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Last updated 29th September 2005 by Estelle
Bakercraft Hall History
Article by: Sara
The Bakercraft Hall was founded twenty turns after the end of the Ninth Pass. It was decided that the Hall would be located near Sapphire Meadows Hold, since the Hold's already-established Farmercraft Hall would be able to conveniently supply the Bakercraft Hall with foodstuffs.
The Hall itself is slightly less than an candlemark's walk from the main bulk of the Hold. Although the fields that Sapphire Meadows is so well known for can be seen from the Hall, the Hall itself has several neat groves of fruit trees surrounding it that block the Hold itself from view. Once Threadfall began, several of the trees that were too close to the Hall had to be cut down, but most of them are still intact and produce ample supplies of fruit for the Hall.
The bulk of the Hall is found in one large central building. It is two stories tall, with external walls made from the naturally reddish stone found in the area. Its roof is made of smooth slate. Two wings stretch out from a slightly taller middle section. The entrance to the Hall reveals a high ceiling--the second floor was knocked out of this section to provide the viewer with a view of the extensive dining room. The room is too large for the crafters only, but before the Plague, was used for large wedding or gather feasts. Now the crafters stay close to the far end, closest to the kitchens. Many of the extra tables have been moved to storage, and the dining room is mostly empty.
The kitchens are at the other end of the dining room. They were placed at the back of the central part of the building so the heat from the ovens could be distributed through the two wings during the winter, and released through vents at the back during the summer. Unlike the rest of the building, most of the kitchen area is still used, as the crafters take advantage of having extra room.
The Eastern wing's first floor is used solely for storage of food and supplies. Since so many crafters require access to these rooms, all journeymen and masters have keys to these rooms, as do the senior students. The second floor is filled with classrooms, where apprentices and students learn the theory behind their craft. Several classrooms are not in use.
The Western wing's first floor houses the support staff, apprentices, and junior students of the Hall. It is divided into two areas, each with their own separate hallways leading to the main part of the Hall. Each person usually shares a room with two or three others of their rank and gender. The second floor is home to the journeymen, masters, senior students, and any guests to the Hall. In times past, many of these people would have had to share quarters like the apprentices, but the extra space in the Hall has had the benefit of giving them each a room to themselves.
Bathing chambers are on the first floor of this wing: they are shared by the Hall, although there are two rooms for bathing: one for men, one for women. Excess heat from the ovens is used to heat the water while electricity from the solar panels is used to pump it into the large communal tubs.
The Hall has one building that is separate from the main Hall. This is where the herdbeasts and other domestic animals are kept, as the Hall keeps a significant supply for its own use. Some of the rarer varieties of animals can be found here, including chickens, ducks, and geese. The building is made of the same red stone of the Hall, and is roofed in slate.
In Turns past, the Bakercraft Hall flourished in the South, producing many talented Masters and Journeymen who worked all over the Continent. Before the Plague came to the South, the Hall boasted of nearly 150 residents. The Plague was as destructive to the Bakercraft Hall as it was to other Halls: many of the crafters and their support staff died, leaving the Hall at a bare 40 residents after the worst of the disease had passed.
Once the edict that barred women from crafts was passed, the Hall lost more of its residents. Eligible boys for apprenticeship were frantically searched for, while the surviving journeymen and masters scrambled to recover knowledge that had been lost when older crafters had died in the Plague.
However, the Bakercraft is one of the less strict crafts on Pern. While it does have formal apprentices, journeymen, and masters, there is also a large population of non-ranked female students who are equally important to the craft as a whole. This is particularly important in the South, where women are banned from most crafts.
Twenty turns before the current Pass, it was looking likely that the Hall would have to close due to a lack of apprentices and journeymen. Hallmaster Hariton, desperate to save his Hall, discovered that there was a large number of holders with daughters who would normally be entering the crafts, but were still too young to marry. Hariton decided to throw open the doors of his Hall to these girls, and train them as unranked students until such time as their fathers arranged a marriage for them. The Bakercraft was a useful craft for these future wives to know, and made them more marketable to single men.
If a woman can attain permission and the funds from her father, she may enter the Bakercraft Hall to work alongside the ranked males as a student. Since the students are all female, they cannot be ranked in the Hall, but a girl may study at the Hall until such time as she finds a husband or her father brings her home. There is some animosity regarding women who decide to stay at the Hall for longer than usual, but a stubborn student may remain as long as she is being useful, and her father does not require her presence at home. These women usually are weyrborn, have fathers who are lenient regarding their marital status, or are unable to marry due to barrenness or even ugliness.
In addition to learning the rudiments of baking and cooking, the daughters would also help the support staff of the Hall, thus learning about proper hold management. Many fathers jumped at the chance to relieve themselves of their daughters until they were of a useful, marriageable age. The tuition that was required for each year of their daughters' training was considered to be reasonable. So far, the Hall has continued with this tradition, and has made few changes. Its population is brushing 100 and still rising, if slowly.
The girls usually study there from the ages of 12 to about 16, at which time they are eligible for marriage. Bakercraft training is useful to future wives and cooks, and because of this, bakercraft-trained women of marriageable age are a popular commodity.
The ranked males in the Bakercraft follow many of the same principles of the other crafts. Apprentices are usually aged 12 to 18, Journeymen from 18 to 30, and Masters are 30 turns old or older.
General (unranked) students are divided into two sections rather than three, since few if any students ascend to Master level. Junior students are aged 12-16, and Senior students are aged 16+. Unlike their ranked counterparts, students switch status from Junior to Senior based on their age and not their skill. For females, this is because they are usually withdrawn from the Hall at age 16 to be wed, and those women that remain are seen as serious about their craft.
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The Bakercraft Hall was founded twenty turns after the end of the Ninth Pass. It was decided that the Hall would be located near Sapphire Meadows Hold, since the Hold's already-established Farmercraft Hall would be able to conveniently supply the Bakercraft Hall with foodstuffs.
The Hall itself is slightly less than an candlemark's walk from the main bulk of the Hold. Although the fields that Sapphire Meadows is so well known for can be seen from the Hall, the Hall itself has several neat groves of fruit trees surrounding it that block the Hold itself from view. Once Threadfall began, several of the trees that were too close to the Hall had to be cut down, but most of them are still intact and produce ample supplies of fruit for the Hall.
The bulk of the Hall is found in one large central building. It is two stories tall, with external walls made from the naturally reddish stone found in the area. Its roof is made of smooth slate. Two wings stretch out from a slightly taller middle section. The entrance to the Hall reveals a high ceiling--the second floor was knocked out of this section to provide the viewer with a view of the extensive dining room. The room is too large for the crafters only, but before the Plague, was used for large wedding or gather feasts. Now the crafters stay close to the far end, closest to the kitchens. Many of the extra tables have been moved to storage, and the dining room is mostly empty.
The kitchens are at the other end of the dining room. They were placed at the back of the central part of the building so the heat from the ovens could be distributed through the two wings during the winter, and released through vents at the back during the summer. Unlike the rest of the building, most of the kitchen area is still used, as the crafters take advantage of having extra room.
The Eastern wing's first floor is used solely for storage of food and supplies. Since so many crafters require access to these rooms, all journeymen and masters have keys to these rooms, as do the senior students. The second floor is filled with classrooms, where apprentices and students learn the theory behind their craft. Several classrooms are not in use.
The Western wing's first floor houses the support staff, apprentices, and junior students of the Hall. It is divided into two areas, each with their own separate hallways leading to the main part of the Hall. Each person usually shares a room with two or three others of their rank and gender. The second floor is home to the journeymen, masters, senior students, and any guests to the Hall. In times past, many of these people would have had to share quarters like the apprentices, but the extra space in the Hall has had the benefit of giving them each a room to themselves.
Bathing chambers are on the first floor of this wing: they are shared by the Hall, although there are two rooms for bathing: one for men, one for women. Excess heat from the ovens is used to heat the water while electricity from the solar panels is used to pump it into the large communal tubs.
The Hall has one building that is separate from the main Hall. This is where the herdbeasts and other domestic animals are kept, as the Hall keeps a significant supply for its own use. Some of the rarer varieties of animals can be found here, including chickens, ducks, and geese. The building is made of the same red stone of the Hall, and is roofed in slate.
In Turns past, the Bakercraft Hall flourished in the South, producing many talented Masters and Journeymen who worked all over the Continent. Before the Plague came to the South, the Hall boasted of nearly 150 residents. The Plague was as destructive to the Bakercraft Hall as it was to other Halls: many of the crafters and their support staff died, leaving the Hall at a bare 40 residents after the worst of the disease had passed.
Once the edict that barred women from crafts was passed, the Hall lost more of its residents. Eligible boys for apprenticeship were frantically searched for, while the surviving journeymen and masters scrambled to recover knowledge that had been lost when older crafters had died in the Plague.
However, the Bakercraft is one of the less strict crafts on Pern. While it does have formal apprentices, journeymen, and masters, there is also a large population of non-ranked female students who are equally important to the craft as a whole. This is particularly important in the South, where women are banned from most crafts.
Twenty turns before the current Pass, it was looking likely that the Hall would have to close due to a lack of apprentices and journeymen. Hallmaster Hariton, desperate to save his Hall, discovered that there was a large number of holders with daughters who would normally be entering the crafts, but were still too young to marry. Hariton decided to throw open the doors of his Hall to these girls, and train them as unranked students until such time as their fathers arranged a marriage for them. The Bakercraft was a useful craft for these future wives to know, and made them more marketable to single men.
If a woman can attain permission and the funds from her father, she may enter the Bakercraft Hall to work alongside the ranked males as a student. Since the students are all female, they cannot be ranked in the Hall, but a girl may study at the Hall until such time as she finds a husband or her father brings her home. There is some animosity regarding women who decide to stay at the Hall for longer than usual, but a stubborn student may remain as long as she is being useful, and her father does not require her presence at home. These women usually are weyrborn, have fathers who are lenient regarding their marital status, or are unable to marry due to barrenness or even ugliness.
In addition to learning the rudiments of baking and cooking, the daughters would also help the support staff of the Hall, thus learning about proper hold management. Many fathers jumped at the chance to relieve themselves of their daughters until they were of a useful, marriageable age. The tuition that was required for each year of their daughters' training was considered to be reasonable. So far, the Hall has continued with this tradition, and has made few changes. Its population is brushing 100 and still rising, if slowly.
The girls usually study there from the ages of 12 to about 16, at which time they are eligible for marriage. Bakercraft training is useful to future wives and cooks, and because of this, bakercraft-trained women of marriageable age are a popular commodity.
The ranked males in the Bakercraft follow many of the same principles of the other crafts. Apprentices are usually aged 12 to 18, Journeymen from 18 to 30, and Masters are 30 turns old or older.
General (unranked) students are divided into two sections rather than three, since few if any students ascend to Master level. Junior students are aged 12-16, and Senior students are aged 16+. Unlike their ranked counterparts, students switch status from Junior to Senior based on their age and not their skill. For females, this is because they are usually withdrawn from the Hall at age 16 to be wed, and those women that remain are seen as serious about their craft.
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