Quoted By:
“Sure, I’d like to see where the barracks and the library, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all lets go kid.”
The sergeant’s tour begins, as requested, with the barracks. Located in the center of the castle on the ground and second floors, it is conveniently armory adjacent and filled with row upon row of bunks. Not too dissimilar from your trainee barracks in the castle town. At this hour of the day, they are mostly deserted save for a few servants cleaning and making beds, and the soldiers with night watch duty either winding down after their shift or already asleep in their bunks. The sergeant introduces you to a few of the one still awake playing cards.
“Matthias, these lazy bums have the easiest job at the castle, night watch. Meet Basso, Obi, Ozi, Joli.” Korus says gesturing to the each of the four men seated around a table littered with cards and tankards.
“Easy my ass,” Obi says lolling his head over his shoulder to look at you and the sergeant. “When’s the last time you tried living like a vampire sergeant, up all night, sleeping all day, and seeing precious little of the sun.”
“Last month when I was on night watch.” Korus shoots back “You see kid, we all take a turn at night watch, we’ve got enough men for three rotations so each man serves four months of night watch a year, and right now these sorry sacks are up.”
“Not for much longer, thank the goddesses.” Mumbles Obi.
“So, who’s the new blood sergeant, he looks a little young.” Ozi says turning away from his cards to look you over.
“This is Matthias, he’s helping out with security for the ceremony today, just some extra protection for the court. I’m showing him around a little bit before his shift starts.”
“Oh, you’d take him down here to show him the Boards,”
“No, I just came to show him where our slackers sleep,”
“Ah c’mon sergeant let him try his hand at the Boards,” Basso begs “It’s a tradition for new bloods.”
“I’d rather the kid not have a broken nose before the ceremony,”
“Oh he won’t break anything, not if he’s quick,” Ozi says reaching under a bunk and pulling out two planks of wood attached to form and L shape “You just gotta go from one end of the room to the other without stepping on a board and getting smacked in the face. Easy right.”
“Easy? Yeah except for the part where you blind fold the kid and spin him dizzy until he can’t stand up straight. C’mon Matthew let’s get on with your tour.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to do it kid, there’s 100 rupees in it for you if you do it.”
> Follow the Sergeant out, you don’t have time for this silly little game.
> “I’ll bite, let’s play this game,” The money’s nice, but you almost want to do this to prove you can.
