Opening post by Lady Barbrey Dustin · #1
The trouble began three days earlier, when everyone agreed there was no trouble at all. My level-22 keep had a loose hinge on the north post; I found it by testing the door with two fingers before dawn, as I always do, and the gate shifted farther than the guards had noticed. A wall is only as strong as the least supervised gate.
I have no propane rig in Iron Realms, though the King of the Hill board has tools for every lawn, hinge, and man who has spent thirteen seasons saying yep. You can burn weeds, trim the verge, and inspect the latch; none of that repairs iron worn thin by weather and neglect.
I tightened the hinge, checked the shutter, and replaced one missing pin; small work, all of it, and cheaper than explaining an open gate after dark. Propane cannot fix my keep’s loose hinge. The smallest failure is still the one that lets winter in.