diary of a badger

[badger]

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day one

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Badger sat on her bed with her back to the wall, knees drawn up towards her chest with a small book balanced on the tops of her thighs. Her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as a thin stick was clutched tightly between her fingers and scratched across the pages of the open book, thin lines left in its wake that would eventually form the words of text. Sweat beaded on her brow, tongue tip occasionally peeking out from the corner of her mouth, the shared dormitory silent save for the gentle skritch skritch of the stick against parchment. To say that her handwriting was messy was to say that water was wet, fire was hot, or that a bear did indeed shit in the woods (though better not utter such within the Enclave, they take that kind of thing very seriously here). But her heart was in the right place, and as messy as the writing could be it was legible after a fashion, though the letters did have a tendency to twist and curl if you stared at them for too long.

Todaye Doroomoo sayd that now that I am an Ovayte I shood begyn wrytyng thyngs down as it is a good learnyng tool. I am not entyrly sold on thys idea but it is bettr than a poke in the eye wyth a sharp styck! I suppose I shood begyn wyth the seremoney that they gayve me affter Wyn anouwnsed that I had chosen to joyn the Enclayve. Well. It wos not much of a seremoney as they reely only rote my naym down in ther booke and sayd that it wos done. I thot that ther wood be mor too it but wot do I no beyng only a halflyng? Ther shood have been drynk at leest, and plenty of fud. Doroomoo sayd that yoosooly an Ovayte wood be asynd to a Drood to work for them but ther wer no vollunteers. I dyd wonder why but I supos the Droods are a byt bysy wot wyth that ded body problm that we had the othr day. Well I am gettyng a hed aych wyth all thys wrytyng so I wyll leev thyngs for now. Tho Janay sayd that ther is a seremoney I can doo wen I am strong enuff to call an anymal spyryt to me. She explayned it prytty well so I thynk I am going to try it tomorow. Wot is gud enuff for them is gud enuff for me I dare saye, an Myvy still has not lernd how to lock her cupbord proply.

Satisfied, the stick was tucked away neatly in a little flap of leather at the front of the book. Glancing from side to side to make sure she remained unobserved, the dormitory being quite empty, she dropped down from the bed and surreptitiously stuffed the book under her mattress taking care to realign her bed linen as it had been found. Couldn't be too careful these days. Wiping her forehead with her sleeve, she gave the mattress a final pat before scurrying out of the dorm: while they had failed to apprentice her to a specific Druid, they had not failed to give her chores, and she was expected to sweep the autumn leaves before the noontime bell was rung so it was better to get started.

[badger]

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day two

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Huddled in the dark, Badger had her book balanced precariously against her knees as she slipped the thin stick out of the fold of leather and held it above a blank page. If there had been a light source available, a viewer would have noted the pallor of her skin and the faint sheen of sweat, and perhaps even the slightly green tinge that coasted around the edges. Crinkling her nose, the stick was gripped firmly between thumb and forefinger and stabbed against the page before her as if it had done her a disservice.

Well. Unfortntly I wos punished for beyng absente for sych a long tyme. Apparntly I wos gone alle daye! I thot it wos only for a few hoors but I suppose it mayks sens, thyngs were a byt strayng for a while. But eether way the seremoney went well as I now hav my wepon, it is in my hand as a tattoo! I hav not had tyme to try it owt yet but I wyll do so wen my pryvy cleenyng dootys are over whych cood be a whyle but that is ok it was worth it in the end. But the strayngest thyng happened, and is styll happenyng now .. I doo not have to have the lamps lyt to see! If I consentrayte I can see fyne in the dark! Thys wyll mayk a lot of thyngs easyer around here I thynk.

Abruptly she stopped her careful scrawling and stuffed the book underneath her mattress, darting out of the dormitory and out into the Enclaves gardens. Apparently, to be quietly sick in a bush.

[badger]

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day three

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A light rain fell outside of the Enclave, the sound of droplets hitting the windows to the dormitories the only noise within the entire room. Badger sat on her bed, legs swinging freely over the edge as she contemplated the scrawl already present on the page of her book; a small scowl on her face before the page was flipped over and a blank one presented. Physically, she was in better shape than the evening prior – her skin had regained its healthy glow, her stomach no longer protested even the slightest movement, and her hand no longer radiated pain to the point where she expected it to glow. It was in this changed hand that the thin stick was held, its tip waving over the book before it was finally brought down to its surface.

I do not no wot the cooke is puttyng in the Droods fud but I thynk they shood chaynge the recepee ryght away! I dyd not thynk that a pryvy cood stynk as bad as that but heer we are. I do suspekt that Doroomoo has been eetyng nasty thyngs on purpos jyst beecas! He found it very funny wen I told hym about wot happened yesterday and wot Myvy is maykyng me do. It cood be worse tho at leest no one spects me to wype ther bottom for them! Ther wood be words if they dyd let me tell you. I met somone new todaye tho, her nayme is Gwyn and she sayd that if I beehayv she wyll teech me some interestyng thyngs that some Ovaytes lern from ther Droods. I am excyted! Hopfully it wyll not leev me wyth a bad tummy lyke Janay dyd. Tho speekyng of cooke from before, I have come to the concloosyn that they are not gyvyng me enuff fud, whenever I saye that I am styll hungry they do not beleev me and send me away! Fortunatly I styll have some coyn left from that one job I did and so I can go into the town and by extra fud but I shood not have to do that I dont thynk. I herd a roomur that ther is a meal that is claymd to be very fyllyng. Barbareeuns feest. I thynk I wyll put that one to the test! They must not hav rekond on a halflyngs appetyte!

As if on queue a low growl sounded from Badgers belt region, prompting her to slide the stick back inside the cover of the book and drop from her perch on the bed. Checking to make sure she remained unobserved, the book was stuffed once again under her mattress before she straightened her clothes, checked her coin purse, and strode from the dormitory. While the Enclave would not allow any of its inhabitants to starve, Badger did not think that they were taking her capacity to put away food seriously enough!

[badger]

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day four

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Badger was loafing around in the branches of a tree. The reason for this being that the dormitory was occupied, and she didn't particularly fancy the thought of being observed during her evening jottings. The sun was sitting overhead and it cast long shadows into the leaves of the tree, leaves that had yet to fall and join the others on the ground below .. leaves she should have been raking. Still, there would be plenty of time for that later and so there she sat, her legs dangling from the tree branch as her back rested against the main body – skritching away.

Not much has hapend todaye, it has been very quiet .. I was not able to meet Gwyn lyke I had hoped but ther wyll be plenty of tyme for lernyng in the footor. However I had herd somethyng abowt a rebelyon goyng on in a land calld Kuleeyr whych sownds interestyng, but moar importantly ther was word that ther wood be coyn! My purs is growyng empty and so I need to work on fyllyng it. Plus the Enclayve wood probly lyke it if I helped out wyth the fynances .. perhaps if I fylld the kytchen wyth moar fud they wyll be less angry wen I decyde to eet it? So I thynk I wyll look into thys thyng and see wot I can do to earn a lyttle moar coyn .. It can not possibly end badly I thynk, I herd there was a free ryde ther!

Stretching slightly, she tucked the stick back into the folds of leather and lept deftly from the tree, landing silently at its base. Discreetly she stuffed the book under her shirt with it tucked into her waistband, and took hold of the rake that had rested against the tree. Whistling to herself, the leaves at her feet were encouraged into a neat pile off to one side: as soon as she was done, she would look into this 'Rebellion' that was going on .. if nothing else she could always come back.

[badger]

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day five

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The book was clutched close to her chest as she leaned against the wall, eyes seeming to glow in the low light afforded by the shadows cast from the building. That little stick was scurrying furiously across the previously blank page of that book, occasionally stopping only long enough so that her hand could be used to cover her mouth, discreetly shielding a belch.

I dyd it! I wos ayble to fynd tyme and go to the Inne and try the barbareeuns feest. It wos very tasty and it dyd fyll me up, tho it dyd not last and I fynd myself growyng a touch peckish after the walk back from towne. I probly shood have pycked up a cuple of buns to tayke back, but I wyll not starve .. Wen I wos out I saw an adverrtisment for somethyng called everlarstyng rashons. It is only baysyc fud, nothyng extreemly tasty, but it is hale an hearty fud an it wyll do the job it says on the tyn. Well. Powch. It comes in a bag that refylls every mornyng. I do not know how it works, perhaps imps lyke the one that pointy manne has come vysyt you wen you sleep and fyll up the bag again? All I know is that it better work proply or ther wyll be HELL to pay! That shopkeepe wyll not no wot hyt hym! As for that imp ….

The text ended abruptly, the stick snapping in half as the tip was ground against the pages of the book, putting a small hole in the page and of those behind it. Scowling, the pieces were thrust in her pocket to dispose of – or fix – as appropriate, the book itself snapped shut and clutched in her fist. It took a lot of self control, but she finally managed to resist the urge to fling the thing off into the bushes and then set both on fire .. this act of godly proportions was assisted by the fact that her nose had caught the subtle aroma of deliciously sticky honey cakes on the breeze .. looks like she found another way to drown out the imps indiscretions.

[badger]

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day six

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Badger sat at the base of a tree within the Enclaves gardens. In one hand she held a new writing implement and in the other, a chunk of hardtack that had been softened in gravy. Despite the addition of the gravy the biscuit was still pretty solid, but her teeth made short work of it and she appeared to be enjoying its flavour … or at least not actively complaining about it.

The everlarstyng rashons are wot they say they are. It is pretty baysic stuff, wen I opened it up I saw several of the twyce cooked byscut that they mayk for long joorneys, dryed an salted meet, and wot I thynk is a bunch of myxed nuts and dryed froot. Onestly you can not survyve on thys stuff forever but it wyll keep you goyng untyl you can fynd yourself somethyng proper to eet. It is a handy item so I wyll keep it an the shopkeepe wyll reetayn the use of hys legs whych I feel is quyt generous of me. Also I have spoken moar wyth Doroomoo and Myvvi an they sayd that whyle the Enclayve has not pycked a Drood for me to lern under I can insted do thyngs for every one heer as long as they out ranke me. They sayd that thys ranges from basyc hoose work to lernyng how to turn into a pygeon to run messages. Funny how they lynked that back to runnyng errands! Unfortuntly this wyll not meen that I get to stop rayking leevs or cleenyng the pryvy, but at leest I wyll be doyng somethyng useful for a chaynge. Peraps someone wyll choose to tayke me on proply when all thys is sayd and done.

Wrinkling her nose, she took another solid bite from the hardtack. It may not be of high quality, but for now it filled the gaps between lunch, post-lunch snack, pre-dinner repast and after-dinner-but-before-supper nibbles. It was good to be prepared.

[badger]

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day seven

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Badger was hasty in her writings, slipping into the dormitory unnoticed and taking the small book into her hands. Twirling her writing apparaatus between her fingers, she'd consider what she was going to write only briefly before touching the paper.

Remember to speek to Gwyn tomorrow and to gyve the cooke the coyn for the honeycaykes. Doroomoo sayd Wyn also wanted a werd so peraps tayke some tyme to track one of them down. Also do not forget the radyshes an beetroot!

Satisfied, the book was closed with the reminders stuffed back under her mattress, the halfling scurrying off to perform Myvi's bidding before the older woman decided to set the wolves on her.

[badger]

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day eight

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Badger sat with her legs crossed on her bed, staring intently at the book that rested across her lap. She was scribbling furiously across the previously blank page.

Today wos much busyer than the other day. Fyrstly I wos accoosed of steelyng honey caykes from the kytchen! They wer there for anyone to eet so its not steeling if you tayke a few, but the cooke dose not seem to agree wyth me so I have been banned from the kytchens. It is not goyng to stop anythyng but I suppos it is the thot that counts. I also had my fyrst session wyth Gwyn today and it wos interestyng. I got to speek wyth a spyryt tho thys tyme it wos not a gyant angry badger it was possybly a man? I never saw it I only herd it in my eers. But Gwyn says that I have to practyss wot she told me every day or she wyll not teech me anythyng moar. I do not wont that to happen so I am goyng to try my best even tho the last tyme I tryed to pycture the seed I fell asleep and Doroomoo had to wayke me up for last meel! Hopfully it wyll get eesyer wyth practyss an I wyll not fall asleep too much.

Perhaps that was why Gwyn had told her to practice it in the evenings specifically? Who knew.

[badger]

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day nine

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The hafling lay flat on her stomach on her bed, the dormitory silent save for the gentle snuffling noises of those who slept. The book was open and she hesitantly scrawled across a blank page, occasionally taking a moment to stifle a yawn with her free hand.

Too much to do, they had me carryng wood an other burnables to buyld up the wynter stores as well as assyst in mayking sure that the Enclayves roofs wer watertyght. It has been raynyng a lot lately an ther have been a few leeks spotted here and ther. All in all ther wos a lot of busywork an I dyd not hav tyme to speek to Gwyn agayn but I thynk she understands, it is not as if we exyst in a voyd I am sure she knows everythyng that gose on. I tryed to medytayte but I cood not concentrayte an I nearly fell asleep a few tymes agayn. How much longer wyll thys take? I reely do not know ..

The skritching trailed away, Badgers face pressed against the presented page as she dozed off for the fourth time since opening the book.

[badger]

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day ten

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She was sitting outside on the steps with an apple in her hand, a bite soon taken out of it with the crunch reverberating through the silence. It was raining currently, big fat droplets falling from the sky to bounce off the stones on the paths and encourage the plants to droop. But despite that it was relatively warm and humid, a warm wind blowing in from hotter climes to wreck havok with the local weather pattern.

Thys week has been catchyng up wyth me, I forgot wot I wos doyng last nyght an fell asleep! Will not happen agayn today as I am tayking the ineetatyve to wryte now whyle it is styll daylyght. Wyn had another task for me to do, he wanted me to go to Nav to speek to thys lady abowt the possybylty of hyryng some cutters to have a look at Autumns Rest out past the forest. Well puttyng it up was eesy enuff, tho whether people come out to do it is somethyng else all together! He wants it done as qykly as possible. Worst case scenaryo I'll just do it myself! Surely it wyll not be that hard .. just a few corpses that dyd not knowe wen to stay down. I have gotten stronger synce the Enclayve had that scuffle, lerned a few new trycks an i thynk that if it wos to happen agayn i could in the very leest hold my own agaynst them. I am not arrogant enuff that i thynk i cood do it syngle handedly but i thynk it wood not go too badly. In eether cayse i cood run away faster than those corpses cood possybly follow!

Satisfied, she took a decisive chunk out of her apple and crunched away, making a few smaller reminders for tomorrow.

[badger]

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day eleven

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Badger was sat upon her bed with the book across her lap, staring intently at the scrawl across the page. A white powdery substance was smudged across her nose and the front of her shirt was somewhat stained.

The cooke fynally let me back into the kytchen. Parently won way to do it is to buy eengredyents from the town as the Enclayves budgyet is qyte low and Wyn does not let the head cooke experyment too much. All I needed to do wos to bryng somethyng interestyng an she let me stay to help. Oh and I had to promys not to tayke anymore honeycaykes wythout tellyng her fyrst. Tho I do not thynk that wyll be a problem as I have managed to gather a reesonble supply for the next few days. Tomorow I am goyng to see wot other supplys I can get from town that wyll perk the cookes interest. I have also gotten a lyttle better at medytaytyng as I can focus for longer wythout fallyng asleep. Gwyn says that is a good sygn but I shood be maykyng faster progress. I suppos that means I shood practyce a byt more.

Yawning, the closed the book and stuffed it away, rolling to one side and rummaging through her pack for a sweet.

[badger]

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day twelve

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The wind howled through the treetops, threatening to uproot them entire and fling them across the Enclave, toppling the walls and tearing shingles from the roofs. The people of the Enclave had wisely chosen to stay inside this evening, and though a few of the strongest remained outside to weather the storm and divert the worst of its wrath wherever possible Badger was not one of them. Likely in this weather she would have tied a thick rope around her ankles and anchored herself to something heavy if she needed to leave the shelter, but any outdoor tasks had been cancelled and the majority were resting up as there would be plenty of work to do the following day.

Ther is a storm outsyde, tho no one else seems to be overly concerned wyth thys matter. Parently it happens every yeer tho it is not always on the same day, it rips throo thys part of Sarkotos wythout mersy and then moves on to somewhere else. We are safe insyde tho Doroomoo sayd, ther wyll be just a lot of repares to do tomorow. As if we needed moar werk to do! We have been preparyng for the Thynnyng of the Veyle, and the Droods her tayke it very seeryosly. Doroomoo says ther is a rytual an dancyng an important werds tho i forget wot it wos he sayd they wer. And ther wyll be a byg fyre an offeryngs an chances to speek to gosts!! It may not seem important because of the castyng Gwyn teeched me but thys is dyfferent as I cood speek to a long ded relatyve if I am lucky. Doroomoo sayd that as I am new I wyll not be expected to do much but he gayve me som stuff to reed that wos full of weerd symbols and long werds that mayd it seem lyke a play that bards put on? Yoo no people dress up an they pretend to be someone els an people wotch an they enjoy it an ther is fud an at the end everyone claps. Tho ther is no clappyng in thys one it seems very seeryos. But I also red abowt a dyfferent celebraytion that happens somewher between spryng an summer wher a Drood dresses up as a stag an chases another Drood throo the woods! No stag beter plan on chasyng me as he wyll get a very narsty surpryse if he ever catches up wyth me!

Thunder rumbled ominously overhead, a flash of light following sometime after as if to emphasize Badgers statement.

[badger]

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day thirteen

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The dormitory was pitch black, the moon but a tiny sliver in the night sky as it gradually waxed into the new with barely any light to shine down on the Enclave. Badger was sprawled across her bed sleeping soundly, little snuffles coming from her mouth occasionally broken by something that could only be described as the sound of a ripped sheet. Her head was propped up not by a pillow but her book, a thin line of dribble pooling along the top of the  exposed page and smudging the scratchings found there.

Wos a ruff day. It was lyke the playce had been stuffed in to won of them fancy glass balls wyth the fygures an the snow an shook so badly the fygures insyde broke all up. Ther wer so many trees uprooted that I am surprysed ther wer any left at all styll in the ground! Part of the wall has gone myssyng along wyth a few gnomes - pottery not people - an some of the roof of the older byldyng has bee rypped cleen off. So we wer spendyng thys day cleenyng up the mess an fyxyng wot we cood wyth wot we had. Parntly its been worse before, but the main byldyng always pulls throo because it has some very expensyve castyngs on it an some day they wyll be on the other byldyngs too. Tho Wyn says that the byldyng itself is not the important thyng but the people that inhabyt it that if we lose the Enclayve we wyll carry on as if nothyng has happened as it does not chaynge who we are. I suppose that maykes sense but it is always helpful to have a roof over your hed! Cannot keep beyng who we are if we have frozen to deth thys wynter. Ther wyll be moar repare work tomorow as we cood not get everythyng done before the sun set today but the vytal thyngs wer taken care of, and then we can go back to sortyng thyngs out for the celebraytion the day after tomorow. Everyone is lookyng forward to it but I do not no as we dyd not have thys kynd of thyng back home.

Rolling onto her side, the book was pushed until it fell clean off the bed with a thump on the floor - startling the halfling enough that she sat upright and peered around in confusion before dropping back down again.

[badger]

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day fourteen

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She sat on the edge of her bed, chewing a strip of cured meat as she contemplated the book on her lap. The scrawl was gradually getting better .. but the writing on the page still resembled the aftermath of a chicken and an ink well.

Todaye wos a byt dyfferent I suppos as I fynally lerned somethyng important. Not to say that everythyng I hav lerned up tyll now wos not important, it is just that I wos lookyng forward to thys thyng in partycular. Me an Janay went out into the forest todaye an dyd some medytaytyng to focus our energy or somethyng an then she taught me how to chaynge my shayp! It hurt. A lot. No won tells you that part wen they syn you up for thys. But it bloody hurts. Janay sayd that is a natooral reactyon to the shyft an it wyll get better as I practyce .. but I am a byt skeptycal. Tho I suppos it is true .. I bleed lyke a stuck pyg every moon an it hurts lyke a mother hubbard but that is a perfectly natooral thyng to be happenyng to a yong woman even if I do thynk we dyd get the short end of the styck on THAT. Or perhaps it is moar lyke movyng a muscle you have never used before? In any cayse it hurt but I managed it an hopefully I wyll manage it agayn .. I am a byt concerned but if Marlayse can do it it shood be easy for me!

Scratching the tip of her nose, she reached for the book and snapped it shut, stuffing the rest of the meat into her mouth as the book was in turn, stuffed under the mattress for the night.