Reblogged from Jim Webster, aka Tallis Steelyard:

I rarely despair of Port Naain. After all, who wants a gloomy poet? There is a school of thought which suggests we are merely a better class of buffoon. Between ourselves and in all candour, I’m not sure whether the terms ‘school’ and ‘thought’ should be used in connection with people which such a poor grasp of the higher arts. Still, back to the main point, the thing which keeps me from despondency is the kind gestures I see from my fellow citizens.

Obviously at times like this it would be undiplomatic to play favourites and to cast a light merely on one particular individual. But still I am going to allow the light to shine on Mad Jez. I have mentioned him before, a number of times. He is a large individual. A walking mountain of scar tissue, muscle and anger management issues. His anger is as sharply focused as the edge of his axe blade, and like the axe, the anger is barely concealed.

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