‘Tis the Season
Troll the Ancient Yuletide Carol!
Lister Haley
A crier pulled the door open wide and his imperious voice announced, “Lister Haley! The annuitant, the Reverend Doctor William Roberts, has arrived!” He half-bowed as I entered, and he shut the door and the freezing darkness behind us.
Two men in blue robes, one tall and one short, approached me. Both bowed. “Welcome, My Lord. I am Lister Haley and this man is the darricker. As you may or may not know, a darricker is one who assists another. The darricker here will assist you, basically becoming your servant for the evening. He will attend you, should you require assistance, until the congregation is prepared to assemble with you. Now, if you would care for a drink or food before the gathering, yonder table is filled with the finest meats. You’ll also find sweet red wine, good ale, mead, and—if you’d care to warm your insides—fine absinthe flowing from the fountain. If you need anything at all, you need only to ask the darricker.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I may do just that. But first I have to admit: I have no idea of what I’m supposed to do. I only found out last week that I was expected to be here. I assume it’s a Christmas party?”
“Be not chapfallen, Dr. Roberts,” said Lister Haley. “All will be revealed. You won’t be preaching a sermon, and your role will be short, though important.”
To the west of the sanctuary, to the left of the altar, was a door. Through this door came two raven-haired women, and they made their way toward another doorway in the north. “This is Doctor Roberts,” said the Lister, directing his speech toward them. Both bowed immediately, and then continued northward through the door.
“That was Molly and Mercy,” said the Lister. “They’re serving as the bushelwoman and the tirewoman for any ladies who may require tailoring. Essentially, they make adjustments in the robes.”
For the next several minutes I drank absinthe (two shots) and waited. Occasionally, someone would come into the sanctuary. Each person was announced. Two or three were announced as “day-men.” The Lister told me they were employees of the estate. A shipwright from Tenby came in next, followed by a distiller and a falconer. Even a crosier came into the sanctuary, which I thought was strange, as they are typically servants of an archbishop and I knew that the Williamsons were strict Protestants.
In total, about 12 people entered into the sanctuary and passed through to the chamber beyond. I occupied my time, as I didn’t know what else to do, with a bit of chicken, vegetables, bread, and a stein of ale. There was not much furniture in the sanctuary, and I assumed (from experience) that they moved most of the pews out for festival purposes. I counted only a handful of pews, a table for the Lister, and several long tables covered with food. There was also an obviously antique bookcase filled with a number of books. Oddly enough, the books were not recent, as I had assumed the church’s texts would be. No, these books were technical, occult oriented texts: In my opinion, they had no place in a church. Offhand, I saw an English translation of The Havamal and what was surely an original copy of the Codex Regius. I likewise saw Bint-Utek by Talor the Hebrew and The Book of Operations of Canek-felet as revealed to Brokum the mage. (Just for the record—I didn’t so much as touch any of those books; at the least they belong in a museum. In Acts 19:19 such books were burned by their owners.)
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