The Baron's diary. 3rd of Felsite.
We have arrived at Nist Akath. Back in the mountainhome, I had been hinted that I was going to be sent to an outback hellhole. Had I known that this was literally the case, I would rather have fled and lived my life in exile, as a peasant. But I never imagined it to be anything like this.
This place... it's a nightmare. The outside areas are ridden with skeletal elks(!), so you can't even go out for some fresh air without having to fear for your life. The indoors aren't any better. Even though these people have been living here for years, they have, for some reason, failed to build any metalworking shops. They're still living in the stone-age here. I'm still wondering if I haven't somehow ended up in the wrong Nist Akath. This was supposed to be a bustling town, but what I found was a quarry! When I made a casual remark about this during my conversation with the mayor (who, for some reason, is called The Captain, even though he's not the Captain of the Guard), he got angry and told me that our meeting was over.
13th of Felsite. We've been here for a whole 10 days now, but our situation has not changed. We're still living in the tiny "temporary" quarters, right next to the workers' barracks. I've tried to be patinet with them so far, but I fear that I might have to give the hammerer some work soon.
21st of Felsite. Today I asked the Mayor if he could arrange for a pair of earrings to be made for my wife. He said he'd see what he could do. I also enquired him about the office he had promised to arrange for me. He said this was the first time he had heard of this. I got angry and threatened him with a hammering. As usual, he misunderstood me and is now going around claiming that I had ordered for warhammers to be made. As if I didn't realize the absurdity of such demands. Tomorrow, I'll set these things straight.
22nd of Felsite. I've decided to let my orders stand. We'll see if this will make them get off their arses and actually start doing some work here, instead of just drinking and singing about gold all day long.
8th of Galena. The Captain has sentenced one of the brewers for 51 days in jail for not making black bronze items.
16th of Sandstone. We were finally able to move into our new bedrooms. Finally, I can get a decent night's sleep. It was about time, too, for Kitty will soon be giving birth to our baby.
3rd of Timber. It's been a few months now since my "orders", and there still hasn't been any progress made. Unfortunately, this means that according to the law, I'm going to have to punish someone for this, even though there's noone to hold responsible for this. I've picked a victim at random: a soaper they call 'Bubbles' (he's a funny guy, he's always talking about bubbles, hence his name; these people here really have no imagination). I ordered him to be hammered twice. That's the minimum sentence I can give. Hopefully, he'll survive.
Later. I just had a talk with The Captain. I told him about Bubbles. He said it was "inhumane" and that poor Bubbles would never survive. I told him a story about a friend of mine who had survived a dozen hits because he was wearing a plate mail. He seemed to understand what I was hinting at, for he instantly rushed off (to find Bubbles, I presume).
Later. Disaster! Poor Bubbles didn't survive the beating because he wasn't wearing any armor at all. How could this happen? I can only presume that he ran into the hammerer on his way to the armor stockpile.
4th of Timber. Oh father, why hast thou forsaken me? Kitty had a miscarriage. As I'm writing these lines, she's lying in her bed, unconscious from the loss of blood. Why? Why dit it have to be her?