For the Love of Books
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: AL, Yvonne
Date Posted: 1st August 2025
Characters: Wyndall, Claranel
Description: Wyndall talks up the Printer Hall's Craft to Claranel.
Location: Printer Hall
Date: month 7, day 19 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Aleriand
The paper wagons were late. Wyndall watched through the small windows as the shadows shortened, then grew longer as the afternoon passed. Paper days were the best days. There was something about the thick, heavy rolls of it that made his fingers itchâ€" and if he didn’t get his hands on a few good rolls there was a good chance that one of the other Journeymen would steal his order before it even landed in his workshop.
The apprentices he’d recruited for a morning’s work had vanished into classrooms. His woodblocks were cleaned and stacked, and there was a wallpaper order neatly drying in large loops from the ceiling. With nothing left for him to do, he locked the door behind himself and wandered over to the public library to pretend to browse books instead of lurking at the Hall’s main doors like he desperately wanted to.
He was just opening the door to the library when he caught sight of a young woman approaching with the confident step of someone returning to the library. Wyndall didn’t recognize her, but he held the door open for her all the same. “Welcome. Can I help you find anything?”
As Claranel stepped through the opened door, her eyes turned up to the man who so kindly held it for her. “Well, not specifically.” She admitted as she stepped over the threshold and into the room filled with all manner of stories and facts. “I’ve just been browsing, really.”
“There is certainly lots to discover, if you have the patience for it. Which it seems that you do,” he said, not unkindly. “You are from the Hold, I take it?”
“I am now.” Claranel smiled and nodded as she ambled her way toward the books that she could almost hear calling her name. “I’m originally from a cothold further up the territory.”
She was the right age to apprentice… Wyndall could almost hear the Master Printer whispering in his ear and telling him to follow her. “Have you been at Emerald Falls Hold long? I haven’t seen you at the Printer Hall before.”
“Not long, really.” Clara shook her head even as she approached one of the bookcases which drew the attention of her gaze. Still, she continued the conversation, her fingers lightly tracing a line through the air. They hovered close to, but did not touch the spines, simply focusing upon the titles one at a time until she found one that caught her interest. “I moved here only recently, and just discovered the library a sevenday ago.”
“And now you’re back, so you must have liked what you discovered?” Wyndall let his sentence dangle like conversational bait.
“Oh yes.” Claranel agreed wholeheartedly. Stepping to the side, she finally found a book that appealed to her mood, one that could shift on any given day. This particular tome was a collection of short stories, and she felt in a fictitious mood. “There’s a thousand things I’ve discovered I like.” Truthfully, Clara didn’t know exactly how many books the library had, but it was a lot.
“Have you ever thought about writing your own stories?” Wyndall asked.
“Hm.” With a shrug of her shoulders, Clara flipped open the book to view the table of contents, a rather unique idea that she would have never thought of if she hadn’t seen it in another book during her previous visit. “Not really. I mean…I’ve told stories, but only to little children. They aren’t going to be something that interests anyone else.”
“You never know what someone else might find to be of interest. Take this book,” he said, gesturing to the tome in her hands. “It’s stories, right? And stories are inherently interesting. But the way these stories are presented to you matters too. The stories wouldn’t be as good, as enticing, without the table of contents to tantalize you with a glimpse of what to look forward to. The size of the book matters too, and the weight of it in your hands. It should be comfortable to hold, the paper should feel good between your fingers, and the cover should be durable but also pleasant to touch. And the letters that make up those stories, someone designed the typeface to be easy to read even when it’s a bit dark out. And I, for one, find all those aspects of the book just as interesting as the stories themselves.”
With the way Wyndall described it, Clara did have to admit it made the function and make of a book far more interesting. Had he not spoken to her about it, she would have never given it a second thought. “Might I?” She asked, motioning toward the book, quite interested in the contents with or without his descriptive phrases. “Have you written anything?”
“Me? Just essays on inks and dyes for the Printer Hall. I mostly focus on print design. I started with endleaf design and ended up designing wallpaper, which is sort of the same thing except bigger.” He plucked another slim volume from the shelf and held it out to her. “If you’re interested in storytelling and books as objects, then I’d recommend this. It’s a collaboration between two Journeymen, one from the Harper Hall and one from here. The way that the Printer uses font, colour and layout makes a rather ordinary story into something extraordinary, I think.”
Clara accepted the book and thumbed through it briefly out of politeness. Certainly, she would read it, but she couldn’t do so right then and there and expect to finish it while he waited, could she? “I certainly will. Thank you. You’ve certainly given me something to think about!”
“I hope you enjoy it. It’s been a pleasure, miss.” Wyndall bobbed his head politely as he made his escape.
Last updated on the August 1st 2025