Volume I — Arc 1 — Epoch I
[Cycle 025 | Pulse 54:10:00 — Fair prep / Rota test → Log: trustee rota exec → keeper prove → Crosspath micro-sweep → vendor prep → apprentice stall drill → mirror final → Channel: secure → public digest on close]
Aurelius: "A fair is a town's face shown to its road. If the face is tidy, buyers look; if the face is torn, they walk. Tend the stitch, and the lane will smile steady."
Aurelia: "Yes. Keep the seam plain, the tags true, and the hands slow. A crowd sees motion, not mood. Show craft, not chaos."
Clerk (soft): [TASK] Fair stitch roll — Mode: trustee rota test + extra keeper deploy + Crosspath micro-sweep + vendor mitigation check + apprentice stall drill + index fast-find demo + mirror final attest. Team: Magistrate Korran (steward cue), Crosspath Halek (trace lead), River Step trustees Mira & Len (lead), keeper Halen (overwatch), keeper Tomas (index keeper), tutors Bryn & Kalen (demo), apprentices Jorren (lead), Nia & Tomas (assist), deputies Mina & Jor (escort/witness), courier guide Morn (clerk & mirror lead), courier Arin (fair liaison). Objectives: prove keeper speed under fair load, run trustee rota tweak, deploy extra keeper early, soft scan for stray pallet tags, vet vendor stock for quick sell, run public teach slot at bell, anchor: CL-0117.fair.stitch. Channel: secure → public.
"Two ticks to show," Halek said when he folded his tracer roll. "One to test the keeper under crowd; one to hold trustee back if a manifest echo runs. We do not shut a lane for fear; we set a net of craft."
Mira tied a small ribbon on her ledger strap. "Rota short. Two at door, two at slab, one to roam the stalls. Keep shifts short. If a crowd forms, swap at two minutes and let a fresh eye see the line."
Clerk: [DISPATCH] Trustee rota CL-0117.trustee.rota — door x2; slab x2; roam x1; shift interval: 2 min CL-0117.rota.set.
The fair day began with a wind that smelled of leather and cooked grain. Stalls set in rows like small islands and the lane wrapped each in a tag. Vendors checked rope, tutors warmed slabs, apprentices strapped tool belts and practiced a last neat fold. Tomas ran his index test twice — pads at ease, mirror codes crisp — and Jorren ran a dry find against a call that the bench would simulate mid-fair: a man asks for a slip by name and expects a fast fetch. Tomas' fingers moved slow, then sharpened; the map led his eye like a small river to a slip and he returned it to the desk in two breaths.
Tomas (steady): "Pad five, mirror CL-0104.M9. Slip found. Keeper ready for crowd."
Clerk: [VERIFY] Keeper prove CL-0117.keeper.prove — index speed test pass CL-0117.index.pass.
Bryn set the tutor slot at Lorek's corner for the first bell and asked apprentices to run a stall drill. The drill tested four moves: greet, present sample, run tutor press, fold slip, seal mirror. Each move had to be tidy and quick. Apprentices practiced a dozen times until their hands would not hurry and their faces kept calm. A fair rewards stead hands more than loud calls.
Jorren (soft): "Greet plain. Show the sample. Let the press do truth. Fold neat. Seal clean. A fair that shows care gains buyers, not gossip."
Clerk: [RUN] Stall drill CL-0117.stall.drill — repeats x12; apprentices x3 CL-0117.drill.log.
A soft rumor came across the lane at mid-bell: a crate with a near-matching pallet tag had passed under a neighboring trader's cart the day prior. Not a charge, but a note: two tags similar in pattern can confuse buyers when moved fast. Halek took the whisper and turned it into a trace, not a shout. He sent two runners: one to the cart's route, one to the docks. Crosspath's work is not to alarm but to map; a small seam may fray into fear if left unmarked.
Halek: "We do a micro-sweep: run stamp matches, check manifest echo for similar tags, and soft-invite any hand who traded the crate yesterday. If a match is a simple print error, we note and move on. If a match ties to a far manifest, we hold narrow."
Clerk: [DISPATCH] Crosspath micro-sweep CL-0117.crosspath.sweep — manifest check; stamp match; dock route CL-0117.sweep.exec.
Morn had the mirror pads ready and matched wax rings on the crates at the vendor's lot. He found the near-match: the two tags shared a print run mark but bore different steward stamps. A printer error — a smudge from the press — had made the two cloth tags look like cousins. Halek filed the trace: printer mark same; steward stamps diff. No manifest echo. The math was small and the fix smaller: mark the misprint batch and swap tags on the mistaken crate so buyers need not guess.
Morn (calm): "Print run smudge. Swap tags at hand to show steward seal. Notify buyers at slab. Move on."
Clerk: [REPAIR] Tag swap CL-0117.tag.swap — misprint batch CL-0117.batch.note; tag swap done CL-0117.tag.done.
Trustees moved swift and soft. Two men at the lane door thanked the courier's eyes and offered coin to the clerk for the quick fix, but Mira refused the jar with a laugh and a shake. "Keep the jar on your shelf," she said. "We trade on craft, not small gifts." The smile closed the moment. The lane liked small gratitude, but it kept its protocols clean. The swap made a ripple smaller than rumor.
Mira: "A mark fixed by hand, not by horn. Tag swap logged. Notify buyer by bench note."
Clerk: [POST] Tag notice CL-0117.tag.notice — buyer alert CL-0117.buyer.alert.
As noon rolled in, the fair's first tutor slot drew a tidy crowd. Bryn ran the press and Jorren led a public teach on the pause between band and wax. A crowd may watch a show and turn fear into lesson; that is the lane's power. Apprentices performed the fold; tutors explained the logic of witness pins; trustees stood visible and motionless. The guild had watched once; now the town taught its own neighbors.
Bryn: "A pause shows intent. If you rush, the wax will smear. Keep slow hands and a warm wax pot."
Clerk: [RUN] Public teach CL-0117.public.teach — tutor slot CL-0117.tutor.slot.
In the crowd a visiting buyer from a nearby market — a man with a neat list — stopped and asked the vendor under mitigation if a bulk buy would still carry the lane's caution tags. The vendor nodded and showed the signed bulk addendum posted earlier at the bench. The buyer weighed the terms and left a note with the clerk to return at dusk if the steward would sign a trade path. Trustees took the note as clerk folded it into the fair packet.
Buyer (plain): "I need a bulk but only if tags, repeat tests, and trustee witness come with it. Leave me a sign at dusk if steward can clear a path."
Clerk: [RECEIVE] Buyer note CL-0117.buyer.note — bulk interest CL-0117.bulk.int.
The fair brought moments that test the keeper's speed for real. At third bell a woman with a child came with a micro-credit slip, a coupon, and a worry: she had two coupons but only one mirror code. Tomas took the index, ran the pad, matched the mirror, and found a mis-fold — the second coupon had never been stamped with the steward print at issuance. Jorren produced a stamped replacement from the recall batch; Morn matched the mirror copy and sealed a replacement. The woman left with coin in pocket and a smile that thanked the bench more than any scrap of paper could.
Tomas (steady): "Found mis-fold. Swap done. Keeper holds a lane to its word when hands are neat."
Clerk: [REPLACE] Coupon reissue CL-0117.coupon.reissue — mirror match; replacement CL-0117.reissue.done.
Halek sent a short Crosspath note to the steward before dusk: fair threads held, no manifest echoes, printer mark noted as misprint run (CL-0117.batch.note), tag swap done, no narrow calls. He recommended a small memo to city guild: watch print runs and add a steward imprint check for next batch. The guild might file such a rule as a city practice later; for River Step it was a simple fix and a small caution to other towns.
Halek: "No deeper ties. Recommend guild note on print checks. For us, a swap and a note suffice."
Clerk: [FILE] Crosspath memo CL-0117.crosspath.memo — no echo; recommend print check CL-0117.memo.file.
As lanterns rose the fair's last bell called a calm close. Apprentices stowed tools and tutors tallied slips. Morn ran a mirror final: trip codes matched, wax rings held, trustee pins in place. Tomas closed the index with a neat tab and Jorren took the apprentice roster to mark the day's practice hours. The keeper had proved quick under pressure; the lane had shown its face tidy at fair. Mira and Len signed the final trustee tally and left a small note for the steward: Fair stitch holds.
Mira: "Two breaths more on the band and the lane keeps its face. Keeper proved, rota held. That is enough for now."
Clerk: [COMMIT] Snapshot CL-0117 — Cycle 025 | Pulse 54:10:00 ▪ Ch.139 ▪ Change type: Fair prep & execution; trustee rota tested & set; keeper index prove pass; Crosspath micro-sweep found printer misprint batch; tag swap executed; public teach run; coupon reissue done; buyer bulk interest noted; apprentice stall drill & public teach run; mirror final attest ▪ Anchors: CL-0117.fair.stitch; CL-0117.trustee.rota; CL-0117.index.pass; CL-0117.crosspath.sweep; CL-0117.tag.done; CL-0117.public.teach; CL-0117.coupon.reissue; CL-0117.mirror.final ▪ Trustee sign: Mira + Len. Secure dossier forwarded. Public digest queued.
Post-Law Reflection: A fair is a test of craft, not of courage. Keep the rota short so eyes stay sharp; train a keeper to find a slip in two breaths; run a micro-sweep when a tag looks like kin to another; fix misprints with a swap and a note, not a shout. Teach the pause between band and wax in public so buyers see the step and not the rumor. A neat index, a warm wax pot, and trustees who rotate fast keep a town's face steady. Small fixes, done quick and quiet, stitch a fair that stays whole.