Getting Schooled (Part 3)

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, inside the library-

Wearing her green-and-gold outfit with Argent Gloves, Leona brought in an armload of notebooks and a cup of pencils because today was Professor Rosetta's Expert-level course on Court Heiromesh. She had studied the provided study packets before today because she wanted to be ready for the Expert-level course. She was also tired of traveling and fighting and wanted to do something different for a change of pace. Taking the next course of Court Heiromesh fit the bill nicely.

Two library staff members wheeled in the chalkboard and put out new pieces of chalk for the professor to use as Leona sat down and faced it. She set her notebooks to the left of her and opened a new one set aside specifically for this course. She set aside a pen and waited for the teacher to arrive. She did not have too long to wait because the professor soon arrived with an armful of books and notebooks of his own.

"Hello Miss Jarnefeldt. Are you ready for today's course?" Professor Rosetta asked her as he set down his books and notebooks on a table just to the left of the chalkboard.

"Yes Professor. I'm ready for the course." Leona said to him. She was going to do her best to not fall asleep this time. She did not want to go through that embarrassment again because it made her and the guild look bad. Professor Rosetta nodded, then picked up a piece of chalk and began to write Court Heiromesh characters on the chalkboard. Today promised to be a longer and more in-depth lesson that the previous two, but it would be worth it because Leona would no longer need a written translation of the language in order to explore ruins in Desierto.

"Good. You're familiar with the common characters of Court Heiromesh because I've heard of your work on behalf of the sultan of one of the Tri-Council Cities. Now allow me to introduce you to the less common characters of the language." Professor Rosetta started the lecture by writing out some characters that looked to be smaller versions of the Court Heiromesh alphabet but were turned on their sides. Leona was puzzled by this.

"Ah, so you've noticed the variation? This is a variant of Court Heiromesh used only by the highest nobles and the king himself. You see, this version was used to communicate secret orders between the king and his most trusted followers. These secret orders also included the execution of enemies who couldn't be tried in a court of law." Professor Rosetta explained their significance to the blonde. Leona was interested in what else this language was used for. The elderly teacher soon obliged by explaining more.

"In addition to being used to order such sordid business as assassinations, it was also used for less menacing purposes such as courtship between noblemen and noblewomen and keeping track of a noble's finances. You see, the nobles were a proud lot who jealously guarded their wealth and didn't want commoners to know what they had." Professor Rosetta continued. Leona had trouble believing that. King Saarghon certainly had no problem boasting about his ownership of Desierto.

[Word Count: 550]
[Total Word Count: 550/3,500]

Leona listened as the lecture continued; the professor spoke in Court Heiromesh to make an attempt at immersion. He would probably expect his student to answer in the language as well, so Leona would need to pay attention and respond accordingly. Professor Rosetta began to lecture more on the history of the language she was studying.

"If you'll recall, the nobles of King Saarghon's kingdom were a proud group who held themselves above the common rabble. They wanted to retain a language that was separate from the language used by commoners, so the nobles deliberately resisted changes to their language. That extended to using the secret Court Heiromesh known only to them." Professor Rosetta lectured on the history of the exclusive version. Leona understood that it was used for ordering things that were supposed to be secret like assassinations, but she did not understand why it was used for courtship too. It must have been more of a status thing that the nobles could show off to the commoners.

"Yes. It's kinda strange that they would deliberately resist change just to be exclusive. I can understand the hidden version staying the same, but common Court Heiromesh? I don't get it." Leona said to the professor.

"Scholars are still stumped about that very question, Leona. Many seem to think that it's like you asserted, that the nobles resisted change just to be different. They wanted to assert their status, so they kept the language the same." Professor Rosetta told Leona about the theory that scholars had about the reason that the language was kept the same. Leona was not terribly impressed with the reasoning of the nobles, but it was an issue thousands of years old. Nothing short of finding a definitive work on Court Heiromesh would solve the matter to the blonde's satisfaction, but she was glad to hear that she was far from alone in thinking what she did.

"The secret Court Heiromesh was known only to the king, his nobles, and a few carefully selected scribes. Near the end of his reign, King Saarghon had a lot of things he wanted to keep hidden from the commoners, so he had an entire secret archives commissioned to store records of his... less savory decisions, such as the Night of Silencing." The learned man continued the history lesson. Leona's interest was piqued. What was the Night of Silencing?

"Ah, so I've caught your interest. Scholars say that the Secret Archives are hidden somewhere in Southern Desierto, near the coast. But to keep the common rabble out, the king had special magic commissioned to protect it. You see, King Saarghon had the doors set to where they would open only to one who could speak the secret version of Court Heiromesh." Professor Rosetta explained. Leona was only mildly surprised by that safeguard, but it made sense. Only the king, his nobles, and a few hand-picked scribes knew about the archives, so using a language that only a select few spoke as the key to access the Secret Archives was a logical choice.

"You've caught my interest." Leona repeated to him.

"You'll definitely want to pay attention to today's lesson then. I'll teach you more about the secret language." He said to her, tapping a piece of chalk below the characters written on the chalkboard for emphasis. Leona dutifully copied them all down into her notebook for future study.

[Word Count: 580]
[Total Word Count: 1,130/3,500]

-Two hours later-

"As you can see, the nobles had thought their language through. They put a lot of effort into ensuring that it was different." Professor Rosetta continued his lecture without even a hint of slowing down. He knew the material and happily demonstrated his mastery of the content at any given opportunity. That was good because the former professor's services cost the guild a pretty penny.

"It's certainly different, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Where are the punctuation marks in the written form?" Leona asked the professor, afraid that she had just asked a really dumb question to a really smart man. The professor laughed and began to explain. To her relief he was not laughing at her, but rather the phrasing of the question.

"Oh, the punctuation in written Noble Heiromesh's there. It's just... well, different." The professor started the explanation with words that made the blonde involuntarily recoil. She was learning to detest Noble Heiromesh because of its emphasis on being unique instead of being practical. Professor Rosetta was either oblivious to Leona's reaction or chose to ignore it. He picked up the piece of chalk and began to write punctuation for written Noble Heiromesh on the board while Leona flipped the page full of notes and quickly made a new section just for punctuation marks.

"You see, the nobles were a bit ahead of their time. Whether they knew it or not, they selected for punctuation the same symbols that we use in our modern language. For example, they used a small line that went directly downward as a comma. For a period they used a small square at the end of a sentence. For quotation marks they used two small lines that resemble quotation marks we use today, the only real difference being that their quotation marks look like two modern commas put together." Professor Rosetta explained to her. Leona finally started to understand some of what she was learning. He then tapped on the chalkboard where the entire Noble Heiromesh alphabet was.

"Noble Heiromesh is just Court Heiromesh characters turned on its side and featuring forerunners to modern punctuation marks." Professor Rosetta said to her in Court Heiromesh in an obvious test to see if she was paying attention to his lecture.

"Really? Why did they choose to make it that obvious? Wouldn't the commoners be able to figure out their super-special alphabet if they managed to get a look at it?" Leona asked in passable Court Heiromesh. The professor laughed again, his lengthy beard shaking with laughter as he raised a slender finger to the chalkboard covered in notes and characters. He then addressed the question while still speaking Court Heiromesh.

"You see, while King Saarghon worked hard to promote literacy in his kingdom, not everyone was literate like we are today. Over half his subjects couldn't read or write because they were farmers and couldn't attend school regularly due to the nature of their work. Also, those who could read and write didn't have the time required to study Court Heiromesh enough to attain real mastery. In village schools they learned only enough to understand official proclamations, read notices nailed to tavern doors, and be able to file household registers." Professor Rosetta explained to Leona. Leona could certainly understand that line of reasoning because she grew up in a village that was just beginning to transition from oral tradition to modern literacy. All of Nebdoui's children were taught to read and write, but Leona had an inside track because her mother was the head scribe of the village and could afford to give Leona in-depth tutoring whenever it was required.

[Word Count: 632]
[Total Word Count: 1,762/3,500]

"I kinda know what you're talking about. I grew up in a desert village that's just starting to embrace literacy, so I have firsthand experience of what it's like to go from oral traditions to writing everything down. Some of the adults haven't mastered the art of reading, but they can read enough to get by." Leona told the professor about her experience with literacy. Leona was not the best student because she wanted to be a traveling trader like her father, so her mind was usually anywhere but in the classroom. However, her mother Sophia was the head scribe of the village, so Leona had an advantage few other children in Nebdoui enjoyed because she got extra help outside the classroom whether she wanted it or not. Sophia wanted Leona to follow in her footsteps and become a scribe in order to assist the village's transition to written records long after Sophia was gone, but fate had had other plans in store for Leona.

"So you know what I'm talking about when I say that the village schools often taught just enough for the common people to get by?" Professor Rosetta asked Leona. Leona nodded her head.

"Yeah. My mother's the head scribe of my home village, so she helped teach children and adults how to read and write. As you could imagine, she had an easier time teaching children to read and write than she did teaching adults. Also, desert village schools aren't nearly as good as the schools in the Tri-Council Cities." Leona answered his question with the kind of knowledge born from firsthand experience. She recalled spending many hours after chores learning to read and write thanks to her mother teaching night classes and sharing the "classroom" tent with adults who had a hard time learning the skills required to be literate in the modern world. The adults struggled mightily; some persevered to become fully literate, others settled when they learned enough to pass for literate, and still others could not handle the embarrassment and just gave up, instead relying on others to read and write for them. Old Mustafa, the village storyteller, tried his best to learn how to read and write, but after four years of struggle and much embarrassment the old man gave up and instead relied on others to help him.

"In keeping with the point you just made, I'll tell you why Court Heiromesh was so different from Common Heiromesh. And it has to do with the point you made about the village schools in comparison to the city schools." Professor Rosetta said to her. Leona was interested in hearing what he had to say about the language.

"You see, Court Heiromesh was the language of the court and its assorted officials. And as you can deduce, Common Heiromesh was the language of the commoners. The languages differ so drastically..." The scholar started as he seized the well-used chalkboard eraser with his left hand. He brought it up and began to erase some older notes to make room for some new ones. The chalkboard began to emit dust as the scholar furiously erased the old notes with rapid strokes; a cloud of chalk dust floated over to Leona, who began to cough and sputter as the fumes forced their way into her nose and lungs. Soon the sound of chalk meeting board and the intermittent pounding of chalk scraping on the board filled the air as the blonde waved away the lingering dust cloud and began to breathe normally again.

When Leona finally recovered enough to continue the lesson, Professor Rosetta was standing in front of a new set of characters that Leona dutifully began to write down in her notebook. Above the set of thirty characters was the heading "COMMON HEIROMESH", a heading which she felt was self-explanatory.

"Normally I'd charge you for another full course for these characters, but since the languages are so closely linked I'll give you these at no additional charge." He said to her with a smile.

[Word Count: 688]
[Total Word Count: 2,450/3,500]

-Two hours later-

"...And the reason for the radical divergence of Common Heiromesh from Court Heiromesh lay in the humble farmer. Since the farmers made up a large percent of the population of Desierto at the time, they were the de facto base of the social pyramid and were the unwitting catalyst for change. Remember when I said that village schools were not always attended?" Professor Rosetta asked Leona. The blonde nodded. He continued with his explanation without missing a beat.

"When farmers could attend classes, they were often too focused on their crops to fully pay attention in class. That led to mistakes in comprehension. Mistakes in comprehension led to a language that spread through the marketplaces of a society that wasn't fully literate." Professor Rosetta explained the origins of Common Heiromesh. Leona was surprised to hear that farmers were the "unwitting catalyst" for the language of the common people of ancient Desierto. That fact led her to ask the old scholar how that came to pass without it being corrected by someone with a knowledge of "proper" Heiromesh, like a wealthy merchant or a librarian.

"If that's the case, why didn't someone who knew proper Heiromesh step in and correct the language?" Leona asked him. The professor chuckled in amusement at the question. Seconds later Leona recalled why no steps were taken to fix the mistakes of Common Heiromesh.

"I think you just answered your own question, but I'll tell you anyway. You see, the nobles held themselves separate from the common people and jealously guarded their position on the social pyramid. Also, literacy wasn't a common thing, even for the city people of the kingdom. Only merchants, scribes, and librarians were fully literate and the merchants were able to speak both Common and Court Heiromesh to serve both of their customer bases." Professor Rosetta explained to Leona. With that explanation the spread of Common Heiromesh made sense to the blonde. As part of the apex of the social pyramid, the nobles had a vested interest in protecting their position and the separate language they had made for themselves, so they did not rush to put a halt to the spread of Common Heiromesh. The professor noticed Leona's interest in the subject and made a suggestion to her.

"If you want to learn more about the social structure of ancient Desierto, I suggest that you speak to Dr. N. D. Anna, someone I'm sure you've met at least once. She attended Crocus Magicka University and knows a lot about ancient societies of Earthland, which is a subject I'm not very familiar with. What I am familiar with is ancient languages, which is what I'm here to teach you." The professor suggested to Leona. Leona recognized the name because she had run two minor chores for the academic a long time ago. Maybe one day the Guild Mistress would pay the doctor a visit and ask about ancient Desierto's society.

"Now, let's conclude the lecture with a discussion of the language itself. Court Heiromesh was the language of the nobility, which meant that all court documents were written in the language because only they and a chosen few could understand it. Secret Heiromesh was the language they used when they wanted to communicate something that they didn't want others outside the nobility to read. If you'll refer to these notes..." The professor resumed the lecture while scribbling notes on the board for Leona to write down. The blonde's energy was starting to flag, but she was determined not to nearly fall asleep again like she had during the Advanced Language Class in Court Heiromesh. Leona had a lot of material to study between now and the next class. Not only did she have to study Court Heiromesh, she also had to study Common Heiromesh and a special version of the court language commonly called Secret Heiromesh used by the king and his closest nobles. The budding scholar was getting three language classes for the price of one... and the workload of three classes in one. Still, the increased workload was a small price to pay for learning an ancient language and becoming a leader of a guild devoted to knowledge.

[Word Count: 718]
[Total Word Count: 3,168/3,500]

-Two hours later-

"...And that concludes the expert-level course on Court Heiromesh. I suggest that you study all of your notes and the study packet I'm about to give you because it's very important. The next time we meet, I'll be administering a Proficiency Exam in the language. If you pass it, you'll be able to read and speak Court Heiromesh like a noble of Ancient Desierto!" Professor Rosetta assured his student. He fished out a thick red folder and handed it to Leona, who snapped out of the mental fog brought on by the seemingly interminable lecture. It was this lecture's study packet and it was so full of notes that the papers within threatened to tumble out of the folder.

"You'll need to study everything that you've learned if you hope to pass the Proficency Exam. The exam will cover everything that you've learned over the course of the three lectures, so don't forget to read the previous study packets too!" Professor Rosetta advised her in no uncertain terms. Leona knew that he was serious when he said that, so she would be certain to review her notes and the study packets that he had so generously provided for her. Her adventures might have to take a backseat to preparing for the exam... or she could take another trip to Desierto and test her knowledge of the language before the exam. Professor Rosetta gathered up his texts and notes and stacked them into a single bundle for easier carrying.

"Now I'll leave you to study for the exam. I wish you good luck during your studies." The elderly scholar wished Leona. She stood up and helped him out of the building, shutting the door behind him once she was sure that he would not trip and fall on his way out of the guild hall. Leona then walked back into the library and gathered her supplies into a single stack, then took them all into her left arm and walked back to her office.

-Inside the Guild Mistress' office-

Leona opened the office door and walked through, then nudged it closed with her left ankle once she had walked through. She carefully transported the notes to her desk and sat them down on top of it. She had a lot of material to go through and that was before she found her Basic and Advanced study packets. Leona would have to begin studying for the exam later because she was too tired to study right now. The six-hour lecture was taxing in more ways than one.

She sat down at her desk and organized the study materials so that she could study them some time in the future. In between taking jobs and completing the numerous responsibilities of a Guild Mistress, Leona would have her work cut out for her. Leona would find a way to juggle everything that needed to be done like she had done in the past. The blonde fished out the Basic packet and began to skim through it as a precursor to actual studying. She would skim over the material now and study for real some time when she was up to it.

[Word Count: 542]
[Total Word Count: 3,710/3,500]