My Life Among the Barbarians

The barbarians caught yet another plague this week. It began with the middle barbarian in the late evening and by the next day all three barbarians were afflicted. Luckily the middle barbarian's strong constitution made his affliction short-lived. The eldest barbarian on the other hand was struck down for three days. The pools in the cooking area are still dry, which has made keeping the cooking hut clean a nightmare. We've been trying to use less stones when we eat, but that creates more garbage and isn't an ideal solution. The fix I attempted failed, but I'll try again in a few days and see if I can make it work this time. I wanted to make sure that the settlement was as clean as I could get it before I left for the long-ranging hunt with my partner, but between the outbreak of the plague and the sudden urgent need to take the caravan west for the Matriarch, I didn't get everything I wanted done. Thank heavens for the Most Honorable Elders, without them my s...

Today has been exceptionally trying. I have been working around the settlement all day, trying to make it something that resembles livable. Though the barbarians and I have a completely different view on what makes a settlement livable. The Hot Spring where the barbarians bathe, is disgusting. It doesn't seem to matter how often or how deeply I clean it, the elder pair of barbarians are more than capable of desecrating it in a matter of moments. The area around the cooking fire just seems to catch most of the detritus of our lives and gather it in ever growing drifts. The Hall where we eat seems to be holding steady at cluttered rather than disgusting. The Gathering Hall, where we spend so much of our days, is cluttered, but again not too dirty. I spent so many hours today cleaning around the cook fire and scrubbing furs. I think I spent more time today folding other people's furs than I did sleeping last night. One of the little pools where I normally clean our cooking ute...

The last few days have been trying. My partner is away on a night hunt far to the southwest. He has been gone for several days. In his absence, the barbarians have been testing the waters and fomenting rebellion. The eldest barbarian has come to the erroneous conclusion that he has no duties around the settlement and the deepest pits of the underworld will freeze over before he admits he is wrong. This evening he shouted down the walls of the Gathering Hall when I asked that he pick up after himself. As though it were perfectly acceptable to leave his furs thrown all over the settlement. The middle barbarian is still struggling at the Halls of Learning and I begin to wonder if it will ever be possible to tame his wild ways. Today, he had a good day, which is all I ask for. Perfect is not necessary. He seems to have difficulty bringing himself back to calm when his will is thwarted. The littlest barbarian is more stubborn then the elder two combined. She has recently learned to sa...