[Bordermarch] Nomis

[Lathrop, Dave]

Greetings Bordermarch,

Nomis's recent missive about being held captive in the Baronial manse by HE Elisabeth has caused me some deep inner retrospect about my long and sometimes turbulent friendship with him.
I have to wonder why my Lady took it upon herself to imprison Nomis without consulting with me. Nomis is surely too old and rumpled to be any sane women's man-toy. He has no wealth and is of no value for ransom. Although he has served me well as my spy, he is getting very long in the tooth.
As per our last communication, he was in the far western reaches of our fair Kingdom. He said he was gathering information on one turban-touting elderly knight who has made overt gestures to man and beast alike.
Nomis informed me that he was being constantly harassed by the Little people he believed were servants of HE Elisabeth; he claimed they were everywhere.
I have come to the conclusion the HE Elisabeth had her Little people capture Nomis only to keep him safe from himself!
These are indeed troubled times we live in, and one must use whatever means are at ones disposal to keep the elderly safe from self harm caused by a degenerative brain rot. HE Elisabeth's overflowing compassion and motherly instinct ruled on the day she locked Nomis in his well appointed cell. The walls were padded with thick carpets, and the ceiling was covered with murals of his favorite goat.
HE Elisabeth is heartbroken; she now fears Nomis will end up neth the brackish black waters of the retting dykes, or face down in the fallow barley fields with the crows pecking at the back of his pate.
I have consoled her with the fact that Nomis has survived with less wit then he now possesses. I reminded her of the time Nomis ate pigeon droppings, and wandered the village for days completely stupid and half blind. He managed to feed himself, albeit convincing  Lord Robert of Hertford's pig that he was one of her sucklings took some doing.  She cheered up a bit as I recounted to her of the time Nomis became stuck up to his neck in the bog. He could bend his head just enough to lap at the bog water and occasionally gobble up some crickets that were as unlucky as him. He was stuck until the Tinker spied his head bobbing just above the water-line, and thought he had found an overripe swamp melon. Nomis was fortunate that day for he had been confined in the muck for more the a week, and the Tinker just happens to be scrounge.
Nomis will surface again with more news of plots against the Barony and its populace. He will send his pigeons to warn me of the Little people still following him; hiding behind every rock. He will take great pleasure by defaming my character whilst I stand and defend his, and the farm animals will once again cower in fear, for word is out that Nomis is Free!

HE Santiago