Written By Aindre
Aug. 22, 2021, 11:04 a.m.(1/24/1016 AR)
The unthinkable has happened.
When the walls of Bastion fell I knew the day would be won or lost on the shoulders of our dutiful guardsmen for which we have so many, but I also understood that to have the defenses of one of the greatest fortresses in all of Arvum compromised in such a major fashion and without even a whisper of warning from the sentries meant our enemies were more than just gathering shavs and not there on a mere chance of overtaking the city in search of what they sought.
I took those with me and moved to secure the harbor, fearing that if I did not there would be no survivors of the conflict left to tell the tale of it. Winter in the Gray Forest is a dangerous season and making the trek through it between Bastion and Arx without supplies and with the wounded to see to is very close to a sentence of death. I felt that ensuring the river was kept open and the ships left intact to bring the hurt and the displaced to Arx would drastically increase the chances of survival for those who lived through the night.
It has been suggested to me already that perhaps I should have rallied the guardsmen and the frightened citizenry from the harbor into a purposeful fighting force to attempt driving our enemies back through their breach in the walls and into the Gray. But Bastion is more than the land it was built upon or the grand architecture which occupies it. It is her people who are the heart and the soul of the city itself, the many thousands of hands from noble to peasant who saw her raised up in the midst of such a hostile expanse of territory and armored her not just in stone but in the faith that the walls surrounding her would hold strong and keep out the wilds from encroaching upon the sanctuary of their hard-won civilization.
Perhaps on this day the faith in those walls has been breached in much the same way the walls themselves were. That armor can be repaired and rebuilt - stronger, taller, more glorious than before - but each and every person who called Bastion home is irreplaceable to me. We were raised there. It is our home.
We will take it back.
When the walls of Bastion fell I knew the day would be won or lost on the shoulders of our dutiful guardsmen for which we have so many, but I also understood that to have the defenses of one of the greatest fortresses in all of Arvum compromised in such a major fashion and without even a whisper of warning from the sentries meant our enemies were more than just gathering shavs and not there on a mere chance of overtaking the city in search of what they sought.
I took those with me and moved to secure the harbor, fearing that if I did not there would be no survivors of the conflict left to tell the tale of it. Winter in the Gray Forest is a dangerous season and making the trek through it between Bastion and Arx without supplies and with the wounded to see to is very close to a sentence of death. I felt that ensuring the river was kept open and the ships left intact to bring the hurt and the displaced to Arx would drastically increase the chances of survival for those who lived through the night.
It has been suggested to me already that perhaps I should have rallied the guardsmen and the frightened citizenry from the harbor into a purposeful fighting force to attempt driving our enemies back through their breach in the walls and into the Gray. But Bastion is more than the land it was built upon or the grand architecture which occupies it. It is her people who are the heart and the soul of the city itself, the many thousands of hands from noble to peasant who saw her raised up in the midst of such a hostile expanse of territory and armored her not just in stone but in the faith that the walls surrounding her would hold strong and keep out the wilds from encroaching upon the sanctuary of their hard-won civilization.
Perhaps on this day the faith in those walls has been breached in much the same way the walls themselves were. That armor can be repaired and rebuilt - stronger, taller, more glorious than before - but each and every person who called Bastion home is irreplaceable to me. We were raised there. It is our home.
We will take it back.
Written By Aindre
May 2, 2021, 5:06 p.m.(5/25/1015 AR)
I spoke with Princess Reese before the battle that took place on the plains of Pieros. Though she is the General of House Grayson's armies, a truly good General understands where they are needed the most on a battlefield and the best of them know when to lean into tradition and education and when to break from it for the greater good. That last part isn't always easy but it is known that we griffin-blooded nobles have done as much in the past even as often as we've fought to strengthen it against breaking. We are traditional. We also create tradition. With the General's blessing I was allowed to take command of Grayson's soldiers for the battle. I believe beyond question the Gods wanted her on that battlefield that day. It is hard to shine from a tent, through hastily scrawled messengers, through frantic reading of battle reports. Princess Reese Grayson is one of the most inspiring figures in the recent history of our Compact. She may go down as one of the most notable heroes in /all/ of the Compact's history, only time will tell. A figure for whom soldiers naturally will rally around without the barking of orders. She was where she needed to be. We both understood that. I could not be more proud of her bravery, for whatever that might mean to anyone reading this.
In the unfolding of battle it is hard to reflect on the lessons one should learn until time has been spent dwelling on them afterwards. When we are, in fact, fortuitous enough to live through such engagements and learn from them. It was an honor to stand around the wartable with the likes of Marquis Kael Keaton, Highlord Alis Valardin, Lady Tesha Telmar and Baroness Calla Vaevici. So too with my cousin Duke Michael Bisland and the Princess Bridget Pravus. Marquish Malesh Stonewood. I cannot forget the unshakeable presence of Grandmaster Preston of the Templar. I believe I learned a little from each of them and as I continue to recount the past and write it down and read it over again and again I have no doubt more lessons will be revealed to me. When you bear the heart of a warrior it is no easy feat to fight a battle through missives and banners and sounding horns. You always wish you could pick up a weapon and go out to save every single person you know will fall because they are following your commands. Surely it is this way with all wartime commanders, those forged in the flames or still being tempered.
The conflict with the Skal'dajan people was far from a rout. In the first half of it, I considered we might even need to sound a retreat and fall back though doing so would have surely cost us the Saffron Chain. It was a decision I felt prepared to make should the worst come to pass. So many on that battlefield fought, bled, died.. against slavers and worse still. So too did their commanders. When the command tent came under attack I could not find a strategic mind from among those spilled out of it and set into sudden disarray that did not earn commendation for their resilience in the face of adversity. How much harder is it to find yourself half-blinded as your wartime table and all your maps and your many reports of the chaos are scattered into the humid winds of the Saffron? It is impossibly hard, but even the impossible is not insurmountable for those who lead the Compact. It is our strength that we stand together and through our strength we persevered in Pieros. Should I have the chance to serve at the side of anyone who did not falter in that tent when it was ripped away from them and with it their wartime faculties, I will gladly do so again.
In the unfolding of battle it is hard to reflect on the lessons one should learn until time has been spent dwelling on them afterwards. When we are, in fact, fortuitous enough to live through such engagements and learn from them. It was an honor to stand around the wartable with the likes of Marquis Kael Keaton, Highlord Alis Valardin, Lady Tesha Telmar and Baroness Calla Vaevici. So too with my cousin Duke Michael Bisland and the Princess Bridget Pravus. Marquish Malesh Stonewood. I cannot forget the unshakeable presence of Grandmaster Preston of the Templar. I believe I learned a little from each of them and as I continue to recount the past and write it down and read it over again and again I have no doubt more lessons will be revealed to me. When you bear the heart of a warrior it is no easy feat to fight a battle through missives and banners and sounding horns. You always wish you could pick up a weapon and go out to save every single person you know will fall because they are following your commands. Surely it is this way with all wartime commanders, those forged in the flames or still being tempered.
The conflict with the Skal'dajan people was far from a rout. In the first half of it, I considered we might even need to sound a retreat and fall back though doing so would have surely cost us the Saffron Chain. It was a decision I felt prepared to make should the worst come to pass. So many on that battlefield fought, bled, died.. against slavers and worse still. So too did their commanders. When the command tent came under attack I could not find a strategic mind from among those spilled out of it and set into sudden disarray that did not earn commendation for their resilience in the face of adversity. How much harder is it to find yourself half-blinded as your wartime table and all your maps and your many reports of the chaos are scattered into the humid winds of the Saffron? It is impossibly hard, but even the impossible is not insurmountable for those who lead the Compact. It is our strength that we stand together and through our strength we persevered in Pieros. Should I have the chance to serve at the side of anyone who did not falter in that tent when it was ripped away from them and with it their wartime faculties, I will gladly do so again.
Written By Aindre
May 2, 2021, 12:21 p.m.(5/25/1015 AR)
Relationship Note on Aiden
Aiden,
I wrote to you on the eve of battle and promised that on the other side of it we would meet up again and drink and share stories and laugh like we had done once or twice since I finally made the decision to move my time from Bastion to Arx. As children we were never.. not close, but I think as we aged into adulthood we both felt the chains of nobility tighten and pull. It happens with all nobles, but it is especially pronounced with those of House Grayson. We have a reputation for leadership, for duty. So often those roles devour the time of a Griffin as we seek to become the wind beneath the wings of those who look to us for guidance. You felt this too, I know. There is a reason you were so coveted in your position as the Duke-Consort of Gemecitta. The more I spoke with people here in Arx who had been a part of your life, the more I realized how much they looked up to you.
I was wrong. The preparations to set sail for Pieros should not have stayed our next chance to sit together and reminisce and rediscover one another and how we had changed as we got older. That wrongness sits lodged in me like the blade of a dagger broken off. Will I ever dig it out? I bleed. I am glad for the things I was able to say to you in the time we had together but there are so many other things that never made it past my lips nor slipped off the tip of my quill. I was so damned /proud/ of you. I won't play around the truth, as a child you could be awkward. You were a follower. I know. You followed Ainsley and I around incessantly unless you were taken by one of your avian obsessions. Sometimes it was endearing and sometimes it was obnoxious. It was of some concern to our parents, I remember well. I was trying so hard to grow up and you? You were simply in love with the things you chose to love, unapologetically so. As we found each other again here in Arx I was.. I guess relieved.. to witness how that unabashed capacity for love in you had not been ground down like so much milled grain. You had changed of course, but my Gods the splendor of your feathers was exciting to behold. You wore those changes so well. You only needed to be let out from under the weight of expectation that comes with being raised in Bastion, especially those heaped upon our lineage, the joining of Grayson and Bisland blood.
You never liked conflict. I don't believe that part of you ever changed. I don't even know if you were wrong to abhor it even if it is such a necessary part of life and nobility. It hurts my heart that you spent your last moments mired in the field of battle even if I understand you passed from this life saving another. The man whose life you preserved, I hope he realizes what was taken from this Compact so that he could remain. I cannot resent him even if the want to curls around my heart and clutches at it. I know if you were given the chance to do it over again you would do it just the same way because the awkward boy who sometimes followed me around when Ainsley was away and Ailys was occupied had truly grown into his plumage. He was a fierce and as loyal as any griffin. As brave as any lion. I don't mean in war. In life. In love and friendship and compassion. You were the most compassionate person I ever met. I could learn a thing or two from you. Many could, perhaps did. So many more never will now.
I don't know what else to write to you except that already I miss you more than I know what to do with. It's not a feeling I am accustomed to, not knowing what to do with myself. The Queen of Death has taken you but I have a hard time believing the Mother of Beginnings will not see you soaring once again and so very soon. Your bright soul is too much of a loss for this world and when it is rested - a rest truly deserved - you will take wing again.
I love you, little brother.
- Aindre
I wrote to you on the eve of battle and promised that on the other side of it we would meet up again and drink and share stories and laugh like we had done once or twice since I finally made the decision to move my time from Bastion to Arx. As children we were never.. not close, but I think as we aged into adulthood we both felt the chains of nobility tighten and pull. It happens with all nobles, but it is especially pronounced with those of House Grayson. We have a reputation for leadership, for duty. So often those roles devour the time of a Griffin as we seek to become the wind beneath the wings of those who look to us for guidance. You felt this too, I know. There is a reason you were so coveted in your position as the Duke-Consort of Gemecitta. The more I spoke with people here in Arx who had been a part of your life, the more I realized how much they looked up to you.
I was wrong. The preparations to set sail for Pieros should not have stayed our next chance to sit together and reminisce and rediscover one another and how we had changed as we got older. That wrongness sits lodged in me like the blade of a dagger broken off. Will I ever dig it out? I bleed. I am glad for the things I was able to say to you in the time we had together but there are so many other things that never made it past my lips nor slipped off the tip of my quill. I was so damned /proud/ of you. I won't play around the truth, as a child you could be awkward. You were a follower. I know. You followed Ainsley and I around incessantly unless you were taken by one of your avian obsessions. Sometimes it was endearing and sometimes it was obnoxious. It was of some concern to our parents, I remember well. I was trying so hard to grow up and you? You were simply in love with the things you chose to love, unapologetically so. As we found each other again here in Arx I was.. I guess relieved.. to witness how that unabashed capacity for love in you had not been ground down like so much milled grain. You had changed of course, but my Gods the splendor of your feathers was exciting to behold. You wore those changes so well. You only needed to be let out from under the weight of expectation that comes with being raised in Bastion, especially those heaped upon our lineage, the joining of Grayson and Bisland blood.
You never liked conflict. I don't believe that part of you ever changed. I don't even know if you were wrong to abhor it even if it is such a necessary part of life and nobility. It hurts my heart that you spent your last moments mired in the field of battle even if I understand you passed from this life saving another. The man whose life you preserved, I hope he realizes what was taken from this Compact so that he could remain. I cannot resent him even if the want to curls around my heart and clutches at it. I know if you were given the chance to do it over again you would do it just the same way because the awkward boy who sometimes followed me around when Ainsley was away and Ailys was occupied had truly grown into his plumage. He was a fierce and as loyal as any griffin. As brave as any lion. I don't mean in war. In life. In love and friendship and compassion. You were the most compassionate person I ever met. I could learn a thing or two from you. Many could, perhaps did. So many more never will now.
I don't know what else to write to you except that already I miss you more than I know what to do with. It's not a feeling I am accustomed to, not knowing what to do with myself. The Queen of Death has taken you but I have a hard time believing the Mother of Beginnings will not see you soaring once again and so very soon. Your bright soul is too much of a loss for this world and when it is rested - a rest truly deserved - you will take wing again.
I love you, little brother.
- Aindre
Written By Aindre
Dec. 8, 2019, 8:26 p.m.(5/5/1012 AR)
I'm very fortunate to have arrived safely from Bastion and the warm welcome has been nothing short of astounding. Even for one like myself who finds no small part of their time being offered to a noble's responsibilities, I've already managed to catch up with a few of my cousins and I've also made the acquaintance of a Whisper, a knight-poet, a particularly troublesome southerner and a distinctly charming northerner.
Bastion is very easy to miss. While Arx is wonderful, a true achievement, I'm positive I will soon miss the comforts of home but the rising excitement of shifting politics that is taking place assures me that I am where I need to be for now. Trying times call for excellent leadership. Where better to test my education and experience than at the heart of them?
Bastion is very easy to miss. While Arx is wonderful, a true achievement, I'm positive I will soon miss the comforts of home but the rising excitement of shifting politics that is taking place assures me that I am where I need to be for now. Trying times call for excellent leadership. Where better to test my education and experience than at the heart of them?
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.