The Greatest Discovery

The Brightest Gemstones

Pattis counted out eleven ruby marks and slipped them into a dark velvet pouch. Neat rows of similar pouches awaited their turn on the table nearby. Fifteen marks for a captain, eleven for a sergeant, and five for a regular spearman or archer.

Bright Lord Vanadin was forced to standardize the military pay across all units stationed in the city following the loss of sphere reserves in an unexpected terrible Storm that came from the west a week ago and carried away a quarter of the city's houses, a third of their population and the entirety of their way of life. 

The Everstorm, they named it. Whether because it was the first ever to come from the west, or because no one would ever forget it, Pattis did not know.

Unfortunately, while the pouches were still heavy, it was much less than most of the high-ranking officers were used to earning before the disaster. The fact that all the gemstones were dun three weeks into the weeping did not improve the soldiers' mood either. This week alone Vanadin's soldiers accused Pattis of distributing less than the allocated amount twice in a row, both times other soldiers in line preventing the thugs from following up on their threats and attacking Pattis with something heavier than curses. After the second incident, Bright Lord Vanadin was forced to assign two soldiers to oversee the distribution, which, irrationally, made Pattis feel like he had been placed under arrest.

"Not what you expected serving in the ardentia would be, lad?" Jasuio asked, following Pattis's gaze to the gray-uniformed soldiers positioned at the door. 

The old Herdazian man unconsciously brushed his fingers through a buzz of white thick hair springing from the sides of his head in much the same way a child would explore a new tooth in his mouth. Razors, just like most spheres, were abandoned to the Storm in the rush for shelter. Bless the Almighty for that, Pattis thought as he tucked a lock of his own curly dark hair behind his ear. Shaving his head was one prospect of his newly-earned acceptance to the ardentia he hadn't been looking forward to.

"I certainly hoped I would have more time for research."

Jasuio grunted, making a few notations in his ledger. "You will get your time... eventually. Stormfather alone knows how long it will take this pile of rubble to become a city again. And until we have a semblance of an economy going, the head ardent Tadet will use us to fill the holes in any labor shortage. We are fortunate to be assigned to counting spheres."

"I suppose," Pattis agreed diplomatically.

The task was monotonous and did nothing to advance his studies, but he was grateful for the warm room and the company.

Like many ardents, Jasuio would appear bizarre to anyone outside of the order, his eccentric personality accentuated by a tendency to avoid direct eye contact. Yet, the man's encyclopedic knowledge and enthusiasm for learning were extraordinary. If he had to be stuck in the same room for days repeatedly counting to fifteen and stuffing pouches, he couldn't imagine a better partner than Jasuio.

"Did you know that the Azish published a map of all wind currents on Roshar last month? They had even collected measurements of the Highstorms wind speed at three different altitudes. Quite remarkable," Jasuio said, scrubbing his long nose with a quill. 

Pattis greed with the sentiment. The sheer amount of travel and planning such as study required!

"Do you have the map? I would certainly have a look". If I ever have time to study again.

"Of course, lad, maybe it will cheer you up. I have a copy on my writing desk. I hoped to overlay the map with the humidity one we have of Alethkar and see if the two would give us a reliable prediction of crop yields. But the soil composition records are so scarce that I may as well have to use agricultural exports as a proxy for soil quality. That almost makes me want to abandon the entire project. Delay it, at the very least."