The tumult in the High Chamber slowly subsided into a dignified, respectful murmur as the clerks cleared the dark wood table for the formal execution of the charter. The midday sun was at its zenith. It poured down through the central glass small roof-dome in a column of brilliant white light that lit up the center of the hall like an altar.
Chief Magistrate Vane dropped from the court dais, with Councilor Elna Vesk and Clerk Varo Nenn. Between them, laid flat upon a square of green baize, lay the four-foot presentation scroll of the Courtesy Workshop Charter, written in lit up carbon script on triple-thick parchment.
The great presentation scroll was rendered upon sheepskin parchment of royal weight, prepared by the sworn thick parchment-curriers of the High Guild. Around the four margins, Clerk Nenn had lit up a narrow, elegant border in vermilion and carbon black, intertwining the three leaping dolphins of the river with the measuring tongs of Hal Rook and the open brass arch of the workshop. Every word of the forty-four clauses was written in the clear, rounded gothic high court hand used only for foundational civic treaties.
Beside the scroll sat two iron fire bowls containing glowing charcoal, over which melted two small copper ladles of sealing wax. One filled with the scarlet wax of the Town Board of Lathmere, the other filled with the pale forest-green wax chosen by the Commonweal of Lowbank.
