Enlightened Empire 129 Old and New

The quiet rasp of the file on metal had always been a satisfying sound to Egidius, but what the sound represented was as much part of his fascination than the noise itself. Nothing could ever come close to the feeling he had when he strove ever higher on his path to perfection. Despite all of his interest in new knowledge, all of his thirst for discovery, this here was his favorite part of a clock maker's work. By the time Egidius had finished his day's work, a sharp sting of metal hung in the air. With a satisfied sigh, he released the air he had held in his stomach all this time. Perfection was difficult to achieve, but it was, always, the minimum he aimed for. For now, he would check how close he had come to his aims.

Again, he picked up King Corco's 'ruler'. As he held up the measuring instrument to the metal cog he had just fashioned, he mused just how fitting its name was. Indeed, with this simple, etched length of metal, nothing more, the King of the South would rule over the lands. With a smile, he measured out the diameter of his newest creation: 17.5 centimeters, exactly the length he had calculated before and not a single millimeter more. At last, his work had been completed. Of course, it was still far from perfect, he was sure. For now however, this level of precision would have to suffice. After all, he couldn't indulge too much in perfection when others were waiting for his completed work. The king was waiting for his cogs.

"Nabo, come here," the clock maker shouted as he turned on his stool. From the outside, light shone in through the open gate of his workshop and illuminated the chaos all around him, with various tools strewn in a disorganized mess after his mad creation had been done. However, he had no time to finish up, since he could already hear footsteps close in. From the back of his work station, a Yaku boy with short hair and uncovered arms marched towards him. Nabo, his first apprentice. At first he had been suspicious of his new master, and cooperation had been slow, but after three seasons together, Egidius couldn't be prouder of the boy.

"Yes, master," he said and bowed.

"Here, take this and sand down the corners. Then I want you to make sure that the piece fits in with the rest of the machine. Remember, don't take away too much material or it won't fit anymore." "Of course master. Right away master." Stiff as a board, the boy offered another bow before he returned back to his own private work station. In the meantime, the master began to clean up his leftovers.

In Medala, strong hierarchies were normal in all walks of life, and normally, his apprentice should have been the one to clean up for him. Even though the king might not have liked this sort of submissive behavior, Egidius was very much used to this sort of stratified behavior from his days in Arcavia, and he had learned that. It seemed no matter where one went, the craftsmen would always work in the same fashion. With a shudder, Egidius thought back to his own days as a young clock maker. Back then, his stubborn master had suppressed the talented young apprentice at every corner. Within the old systems the craftsmen had developed, raising future talent was considered a sin, which was nothing short of poison for progress. Egidius didn't really care about anyone surpassing him. His only measure would only ever be his own ability, and nature itself.

As a result, he didn't subscribe to these old ideas either, despite being used to them. Still, he wouldn't oppose to the youngster's proper worship. After all, as the one who taught him the skills which would feed him and his family for the rest of his life, such a level of reverence would only be proper. However, he would never even consider limiting the boy's creative freedom in any way. He was sure the king would like it as well.

Once he was reminded of his new, strange master, Egidius jumped off his stool and brushed the last iron filings from his leather apron onto the ground. Although his cleanup wasn't completed yet, he would clean out the place in the evening anyways, and it was better to move now, before nightfall. After all, so long as the final cog was fitted in, the king's big project would be completed at last! Even before the instrument had been constructed, Egidius could see that it would be quite useful, especially now that some within Saniya talked about war. With deft fingers, the clock maker rolled up the sketches of his last work. Visuals would make it easier to explain his improvements.

"Nabo, I will go out for a bit! Be careful with the instruments! And I will check on your work later, so don't go playing cards again!" he shouted back into the room before he left out of the opened paper gate, into the light of the evening sun. Past his small, well-maintained garden, the clock maker stepped onto the narrow road he was confident to call home by now.

Although winter had begun to stretch its frozen fingertips towards the town on the river delta, the sun, still strong in its final glow, did its best to fight back against the forces of winter. However, the trees, newly planted on the corner of every road, showed Egidius the truth. Winter wasn't far away from them.

"Good morning, master Egidius," a man said from across the street. With the same reckless abandon everyone in Sachay seemed to have towards the cold, this one also didn't wear any sleeves, while he worked a piece of raw clay on his potter's wheel.

"Good afternoon, Machao. Are you not cold?" he asked with a look at the strange sleeveless shirt everyone in Saniya wore these days. Even after Egidius had gotten to know them, the fashion sense of the locals was still a mystery to him.

"Ahaha, of course not. Before winter comes along, we gotta show our pride as Sachay, right?" Machao smirked. Unsure of what to answer, Egidius nodded his head, while the potter returned his eyes back to his work.

"Anyways, I have some business in Rapra Castle, so I will be on my way for now," Egidius said at last.

"Yeah, show our king what the southern quarter can do. You're one of us now too, so it's time to prove your worth. No pressure though." Machao offered a little wink. At the last banquet several days ago, Egidius had made friends with an interesting village chief, who had led him around the venue and helped him make acquaintance with many of the other locals. Ever since they had gotten drunk together, he felt much more accepted in their midst.

"I will. Good luck with your work."

Of course, it had helped that Egidius, together with all the locals, had been stuck on Chukru Island. Just like Sillu Island had been built to house King Corco's officials and soldiers, Chukru had been built to house his craftsmen. However, Sillu was an island situated in between Rapra Castle and the main town of Saniya, so it would still receive a lot of traffic. Chukru was different. Positioned in the middle of the Mayura River, with the castle a natural barrier between his new home and the rest of Saniya, the island was much more isolated.

As such, it was no wonder that the king had positioned all of his most important, most secretive industries here. Of course this included Machao's porcelain production as much as his own clock making. Not only the craftsmen themselves, even their families had been moved. Although Egidius understood that the families would be a potential point of attack for enemy spies if they lived outside, away from their husbands and fathers, but as a result the town burst with life, in every sense of the word. Still, most didn't mind the lively atmosphere. Not long after they had moved into their new homes, their area had already formed into a tight-knit community.

"Good evening, master Egidius," Ella, the pretty daughter of his neighbor Ulpi, walked towards himself and greeted him with her mysterious smile. All he could do was offer a stiff nod in response, but he was still glad. Yes, even the awkward Egidius had gotten used to his close neighbors.

Of course, there are always exceptions to everything, the clock maker thought as he walked past a two-story building. All buildings on Chukru had large paper gates built right into the buildings and for most of the year, these gates would remain opened to 'let the Earth inside' as the locals put it. Only this one house would leave its gates closed all year round. Even worse, the garden had been neglected all this time and the bushes had begun to grow rampant, while the doors themselves had been barricaded with wooden boards. Truly, his old friend Xander had done his level best to stay isolated.

Again he was reminded of the time they had first been tasked to work on the king's water wheels. To Egidius, it had been an exciting challenge, a chance to learn something new, to bring further life into his craft. Even the others, despite their unwillingness, had still altered their views under the king's persuasion and begun to work on the, in their opinion, less sophisticated works.

Only Xander had remained stubborn. 'No work for a proper clock maker,' he had said, and 'barbaric' too. With a sigh, Egidius shook his head. He supposed that this sort of thing would be normal. No matter where one went, there would always be those who wouldn't be willing to learn and study. Xander was the epitome of everything Egidius had disliked about the old guild system back home: Greedy, selfish, inflexible and secretive, he would be happy so long as he could hoard all the 'lucrative' work for himself. All the while he would close himself off, always fearful others might steal his secrets.

Out of sight out of mind, and soon Egidius found himself in front of the bridge which would connect his home island to Rapra Castle. Already the clock maker looked forward to seeing King Corco again. After all, every time they met, he would see, or learn, something new. Even now, he was more than just a bit curious what the king's plans were for their new invention, although he already had a good few ideas.

With a giddy smile, he walked over to the men who stood guard in front of the gate, one a Yaku from within Saniya's local population and one Arcavian, one of Dedrick's men. Even though he had spent about a year with the mercenaries now, he really couldn't tell which one it was. Egidius had never been great with names.

"Good evening, good men," he said, eager to move along "I will need to make my way inside the castle, if you please. I have work for King Corco finished and need his approval to proceed."

"After the banquet, security has been increased, so we can't let anyone in like this. I'm very sorry, master Egidius." Although he realized that he had been recognized by the mercenary, Egidius had no time to feel embarrassed. Rather, he was much too distracted by another matter. If he couldn't meet the king, wouldn't that mean he couldn't see anymore of Corco's new toys?

"Wait, then how will I manage to talk to the king? What if King Corco has further questions? Only I will be able to explain the details!" he said as he shook the plans for his work in front of the guards' face.

"Ah, I didn't mean you can't go inside," the guard corrected. "You'll have to wait until the king confirms that you can go inside. Since it seems important, we will send someone right away. What matter can I announce?"

With a deep breath, Egidius calmed down again. So long as he would only have to wait for a short while, there was no reason to panic.

"In that case, please tell King Corco: Master Egidius has completed his metal lathe."

Chapter end