Today I went shopping for a couple of new scabbards for my swords (I have a couple of nice ones I picked up many years ago, before I got to Vaggert). One of the perks of the new job is that I get to wear a sword now if I want, so I'm planning on it. (Constables just get issued a truncheon or cudgel, it's just a thin club really, and with the average constable's scant training that's probably best.) I spent too many years as a trader's guard I guess, I got used to wearing swords, so I need to get accustomed to it again. I've kept the swords in good shape but sadly neglected the scabbards; I'm soaking the leather in oil and hoping it can be saved.
I found a great set -bejeweled beauties, smooth dark leather, silver tip and brightwork - for "only" forty gold pieces. Hmmm, I think I'd rather eat the rest of the year. So I'm having two matching ones made, leather and wood and a few places where fancy work could go later. I bargained them down to eight silvers, not bad for custom work - and I get to eat this week after all.
8.6.09
7.6.09
Actual work, sort of.
I finally ran out of paperwork to fill out, and started my first patrol as Wizard Constable. It felt good to stretch my legs at last. I'm supposed to get a uniform someday, but for now my old constable tunic is good enough.
Calling it a patrol is a stretch, it was just walking around trying to get a feel for this part of town. Lots of clerks, small supply shops, and small taverns. There are a bunch of clerks that work for the wizards or the merchants, and I think they all eat nearby. I wonder which is best? I'll just have to test the food and drink in each of them, woe is me :-)
I walked down to the constable office and talked to Cerom (my old boss) and showed him my new badge, it's a ugly silvery metal thing. Cerom thought the animal on it looked like a three-eyed cow, and I'm not sure he's wrong.
Calling it a patrol is a stretch, it was just walking around trying to get a feel for this part of town. Lots of clerks, small supply shops, and small taverns. There are a bunch of clerks that work for the wizards or the merchants, and I think they all eat nearby. I wonder which is best? I'll just have to test the food and drink in each of them, woe is me :-)
I walked down to the constable office and talked to Cerom (my old boss) and showed him my new badge, it's a ugly silvery metal thing. Cerom thought the animal on it looked like a three-eyed cow, and I'm not sure he's wrong.
6.6.09
More Paperwork
Spent the whole day doing paperwork. Someone spent a lot of time and thought preparing these forms, it's a shame I have to mock them. It is really good, in-depth questions about a Wizard Constable who is a wizard. Ummmm.... not me, sorry.
(I heard the guy who had the job before me spent most of his time keeping the wizard apprentices in line. I'll go back to being a city constable before I become a dorm proctor to teenage wizards {shudder}.)
Anyway, the paperwork assumes you are a wizard (rank, spells known, any specialties). Nope. Then another form asks the same question again (favorite spells, power ranking, grades in your wizards class). Sorry, no. I twice missed a place that I was supposed to fill in, and had to borrow a pen and write 'Not Applicable' (again).
Then came the sort-of-fun part. The clerk took the form that will let me get paid to a guy at a desk in the back, and he put it next to some blank sheets of paper, and next I started sneezing - he was a wizard of course, nice of you to warn me :-(. When I recovered there were four copies of the form I wrote, even my handwriting (but not the dents in the paper from the pen; I looked.). So yea, I'll get paid!
Ok, working with wizards is kind of strange - haven't really done any work yet though. I'll find a way to patrol tomorrow, or at least get some exercise .
(I heard the guy who had the job before me spent most of his time keeping the wizard apprentices in line. I'll go back to being a city constable before I become a dorm proctor to teenage wizards {shudder}
Anyway, the paperwork assumes you are a wizard (rank, spells known, any specialties). Nope. Then another form asks the same question again (favorite spells, power ranking, grades in your wizards class). Sorry, no. I twice missed a place that I was supposed to fill in, and had to borrow a pen and write 'Not Applicable' (again).
Then came the sort-of-fun part. The clerk took the form that will let me get paid to a guy at a desk in the back, and he put it next to some blank sheets of paper, and next I started sneezing - he was a wizard of course, nice of you to warn me :-(. When I recovered there were four copies of the form I wrote, even my handwriting (but not the dents in the paper from the pen; I looked.). So yea, I'll get paid!
Ok, working with wizards is kind of strange - haven't really done any work yet though. I'll find a way to patrol tomorrow, or at least get some exercise .
5.6.09
Tower Tour
Got a tour of the wizard's compound today. "Simples"* like me usually have offices far from the tower, but my office is a long narrow room not far from the tower itself. From the smell I think it used to be a storage room. I was given a beat-up but serviceable desk and a key to the door - as if a simple lock is going to stop a wizard from coming in!
I found a list of my fellow workers to visit on my desk, and so the morning was filled with instructions on how to do various types of paperwork. I can apply for reimbursement for almost anything if I'm willing to defend it to the High Wizards. --in other words, be damned careful and get receipts for everything. And Pergimtor likes reports whenever something happens, detailed reports..
I'm going patrolling tomorrow - nothing to investigate yet, but I need the exercise.
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*Simples are what the wizards call people without magic. I had to bite my tongue a little when I heard that.
I found a list of my fellow workers to visit on my desk, and so the morning was filled with instructions on how to do various types of paperwork. I can apply for reimbursement for almost anything if I'm willing to defend it to the High Wizards. --in other words, be damned careful and get receipts for everything. And Pergimtor likes reports whenever something happens, detailed reports.
I'm going patrolling tomorrow - nothing to investigate yet, but I need the exercise.
------
*Simples are what the wizards call people without magic. I had to bite my tongue a little when I heard that.
4.6.09
Wizard Constable
I was officially promoted to Wizard Constable today (go, me!). A Duke who's name I dare not mention interviewed me last week, and today I met with High Wizard Pergimtor, head of the wizard council, and it's done now. It's double the pay of a normal Constable, and theoretically less work, or at least I won't have to walk a beat anymore, I don't know about the paperwork side of things; I've heard rumors. . . .
Pergimtor had me climb up to his rooms at the top of the tower, six or eight stories up. I hope that's not something I'll need to do all the time. For now I'm supposed to read the charter on my wall and dust the office they found for me - I hope it doesn't make me sneeze, heh.
Pergimtor had me climb up to his rooms at the top of the tower, six or eight stories up. I hope that's not something I'll need to do all the time. For now I'm supposed to read the charter on my wall and dust the office they found for me - I hope it doesn't make me sneeze, heh.
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