It's been too long!

Having returned from his trip to the borderlands in Eastern Galloway, Drac settles in at the Hearth to recount a little of his recent experiences.

I set out in a travel group from Whithorn with Asbgas and Helian MacTavish. We met up with Aelin MacTavish in Wigtown, and travelled on to Kirk the following day. We spent a day there (I worked someone's field) and met up with Malons Knight MacTavish who was stranded there. Then it was on to Dumfries.

Dumfries has only about 140 residents. There were quite a few nobles around when we arrived, but that is because it is so near the border and there was a fair bit of interest in events there at the time. Most of these nobles left over the following week. It was very strange to see myself and Asbgas as amongst the highest ranked folk in town on the town list.

I spent a couple days cutting wood, and the next four or five days 'guarding the power'. I sold them a couple blunt axes as I knew that there weren't enough resident smiths there to keep things going smoothly. I gather that there is generally a shortage of stat workers in town also, though not as chronic as it used to be.

There were three pubs in town. Generally always someone around. Market was sparse, but enough food to eat. I managed to get a blue bonnet there on my first day (haven't seen one anywhere else). Forbes are probably the major clan, but they seemed less hostile than the Forbes of Drum. Sadly, I think that some of the Forbes way of doing things has been seen by other locals and has been a disincentive to join a clan. Sigh.

I didn't do any active recruiting but I think we created a good impression (which is at least as important). In fact, by not recruiting we may have advanced our reputation.

While in Dumfries Asbgas and myself went on a bit of a tour of the castle. Actually, we went and looked at some catacombs beneath the castle, and barely escaped with our lives. Due to some quick wit on Asbgas' part I was able to able to bring back an ancient roman dagger blade to add to the collection of knives I have at my forge.

The return trip was fairly uneventful. I missed catching up with Jazstar as we passed through Kirk, but we weren't going to delay our return as our money was running out and our farms needed attention.

All in all, a valuable expedition. I would encourage all MacTavishes to have a bit of a journey beyond the next town on the road. You can appreciate the diversity of this huge community best by spending a little time in various places.

Of course, now I've been bitten by the travel bug again, I want to travel again. Perhaps a trip to Lanark?