Shuf’s Dowment

Shuf’s Dowment is an ivy-snarled ruin situated near the coppice of page trees on the rise between the Decade Gate and the Century Gate of the Concent of Saunt Edhar.

First Appearance and Context

It is first noted when a walker in the coppice—after harvest, with leaves down—looks out from the trees and sees the ruin in plain sight near the coppice’s eastern limit. Approaching it involves crossing what appears to be a hedge that proves to be a low stone wall masked by vines.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Retreat: In recent times, the Reformed Old Faanians have taken to using the grounds as a quiet retreat and, meeting no objections, have gradually made themselves more comfortable there.
• Personal use: Around this period, Fraa Arsibalt is said to spend most of his days at the dowment and invites a peer to visit.
• Boundary legacy: A low stone wall that once bounded the coppice is credited to Shuf's Lineage; it seems to have been intended to elicit a sense of trespass in those who crossed it. People living beyond it later “broke the lineage,” and the wall was left to decay under ivy and the work of ants.
• Proposed study site: Later, a dark room beneath the dowment is specifically proposed as a discreet place to view a photomnemonic tablet.

Relationships

• Namesake and history: Closely tied to Shuf and to Shuf's Lineage, which is remembered for the boundary wall associated with the site.
• Community setting: Lies just outside and in sight of the Concent of Saunt Edhar, between the Decenarian and Centenarian interval gates.
• Current users: Informally associated with the Reformed Old Faanians through their use of the grounds as a retreat; frequented by Fraa Arsibalt in this period.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Condition: An ivy-snarled ruin; structures are not described in detail beyond their ruinous state.
• Interior: A single, roughly cubical room (about ten paces a side) has been fitted into the stone shell with wooden floors and paneled walls by skilled Reformed Old Faanian woodworkers. It is lined with books, has a hearth on one side, and a large north-facing bay window forming a deep, comfortable alcove. Some artifacts from the dowment’s halcyon days—gold drinking-cups and jeweled book-covers—are preserved under glass. Despite these comforts, it is described as cold in winter.
• Substructure: A light-tight room beneath the building is known to exist and is considered suitable for viewing light-sensitive images in privacy.
• Grounds: The approach crosses a hedge-like tangle that hides a low stone wall turned trellis. The earth shows signs of gardening, with patches where the last potatoes of the season have been dug.
• Surroundings: Stands near a coppice of page trees on the rise between the concent’s Decade Gate and Century Gate, just across the river from the concent’s meadow.

Current Status/Location

A decayed, largely unattended site near the page-tree coppice outside the Concent of Saunt Edhar. The wall that once marked a boundary has been reclaimed by vines; the grounds are used quietly as a retreat by the Reformed Old Faanians, with no recorded objections.