I have spent the better part of the summer observing our dashing young cavalier. It was not difficult. He is a creature of habit that makes little attempt to conceal any of his activities. Rather than bore you with the day-to-day log, I have chosen to provide you a summary of his routine with anything unusual noted.
Your humble little bird,
A typical day for the Lord Diplomat:
Balian stirs early in the morning before first light. He dons riding leathers, his longsword, and a dark green cloak and rides down the main road to the edge of town where he meets another rider cloaked in dark purple. My sources say this is our Councilor, Lady Svetlana Leveton. The two race out of town but I usually catch up to them at the Ambush Grove. You know the thicket of trees where you cut down some of the Stag Lord's men? The Ambush Grove has become a meeting place for scoundrels as well as lovers looking for privacy. Unfortunately, our Balian and Svetlana are engaged in nothing that interesting. I hear the clash of steel and the occasional zeal of laughter from the Lady. The two share a cold breakfast and then ride back towards town, sometimes taking a long winding route, just as the sun breaks the horizon. The pair exchanges a short goodbye just inside of town and then go separate ways. As you know, two weeks out of the month Svetlana spends back at her husband’s trading post. During these weeks Balian goes riding by himself. To where, I have no idea but my sources report seeing him galloping full speed across the grassy hills north of Stagfell.
Balian returns to his dwelling, tends to his horse, and changes into a red wine colored tunic befitting of a lord. He rides to the unfinished Redemptio Keep and chats with the guards until he knows Baron Corso is awake and ready to receive him. The discussions are not overly long before Balian emerges and rides off on whatever errand the Baron has sent him.
Apparently there are few diplomatic duties to occupy Balian. When he is not performing one of these tasks he heads out to the training grounds just on the edge of the village, the “Field of Gorum” as the fighting men are calling it. Balian and General Gariss have set up a makeshift riding course, archery range, and dummies for spearwork. Many of the riders training under Balian complain that he expects flawlessness. There are only a handful of men with any experience with mounted combat and the washout rate is high. General Gariss is having better success training spearmen, as the basics of spearwork are rather easy to grasp. Gariss and Balian agree that spearmen will be the bulk of the early Stagfell militia as large groups of them can still be effective even when the soldiers are inexperienced.
As the sun drops low, the fighting men retire from the training ground. Balian enjoys a bath to wash the dust and horse sweat from him. He dines with one or more of the council members, most often with General Gariss or Councilor Svetlana. He drinks ale with General Gariss, often exchanging stories from their childhood. He drinks wine when with Councilor Svetlana and they avoid any mention of their pasts, usually talking of horses, the current state of the village and potential problems. Balian seems concerned about the many upstart lordling duelists from Restov and their potential to cause trouble. I should note that Lord Balian and Lady Svetlana always retire to separate quarters after concluding their meal. I suspect that before resting Balian reads. From my conversations with a local merchant that sells tomes, it is either a book about the early history of Brevoy or a book about the great military campaigns of history.
Items of note:
*On one day early in the summer, Balian and Svetlana were particularly giddy. I have never observed the Lord Diplomat to be giddy before and thought I was about to uncover scandal. Then I overheard some riders at the training ground joking that Balian’s stallion, Tyre “The King of Horses” had produced an heir that will be expected to be born during the coming winter.
*The children of Stagfell are buzzing with excitement with rumors of a bounty that Balian has announced. He promises a gold coin to the first child to find him the location of a hawk’s nest near the village.
