Rejected Notes from the Composite History. 3

From: Michael Cule <mikec_at_room3b.demon.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 16:52:48 +0100


This is the post CONVULSION burst of me writing stuff. This is part of a series of poems which are taken to be the stuff that the compiler of the COMPOSITE HISTORY OF DRAGON PASS chose to leave out in deference to the feelings of his patron, Argrath.

Something that has bothered me for a long time is the question of just who or what Argrath is really working for, with and towards. The following does a reasonable job of not answering.

3: Interview Technique.

Extracts from the minutes of a Recruitment Commission meeting.

The Chairman then thanked the Candidate and the Commision went into closed session.

("No, no, my boy. No need to wait.

We old fuddy-duddies will take
Our own good time about our decisions."

He presses some coins in the young man's hands And closes the door firmly before returning to his seat. His jowels gleam with sweat in the long-dying light Of the burning summer's day.)

The Chairman then invited his Colleagues to speak in the traditional order on the merits of the Candidate.

The First Speaker affirmed that she found him physically adequate if not superior. Muscle and reflex were both developing nicely and if he was not taken under the Commision's protection soon his current lifestyle might prove detrimental to his long term development. She voted Aye.

(She brushes the fleas from her earth brown skirt and takes a swig of
ale. The day has been long and dry and she must conduct services when she gets home.)

The Second Speaker spoke of the Candidate's lack of educational preperation and a tendency to impulsive and ill-thought out action evidenced all too clearly from the record he had presented to the Commission. Since the Candidate was substandard in Mental development, The Second Speaker voted Nay.

(Primly and precisely he shuffled his sheets
Of notes, both copious and clear.
He twitched the hems of his black robes
To avoid contact and possible ritual
Uncleaness from his neighbours
On either side.)

The Third Speaker noted the Candidate's more than adequate enthusiasm for his religious duties, his popularity with his fellows and his capacity for growth. In answer to a question from the Second Speaker he replied that he thought the Candidate had a true Reverence for his gods
(which were not after all the Speaker's Gods) and was not (as the Second
Speaker put it) 'just along for what he could get out of it'. Heated words were exchanged and the Chairman had to impose order.

(He adjusts his ritual headpiece and for the thousandth time that
broiling day,
Wished his God were a little less concerned about appearances.)

The Fourth Speaker listed the conquests of the Candidate among the lesser Spirits (see Appendix Two) but felt, despite its impressive length that he could not recommend a candidate with so little reverence and respect for our non-corporeal brethern. He voted Nay.

(The Old man watches the noses of his Colleagues twitch as he speaks.
Duty is hard and the marketplace harder. People just won't credit a shaman Who doesn't smell.)

The Fifth Speaker gave its opinion that though the Shadow of the Candidate was long and would fall (were he to be given the Commision's favour) across many who might otherwise live lives pleasant to themselves and useful to their communities, the damage done to the structure of things would be within acceptable parameters. It voted Aye.

(The Secretary to the Commision sighed and rubbed his temples as he
condensed down twenty minutes of allusions, poems, dances and juggling into four bare lines of ink.)

The Sixth Speaker made no contribution and the Chairman ordered him be formally noted as voting Nay, according to precedent.

(The grey haired man says no word

As he has said none the whole long day
But smiles and rises and goes to look
Out on the marketplace below
And Yelm, sinking at last below the City walls. He scratches absently the tatoo on his arm And smiles again.)

The Chairman noted the concerns of his colleagues but also noted that the end of the Cycle was within sight and that Higher Authority was anxious that their visit to this Place would not be entirely fruitless. He gave as his opinion that this Candidate, flawed as he might be, was the best that they had found, that even the Commision could only work with the materials at hand and finally stated that he was (not without some trepidation) voting Aye.

Noting that this made the decision four Ayes to three Nays, the Chairman ordered the Secretary to instruct the Outer Order to set the Candidate's feet on the path that would be needed and declared the meeting closed with the usual precautions and customary invocations.

(One by one, in the appointed order they leave, by six doors that can be
seen and a seventh that cannot. The Secretary sighs and clears away their mess, burning those papers he will not take with him in the grate before going downstairs to settle the tab with the Innkeeper.)

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