I have never been much of a writer. Yet my memory draws to how ever so boring it has been to find a dead man's journal and have to trudge through a page or more of pointless introductions. I do not plan on dying soon; but I will be brief.
Recently I've found myself confronted with surprising and pressing news; Taala and Eroforth were so kind as to be their heralds. My last few weeks were spent lounging about with Claery and occasionally heading east into the Lone Lands for work, only finding work within Bree-Land proper twice. These distractions kept me from visits to the Dawnhall. There was essentially no reason for me to visit; Taala and Erofroth, I believed, were still fannying about on the road home from Evendim. I saw Basaran from time to time at the Pony. I was at least of the impression that Ayla still lived comfortably with Aeruthuil. Skelcar has abandoned his old office and moved his operation to his farmhouse, and we speak rarely. I see Hellrien from time to time, and I know she's around, but not distinctly where. Seaver, I assume, is distracted with his inn and caravans. Dagramir, as I know him best for, has hidden himself again. Rather shockingly, four people were not where I believed them to be.
Taala and Eroforth have returned home briefly, but they are well. Basaran, on the other hand, has resigned from his position. He left his gilded badge with a short note on the desk for his office. Whoever was to find it first was to be the new captain. I don't recall whether Taala knew where he had gone. One would suspect perhaps Skelcar would find the badge first, or even Ayla would. Far from it, in truth, as a woman named Terralyn, a woman straight from the Dawn's early memories, found the badge first and was quick to assert her authority. I have yet to meet the woman, though I have poor expectations and barely care for a meeting. I have also heard Taala and Eroforth are going away yet again. They're hardly any better than me for absence.
Yet there is more pressing matters. One of the Dawn's best men, whom we call Storm, has been slain in some cold circumstance. I will participate in an investigation, but I know too little to find the killer alone. I'm hoping that the new captain can tell me more, or at least that somebody left a message. I'm likely the best tracker that the Dawn has, but I'm not about to do everything myself. Besides, I now have certain other responsibilities, and money gets a little bit hard when Claery wants to end world hunger on a tavern cook's wage. Eordion probably pays her too generous a wage anyway.
There is an explanation for why Ayla was not first to find Basaran's badge. If one can call something so mysterious an explanation. She has disappeared, and surely with child too. Taala was quick to judge Aeruthuil for allowing this to happen, but I think the man's owed a little more credit. Even still, I think she might have mentioned him having a new lass already. Like with Storm, I lack a starting point to investigate this disappearance. I'll ride out into the hills and visit Aeruthuil soon. I hope that his men haven't moved camp again.
Regardless of how poorly the Dawn may be doing, I'm still enjoying a worrying, steady income from my usual extermination jobs. As mentioned before, I keep the money coming in by heading out into the Lone Lands to find work every other week. Occasionally I've headed up to Trestlebridge instead. My last trip into the Lone Lands went well enough. I only found one job; merchants paying for me to deal with a spider den. I don't usually agree to taking down that many at once, but the spiders out that way are relatively small and they were paying enough for me to have Reaper reforged. I got hurt pretty badly, but the wounds are now trivial. The merchants paid me. They're satisfied; they were able to go back into the spider den and retrieve a corpse of a friend. I don't know how the friend ended up in that damned place.
A week earlier I got a real treat. A big job, right here in Bree-Land. I answered the door just hours after midnight to find one of the mayor's servants asking for Mister Ebold the Undying. Except the title sounded more like a surname. I rushed out on Faxrite while Claery and Dessa were presumably still asleep, and the lad explained the situation on the way. A huorn had wandered from the Old Forest and was straying very close to the road near Buckland. The Bounders had cornered off the west end, and the Watchers the east. Nobody had gotten hurt yet but a caravan had been abandoned on the route. The mayor was paying well for me to open the road back up quickly, so I worked at the best speed I could and wasted little time. Huorns are relatively simple to kill, if you're in good shape, have fire on your side, and know that it's as simple as breaking the heartwood. The trade route was back open shortly after dawn and the merchants returned to their caravan. There was little damage to it.
Now I come to wonder, regarding this business with the Dawn - Storm's murder and Ayla's disappearance - whether it's my business at all. Aye, I feel that I owe them both favours, but my comrades have eagerly left for the Shire, and I'm doing just fine with the old slaying trade. My business has been that of very few men. Even fewer of them now still live today.
