Written By Shard
Dec. 26, 2017, 1:40 a.m.(11/5/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Logan
You're referencing a feud I neither know the details of nor particularly care about; it's none of my business. But if you're going to style yourselves wolves, know what skin you're wrapping yourself with. Particularly since the Horned One and his master love to lie about it.
When I first learned the Arvani tongue, it took me some time to understand the word 'alpha', because it only ever seemed to be used in reference to wolves, and it never made any fucking sense in context. I had to pick out meaning bit by bit, but I'll admit it's still a little baffling at times. Let me try to paint this more clearly: when you talk about wolves, and you use the word 'alpha', what you mean is 'parent', and what you really mean is 'parents', because unless one has died, there are two, because each pack has a mated pair. The rest of the pack are their children. Wolf packs are families. That's it. Occasionally there are adopted members, or packs made up of unrelated members out of necessity, but this is rare. When the parents become too old and weak, they usually just die, sometimes in battle against other packs, sometimes in hunting, sometimes by simply wandering off into the winter, but their own children don't usually kill them any more than human children have a tradition of killing their own parents.
When I first learned the Arvani tongue, it took me some time to understand the word 'alpha', because it only ever seemed to be used in reference to wolves, and it never made any fucking sense in context. I had to pick out meaning bit by bit, but I'll admit it's still a little baffling at times. Let me try to paint this more clearly: when you talk about wolves, and you use the word 'alpha', what you mean is 'parent', and what you really mean is 'parents', because unless one has died, there are two, because each pack has a mated pair. The rest of the pack are their children. Wolf packs are families. That's it. Occasionally there are adopted members, or packs made up of unrelated members out of necessity, but this is rare. When the parents become too old and weak, they usually just die, sometimes in battle against other packs, sometimes in hunting, sometimes by simply wandering off into the winter, but their own children don't usually kill them any more than human children have a tradition of killing their own parents.
Written By Shard
Dec. 26, 2017, 12:51 a.m.(11/4/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Logan
That's not how wolves work, damn it.
Written By Shard
Dec. 25, 2017, 3:17 a.m.(11/3/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Cirroch
The North has never been safe for the Abandoned, and often that's been because of the Compact. Understand that first. The lure of the Horned One, when he isn't forcing tribes to join him, is protection from you. Part of this is built on a lie, but he sells that lie so well because it fits perfectly with the actual truth. The Horned One says he will let them keep their ways and continue living as they always have. This is also a lie, but it sounds much better than changing their entire way of life and giving up everything they've known for centuries in order to come and live under the rule of strangers who will never fully accept them until their children's children have so fully adapted to this new way of living that no one can tell the difference any more and their old traditions have been mostly erased and their stories and histories forgotten, which is what the Compact usually offers...when it offers anything at all.
You say you need these people? Consider that they've been living all this time without you, often in spite of you. Are they allowed to refuse you? If so, good. If not, you aren't negotiating, you're simply offering terms of servitude or death, and they'll see it for what it is, even if they end up accepting. Food and healing are good, but Abandoned can feed themselves and have their own healers. And if a tribe is in need, you're offering short term gifts for the lifelong oaths of their entire tribe. Consider: how honorable is it, exactly, to ask them to choose between the lives of their friends and family, and their loyalty?
Think about these things, before you go to any of them. If you're looking for allies, treat them as potential allies, not resources to be mined, and consider what actual benefits--not trinkets--you can offer them, long term, in exchange for what you think you'll get out of it. It isn't a small thing you're asking them to do.
You say you need these people? Consider that they've been living all this time without you, often in spite of you. Are they allowed to refuse you? If so, good. If not, you aren't negotiating, you're simply offering terms of servitude or death, and they'll see it for what it is, even if they end up accepting. Food and healing are good, but Abandoned can feed themselves and have their own healers. And if a tribe is in need, you're offering short term gifts for the lifelong oaths of their entire tribe. Consider: how honorable is it, exactly, to ask them to choose between the lives of their friends and family, and their loyalty?
Think about these things, before you go to any of them. If you're looking for allies, treat them as potential allies, not resources to be mined, and consider what actual benefits--not trinkets--you can offer them, long term, in exchange for what you think you'll get out of it. It isn't a small thing you're asking them to do.
Written By Shard
Dec. 21, 2017, 3:57 p.m.(10/24/1007 AR)
In my tribe, ravens were seen as guides and messengers, although not at all the sort that were above tricking or harassing you if they were in the mood. I've seen them rob eagles of their kills. They regularly lead wolf packs to dead animals with hides too thick for their beaks to tear through. They're damned clever birds. They're also greedy little shits with an eye for anything that shines or sparkles, so bargains and offerings can be made without too much trouble, if you're not an idiot.
We always associated them with death and ancestor spirits, so it was disappointing to learn Death is a goddess and she actually likes spiders and bats (and terrible, terrible puns) instead. Still, since when does truth really hurt good stories?
We always associated them with death and ancestor spirits, so it was disappointing to learn Death is a goddess and she actually likes spiders and bats (and terrible, terrible puns) instead. Still, since when does truth really hurt good stories?
Written By Shard
Dec. 21, 2017, 5:04 a.m.(10/23/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Aislin
The short answer is yes.
But if the short answer would do, you wouldn't still be asking the question. So a slightly longer, colder answer: even if it wasn't, even if they were real, which they weren't, but let's pretend, for a minute, let's believe the lie for just a minute, and say there were really children through that door. Laughing, happy, living children inside an old mound in the middle of the forest, on the other side of a door that opened on its own, with a voice that tempted and taunted and then tried to force us through. There was no bringing those children out without going inside, and there was no getting out once we stepped in ourselves. There was no saving them. They were dead already even if they were real.
Which they weren't. Because it was still a fucking lie. You did right.
But if the short answer would do, you wouldn't still be asking the question. So a slightly longer, colder answer: even if it wasn't, even if they were real, which they weren't, but let's pretend, for a minute, let's believe the lie for just a minute, and say there were really children through that door. Laughing, happy, living children inside an old mound in the middle of the forest, on the other side of a door that opened on its own, with a voice that tempted and taunted and then tried to force us through. There was no bringing those children out without going inside, and there was no getting out once we stepped in ourselves. There was no saving them. They were dead already even if they were real.
Which they weren't. Because it was still a fucking lie. You did right.
Written By Shard
Dec. 17, 2017, 6:20 a.m.(10/15/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Audric
Yes, and when it's his bones that are crushed into the earth and his blood watering the trees and his ashes on the wind, then we will have any kind of peace from him.
Not before.
Not before.
Written By Shard
Dec. 17, 2017, 6:12 a.m.(10/15/1007 AR)
There is no peace. We're not safe.
Written By Shard
Dec. 12, 2017, 6:49 a.m.(10/5/1007 AR)
There are times I've felt so angry that it could be a feeling best described as having an actual fire sewn inside my chest. It's not fucking pleasant for anyone involved when it happens, myself included. But people tend to mistake the capability for a lot of anger for likelihood for it to come out. And they also mix up a bad mood or general unwillingness to put up with their dumb bullshit for actual anger, especially the murderous sort. Not that this mix-up isn't useful sometimes, but I'm not actually going to kill someone because they're mildly annoying me, or because I dislike them. I dislike a lot of people. It's kind've what I do. You really shouldn't worry about it.
I mean, unless I'm actually warning you to back the fuck off. Then maybe take me seriously. I didn't say I wouldn't glass you.
I mean, unless I'm actually warning you to back the fuck off. Then maybe take me seriously. I didn't say I wouldn't glass you.
Written By Shard
Dec. 10, 2017, 10:03 p.m.(10/2/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Nierzen
Oh, I got that you were patting the Compact's diplomats on the back for being so clever at convincing various Abandoned tribal leaders to agree to bend the knee and be ennobled, thus keeping control of at least part of the land they'd lived on for centuries and avoiding having every man, woman and child under their care eventually slaughtered by Compact armies, which is the only other alternative. I just find it fascinating that you think the Abandoned are so fucking stupid they're somehow unaware that they were still being conquered. What part were they ignorant of, do you think? The bit where they were suddenly sworn to the service of their once-enemies? The bit where they gave up large chunks of the way they'd been living for the past who knows how many generations? The new gods? Or, maybe, it was all their new 'friends' going on about how disappointing it was that they hadn't actually been murdered instead. So many possibilities.
Written By Shard
Dec. 10, 2017, 8:59 p.m.(10/2/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Nierzen
Does it also take a special kind of cunning to think that they're too stupid to read?
Written By Shard
Dec. 8, 2017, 4:39 p.m.(9/24/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Arianna
Some animals have very big jawbones.
Written By Shard
Dec. 8, 2017, 3:35 p.m.(9/24/1007 AR)
Found an...interesting note in the training center.
There are plenty of weapons that can be used non-lethally, if you're careful and lucky.
There's no such thing as a non-lethal weapon. I've killed people with sticks, well cared for and not. Fuck, for a while, I used to kill people with a jawbone.
There are plenty of weapons that can be used non-lethally, if you're careful and lucky.
There's no such thing as a non-lethal weapon. I've killed people with sticks, well cared for and not. Fuck, for a while, I used to kill people with a jawbone.
Written By Shard
Dec. 8, 2017, 1:37 p.m.(9/24/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Zerric
To quote someone I know:
Well, well, well.
Well, well, well.
Written By Shard
Dec. 8, 2017, 4:19 a.m.(9/23/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Zerric
What part of any of what was being described there sounded like 'acceptance' to you?
Written By Shard
Dec. 7, 2017, 3:51 p.m.(9/22/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Larissa
I recommend knives. Match unwanted physical contact with unwanted physical contact.
Written By Shard
Nov. 26, 2017, 4:14 a.m.(8/27/1007 AR)
My oldest memory is one that has never left me and probably never will, though some parts of it have faded so much that they likely only still exist in my mind because they're attached to the rest. Other parts are so sharp and clear they could have happened an hour ago. Some nights I lie awake, tracing this memory like some people might follow the familiar edges of an old crack in the ceiling. Some nights it edges into my dreams while I'm already asleep. And some nights I wake up in the dark, hearing notes of it like an old song, half finished. Even during the day, it's always there at the back of my mind, waiting to be brought up during quiet moments when my mind wanders without thinking down familiar paths. If I had to make the choice, of any memory I have, this is the one I'd never trade away or wish gone.
Written By Shard
Nov. 14, 2017, 8:48 p.m.(8/2/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Aksel
Your mistake here is believing they were ever asleep. You're the one who has awoken.
Just keep in mind that not everything that is strange and unexplained, or even hostile, is tied to the Abyss. The world's bigger than that.
Just keep in mind that not everything that is strange and unexplained, or even hostile, is tied to the Abyss. The world's bigger than that.
Written By Shard
Nov. 12, 2017, 4:34 p.m.(7/26/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Reigna
I can't speak to ennoblement, and I can't speak to siblings. I had neither of those to complicate the issue. I can't speak to an adopted mother, because I was old enough to remember mine, and the person who took me in never tried to replace my parents (she'd have failed utterly if she had, I was as bull-headed as a child as I am now, maybe even more so).
Here's what I can say: whether it's you or someone you choose, she needs someone who is going to love her, and if you already love her and have the means to take care of her, then that's the most important part already done. The rest is complicated and messy and unfair, but that's got to be handled and one way or another you'll handle it. Keeping her at any kind of a distance because you don't want to disrespect a dead woman is admirable, but beside the point. If she needs a mother, she needs one, and she probably does. Tell her the truth from the beginning, but let her have what she needs. That, in my mind, is the best respect you can give to either of them. There's no law that says she can't have two mothers, or that one has to replace the other. If she gets older and decides that she'd rather have you as a loved guardian instead, then let her have that. Let her shape what she needs out of what you're willing to give, and be willing to give what she needs as she grows.
There's no promise it will all work out, but there's never a promise of that, not with anyone.
Here's what I can say: whether it's you or someone you choose, she needs someone who is going to love her, and if you already love her and have the means to take care of her, then that's the most important part already done. The rest is complicated and messy and unfair, but that's got to be handled and one way or another you'll handle it. Keeping her at any kind of a distance because you don't want to disrespect a dead woman is admirable, but beside the point. If she needs a mother, she needs one, and she probably does. Tell her the truth from the beginning, but let her have what she needs. That, in my mind, is the best respect you can give to either of them. There's no law that says she can't have two mothers, or that one has to replace the other. If she gets older and decides that she'd rather have you as a loved guardian instead, then let her have that. Let her shape what she needs out of what you're willing to give, and be willing to give what she needs as she grows.
There's no promise it will all work out, but there's never a promise of that, not with anyone.
Written By Shard
Nov. 10, 2017, 2:09 a.m.(7/21/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Thesarin
I've said it a few times myself, but listen to what this man says, there.
The Horned One has been casting his shadow over the lands I grew up in since long before I was born. He's been killing and enslaving the people there all that time. Now he's coming south, and he's bringing his armies with him.
Where do they come from? Where do you come from? They all had mothers and fathers before he stole their names and their lives away.
The Horned One has been casting his shadow over the lands I grew up in since long before I was born. He's been killing and enslaving the people there all that time. Now he's coming south, and he's bringing his armies with him.
Where do they come from? Where do you come from? They all had mothers and fathers before he stole their names and their lives away.
Written By Shard
Nov. 5, 2017, 5:20 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
I was going to write something here about thralldom. It would've been irritable and sarcastic and aimed at a bunch of other white journal entries. But something occurred to me, that, perhaps, hasn't occurred to a lot of other people, because Skald's still so new to everyone, where all the gods are new to me.
Skald does what he wants. And unlike the other gods, he does go around doing things fairly often. Not big things, generally. At least, I don't hear about them. But every now and then, I guess he gets an itch, and when he gets an itch, he goes right the fuck ahead and scratches it. Because he wants to. Because that's who Skald is.
There are some people getting pissed off because Archlector Aleksei raised a bunch of money from people through legal means and then followed the laws Thrax has laid out to purchase thrall debt and free thralls. A lot of thralls, sure, but so what? That's how it's supposed to happen. You wrote the laws, the Liberators followed them, now you have all that money to comfort you until you go and raid some more Abandoned villages to replace them. And you're mad about it.
But there's a god out there that isn't going to follow your laws or your rules or care about your economics if he gets an itch about what you're doing to people. He's not going to read all your essays about how you're actually doing good things and helping them. He's not going to listen to your justifications. If he gets that itch, he's going to scratch it. Because he's Skald, and Skald does what he wants. Because the gods are what they are and they don't change their natures. Right? And none of your Archlectors or disciples or Legates tell the gods what to do. And neither do you.
So...and, again, not that I'm expecting anyone to actually listen to my bullshit, but if anyone is reading this who finds it relevant, rather than yelling at the man who is following your laws, maybe, just maybe, you might consider the god who isn't and doesn't need to, and might just one day decide to pull a Kennex on your domain without so much as a by your leave or a proclamation. You could try talking to him and explaining how Thralldom isn't REALLY slavery. Maybe you'll convince him! Then you'd lay this whole argument to rest for good, wouldn't you? Or...maybe you might start making some contingency plans, I don't know. You could just keep ignoring that he exists. I'm sure that sort of thing works really well when it comes to other stuff you have no control over, like floods. Or hurricanes.
(okay, this was still sarcastic. You can't win them all.)
Skald does what he wants. And unlike the other gods, he does go around doing things fairly often. Not big things, generally. At least, I don't hear about them. But every now and then, I guess he gets an itch, and when he gets an itch, he goes right the fuck ahead and scratches it. Because he wants to. Because that's who Skald is.
There are some people getting pissed off because Archlector Aleksei raised a bunch of money from people through legal means and then followed the laws Thrax has laid out to purchase thrall debt and free thralls. A lot of thralls, sure, but so what? That's how it's supposed to happen. You wrote the laws, the Liberators followed them, now you have all that money to comfort you until you go and raid some more Abandoned villages to replace them. And you're mad about it.
But there's a god out there that isn't going to follow your laws or your rules or care about your economics if he gets an itch about what you're doing to people. He's not going to read all your essays about how you're actually doing good things and helping them. He's not going to listen to your justifications. If he gets that itch, he's going to scratch it. Because he's Skald, and Skald does what he wants. Because the gods are what they are and they don't change their natures. Right? And none of your Archlectors or disciples or Legates tell the gods what to do. And neither do you.
So...and, again, not that I'm expecting anyone to actually listen to my bullshit, but if anyone is reading this who finds it relevant, rather than yelling at the man who is following your laws, maybe, just maybe, you might consider the god who isn't and doesn't need to, and might just one day decide to pull a Kennex on your domain without so much as a by your leave or a proclamation. You could try talking to him and explaining how Thralldom isn't REALLY slavery. Maybe you'll convince him! Then you'd lay this whole argument to rest for good, wouldn't you? Or...maybe you might start making some contingency plans, I don't know. You could just keep ignoring that he exists. I'm sure that sort of thing works really well when it comes to other stuff you have no control over, like floods. Or hurricanes.
(okay, this was still sarcastic. You can't win them all.)
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