Harro Samagen, Summer 1746
My name is Harro Samagen. I live in the city of Ibraer, in the Kingdom of the same name, next to the Forest of Sarrick. I am, by trade, a smith, and have in recent years become more recognised as a bladesmith than anything else. Doctor Amenides has asked me to write down what I do in a typical day, and I must admit that many of my days follow a similar pattern.
I wake at an early enough hour. There's not a real need for this any more, but I am more than fifty years old, and I have woken early for all of my life. It is not easy to change the habits of a lifetime. So, I rise, alongside my wife Teza, light the fires, water the horses, and engage in the other tasks of a household in the early morning. I then throw a horseshoe at the bell that hangs over the apprentices' rooms - the one who is last to breakfast will have to find it from wherever it has fallen, and hang it back on its hook for the following morning. The journeymen have their own quarters, where they will still hear the bell, but where it will not jar them as much as the apprentices.
Breakfast tends to be a quiet meal; the apprentices are mostly in their teen years, and do not wake swiftly. But they are smiths, and so must eat enough to keep them going. On any morning, save the hottest in summer, there is porridge, and there will also be salt bacon, eggs, sausage, or other fried meats. In season, there is fruit. And there is coffee. Years ago, I bought a goblin coffee maker, and while I had to replace the cistern with one ten times the size before the coffee could be used for anything other than medical purposes, it now does very good service.
Having eaten, we hasten to work. The fires are already in place, and the apprentices build them up higher. The floors will have been swept at the end of the day before, and the tools tidied, but works in progress will be left out. The journeymen go each to their particular works, and I assign the apprentices to each of them. This is, perhaps, the most thoughtful aspect of my day now, and much akin to the final details of forging - does the youngest apprentice need to work with the careful and precise journeyman who will have her attend to fine detail, or is she in need of working with the louder, more boisterous fellow who works on barding and machine plating? Is my eldest journeyman in need of someone stronger for today's work, since he is injured, or will he be alright with one who can fetch and carry for him? And of course, all this must be done without a moment's hesitation, as at the forge.
Once they are assigned and at work, and one has been reserved to aid me, I will go and open the doors. Sometimes there are customers waiting, though since I have done less of the horse and more of the blade, this has become less usual. Recent politics, though, leave me benefiting, as several of the noble Lords who engage in duels have gone for a breaking style, wherein they try to shatter the blades of their opponents. It is not unusual for a noble to arrive at the opening of the gates with a broken blade, which must be made whole for a duel at noon. If this happens, I will do the work myself.
In most cases, however, I can return to other, less urgent work. Sometimes it is a blade, sometimes some delicate piece of machinery, and sometimes it is the accursed books, which must be tallied and kept in order. I have a good head for figures, but I do not have a good hand for them - but keeping the figures in my head is no use when I, or Teza, or any of the journeymen might need to use them.
Through the morning, suppliers and potential suppliers, customers and potential customers, and occasional less usual visitors, come and go. In the early afternoon, there is lunch - meat and bread, stew or soup in winter, and more coffee. The apprentices - and sometimes, the younger journeymen - spend a half hour playing with a ball, or playing catch with Yessir, the yard's spaniel. That is to say, they try to catch and hold Yessir, and he has none of it; this is an old game for him, and he is well versed in escape.
Back to work, then, and the afternoon is usually busier for me, for the customers who have spent a while thinking about their needs, or who have come further, will be in at this time. The apprentice assigned to me for the day will be paying close attention, as there will be questions afterward, in the evening time. Most days, that comes quickly enough, and the doors are closed as the Evening Bell is rung in Sarrick. We clean up, sweeping, polishing, and putting tools away, for about an hour, and I ask questions of the apprentices as we do so. Sometimes I will ask them of the journeymen too; it would not do for them to relax too far. The smarter apprentices work out that the faster the cleaning up goes, the fewer the questions.
Then dinner, and this meal varies depending on the markets and the season. There will be wine, or beer, or cider alongside, and if there is cause for celebration - a name day, or the like - a cake or something of the sort. With two of us, two daughters and a son still at home, four journeymen, seven apprentices, and frequent guests, there is often something to celebrate. Yessir gets scraps and bones under the table, and sometimes shares them with his lady, Noway.
After this, the various people scatter to other activities. Some of the apprentices and journeymen have their own projects, on which they will work in the evenings; as long as they clean up after, they can use the forges as much as they wish. The second apprentice - a girl of about seventeen - has been engaged in a long and careful courtship of the elder of my daughters who still lives with us, and I do not think either of them realise that we are amused observers. Some of the others have courtships to pursue as well, and indeed, the eldest of my journeymen is often not about for breakfast these days. He is working on a masterpiece, and indeed, when eventually he presents it, I will offer him a permanent place here, for his style of working suits mine more than any of the others I have worked with. At that time, we will need to make accommodation for him as a partner, but the old stables here have been long disused, and will serve well if converted to a new cottage.
I and Teza take our ease, make sure the younger children do their schoolwork, and discuss it with them. Sometimes we will go out to a play or other entertainment, often at the house of Tal Morro, who is an old friend, and invites us to many of the events he sponsors. When eventually we settle, I check that the horseshoe is in place for the morning, and that the doors and closed and fires damped. And then to sleep.