Gnaeblin Defence Plans

Today's discussions seem to have gone well.  For the Gnaeblin, that is.  For the Dzarraf too, if I'm honest.  For myself, though, it didn't.  I think I've improved at my planning and at my negotiation skills considerably as I've grown older – so much so that I landed myself some extra work through the thoroughness of my arguments.

As I made the plans I slowly came to believe that the Gnaeblin are more than capable of making these kind of plans without me – I thought I'd been brought in to help them agree on a course of action and avoid long, drawn-out discussions between themselves.  It turns out that they really are quite bad at making these kinds of plans by consensus, and sometimes just need to be 'told' what needs to happen.  I'd been brought in to do more than just advise on the defences – I was also there to shepherd them into an agreement, to help Banneghenn get the agreement he needs from those around him who are wavering.

The more I'd looked into the problem of defending each Gnaeblin village, the harder the job became to organise the defences in a generic way.  I'd been through several proposals for defensive strategy as I'd thought this through, but I couldn't resolve it all to my own satisfaction.  The generalised plans I presented to Banneghenn included the caveat that any thinking of this kind would need to be tempered and refined by consideration of the places where the strategies were to be implemented.  This was my genuine conclusion, but I may have misread the situation during the previous few days.

The way I explained this was by saying that there are always factors specific to a particular scenario or terrain that can change the way the strategies are implemented.  I think it was a mistake to impress this upon Banneghenn with some enthusiasm.  After a short consideration, he asked that I visit some of the more rural areas of his lands, outlying regions both in the tunnels and on the surface and help to direct some of those variations to the on-the-ground tactics.  I did try to refuse - to call upon the pressing work I have waiting for me back in my delves.  He must have though I was being polite, however, and he insisted.  He even wrote a letter to Bekzham to agree a longer stay and to detail this new request to which I had 'agreed'.

Looks like I'm going to be around these lands for some time.  Two weeks, it looks like, minimum.  Anyway, it's going to take a couple of days to organise the people that I'll be travelling with and a small number of guards to protect me.  So I'll be stuck here in the lap of luxury for a little longer yet.

Planning with Banneghenn

These last three days of talks have worn me out.  I'm so tired, but I don't think I'll get much chance for sleep.

As the days have progressed I've begun to understand more and more the relationship between Banneghenn and his senior assistants.  The level of negotiation between themselves when anything needs doing seems odd to my Dzarraf sensibility, but these are a strange folk.  Everything seems to need explaining and discussing, like Banneghenn needs everyone's consensus, or even permission before he makes any clear decision.  Along with that oddness also comes a warmth that is perhaps missing from many of the Dzarraf's dealings with each other.  Over the last few days I've learned that these wonderful, jovial people have an awful lot of pride, too.  Despite being fewer in number to the population of our delves (maybe one tenth the size of my people), they are proud of both their independence and their alliances.

Most of the Gnaeblin get along well with the Dzarraf, there is plenty of mutual trust and trade, and both our peoples prosper from the relationship.  But my folk are numerous, and with the Gnaeblin numbers so light, we pose a threat to the well-being, the lands and the culture of the Gnaeblin.  This is unfortunate - and it is not something that my people choose to do intentionally.  At least we can help them directly now, and perhaps through this we can help preserve what they have.  I spent far too much time over the first few days reassuring dignitary after dignitary that our people hold the Gnaeblin in high honour.

It was until late morning yesterday that we reached the point where Banneghenn could discuss his military plans in a candid way.  I sat through a long discussion about how he plans to march several large forces to the surface and to surrounding tunnels to deal with the Gurgam threat.  He showed me how he intends to direct the Dzarraf to aid his army to the best effect.  He showed me some of the new weapons they have created ("magic" my people would call it – all built from cogs and springs).  It is all very impressive, but completely out of my remit and way outside of my experience.  After I'd indulged Banneghenn and his senior general Gallanarre (a very Welfen name if ever I heard one - and this soldier was carrying a bow, not a crossbow, I noticed) by sitting through the description of their plans of attack, I managed to move the conversation on to my role with his people.

My speciality is investigation in a civilian guise, but I also help with defensive planning against all kinds of eventualities.  This is what I'm here to help with; more specifically my direct task is to look at the village defences dotted around here and find ways to improve that defence and free up soldiers so they can join the attack force.  Gallanarre seemed impressed by the way I had understood and disassembled their own defensive plans and proposed many simple improvements.  Despite being a general, he seems to have only limited experience of defensive fighting and few ideas that span beyond attacking.  I will be presenting more detailed proposals to Banneghenn tomorrow.  Over dinner in the inn this evening I have come up with some solid solutions for them, all it took was a chance to think about it for a while.  I'll be presenting these plans tomorrow.

Starting Negotiations

Llayn took me into Banneghenn's palace mid-morning, later than I'd expected to be going.  He's a 'later riser' according to Llayn; I think 'lazy sod' might be more accurate.  But he is the ruler around here, and he makes the decisions, and he still needs some help with his defences.

Today the discussions passed by somewhat oddly.  There was plenty of political back-and-forth, and the agenda seemed to swim at times.  It was like Banneghenn wasn't handling a negotiation with me, and I wasn't there doing any consulting.  It was more like he was trying to justify the whole military approach to the assembled dignitaries.  As a visiting 'dignitary', quite often they'd turn to me for an opinion, frequently considering my point of view as impartial and free of the constraints of interest in the political status quo of the Gnaeblin.  I didn't really mind being consulted in this way – although I'm far from being an impartial observer.  I'm here to help organise military defences and free up troops for a small war.  Wherever I could I stuck up for Banneghenn's plan – to attack the Gurgam.  At the start of the meeting there were certainly a few of the politicians there that were not particularly in favour of an all-out war, and who didn't think that extra troops would be needed.  We did arrive at some level of consensus though.

I think there may be political problems for Banneghenn afoot – but if he's always managed things this way and he is still in control, then perhaps his approach works for him and his people.  Who knows.

It wasn't until the end of that day that Banneghenn even came clean about the true purpose of today's meeting.  I eventually wheedled it out of him, and its a simple goal – he wants to wipe out all the Gurgam in this region, thereby safeguarding their lands from future invasion.  This is, politically, quite a distance from the original aim of defending against an invasion and just turning back the attacking force, Banneghenn shrewdly led them all through the negotiations.  With help from myself and one of the other Gnaeblin present, the others were slowly brought round to the thought that attacking back at the Gurgam is the cleanest and safest way to ensure they cannot attack the Gnaeblin lands again for a very long time.  The fight is also to help define the warrior credentials of the Gnaeblin – they want to make it clear to all potential enemies that they are strong; and at the same time gift their warriors a matching degree of fun.

Journey to the Gnaeblin

It's taken four days travel, but we reached Banneghenn's city, Sanvell, which is close to the surface.  I can smell the cold, thin air from here.  I journeyed up with a bodyguard made up of four of Bekzham's own guards – the Dzarraf fighting force is well behind us, and he was a little concerned for my safety.  He needn't have been, but at least I arrived with some pageantry.

We were met at the outskirts of the city by  one of Banneghenn's senior guards, a large (for a Gnaeblin) warrior who goes by the name Llayn.  He seems to be the reception committee tonight, and will be our host for the evening.  There are a few more Gnaeblin guards posted outside this inn, and they're not just the shiny breastplate “ceremonial” guards – these are the real deal.  Bekzham's guards are returning to the Dzarraf delves tomorrow, and I think they're looking forward to taking the night off.  I don't expect them to leave particularly early in the morning...

For tonight we have been booked into some extremely comfortable accommodation, I've been given a suite – in all my years in the service I've never stayed in an inn where my accommodation had more rooms than guests.  And the beer is free.  And they'll bring it to my room.  This is going to be quite a test of my personal willpower.

Over dinner Llayn and I talked through some of the planned discussions.  We need to re-organise the defences of the outlying towns and villages, the objective is to free up some of the warriors to form a bigger attack force, without leaving the defences too weak.  These people have fewer natural warriors than us and such resources need to be used wisely.  Llayn has given me a few insights into how things are currently organised, and what he thinks needs to be changed.  Banneghenn wants to meet tomorrow morning – he's keen to get cracking and he has plenty of enthusiasm for the job – from what Llayn says he wants to hit the Gurgam as hard and quickly as possible to bring this to a swift conclusion.

The Old Tunnels

I'm passing through some of the oldest parts of the delve.  This journey is much more interesting than I thought it would be – the Dzarraf people living here are polite and friendly, yet there is an air of old-world charm about them.  The broad highways and small settlements are fascinating.  We seem to have lost much of our artistic flair in the last few centuries of expansion deeper into the mountain, perhaps because of the speed with which space is dug these days, but some of the carvings up here are a work of art.

It's almost like a different world.  Although my people originally built all of the delves right out to the surface from here, they're so different to our more modern dwellings.  In those days the digging was slower and the Dzarraf were fewer in number; and the Gnaeblin used to live out in the mountain plains among the woodlands and down into the valley beyond.  But there have been many years between then and now.  Since then the Gnaeblin slowly moved into our outer halls when we had no longer any need for them, and we've grown as a people and we've grown with our neighbours.

These days this part of the delve relies heavily on the Gnaeblin folk for their food and other supplies.  Unlike much deeper in the delve, they use surface-grown wood for some of the buildings here.  It gives everything a contrasting 'newness' against the ancient buildings and fantastic architecture.  I'm pretty sure some of these caverns were first put together 1200 years ago – they're among the oldest Dzarraf dwellings from just after the time of the Great Disaster – and that's a long time, even for a Dzarraf.

Of course, I've been through here before.  But I was only a child then, and the quality and beauty of the architecture here was lost upon me.  How it fills me with pride now, and I find myself in awe of the achievements of my people.  Even my bodyguards have been speechless at some of the carvings and columns we've seen.  I've already taken a couple of unscheduled stops to admire the work of my forefathers, and if this carries on, I'll probably be late for my meeting with Banneghenn.

Bekzham's Plan

We Dzarraf do not drink heavily as a rule, but Hezurak can really down his liquor.  I gave up trying to match him drink for drink.  By the end of the night when we went for rodent nibbles, I was feeling much worse for the ale, but it barely seemed to have touched my friend.

Yesterday morning, the day after our night of 'Beer Fun' I did not feel well, and it didn't help that I still had to work to complete.  I journeyed out to Kazaral, where Geshr Bekzham has been staying.  It's only a few hours ride by mule and cart under normal conditions, but this time it took me most of the day.  For once I wasn't worried that the (new) mule was slow.  It was quite a relief; slower is quieter.  During the afternoon I even spent a few minutes walking alongside the cart rather than riding, that helped lift some of the pain of my hangover and the monotony of the journey.

I've been to Kazaral many times over the years.  It used to be where Harik's father lived, but the last thirty years, as Harik has expanded this land, the administrative hub has followed him.  The extensive civic building is still used as offices, but it's ornate rooms are largely empty  It had been handed to Bekzham for use while he stayed in this region.  Bekzham is a plain talking Dzarraf, who doesn't try to use words to out-manoeuvre you.  I like him immensely, and it was he who first nominated me for the investigation service sixty years ago.  And it was he who convinced the other Geshrs that I was the right man for the senior job in the service when it became available eight years ago.  I owe him a lot personally, but he seems to expect much in return.

He had not summoned me, my visit was intended as a social one and a chance to talk over Harik's security ideas for this new dig (which could be quite useful as many of the volunteers would be coming from Bekzham's region).  He was pleased to see me again, but I noted that there was something particularly odd about the way he described my visit as 'fortuitous' as I walked into his office mid-morning.  The social talk soon fell away as he preferred to talk of matters of politics that have been causing him some headaches.  We discussed the incursion by the Gurgam, and he showed me some of the reports his troops had made.

The situation is worse than I had though it to be among the Gnaeblin.  There have been real raids.  There have been Gnaeblin killed, and this turns it from being a threat to be watched into a threat to be acted upon.  Also, it looks like the number of Gurgam involved is more than we though.  There could be hundreds – this isn't a small incursion, its almost the size of an  invasion.

Bekzham told me that he'd had to exert a little pressure on Banneghenn, one of the senior Gnaeblin in this region, because he had been reluctant to ask for help.  He now has an official invite to go and bust some Gurgam heads.  We have no mandate to officially intervene in any fighting that Banneghenn's generals organise, but the invite reads like a party invitation - 'there's a fight going down, do come and join us to kick some Gurgam bottom'.

Banneghenn, I was told, felt that his troops were more than capable of dealing with this threat (in fact, they were really enjoying it if the reports could be believed) but as always with Gurgam, it's better to meet them with an overwhelming force in both size and ability.  That way few of them return to fight you again.  They are not the sharpest picks on the rack, those Gurgam.

As this is a military matter, Hushmaz has been ordered to head a force of two hundred armed Dzarraf who will be leaving in a couple of days.  They will be joined by another two hundred fighting troops in a week, once some of the most enthusiastic reservists have been called in.  At the same time as that force, Bekzham feels we should also be helping out in other ways.  That, he says, is a role for me.

I should have known this was coming.  Harik must have known this was approaching, and when I met Hushmaz a few days ago he would surely have known too.  Bekzham wants me to attend the court of Banneghenn so the Gnaeblin can consult with me about ways to improve his border security, they need to talk about improved defence strategies for the long haul, but most importantly to help the villages withstand raids by Gurgam.  No wonder this was a 'fortuitous' meeting.  I'd just saved him a week - he no longer had to send a message and wait until I'd arrived.

I nearly refused to go, I have work to do at home and my first duty is to the safety of the delves.  Bekzham was insistent, though, and this is, as he pointed out, a sure way to help guarantee the safety of the delves.  He is sending messengers to Mishrune to allow him to keep my department functioning for a week or so while I am away.  Bekzham has taken care of everything.  Damn.

Despite the pressure Bekzham had applied to let us join in, Banneghenn had asked for this help himself – he needs experienced practical help with organising his border security.  From what I understand Bekzham may have built me up quite a bit.  He told the Gnaeblin that he'd be sending his best Dzarraf, someone he trusted completely, and whose skill he'd relied on uncountable times before.  This may be a slight exaggeration, and I'd have liked to have gone in quietly.  But now I'm going to be a bit of a celebrity.  One of the perks of the visit is that I'll be treated like an honoured guest.  That means I'll get the finest food, both rodents and surface animals, and the plushest of inns.

It'll make a change, I suppose.  It's not often I get to enjoy international travel as a security and safety consultant for the delve, and even less frequently that I get treated like royalty.

A Chat with Hezurak

I spent several hours with Hezurak this afternoon.  He was appointed to his job because he's a tall, heavy set Dzarraf with fists like clubs and a reputation for swinging his axe with accuracy, but he's surprisingly smart - although he always seems to play up the 'dumb-ass' persona he's created.  I think it suits him to have people assume the instructions he gives are because he's following orders blindly rather than because he's planning stuff.

Once we were away from the crowds, I went through all the details of the security and safety arrangements for this new dig.  He was up to speed really quickly, and even helped with some minor changes that'll really make things better for the diggers and the safety staff.  The other thing I like is his keen sense of humour, almost like that of the Hznaman.  I could see the influence of Mishrune in Hezurak's thinking, they had worked together several years ago.

Overall I'm pleased with what's going to happen on that dig site.  Hezurak doesn't officially start this post for another week or so, but I think he's going down to the dig site in the next day or two to begin getting things organised for the first batch of real miners who'll arrive next month.

We'll be finishing off our meeting with a visit to the local beer house, where we'll be off to in just a few minutes.

Brief Meeting with Hushmaz

I was popping in to see Bhraz at Harik's office building this morning when I bumped into Hushmaz, who seemed to be in quite a hurry.  He apologized for not being there at Raskna, but he said he'd been pulled away to handle messages for Harik, and he looked a little flustered.  He told me he'd been up at Kazaral where he was talking with a few representatives of the Gnaeblin.  He said he couldn't really give me details, and talking about Gurgam in the corridor wasn't sensible anyway, but he was sure there were matters here that Harik might want to discuss with me.  He was weary looking, but seemed to think matters were pretty much covered.  His last statement didn't surprise me – that the Gnaeblin wanted to move things along more quickly, but communication delays and the time it's taking to get their folk organised is slowing things down.

Bhraz and I spent the afternoon preparing the written report on the safety at Raskna.  This turned out as quite a short document in the end, and it gave us a chance to sample some of the local delicacies while we worked.  The detailed plans for safety will be done later, in conjunction with Hezurak.

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.

Mining Plans Reviewed

Taking the mule into the  deep new dig would be impossible.  Bhraz tried to convince me that they've been doing plenty of work to improve the route, and that there'd be little problem over most of the journey.  But I didn't care.  The damn thing can be someone else's problem for a few days.

We set off yesterday afternoon after eating, and made good time into the deeps.  The scenery changed within a few hours, and the civilised colonies gave way to the rougher terrain of the commercial digging operations.  As evening drew on we moved into some good, honest stone-works, roughly dug and very satisfying to my Dzarraf spirit.  We stayed overnight in a small mining camp.  It had a frontier feeling, and sitting among the local workers through the evening we heard many stories of the front line of digging.  It was good that we brought some beer to share among the workers.  Everyone had been on edge – they could all sense the presence of the gold, perhaps not as well as Bhraz, but they all knew something was up.

It was not even an hours walk this morning to get us to the prospective site of the new seams.  I was quite concerned at first that the entrances would not have been secured and strengthened correctly, but the final dig site looks clear and well laid out.  There are a dozen others here just working on tidying the entrances up to improve access for the dig teams and to make the whole place safer.

In the middle of the central cavern young labourers were setting out the mining camp for the workers that are to come.  They are taking cut-off stone from the corridors and entrances where they had been levelling and widening the surrounding tunnels and using it to build dozens of small temporary homes.

Bhraz lead me down a smaller side cavern, where digging had been done a few weeks ago.  I could sense the change of atmosphere, the presence of gold making small vibrations in my ankles and knees.  I've not experienced that for a few years, I can tell you, but it's a good feeling.  Bhraz's eyes had brightened up, his beard was starting to bristle out.  He was much more sensitive to this than me.

"Here", he whispered as he pointed to the wall.  It looked no different to the other walls that we'd walked past on the way down.  I put my hands up to it, I could sense something, but I couldn't tell what it was – it didn't feel like gold.

"Taste it", he said.  I stuck my tongue out and gently ran it along the wall.  Again, a mixed sensation met me; I thought it was more like copper.  I said so.

"That's what I thought at first", Bhraz confirmed my suspicions, "but the presence of gold is unmistakable.  I can feel it in my joints".  It's no wonder he's the engineer, not me.  We moved on deeper down the corridor.  The vibrating in my ankles was getting stronger.  We stopped again – you could almost smell the gold here, but you still couldn't see it.  The walls just looked grey and dull.  When they opened this channel up, those digging must have known there was gold about.  We searched further, the effect on my ankles was becoming unbearable.  We'd only been in this place for a few minutes too, but I couldn't work it out; I only got the sensation not the taste or the smell.

To confirm it, Bhraz took out a small hammer and a cold chisel.  He dug into the wall with the metal tools and as stone chips began to fly he grabbed a couple of the larger ones that landed at his feet.  He handed them to me and nodded; I sniffed, and I tasted again.  This time there was no mistake.  Gold.

We talked through the extent of the seams, Bhraz chipped a few more sections away as we walked down the newly dug corridor.  It seems like a large area for the gold to be spread over, but looking back I think there's more than just gold there – something is tainting the metal.  Bhraz took some chalk and marked on the walls where he thought new digging should take place to find the gold.  He showed me a crude chart and drew in the dirt to explain some of the calculations they'd made.  I agreed with him, he has clearly done a proper survey of these tunnels.

My job is not to assess the quality of the seams, but to approve safety measures and investigate if anything goes wrong – in this case ensuring the plans for the safety of the dig are set up properly and followed accurately.  We spent lunchtime and the last few hours going over those plans.  It's clear that while he's a good engineer, Bhraz is not so familiar with security or safety.  He knew where he wanted to dig, he knew how to get to the best gold in here; but he was not experienced at running a dig site of this size – and the presence of the gold will make this site about three times as big as it would otherwise have been.  But I needed to discuss most of this with Harik; I'd really like to know who is being appointed to oversee the camp's security once it's all up and running.

Now we're just grabbing an hours rest and sharing our pork and fruit with the workers.  We'll head off back after this, and with some luck we'll be back in Raskna by the end of the day – but it'll be late.  I doubt I can give my report to Hushmaz, Harik will be wanting to see me for my full report, and I have a few safety questions for him to answer in return.

Bumped into Hushmaz

Bhraz and I arrived at Raskna this afternoon after a morning's march down from Zanna.  We ran into Hushmaz who was waiting for us here.  Hushmaz is Harik's military defence commander, and is a heavy-set warrior.  I found his presence on this job to be quite unexpected and, I thought at first, unnecessary.  Of course, he's not really here for the new dig works – he's a soldier and was here trying to make it look something like a co-incidence that he's run into us.  I guessed that he needed to see me – something bad, in a military sense, was going down.

I was right.  He warned us of impending Gurgam trouble in the tunnels up and to the north.  Our friends the Gnaeblin have reported skirmishes and Harik was monitoring the situation.  It's politically difficult to just send a force to help them repel the unsociable Gurgam, we'd need an invitation or we'd need them to be trying to sneak through the Gnaeblin lands for us to just wade into the fight.  The problem we face is taht the Gnaeblin are not a numerous people, and it looks bad for us if a bunch of armed Dzarraf go wandering around their lands.  It's unlike us to be so sensitive to anyone's feelings, but in this case the Gnaeblin live between us and the horrors of the surface.  It's better for us that they're there.

If real fighting breaks out there will be no problems sending a small fighting force – Hushmaz told us that there were plenty of volunteers willing to go out and bust some Gurgam heads.  I thought at first that he might be angling for me to volunteer, but if we're fighting Gurgam I'd more than likely be involved in the planning anyway.  This, it seems, is the message that Harik wanted to send to me.

I didn't see any of that while talking to Hushmaz, of course, I only realized it as I pondered a few minutes ago.  I was too focussed on the job at hand (and how distracting is the presence of gold?)  Hushmaz wasn't going with us down to the new dig and the possible gold seams, of course, but he was hoping to be be here at Raskna waiting until we return.  Our destination was down from here, not up, so we're going to be nowhere near the troubles.  The gold is right in among the new diggings – and our people seem to be going deeper than ever these days.

Meeting with the Mines Consultant

Hospitality here is excellent.  I was met yesterday by one of Harik's senior mines consultants, Bhraz.  He's a very pleasant chap, organizing lunch and updating me on many of the goings on around here before we head off to the new site tomorrow.

He introduced me to one of Porzakk's specialities – a splendid line in roasted badger.  This is a dish that is more easy to find out here where it's closer to the surface, but Porzakk's mushroom and cheese sauce goes especially well.  Whenever we've had Badger back in Enzknn they've always been tough old animals, which is not surprising when they travel so far, but this meat was light and delicate.  Washed down with Porzakk's dark beer, it's even more special.  It seems they've only just started doing this line of food – I've been to Porzakk's a few times in the past, but I've not had this.  In my travels I'm always been keen to try out the local dishes as I made my way around the delves, but I don't get much closer to the surface than I am now very often, and so I'd normally avoid badger.

Bhraz was telling me that the new dig is well under way, that the entrance chambers are open and that, as I'm here, I could give them the once-over and issue their safety stamp.  I might do that, we're going right into that new works anyway to look at this potential new seam.  It's quite unusual that I'm involved with a site at this stage of its construction, most of the work force have usually moved on by the time I get to see it.  I'm quite looking forward to the change of scenery.  The new tunnel is off to the east of a smaller settlement called Raskna, and that name seems to be used for the new tunnel area too.  I think it's only a few hours walk from here.

Well, we made it

I really don't understand mules.  They're stupid animals.  We were stopped for over an hour when the mule decided it wanted a break.  I took the opportunity to grab some food too, and I was leaning quietly against the cart wheel, eating my fungi when off the damned animal went.  Mules don't move quickly, but it took me by surprise.  And it was gone.

I must admit that I wasn't expecting the mule to move so fast.  It took me a few seconds to regain my composure and then I had to gather my bits and pieces from the impromptu camp.  And put the fire out.  By this time the mule had moved further, it was literally yards away.  I gave chase.

Now we Dzarraf can run, but it's not something that we're particularly good at (we're definitely built for endurance rather than speed) so chasing a cart and shouting is particularly unedifying.  I also found out that mules have a sense of humour.  There is no way that beast is scared by me, so when the shouting made the bugger speed up, it can only be because it found it funny.  When I'd finally reached the cart and threw myself on board it slowed right down again.  From then on our progress was really slow.  I couldn't persuade it pick up the pace - I think it hates me with a passion.

Eventually we made it to Zanna, which is a small town on the south-west edge of Kazaral, in a huge natural cavern.  I'd journeyed through several small villages on the way, and as a result I've been well fed, but none that are quite of the standard of the one I'm in  tonight, Porzakk's tavern, where I'll be meeting Harik's engineers tomorrow.

On the Road to Harik

Bloody mule. Ignorant, bad tempered, smelly beast.

Harik is expecting us later today, and the mule has stopped.  It just stopped, and no matter how much I dangled the carrot, it refuses to start.  If Mishrune were here, he'd sort it out - last time he just applied a little choke and the mule started off again with no more persuading.  Mishrune always seems to have a way with beasts.

We've stopped at the side of the Long Edden highway, which is a long straight trade route that runs past Enzknn to the deeps of Harik and Armzah.  As we passed through one of the larger natural caverns, the mule must have been pretty thirsty, it stopped by a pool of moisture that had run down off the wall here where the fungus was thick.

I'm not one to be taking it too easy on these kinds of journeys, but that fungus came in handy – I put the shrooms with some stone-bread and they made an enjoyable snack (quite a change from the rodents I brought along to sustain me on the journey).  I've saved some for later this evening, they'll fry off nicely over my lantern, I hope I brought the K'Zebd Oil.

Harik will understand this delay – he should have received that note I sent by today at the latest, and even though I said I'd be with him today, there are other, four-legged problems delaying me.  Also I'm quite worried about Mishrune.  I was convinced he would be back.  He wasn't, of course, and I had to set out on the journey without seeing him.  It's been just myself and this ignorant mule for the last two and a half days.  The mule is not good company.  And it smells.

Change of Plans

I knew things wouldn't go completely smoothly, they never seem to when Mishrune isn't around.  The mule hasn't arrived, and we've probably been let down.  Seeing as the ass should have had the mule here four hours ago, I'd say that was true.  I've sent a message back to Harik to let him know of the delay.  At least it gives a few more hours for Mishrune to arrive here before I go.

I will probably be stuck here until tomorrow lunchtime at the earliest – Huzzan the mule provider will probably muck me about until then after I spend this evening and tomorrow morning shouting at him.  I can feel another complain to the Mines Co-ordinator coming on – we're being prevented from helping the honest miners round here.

Is it any wonder why I've earned something of a reputation for being a bit grumpy?

Where has my assistant gone?

Normally it's not that busy round here, but Mishrune has been away for five days leaving me to do everything else.  He is off looking at the collapse of Bizham's number seventeen shaft, but that's only a day and a half to the east of Enzknn where our office is and it should have been a formality - a simple broken beam from what we'd heard.  Nobody had been hurt, they'd only reported that the face was out of action.  I shouldn't be all that surprised really – we've had delays before with Geshr Bizham, he does like to muck us about.  I don't know how he became Geshr at all.  I really hope Mishrune gets back soon.

We just received a message, and it looks like we'll be starting another journey tomorrow.  Geshr Bekzham and his cousin Vamn Harik are in the middle of opening a new tunnel, they think they've been able to smell a new seam.  We have to consult with the engineers and stewards about their plans.  It sounds simple enough, I'll go on my own and probably wont be away for longer than a week or so.

I like Harik, but he's always been very keen to press on with his mining without thinking things through.  I hope I can keep a lid on his enthusiasm this time.  It's quite a hike to Kazaral towards the north borders of Gora where he's based.  I've got a mule and a cart turning up tomorrow morning, Mishrune had better be back in time so I can review his report before I leave.