Written By Lark
Jan. 29, 2022, 8:59 p.m.(1/9/1017 AR)
What a time to be kept away from the ledgers, but every attempt to reach my desk is met with more waves of nausea.
The cool air from the window helps.
The cool air from the window helps.
Written By Lark
Jan. 3, 2022, 12:33 a.m.(11/11/1016 AR)
Personally, I find something very reassuring in the presence of a full suit of armor. Impractical for the occasion or no.
Written By Lark
Dec. 26, 2021, 10:58 p.m.(10/25/1016 AR)
The massacre at the Mercier vineyard is a horror. The Compact suffers for the loss of such a fine, upstanding family.
Written By Lark
Dec. 1, 2021, 6:47 p.m.(9/3/1016 AR)
Relationship Note on Laric
If there is a sock thief on the loose at Grayson Manor, there's really only one person qualified enough to solve the case.
Written By Lark
Nov. 25, 2021, 11:44 a.m.(8/18/1016 AR)
I remember when another Fox, married in, maneuvered for the Archduchy. I was young and inexperienced then, and I looked at that askance. I didn't yet understand that such positions ask for much more than ambition and a steady hand. They ask for everything. When I look at this today, no, it's not with skepticism.
Written By Lark
Sept. 24, 2021, 2:03 p.m.(4/6/1016 AR)
If only there were a way to express my ever-growing gratitude to brave and honorable strangers.
Written By Lark
Sept. 19, 2021, 11:11 a.m.(3/24/1016 AR)
The idea is absurd that a head of house in their own right might suffer punitive action on behalf of the rest of the peerage for activities concerning their own lands. If you disagree with the politics of a particular house, speak with your trade agreements. Let them feel your disapproval. Let their allies feel your disapproval. Hire the Whispers to foster understanding and navigate difficult social terrain. To do anything more would set a dangerous precedent regarding the autonomy of our rulers.
Written By Lark
Aug. 16, 2021, 10:06 p.m.(1/13/1016 AR)
Nothing beats a warmed cider from Old Oak on a cold winter's day.
Written By Lark
July 30, 2021, 2:24 a.m.(12/6/1015 AR)
An Open Condemnation of 'Neonoble'
On the twenty-fifth evening of the eleventh month in the one thousand and fifteenth year after the reckoning, a respected member of the peerage fell defending against individuals disguised as prodigals hellbent on sowing seeds of discord. Some days later, a newly risen Duke mistakenly bestowed knightly honor on his dog of all things. Each event gave new rise to old debates surrounding the behavior and validity of neonobles as well as the increasing danger surrounding the acceptance of prodigals.
Frustrated with the circular conversation we now find ourselves in, I let it be known that I would accept any neonoble as my protege should they desire guidance as a newly risen members of the peerage. It was and remains my belief that we, as a Compact, have set an impossible standard and demanded that these individuals meet it. With one hand, we have beckoned them over, and with the other, we have withheld the very tools required for their success.
It may shock very few of you to learn that I am extremely well-versed in having my courses of action brought into question. In addition to having this choice referred to as condescending - which I maintain is a familial trait and is therefore largely unattainable - I was accused of failing to honor the long-held relationship between nobility and common members of the Compact by endorsing this newly growing class. Though I maintain that my social influence is vastly less significant than this well-meaning confidante suggested, I was also accused of reinforcing a term, 'neonoble,' which is used primarily to separate a single group from itself.
I now find myself determined to cast aside this mythologized 'neonobility.' There is only one nobility, and any attack against it is an attack against the very mechanisms upon which our communities depend to survive. Any failure to tend to its success is a failure to tend to the necessary components of our society. This goes both ways, it is shameful to consciously accept titles without putting forth any effort to conform to the responsibilities and standards by which all others have been held.
I, therefore, amend my previous offer of patronage to "any members of lesser nobility than myself or common persons who due to the circumstances surrounding their joining of the Compact or the peerage require grace, patience, and the counsel of one more experienced than themselves in our customs." Traditions are defended when we teach them to one another.
On the twenty-fifth evening of the eleventh month in the one thousand and fifteenth year after the reckoning, a respected member of the peerage fell defending against individuals disguised as prodigals hellbent on sowing seeds of discord. Some days later, a newly risen Duke mistakenly bestowed knightly honor on his dog of all things. Each event gave new rise to old debates surrounding the behavior and validity of neonobles as well as the increasing danger surrounding the acceptance of prodigals.
Frustrated with the circular conversation we now find ourselves in, I let it be known that I would accept any neonoble as my protege should they desire guidance as a newly risen members of the peerage. It was and remains my belief that we, as a Compact, have set an impossible standard and demanded that these individuals meet it. With one hand, we have beckoned them over, and with the other, we have withheld the very tools required for their success.
It may shock very few of you to learn that I am extremely well-versed in having my courses of action brought into question. In addition to having this choice referred to as condescending - which I maintain is a familial trait and is therefore largely unattainable - I was accused of failing to honor the long-held relationship between nobility and common members of the Compact by endorsing this newly growing class. Though I maintain that my social influence is vastly less significant than this well-meaning confidante suggested, I was also accused of reinforcing a term, 'neonoble,' which is used primarily to separate a single group from itself.
I now find myself determined to cast aside this mythologized 'neonobility.' There is only one nobility, and any attack against it is an attack against the very mechanisms upon which our communities depend to survive. Any failure to tend to its success is a failure to tend to the necessary components of our society. This goes both ways, it is shameful to consciously accept titles without putting forth any effort to conform to the responsibilities and standards by which all others have been held.
I, therefore, amend my previous offer of patronage to "any members of lesser nobility than myself or common persons who due to the circumstances surrounding their joining of the Compact or the peerage require grace, patience, and the counsel of one more experienced than themselves in our customs." Traditions are defended when we teach them to one another.
Written By Lark
July 26, 2021, 9:23 a.m.(11/26/1015 AR)
Relationship Note on Jophiel
I'm also of the mind that assisting the underserved to invest in themselves has the added benefit of investing in one's community as a whole, but it must be one's choice to accept or seek out marketable new skills. And too often, unless these opportunities are offered with stipend and boarding, being in a position to accept them takes cunning and intention on the part of the individual, and a system of support they are often without. Does the poor day-laborer not have mouths to feed? Rents to pay? Little ones and old folk to tend to? One must consider who will fill these roles while they are out learning.
I've never personally been to a desert. I imagine every drop makes quite a difference when you’re there.
I've never personally been to a desert. I imagine every drop makes quite a difference when you’re there.
Written By Lark
April 19, 2021, 10:43 p.m.(4/27/1015 AR)
Relationship Note on Sabella
We are never so Great that the Faith does not have more to teach us.
I once had the benefit of instruction at the feet of one Most Holy. I remember it vividly.
I hope that when representatives of the Faith read my cousin's words, they exercise patience and remember that humility is not an ideal we Graysons come to naturally.
I once had the benefit of instruction at the feet of one Most Holy. I remember it vividly.
I hope that when representatives of the Faith read my cousin's words, they exercise patience and remember that humility is not an ideal we Graysons come to naturally.
Written By Lark
March 20, 2021, 5:38 p.m.(2/23/1015 AR)
Relationship Note on Sorrel
Nothing a chunky signature necklace can't fix.
Written By Lark
Nov. 4, 2019, 11:34 p.m.(2/21/1012 AR)
I've returned from Bastion and it couldn't have been at a better time. There's much work to be done.
Written By Lark
July 19, 2019, 4:07 p.m.(6/28/1011 AR)
It is only easy to find grey in situations if you are looking for easy excuses in your own morality and the Gods' decrees. Yes, we are weak and human, but that does not make a situation grey or not. Yes, I want to continue to live. However, if the choice was presented to me that I could only live if I allowed others to become enslaved, I would throw myself on to a sword, trusting in the Queen to weave my soul into the next life as she sees fit.
Written By Lark
June 15, 2019, 5:01 p.m.(4/16/1011 AR)
I have returned to Arx, and all I can see, all I can hear is change. It permeates the city. It is the spoken and unspoken constant in every conversation. I see it wherever I look, in whoever I meet. In the city's skyline, in the overcrowded boroughs. In myself, when I see my reflection.
We can debate the merits of change, we can rail against it, we can embrace it. None of that matters, because change marches on whatever we may wish to do.
I have returned to Arx as a changed woman, to a place that is no longer the place that I left.
We can debate the merits of change, we can rail against it, we can embrace it. None of that matters, because change marches on whatever we may wish to do.
I have returned to Arx as a changed woman, to a place that is no longer the place that I left.
Written By Lark
July 13, 2018, 4:19 p.m.(3/9/1009 AR)
Relationship Note on Fairen
My brother is not going without punishment. He currently does penance in the Shrine of Gloria for his own breach of etiquette with regards to the honor duel. I leave that between him and Gloria. But I will not stand by and allow him to be harassed and beset by those who hold a personal vendetta against him.
Written By Lark
July 13, 2018, 2:09 p.m.(3/9/1009 AR)
Relationship Note on Bliss
I have refrained from commenting on this until I have given it some thought. Now, I feel that I must say something.
I fail to see how it is any of your business if my brother chooses to decline a duel with the Marquis Fairen Leary, Bliss Whisper. Your comments are an affront, crude and unbecoming of a Whisper. How dare you insult my brother's honor by implying that he runs away from a fight? How dare you make the intimate details of your sex life fodder for the Whites?
Such behavior is not to be tolerated, and I have seen enough here to know that despite what my brother chooses to do or not do, your comments are extremely disrespectful and uncalled for. I had considered challenging you over it, but I shall not stoop to challenging one of common birth. I shall instead make it known for all to see that you have taken to petty and snide comments to antagonize my brother over whatever bitter resentment you hold toward him as a result of your failed attempts to lure him into some romantic entanglement, only to drop him when you lose interest.
Cease antagonizing my brother, or there will be consequences. Your position as a Whisper does not give you license to show such disrespect to a member of my family.
I fail to see how it is any of your business if my brother chooses to decline a duel with the Marquis Fairen Leary, Bliss Whisper. Your comments are an affront, crude and unbecoming of a Whisper. How dare you insult my brother's honor by implying that he runs away from a fight? How dare you make the intimate details of your sex life fodder for the Whites?
Such behavior is not to be tolerated, and I have seen enough here to know that despite what my brother chooses to do or not do, your comments are extremely disrespectful and uncalled for. I had considered challenging you over it, but I shall not stoop to challenging one of common birth. I shall instead make it known for all to see that you have taken to petty and snide comments to antagonize my brother over whatever bitter resentment you hold toward him as a result of your failed attempts to lure him into some romantic entanglement, only to drop him when you lose interest.
Cease antagonizing my brother, or there will be consequences. Your position as a Whisper does not give you license to show such disrespect to a member of my family.
Written By Lark
July 12, 2018, 9:43 a.m.(3/6/1009 AR)
Relationship Note on Rinel
What a lovely poem to see upon awakening to a new day.
Written By Lark
July 11, 2018, 5:33 p.m.(3/5/1009 AR)
It is of my opinion that House Grayson, of all Houses, should consider carefully its actions and how those actions may affect those we touch. Even the smallest slight, as we have witnessed, can have unexpected consequences and touch upon so many. It falls to us to lead by example, and when we fail to do so, then we fail to live up to our motto: None greater than Grayson.
I will reserve full comment on this situation until I have had a chance to speak with my brother, but I will say that I have taken it upon myself to make this pledge: Those aggrieved parties involved will find a fair and reasonable resolution to this situation. While my brother is fully responsible for his own words and actions, I do feel that it is my responsibility, as his older sister and a Voice of House Grayson, to ensure that our family's honor is not besmirched as a result of what has transpired.
Please rest assured that we are looking into ways to resolve things to everyone's satisfaction.
I will reserve full comment on this situation until I have had a chance to speak with my brother, but I will say that I have taken it upon myself to make this pledge: Those aggrieved parties involved will find a fair and reasonable resolution to this situation. While my brother is fully responsible for his own words and actions, I do feel that it is my responsibility, as his older sister and a Voice of House Grayson, to ensure that our family's honor is not besmirched as a result of what has transpired.
Please rest assured that we are looking into ways to resolve things to everyone's satisfaction.
Written By Lark
June 25, 2018, 7:27 p.m.(1/28/1009 AR)
Relationship Note on Aureth
As I said. Some things are irreplaceable. I do hold her memory in high esteem.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.