Chapter 12: Sidestory 1 - Education

Sidestory I - Education

When young Gareth of Sranan said that there was a new school being built for adults in their little village, both he and his family could scarcely believe the news. For all they knew, education was mostly for nobles and by the Maesters. They didn't bother with the Smallfolk, and they survived just fine without a 'school' of all things.

And yet, that was precisely what happened.

A group of builders took over an abandoned warehouse, demolished the ruins and built an entirely new building - spick and span with strong brick and 'concrete' and a domed roof. A group of 'teachers' soon took residence and out came people promoting the service.

"Men and women of all ages are welcome! Young or old, we turn away no student for the Sranan Vocational School [1] !"

The slogan was repeated over several days, and while some simply could not be bothered to give the school a try or saw no value, eventually a few interested prospective students gave the school a visit. And Gareth was one of them.

At ten-and-four years old, he was the fourth son of his family and stood to inherit nothing, the honour going to his eldest and second-eldest brothers. In two years, he was supposed to marry and start a family of his own, and yet with his inability to inherit the family farm, he was left with virtually nothing, and in his good conscience he could not start a family he could never provide for without a livelihood of his own.

The army was one option, but he never liked to fight, despite getting into scuffles with the local children.

The bureaucracy was another, but he disliked the thought of being chained to a desk every hour of the day, despite the good pay.

If anything, he loved the great outdoors, and fervently wished to explore the outside world. The Sranan Vocational School offered many specialised courses, including a few in the basics of mercantilism - his primary goal from the school.

Thus, summoning his courage, he entered the school building, armed with nothing but his own money purse.

The first thing he noticed was that the building interior was exceptionally comfortable and austere, yet beautiful in its aesthetics through expert craftsmanship. Simple enough to lure in the low-end citizenry, yet beautiful enough to give the place a facade of respectability. Furthermore, the men and women at the counters were kind and accommodating, and tirelessly answered all manner of questions the prospective students had.

"Hey kid, get moving. You're stalling the line."

Gareth turned to face a huge, burly man behind him, and he quickly apologised.

"Sorry, Sir."

As they moved up the line, the burly man asked, "First time here, kid?"

"Mm? Yeah," Gareth nodded, "What about you?"

"Here to take another course," Said the burly man, "You taking one here?"

"Planning to?" Gareth answered.

"Huh. Well, just to tell you a few things kid; they offer all kinds of courses here no matter the kind of job. In fact, so long as you pay up, you can take whatever strikes your fancy," The burly man answered, "Oh, and my name's Felix, by the way."

"Gareth," Gareth greeted back.

"Oh, looks like it's your turn now," Felix said, "Don't let me keep you."

"Thanks."

Young Gareth nervously strode up to the counter, and a woman with a kindly face greeted him, soothing his nerves somewhat.

"Good morning, young man," The receptionist greeted, "How may I help you?"

"I… I'd like to apply for a course," Gareth greeted, "Something related to mercantilism."

"You want to become a merchant?" Asked the receptionist.

"Yes, how do I apply?" Asked Gareth.

"Well, first off let's introduce to you the related courses," Said the receptionist, "My name's Alma, by the way. And I need to ask: Can you read and write?"

"Um… no, I can't. Sorry," Gareth said sheepishly.

"It's alright, Gareth," Alma reassured, "We also offer a course where you can learn the basics. If you wish to be a merchant, you must have the ability to count numbers. Mathematics, in other words."

"Okay…" Gareth nodded.

"Then once you learn how to read and write - literacy, in other words - and mathematics, you also need to learn accounting, which is the calculation and management of your finances," Alma continued to explain, "As for being an actual merchant, you'd need to secure an apprenticeship, and we can recommend you to a local merchant or guild through our connections. However… you do need basic education for them to take you in."

"Hm… guess it's not that easy," Gareth mouthed.

"It's alright, we give a time limit of three years for every student to finish each course they take, and they can take an exam whenever they feel ready to do so. Once you finish the exam, you finish the course!" Alma continued, "And when you finish the course, we'll award you with a medal. It's more a complimentary gift, but you could show it to merchants to improve your chances of securing an apprenticeship. Of course, say if you happen to fail a course and want to retake it, you can reapply at any time, so long as you pay the application fee."

"Sounds nice," Gareth smiled, "I'll take all three courses you suggested. How much in total?"

"Just forty coppers, all a one-time payment," Alma stated smilingly.

Forty coppers was no cheap price for a farmer, at least before two years ago when they started implementing the new farming methods pioneered by Garin Radnor, House Rada's Master of Agriculture. Within months, they were rapidly growing and selling far more produce than they had their entire lives. Better still, every harvest season - which was every three months - House Rada's people would come and purchase a tenth of their harvest at exceedingly good prices.

Thanks to that, Gareth's family was able to afford a lot of things they previously could not; new clothes, a rebuilt and expanded family home, modern farming implements and even new furniture.

As such, forty coppers was beggar's change [2] - easily earned by just one harvest season's worth of work.

"Here," Gareth handed the coppers to Alma.

"Thank you, Gareth," Alma smiled, "When can you start studying?"

"I can start today," Gareth said.

"Good, take this first," Alma said, handing Gareth a wooden pin of a carved scroll diagram, "Show this to the staff and they will let you in, then follow them to the classroom."

"Thanks Alma," Gareth smiled.

"Happy to help," Alma smiled back.

IIOII

Excrept from 'The Pioneering of Education', by Master Annalist Cerdic Brumond, 841 AC

House Rada is undoubtedly the House that pioneered the new future of education throughout Westeros and the world over, with Arin Rada at the helm.

When he first tackled the issue of schooling, he wanted to spread it to be more readily available for the common masses and without the 'biased manipulations' of the Faith and the Conclave, as he put it. To understand the reasoning behind his actions for this, one must first learn the history of the aforementioned institutions and the long-term impact of his actions.

The Conclave originally began as an order, whose adherents known as Maesters act as scholars, healers, messengers and scientists. An all-male order, they educate their students in the Citadel, their headquarters in Oldtown under the purview of House Hightower, and the Maesters act as advisors to the Westerosi nobility.

Scholars who start education at the Citadel are known as novices, and those who earn a link of chain are known as acolytes. Full-fledged Maesters take years to complete their education, earning a line of chain links to their repertoire, and for an acolyte to become a full-fledged Maester, they are placed in a completely dark room with an obsidian glass candle. Only once they are able to light it can they be released.

If a lord does not have a Maester in his castle, he is considered unimportant, and the Maesters never helped the Smallfolk once, and are prone to holding old loyalties to old masters and so on. As such, Maesters were often considered lapdogs and spies of the nobility.

Maesters have also never taken well to the spreading of knowledge outside their order, and when House Rada began spreading its inventions, it was taken as an affront to them, though it constituted no real reason to punish them, save depriving them of their services even further. Arin himself suspected the Maesters of being spies instead of politically-neutral servants as they portrayed themselves as, another reason why he never sought to employ full-fledged Maesters, only neophytes and acolytes who wanted to advance themselves one way or another.

The Faith of the Seven, on the other hand, is a religious institution tracing its history back to the days of the Kingdom of Andalos. Due to conflicts with the Freehold of Valyria, they developed an instinctual fear and hatred of magic, and seeing the futility in prolonged war against Valyria for their survival, the Andals began migrating towards Westeros in droves.

When the first Andal Kings were crowned, they sponsored the Faith to convert the locals. Long before the time of Aegon's Conquest, they were the dominant religion in Westeros and held much influence which gave them special rights: The right to hold its own ecclesiarchal courts trying servants of the Faith, and exemption of taxes to name two such privileges.

They also traditionally have a chilly relationship with other faiths on principle, and their High Seption is known to wear extravagant robes and crystal coronets, a far cry from the supposed humility and frugality the Faith preaches.

As House Rada worshipped Mother Rhoyne instead of the Seven like most Dornish, they were destined to be at odds with the Faith.

For such reasons, Arin jumpstarted an independent initiative to promote education throughout all of Dorne, starting in the lands under House Rada. Not only did he wish to challenge the power of both institutions, he also wanted to improve his direct economic power as well, for skilled and intellectual labour helped create and maintain profitable industries that generated more income for all his citizens, and more tax income for him by extension.

And by educating his people, especially on the practices of the Faith and the reality of their actions, he could steer them away from worshipping the Seven and bind their loyalty to his house and his country.

Education meant teaching people how to read and write, and for that he needed large amounts of paper and books. At the time, all of Westeros only had parchment paper, which was brown and wrinkly and difficult to write on. Vellum was also viable, but was made from animal skin and thus was more expensive.

Luckily, Arin Rada made use of a paper printing technique imported from Yi-Ti, where the fibres were soaked in water and the mixture taken through a sieve and then pressed firmly to squeeze out the excess water. The sheet was then peeled off and left to dry.

As for printing, Arin, securing the cooperation of various craftsmen, created the first printing press. Utilising baked clay tiles with words, letters and numbers carved on them, they smeared a layer of ink on those tiles, then pressed a sheet of paper on them and left them to dry. It was viable for double-sided printing, too.

Books were available for sale and use for cheap prices, and this of course elicited great unhappiness from the Conclave who wanted the printing press's blueprints seized and handed to them.

Spies were sent to retrieve their blueprints, but all ended up dead, thanks to the tireless efforts of the Hashashins. It is said that the Seneschal of the Citadel, so angry at the relentless string of failures they encountered in this endeavour, threw such a fiery temper that he had to be restrained and sedated by his colleagues.

[1] Sranan Vocational School - The first of countless Vocational Schools that sprang up in the lands under House Rada, it pioneered a wave of education that spread literacy to tens of thousands of Smallfolk in just a few years, and uplifted countless thousands more from poverty.

It would play a pivotal role for countless children and adults who wished for education but could not go to regular schools for any variety of reasons. 

[2] Beggar's Change - A common idiom throughout Westerosi society. Has the same meaning as 'Chump Change'.