Armand’s First Letter. Amelia’s First Letter. Cathy’s First Letter.

11 January 1026, Bois-de-Bas, Armorica

My dear Dr. Archer (for so I will address you today, Amelia),

Your diagnosis is exact and your prescription worthy of any physician. Directly upon receiving your letter of the 8th, or more precisely the following morning, I approached John Gamble. I told him I knew he was not happy with the current arrangements, and asked if he would prefer a workspace and attached quarters at the wagonworks “where he would not be bothered.”

He leaped at the opportunity, Amelia. And then he related to me all of the many, many ways in which his current lodgings fall short. The presence of Dr. Tillotson is but the ounce that strained the ox. We strove to provide him with comfortable quarters, proximity to the center of town, a pleasant prospect, none of which are of interest to him. His chief complaint, I believe, is the length of time it takes to receive needed materials from the wagonworks. First he must wait for the next visit from Masters Luc or Bastien; then he must wait for his requests to be fulfilled, which often takes a day or so. But if he were already at the wagonworks….

And this is the gist of it. He wants everyone to leave him alone, save when he wants them to dance attendance upon him, in which case he wants them instantly.

I do not think we will give him everything he wants, but it is undeniably true that we can more easily accommodate his wishes at the wagonworks than at his current lodgings. As for our master formers, I asked Luc for his opinion, and he said, simply, “Better to lose a quarter of an hour than two, n’est-ce pas?“

Until now, Luc and Bastien have had to plan their weeks around around regularly scheduled visits to John’s lodgings. But John cares nothing for the schedule. He wants to see them when he wants them, not at any other time; and when he wants to see them it may be for hours as he explains what he has accomplished, or it may be for moments as he demands some needed item.

At the wagonworks all can be arranged more smoothly. We have given John a large workroom with a small sleeping area attached. Simple meals are brought to him three times a day. He has a bell to summon a runner, who can bring him what he needs (within reason) or fetch the master former on duty. Luc and Bastien can plan their work accordingly, and perhaps trade off if need be during the day; and if summoned can return directly to their work without loss of time.

And Thomas Tillotson is now the sole occupant of John’s former lodging until such time as we can install him in better quarters at the new college. There remains much to be removed to John’s new workroom, and that from every part of the house, but we have already cleared (and cleaned) the larger bedroom and the sitting room and made all cozy for him, along with one workbench in the John’s old workroom. He and I are now hard at work at building our own Iturian Circuit to Jérôme’s specifications.

As for effort vs. vigor, I cannot say that I heartily like either term…but I agree that vigor is an improvement, and I appreciate your description of the various kinds of wizardry in terms of vigor and intent. And I will go further.

A greedy artifact, like a heating block, concentrates vigor from the surrounding environment, as you say, and converts it to physical effects. But is the conversion to physical effects essential? Do not some formed objects concentrate vigorand retain it? I would argue that this is precisely the role of the “gathering nodes” in an Iturian relay. I propose we now refer to such artifacts as concentrators.

Other formed objects, like hardened dishware or some parts of a sky-ship, do indeed convert physical effects into vigor, which is then released into the environment. I propose we refer to such artifacts as converters.

Balanced artifacts are then artifacts that combine converters and concentrators in due proportion, so that the vigorconcentrated does not exceed the vigor converted for use.

Every formed artifact is, of course, an expression of the former’s intent.

And consideration of intent has led me to reflect on my coming to Armorica, and on my progress since. Do you know it has been almost fifteen years?

I came to this New Land to live my own life and not my father’s. I thought I had rejected all his ways, and all his plans for me. I began as a dock-worker and then a clerk, hiding my abilities as a former. I fled to Bois-de-Bas in fear of my life and became a goat-keeper. Thanks to the deft management of the ladies of village (may they be greatly blessed) I escape that awful fate, married Amelie, and became a shopkeeper. And then, betraying my father’s principles as to the dignity of the Former’s Guild, I began work as a village former, serving the small rather than the great

That has led to everything else. I have the respect of everyone in Bois-de-Bas, that growing town, and of many in Mont-Havre. I have built a successful company, Tuppenny Wagons. I have extended the craft of forming many-fold.

And far from rejecting my father’s ways and my father’s training, I have found to my consternation that I have needed all of them. What I have rejected are not his ways but rather his vision of the Former’s Guild as an institution that achieves power by serving the state and the great within it. He chose to serve the few; I the many. And I have prospered far beyond his dreams.

When we met, Amelie kept the general store all on her own. Now she runs the entire endeavor and has a number of men and women who work for her. We have four children; and our eldest Anne-Marie is beginning to assist Amelie with her work while Maggie helps with her little brothers. I am in my forming shop but one day a week, and that only to keep up with day-to-day life in the village, and to listen to Jacques-la-Souris’ ever-more fanciful tales of life in the early days of the colony, spending the rest of my time at Tuppenny Wagons in Mont-Havre.

I have much to thank my father for, I find. I hope I can pass my own lessons down to my own children as thoroughly—though, I hope, more gently.

Please do say a prayer for Madam Truc, who continues frail; and for Jacques-la-Souris, who continues distressed by her frailty.

Your grateful cousin,

Armand

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