The Journal of Grimmash
Chapter 1: The Cheese Stands Alone
Entry 1
After years of hard work, it finally happened! The nobles are sending me to the Mountainhome! All my hard work has paid off. The hours of training, the years of honing my skills, and I am finally being reocognized. The caravan leaves in a week, and the Duke said I’d best be leavin’ with them. He didn’t seem all that happy about it, when he yelled “If I see you again, y’best be in coffin in the catacombs!” across the dining hall at me, but I’m sure he is just sad to lose one of his best cheesemakers. I can only hope young Dishmab will be able to fill my socks in the dairyworks. She’s a good dwarf with a fine beard, but her whiskers always seem to be yearning for the anvils, although I often wonder if it’s more the lads workin’ the anvils she’s yearning for…
Entry 2
Everyone around the fortress is so happy for me! They keep snorting and chuckling in the hall when I pass. They must be jealous that I am going to mountainhome. Jealousy is a sad burden we dwarves bear, so I’ll take theirs jeers and calls as a sign of the affection I know they are too stoic to admit. Dishmab transferred to the smelteries, so I fear for the dairyworks. I’ll send the fortress a nice wheel or two once I get established. I’ll even see if I can’t talk to the caravan leaders about bringing more cabochons and some of that mosquito ichor Asmel loves so much. Perhaps I can find another master cheesemaker in the Mountainhome who years for the simpler life away from the royals and the crowds. That’s enough for now journal, time to finish packing!
Entry 3
Well journal, the trip has started. This caravan seems... odd. No one else who is going to the Mountainhome seems all that excited, not even the traders. It’s almost like they think it’s a burden bringing us with them. I don’t understand though, we were requested specifically! The Duke himself said, “Hopefully the King can find a way to use all of your… skills. Armok knows you lot never could figure out how to follow my orders around here.” We can’t help it that the Duke kept asking for things that were impossible to make. How can I create a wheel of reindeer chess when we don’t even have any reindeer to milk? He kept asking, and I kept telling him that without the reindeers, there was nothing I could do. The fortress was underground, with craggy peaks above. I can’t say how many times I tried to get the stubborn old dwarf to trade with those elves. Oh well, I just know it will all turn out for the best once I get to the Mountainhome.