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Written By Vanora

Sept. 13, 2018, 12:19 a.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

I had three brothers, all a good deal older than me.

They were horrible to me growing up. Bullies all.

One was executed for treason.

Two are naval captains in Setarco's fleet.

I wouldn't cry if I heard they sank to the deeps.

Shall we all share how we feel about our parents next?

Written By Isidora

Sept. 12, 2018, 11:45 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

I know, logically, there is no way to control all of our future. But how much of it do we get to control? How much of it is controlled by others?

Written By Valencia

Sept. 12, 2018, 10:59 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

You can not change the past. They cannot hear you when they (or your) are dead. But while you yet live, you can try to see the future right.

Perhaps rather than looking back at what cannot be changed, look forward with a passionate eye to make things right and try to not repeat mistakes that bring new regrets.

Sing like it was your last song. Be kind when you can. Remember and reach out even if it is difficult. Remind people that they matter. Show them that you care. Listen to those you love or respect as though it was their final whisper. Never be stingy with your heart. Laugh with them. Make one another's lives better. Bring good things to this world.

~~~~<~<@

Written By Shard

Sept. 12, 2018, 10:29 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

I have no siblings, the tribe was my family. It's not the same, I'm sure, but there were children enough when I was growing up. We learned together. We played together. You hear nearly every argument and know everyone's business. A common thing to say in my tribe was that, for better or worse, there are no secrets when you live so close and depend on each other so much, although, of course, that's not true. Secrets are just much, much harder to keep when the only walls are made of hide.

Written By Monique

Sept. 12, 2018, 10:03 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

So much excitement! It was quite the party. I'm not sure I've ever seen so much dragonweep, save upon the altar of Gild.

Written By Sabella

Sept. 12, 2018, 10:03 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

I have two sisters that I utterly adore! Some people say that being the middle child is the worst place to be, for you are not the eldest that is treasured by your parents for being the first and you are not the youngest who is treasured by everyone for being the baby, but you are the forgotten middle child who no one expects all that much of since the eldest has already done it and the youngest will be the last to.

But they're wrong! Being the middle child is wonderful because you're always in the middle of a warm hug! Lou is the best older sister a girl can ask for--so responsible, smart, and courageous! And Reese is the best younger sister a girl can ask for--so sweet, strong, and brave! Each of us is so different from the other and we've all excelled on our own paths, yet we always manage to stay together and support each other!

It is true that no one expects much of you as a middle child, but that just means you get to do what you want!

Written By Vanora

Sept. 12, 2018, 9:54 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

Relationship Note on Eleyna

My friend, I'm sorry for your sadness and your loss.

Remember that there is more than one kind of family. That we have by blood, but also that we make.

Written By Alarissa

Sept. 12, 2018, 9:30 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

Today has been rotten and horrible and I am quite done with it.

Utterly done and exhausted.

I knew that something was not right when guards were remanded to somewhere not with their wards.

Never going to some commoners whatever. Gods above, below and at our back.

I need to go to the Atrium and find my calm again.

Written By Perronne

Sept. 12, 2018, 9:07 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

I am alive!

I am not going to fancy parties again. Not even the Lyceum events are quite so, uh, exciting as that! I did get to wear my beautiful beautiful dress, though. And there was a woman dressed in dragonweep! I hope she's okay. She seemed nice, and probably wasn't quite as willing to murder everyone as the hosts! I probably will not get a chance to meet the suppliers. Woe.

The food was also very good, and there was ice! Real ice!

But as a tip for the next people from gods-only-know-where who want to find things that have been lost or stolen. If you have that much money to throw around, you might want to consider employing some discreet local agents before escalating to noblenapping! I know a new detective agency and everything! Just, it helps keep the chances of war being declared to a minimum, and nobody has to get thrown out windows or chopped up or threatened. Keep it in mind!

Written By Jasher

Sept. 12, 2018, 9:01 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

Relationship Note on Victus

I would like to know, too.

Written By Sunaia

Sept. 12, 2018, 8:53 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

My oldest brother was condemned a traitor for his attempt to kill the King. My older sister gave up her name and left our family to answer the call of the Faith; we haven't spoken in years. My older brother died a hero and an ideal. I'm all that's left of the children my parents bore. Those who went before me have cast long and complicated shadows. One day I hope to be able to smile again when people speak of siblings. Today the path ahead is still too dark for smiling. But their varied examples still guide me. What to strive for, what to avoid. It's a wide road between these extremes. I'm grateful to them for leaving me that much.

Written By Reigna

Sept. 12, 2018, 8:39 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

I am, as I think I mentioned before, the youngest of seven. I have five elder sisters and an elder brother. It was... interesting. Growing up among so many. Particularly given the circumstances force upon us by Maman Ariella and her gambling. All my life, prior to my wedding, I never owned a dress that had not been worn by at least two of my sisters before me. Though, I should really say a hearty thank you to my sister Hannah, who could always be trusted to destroy the ones I was particularly disinclined to inherit. We were close as children, or we were until I began to grown bookish and standoffish around ten years of age.

For years I felt very alone, very isolated from my family. I think in many ways those feelings were my own creation. The distance between us something I imagined into being. Since coming to Arx, I have been blessed to be reunited with my sister Hannah. And we are now, I think, closer than we have been since I was a young, young girl.

Written By Eleyna

Sept. 12, 2018, 8:26 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

I have a brother and a sister. I found Ettore a couple of years ago after a lifetime of wondering who he was and who he might have been had he been allowed to stay with me. It's still a process of getting to know each other, yet, maybe because of the blood that exists between us, I trust my brother implicitly. He knows my mind and, I think, I know his. We don't have the sort of bond created by years spent together in childhood. We share no memories like that. The gulf that lies between us sometimes feels like a tragedy, yet... we both still work to bridge it as we can.

Then Serafine... I lost her once, when she disappeared into the forest for a decade. I only had her back for a short time and now she is lost again. But, this time, she isn't coming back. A year later, it still feels like a rude reminder every time I remember that she's no longer here with me to play the wild, spontaneous foil to everything I am. Instead, her lack is an empty space that nothing fills. I regret that I did not tell her enough what she meant to me while she was around to be told. I regret that I spent so many years playing pretend that I did not care for her to keep her safe from our father. I have so many regrets and now, it is too late to do anything about them.

There are happy stories, of course, but, since Setarco, it all seems overshadowed by guilt.

Written By Thesarin

Sept. 12, 2018, 7:32 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

I had a brother.
Weren't so long ago, all told, counting the years
Some days it feels like a lifetime gone by. Sometimes otherwise.

Written By Bliss

Sept. 12, 2018, 7:17 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

I was an only child. My mother wasn't in the picture, my cousins and uncles and aunts - well, the war with Southport was hard on those of us who lived in Tor. Very hard. I was young, back then, but I remember planting roses in honor of the ones who fell in battle (mine usually didn't live), and I remember watching my father focus more and more and more on training the troops. He taught me what I needed to know, he cared for me deeply, but he was a soldier through and through.

I didn't have the family of an orphanage, I lived in the keep but wasn't one of the nobles, but I wasn't truly in the Commons, either. Alone and halfway in between the two worlds - it's a common thing for a Whisper, really.

Family means such different things to different people. It's been a favorite discussion of mine with the Peers, who are so defined by who they are born to, the history they have, the future they seek.

Sometimes, it is an inspiring thing to watch. Many of those listed here have noted family ties that they revel in, and their families bear only pride in what they have done. Noble houses who live up to their values. A true shared connection.

But others, I imagine, are more difficult. It's not an accident that they struggle. The legacy of treason and stain of dishonor live on in some families, where the generations butt heads against one another, the appointed heir publicly seen as a disappointment by the father, the father seen as a tyrant that is fracturing the family. Things will likely need to be completely set right before these families begin to heal.

I ran away from home when they tried to control me. My old name is easy enough to find out, but the one I have now is my choice. The family I have now - it is my choice.

Family carries expectations, along with the bonds. Family carries reputation. I may not have had blood siblings, but I have the home I've forged for myself.

I will not marry, in all likelihood. I will not have children. But I have my freedom, and it is all I could ever want.

Written By Lucilia

Sept. 12, 2018, 6:53 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

An interesting fight in The Hollow. Ah, it is good to be home, I wasn't aware I missed the pugilism, but the fun is in the air of excitement, I suppose.

Written By Kenna

Sept. 12, 2018, 6:40 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

I adore my siblings, even when they drive me to utmost distraction.

Gaius has always been the most shrewd. I thought for aure he would take over my parent's arm of the business. He knows what people want and how to connect them to it. He has weathered so many falls only to rise at the end again stronger.

Delilah is the smartest. Sometimes when she opens her mouth I just don't understand what comes out. Not only that but she shrouds herself in so many mysteries that pulling a straight answer out is much like trying to get water from a rock.

Evonleigh is the most creative. When she puts herself into a role she becomes one with it, till it is hard to know exactly where she ends and the role begins.

None of us really step on one another's toes. I just hope they have forgiven me my wildness in youth. We don't compete, we complete one another.

Written By Aleksei

Sept. 12, 2018, 6:34 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

I'm just gonna say:

I've got six fucking brothers and sisters.

That's all.

Written By Joscelin

Sept. 12, 2018, 6:19 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

My sister Ianthe had the morals and build of an alley cat. Swear to the gods, the girl no sooner had tits than she was out the door looking for the lecherous adventures so delightful to the youthful. She's come home with bits of grass and hay and sand in her hair and her clothes, abrasions in funny places, grinning from ear to ear. She'd tell me all about it too, her exploits and devious lessons, the gossip she'd learned. She made me laugh, she fell head first into the pleasures of the flesh at a rate that burned off any weight she might have gained, she was whipcord over bone more often than not. Of course, she also ate cupcakes and pastries like a starving man. 'Fuel for later,' she'd say with a wink and a waggle, then laugh as I swore at her and threw things until she ran out the door.

Later, when she got older and the stories and tales from her lovers proved too much temptation, she'd disappear for more than a few days on caravans around the world. I'd get letters throughout her travels, odds and ends, gems and trinkets to put into my work, stories of things she'd seen, people she'd met. And sometimes, these letters would come from her own person, showing up at my door tired and dirty and that same grin, with more stories, ready to raid my pantry for sweets and pastries once more.

I loved those days. Even knowing she'd be gone in a few weeks, I still loved them, because it was Ianthe at her purest; the weary, content adventurer, sated, happy to be home and eager to tell me everything.

Now that I'm creating my own family, I miss her. I always miss her, but I miss her more these days, I wonder what she'd think of all this, of Oliver, the Guild, my swelling belly, my ideas and dreams for the future. I think she'd laugh with relief, happy that I could grow our family and give her a new member to spoil, another person to tell her stories too, a child to find odds and ends for, to share sweets with, to sing songs to, the same songs I sang her when she was such a wee fosterling, sneaking into my bed, or calling my name from across the house.



Hug your siblings, cherish them. I regret not knowing the last embrace -was- the last, but I hope she knew that she was loved, and that whenever she wanted to come back, she knew there was a home with me no matter what.

Written By Sina

Sept. 12, 2018, 5:56 p.m.(8/2/1009 AR)

I am an only child. I have never known what it is like to have siblings. My father is long dead, and I don't know what happened to my mother. I have a new family now, in the Faith, but sometimes I wonder what it would have been like, having a normal family. Would I have made the choices I have made? I don't know.

Sometimes I wonder where my mother is, or if she is even still alive. Did she have other children? Or was I really the only one? She was a thrall, sold off when I was a child.

I wonder if those who own thralls even realize the harm caused by this. That my mother was sold off like some piece of meat somewhere does bother me. Quite a bit. People should not be property, bartered away, ripped away from family. She was my mother, and while I never knew her, I often wish it had been different.

I thought about looking for her, but what are the chances that I would ever find her in this vast world? She could be anywhere. But maybe it's better this way. I am free to choose my own life. A choice she never had. I like to think she would be proud of me.

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