Scribe

Scribe is a Meldanean term referring to a person who had completed a number of years of study in the Hall of Scribes in Meldan-ty-Kerth. Scribes are central to Meldanean communal and administrative life, making up the majority of administrators and teachers in the country.

The Hall of Scribes

In order to achieve the rank of Scribe studying at the Hall of Scribesin Meldan-ty-Kerth, the Meldan capital, is a requirement. For most students, this entails 2-5 years of schooling, depending on the educational level of the student when entering the school.
The only formal requirement for entering the Hall of Scribes is to pass the entrance exam. However, while passing the exam only requires basic literacy skills, the individual performance will determine the length for which each student is expected to study in order to graduate, and what classes they will be required to take. Students are commonly between 17 and 21 years old when entering the school, and although older students are not barred from entering they are relatively uncommon.
The Hall of Scribes is a boarding school, and students often have domestic or administrative tasks to complete alongside their studies or, less commonly, a parallel apprenticeship with a craftsperson. The final year of schooling is typically spent shadowing a Scribe working in their prospective fields somewhere in the city. A small percentage of Scribes remain at the Hall after their graduation to pursue academic studies.

A Scribe's Duties and Social Status

Scribes can broadly be divided into village Scribes and city Scribes, and although there is no formal difference in rank between them the social position and day-to-day duties vary greatly depending on which category one falls into.
A majority of Scribes come from rural villages, and return home after graduating to serve as vital members of their community. Most villages have only one Scribe, who is responsible for instructing the village children in reading, writing and counting. Teaching beyond a level of basic literacy and numeracy, and teaching other subjects such as history, geography and the like, is done at the discretion of the Scribe and varies considerably from one village to another. Larger villages or particularly prosperous ones, such as villages adjacent to important natural resources, may have more than one Scribe, either to support a growing village school or to serve in some administrative capacity, commonly as a records-keeper or treasurer. The question of acquiring an additional Scribe is a frequent source of conflict in growing rural communities.
It is common for villages to select the brightest among their young folk and communally fund their education at the Hall of Scribes, with the expectation that they will return with their rank and further their community. On the rare occasion a newly graduated Scribe chooses not to return to their village, or of the current Scribe dies or is otherwise unable to continue working, a village may try to recruit a Scribe from a nearby town. However, even though a village Scribe is always among the most respected and valued members of their community, the relative lack of status compared to working in a more specialized capacity in a town can make this a difficult task and it is not uncommon for a village to go without a Scribe for several years while a youngster trains to replace their recently deceased teacher.
In cities and towns, Scribes fill a number of different educational, administrative and academic positions. Archivists, records-keepers, clerks, secretaries, copiers as well as most of the administrative or organizational staff in tax-collection offices, courts and hospitals all tend to be Scribes. Tutoring is also common, as more affluent families in towns and cities tend to prefer hiring a private tutor for their children to sending them to a school. A smaller percentage function as neighborhood teachers, servicing small schools often located in the slummier parts of town in a capacity similar to that of a village teacher. Finally, a small percentage of Scribes remain at the Hall to further their academic studies.
Scribes who fill administrative roles or are hired as private tutors usually receive a salary for their services. However, those that work as village or neighborhood teachers generally are not compensated monetarily, but are provided for by the community, receiving food and goods as needed. Usually they are also provided with a residence, which may double as the school house.
Scribes are traditionally addressed by their title alone or, somewhat more familiarly, as Scribe followed by their personal name. The later practice is particularly common among village teachers. In larger settlements with multiple scribes, they may be addressed by a more specific title such as Teacher, Archivist or Secretary, again with the addition of their personal name for a more familiar form of address.
The rank of Scribe is retained for life, though the particular professional position may not be. A Scribe may be dismissed or replaced by another Scribe if they do not fulfill their duties in a way that satisfied their community (for rural Scribes, neighborhood teachers and other communally employed Scribes) or their employer (for privately hired Scribes). There is no set retirement age for scribes, and for village teachers retirement generally occurs once a replacement has been educated, often after a period of joint work to prepare the younger teacher for their duties. Village Scribes are commonly provided for by their community even after retirement.

Qualifications

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