Studious

Writers: Jelena, Paula
Date Posted: 17th August 2016

Characters: Milga, Naton
Description: Naton helps Milga with her studies.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 7, day 9 of Turn 8

Naton walked into the classroom awkwardly, struggling with the door a little. He had his hands full with a great big pile of records. The records were various examples of interesting changes in weather patterns from the present back to the return of thread. That should be enough to help Milga get a good grasp of the subject, he hoped. Though he knew he shouldn't have favourites, Milga secretly was one of his more favored apprentices and he was eager to see her advance to senior apprentice.

Seeing him struggle with the door, Milga jumped up and went to keep the door open for him. "Hello, master Naton," she greeted with a small smile.

"Thanks Milga, and hello to you too," Naton said gratefully as he dumped the pile of records on the closest table. "I brought you some records to study. You said you wanted to look into weather patterns a bit more, didn't you?"

"Yes. Is that all for me?" Milga's voice turned to a squak when she saw the pile. She stared it with wide eyes. Studying from books and hides just wasn't her thing. She prefered to learn by doing. Her reading skill had advanced amazingly during the past three Turns however, so she could do it.

"Well, I went a little overboard," Naton admitted with a sheepish grin. "But I picked all sorts of interesting things, so you can choose something that fits what you want to study best. So no, you don't have to read all of that."

"Yes, I can see you did," Milga agreed somberly and pulled herself a chair. "So, how's the baby and Vee?" she asked. She felt bit quilty since she had not had much time for her little friend.

Naton's face instantly lit up at the mention of the kids. The family he had made with Jylanya had given him joy to no measure and that showed in his face when he talked of them. While he had always been a good-humored man, family life had made him positively radiant. "They are both just fine. Vee just seems to be growing every day, really. And she's very serious about her Harper classes, that's good to see. And Tonya, well, she really is the most adorable little princes I've ever seen. Have you had the chance to meet her up close, yet?"

"No, I haven't. Just brief glimpse when I stopped by to congratulate Jylanya. I've kept busy with studies. I really want those senior apprentice knots," Milga replied. She was ambitious.

"I'm glad you are taking your studies so seriously," Naton said with a serious look. "But you do make sure you get some relaxation too. All work and no play can make you so tired of it, you'll only hamper your progress."

"I'll relax," Milga promised, "after all this is over."

Naton grinned. **Have to admire her ambition ** It reminded him a little of his own, when he'd been trying to prove to everyone he could make it in Rescue and Salvage.

"Deal," he agreed. "And I'm here to help you reach your goals. Now, what is it that troubles you most?"

"The theoretical meteorology and weather predictions. I was born in a island, I come from long line of fishcrafters and seacrafters. I can look at the horizon and tell what kind of weather is coming on. But when you put it down on hide, I'm at loss. I look at the numbers about wind velocity and air pressure and they tell me nothing," Milga told him. It was frustrating really. She excelled in all things practical but struggled with the book knowledge. "If you want to know what kind of weather we will have tonight, I can look out of window and tell it to you and I would be correct in most of the time. But if you give me hide with hypothetical case, with wind velocity this, the moisture percentage being that, and ask me to write an prediction, I just don't _know_ how to do it."

"I see, I see," Naton said, nodding seriously. "I understand the problem, I was just about the same when I was studying for my senior apprentice knots. Remember, book-smarts can take you only so far, it's the practical application of knowledge that will truly help you in your day to day work." He paused while rummaging through his files. "But yes, you still have to be able to answer about hypothetical cases, that is just the way it is."

He seemed to have found what he was looking for and shoved the document towards Milga. "The trick, therefore, is to be able to create a mental picture - a feeling - with the numbers on paper, so you can put that instinct of yours to work. Have a look at these numbers and then try to describe the scene to me as if you were there. Try to imagine what would it feel like, smell like, look like."

"Uh-oh," Milga groaned and took the hide. She was practically oriented person, imaginery wasn't her strongest skill. "So, the higher the moisture procent, the wetter the weather is?" she checked from Naton after a moment of studying the numbers.

"Exactly," Naton nodded encouragingly. "So, how moist would you say the air is today? On a scale from one to ten?"

"Pretty moist, since it's been raining today," Milga grinned. "So, I'll say ten or nine."

"Good. Humidity should indeed be somewhere around ninety percent, we never get much higher ratings around here," Naton replied. "I'll find a chart for you later with average humidity ratings, so you can try to memorize those a little more. Now, try to remember yesterday. It wasn't raining, so it wasn't as high, but it was pretty damp, wasn't it? Where would you rate that?"

"Yes, it was really opressive, like trying to breath thru wet blanket, so, eight?" Milga frowned with concentration.

"Perfect!" Naton said, obviously satisfied with her answers so far. "Remember Milga, you're going for senior apprentice knots, not masters'. We expect you to have a basic understanding of humidity and weather patterns, but we don't need you to be able to make hundred percent accurate predictions! Not even the cleverest master can do that, by the way." Milga was a serious students and those tend to set the bar too high for themselves.

"Why don't you keep a little log the next few sevendays? Write down your estimates on humidity, wind velocity and such, paired with a general description of how you perceived the climate, how it felt and smelled? Then we can compare them together with the records and see if we can make the numbers a bit more logical for you?"

"Alright, that sounds good to me," Milga replied. It certainly sounded more interesting that just pouring over dusty old hides.

Naton nodded, happy to have found a way that appealed to Milga. "What else would you like to discuss?"

"Well, there's the matter of..." Milga took a deep breath and started.

Last updated on the December 17th 2016

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Studious