Rec Room with Dagda
Salamandastron: Recreation Room
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The recreation room for the army of the Longpatrol. Here soldiers come to
relax after a hard day's work and the officers come for a game of cards or
a quick drink by the fire. The room is quite large, having to deal with a
lot of hares at one time. Along one wall there is a large worktop with
some cuhsioned stools lining one side of it. On the other side of the
worktop there stand many kegs and bottles, lined so that they can be
easily opened by someone standing on the inside of the bar but well out of
reach of the rowdy hares on the other side. There are a few woollen cloths
on the bar and mats in front of each stool. The next thing nearest to the
bar are the round tables, each with 4 chairs around and a lantern in the
middle of each one. There are a couple of slightly larger oval tables with
8 seats around, obviously for larger crowds. The other end of the room is
littered with armchairs, comfortable armchairs, each pair with a small
table in between. The armchairs are near the fire, used to heat the room
and provide extra comfort for the relaxing soldiers.
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Quinten is sat at the bar chatting with the hare on duty, the Recorder has a pile of paper by his elbow and a tankard of october ale in his paw.
A short distance away, Dagda is seated at one of the tables, a goblet of something dark off to his right and assorted materials before him. There's a bowl of something that's not quite white, along with what appear to be gauze and some sort of heavy fabric. On a small cutting board, the buck is trimming the fabric into squares.
Quinten thanks the bar-hare and turns around and weaves toward the chairs, he waves as he spots Dagda and starts heading toward them again. "Hello Dagda, how goes the healing profession today?"
"Goes well, sah." Dagda's eyes stay on what he's doing. A little needle is clenched between the fingers of one paw, sewing gauze in the center of a fabric square. "How goes the recordin'?"
You ask, "Please just Quint will do or Quinten" he nods to a the chair opposite, "May I? And Recording goes well, spent the morning rebidning some old reports.""
"Go righ' ahead, sa-- Quint." Dagda looks up from his work as he fishes at his side for a knife, thread pulled tight. "Do y' enjoy rebindin'?"
Quinten grins, "Sure do, it feels really good to put a book back together after it's fallen apart. Just somethign good about restoring it."
Dagda grins in return. "'M sure tis, sah. Jus' like stitchin' up soldiers."
Quinten chuckles, "Aye well hope you've not had to do too much of that of late. I'd rather have broken books then broken hares."
Dagda shrugs, snipping through the thread with the knife. "Both c'n be put back togethah, with th' propah education."
Quinten chuckles, "True, but unlike books there are some accidents and brekages
which can't be fixed when it comes to hares."
Dagda ties up the loose end with deft fingers. "Oh, 'm not so sure of tha', Quint. If I tossed a book in the fire 'cross the room, you'd have a tough time mendin' that up before long. It's the same with hares."
Quinten grins, "True, but I could go find another copy of the book but yeah ok I think you win that one."
With a dry chuckle, Dag slaps a sheet of wax paper down on the cutting board, lining up the fabric square atop it. "Righ'. Is recordin' all y' do?"
You say, "I am a fighter in the patrol, trained up from recruit. I am an expert boxer and Sabre wielder but since I became Recorder I've been on stand by to patrol duties at Zoe's orders. She likes having some trained hares about the mountain.""
"I see." Dagda trims up the paper to match the size of the fabric. "Prob'ly a good idea."
Quinten nods his head, "Aye I agree, what about you Dagda? do you patrol as well or are you based at the infirmary here?"
Dagda wags his head from side to side, setting the remnant of the sheet aside. "Oh, y' know. Little of both."
Quinten watches him with the gauze and nods sipping his drink, "Well that's good, I have to admit I've been feeling cooped up of late here in the mountain."
Dagda reaches for that bowl of white-ish stuff now. "I c'n imagine, if all y' do is recordin'."
Quinten chuckles, "Well I do teach the leverets and I work out of course can't let myself go rusty after all." he peers at the stuff, "What is that?"
"Mild adhesive." Dagda stirs it a bit with the stick lying in there.
Quinten watches Dagda and nods his head, "Ah I thought so, what is it made out of? I use a wheat starch paste on the books myself."
Dagda says, "Tha's wha' this is. I tried pitch, but it didn't work s' well."
Quinten leans forward and sniffs at it, "Mmm pitch is not a good adhesive... if you want my advice? I think you;ve made it a bit too thick. I'm a bit of a herbalist too when I have the time."
Dagda shakes his head. "No' straigh' pitch, pitch-based. Y' think so?"
Quinten looks up and strokes his chin, "Mmm what are you trying to stick in the long run?"
Dagda stirs the stuff up vigorously to dispel a few clumps. "Well, don't actually wan' it to stick f' a long time, jus' f' maybe a few days, tops."
What do you want to whisper?
You say, "See if you use wheat paste it won't come unstuck unless you apply water. If you use a variety of wheat starch mixed with iodine you will get an adhesive that looses its stick after about three days.""
"I see." Dag rummages in his satchel for a nicely-bound journal. The buck unwraps the fastener with practiced speed to jot notes with an attached charstick. "Y' use the wheat paste for bindin'?"
Quinten nods his head, "Yes I do, Wheat Startch paste on its own dries like a rock, but mix it with some other compounds and you can adjust its strength."
Dagda asks, "But if it gets wet, it comes unstuck?"
Quinten nods his head, "Yes if you saturate the area that has been pasted with water it looses its adhesion. It is good for books as normally one doesn't get them wet."
Mildly horrified, Dagda makes a mental note. "I see. Well, thanks for y' help then, Quint. Have fun teachin' the leverets."
Quinten flicks his long ears as he spots Dagda's expression, "Something the matter Dagda?"
Dagda shakes his head in a negative indicative. "Nothin', sah."
Quinten nods and sips his ale. "Ok well I hope you are able to find a paste to suit your needs. There are probably some books in the library you can look through if you like."
"Alrigh', Quint. Thanks again." Dagda spreads a thin film over the borders of the fabric and places it on the wax paper.
Quinten nods and stands up with a smile, "You are welcome Dagda I will see you later. Good luck."
- End
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