A Lobster, a Scribe Meeting, and Music for the Nineteenth

A Lobster, a Scribe Meeting, and Music for the Nineteenth

Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Locations: Odette’s Tea Room, Turmus Lake, Magistrate’s Office, Scribe Hall
All times SLT

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6:19–9:06 a.m. | Odette’s Tea Room and Turmus Lake — RP and OOC

 By the time I settled back into my seat at the Tea Room, my blackwine had gone cold. Odette fetched a fresh pot and replenished the milk and sugar. Vitoria was seeing to the other patrons, and July came in to buy tea and a pastry for Aries. When Kaellaed Rhode arrived, he told me he liked the trellis and had seen my YouTube page. Odette offered him spiced tea and gave us a little room to talk.

 I had not realized the fishing tournament had already started. Kaellaed Rhode offered to walk me over and stayed to watch a few casts before work. While I got my line in the water, I told him how much I was enjoying being his again. He said he liked how things were going this time and appreciated me more. I told him there was an ease between us now that had not been there before.

 I pulled in a lobster big enough for dinner. Kaellaed Rhode said it would be good with butter and called me a skilled fisherwoman. We discovered that we both liked salmon, and I waved to Selia, who wished us happy fishing. He hugged me goodbye around half past seven. I stayed with my line in the water, listening to the little sounds along the shore and casting again whenever I felt like it. I had a meeting and errands ahead of me, but for a little while the only thing I needed to watch was the water.

9:13–9:26 a.m. | Outside the Magistrate’s Office — RP and OOC

 I met Aries, Nicholas Eel, and July outside the office. Nicholas was on his way to look at the slave house board and mentioned that the cushions around the tavern pit had been fixed. Aries was glad to hear it before Tavern Night. I told him I kept finding more things to do for the nineteenth, but it looked as though I had found someone who could play the songs I had written. Uncle William had agreed to officiate, and I wanted to show him where everything would be. Aries said he expected to be able to attend.

 Aries had now interviewed both Freya and Sabrina. He still needed to have the wine tested and see what witnesses he could find. I asked him to keep me posted. OOC: I had to leave for a physical and asked him to let Kelli know if I did not make it back for the meeting. I did make it back. At two, I also received the citizen registration application for Zeth’al and Zee Kov Oressell through the Magistrate’s mailbox.

2:55–4:22 p.m. | Scribe Hall — Scribe Caste Meeting, RP

 Before the meeting began, Trent told Orion that Neva had been examined and asked him to finish signing off on her scroll work. Orion agreed. Kelli chaired the meeting, with Aries, Orion, Trent, Jessika, Lilly, Ayamla Pallas, and me among those present. Kaellaed Rhode joined the discussion later. Aries introduced Ayamla as a new Records Keeper he had admitted to the caste within the last hand. Kelli welcomed her and agreed that the growing city needed another person to help with the records.

 Kelli asked us to keep the censuses current and make sure the slave houses send copies of their records for the city files. He said the recent trial had gone as well as it could given that neither side had proved its case, and he asked the Magistrates to dig deeper into the matters brought to us in incident reports. He also reminded us to prepare for the cold season. Our regular caste meeting will be on Wednesdays, except when a citywide meeting or a dance conflicts. Lilly said having a regular day resolved the problem she had had with missing the notices.

 We spent much of the meeting on signatures, seals, and who gives the client a final copy. Kelli said a document is invalid if it lacks any required signature or seal. Orion asked whether the Scribe should give the client a no-modify copy at the signing and send another copy to the Records Keeper. Jessika understood that the client’s final copy was issued after filing. The discussion moved through several possibilities, including a temporary signed copy for a private slave registration. Lilly asked whether that would leave the client with two copies, and Jessika questioned the need to issue an unfinished one as a matter of course.

 Kelli’s final direction was that in ordinary cases, the client waits until the document is formally filed. The Records Keeper then sends the final no-modify copy to the Scribe who officiated at the signing, and that Scribe makes sure the client receives it. Kelli recommended getting it done within one hand, or one week, and allowed for exceptions in emergencies. Orion offered to help write a short procedure so the caste could refer to it later. Kelli said one was already in the planning stage.

 Aries then reported on Ladies Sabrina and Freya of House Blackwood. He confirmed that he was handling the investigation. The women had gone from a cell to Jake’s care, and Aries had eased the restrictions to allow them at home, at their shops, and in the immediate vicinity. They were still to abstain from alcohol. Aries asked us to tell him if we saw either woman drinking or outside the permitted areas. Both had been seen by a physician; Aries believed Lady Seònai had examined them and suspected Thassa poisoning. He had collected the bottle and drink samples for the physicians to test. He said the initial information suggested that if there was poison in the bottle, it might have been there before the women came to the city.

 Jessika asked whether the women had actually behaved in a disorderly or slave-like manner and questioned whether intoxication alone justified their confinement. Aries said they had been so impaired that the Warriors were called, he believed by the Ubara. Kelli clarified that his concern was intoxication with disorderly conduct. Jessika agreed with that distinction. Kelli asked us to wait for the test results before judging the women’s conduct, since poisoning could change how the incident was understood. After adjournment, Kaellaed Rhode suggested that a Free Woman who planned to drink would be safer with an escort. Kelli agreed, and Jessika agreed it was a sensible precaution while maintaining that intoxication alone was not necessarily unlawful. Aries sent out his meeting notes, and I received the notecard that evening.

4:24–5:13 p.m. | Turmus — Companionship Plans, RP and OOC

 I took Kaellaed Rhode outside to show him the gift Maxx Wise had made for us: a statue of the two of us, in color and so lifelike that he immediately remarked on the likeness. I had been surprised by it myself and still had not decided where to put it. The other good news was that Maxx agreed to handle the music, play the songs I had written along with other selections, and make a special song for us. I told Kaellaed Rhode I had made twenty-three songs for the occasion. Finding someone who could play them was one of the things I had been most worried about.

 We went over the contract and talked about keeping our vows to about a paragraph each. The two details I still needed were the date his apartment was paid through and the amount of coin he held. He thought the apartment had roughly two weeks left and gave me his coin figures. We talked about keeping the apartment as a private place to study and about his sharing half the house rent. He said he would read the draft over. I showed him where the main contract ended and the first renewal began. He found a heading that still called the dates “proposed,” even though the November 19 effective date and February 19 first renewal date were already written in.

 We agreed on an open house reception. Guests could use the outside and the first two floors, and we could move about and talk with people instead of staying at the table. I still wanted to go over that with Ella. I was glad Kaellaed Rhode had been able to come in early. It was fun to sit together and picture how the day would go.

5:14–6:28 p.m. | Odette’s Tea Room — RP

 Uncle William arrived with Lady Liberty just as I was thinking about him. He had been showing her the falls. We sat down with blackwine, mint tea, and chocolate sweet bread while I told him that reviewing the contract had turned up a few more draft notes to clear away. He offered to read it once I was satisfied with it. Kaellaed Rhode thanked him for agreeing to officiate for us a second time, and William said it was his honor. When I asked what else we should do ahead of the ceremony, he said to make sure the guests we especially wanted there could attend and to arrange any chairs we needed at the falls. I told him I was already working with Ella and that she would decorate for me.

 Liberty said she loved the falls and was looking forward to the ceremony. We talked about the recent opening in Harfax. She remembered the river, the bridge, the waterfalls, and the friendly people, as well as the rubble and vines that still needed clearing. William said Harfax was an ally of Besnit and that Besnit would stand by them as they built. He described Besnit as a small, quiet community where he had more time to travel and see old friends. I said I would like to travel more with Kaellaed Rhode, and he suggested we visit Besnit after the ceremony. That sounded like something we could both look forward to once the nineteenth was behind us.

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To-Do
◈ Invite Maxx Wise to see the ceremony and reception locations, and agree on when the music will play.
◈ Choose where to display the statue on November 19.
◈ Verify the apartment’s paid-through date, enter the coin figures, and remove the remaining draft wording. Have Kaellaed Rhode review the contract before signing and sealing it, then get a copy to Uncle William.
◈ Draft my vows and confirm the ceremony arrangements with Uncle William.
◈ Go over seating, decorations, and the open house layout with Ella.
◈ Follow up with Aries for the wine test results and any witness accounts.
◈ Check the filing status of the Oressell citizen registration application.

Done
◈ Confirmed Maxx Wise for the music and received his statue gift.
◈ Spoke with Uncle William about preparations for the ceremony.
◈ Received the November 11 Scribe Caste meeting notes.