18 th of Neth,
At the generous offer from Balor I am going to attend the
morning meeting of this “Goblin Squad.” In the morning, I must admit I am
rather curious to see how the humans have trained their goblins.
19 th of Neth,
That was the most disgraceful scene I have ever witnessed in
my life, their “leader” a whelp of human named Grady had no control over them,
they spoke out of turn, nothing about them spoke of any extensive training, and
they excluded an aura of indifference and disrespect! I brought this up to
Balor after the morning meeting, thou I think he could see the disgust on my
face as plain as the sun. I told him that it would take much more than me
simply teaching the them some combat techniques to make them into a suitable
squad, and if he gave me free reign to train them as I saw fit I could
guarantee him marked improvements.He
was willing to give the chance, thou Herr Grady was less then pleased at the
idea I think.
20 th of Neth,
I have begun training the Goblin Squad as of today, they
we’re..less than thrilled about the news, especially Roxerez, it shouldn’t take
too long to stomp out that rebellious spirit. For the first few days I’ll
simply be setting the foundation of a soldier, then when I have instilled them
with the basics we can move onto what they are good at.
23 rd of Neth,
Basic training is going well, everyone for the most part is
shaping up finely. Except for Roxreez of course, I must commend her for keeping
up her defiance, we will see what another few days in the cell will do to that
spirit. However Herr Grady does not seem to like my methods, he hasn’t said
anything as of yet, but I can see the disapproval in his face. I will deal with
that when I must, until then I will continue to fix the mistakes he’s made.
24 th of Neth,
Finally came to a head with Herr Grady, he told me all I was
teaching the Goblin Squad is to be killers, not people. I informed him I was
training soldiers, not civilians. We then got into an argument for a good hour
about humanizing the goblins, I finally conceded that we “Co-lead” I would
handle the martial training and everything important and he would be in charge
of the instilling of humanity, along with agreeing to be less “Harsh” with the
squad. It would be pointless to try and explain to him that the way one trains
a goblin is entirely different from how one trains a goblin. But I know I am
outnumbered in this argument, so I will make allowances for the people, I only
hope that it does not stunt all the progress the squad has made, we begin more
specific training tomorrow.
25 th of Neth,
I lost Gromulas and Greemus to the Glassworks, I would have
like to have been informed about this, but I suppose Herr Miro had his reasons.
However the rest of the squad are taking well so far, Firestarter needs little
work, he and Armstrong have made an excellent base of muscle, now all I need to
do is teach him proper technique. Grosgomort and Scummer, they’ve begun
luftmench training, right now their time from the beach to the garrison is
unacceptable at 8 minutes, I hope to get that to 5 come the 27 th .
Rotgut isn’t worth mentioning, the sniveling little whelp, then there is
Roxreez. Still after nearly a week of the harshest punishments I could dole out
there is still that fiery defiance burns, even if she no longer voices it.
There is a great fire in that goblin, a fire that, if focus, could be useful,
we will see if lasts thru Neth.
26 th of Neth,
When I got out of bed this morning my right leg started
hurting, the pain reminded me of fire. I feel it’s only going to get worse, how
I wish Moloch had made me an elf, think of all things I could accomplish if
only I had the time. It’s times like these I am glad for leaving the unit,
Thomlon would be trying every concoction he knew of, probably be rubbing dried
orc dung on my leg and praying to some obscure deity of legs, Sadie would chide
me for such weakness, Sven would probably try to cheer me on to persevere. None
of it would work, and they’d be forced to watch me degrade with every passing
day, probably going half blind come my 35 th year, dead by 40, barley
a blink for the rest of them. I had better not dwell on it, it is pointless to dwell
on what cannot be changed.
27 th
of Neth,
Grosgomort
and Scummer have gotten their time down to 3 minutes 42 seconds, gave them an
extra food ration for that. They are determined I cannot deny them that, much
like humans, I think Herr Grady would be pleased to hear that. I’ve started
them on weighted packs, 30 right now but I’ll gradually increase it.
28 th
of Neth,
I
keep seeing Ariovistus in my dreams as of late, it’s strange, I haven’t thought
of him keenly in years. I don’t know if he’s become more fearsome in my mind or
if he was always that way, his single eye blazing like a fire, he’s dead now,
killed by an ambitious lieutenant no doubt. It’s always the same dream, I’m
standing with the remaining Jager trainees, our hands still covered in the
blood of the others we had to kill in one on one combat, he’s coming to each of
us and presenting us with our uniforms and granting us the ranks we had trained
and killed for. When he comes to me he talks of what I am now, I says I am both
the ideal hob and an utter failure, he raises his blade and cuts off my head,
and he picks it up and continues to berate me, even thou I am long dead. I wonder,
if I had stayed in the warband, would I have been that lieutenant that killed
Ariovistus, would I be general?
30 th
of Neth,
I
am enjoying the evening silence with Balor more and more, we talk if the mood
strikes either of us but it is nice simply to sit and enjoy the fact that
nothing is going wrong at the moment. I wonder if Signus and Ariovistus we’re
the same way? Training goes well for the squad, Firestarter is truly shaping up
to an excellent soldier, I can trust him to conduct himself properly, with
minor allowances of bravado, hopefully that will subside with time. Grosgomort
and Scummer are doing much better, they hardly need more than a sip after their
run, although getting them to remember the signal words is proving to be a bit
of a challenge. Even Roxerez’s combat skills are improving, she would be
competent if she did not let her anger run wild, it must be focused to be
affective, but that is for later.
1 st
of Kuthona,
I
it would be better to move Grosgomort and Scummer to wolfreitter training, they
simply aren’t fast enough for my liking. I’m still having them continue their
training until I can get ahold of some wolf cubs, it would crush their resolve
if I pulled them out of Luftmench training now, I already have them up to 48
pounds. I sparred with Firestarter later in the day, he’s getting closer to
actually landing a blow, and moreover he actually managed to disarm me, he
would have been able to hit me if he hadn’t wasted his time gloating. I taught
him a lesson in humility that I think he will soon not forget, the scars will
be an excellent reminder. I can’t help but be proud of him nevertheless, he’s
learning quickly, it seems that goblins appetites are voracious in more ways in
one. I had to throw Roxreez in the brig for a few days, I had asked her to
repeat to me the rules and regulations of Sandpoint, when she couldn’t tell me
what they we’re she called me “An idioit! You are like some fat goblin except
uglier!” At that point she proceeded to throw anything at arm’s reach at me
before I had pinned her to the ground and tossed her in a cell. I have to admit
I was rather impressed, I could hear her cursing all the way from the training
room, kept it up for several hours before going hoarse.
2 nd
of Kuthona,
Leg
acts up more often, able to bare it, I don’t think anyone has noticed, no one
perceptive enough fortunately. I can learn to live with it.
4 th
of Kuthona,
Grady
came to me today after a sparring session with Firestarter (He still gloats too
much.) he said he thought I was being too hard on the squad “They’s goblins
Gulo, they ain’t as strong as humans you can push them so hard.” I told him
that the world will push them harder than I ever could. A bandit doesn’t become
any weaker in battle and a fellow guard doesn’t become any lighter when he
needs to be dragged away. I told him I did not worry about pushing the squad
too hard, because in each and every one of them is the potential to put their
entire guard to shame! The road to meet that potential would he hard and painful, but nothing in the world worth doing is
painless. He agreed to the last part, but made me promise to not use my whip on
the squad. I agreed, a whip isn’t very useful in training anyway.
5 th
of Kuthona,
My
leg gave out today. I was running with Grosgomort and Scummer (They can easily
keep up with me.) we we’re making our way back up the beach when me leg refused
to move, it was stiff as iron and when I forced it the pain was indescribable. I
fell to the ground, thankfully Grosgomort and Scummer didn’t notice (Note to
self, double up on their scout training, they should have noticed.) and when I
caught up with them they we’re too busy making the warning signals to realized
I had lagged behind. That is something rather admirable about them, given a
task they take to it with a blinding focus. Moloch take this failing body!
9 th
of Kuthona,
I’ve
made my mind up about Roxreez, after nearly a month of intense training and
punishment her rebellious nature is there, she is a horrible excuse for a guard
with such a temperament, and no amount of training will change that. However,
she will make an excellent Jager, I need only the means to make her a rifle of
her very own, the forges of Sandpoint are inadequate for such a task, hopefully
an opportunity to go to Magnimar will present itself, perhaps take the squad
there as a training exercise.
