Free The Escapement by K. J. Parker Page B

a resident alien to the residency commissioners, seeking leave to renew domiciliary status
    From a woman to a man of equal status, declining marriage
    From a woman to a man of superior status, declining marriage
    * From a manufacturer to a prospective customer, listing and commending products
    * From a manufacturer to an existing customer, excusing late delivery From a host to a recently departed guest, tactfully requesting return of household objects
    From a bailiff to his master, conveying respectful congratulations on the birth of (a) a son (b) a daughter
    From a friend, concerning a miscarriage
    * From a trader to a carrier, disputing the rebuttal of a claim for breakages From a lover; general
    From a prisoner to his judges, beseeching clemency
    From a condemned man, an open letter of (a) repentance (b) defiance
    * From a vendor of dried fruits to the market commissioners, concerning allegations of short measure
    Only the forms marked with a double star had the status of specifications; a single star meant strongly recommended. A triple star meant the form could only be used by a senior member of the Guild in good standing, but there weren't very many of those. He turned the pages slowly, looking for a phrase or a happy collision of words that would at least get him started.
    (What were you supposed to do, when you were called upon to make something for which no specification existed? It was a question that was regularly set in the ethics papers of Guild professional exams, and it was an open secret that all the possible answers to it were equally wrong; the purpose of the question was to gauge the candidate's tolerances of error when error was inevitable.)
    Lucao Psellus to Ziani Vaatzes, greetings.
    First, I expect you'd like to know that Ariessa and Moritsa are both well. I have this from your friend Falier, whom I spoke to this morning.
    (That was from Form 207, a parent to his son abroad on behalf of the family business. Not inappropriate, as far as it went.)
    With regard to the present crisis
    The nearest anybody ever came to a correct answer was that no citizen of the Republic would ever place an order for an artefact for which there was no specification (excluding, of course, military equipment reserved for the defence of the City). The order would, therefore, inevitably have come from a foreigner, and the appropriate response would be to persuade him that what he'd asked for didn't and couldn't exist, and to encourage him to order the nearest equivalent from the authorised catalogue; failing that, show him the door.
    With regard to the present crisis, I find it impossible to believe that it is your intention to destroy the City and murder your fellow citizens. I appreciate that you may believe you have a grievance against us
    He sighed, and drew a line through the paragraph. Another sheet of paper wasted. Fortunately, paper was made from old rags, boiled, crushed and rolled. The siege could last a hundred years and there'd still be enough rags in the City to make all the paper they needed.
    We do not have to agree on the causes or the right and wrong of the present crisis. I refuse to believe that you want to see the City destroyed and your fellow citizens slaughtered. I prefer to think that there must be something else that you want. Tell me what it is; if I can get or arrange it for you, I will. In return He frowned, bit his lip and leafed through the red-bound book until he found what he was looking for.
    In return, we would— scratch that— I would only ask that you use your best endeavours to rectify the present situation, bearing in mind the mutual benefit that must accrue from the cessation of the current
    It was a one-star precedent, which meant he could change it if it was demonstrably necessary. He drew another line.
    In return, stop helping the Vadani and the savages. Better still, do what you did at Civitas Eremiae. I am now in a position to give you assurances you can rely on. You know me. We've