Written By Alarissa
March 1, 2019, 10:17 a.m.(8/28/1010 AR)
Thirteen million overall.
Just a little over five hundred thousand to bring us to 9 million for the year.
Each day, each day I am flabbergasted at the generosity that pours forth.
Probably too ambitious to forge forth for ten million? I have sent some items made for auction to the former whisper Selene to see them sold for Thursday's Child. We shall see. I have to try.
Just a little over five hundred thousand to bring us to 9 million for the year.
Each day, each day I am flabbergasted at the generosity that pours forth.
Probably too ambitious to forge forth for ten million? I have sent some items made for auction to the former whisper Selene to see them sold for Thursday's Child. We shall see. I have to try.
Written By Delilah
March 1, 2019, 10:10 a.m.(8/28/1010 AR)
For the first time in my life, at least in my adult life, I've been able to make a meaningful contribution after scrimping, saving, shaking out cushions, and converting silver to something or another.
I will not miss a single coin. It goes to something so much greater than I am.
I will not miss a single coin. It goes to something so much greater than I am.
Written By Vercyn
March 1, 2019, 8:47 a.m.(8/27/1010 AR)
It does a man proud to hear how accomplished my family has gotten. Such high praise for them lifts my head, and raises our house.
Written By Lisebet
March 1, 2019, 7:42 a.m.(8/27/1010 AR)
My sister Elsbetta is very sweet. She held a pre-wedding picnic for me, which was a lot of fun. I learned something about a red dress I never knew before, and we talked about Mistress Petal's magnificent skill in creating dresses. We also may have had a bit too much to drink, which I think is only to be expected.
My soon to be sister, Olivia, is adorable. I am very glad to be getting to know her better, and I must admit I thought of her presence before answering the question of what I would do first after marriage.
Well, the answer is obvious, is it not?
My soon to be sister, Olivia, is adorable. I am very glad to be getting to know her better, and I must admit I thought of her presence before answering the question of what I would do first after marriage.
Well, the answer is obvious, is it not?
Written By Avary
March 1, 2019, 5:33 a.m.(8/27/1010 AR)
That of the worship of The Sentinel remains one of the more recondite doctrines among the Faith of the Pantheon. It is a matter I have prayed over many times to Vellichor.
Tonight, I held vigil and was more ruminative over it, for it has been five years almost to the day (about a week or so more, actually) since my appointment as Archlector for the Sentinel and in that time I feel there has been little to no advancement or clarity brought to Its doctrine.
I pray to Vellichor for I know it is outside our capacity as a race of mortal men and women to truly comprehend the total nature of any of the Gods of the Pantheon. Only the truly arrogant would claim otherwise. So, is the attainment of understanding achieved thus not sufficient?
But as I receive missives and requests, and as I read journals my curate brings, and as I field questions to my person, I grow more and more certain that more must be done to bring to the laity and Godsworn alike a more complete doctrine and thus fulfill my true charge as Archlector: theological work in the development of worship for my assigned God.
(Understanding full well that development will never achieve to identify the total nature of my assigned deity or any of Its many aspects.)
Recently, in the Shrine, I was approached by a woman who was able to put to words a nagging I have had for years, but which even I could not precisely define. She was unaware she had done this. And she was likely unaware that what she spoke struck me with any profundity. But she had put to words (quite accidentally) what lay at the root of nearly every query that has come my way.
What she said (and this will be my recollection only), “I have never been in a position where my decision would directly affect the lives of many. Nor have I had the authority to enact justice upon another. Nor have I been in circumstance where justice must be brought to me.”
What she meant was that before she found herself in a recent circumstance, the Sentinel was an esoteric God reserved for criminals, nobility, generals, champions, knights and those who enforce our laws, or magistrates. ‘How does the Sentinel apply to me?’ is the most common theme of questioning I receive from the laity and, even, many Godsworn.
As I read the journals I often come across ‘the Sentinel as bogey-man’ as It ‘sees everything you do’ and It will enact ‘Its justice’ upon you.
Truth! It is an esoteric thing. The full conceptualization of Truth. The very nature of Truth itself. Such is an aspect of the Sentinel. It is certainly not reserved for the nobility. We will never attain Its completeness of Truth in understanding or in…well…Truth.
We pray to the Sentinel not to seek Truth, but to *see* Truth. It sees all, and in the all It sees, It sees Truth. And we pray not only to see Truth, but to have the courage to see it, and the resolve to countenance it, and the will to live with it.
It is often right before one.
And so, I now countenance the truth of my charge, and do so without quiver or quibble.
The coming months will see the development of Its doctrine and worship so as to bring understanding to one of the more impenetrable, and feared, of the thirteen, that It might then also stand among the most beloved. (Do not pretend you love them all the same. One needn’t invoke the Sentinel to see that untruth.)
It will be an undertaking of some scope and hence the recent petition for assistance.
Tonight, I held vigil and was more ruminative over it, for it has been five years almost to the day (about a week or so more, actually) since my appointment as Archlector for the Sentinel and in that time I feel there has been little to no advancement or clarity brought to Its doctrine.
I pray to Vellichor for I know it is outside our capacity as a race of mortal men and women to truly comprehend the total nature of any of the Gods of the Pantheon. Only the truly arrogant would claim otherwise. So, is the attainment of understanding achieved thus not sufficient?
But as I receive missives and requests, and as I read journals my curate brings, and as I field questions to my person, I grow more and more certain that more must be done to bring to the laity and Godsworn alike a more complete doctrine and thus fulfill my true charge as Archlector: theological work in the development of worship for my assigned God.
(Understanding full well that development will never achieve to identify the total nature of my assigned deity or any of Its many aspects.)
Recently, in the Shrine, I was approached by a woman who was able to put to words a nagging I have had for years, but which even I could not precisely define. She was unaware she had done this. And she was likely unaware that what she spoke struck me with any profundity. But she had put to words (quite accidentally) what lay at the root of nearly every query that has come my way.
What she said (and this will be my recollection only), “I have never been in a position where my decision would directly affect the lives of many. Nor have I had the authority to enact justice upon another. Nor have I been in circumstance where justice must be brought to me.”
What she meant was that before she found herself in a recent circumstance, the Sentinel was an esoteric God reserved for criminals, nobility, generals, champions, knights and those who enforce our laws, or magistrates. ‘How does the Sentinel apply to me?’ is the most common theme of questioning I receive from the laity and, even, many Godsworn.
As I read the journals I often come across ‘the Sentinel as bogey-man’ as It ‘sees everything you do’ and It will enact ‘Its justice’ upon you.
Truth! It is an esoteric thing. The full conceptualization of Truth. The very nature of Truth itself. Such is an aspect of the Sentinel. It is certainly not reserved for the nobility. We will never attain Its completeness of Truth in understanding or in…well…Truth.
We pray to the Sentinel not to seek Truth, but to *see* Truth. It sees all, and in the all It sees, It sees Truth. And we pray not only to see Truth, but to have the courage to see it, and the resolve to countenance it, and the will to live with it.
It is often right before one.
And so, I now countenance the truth of my charge, and do so without quiver or quibble.
The coming months will see the development of Its doctrine and worship so as to bring understanding to one of the more impenetrable, and feared, of the thirteen, that It might then also stand among the most beloved. (Do not pretend you love them all the same. One needn’t invoke the Sentinel to see that untruth.)
It will be an undertaking of some scope and hence the recent petition for assistance.
Written By Willow
March 1, 2019, 3:30 a.m.(8/27/1010 AR)
I think I may finally have met a northman with a temprament complimentary to mine and enough love of beauty and love for our long talks on it to nourish my soul. I have long thought it unlikely I will ever marry, and I imagine such will likely remain the case, but for the first time in a long time, I am reminded that my hopes for a possible match aren't impossible to find with someone who is not well aged enough to have fathered me. Not that I mind the age, in fact, my first intended was twenty years my senior and I loved him so much it hurt. There is a sort of wisdom and perspective that a long life grants which teaches one to play the long game rather than to bolt forward feckless and wholehearted into rash decisions.
I should very much like to hear Lord Rysen's poetry sometime. He seemed to be perhaps the only one to.have seen my paintings that fully seems to "get" the language of the symbolism used in them to not just show an image but to tell a story. I wish I could hear his critique on the painting I did of the Lady and her Knight.
I should very much like to hear Lord Rysen's poetry sometime. He seemed to be perhaps the only one to.have seen my paintings that fully seems to "get" the language of the symbolism used in them to not just show an image but to tell a story. I wish I could hear his critique on the painting I did of the Lady and her Knight.
Written By Drea
Feb. 28, 2019, 11:14 p.m.(8/27/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Mirk
My nephew. Oh how you have grown. You are so strong now. So sure. When it was suggested that you should become an Elder of the Spirit Walkers. I was so proud of you I wanted to crack open a bottle right there. You give me hope that there is a generation to come after that will hold to Shamanism. I feel that need much after losing Cybele.
Written By Drea
Feb. 28, 2019, 11:12 p.m.(8/27/1010 AR)
Vala Khanne has been working hard for the Spirit Walkers since I have been in Farhaven. Her work really is amazing. She's even built a Spirit Walkers Hall for those of us who believe in Shamanism to have a safe space to speak, to think, to learn. I have spoken to her about a library in the Hall and we have been working on making that a reality.
Written By Harlex
Feb. 28, 2019, 9:50 p.m.(8/27/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Lucita
I have learned a great deal about the skill of knifework from the Baroness. She will always have my gratitude.
Written By Bliss
Feb. 28, 2019, 8:24 p.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
<A page has been inserted into this journal, looking a little weathered>
Scholars, please hold my journals until I'm back in the city for a few days before publishing them - I would rather not have potential raiders know where I am on the road.
Brighthold always seems to catch me off guard. Whether it is something in the simple look and feel of the town itself or the kinds of people you find there, I'm not certain, but it has so often been a surprise to me. This time it was because of the Great Road, though - it's really the first time I've seen it. It's something of a marvel, when you step to the edge of town and look, seeing this thread go off into the horizon, winding through hills and trees. I don't know how I missed the early stages of construction now - I think I just hadn't put all the pieces together? - but still.
It might be my imagination, but the markets seem a little busier, a little livelier than the last time I visited. Not just the fish and oysters, but there are more things from other parts of the Compact, and the more successful merchants seem to be dressed a bit better. The market is loud and busy, and it smells like the sea, but there is still a tension in the air. The King's proclamation seems to have beaten me here, and I hear it being talked about in snippets as I walk.
We aren't here long enough for me to write much. There is an awful long way to go and the Knights are letting me know we're ready.
I suppose that's it for now, though. An inconvenient time to leave Arx, certainly, but the sooner I do this, the sooner it's done. And I have been putting this off for a very long time now.
Scholars, please hold my journals until I'm back in the city for a few days before publishing them - I would rather not have potential raiders know where I am on the road.
Brighthold always seems to catch me off guard. Whether it is something in the simple look and feel of the town itself or the kinds of people you find there, I'm not certain, but it has so often been a surprise to me. This time it was because of the Great Road, though - it's really the first time I've seen it. It's something of a marvel, when you step to the edge of town and look, seeing this thread go off into the horizon, winding through hills and trees. I don't know how I missed the early stages of construction now - I think I just hadn't put all the pieces together? - but still.
It might be my imagination, but the markets seem a little busier, a little livelier than the last time I visited. Not just the fish and oysters, but there are more things from other parts of the Compact, and the more successful merchants seem to be dressed a bit better. The market is loud and busy, and it smells like the sea, but there is still a tension in the air. The King's proclamation seems to have beaten me here, and I hear it being talked about in snippets as I walk.
We aren't here long enough for me to write much. There is an awful long way to go and the Knights are letting me know we're ready.
I suppose that's it for now, though. An inconvenient time to leave Arx, certainly, but the sooner I do this, the sooner it's done. And I have been putting this off for a very long time now.
Written By Sparte
Feb. 28, 2019, 8:13 p.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
What is considered simple food? Is it just eating bread and potatoes?
Written By Azova
Feb. 28, 2019, 7:58 p.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
I do so hate writing these journals. Not that I don't like the journals - they are a splendid tribute to the Gods, as well as an excellent tool for the public record. It is just that I frustrate myself in their writing. One's life can not fit so neatly into entries fit for the journals. But what is life about if not trying to make all the awkward pieces fit nicely in one image? Ah, how blessed we all are.
Pilgrims come from across the realm to Arx to seek the healing abilities of our Mercies. Day in and day out we tend to them, washing their wounds and cleansing them of sickness so that the weak may grow strong and the wounded can rise again to live their lives in health.
The rabbits in Solace Square won't even come out to let me pet them when I offer them food. How cruel the nature of desire is that we can only want that which we do not have?
Bah!
I'll keep a copy of this journal by my bed to remind myself to be more grateful. I hope it reminds you as well.
Pilgrims come from across the realm to Arx to seek the healing abilities of our Mercies. Day in and day out we tend to them, washing their wounds and cleansing them of sickness so that the weak may grow strong and the wounded can rise again to live their lives in health.
The rabbits in Solace Square won't even come out to let me pet them when I offer them food. How cruel the nature of desire is that we can only want that which we do not have?
Bah!
I'll keep a copy of this journal by my bed to remind myself to be more grateful. I hope it reminds you as well.
Written By Bhandn
Feb. 28, 2019, 2:56 p.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
Valena would say that today is a day of rememberance, unless she was talking to me, at which point it would be to tell me to stop "brooding." I can't say she was wrong, looking back on the years before I met her. There were always times when there was truly nothing for me to do /but/ think, usually while engaged in some other task. One does not typically think solely on what one is carrying during some labor or another. Of late, I find myself in that state often.
In particular, I think on the many stories, and the assorted rumors that have flown around Arvum during my travels. I never had much time or concern for superstitious tales, but it feels as if the number has increased. What's more, some of them were actually corroborated by the Knight-Commander, and he had more to add as well. Some part of me still finds it difficult to believe, particularly the one about the snow, but until I learn more -- /much/ more -- I will keep my thoughts here instead of speaking them.
There is more to write on the matter, but that is for another time.
In particular, I think on the many stories, and the assorted rumors that have flown around Arvum during my travels. I never had much time or concern for superstitious tales, but it feels as if the number has increased. What's more, some of them were actually corroborated by the Knight-Commander, and he had more to add as well. Some part of me still finds it difficult to believe, particularly the one about the snow, but until I learn more -- /much/ more -- I will keep my thoughts here instead of speaking them.
There is more to write on the matter, but that is for another time.
Written By Peri
Feb. 28, 2019, 11:43 a.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
I am thinking how to offer challenge to compare the conditions of Pearlspire's serfs against the conditions of the thralls of other lands.. For we see how poorly thralls have been treated once they survive to reach us. We do not work our pearldivers such long hours that they die of lung ailments. Our divers do not lose their sight from long hours of diving. We do not see so many scars or shriveled limbs from shark attacks. Nor scars from chains.
This is because we honor our pearldivers and they honor us. We grant them protection and they grant us the bounty of the sea. We do not demand unreasonable quotas of pearls and then put our divers in debt when they cannot work long enough to offer up all the pearls we imagine they owe.
While many waters have pearls, it is Pearlspire that is known best for hers.
This is because we honor our pearldivers and they honor us. We grant them protection and they grant us the bounty of the sea. We do not demand unreasonable quotas of pearls and then put our divers in debt when they cannot work long enough to offer up all the pearls we imagine they owe.
While many waters have pearls, it is Pearlspire that is known best for hers.
Written By Ann
Feb. 28, 2019, 10:52 a.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
On twins.
Silain prepared me for having twins. He was one big baby. So I mean, at least I didn't have to spend the last two months trapped to a bed in wintery Stormwall.
This time it was only one month in summer Stormwall. Which, I would like to add, is a very pleasant experience.
Someone once told me having twins was easier than having two individual children. I'm thinking... they were wrong. Like, dead wrong. I mean sure I didn't have to go through 18 to 20 months of growing, it was only 9 or 10 months and at the end I have two. Sure. But the exit is what counts. Growing them only involves eating and getting foot rubs.
Also it does not get easier the more you have.
I'm just setting the record straight, the business of childbirth is just not fun.
What's fun afterward is the actual children itself. Right now, the girls have my dark hair and Asger's eyes. Their toes are like jellybeans and they smell great.
Silain is hilarious - he's through his punching phase, but now he runs and has Asger's mop of hair and eyes. Thankfully, he doesn't bite or anything. No, no - he's turned from fighter into lover. And nudist. He won't stand for clothing. Maybe it's the summer heat. But either way, if you come to the Crovane home know that this is a struggle we are trying to get through. (We've been advised to not to react positively or negatively - bear with us as we move forward in this phase).
He's going to be a real terror to his sisters in a few years.
So much energy.
Silain prepared me for having twins. He was one big baby. So I mean, at least I didn't have to spend the last two months trapped to a bed in wintery Stormwall.
This time it was only one month in summer Stormwall. Which, I would like to add, is a very pleasant experience.
Someone once told me having twins was easier than having two individual children. I'm thinking... they were wrong. Like, dead wrong. I mean sure I didn't have to go through 18 to 20 months of growing, it was only 9 or 10 months and at the end I have two. Sure. But the exit is what counts. Growing them only involves eating and getting foot rubs.
Also it does not get easier the more you have.
I'm just setting the record straight, the business of childbirth is just not fun.
What's fun afterward is the actual children itself. Right now, the girls have my dark hair and Asger's eyes. Their toes are like jellybeans and they smell great.
Silain is hilarious - he's through his punching phase, but now he runs and has Asger's mop of hair and eyes. Thankfully, he doesn't bite or anything. No, no - he's turned from fighter into lover. And nudist. He won't stand for clothing. Maybe it's the summer heat. But either way, if you come to the Crovane home know that this is a struggle we are trying to get through. (We've been advised to not to react positively or negatively - bear with us as we move forward in this phase).
He's going to be a real terror to his sisters in a few years.
So much energy.
Written By Samantha
Feb. 28, 2019, 10:33 a.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
Welcoming old friends into one's home is a true pleasure.
It's like the best of times was years ago, but also yesterday.
Am I old enough now that I can feel nostalgic?
It's like the best of times was years ago, but also yesterday.
Am I old enough now that I can feel nostalgic?
Written By Willow
Feb. 28, 2019, 10:16 a.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Martino
It is a pleasant but not wholly surprising thing to learn that the most fashion loving man I know is the one person to respond! Up until this past week, seasilk has been my obsession due to the way it plays with colors, and then I found a volume in the family library so old I see no attributed author called 'The Silk's Guide to Silks' where I read about it. It is not an exaggeration to say I have two dozen lengths being woven as we speak in different color combinations. I think it is the painter in me that gives me such appreciation for the way a weave can alter the color play and finish of a garment without even the variances used in a pattern.
Written By Lou
Feb. 28, 2019, 9:55 a.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Ahriman
Who could have guessed that on the one night that Willen goaded me into attending the Alarissa's linguistics night at the Ambassador Salon, which I usually avoid like the plague - the Ambassador Salon, not my cousin Alarissa, whom I very much love dearly - that I would run in to my long dead father, alive and well?
I will not apologize for my actions last night. When it's been 17 years, and you've long thought someone close to you dead, you'd go through a myriad of emotions, publicly, too.
There are so, so many questions. Hopefully, with time, there will be answers.
I will not apologize for my actions last night. When it's been 17 years, and you've long thought someone close to you dead, you'd go through a myriad of emotions, publicly, too.
There are so, so many questions. Hopefully, with time, there will be answers.
Written By Martino
Feb. 28, 2019, 1:40 a.m.(8/25/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Willow
I, for one, can tell you what it is. That finely woven double strand silk produces such a subtle, and beautiful, colour change in well lit conditions. One in the warp, another in the weft. The time it takes, quite worth if for a truly luxurious shirt or lining.
Written By Rysen
Feb. 27, 2019, 11:46 p.m.(8/25/1010 AR)
Some people think that art should surprise you, others, that it should disturb you, or make the familiar unfamiliar, move you with indescribable feeling, or bring you to contemplate some higher truth or beauty. Lady Willow's art does these things, and exceeds them all. I suggested a subject for her next piece in jest; I shall make it again in earnest.
For the first time in a while, I pushed my body to its limits under one of the greatest living sword fighters of our time, Princess Reese Grayson. Though perhaps I should have known better, I expected to meet the Princess in some vast estate of manicured lawns, with myriad servants, and countless breakable baubles. Instead, I was invited to her ivy covered watch tower, crowned with a training area overlooking the Seawatch Gate and the Gray Forest. Her style of teaching is a perfect balance between theory, application and adjustments, and her technique with the sword is simply unmatched. It was truly an honor to train with her, and I learned a lot.
Afterward I wandered into Lady Gretchen Moore's Serenity Spa, stiff and bruised. Not only did I leave feeling refreshed in body - but had the pleasure of witnessing perhaps the most insolent and hilarious man I've ever encountered, level a variety of baseless accusations against Lady Gretchen - which, I must add, the Lady handled with equal wit and humor. To anyone who has yet to visit the Serenity Spa, I can only say it would be well worth your time and coin.
For the first time in a while, I pushed my body to its limits under one of the greatest living sword fighters of our time, Princess Reese Grayson. Though perhaps I should have known better, I expected to meet the Princess in some vast estate of manicured lawns, with myriad servants, and countless breakable baubles. Instead, I was invited to her ivy covered watch tower, crowned with a training area overlooking the Seawatch Gate and the Gray Forest. Her style of teaching is a perfect balance between theory, application and adjustments, and her technique with the sword is simply unmatched. It was truly an honor to train with her, and I learned a lot.
Afterward I wandered into Lady Gretchen Moore's Serenity Spa, stiff and bruised. Not only did I leave feeling refreshed in body - but had the pleasure of witnessing perhaps the most insolent and hilarious man I've ever encountered, level a variety of baseless accusations against Lady Gretchen - which, I must add, the Lady handled with equal wit and humor. To anyone who has yet to visit the Serenity Spa, I can only say it would be well worth your time and coin.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.