Applicants must possess sound boots, warm hearts, and no illusions about the glamour of employment.
1. Snow Lantern Keeper
Tend the lanterns placed along the royal promenade. Duties include relighting, de-icing, and maintaining cheer in bitter weather.
Apply: Bureau of Street Illumination, Lantern Yard, between bells two and three.
2. Fireplace Attendant (Public Warming Hall)
Keep the coals alive for the townsfolk who gather to thaw their extremities. Must be immune to complaints about smoke.
Apply: Civic Comfort House, Hearth Lane, inquire for Old Marris.
3. Goose Minder for the Midwinter Banquet
Care for the royal geese until the day of reckoning. Must not form emotional attachment or name any bird.
Apply: Palace Kitchens Yard, pen of Honorable Fowl, dawn only.
4. Frost Scrivener
Record the shapes and patterns of frost on public windows each morning for artistic posterity.
Apply: Ministry of Fine Oddities, Attic Level, Room 8¾.
5. Street Crier (Winter Edition)
Announce civic notices through muffler and mittens. Volume and stamina prized above literacy.
Apply: Office of Public Pronouncements, Main Square Booth.
6. Coal Wagon Counter
Stand beside wagons and count lumps of coal as they arrive. Should not mind soot, tedium, or existential thought.
Apply: Department of Resource Accountability, Yard Gate, bring chalk.
7. Tavern Firewatcher
Ensure tavern hearths remain bright but unburned. Must resist offers of ale while on duty.
Apply: Brewers’ Cooperative Office, Ale Street, behind the barrel pile.
8. Postman’s Mule Assistant
Assist the Royal Post mule through snowdrifts. Applicants must carry mailbag when mule refuses.
Apply: Royal Post Stables, South Gate, ask for Hoofmaster Brigg.
9. Knitter of Public Scarves
Produce scarves for use by the indigent and the embarrassed. Skill in woolwork admired; speed essential.
Apply: Office of Public Warmth, Thread Hall, 2nd floor.
10. Music Box Repairer (Apprentice)
Wind, tune, and soothe damaged music boxes. Must not dance while testing them.
Apply: Clockmaker’s Guild Workshop, Lower Lane, Bench 4.
11. Fireplace Ash Sifter
Sift cooled ashes for lost trinkets and misplaced jewelry. Curiosity rewarded; theft discouraged.
Apply: Sanitation Division, Ash Yard, before midday.
12. Royal Cocoa Sampler
Assist in taste-testing seasonal cocoa blends. Palate refinement and tolerance for sugar demanded.
Apply: Palace Kitchen Annex, inquire for Miss Drizzle.
13. Snowfall Forecaster’s Assistant
Record clouds, consult birds, and compare to last year’s mistakes. Must not fear ridicule from skeptics.
Apply: Observatory Hill Station, Weather Door, bell seven sharp.
14. Clock Pendulum Polisher
Keep civic clocks swinging smoothly. Apply polish without philosophical reflection.
Apply: Timekeeper’s Office, Main Tower Base, Room “Tick.”
15. Street Choir Coordinator
Recruit, arrange, and restrain singers for public caroling. Sense of rhythm and diplomacy equally necessary.
Apply: Ministry of Cheerful Noise, Choir Loft Entrance.