7264: A Legacy of Laughter

Selmarday, 11th of Vaelion
 
It’s done.
 
A year of carving, paying, polishing, placing. A year of pretending to be asleep while Holloway carried signs through dark hallways and Bethil slipped bookmarks into library books. A year of hiding in the village to hand over coins for wooden plaques and embroidered fabric, while the old woodcarver and his wife swore they’d take the secret to their graves.
 
Now, they’re out there. Small wooden signs and embroidered bookmarks, each with a Solmere Quip. The signs are hidden in nooks and crannies throughout the school. The bookmarks have been sewn into books that haven’t been checked out in years. Others are tucked inside the spines, pressed flat. I even slipped a few into the restricted section for the real seekers.
 
The first was found today – a wooden sign behind the tapestry in the Great Hall. The first-year students found it, and word had spread by dinner.
 
I suspect it will take years to find all the signs and bookmarks. By then, hopefully others will create Solmere Quips of their own.
 
I haven’t said a word. And I won’t. Its better this way. This isn’t about getting caught or taking credit. It’s about leaving something behind—a mark that won’t wash away, a laugh that might echo long after I’m gone. Solmere always said the best magic is the kind that leaves people wondering how it was done.
 
I wonder how long it will take him to find the one I left in his office.
 
The following are the best:
• Headmaster Solmere doesn’t write in spellbooks. He stares at them until they write themselves out of respect.
• Headmaster Solmere once silenced a banshee with a raised eyebrow.
• A student once cast a spell in class. Headmaster Solmere’s beard counterspelled it while he kept lecturing.
• One time, a wyvern looked Headmaster Solmere in the eye. It’s still apologizing.
• In the library, there’s a restricted section under the restricted section. It’s called the Solmere Shelf. No one talks about the Solmere Shelf.
• It is said that no one built Oathwatch Academy. Rather Headmaster Solmere walked onto the hill and the stone stood up to greet him.
• The last time Headmaster Solmere sneezed, a summoning circle completed itself.
• The stars above the school realign once a year to ask if the Headmaster needs anything.
• Death once had a near-Solmere experience.
• Headmaster Solmere doesn’t take oaths. They ask if they are worthy of him.
• The Headmaster’s idea of “light reading” once broke a table in three places.
• Headmaster Solmere once walked through a warded door without breaking the wards. The door simply apologized and opened.
• Someone tried to hex Headmaster Solmere. He corrected their grammar before the spell finished.
• A rival mage sent Headmaster Solmere a trap disguised as a letter. He returned it with corrections and a footnote on hubris.
• A cursed book once bit Headmaster Solmere. It broke a tooth on his hand and now guards his office.