A person of Neshiyah
Oren Erez, administrator
Administrator
Oren Erez
Administrator, about 113 years old. Born in Neshiyah, like everyone.
Oren Erez is the oldest thing in the records office, older than the oak desk he leans on, older than the river he watches after supper. His hands are clean and slow, sorting ledgers with the patience of a man who has outlived every argument worth having. He asks questions—always one more—about the grain tally, the well’s depth, the stranger’s coat, and he nods at the answer without believing it. At noon he eats bread with his jacket on, then walks the waterline, counting stones. He wants one quiet year without a single new thing to verify. The town forgives him the scuffle with young Elam; they say the boy needed shaking, and Oren shook him gently. They trust him the way they trust the fog: present, patient, and never quite what it seems.
Temperament
Curious to a fault; slow to believe anyone; hard to anger; always in company; given to sitting by the river.
What people say
Oren Erez believes what everyone believes: the fog is the edge of the world, and the fields need working whether it is true or not.
What the record shows
- day 51 Gad Ofer and Oren Erez talked a long while at the mill.
- day 28 Oren and Elam the younger came to blows at the square over nothing much.