A Meeting with Harik

Hushmaz wasn't there in Raskna.  He'd left a message to head over to Harik City as quickly as we could, but we couldn't see the need to hurry, but from what the people in the bar were telling us he left after a meeting with a couple of Dzarraf who'd journeyed down from Harik, and he left quickly.  It was hard to believe that the Gurgam could have attacked and caused this much fuss – something else must have happened.  It's hardly going to a matter for us to be so concerned about.  There were plenty of Dzarraf willing to deal with stray Gurgam.  We were a little weary from our march to Raskna so opted to rest before heading out.  We stopped for the night and left for Zanna early yesterday morning.  In our rush to leave it looks like we forgot to bring along the mule.  I must remember to write a letter soon, someone surely can send the animal back to Enzknn for us.  I doubt I'll be coming back this way, I think I'm going to prefer the scenic route.

We didn't stay for long in Zanna.  We enjoyed some more of Porzakk's hospitality, then headed out, stopping off at a small village last night.  The travel seemed to be wearing us down a little, as we left the simple inn somewhat late this morning.  It was an easy journey down, though, and we arrived at Harik City in time for evening beer and food.  To my surprise, we were invited to share that with Vamn Harik this evening.  We had business that we knew he'd be keen to discuss – gold always seems to be the first item on any agenda – and doing that over food and beer is always welcome in my book.

As co-ordinators go Harik is pretty good at what he does.  He's good at capturing the big picture, of seeing large plans and getting them communicated, even if he relies on others to do the actual organisation.  He's really keen to expand this area of the delve, and has been willing to shut down some of the slower and older digs to do it.  I've been privileged to see some of his written plans, which are probably a little ambitious considering the population of the area.  He's always quick to point out when we discuss these matters that he has support from Bekzam, Zanteef and Azkn, his Geshrs in the region, who are fully behind him.  He's also had several offers from volunteers in other administrative areas – which has probably something to do with the gold they've found.

I've known Harik for many years, and we get on well.  I like the old fellow, and he likes to discuss safety matters openly and frankly.  He always told me, right from the very first days I was appointed as Mines Investigator, that he preferred to be told bluntly what was good, what was bad, and what needed changing straight away – very Dzarraf of him, and an approach that means he's never made stupid mistakes with safety.

It was no different this time out.  He agreed with my suggestions about manpower needed for safety, about the required sizes of the entrances (which are slightly too small at the moment), and he had even pre-empted much of what we were to discuss.  He's getting quite good at this these days.  All in all it sped up proceedings immensely, even if the food seemed to slow things down.  He's even appointing Hezurak to oversee the site safety.  This is good news – Hezurak has been one of Harik's dig co-ordinators for several years, and is someone who worked closely with some of my team only a few years ago.  Looking back at that meal, only a couple of hours ago, I get the impression that he agreed to more than he normally would – it was like he was trying to move on to the other matters.

After the main business, and after the meal was played out, we spent time discussing wider matters of security.  I think Harik, and indeed his cousin Bekzham, are genuinely worried about reports about the Gurgam – I got the impression that the discussion of security against the Gurgam was Harik's real main order of business, and he's happy to accept whatever I was saying about mines security so he could move on.  He and Bekzham have increased patrols and have now got troops actively looking for these buggers encroaching on Dzarraf territory.

I'm going to hang around here for a few days as I want to chat with Hezurak, and I might even try to pop in and see Bekzham if I can.  Right now, though, I'm tired.  I've had a long day travelling, and the meal with Harik went on much longer than I'd have liked.  Its already into tomorrow and I've got some sleep to catch-up on.