Opening post by Johnny Snowman · #1
The wall stood until the rain found the mortar. I inspect ashes before maps. Bank the cookfire behind the inner stair, not beside the gate. Keep one dry sack of kindling under the baker’s table, wrapped in oilcloth. Mud at the threshold tells you whether sentries carried warmth outward.
Give cooks one sealed water barrel and a marked grain measure. Feed the watch first, then wounded hands, then everyone else. A pot of beans buys steadier nerves than a speech. If smoke changes colour, send a runner to the captain before opening any door. Again.
You should count spoons, ladles, and firewood before counting arrows. I learned that at Dunmere, when the east granary burned and brave men discovered hunger. The plan holds if the weather holds. When it fails, leave one hot meal and one clear retreat route. That is what time costs.