My Life Among the Barbarians

This evening, I returned to my settlement after a long absence. The Distant Honorable Elder tripped in her settlement yesterday and fell, damaging her face, her rib cage and her knee. Once I received word of her injury, I called upon the Honorable Elders of my partner's line. They were able to come and run herd on my wild pack of little barbarians while I rushed to join the westward caravan. I took my Elder to the Halls of Medicine near her settlement and they kept her overnight so that one of the Wisest of the Medicine Men could perform a special ritual on her broken knee. I always find it so nerve wracking to wait while someone undergoes such a ritual, but she came through it just fine and is recovering in the Halls of Medicine.  Unfortunately, her Behemoth requires care and I am forced to return to her settlement after seeing my barbarians off to sleep this evening. It is not a particularly onerous task and while I resent the separation from my partner and the little barb...

The littlest barbarian and I made the trek westward to visit the Distant Honorable Elder and while there are certainly things I should record about our visit, I find myself more interested in penning my concerns about the oncoming Summer. Eleven days. There are eleven days remaining before the Halls of Learning closes its doors for eighty-three days. Yes, I counted. Eighty-three days of being outnumbered in my settlement by a factor of three. The barbarians have already begun gearing up for the assault on our settlement come Summer.  The Eldest has grown ever more sullen and rebellious. He claims to despise his time at the Halls of Learning, but when I speak with his Wise Woman she says that he enjoys his time there greatly. The middle barbarian is becoming ever more of a handful. His willful spirit will serve him well once he has been tamed and taught how to channel it to his benefit, but for now, it is a constant battle to coax anything resembling good behavior out of him. ...

This morning after seeing the elder barbarians off to the Halls of Learning, the littlest barbarian and I had to visit the Medicine Woman at Halls of Medicine. It was a humbling visit to be truthful. This at dinner two days past, the littlest barbarian made a game of how much sweet sticky pudding she could pack into the caverns of her sinuses. It took no small amount of effort that evening to remove the pudding. Yesterday, the littlest barbarian was like some vile slug, leaving trails of mucous everywhere she went. For the most part, her excretions were clear and I was unconcerned. To be honest, most barbarians I have observed are continuous and prodigious producers of vile excretions of one sort or another. I became concerned this morning when her mucous began to take on the color of dandelions. Of course, by the time we were called back to the Medicine Woman, the littlest barbarian's nose had mostly dried up. The Medicine Woman inspected the barbarian's nose (and her ears j...

Today was an adventure to be sure. We awakened early and while I got ready, the elder barbarians had a small war in the Gathering Hall. After breaking our fast, my partner and I took the three little barbarians and the White Wolf and joined the westbound caravan. The Distant Honorable Elder had sent word that she needed assistance, but more than that the first Elder Day of the year has arrived. After a rather boisterous trek west, we took the Elder to the markets to pick up her supplies. While we were in the market settlement, we attended a feast for lunch. It was a delicious meal and the barbarians behaved fairly well during it. After we returned to the Distant Elder's settlement is when it all went to pot. The littlest barbarian, without naps and exercise, can become a truly astounding fury. Today she skipped both naps and was bottled up for most of the day. By the time my partner and I were building the Elder's new chair, the littlest barbarian was more than fed up with h...

It seems that my observations are becoming more and more difficult to compile. Spring has arrived and we are careening toward summer. Yet Winter keeps returning for yet another assault. I have heard that the Oracles predict snow again this weekend. The middle barbarian is still struggling with his issues at the Halls of Learning and the eldest claims that he is suffering from a lack of one on one research. I believe his claim to be somewhat unfounded, but we have made an effort to provide more. Very soon there will be no more nearly daily trek to the Halls of Learning. I am excited for the adventures we will have, but I am also quite intimidated by the prospect of being so outnumbered for so many hours of the day. Hopefully, when summer comes and the Halls of Learning close, I will have more observations to record. For now, the barbarians in my settlement are restive and waiting.

For a day that started off so well, it has already gone quite far down hill. I was just musing a few days ago that it had been well over a year since last I slept a whole night. Then, at long last, the littlest barbarian went an eight hour stretch of sleep. I woke up before the rooster crowed, rested. I got ready, cheerfully, and climbed the hill to the Gathering Hall. There the littlest barbarian and I found a quite different scene. The middle barbarian was in fine form, filled with energy and ready to face the day. The eldest barbarian, on the other hand, has been cursed by some malevolent spirit. His thunderous visage glowered at me from the stuffed hides. He insisted that he hated everyone and everything. He would never go to the Halls of Learning again, he wouldn't put his furs on, and he must certainly wouldn't eat his breakfast. I made every effort to convince him calmly, then not so calmly, then angrily, and finally furiously. All to no avail. He hates the world, he...