Find Your Passions

Writers: Jane, Miriah
Date Posted: 3rd October 2014

Characters: Vestian, Sahna
Description: Vestian encourages Sahna in her craft
Location: Harper Hall
Date: month 9, day 2 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Thanja

Vestian

Sahna looked almost furtive as she approached the Harper Hallmaster's
office. There was no way anybody would believe she was supposed to be
in this part of the building and especially since it was study time
for the printer apprentices. Not that they were always supervised and
so she had had no qualms about sneaking out of the study room with the
excuse of needing the necessary.

The whole business of visiting the Hallmaster was just too difficult
to explain, so she had decided not to unless she _had_ to.

Once at the office door she straightened up and knocked, not nearly as
worried about the actual visit as she had been about the visit to one
of her own craft's journeymen last sevenday. The Hallmaster had
seemed nice enough when he had talked to her in the press hall. The
fact that he had talked to her at all was quite a recommendation to
her mind.

Vestian looked up at the knock and put aside his paperwork. "Come in
please."

Sahna opened the door a little and peeped around the side of it, not
certain if she was disturbing the man. "It's me, sir. You said I
should bring my font drawings along some evening. Is now convenient?"

"Well, come on in." Vestian sat back and waved her in before gesturing
to the seat across from his desk. "It's a good time." He poured some
klah into a cup and arched a brow. "Any for you?"

"Oh, no thank you, Hallmaster." Sahna entered the room and crossed to stand
in front of the desk. "I don't like the taste," she added in explanation in
case he thought she was refusing out of some sort of politeness.

"Very well." He nodded. "Do you have the drawings for me to look at?"

Sahna placed the large folder on the man's desk and untied the woven
tapes that kept it closed. "I put the font drawings at the front,"
she explained, "but it has all of my ... illustrating? All of my
drawing type things, even my drafts of my letters to my brother which
are pictures." She had carefully cut them out of her workbook and
trimmed the pages so it wasn't obvious they came from the book. It
was the only way she had thought of to censor them because she didn't
want another incident like the one she had had with journeyman Quier.

Vestian opened the folder and gestured at the chair across from the
desk. "Go ahead and pull up that chair." He didn't simply just flip
through the drawings as some might have, he studied each illustration
in depth, murmuring softly to himself. "This is a very interesting
font you've developed." He put aside one page and then picked up
another. "Has any one been helping you with this at all? With the
design?"

"Not with the design," Sahna said. "One of the older journeymen made that
into the punch I showed you. He's had Turns of practice, you see, and I don't
have the hand skills yet to make a really good job of it. I will, though, I
hope." She sent a grin in the Hallmaster's direction. "It's nothing special to
design a font - lots of us do it. You know, like a harper writing a song they hope
will be famous. We all hope our font will become famous and get used. Or
even just made and trialled."

He nodded. "I don't see why this one shouldn't be made after it's
cleaned up. Some of the sketches show a great deal of promise from an
artist's perspective." He tapped his chin, and sat back. "I'll speak
to our new Hallsecond when he arrives." He looked up at her and gave
her a crooked smile. "I believe in encouraging potential."

"Thank you, sir. We're getting a new Hallsecond? A printer? Like
Master Thanja?"

Vestian inclined his head in affirmation. "We are indeed. It's a
growing part of Harper Hall that needs its voice heard."

Sahna puffed up with pride that the printercraft was so important that it
got to supply another Hallsecond. She couldn't wait to tell the other printer
apprentices for she was sure she would have heard it had been common
knowledge. Than she recalled why she was in a position to hear this news.
"I do little pictures too," she indicated her folder, "there are some further
down. Just fun little drawings for my brother back at the Weyr."

"At the Weyr, hm?" He flicked over the drawings and tilted his head to the
side as he examined them. Artistically, they did need work, but for a girl her
age, they showed promise. "And you're wanting to be an illustrator?"

"I'd _never_ considered it," she admitted, "but one of the journeymen - our
journeymen - has organized some extra training for me in illustrating.
Normally I wouldn't start work on it until the next Turn of my apprenticeship. I
don't know that it's what I _want_ to do but it might be what I'm best at." She
hoped not but how could she tell?

He frowned a little. "So what _do_ you want to do, Sahna? What are your
ultimate goals?"

She grimaced inwardly. It was such a difficult question and adults always
asked it. "I just want to be a printer," she said, "At the end, but mainly I
think about just passing my classes. Though I would like to design a font that
was used ... That would be nice."

"Search, my girl. Search for your passion. If fonts are your passion, then
pursue it and I will help you as best I can."

Sahna was delighted. The _Hallmaster_ would help her? _Her_? And she
hadn't even told any of her classmates about this visit to the Hallmaster because
she didn't think they'd believe her. Search for a passion? She hadn't realized
printers had passions - not for their work, at least. "I will search, sir!"
she promised.

He nodded with satisfaction. "Good. Let me know what you discover about
yourself."

The apprentice printer got to her feet and took back her work folder. "Thank
you, sir."

Last updated on the November 16th 2014

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