Entry Nineteen

Date: 299 After Landing, Summer

I noticed an interesting difference between the sword-and-armor era of my world and this one the other day. Baths.

Bathrooms, so common in my worlds classical times, largely disappeared in Medieval Europe. For a time, to be clean was to be considered ungodly. But here, everyone baths. The King, the Maester, the Blacksmith or farmer, all of them actually do go to efforts to keep dirt off themselves.

I suppose the only reason I noticed that was because we were attacked by bandits as we approached the Golden Tooth. One of the downsides of the western half of Riverrun being spared the normal pillaging's from both friend and foe was that the have-nots in the East moved this way to steal and plunder what they could. Anyway the bandits, only a dozen of them, saw our small group and assumed we would be an easy target. I could actually smell them before they ran out from the trees. Their faces covered in dirt and clothes reeking of feces, their eyes wide in mad laughter, handing shaking even as they swung dirks and fired arrows. I felt nothing but pity for them.

But here, a man in a suit of armor is a tank and we quickly dispatched our would be attackers before reaching the Golden Tooth for a day or two of rest before making the last leg of our journey.

It was interesting to be back in the castle. Surreal even. Last time I was sneaking around it as a conquer, but this time I was an honored quest able to freely explore the complex without looking for enemies, or be distracted by my soldiers looting enemy goods. Some of those same men were still here as part of the western garrison, and I shared kind words and funny stories with them. The Golden Tooth still didn't have an assigned Lord, most of the former household having chosen to take the black or swear fealty to King Eddard rather than be sent to the Lannisters, but the castellan is nominally in charge and seems like a good man.

Word from the west is that the Ironborn have now launched an invasion of Kayce and Feastfires, but they are facing stiff resistance from the local levies. They had time to raise banners and build defenses, so taking the castles (or even sieging them) is out of the question. But they can still plunder homes and businesses with little resistance. And I've heard about their practice of taking "saltwives," which only makes me want to end the fighting sooner.

Raping and reaving…is that what I look forward to the rest of my life? Putting out one fire and then running off to put out the next? That is no way to live.