Fancywork
Written by Ugly Sattalan
This is the first draft of my completed lessons.
[Lesson One]
[Lesson Two]
[Lesson Three]
[Lesson Four]
[Lesson Five]
[Final]
[Return to the Class tutorial]
Lessone the Firste - Knowe Thy Roppe
To the few members of today's class that had attended the old Ajah Class, the teachers was recognisable from the instance he stepped through the door. Baracaius Asha'man was clad in his usual flamboyant manner - his sky-blue coat was crafted from fine crushed velvet, with falls of cream-coloured lace at the cuffs, and he flourished his heavy velvet cape with a snap when he entered the room.
"Greetings, dear students," he called in his resonant baritone when he reached the class, dropping into a dramatic leg that set his golden curls bouncing about his ageless face. "For those of you I have not had the pleasure of meeting yet, my name is Baracaius Ozwanashi, Asha'man of the Blue Ajah. I know, it's a mouthful - but as long as you call me come name that involves 'Asha'man' and something vaguely like my name, then I'll be more than happy." He flashed a brilliant smile.
"Today, my children, you are here to begin a journey into one of the secret realms of the sailor," his voice dropped as he cast his intense blue gaze over the assembled students. "Today, dear students," his voice rose again, gaining intensity, "you take the first steps into the world of Knotwork!"
He abruptly turned his back to the students, making his cape snap dramatically, and plucked up a piece of chalk. In elegant letters, he wrote the names of four knots on the slate - Overhand, Reef, Figure-Eight, and Bowline. Then he returned his gaze to the students - some of them seemed enthralled, but most of them showed a sort of stunned disbelief that such a creature as Baracaius Asha'man could even exist. Baracaius didn't notice - he never did, actually. What was the point of being a powerful and respected Asha'man if he had to act cold and distant all the time?
"We'll start with the basics, and then move right on up to fancy-work. The first knot, that I'm certain all of you fabulousy bright pupils already know, is the Overhand Knot." He fished smooth white rope, just as long as his arm-span, from a pocket in his coat, and bent one end over and under the other, to make the simplest of knots. "You all have ropes at your desks, so practice practice, everyone," he called out, clapping his hands briskly twice. Once everyone had a chance to tie the simple knot, he untied his and made another demonstration. "This is the Reef Knot," he explained - basically, two overhand knots, tied in opposite directions. "Left over right, right over left," he called out. "Have at it!"
After the second practice period was over, he untied his rope once again. "Next up we have something just a little bit more complicated, my hearties. This is called the figure-eight knot! Take your rope in hand, and make a bite - that's the technical term for a loop where the ends don't cross each other - the take the short end of your rope, and wrap it around behind the bite, and when it's reached the front again, put it through the bite." He looked around at the class, and beamed another dazzlingly white smile at the students. "Then just pull it until it's tight, and you'll have a knot that looks just like the number eight!"
After another pause, he moved onto the last knot. "This fabulous fellow is the bowline, quite possibly the most useful knot ever tied by man! Start by putting a turn in your rope - that's a loop where the ends do cross over. Take the running end, that's the end that is on top, here, and bring it around to the bottom of the turn and up through the turn. Then wrap the rope around the standing end - that's the other end - and back down through the hole. Then carefully pull the ends tight - you don't want to tighten away your loop, because that's the point of the knot."
The extroverted Asha'man glanced the room, holding his rope in one hand. "Now, everyone practice those knots, and I'll be around to check your progress!"
Lessone the Second - Knowe thy Sparre (or Thyn Partnerse Armme)
When the time came for the second lecture to begin, Baracaius was standing at the front of the room, writing the names of knots on the slate just as he had the previous week. Oddly, today he carried with him a silver-capped, blue-lacquered swagger stick. At the very moment the Tower-bell had finished tolling, he turned to face the class and made an elegant bow. "And how are you this morning, darling students?" he asked, smiling winningly. A few students had dropped out of the class, but most were still there - which was just fine, people always dropped out after the first class. It certainly had nothing to do with his teaching abilities.
"Today, Children, we'll be learning to hitch a rope to a spar - spar being sailor-talk for post." Baracaius, despite his worldly airs, had been born a Fisherman's son on the Shadow Coast. All of his early adulthood had been spend aboard one boat or another, and to tell the truth, being here in the mountains chafed him nearly as badly as it would one of the Atha'an Miere. "The first hitch we'll learn is called the round turn and two half hitches." Baracaius quickly took a seat on the edge of his desk, balancing the swagger stick across his knees. Then he wrapped the rope around the spar one full turn so that the running end pointed back in the same direction as the standing end. The, he took the shorter end and made two half-hitches (like an overhand knot but around a piece of something) onto the other end of the rope. As usual, once he was finished, he prompted his students to try the knot for themselves. "You can use the legs of your chairs for this one, or you friends' arms if they're really trusting."
"The next one I'll teach you is the Clove Hitch - it looks just like a letter 'H' when it's finished. Basically all this is is a pair of half-hitches tied onto a spar in opposite directions." He demonstrated, finishing the knot so that the running end pointed opposite to the standing end, and the two were alongside each other." After the practice session was complete, he untied his hitch and set the swagger stick down on his desk. "This next hitch is called a timber hitch, and it's really fun." He beamed at his students once more, the corners of his bright blue eyes crinkling merrily. "For this knot, you make a long bite in your rope, and then twist it up as many times as you can before the rope gets too stiff." He demonstrated this, holding the ends of the bite and using two fingers to twirl it into a long twist. "Now, wrap this around your spar, and put the end of your rope through the end of the bite - then, a bit further down your spar, tie a half-hitch or a clove hitch to secure the whole thing in place. Like the name suggests, this hitch is used to drag along big spars or logs."
He took up his swagger stick and walked through the class with it tucked under his arm, inspecting the work of his students. "The final hitch for today," he announced from the middle of the room, "is called a Marline Hitch. All it is, is a line of half-hitches tied along the length of an object. This is good for tying bundles together, or securing a sail to a boom or lug." He ignored the whispers of 'what's a lug?' that followed his comment.
After a moment, he announced, "Alright, class, get to work practicing those - and while you're at it, I'd like to know if any of you have thought about what these knots and hitches might be for."
Lessone the Thirde - Whippe thy Rope
On the day of the third class, Baracaius strode into the room with a large roll of waxed twine under his arm. "Are we all ready to learn?" he asked eagerly. "I certainly hope so, because today we'll be learning to whip our ropes!"
A few of the soldiers exchanged perplexed glances at this comment.
"Whipping is something that we do to keep a rope from fraying - basically, we're tying a thin little piece of whipping twine around the end of a larger rope, to hold it together - that's why I brought this lovely stuff to class today." He grinned and thunked the spool of twine down on his desk, immediately setting to cutting off arms lengths of the stuff. "There are a few different ways you can make a whipping, but for now I'm just going to teach you two. The first is called the 'West Country Whipping.' I don't rightly know why, so no-one ask me!" He chuckled musically, then went back to cutting lengths of twine. "Basically all it is, is a long series of overhand knots - you tie them around your larger rope with the twine, putting them on alternating sides of your rope. Make sure they're tight, and that they're snug up to each other - friendly knots are the best knots, in the West Country." He grinned into the audience, waiting for them to acknowledge his joke.
"Now, the other kind of whipping you can make is just a little bit more complicated. You need to make a bite in your twine, and lie it alongside your rope. The take the long end of your twine and wrap it tightly around the rope, over the bite. With any whipping, you want it to be half again as wide as the thickness of the rope you're whipping - so, if your rope's really thick, you have a lot of whipping ahead of you." He grinned and winked. "Once you've put a lot of turns around your rope - nice and snug, mind - you'll need to place the end of your twine through the bite from before, and then pull on the other end of your rope until the bite is pulled backwards under the whipping - then you can cut off the ends so they don't show." He clapped briskly, breaking the calm that had descended while he spoke. "Now, get to it! These'll take you a while."
Lessone the Fourthe - Thyne Firste Fancieworke
Although an average person would have judged Baracaius to be just as frighteningly energetic as always, the well-informed would have noticed that there wasn't quite the usual spring in his step. Not to mention that his navy-blue silk coat, trimmed in heavy gold braid, was practically drab by his usual standards.
"Good morning, class, shall we get to work?" he asked, when he entered the room and bowed to his students. He smiled, but it was a subdued expression compared to the standard radiant grin. The Blue Asha'man had been planning a trip to Mayene for months now, to speak to a group of fishermen about proposed Tariff rates - but shockingly, the fishermen had sent a delegation to him, here, in the Mountains of Mist, instead. It would be an understatement to say that the normally buoyant Blue was disappointed not to be departing to a port, but the higher-ups in his Ajah had strongly suggested that he stay put, so that was what he would do.
"Today we're working with the twine again - only today, we'll be learning our first little bits of fancy-work!" Once again, no few students gave him somewhat baffled looks. "Fancy-work, children, is the process of using rope or twine to decorate things. It's both functional, because knotted rope is very strong, and beautiful, because knots can get wonderfully intricate. I forgot to bring my examples in today, but next class, I'll show you some nice projects I've made over the years." He smiled a little wanly, then moved on to the day's work.
"The first thing we're going to practice is the cockscombing - it's like a cross between a West Country whipping and a Marline Hitch. Basically, you just use your twine to tie a series of half-hitches, or overhand knots if you prefer, snug up against one another. You can tie them all in the same direction to make a twist, or in opposite directions to make a straight line. In fact, there are all sorts of nifty things you can do to make patterns, and today, you're going to experiment." He sat down on the top of his desk and waved at the class. "Go on, then. If you have any questions, you all know where I am."
Lessonne the Fifthe - Thyne Lanyardse
By the fifth lecture, Baracaius was feeling somewhat better about his 'captivity' within the Tower, mostly because he had arranged to be included in a recruitment mission to Illian set for a few months hence. "Good day, eager students mine," he sang out as he strode through the open door of the classroom. With a bow and a flourish to the class - as always, he smiled much more sincerely at them than he had before. "Today we're learning something that I found very interesting when I was a lad - the Mayener Sennate. You'll notice that the rope you have today is a lot finer than the usual one, yet much larger than your twine from last time - this one's a cord we often use for fancywork."
He held up his rope so that the class could see his actions. "Start by doubling your rope over to find the middle - then pick a point back from the folded end as far as the length of the lanyard you want to make. Tie an overhand knot. Then, work back from this knot toward the folded end - bring one end over the two central pieces of cord, then put the other end over that and then under the two central cords, then back up through the loop on the other side. Pull it fast, and then make another one. If you alternate sides, the lanyard will be flat - if you don't, you'll get what we call the Mayener Twist. You can alternate the two, and try cockscombing, to get some interesting patterns."
He smiled, then set about picking apart the neat iterations of Sennate he had performed while he spoke. "Here's another one - the square knot. This one is easiest if you have two separate cords, which you all do. Lay the cords down on a flat surface and cross them like an 'x.' Then pick one - loop it over it's neighbour. Do the same with the next three cords, and when you get to the last one, tuck it over and then under so it completes the pattern. Then pull them all fairly tight, and it'll make a square. Too tight, and it'll lose the shape - but that's fine, you can loosen it off. Make a tower out of these to form a nice, round lanyard."
He waved extravagantly, the falls of lace at his cuffs fluttering merrily. "A'right then, hop to it!"
Finale - Showe Thy Knowledge
On the final day of class, Baracaius was sitting comfortable atop his desk, with his legs folded, when the students filtered in. "Today is that day that nearly all students dread," he said darkly, when they had all assembled, his chin tilted dramatically so that the light from the windows cast his face into sharp relief. "The day of the final exam!" He rose to his feet, flourishing his cape so it would snap dramatically. "Fortunately for all of you, though, this is not a traditional final."
He paced in front of the room, gesticulating as he spoke. "For the final exam of this class, I want you to take some rope, or cord, or twine, and then go home, and make something. Take as long as you want - and when you come show me something nice, you'll have passed the class!"
He turned and strode purposefully toward the door. Just before be exited, he bowed dramatically with much flourishing of his velvet cape, and called out in his resonant baritone, "Good luck, my children!"
|
|
