had the advantage of being able to study other general's battle plans, or looking at diagrams, or studying campaigns.
When he was done, Jack had a newfound respect for himself. How did I accomplish those victories without this knowledge? When my enemies had every access and more to it? He had learned twice as much from that single, detailed-laden tome than he had the previously thirty-four years of his life.
Finally, Jack went to bed, exhausted. He awoke the next morning and went on his daily routine, training his pupils twice as hard to make up for the easy day they had before. Afterwards he visited the villagers, drinking at the inn, talking non stop of the books he read. Draining a cup of ale, he looked forward to when he could retire to his solar and read the night away. That is if I ain't too drunk, he mused.
Results:
Jack raises architecture skill to noteworthy.
Jack raises battle command/tactics towards grandmaster but is not there yet.