Written By Sparte
March 25, 2018, 11:33 p.m.(6/6/1008 AR)
The sense of loss in Arx is palpable. People are mourning their friends, their lovers, their heroes. I miss those I knew and will honor those I did not. Yet... I find myself unable to grieve. Instead I worry for those suffering.
Written By Sparte
March 21, 2018, 8:38 a.m.(5/25/1008 AR)
We held, but with losses. Four men and women of the hundred entrusted to me were gravely wounded. One died instantly and is perhaps fortunate for it, the others suffer still and are in critical care under the mercies. I have taken the time to get to know each of those who came to serve in Setarco under my command. They were all strangers scant weeks ago, and now we will all mourn those who fell together. Tears in our wake.
There is another who fell where I could see, an old friend named Princess Serafine Velenosa. She introduced me to many things in Arx while I was still barely learning my way around. There are others who will feel her loss more accutely than I will, for she had those who more than trusted and respected her. She was loved. I know she will be carried in their hearts and memories, and that she died fighting an honorable fight. I will be giving my prayers for her and the others fallen at the shrine of Death when we have returned to Arx.
There is another who fell where I could see, an old friend named Princess Serafine Velenosa. She introduced me to many things in Arx while I was still barely learning my way around. There are others who will feel her loss more accutely than I will, for she had those who more than trusted and respected her. She was loved. I know she will be carried in their hearts and memories, and that she died fighting an honorable fight. I will be giving my prayers for her and the others fallen at the shrine of Death when we have returned to Arx.
Written By Sparte
March 17, 2018, 11:23 p.m.(5/18/1008 AR)
Setarco is so incredibly white. I know very little of what is beneath it all, but the city stood out upon our approach and stands out all the more now that I have walked the walls. I hope that we can leave it as it was, and so far it seems possible we and this city will be so fortunate. I can only wonder at the fate of those elsewhere, and pray for them.
Written By Sparte
March 13, 2018, 11:25 a.m.(5/9/1008 AR)
A while back I announced I was going to be researching the history of slavery in Arx. People have felt attacked by this, on both sides. Those who support the practice of Thralldom don't want to speak for fear I'll twist their words. Those opposed seem to fear I'll in some way justify the continuation of the same practice.
In the words of great scholar: A land that has forgotten its past is doomed to repeat its mistakes.
I've only sought to secure an accurate historical account. People fear to lose more than they fear ignorance. I've not given up, but this isn't going to happen fast.
In the words of great scholar: A land that has forgotten its past is doomed to repeat its mistakes.
I've only sought to secure an accurate historical account. People fear to lose more than they fear ignorance. I've not given up, but this isn't going to happen fast.
Written By Sparte
March 13, 2018, 11:17 a.m.(5/9/1008 AR)
Meditation. We're encouraged to do it at shrines, in prayer, and elsewhere for guidance. Yet I have been unable to find any texts that provide guidance to people on meditation itself. I wonder if there are any out there I'm just missing.
I've had multiple people come to me letting me know that my, well, resolve stands out. My ability to stick to my decisions and push forward. My lessons always come back to the meditation. I see it as a foundation, and the rest just sort of comes from there.
I'm still a mediocre writer, but I'm going to try to pen another book on meditation. I don't think my perspective is enough. I'll need to find other people and include the ways they meditate.
I've had multiple people come to me letting me know that my, well, resolve stands out. My ability to stick to my decisions and push forward. My lessons always come back to the meditation. I see it as a foundation, and the rest just sort of comes from there.
I'm still a mediocre writer, but I'm going to try to pen another book on meditation. I don't think my perspective is enough. I'll need to find other people and include the ways they meditate.
Written By Sparte
March 10, 2018, 8:58 p.m.(5/4/1008 AR)
I've applied with the Champions, since I imagine that is the proper thing to do. I mean if I'm going to agree when people call for crazy souls to hit each other with sticks and sharp objects I imagine I may as well do it properly. I've several friends who have decided to go the route of being champions, so I would be in good company. Though come to think of it I don't know if any of them can ride a horse. Hope jousting challenges don't catch on.
Written By Sparte
March 10, 2018, 8:56 p.m.(5/4/1008 AR)
So on a whim I decided to agree to serve as champion for a joust, and they accepted. It isn't that I don't think I can joust, it is that I've never had to find out before. I'll honor Gloria and give it my all, just fingers crossed I don't end up on the wrong side of the horse by the end of it.
Written By Sparte
Feb. 28, 2018, 1:13 p.m.(4/11/1008 AR)
I've talked to a few people recently about the notion of a shop that sells puzzle boxes, riddles, those sorts of entertainments.
I'm not much of a craftsman normally. I get the occasional spurt of inspiration, but nothing I've made would I call a masterpiece. When I've the urge to create I just listen to it.
Yet riddles and puzzles have been a theme that has followed me most of my life. I'm used to them, comfortable with them. I feel like it wouldn't be hard for me to keep a shop like that stocked. I like the notion of a shop doing that too, yet I don't really feel like the merchant sort. Shopkeeper Sparte fits me like a vest with three arm holes. Maybe there is another way to go about it than for profit.
I'm not much of a craftsman normally. I get the occasional spurt of inspiration, but nothing I've made would I call a masterpiece. When I've the urge to create I just listen to it.
Yet riddles and puzzles have been a theme that has followed me most of my life. I'm used to them, comfortable with them. I feel like it wouldn't be hard for me to keep a shop like that stocked. I like the notion of a shop doing that too, yet I don't really feel like the merchant sort. Shopkeeper Sparte fits me like a vest with three arm holes. Maybe there is another way to go about it than for profit.
Written By Sparte
Feb. 27, 2018, 12:36 p.m.(4/9/1008 AR)
The second debate has happened in the series I threw together. This was a more mild and relaxed one, but it brought some interesting things to light. Everyone seems to have emotions they associate with colors, and they associate things with the same colors that stand for those emotions. Not always the same colors to the same emotions though. I wonder what that means about the world.
Written By Sparte
Feb. 26, 2018, 11:30 a.m.(4/7/1008 AR)
Recently someone crossed my path at the Confessional of the Waves. They asked me if I got what I sought from my prayers. This struck me because so many people pray to ask for things. Simple blessings, simple good fortune. I myself am guilty of using phrases that bessech the gods because it can be so common place to do so.
Yet when I sit in prayer, and I know I'm not alone in this, I don't pray seeking things. I pray to share my choices and my reasons. I pray that I have helped the world and the people around me, and that I will continue to do so. I pray that I will make of myself the person I should be. I pray I will uphold the ideals of the pantheon, not because the pantheon need hold my hand but because I believe they are worth rising to.
I wonder if there is some line between what we pray for when on our own, and how we pray in our daily life. Bless a lantern, bless this harvest, bless this union, all the little blessings we invoke. I know they serve a purpose, but I wonder at how people balance asking for blessings against giving to the gods. Perhaps my own scale needs balancing.
Yet when I sit in prayer, and I know I'm not alone in this, I don't pray seeking things. I pray to share my choices and my reasons. I pray that I have helped the world and the people around me, and that I will continue to do so. I pray that I will make of myself the person I should be. I pray I will uphold the ideals of the pantheon, not because the pantheon need hold my hand but because I believe they are worth rising to.
I wonder if there is some line between what we pray for when on our own, and how we pray in our daily life. Bless a lantern, bless this harvest, bless this union, all the little blessings we invoke. I know they serve a purpose, but I wonder at how people balance asking for blessings against giving to the gods. Perhaps my own scale needs balancing.
Written By Sparte
Feb. 25, 2018, 7:29 p.m.(4/6/1008 AR)
I feel like a liar, though I told the truth as I knew it. I told a great many people I was ready to go to war, and I am. That I'm prepared to face the enemy coming at us from across the waves. I swore allegiance, I've already fought battles, but now the largest of the clashes are ahead of us and I find myself consigned to remaining in Arx.
All my talk of valor and efforts eventually led to my earning the title of Officer in the Iron Guard, and with that comes the responsibility of leadership. I still feel unprepared for that role, more suited to facing the enemy as just another blade on the front lines. Yet they do not lack for people who can serve that role.
Nor would I be worthy of the trust given me if I were to just run off and leave those men and women in my charge without leadership. May Lagoma help me to grow into the boots I now fill, and may the Sentinel help me to fidget less in them.
All my talk of valor and efforts eventually led to my earning the title of Officer in the Iron Guard, and with that comes the responsibility of leadership. I still feel unprepared for that role, more suited to facing the enemy as just another blade on the front lines. Yet they do not lack for people who can serve that role.
Nor would I be worthy of the trust given me if I were to just run off and leave those men and women in my charge without leadership. May Lagoma help me to grow into the boots I now fill, and may the Sentinel help me to fidget less in them.
Written By Sparte
Feb. 17, 2018, 11:22 p.m.(3/18/1008 AR)
Alright, I think this has run the course.
You may have heard a rumor I know the secret language of trees. You may have begun looking into this mystery.
They bark.
You can continue with more important things in your day.
You may have heard a rumor I know the secret language of trees. You may have begun looking into this mystery.
They bark.
You can continue with more important things in your day.
Written By Sparte
Feb. 13, 2018, 2:17 p.m.(3/3/1008 AR)
Perhaps I should challenge someone now. Maybe to a joke telling contest.
Who wants some terrible jokes inflicted on an audience? Maybe Skald will show up and laugh at us.
Who wants some terrible jokes inflicted on an audience? Maybe Skald will show up and laugh at us.
Written By Sparte
Feb. 11, 2018, 9:59 a.m.(2/26/1008 AR)
Thoughts on rubies
Of all the stones that show up on weapons, rubies is the most prevalent. It could be the blood red color that causes people to choose this stone for adornment. No other stone comes close.
Seasilk Dying Patterns
I speculate that seasilk dying patterns could be used on steelsilk or fireweave. I cannot afford to experiment with such materials, but as of now I expect if successful that would make the hardened materials even harder to recognize in casual wear. One wonders what would happen to other textiles.
Making mirrors
All standard designs for mirrors either come from a polished metal or the use of a layer of glass. I'm left wondering if there are other ways that mirrors are crafte, beyond just a still pool of water or some ice with the right weather.
Written By Sparte
Feb. 11, 2018, 1:48 a.m.(2/26/1008 AR)
I've been having requests for some of the songs I write come to me. I generally write songs in response to events, but they arn't entirely mine. I borrow older songs and rework the lyrics and the melody a bit. I'd love to imagine I'm a great talent, but I'm a musical hack.
That all being said I absolutely love writing them.
That all being said I absolutely love writing them.
Written By Sparte
Feb. 4, 2018, 1:58 p.m.(2/13/1008 AR)
What do you get when you cross a Templar with a wedding planner?
A devout devotional for the devotions of the devoted.
The Templar I told it to hated it.
A devout devotional for the devotions of the devoted.
The Templar I told it to hated it.
Written By Sparte
Feb. 2, 2018, 10:12 a.m.(2/8/1008 AR)
I saw the play on the Siege. The themes were an echo of many of the things felt by people at that time, things that they didn't have a way to express. It was my first time seeing a play, so I was surprised to see so many people were upset by it. Mostly nobles that felt personally slighted by something in the themes from what I could tell. Some even took to shouting in the theatre, which was just embarassing. At least the ones who simply walked out didn't make a scene.
I guarded those walls, I helped fight those fights. We suffered our share of losses, and those people deserve to be remembered. I enjoyed the play overall, though I know it was just using those losses to point a finger. It isn't what I would do, it doesn't really do justice to the memory of the people who died to defend this city. But it reminds people the loss was real, it reminds them that we may suffer those losses again. I hope people will take the time to visit the shrines, or pray to the spirits, or however they show their thanks to those who have passed on to the next life. If the play gets people taking the time to do that even once? It will have been a great play.
I guarded those walls, I helped fight those fights. We suffered our share of losses, and those people deserve to be remembered. I enjoyed the play overall, though I know it was just using those losses to point a finger. It isn't what I would do, it doesn't really do justice to the memory of the people who died to defend this city. But it reminds people the loss was real, it reminds them that we may suffer those losses again. I hope people will take the time to visit the shrines, or pray to the spirits, or however they show their thanks to those who have passed on to the next life. If the play gets people taking the time to do that even once? It will have been a great play.
Written By Sparte
Jan. 31, 2018, 5:26 p.m.(1/26/1008 AR)
For Skald - A boat's potential
A boat without water can never sink
It just sits on the ground and makes people think
Would that boat be so grand in the waves and the surf?
Would it sink and be lost in soggy damp earth?
The boat without water can sail anywhere
So long as it wants to stay right there
A boat without water can never sink
It just sits on the ground and makes people think
Would that boat be so grand in the waves and the surf?
Would it sink and be lost in soggy damp earth?
The boat without water can sail anywhere
So long as it wants to stay right there
Written By Sparte
Jan. 28, 2018, 6 p.m.(1/20/1008 AR)
Nothing quite like having rumors spread about you.
If I were the only victim of these rumors it would be bad enough. I am not. They are also causing a certain family great distress, in a time when they've suffering far too much already.
When I finally managed to track down the person spreading the rumor they were unapologetic. Perhaps they don't realize the full implication of who they've hurt with what was said, or possibly they don't care.
This is how trust is lost. Not because of hate, not because of an intent to drive a wedge. Out of carelessness and disregard for others. I forgive the person who started this rumor because I believe they can do better, can be better. I cannot find it in myself to trust them again.
If I were the only victim of these rumors it would be bad enough. I am not. They are also causing a certain family great distress, in a time when they've suffering far too much already.
When I finally managed to track down the person spreading the rumor they were unapologetic. Perhaps they don't realize the full implication of who they've hurt with what was said, or possibly they don't care.
This is how trust is lost. Not because of hate, not because of an intent to drive a wedge. Out of carelessness and disregard for others. I forgive the person who started this rumor because I believe they can do better, can be better. I cannot find it in myself to trust them again.
Written By Sparte
Jan. 26, 2018, 12:42 a.m.(1/14/1008 AR)
(To the tune of Blow Ye Winds)
I've heard it said down Southport way
And off in Setarco!
There's lovin' and fightin' to be had
If a-marryin' ye go!
(Chorus)
Blow ye winds in the mornin'
Blow ye winds, Hi-Ho!
Clear away you single gals
He's blown the winds, Hi-Ho
She'll load his gut with cake and pie
And drink up all his rum
And sure she'll make him happier
Before the week is done
The best man's drink is empty now
The drummer lookin' pale
Be careful where you step, me lads
I fear he's missed the pail
The lucky lass is soon to know
The glow of a woman, wed!
The Groom's been eatin' lard and cheese
And can sail a breeze in bed
The lass what fancies this her chance
To be the next to wed
She's scratching at her nethers there
And so's half the single lads
When they get home, rings on at last
A happy pair they'll be
Until the wine and rum is truly gone
Could've stayed at sea
I've heard it said down Southport way
And off in Setarco!
There's lovin' and fightin' to be had
If a-marryin' ye go!
(Chorus)
Blow ye winds in the mornin'
Blow ye winds, Hi-Ho!
Clear away you single gals
He's blown the winds, Hi-Ho
She'll load his gut with cake and pie
And drink up all his rum
And sure she'll make him happier
Before the week is done
The best man's drink is empty now
The drummer lookin' pale
Be careful where you step, me lads
I fear he's missed the pail
The lucky lass is soon to know
The glow of a woman, wed!
The Groom's been eatin' lard and cheese
And can sail a breeze in bed
The lass what fancies this her chance
To be the next to wed
She's scratching at her nethers there
And so's half the single lads
When they get home, rings on at last
A happy pair they'll be
Until the wine and rum is truly gone
Could've stayed at sea
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.