Written By Renata
Feb. 8, 2022, 12:52 a.m.(1/27/1017 AR)
The sea voyage from Setarco to Arx was not something I ever wish to repeat. It is bad enough in the summer, knowing the vastness of the sea, while calm, is still full of peril. But in the winter, it's a heaving, tossing, melancholy terror. I kept to my cabin the entire time and slept as much as I could, which was precious little.
Still. I have arrived and my first journey into the city was met with a much more pleasant experience. The Ambassador Salon was just as I remember it, full of engaging discourse and luminary people. My evening was spent over mulled wine in the Butterfly Lounge with the kindest of company. And the reception of an invitation to meet for further conversation only served to make my first day all the sweeter.
And I know I have only just arrived but already I plan for all the good that might be done while I am here. There was talk of auctioning experiences for the benefit of charity. What a novel thought! I'll start making a list right away, and carry it with me on the fortunate happenstance I stumble across experiences to add.
Still. I have arrived and my first journey into the city was met with a much more pleasant experience. The Ambassador Salon was just as I remember it, full of engaging discourse and luminary people. My evening was spent over mulled wine in the Butterfly Lounge with the kindest of company. And the reception of an invitation to meet for further conversation only served to make my first day all the sweeter.
And I know I have only just arrived but already I plan for all the good that might be done while I am here. There was talk of auctioning experiences for the benefit of charity. What a novel thought! I'll start making a list right away, and carry it with me on the fortunate happenstance I stumble across experiences to add.
Written By Renata
Oct. 31, 2020, 5:37 a.m.(4/19/1014 AR)
I spent the afternoon scrubbing the statue of Mangata that stands on the Eastern Beaches. It never fails to amaze me how much mess seagulls can make without even trying, but a few hours of hard work and elbow grease had Her looking spotless again. It helped that Mayir Grayhope didn't object to me handing him a brush. He worked without complaint, and two pairs of hands finished the task far quicker than mine alone would have managed.
Written By Renata
Dec. 12, 2019, 1:36 a.m.(5/11/1012 AR)
The winters in Setarco are much gentler than the chill of those in Arx, and I feel blessed to have been able to spend the last of these last back home. How good it felt to bury my hands once more in the warm Setarcan dirt, and to teach and educate the families whom have put thraldom behind themselves and joined us. Already the spring crops are nudging their way through the earth and turning the ploughed fields from brown to green, and there's a weight of anticipation in the air, and excitement, from those whom once had nothing, but now have a home, land to work and a /future/ where once they had nothing.
It was fortunate that I was already present in Setarco for Arianna and Valentina's wedding, for the Gods only know how much I fear setting foot on a ship. At least the caraval on which we travelled back to Arx was swift, and whilst I shall miss my beloved home and the new friends made there, I am ready to embrace the city once more.
It was fortunate that I was already present in Setarco for Arianna and Valentina's wedding, for the Gods only know how much I fear setting foot on a ship. At least the caraval on which we travelled back to Arx was swift, and whilst I shall miss my beloved home and the new friends made there, I am ready to embrace the city once more.
Written By Renata
June 8, 2019, 2:29 p.m.(4/2/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Giuliano
Sometimes you forget how much you enjoy someone's company, until you're denied it. So it is with Giuliano. I hadn't realised how much I missed his company and the conversations we would have when I was growing up, and I couldn't be more delighted that he's joined us now in Arx.
Written By Renata
May 27, 2019, 4:37 p.m.(3/6/1011 AR)
There is not much, I find, that is of sentimental value and worthy of note. A letter here, perhaps, or a trinket there. Somethings. Nothings. Everythings. I will confess that what I keep, I keep close to my heart. I rediscovered one such thing whilst tidying my desk this morning. An exquisitely crafted frog of gold that fits perfectly within the palm of my hand. His emerald eyes blinked up at me as I rubbed my thumb across his head...
...and I smiled.
...and I smiled.
Written By Renata
Feb. 6, 2019, 7:01 a.m.(7/9/1010 AR)
I was sent a gift the other day. Touched by this unexpected delight, I asked the giver why he had he had sent it, and he simply said that he had seen it, and thought of me.
It wasn't so much the gift that caused me to smile, but the knowledge that I had been in someone's thoughts.
It wasn't so much the gift that caused me to smile, but the knowledge that I had been in someone's thoughts.
Written By Renata
Jan. 30, 2019, 11:44 a.m.(6/24/1010 AR)
It cannot be overstated the delight of being served breakfast in bed.
Especially when beautifully presented.
Especially when beautifully presented.
Written By Renata
Jan. 25, 2019, 8:01 a.m.(6/13/1010 AR)
I didn't expect to be taking another voyage so soon after the one I made from Setarco to Arx.
As it turned out, I could have been saved from making the trip, as the person we were supposed to locate and return with to Arx, Lunara Argento the Sword of Nilaza, preferred death over a pardoning for her crimes. She looked exhausted, and was coughing up blood, and I imagine that her decision was coloured by the fact that she knew she was not long for this world.
Even now, having time and again gone over the events as they occured, I'm still unsure as to exactly what happened. Lunara drew her sword on Arianna and the two engaged each other. A hooded man arrived and claimed an interest in Lunara, and it seemed as if he would fight us all in order to take her with him. I tried to intervene, but there was a moment when I was left staring into the eyes of this man. He touched my face, and the rest of the room and everyone in it faded as a wave of emotions washed through me.
Then Jhond's blade found him and the spell was broken. He bellowed, and it was a terrible sound. I must have lost my wits, for I could have sworn he made a leap which no man should be capable of. He looked down upon us from the second floor where he balanced upon the railing, but then he was off, and when I looked back to where Lady Arianna and Lunara Argento were fighting, the killing blow had already been struck.
As it turned out, I could have been saved from making the trip, as the person we were supposed to locate and return with to Arx, Lunara Argento the Sword of Nilaza, preferred death over a pardoning for her crimes. She looked exhausted, and was coughing up blood, and I imagine that her decision was coloured by the fact that she knew she was not long for this world.
Even now, having time and again gone over the events as they occured, I'm still unsure as to exactly what happened. Lunara drew her sword on Arianna and the two engaged each other. A hooded man arrived and claimed an interest in Lunara, and it seemed as if he would fight us all in order to take her with him. I tried to intervene, but there was a moment when I was left staring into the eyes of this man. He touched my face, and the rest of the room and everyone in it faded as a wave of emotions washed through me.
Then Jhond's blade found him and the spell was broken. He bellowed, and it was a terrible sound. I must have lost my wits, for I could have sworn he made a leap which no man should be capable of. He looked down upon us from the second floor where he balanced upon the railing, but then he was off, and when I looked back to where Lady Arianna and Lunara Argento were fighting, the killing blow had already been struck.
Written By Renata
Jan. 13, 2019, 10:15 a.m.(5/8/1010 AR)
I attended the swearing in of Sir Austen as one of the King's Own.
It was magnificent, and I swear that I have never seen so much gleaming armour as that which was present there. The squires must have been up 'til the early hours getting it so perfectly prepared.
Though I stood like a wallflower with Sir Bayweather at the back of the room, I had a good view of the proceedings and felt blessed to be present on such an occasion.
I wish Sir Austen well as he leaves one family and joins his new.
It was magnificent, and I swear that I have never seen so much gleaming armour as that which was present there. The squires must have been up 'til the early hours getting it so perfectly prepared.
Though I stood like a wallflower with Sir Bayweather at the back of the room, I had a good view of the proceedings and felt blessed to be present on such an occasion.
I wish Sir Austen well as he leaves one family and joins his new.
Written By Renata
Jan. 5, 2019, 5:55 p.m.(4/21/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Jeffeth
I met Sir Jeffeth the first week I landed in Arx, and I feel very fortunate to be able to call him my friend.
Written By Renata
Dec. 29, 2018, 10:43 a.m.(4/6/1010 AR)
I went down to the docks this morning to look at the unnatural ship with the unnatural sails, and met Prince Galen who was doing the same as I. He was polite and amicable, and not at all cut from the same cloth as other Thraxians that I've met in the past. He has a thirst, a love for adventuring upon the water, and as sad as it might be, I am coming to realise that I must be the only person in all of Arval that holds the views that I hold.
I will continue to pray to Mangata, and to ask Her for Her blessings upon those that are driven to sail on Her seas.
I will continue to pray to Mangata, and to ask Her for Her blessings upon those that are driven to sail on Her seas.
Written By Renata
Dec. 17, 2018, 3:02 a.m.(3/9/1010 AR)
Several more chests of my personal affairs have now arrived from Setarco, and since I am loathe to venture out in this phenomenom of green snow, I spent the afternoon unpacking and sorting my things.
I'm so glad that I did, for tucked inside the pocket of one of my oldest dresses, and one which might otherwise have been thrown out, I found an earring which I thought had been lost to me. I wept with joy. What silly and sentimental creatures we are to become so attached to simple things, and I am so happy that it was not truly lost, but simply misplaced. It is all I have left from before I was lost, and I will never let it from my care again.
I also discovered once more the gown which Vincenzo designed for my twenty-first natality. It holds within its folds the scent of the perfume I wore.
Will this snow never end?
I'm so glad that I did, for tucked inside the pocket of one of my oldest dresses, and one which might otherwise have been thrown out, I found an earring which I thought had been lost to me. I wept with joy. What silly and sentimental creatures we are to become so attached to simple things, and I am so happy that it was not truly lost, but simply misplaced. It is all I have left from before I was lost, and I will never let it from my care again.
I also discovered once more the gown which Vincenzo designed for my twenty-first natality. It holds within its folds the scent of the perfume I wore.
Will this snow never end?
Written By Renata
Dec. 13, 2018, 3:14 a.m.(3/1/1010 AR)
I cannot lie.
Part of me hated my beloved Belladonna when I read the contents of her letter over my breakfast in Setarco. A letter so casually and so easily written by her hand, but which killed a part of me on its reading.
Knowing my fears, my horrors, she yet condemned me to submit to them by commanding me to join her in Arx.
I kept to my cabin and set not a foot upon the deck of the ship. Days bled into nights, and when exhaustion and sleep managed to claim me, it was infested with a blackness so dark that wound tight about my heart. And yet, in those moments of sleep, there lived slivers of time when my mind was without a home. Existence was painless, and there was nothing but a formlessness beyond understanding. A secret place that contained nothing but the essence of myself. A lost self.
Now here I am, my belongings stacked around me in my room. Displaced.
Why?
Part of me hated my beloved Belladonna when I read the contents of her letter over my breakfast in Setarco. A letter so casually and so easily written by her hand, but which killed a part of me on its reading.
Knowing my fears, my horrors, she yet condemned me to submit to them by commanding me to join her in Arx.
I kept to my cabin and set not a foot upon the deck of the ship. Days bled into nights, and when exhaustion and sleep managed to claim me, it was infested with a blackness so dark that wound tight about my heart. And yet, in those moments of sleep, there lived slivers of time when my mind was without a home. Existence was painless, and there was nothing but a formlessness beyond understanding. A secret place that contained nothing but the essence of myself. A lost self.
Now here I am, my belongings stacked around me in my room. Displaced.
Why?
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