blacksmith at the fortress, of Suchdol
“I shoe the horses and mend the heavy gates for the garrison. It is bloody hard work, but without my forge this whole place would collapse into rust.”
Things Thomas Wright had written, latest first, with the glosses of his neighbours.
the Tuesday before Pentecost, at Vespers
That boy Richard is still whining about those Kuttenberg nails. He says he needs ten groschen for Philip's saddle by Sunday. I told him he should not have used his good iron to pay for a fixed belt knife if he wanted to ride so badly. Bloody foolishness.
Nota scribaeDictated at the forge. He crossed his thick arms and scowled for the duration.
the feast of Saint Pancras, at Prime
It rained half the night and the water dripped right onto my bedding again. Tobias took my rent silver on Saint Blaise's day and vanished. I am not spending my own coin on timber and pitch for his bloody roof. I will sleep damp until he returns.
You are a fool to wait on a man who is shut up in the merchant's guildhall. Fix it yourself.
the third day of Easter week, at Sext
The men-at-arms are breaking tools faster than I can mend them. I straightened three heavy hinges on the gates this morning alone. If I did not light this forge every day, these soldiers would have no gates to hide behind when the Hungarians come upon us.
Nota scribaeHe wiped soot from his brow and complained of a sore shoulder.
the Wednesday after Saint Gregory, at None
The chamber is too quiet these days. It has been three winters since the fever took Marika. The lad from the kitchens brought me a decent cut of meat for my supper, which helped, but the evening is bloody long when there is no one to share the fire.
She was a good woman, Thomas. God rest her soul.
the day after Saint Blaise, at Terce
Tobias came for the rent yesterday, took my silver, and rode off to oversee his grain in Kuttenberg. Not a word about the leaking roof over my bed. The man is a thief in a quartermaster's tunic. Next time it rains I am going to wring his neck.
Nota scribaeThe dictation was interrupted twice so he could yell at a passing groom.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
They were for safekeeping, Thomas! I only left them so they wouldn't be stolen from the quarters. You know this!
A fixed blade costs iron, lad. You paid me. The matter is finished.