Galinia Game  
Peter's Story

Peter finished his meal, wiped his mouth off and grabbed a flagon of ale to take back to his chamber. It wasn't really permitted, but as the Earl's Librarian and Archivist he was allowed a few indulgences. Lighting the candle and pouring himself an ale before settling in to his easy chair he thought over the last few months and how far he had come from being apprenticed in Angasa.

Travelling the Galinia coast road with Rolf and the rest of the crowd had certainly been interesting, and more than once his life had been in danger, indeed poor Aenis had been lost almost before they started. But now he was remembered in the name of the new settlement Dinaenis, still better to be alive than dead and a place name - he mused to himself.

What a surprise when Richard Briganda had met them on the shores below Tas Bardon, and announced his plans to rebuild the old place as his seat of government. And then the trauma of making sure it was safe for him to land while he went back to get labourers and material to renovate it.

Almost as soon as the place was declared safe he was back with carpenters and stone mason, timber and rock to start the rebuilding. Oh, to have that sort of money, the Midnight Sky and the Flaming Moon had been plying back and forth with supplies seemingly for weeks. Where they managed to get all that timber from was still a mystery, but it was said that Treverii and Jenson had been calling in favours just as hard as Briganda himself. And of course the offer of land and a new start both in Dinaenis and at the Nome Isle settlements had motivated many of the skilled refugees to make their way there. Apparently he had started spreading the word before we left Dingaic, assuming that we were going to come through for him, making him either a foolish man or a wily politician. A wily politician probably.

And that night of the feast in honour of opening the coastal path held outside in the centre of Tas Bardon because none of the buildings were inhabitable. There had been many delicacies and wines from all around the region - truly a party to remember. And then they had all been called up to the top table to be honoured for their part in the expedition. Rolf did well out of that, but then he did deserve it, made a Squire and full Constable all in the same evening. And Elsbeth made a Squire as well - and a cash bonus for everyone too. But then to be asked to be the Earl's librarian and archivist, now that was a surprise - more than he could every have hoped for. Still he had discharged his duties well so far, his teachers and family could be proud of him.

Then the visit to the island to clear the buildings, and discovering the lost records of the old Galinian Order. That had been a day to remember.

Dispatched within days back to Angasa to collect the Earl's scroll and books, a surprising number of them. Some hadn't even been unpacked from their previous journey, and of course they weren't catalogued at all. Some of them the Earl had grabbed from his previous home, when it was sacked, other he had collected along the way - in all a real mishmash of material. By the time he had got them back to Tas Bardon, most of the repairs had been done on the old monastery that was to be Briganda's new home and a room had already been prepared as a library. Book shelves and scroll racks as well as a desk and chairs and a reading lectern. It was a nice room, smaller than he had been used to, of course, but sufficient for the material to hand.

At first he had slept in the library with the books, camped out on the floor, but then the staff chambers had been fixed. Part was a barracks, but many of the household staff were assigned rooms in the other wing. Everyone ate in the refectory together, but he now had just enough status to get a decently placed seat and to have dispensation to take his meals and refreshment back to his chamber. He grinned quietly to himself as he refilled the tankard from the ale flagon again, enjoying the privilege.

It had been interesting, even fun at times, opening all the travel cases and cataloguing the books and scrolls. No one interfered with him much and apart from occasional visits from his friends on the trip up the coast he had been pretty much left to his own devices. Edgar and Mandrake had been around quite a lot and so had Kerim, but that was to be expected, and when that damned Raven (he grinned softly) wasn't bugging him for something, it was enjoyable too.

It had been really funny finding that scroll that depicted adventurous sexual positions, and the comments it had elicited from Kerim and Edgar, in particular, had been funnier still. But most of the material had been mundane. There was a genealogy of Richard Briganda, which was only to be expected really and a number of unrelated scrolls detailing local history from around the whole region of Hann, and seemingly innumerable scrolls of household accounts and couple of books describing journeys. There was even one quite modern and fanciful tome describing an expedition to and from the moon, written by that old dog Grey Beard - who should have been old and mature enough to know better.

And then there were all the records we found in the cellar, from the old Galinian order. That had taken some time to catalogue. Good job he'd been allowed to take old Rosen on as an assistant.

Still there had been a couple of amazing finds as well. The Mage's scroll which still contained some spells for a start. Fortunately Mandrake was around to read it for us. Hold Portal, Levitation and Alter Self, wasn't a bad haul. Still I wonder what was in the gaps? Well, we'll never know now, I suppose. And that Halfling text that had included instructions for ceremonies, the Shillelagh ceremony seemed to work OK and Warp Wood had felt right too - but maybe that needs a bit more practice to make it work properly.

Life had been easy for the last few weeks, waking up in the morning in a comfortable bed, breakfast prepared for him, and then across to read in the library for the morning. Lunch in the refectory and a stroll before heading back to the library to write up more of his journal or notes and then another stroll before dinner. After dinner there were generally a few soldiers hanging around in the refectory, and perhaps some of his companions would be around, so there was always conversation and a few songs. And whenever Richard Briganda held a banquet, he was invited. Best bib and tucker, and he was expected to write it all up the next day, but generally still a pleasant evening.

Occasionally he would hitch a ride on a boat heading for the mainland and visit one of the outposts. That could be pleasant too, and sometimes Rolf or Callum would be there and they could reminisce, or they would tell him of their latest journeys along the coast road, which were invariably interesting.

And then at last there was time to make a trip out with Rolf along all the coast road again. It had been interesting to see the new villages springing up, and the changes in the old ones. And that trading post by the swamp. He recognised a kinship with those two Halflings. One had even trained at the conservatory. Shame they had been there at different times. He might have got a discount on that glowing ball then, but probably not. Its great that the Gila are starting to fetch them in though. Uh, it had been good to be back out on the road, but it had been enjoyable writing it up too.

But everything was going to change again tomorrow. The Earl had another council and a feast, and (from what he had heard) it would mean another mission for Rolf. And he would work his way onto it some how. Old Rosen should be able to cope, for a while.

Ah well, the ale was finished and the candle starting to gutter slightly, time for bed. Better make the most of it while I still can …