Written By Alecstazi
July 21, 2019, 2:55 p.m.(7/4/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Brianna
How is it that you can make me smile even while you smash me intro the dirt? Something is deeply strange here.
Written By Miranda
July 21, 2019, 2:54 p.m.(7/4/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Dariel
Pookie,
I am desperately trying. Brenlin refuses to show me missives and reports - so you have a co-conspirator here to ensure I... relax.
I am so inactive I have naught a single tale to tell of my holiday...
I woke. I ate. I lazed around. Oh, there's a lovely tree...
I will bore you to tears with my lack of adventure.
I hope you are plotting fun things to talk about when I return for I have ... nothing.
Perhaps something exciting will turn up!
I am desperately trying. Brenlin refuses to show me missives and reports - so you have a co-conspirator here to ensure I... relax.
I am so inactive I have naught a single tale to tell of my holiday...
I woke. I ate. I lazed around. Oh, there's a lovely tree...
I will bore you to tears with my lack of adventure.
I hope you are plotting fun things to talk about when I return for I have ... nothing.
Perhaps something exciting will turn up!
Written By Peri
July 21, 2019, 2:26 p.m.(7/4/1011 AR)
We will be having a memorial service for the slain guards.
Written By Roxana
July 21, 2019, 2:22 p.m.(7/4/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Saoirse
That is a fine question. It is an endearment my deceased husband used to describe me now and then, I think to emphasize that I was all sweetness and no sting.
Written By Calista
July 21, 2019, 1:23 p.m.(7/4/1011 AR)
I am often too busy to truly miss my home, but Tor is always on my mind and always in my heart. Our labor of love failed to produce the intended outcome, but instead revealed something else, something I was not expecting and something which is truly spectacular. I have always wanted to inspire hope and strength in others like those who inspired me.
When we first began this journey, our goal was radiant and the idea was to be inclusive. Both Fidante and the Apothecary College worked tirelessly to make our dream a reality. The attempts proved fruitless. But finally, we started to see something bloom. While it is not what we had hoped for, it is everything we need.
Have you ever witnessed the rising dawn of Tor?
When we first began this journey, our goal was radiant and the idea was to be inclusive. Both Fidante and the Apothecary College worked tirelessly to make our dream a reality. The attempts proved fruitless. But finally, we started to see something bloom. While it is not what we had hoped for, it is everything we need.
Have you ever witnessed the rising dawn of Tor?
Written By Calista
July 21, 2019, 1:16 p.m.(7/4/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Saoirse
So many roses, not enough thorns, I say. But, according to the Rose Cipher written by my cousin, Juliet Fidante, a thorn-less rose is a symbol of love at first sight; one may pair this with the complimentary color to strengthen the sentiment. For example, A lavender rose without thorns. Now, imagine my embarrassment when I first learned of this after gifting King Alaric numerous arrangements of roses without thorns while he was stricken in coma. To be young and naive again.
Written By Nurie
July 21, 2019, 12:57 p.m.(7/4/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Karadoc
I did not like him terribly much when we first met, but he was clever and did not overpromise.
I did not like the sharp tongue directed at others (or tea fights started in my shop). But he did not look through me, as so many others do.
But I did very much like the calm. I liked the hope that children would not grow up in a house of chaos. I liked that the household is...was a place of peace if not passion. I think that sometimes the value of that seems to be overlooked of late.
But when I saw the relief and hope in my beloved sister's eyes when she found out that the secret worry carried so long could now be lifted from her shoulders--in that moment I loved him. At least until the next time he opened his mouth!
We will have many things to teach and tell your son or daughter when they finally come, my lord, but I promise you that you won't be forgotten either. I am so sorry you won't see how your strengths will surely be woven into them. Tessere is stronger now because of you. And two more children will keep growing, one with us, one because you shielded him from his father's fate. I wonder how the world will change?
I feel so numb. But is is time to go back to work.
I did not like the sharp tongue directed at others (or tea fights started in my shop). But he did not look through me, as so many others do.
But I did very much like the calm. I liked the hope that children would not grow up in a house of chaos. I liked that the household is...was a place of peace if not passion. I think that sometimes the value of that seems to be overlooked of late.
But when I saw the relief and hope in my beloved sister's eyes when she found out that the secret worry carried so long could now be lifted from her shoulders--in that moment I loved him. At least until the next time he opened his mouth!
We will have many things to teach and tell your son or daughter when they finally come, my lord, but I promise you that you won't be forgotten either. I am so sorry you won't see how your strengths will surely be woven into them. Tessere is stronger now because of you. And two more children will keep growing, one with us, one because you shielded him from his father's fate. I wonder how the world will change?
I feel so numb. But is is time to go back to work.
Written By Yvon
July 21, 2019, 12:15 p.m.(7/4/1011 AR)
The practice of taking thralls strengthens the Compact, and civilizes the shavs, and should be encouraged--and, in fact, mandated by the crown--instead of being opposed and limited. Even the briefest reflection reveals two benefits:
1) Shavs are benighted and backward peoples. They refuse to join the Compact, which is not only a repository of culture and wisdom, but our best defense against the forces of destruction. Shav are, by definition, uncivilized. They are lost children, without the guidance of the faith and the crown. To claim they are in any way our equal is to claim that our obedience to the crown and the faith does not elevate us. This is wrong. Shavs are debased by their estrangement from the Compact ... yet this doesn't mean they are utterly without value or hope for redemption. Quite the contrary. They are called 'Abandoned,' but we must not abandon them. We must save them, redeem them, and raise them from savagery. And there is no better tool by which to achieve that than thralldom. Let them join us as free people if they choose; if not, we must act with the firm hand of the strict, loving parent, and set them firmly upon the correct path.
2) This will not only redeem the shavs but--far more importantly--strengthen the Compact. Thralldom is a mighty weapon in our battle against forces which seek to overthrow us. Not only for the valuable labor thralls perform, though that is not insignificant. No; taking thralls strengthens the Company in uncountable ways, from the lowest rungs of society to the highest. The proof is in our own city. Former thralls are now nobles of high rank, far above a common wretch like myself. Former thralls founded an entire noble house, with resources and power far beyond that of our own people of the lower boroughs. Many nobles owe their current position to thralldom, and we all owe thralldom for the many, many contributions they make to the strength of the Compact. Every time a former thrall, or the descendent of one, acts in support of the crown, by force of arms, scholarship, art, faith, or in any other way, we all accrue another debt to the institution of thralldom.
And what is the objection? That thralldom is unpleasant. This is true. However, many things are unpleasant and while infants avoid discomfort, adults understand that sometimes we must sacrifice for the greater good.
1) Shavs are benighted and backward peoples. They refuse to join the Compact, which is not only a repository of culture and wisdom, but our best defense against the forces of destruction. Shav are, by definition, uncivilized. They are lost children, without the guidance of the faith and the crown. To claim they are in any way our equal is to claim that our obedience to the crown and the faith does not elevate us. This is wrong. Shavs are debased by their estrangement from the Compact ... yet this doesn't mean they are utterly without value or hope for redemption. Quite the contrary. They are called 'Abandoned,' but we must not abandon them. We must save them, redeem them, and raise them from savagery. And there is no better tool by which to achieve that than thralldom. Let them join us as free people if they choose; if not, we must act with the firm hand of the strict, loving parent, and set them firmly upon the correct path.
2) This will not only redeem the shavs but--far more importantly--strengthen the Compact. Thralldom is a mighty weapon in our battle against forces which seek to overthrow us. Not only for the valuable labor thralls perform, though that is not insignificant. No; taking thralls strengthens the Company in uncountable ways, from the lowest rungs of society to the highest. The proof is in our own city. Former thralls are now nobles of high rank, far above a common wretch like myself. Former thralls founded an entire noble house, with resources and power far beyond that of our own people of the lower boroughs. Many nobles owe their current position to thralldom, and we all owe thralldom for the many, many contributions they make to the strength of the Compact. Every time a former thrall, or the descendent of one, acts in support of the crown, by force of arms, scholarship, art, faith, or in any other way, we all accrue another debt to the institution of thralldom.
And what is the objection? That thralldom is unpleasant. This is true. However, many things are unpleasant and while infants avoid discomfort, adults understand that sometimes we must sacrifice for the greater good.
Written By Shae
July 21, 2019, 12:14 p.m.(7/4/1011 AR)
Dreams lately have not been very enjoyable, restless and filled with terror. And now, even when I thought it was a good dream, it was something else instead. I hope we are able to find a way to stop whatever it is.
In the mean time, I really need to spend time with my family. I have been neglectful and distant. And that is not really me, I think my lack of sleep, and always being exhausted is making me grumpy and less inclined to be social.
In the mean time, I really need to spend time with my family. I have been neglectful and distant. And that is not really me, I think my lack of sleep, and always being exhausted is making me grumpy and less inclined to be social.
Written By Amantha
July 21, 2019, 11:36 a.m.(7/4/1011 AR)
The Pridehall Kite festival was quite nice, I only got to see the beginning though. I expect it flared up quite a bit more as it continued.
Written By Lucita
July 21, 2019, 10:24 a.m.(7/4/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Karadoc
Doc? Doc's gone, too? One by one the family and former family are getting whittled down. I've had many a laugh and many tears shared with Doc. He was always supportive, always game for a challenge, my right hand and my supporter during troubled, difficult years. I hope the time spent with his Countess was happy, the kind of challenge he enjoyed. I.... weep.
Written By Evaristo
July 21, 2019, 10:11 a.m.(7/4/1011 AR)
Looking forward to the next Festival of Death event - the Spider Petting Zoo! Miss Saro Ulvieto of the Bard's College will be main hostess, with me as co-host. She's a bit of an expert on spiders and will have various kinds for wiewing, even petting. I'll bring Silk, my own spider. In fact, people WITH spiders can bring them along!
There'll be games. Also prizes.
There'll be games. Also prizes.
Written By Cristoph
July 21, 2019, 10:03 a.m.(7/4/1011 AR)
Jael and Tyren's wedding, the fete, puppies, Eadric and Aeryn throwing down, it was a very *good* couple of days. Happy.
Written By Elloise
July 21, 2019, 2:40 a.m.(7/3/1011 AR)
It stuns me that the Compact has any ...moral gray area on the matter of slavery. It makes my stomach turn. It is bad. Up and down. No experiment necessary.
Written By Saoirse
July 21, 2019, 2:37 a.m.(7/3/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Roxana
What is the point of a rose without a thorn?
Written By Martino
July 21, 2019, 2:16 a.m.(7/3/1011 AR)
To have seen the Pridehall Kite festival was quite something. The colours, the cheer and the joy brought on the face of the child there. Also the surprise to see Lord Michael become competitive with the fighting kites.
We are fortunate then to have so many nobles from House Bisland here for this to be shared with us.
We are fortunate then to have so many nobles from House Bisland here for this to be shared with us.
Written By Berenice
July 21, 2019, 2:14 a.m.(7/3/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Karadoc
I shall never forgive you for this.
Written By Saoirse
July 21, 2019, 12:55 a.m.(7/3/1011 AR)
My handmaid just told me she would like to leave service to marry and start a family.
I don't really mind but I have a feeling one of my cousins may play a sartorial trick on me and I may never catch on.
I don't really mind but I have a feeling one of my cousins may play a sartorial trick on me and I may never catch on.
Written By Cambria
July 21, 2019, 12:45 a.m.(7/3/1011 AR)
While it is true that controlling propaganda is a vital tool, merely observing this misses another important point: controlling propaganda is only useful if you know how to use it. Part of this mastery comes with anticipating how your opponents will respond to your tactics. It is much like being an expert showman who can account for every aspect of his theater.
Written By Calandra
July 20, 2019, 10:49 p.m.(7/3/1011 AR)
Attending the Artshall Spring Fete today was simply delightful! Duke Cristoph Laurent outdid himself, especially with the dance competition he arranged. Princess Zara was a wonderful dance partner, though the victory ultimately went to Lady Jael and Princess Gwenna who posed quite a challenge. Still, my congratulations to them, it was a well earned win.
At least it gives me the opportunity to offer my patron some dance practice, to which I eagerly await the day. It should be quite fun!
At least it gives me the opportunity to offer my patron some dance practice, to which I eagerly await the day. It should be quite fun!
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.