Wanderlaw I

[Hart]

1st of Ymiden, 718

On the first of Ymiden, Hart woke in Tristan's room, put on Tristan's clothes, and went down the stair to the Estate dining room. Tristan's breakfast was waiting for him on the table, cooked to perfection as it had been the trial before and the trial before that, as was an outline of his appointments for the day. Hart sat in the chair Tristan sat at to eat, ate the excellent breakfast, and sipped coffee as he looked over the appointments. When breakfast was done he went upstairs to Tristan's study and read over some correspondence. As he had each trial before, he excused any personal servants that might be in the study so that the study was empty, just him amongst the books and the papers. Each piece of correspondence he carefully copied, word for word, onto the echo scroll Tristan had given him. This was a daily practice. He thought it only right that Tristan be kept up to date with his mail.

With the mail read and copied, Hart put the correspondence aside. He drafted replies to such correspondence immediately after lunch. After detailing the correspondence in the echo scroll, he began to tend to appointments. The personal servants --namely a secretary and a personal guard-- were let back into the room, and with the guard in the corner and the secretary at his elbow, he saw to each appointment, whether it be from a farmer or a lord. He treated each person as equally as he could, though certainly he did more research whenever he needed to attend to any of Tristan's fellow nobles. He offered cake and wine and had tea himself with sugar and lemon. The appointments passed either quickly or slowly, depending on who he needed to see. He made sure, after each appointment, to write in the echo scrool who he had seen at what time, and to detail what they had discussed and why.

After the morning appointments, Hart would take lunch in the shade of the garden. Sometimes he had lunch appointments; sometimes he didn't. If he didn't, he ate alone or, if one or more of the Estate staff was interested, he would take lunch with them. He smiled at their banter and the simple joy of their chatter. They were happy people, and it made Hart happy to be near them.

After lunch he returned to the study to finish up the daily correspondence. He checked the echo scroll for replies and then, depending on what Tristan said and what he himself thought needed doing, he drafted replies, or sent out letters of his own. He very carefully signed each with Tristan's signature, which he had practiced until he could replicate it perfectly.

When the correspondence was done, he often took the news from the secretary about what was happening in Oakleigh, the Eastern Settlement, and Rynmere. He and the secretary went over several newspapers which came from around the colonies and Rynmere. Then, if there were appointments scheduled for the afternoon, he sat through those appointments. In the afternoons he drank coffee, strong and black, rather than tea.

If there were no afternoon appointments Hart was free to do as he liked. He shut himself in Tristan's alchemy workshop or Tristan's studio. There he pretended to work on art or alchemy while actually studying books on politics, the nobility, etiquette, the government, geography, history, and other notable subjects. He read through the afternoon into the evening.

In the evening, he took his supper in the dining room, with the secretary and the guard. The secretary informed him of matters concerning the Estate; the guard informed him of security threats to himself and Oakleigh. When those matters were tended to, Hart retreated back to Tristan's study to write down an account of the day. He then copied the account into the echo scroll. When that was completed, he went over ledgers for both the Estate and Oakleigh. The ledgers were difficult, and oftentimes Hart was made to stay up late poring over them. The budget for Oakleigh was constantly in flux. He oftentimes requested company when he went over the ledgers so that he didn't make math errors. Either the secretary or an accountant would join him. They often explained such things as the economy, investments, and trade.

Late in the evening he went back to Tristan's room. At the desk in Tristan's room he continued either studying a variety of subjects, or trying to make sense of the ledgers, if they were particulalry difficult. Then, usually around 23rd break, he put the studies or the ledgers aside. He had a drink, usually something strong. Then he went to sleep.

He woke at 6th bell when one of the Estate staff knocked at the door. He put on Tristan's clothes, went to the Estate dining room, and had Tristan's breakfast.

---

2nd of Ymiden, 718
afternoon

Hart was in Tristan's alchemy workshop, studying the books on Oakleigh. He found the workshop was better than the studio for study; the studio had many statues, some of which moved. Their movements, he found, could be distracting, though only because Hart could have studied the statues for breaks. Since he was not pretending to be Tristan in order to study statues, it was the workshop instead, with its strange alchemical beakers and jars, which at least stayed still and innocuous on their shelves.

The book he was studying was less about Oakleigh, and more about the the Eastern Settlement. It talked a little about history, but Hart was focused on current studies. Unfortunately, it was difficult to find a book that even mentioned Oakleigh as it was currently. He often found himself frowning as he read. He was taking notes, and as he came to a section on population he wrote down a number, and then glanced at the notes, checked another book that was open on the table, and frowned some more.

The fact of it was that no matter how many books he read, none of them seemed able to give definite detail on the Eastern Settlement or on Oakleigh. He had read many books on the Eastern Settlement of late, and some trials it felt as if he had read so much that he should have been considered an expert-- and yet, none of the information added up. In one book the population of the Eastern Settlement was greater than that of Rynmere; in another book, it was much lesser. In one book Oakleigh's population was estimated in the hundred thousands; in another, in only the thousands. Estimations of the Eastern Settlement's wealth fluctuated too, usually claiming that the settlements were much poorer than they truly were; Hart, who had dealt with Oakleigh's ledgers, had knowledge on that which was far superior to any he found in the books. Few of the books had a current focus on Oakleigh; rather, most focused on how it had been historically. And none of the books, as far as he could tell, had been written by someone who had lived or ruled in the duchy, or had lived in any of the settlements. Most of them were written by one scholar from Rynmere or his colleagues at the University.

The information in these books was largely lacking.

Hart pored over the pages unhappily. A handful of books should not have been so concerning, but they were. How was he supposed to properly stand in as duke if he didn't have factual information about the duchy he was supposed to run? For all he knew, he could be balancing the ledgers all wrong, putting funds here when they should have been there. And what of the region's maps? How much had Oakleigh's borders changed since the last time they had been surveyed? If the books were such poor records, could he trust the maps at all?

Hart sat back in his chair and frowned grumpily at his notes and the stack of books on the counter. He crossed his arms and thought.

There was only one thing for it, he thought. He might not be as good a duke as Tristan when it came to nobles and constituents, appointments and ledgers and meetings, but-- but he could do his part for the duchy. And that meant preparing current, factual insight on population, wealth, and borders.

Hart stood up abruptly from the chair, grabbed the books and notes, and left Tristan's alchemy workshop. Outside the door was his personal guard, and Hart said as they walked towards Tristan's study, "We'll need to fetch the house staff. And tell my secretary I'm very sorry, but we're going to have to rearrange my schedule for the next half-season at the least."

"What are you planning now, my Grace?" The guard seemed amused.

"I'm going to map Oakleigh," Hart said, and the guard shook his head, smiling.

---

5th of Ymiden, 718

Hart had had three full days of appointments and a small forest's worth of correspondence since he had called the Estate staff to a meeting on the 2nd and explained what he was to do. He had spent two eighteen-break work days and a third twelve-break work day fitting in a fortnight's worth of appointments. He had nearly collapsed after the second day from exhaustion, and had slogged through the third with grim if harried determination, but he had done it. His schedule was clear for the fortnight. He had told the secretary to postpone any further appointments, or to schedule them for the middle of the season. He had gathered his security and the Estate staff and had detailed to them what his new schedule was going to be.

He was going to personally ride throughout Oakleigh on horseback. He would collect information on the population, wealth, and borders of the duchy, as well as meet with each city's lead officials. He would gather what records he could going back as far as the records allowed, and map Oakleigh with a focus on population to the best of his ability. He would also invite the city officials to a conference to go over Oakleigh's future and current needs with the duke. He would plan for the meeting to take place when Tristan got back from Scalvoris.

All of this, he thought to himself, was all an excellent idea. He would be making himself useful to Tristan by mapping Oakleigh. By going personally, it implied to Tristan's constituents that the duke was interested in charting his territory and conferring with the local governments. It also encouraged those local governments to cooperate in return with their duke. And it would allow Hart to get an idea of the state of the duchy, which he could then relay to his brother.

Hart took a day after he had finished with the appointments to rest and tend to preparations. Then, on the 7th of Ymiden, he and his guard and his secretary, and a cartographer he had summoned to help with the maps, and the new horse he had purchased upon Thetfretr's advice, set off on their journey.

Immediately Hart felt better. He loved the Estate like it was his home --and it was his home-- but there was nothing better for a biqaj than travel.

Even if it was on horseback.

---

7th of Ymiden, 718

His plan was to map Oakleigh. He was going to use days' ride on horseback as a scale. He would ride from border community to community and determine which of the towns, cities, and villages were paying taxes to Oakleigh. That would determine whether they were citizens of Oakleigh or one of the other Settlements. After he had an idea of Oakleigh's borders, he would turn inward and start to map its interior as well.

So, starting with Dewwich, which was only a ten-minute ride from Tristan's Estate, Hart began his trip. In Dewwich he was greeted by Lyla Thorn, one of the Oakleigh Thorns, whom Hart had met a couple times before-- though always as himself. This time, he had to act as Tristan who, to Hart's knowledge, had never met her. The Thorns were one of the dominant merchant families of Oakleigh.

He was welcomed into the Thorn manor, and was given a brief tour of the manor, Dewwich, and the Thorn greenhouse. Then, in the manor, he requested access to any and all village documents and records dating back as far they were able to supply.

"Records?" Lyla asked.

"Yes, records," Hart said.

Lyla didn't quite look at him with suspicion, but she did furrow her brow. Hart smiled. "I'm planning on doing a census," Hart explained. "I would like to know the numbers when it comes to my own duchy. And since none of the materials I've been studying have been credible," --and, he had to admit, since he didn't trust the lesser authorities in Oakleigh to self-report faithfully-- "I would like to have it done myself, since, as I said, I need to know the numbers anyway. So I might as well be involved personally. And, what better way to introduce myself to all of Oakleigh?"

Lyla paused to look at him. Then she shrugged and smoothly said, "We'll have the records brought up to one of the studies for you to go over. However, you won't be able to take the records with you when you go in--?"

"In a day or so, I plan," Hart said. "Would you mind if I hired some of your citizens to do a little copying? I'm going to need to have copies of all the records made and sent to the Estate. Just so that I'm sure I don't get the numbers wrong. I'd be able to pay, of course, using duchy funds." The duchy's day-to-day spending was in the tens of thousands, if not hundreds. The budget could afford to hire a handful of people for a day or so, so that Hart might get Tristan personal copies to go over himself, should he want or need.

Lyla nodded. "I'll send up my best employees. They're used to making copies; we have need of it in the infirmary when it comes paperwork," she said.

"Excellent," Hart said, and shook her hand. "And thank you."

"I'll have Ives bring you up to one of the studies," Lyla said. "The employees will be up soon, along with the village records."

---

Dewwich's village records were impeccable, but then again Hart would not have expected less than Lyla, who --even only in her teenage years-- had an incredible mind which was, he considered, ahead of the time. The records mainly focused around the infirmary, and Hart was able to get a peek into the Thorn family's merchant workings. But he was more interested in the Dewwich city budget. He knew a little, thanks to his daily budgeting and tutoring, about capital and production-- about how to calculate a village --or a duchy's-- economic value.

Dewwich's records were neat and clear. Thanks to them, he was able to find useful information on the village's finacial standing, which for a village of Dewwich's modest size was excellent. He wrote down such figures as spending, investment, exports, and imports by arc. These figures would be analysed not only by himself, but, when he got them delivered back to the Estate, by accountants, economists, and other such experts he had brought in. However, with the records being focused mainly around the infirmary, and with the village's wealth reflected by the infirmary's success, there was less information dedicated to the citizens.

It was Hart's objective to remedy that.

By the late morning he had surveyors going door to door to collect information on each household. He was looking for the number of occupants, their income, how much they paid in taxes, their wealth in coin and holdings, as well as an estimation of how much they saved and spent a year. The first reports started coming in by mid afternoon, with the word that most of the people had difficulty summarizing their wealth in such a manner. The surveyors had taken to helping best they could, though some of them, too, were mystified as to how to proceed. So, Hart contacted the Estate and had a few of the experts waiting there send their apprentices to aid the village folk.

Some in the village were reluctant to agree to such a survey, thinking the information might somehow be used against them. With one of the Thorn lawyers' help, Hart drafted a legal assurance to be posted in the village that the information gathered would not be used against the people. By the end of the next day, he recieved the rest of the census data. Hart stayed up with his analysts going over it, compiling totals per household and for Dewwich as a whole. He was happy with the results. In the early hours of the morning, when the last of the analysts had left, Hart finally gave in to sleep.

In the morning he thanked Lyla again for her hospitality and the village's cooperation. He asked that she might contact her family, and especially her grandfather who was the executive of the Thorn business, to cooperate as fully. Hart knew the biggest obstacle would be getting the merchant houses to agree to let him survey their finances. He had a feeling that ever since Tristan had become duke, the merchant families had been underreporting their earnings, to get tax breaks. But, only should he prove able to coerce them to report honestly would he know for sure.

But that would come later, when he came to Oakleigh Town, the capital of Oakleigh, from which most of the major businesses were run. For now he had to finish dealing with Dewwich.

For the rest of the day Hart mapped the village. It was too small to measure by way of horseback, so Hart did so walking. He drew rough sketches of the layout of the village to compare to official maps he requested from Lyla. He measured in strides, with a short length of rope tied between his ankles to ensure that each stride was of equal length. The villagers came out and watched him, and he wished he could have stayed and spoken with them, but he had work to do. By the end of the day he had a decent sketch of Dewwich, including each building, road, side road, and miscellaneous furnishing. He sent that rough draft along with the copies of the town records and the census data to the Estate. Then, in the dark of night, he thanked Lyla once more and asked for directions to the nearest border community.

The directions sent him east and north, towards the lake town on Oakleigh's eastern border. They rode into the night, stopped to set up camp, and started again early the next morning after breakfast. Hart dearly wanted to try and measure the road they traveled, but the roads and rivers and mountains were secondary to him, and he decided against it. Instead of following the road closely, then, they stuck to riding in straight lines where they could, on even surfaces that would not slow their pace. Every time they made a turn, Hart wrote down how long they had been traveling and in what direction. Using this information, he would later calculate distances as to Oakleigh's borders and the distances between its features.

It took a little more than a day, more like a day and a half, to reach the lake town. Part of that, however, was due to collecting data as they rode.