The Journal of Manus ver Neithersorrow

(Added NSFW label due to swearing and mild implications)
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10 Rain's Hand
Wandering seems to have finally come to something. Found myself in Marlbrook when the old nag threw a shoe. Then I was forced to beg some hoity-toity mer to use his damned forge to fix it. No I had no coin to give him for it. No I wasn't going to work for it. Just move aside and let me use the damned thing for a few.

Manus ver Neithersorrow begging to use a damned forge. Oblivion take it.

Gave that skinny-boy pissant my last drake and noticed a crowd gathering about the merchant quarter. Some cat-clan, Sugar Plums or some such, runs this auction to sell their wares turns out. Without a drake to my name though, it was just curiosity which drew me. I was about rode off save for this pretty little thing who was making eyes at me and pretending not to. Cute, sweet, curves in all the right places. Great ass. You know the type.

Long story short, I slept with her. Let her take me off home. Not sure who did the seducing, doesn't really matter. It was pretty mutual. Wasn't even like a one-night stand kind of night either. She didn't chase me off, and I wasn't headed out at dawn. Been a while since that happened. A damned long while.

Met a few Bosmer too, a pair of 'em. The guys used to joke that they'd only come up as far as my knee if I ever saw one. Not quite true. Nice pair, can tell they're in love. The lil gal challenged me to a drink off in true Nord fashion. Right fiery thing she is. Keeps calling me Nord. Bunch of 'em kept insisting they need a Nord in the guard.

Met some cats too. Makes me miss Whiskers.

Think I'll stay a time.

11 Rain's Hand
Of all the people to meet on the flaming ass-end of the world, John's here! Delgar too. Never expected to see their ugly-mugs again. Pretty sure they'd have to beat me off with crowbars to make me leave now. John and I went and beat some guy senseless, real piece of work he is. Their guard really does need help if this is the kind of thing they are dealing with.

And Delgar's a pappy now? When did that happen? I've been gone too long. Not seen him yet, but that's kinda normal. He'll come around when he's good and ready. Then, I'll punch him. Just once. For sleeping with my wife. Just once.

Met their Clan Mother today. Seems all high-standing regal and stuff. Guess that's just the type it takes to herd cats. Welcomed me like I belong here. I could get used to this.

Also, they have kaveh. And sweetrolls. With honey.

((These are great!))

((Thanks Arisel. Manus is an old, old character of mine, and I've always loved writing his thoughts. He's a favorite. :)))

((He and Donny need to have a swear-off. Epic Rap Battle, Tamriel Edition.))

((^ This needs to happen now!))

((Could be fun save that he gets a bit bashful when you point out he's swearing around the ladies.))

12 Rain's Hand

"Unquestioning obedience does not equate discipline." Heard that out of the General far too often. Don't suppose I ever gave it much thought till today.

Discipline. I would say it is something nobody can give to anybody else. Yet, I don't think anyone was ever just born with discipline. No one wakes up and says to themselves "Hey Manus, let's start today with a nice uphill run!" or "Hey! Let's spend all morning time mucking out the stables cause, damnit, I just want to." At least, I sure as hell never did.

Got to be learned. How to you make someone want to be disciplined? Example. Clean and simple. A man's got to see it before he knows it exists, then he's got to see it’s something he wants.

Used to be fun scaring blind obedience into acolytes. Getting them to jump the moment I stepped into a room with a stiff salute and a sucked in gut. But you're always going to have that one kid who stands up to you, looks you in the eye, and calls you on it. Then you got to hit him. Then you lost respect of all the others, cause they respect him for standing up to you even knowing he was going to get what he got.

The General was the first one at the temple every morning. Armor polished. Don't think anyone ever did that for him. There was a man who inspired discipline in others. Don't even have to like the bastard to admit it. Does respect inspire discipline? It certainly can't hurt it.

This Kath fellow? Just demands it. Out of people he's never met. Out of people who could just walk on out of town and find a job elsewhere, which probably pays more. Maybe the Lieutenant has never had to lead men before? At least not on a grand scale. This is a small town after all, not a military regiment. I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I threw him off, intimidated him even.

Question is, what to do about it? Nobody knows who the hell I am here, and I'm just as soon they not. I've taught men to lead, by leading. Course I've made all sorts of mistakes, but I've never passed them down to those under me. I stood and took it in the jaw. It's probably time to do that again. Earn respect by example, inspire discipline.

For now, I'll make that uphill run. Muck out the stable. Polish my armor. See if the Lieutenant's capable of learning from his inferiors.

Kade's good stuff. And I owe John a drink.