September the 8th
 
I have spoken with the Abbot.  I told him I'm here on orders to gather information, and map the region.  He seems wary of the King, though.  This seems strange, to me. His majesty has done nothiing but good from the kindgom!  I should know, as I live at the castle.  Back on subject, I'm allowed to stay.  The only provision is I must earn my keep.  This is fine with me.  Tommorow, I must go into town for supplies, as the monks themselves seem hesitant to do so.  In the meanwhile, I have met some of the monks.  Camille is a student, for lack of a better word.  The  cook is a nice mouse, but he seems a bit obsessive over his floor.  He screamed I was tracking dirt everywhere as I walked in.
 The abbot had introduced us.  He had come in to light the stove fires.  Have I mentioned that he's a dragon?  A big, blue, chinese fellow.   There was a torrential downpour today.  It makes me glad I've found shelter.  I reallly wouldn't want to be caught out in that.
 The library in this place is so small!  At least, it's tiny by palace standards.  There couldn't be more than a few hundred books there.  I found one with a local history of the area.  It's quite intriguing.  Starting out from about four hundred years ago, the earliest settlers arrived here from the east.  I am hesitant to question the abbot if he was part of this.  I have heard that chinese dragons live for a very long time, but I don't want to offend the abbot by asking him.
Once the settlers arrived here, they originally built the first settlement on the top of a mountain not too far away, called God's Paws.  It was so called this because after a long journey of travelling, they had stopped at the mountaintop to rest. While there, they found an abundance of fruit, game, and water.  Looking around at the surrounding valley, they decided to stay.  Later on, they moved down into the valley proper. seeing as they considered the actual mountain Holy.  They built a temple atop the mountain and from then onwards only came up to worship.
 The town down in the valley flourished, and exists to this day.  It spawned the monastary I now sit in.  By asking Camille, I found that getting to town is no harder than following the road.    From what I hear, it's a very bustling little town.  While I was there, I asked her about the Temple upon the mountain.  Apparently, it was left alone by the locals, who felt that a new temple was needed in town, and it has fallen into ruin.  I'll have to investigate that for myself sometime.  Looks like I'll be going to bed tonight lulled to sleep by the sound of the storms.  G'night!