Written By Sydney
Nov. 30, 2021, 9:36 a.m.(8/28/1016 AR)
Sometimes, it is the smallest of victories that strike the truest chord in the heart - even if that victory is just the courage to take an outstretched hand.
Written By Sydney
Nov. 21, 2021, 12:37 p.m.(8/10/1016 AR)
Relationship Note on Mirari
I would rather risk my heart than fear to write its words in one of the very few places allowed for me to speak my piece, or to put it in a cage, locked tight under key.
Those who run and crawl should indeed fear falcons.
They need not fear those who have wings, talonless grips, empty mouths, and empty minds.
Those who run and crawl should indeed fear falcons.
They need not fear those who have wings, talonless grips, empty mouths, and empty minds.
Written By Sydney
Nov. 20, 2021, 1:51 p.m.(8/8/1016 AR)
Succession squabbles are a tricky business.
A wonderful amount of time, planning, and dedication to a very delicate dance for what amounts to using the lives of children as playing pieces.
Repugnant.
A wonderful amount of time, planning, and dedication to a very delicate dance for what amounts to using the lives of children as playing pieces.
Repugnant.
Written By Sydney
Nov. 13, 2021, 10:55 a.m.(7/22/1016 AR)
When someone is said to simmer with rage, it's always perplexed me that it's the fire we attribute to the emotion.
The contents of the pot are what ought be feared.
Anyone who's ever had a hot stew spilled on them surely knows what I'm referring to.
The contents of the pot are what ought be feared.
Anyone who's ever had a hot stew spilled on them surely knows what I'm referring to.
Written By Sydney
Nov. 8, 2021, 5:05 p.m.(7/13/1016 AR)
Another fire in the Lower Boroughs, another collective shrug of shoulders from those above.
Make no mistake - while my travels take me all about Arx and often beyond, I have not forgotten where I came from, and to see the general indifference towards this act is yet another stark reminder that as far as some are concerned, all people living within the city who took their oaths are of Arvum, but only some of us are seen as true citizens of Arx.
There is a gentle way to guide such people to realize that every death you hear about may well have been the death of your loved one. May well have been the death of nobility. May well have been the death of royalty. An attack on one of us ought to be an attack on all of us. This is a lesson that must be learned, and to that end, I implore you with all of my most sincere and heartfelt statecraft:
Pull your sharding heads out of your asses and protect your citizens equally.
Whether they are of a great house or are sworn to the crown, they are of Arx. That's supposed to mean something, and it's past time that was remembered.
If any financial assistance is required for the rebuilding and rehoming of any that were involved in this fire, pray send a messenger. I'll do what I can.
I don't forget.
Make no mistake - while my travels take me all about Arx and often beyond, I have not forgotten where I came from, and to see the general indifference towards this act is yet another stark reminder that as far as some are concerned, all people living within the city who took their oaths are of Arvum, but only some of us are seen as true citizens of Arx.
There is a gentle way to guide such people to realize that every death you hear about may well have been the death of your loved one. May well have been the death of nobility. May well have been the death of royalty. An attack on one of us ought to be an attack on all of us. This is a lesson that must be learned, and to that end, I implore you with all of my most sincere and heartfelt statecraft:
Pull your sharding heads out of your asses and protect your citizens equally.
Whether they are of a great house or are sworn to the crown, they are of Arx. That's supposed to mean something, and it's past time that was remembered.
If any financial assistance is required for the rebuilding and rehoming of any that were involved in this fire, pray send a messenger. I'll do what I can.
I don't forget.
Written By Sydney
Nov. 1, 2021, 12:13 p.m.(6/26/1016 AR)
Was it actually good advice, or was it all just a mummer's farce, generalizations that sound good to fit every occasion?
I'm still not sure.
I suppose that means they did their job well, one way or the other.
I'm still not sure.
I suppose that means they did their job well, one way or the other.
Written By Sydney
Oct. 29, 2021, 11:36 p.m.(6/21/1016 AR)
I love traveling - it's a reminder that the world is always bigger than we expect it to be, that the people contained within it are ultimately quite similar in nature and temperament about the things that matter. Show me a woman who doesn't want a roof over her head, a stomach full of a warm meal, and a glass of their favorite. I'll wait.
I haven't had the chance to travel much, of late. Not since Bastion. A rather bleak and terrifying punctuation mark on my travels thus far, to be sure, but hopefully it's a comma or a semi-colon rather than a period.
I've got a boulder that I've claimed for myself on the outskirts, where the waters of the bay lap against the rough sand beaches. I write this entry from atop of it, under the light of the stars and moon. I wait for no one in particular. Being alone with my thoughts is well enough. The clamor of the city can be difficult to escape. It can all feel so... close.
Wide open skies. An endless horizon.
It's a good vantage, my little boulder is.
I haven't had the chance to travel much, of late. Not since Bastion. A rather bleak and terrifying punctuation mark on my travels thus far, to be sure, but hopefully it's a comma or a semi-colon rather than a period.
I've got a boulder that I've claimed for myself on the outskirts, where the waters of the bay lap against the rough sand beaches. I write this entry from atop of it, under the light of the stars and moon. I wait for no one in particular. Being alone with my thoughts is well enough. The clamor of the city can be difficult to escape. It can all feel so... close.
Wide open skies. An endless horizon.
It's a good vantage, my little boulder is.
Written By Sydney
Oct. 20, 2021, 12:31 a.m.(6/1/1016 AR)
Seldom have I experienced such an unpleasant disquieting of the humors such that has kept me abed for the past week.
There is nothing like taking ill to make you miss those that tended to you as a child - my father had his flaws, but he always did seem at his best when I was at my worst, for there was no longer any choice but to at least make an effort. I still can't make porridge quite the same way he did - or maybe my tastes have changed, or perhaps my memories of it, but I will cherish the memory of feeling vulnerable, but safe. Of feeling sick, but nurtured.
They're fleeting, those moments, like ripples in a still pond.
Eventually, you forget to poke at them, and they vanish to nothing.
I'd like to keep these. As long as I can.
There is nothing like taking ill to make you miss those that tended to you as a child - my father had his flaws, but he always did seem at his best when I was at my worst, for there was no longer any choice but to at least make an effort. I still can't make porridge quite the same way he did - or maybe my tastes have changed, or perhaps my memories of it, but I will cherish the memory of feeling vulnerable, but safe. Of feeling sick, but nurtured.
They're fleeting, those moments, like ripples in a still pond.
Eventually, you forget to poke at them, and they vanish to nothing.
I'd like to keep these. As long as I can.
Written By Sydney
Oct. 4, 2021, 1:58 p.m.(4/26/1016 AR)
It was an absolute joy to let loose, for a change - I've allowed myself to get too caught up in my routine, and forgotten to just sharding relax and drink far too much alcohol every now and again.
The pie in my hair, though. I could have done without the pie in my hair.
There will be vengeance.
The pie in my hair, though. I could have done without the pie in my hair.
There will be vengeance.
Written By Sydney
Sept. 21, 2021, 4:50 p.m.(4/1/1016 AR)
Relationship Note on Ida
I, too, see little merit in it.
A life of self-and-societal-imposed shackles would hardly be a benefit just for the cheaply won benefit of having people cease to stare down their nose at Sydney the Commoner, and instead stare down their nose at Sydney the Neonoble.
I wonder if the walls of the birdcages are as smothering from inside of them as it looks from outside of them.
I'd say it fills me with pity, but for the fact that a birdcage is still placed above us, and there is only one direction that leavings fall.
A life of self-and-societal-imposed shackles would hardly be a benefit just for the cheaply won benefit of having people cease to stare down their nose at Sydney the Commoner, and instead stare down their nose at Sydney the Neonoble.
I wonder if the walls of the birdcages are as smothering from inside of them as it looks from outside of them.
I'd say it fills me with pity, but for the fact that a birdcage is still placed above us, and there is only one direction that leavings fall.
Written By Sydney
Sept. 18, 2021, 10:49 p.m.(3/23/1016 AR)
I find myself in quiet contemplation following the Assembly of Peers, wondering what acts might qualify to be on the same level as the summation of the noble experience such that elevation to their level might be necessary. As was stated, it ought be spoken of for generations, just as our very own fine nobles have so proven with their own exploits.
If our own peerage is to be taken as legendary in its own right, I look forward to hearing more about the feats each and every member of the peerage has accomplished that are similarly legendary. I would love to receive letters about such acts so that I might know how high the bar is for ennoblement. I'm certain they are quite riveting tales, after all, and it would be a shame not to know about what my betters are accomplishing so that I might know what to aspire to, some day.
Please, send your correspondences of the time you laced your boots on your own without delay.
If our own peerage is to be taken as legendary in its own right, I look forward to hearing more about the feats each and every member of the peerage has accomplished that are similarly legendary. I would love to receive letters about such acts so that I might know how high the bar is for ennoblement. I'm certain they are quite riveting tales, after all, and it would be a shame not to know about what my betters are accomplishing so that I might know what to aspire to, some day.
Please, send your correspondences of the time you laced your boots on your own without delay.
Written By Sydney
Sept. 12, 2021, 2:40 p.m.(3/11/1016 AR)
I found myself quite taken with Marquessa Inverno's proclamation.
Always a pleasure to discover that even nobles agree that we need fewer nobles.
Always a pleasure to discover that even nobles agree that we need fewer nobles.
Written By Sydney
Aug. 25, 2021, 6:29 p.m.(2/3/1016 AR)
...I shall admit it freely. Seeing so many butchered before my very eyes in the streets of Bastion did not inspire charitable thoughts in me. I have never seen battle on such a large and unapologetic scope, and with so many who have no soldiering experience whatsoever caught in the thick of it, with such a terrible loss of life.
If I placed a single bottle of wine for every soul I personally saw perish, I could fill up my entire room and not begin to scratch the surface, and... how does one react to that?
They each had stories, thoughts, hopes, their own dreams for this Dream.
I have no suitable way now to express my feelings for this atrocity. I suspect I never shall.
If I placed a single bottle of wine for every soul I personally saw perish, I could fill up my entire room and not begin to scratch the surface, and... how does one react to that?
They each had stories, thoughts, hopes, their own dreams for this Dream.
I have no suitable way now to express my feelings for this atrocity. I suspect I never shall.
Written By Sydney
Aug. 7, 2021, 7:04 p.m.(12/23/1015 AR)
Another assembly of peers has been called. I confess to equal parts curiosity and fatigue.
Shall it be the nobility of Arx patting one another on the back for hours, or rallying us into another short-sighted Crusade?
Why, a pugilist can hardly stand the suspense as she waits to sit in obedient silence whilst her betters are speaking.
Shall it be the nobility of Arx patting one another on the back for hours, or rallying us into another short-sighted Crusade?
Why, a pugilist can hardly stand the suspense as she waits to sit in obedient silence whilst her betters are speaking.
Written By Sydney
Aug. 3, 2021, 8:38 p.m.(12/15/1015 AR)
I find your hubris, your wasteful excess, and your empty displays galling.
What separates you and I, save your high walls, your brittle pride, and the blood you chanced into wielding from birth?
Imagine what might be accomplished in a world without you.
What separates you and I, save your high walls, your brittle pride, and the blood you chanced into wielding from birth?
Imagine what might be accomplished in a world without you.
Written By Sydney
July 31, 2021, 10:55 p.m.(12/9/1015 AR)
No dog that I have encountered has ever sneered down their nose at me and told me I was lower than dirt to him, a face in a sea of unwashed faces, meant only to serve my betters.
To my knowledge, a dog has never redirected a budget to pointless domain expansion while watching his fellows starve in the shadow of the finest city in Arvum.
We like to play at pretend, and imply that our blood does more than simply make us alive while it's in our bodies.
If your nobility and honor are so cheaply besmirched, were they ever real to begin with? How fragile and brittle they must be, to be wounded with a flick of the pen.
To my knowledge, a dog has never redirected a budget to pointless domain expansion while watching his fellows starve in the shadow of the finest city in Arvum.
We like to play at pretend, and imply that our blood does more than simply make us alive while it's in our bodies.
If your nobility and honor are so cheaply besmirched, were they ever real to begin with? How fragile and brittle they must be, to be wounded with a flick of the pen.
Written By Sydney
July 28, 2021, 8:47 p.m.(12/3/1015 AR)
How swiftly we forget the humanity of those who stand 'cross from us on battlefields real or imagined.
Those who revel in the count of bodies before them are not deserving of pity, they are deserving of an education. Only an infant would focus on the count, and not the toll.
Those who revel in the count of bodies before them are not deserving of pity, they are deserving of an education. Only an infant would focus on the count, and not the toll.
Written By Sydney
July 27, 2021, 2:50 p.m.(12/1/1015 AR)
Has ignorance begun to chip away, I wonder, or have distractions merely waned?
I would encourage the populace of Arx to see to their own protection - that goes for all in the Lower Boroughs, as well. Do not let your pride come between you and a suitable set of armor, when these times of upheaval all but demand them. No fighter worth their salt should be without it. This city has the best crafters that money can buy, and if money is your barrier for even a set of simple leather, chain, or plate, speak to me.
I have been fortunate in my tournament winnings, my retainer fees, and several contracts, and dare not be stingy with those earnings when someone feels they would benefit. Make no mistake, I have not the coin to outfit the entire Compact, but if I can do anything to put some minds at ease from the threats facing the Compact, I'll do what I can.
I would encourage the populace of Arx to see to their own protection - that goes for all in the Lower Boroughs, as well. Do not let your pride come between you and a suitable set of armor, when these times of upheaval all but demand them. No fighter worth their salt should be without it. This city has the best crafters that money can buy, and if money is your barrier for even a set of simple leather, chain, or plate, speak to me.
I have been fortunate in my tournament winnings, my retainer fees, and several contracts, and dare not be stingy with those earnings when someone feels they would benefit. Make no mistake, I have not the coin to outfit the entire Compact, but if I can do anything to put some minds at ease from the threats facing the Compact, I'll do what I can.
Written By Sydney
July 23, 2021, 11:28 p.m.(11/21/1015 AR)
A failure to live up to expectations is little more than a failure to properly manage them.
When everyone is underwhelmed by what you present, they're often pleasantly surprised to find more than they'd bargained for.
When everyone is underwhelmed by what you present, they're often pleasantly surprised to find more than they'd bargained for.
Written By Sydney
July 17, 2021, 2:30 p.m.(11/9/1015 AR)
I received your gift.
Your duties have taken you to places I can't visit, but I often wonder after your wellbeing. I imagine this would elicit a simpering gaze in my direction, but that you might privately be pleased.
There is much and more left to do, and I hope to see even a fraction of it on this turn of the wheel, which I shall always treat as my last - for who indeed could replace Sydney Waterfall, even if they held glimpses and fragments of who she was in the turn prior?
Your duties have taken you to places I can't visit, but I often wonder after your wellbeing. I imagine this would elicit a simpering gaze in my direction, but that you might privately be pleased.
There is much and more left to do, and I hope to see even a fraction of it on this turn of the wheel, which I shall always treat as my last - for who indeed could replace Sydney Waterfall, even if they held glimpses and fragments of who she was in the turn prior?
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.