Written By Silas
Feb. 19, 2018, 11:46 p.m.(3/22/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Kenna
I concur.
Written By Khanne
Feb. 19, 2018, 11:22 p.m.(3/22/1008 AR)
You can find unity not only in and with the faith, but with all people. That is unity. To say that you can only find it there, is quite limiting. More often, people have a marriage of beliefs; beliefs that combine the Gods of the Pantheon and the Spirits of Shamanism. There is unity in that as well. There is unity when a Shaman works along side one of the Faith. There is unity in all of the Great Houses working together. There is unity in learning about one another and trying to understand.... even if we might find it difficult at times. Unity is found in all of us working together to face a common foe. We are the Compact, and that alone unifies us, despite all of our differences.
Yes, the time for unity is now. True unity.
Yes, the time for unity is now. True unity.
Written By Thena
Feb. 19, 2018, 11:02 p.m.(3/22/1008 AR)
Sorry scholar, I thought I had more to say but...I don’t.
Just a long fucking day.
Just a long fucking day.
Written By Kenna
Feb. 19, 2018, 10:19 p.m.(3/22/1008 AR)
If I can bring a smile to even one person's face, then it has been a day well worth my time.
Written By Wynna
Feb. 19, 2018, 9:20 p.m.(3/22/1008 AR)
Soon enough, dear reader, I'll have many more words to show you.
Written By Darren
Feb. 19, 2018, 9:04 p.m.(3/22/1008 AR)
Sometimes I think I forget how good an evening of drinks and meeting new people is for the soul. It is easy to forget that every living man, woman, and child here has a face, a story, and a name. It does me good to learn those every now and again, and if means I get to ply Northlander whiskey and ale? All the better.
Written By Alis
Feb. 19, 2018, 8:12 p.m.(3/22/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Driskell
Very well spoken, Brother Driskell. To so eloquently describe the duties and responsibilities that come with nobility.
Written By Eleyna
Feb. 19, 2018, 8 p.m.(3/22/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Cadenza
As the head of House Velenosa, I have a duty to all members of the House to see to their welfare and protect them from harm. Yet, sometimes, affections grow beyond the bounds of duty, as it has with Princess Cadenza. She approached me from the start with openness and candor, offering me total trust. That's rare enough from family, much less a fellow Lycene. She came to the city and got right to work in making alliances and rising to position within the Explorer's Society, despite her rough start and what she experienced prior to her arrival. Anything I ask, she hasn't just been willing but eager to help. I admire her loyalty, tenacity, and humor. She is a credit to the House that I am proud and honored to call her my family.
Written By Joscelin
Feb. 19, 2018, 7:59 p.m.(3/22/1008 AR)
When you realize you always have a choice and you stop fighting who you are, the waters of your soul run calm and clear. Even the occassional ripple doesn't phase you much. The storm passes, the sky clears eventually.
I feel clean.
I feel clean.
Written By Corban
Feb. 19, 2018, 7:42 p.m.(3/22/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Preston
I, too, am troubled by Sir Preston's vague impugning of the faithfulness of the Oathlands nobility. Those I know of are god-fearing men and women and even those who follow other ways have a healthy respect for the Faith and Faith militant.
We welcome the Templars' swords, honor the gods, and do our duty.
We welcome the Templars' swords, honor the gods, and do our duty.
Written By Norwood
Feb. 19, 2018, 7:02 p.m.(3/22/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Preston
To sow division upon the white pages is most disheartening when we need unity so very much right now.
Written By Driskell
Feb. 19, 2018, 6:03 p.m.(3/21/1008 AR)
The simple concept of nobility is one that comes from the gods themselves, and the highborn are intrinsically weaved with the Faith for in the gods is where all aspirational ideals come from. A noble that rejects the Faith and the gods is one that is trying to sever a key aspect of their soul; it leads to only harming themselves and those they are responsible for. What are some of the examples that show the Faith and nobility are intertwined?
Does not Petrichor give humanity dominion over all the lands to ensure they are cared for? Through our responsible position as caretaker, does not the lands provide to sustain us? So to is it the relationship between highborn and lowborn, that through the ideals of Petrichor, the nobility lead and care for the needs of the lowborn and protect them, and in return, the lowborn work diligently to the best of their abilities so that the dominion may flourish.
Does not Gild bring to humanity prosperity, charity, civilization, commerce and travel not that we might hoard but so that we might share our blessings to those who are less fortunate no matter where they may be? That through hospitality, humanity might see each other not as strangers to shun but instead the commonality of having a soul that exists in all? Nobility are obligated by their position to look after those less than them, to lessen the burden upon those vassals they are responsible.
Does not Gloria bring chivalry, honor and war to humanity so that we do not feed our dark passions, that we might utilize the issue of physical contest in a limited way to focus on peace and the plans after war? The nobility through their position have a responsibility they cannot shirk from, that the actions of those who fight in their name is an action upon their banner and house. That while some might ask for all out war and the ends justify the means, that restraint and offers of mercy are the virtues of the honorable leader.
Does not Jayus bring inspiration, craftsmanship and art to humanity so that we might aspire to be greater than we currently are? That the nobility have a key responsibility in ensuring that their people are used to the best of their abilities, to inspire their people to reach beyond their current place and achieve greater possibilities, to make the world better where they can? The nobility are required to do these acts, for where the light of inspiration is shared, the realm shows great abundance.
Does not Lagoma who brings about growth, cycles and purification to humanity so that we might change for the better? Is it not the duty of the noble to not simply make demands upon their people but instead carefully nurture and heal deficiencies for those of their realm? That those who see to their fealties with such care and attention are aware of problems before they become so great. Healing and prevention is by far better and less costly than treatments....a proactive noble in their fealty who focuses on their lowborn will reap the rewards.
Does not Limerance who brings fidelity, love and true dealing with oaths maintained? At the root of nobility is this, that the vassals who have sworn oaths of fealty to their lords for lands and title. That for the vassal, they represent the counted lowborn in their new fealty and as such, have an obligation to care and treat them according to the oaths they have given to their higher lord. A noble truly is noble because of their oaths, their responsibilities and specifically their honor. A noble who has lost their honor is no more noble than a rock, although redemption could be possible.
Does not Mangata bring the air and water to sustain life? Does not a noble have an obligation to sustain life in their fealty through being responsible caretakers? Is not their wellbeing tied directly to their lowborn, and if they drink too much, will they not be thirsty later on? A noble's honor is not about taking life, it is through effective administration, management and care of duty that they are able to bring a sustained yield from their fealty to support the Compact and the Faith as a whole. Those that take too much or have no care soon see their fealties dry up.
Does not the Queen of Endings bring souls to and fro the Wheel, so that through humanity's choices, the dream can continue onwards? That nobility requires careful selection and encouragement to their lowborn, ensuring that each have a place and each have an opportunity to excel in their own place. And just as a wheel, when all the spokes are in place, doesn't the wheel move far more effectively and efficiently? So to is the relationship between the nobility and the lowborn.
Does not the First Choice bring to humanity the right to live their lives freely and by their own terms? Nobility have a responsibility in ensuring their vassals and lowborn have the opportunity to be engaged, that they have their opinions and concerns heard rather than ignored, that they are included in the process of governing due to the lowborn choosing to accept the noble as their representative. Choice is the most powerful tool one has.
Does not the Sentinel see all and brings justice, law and order? Is not the responsibility of the nobility to their vassals and lowborn to show that they might count on their noble's honor to maintain justice? That where injustice is, the noble will pursue with vigor to right the wrongs, that their vassals and lowborn might find a foundation to build their trust and hope on? That through their actions, the noble themselves will be judged by the Sentinel?
Does not the Thirteenth bring balance to all things? While the gods bring to us our aspirational ideals, does not the Abyss represent all that which is born from our darker thoughts? That without controlling our emotions and using our choice, we will be hopelessly controlled by them? The noble has a requirement to show restraint, to bring about in others a conduit so that their destructive desires are instead focused in far more better results for the world as a whole. A noble listens to all voices no matter their position and weighs heavily upon their action and choice, not to appease all people as that is an impossibility, but instead that their position of authority is exercised in a way to prevent further folly.
Seek not to see first the evil in men's hearts but recognize that life is about choices so that we all might grow and evolve to a higher purpose.
Does not Petrichor give humanity dominion over all the lands to ensure they are cared for? Through our responsible position as caretaker, does not the lands provide to sustain us? So to is it the relationship between highborn and lowborn, that through the ideals of Petrichor, the nobility lead and care for the needs of the lowborn and protect them, and in return, the lowborn work diligently to the best of their abilities so that the dominion may flourish.
Does not Gild bring to humanity prosperity, charity, civilization, commerce and travel not that we might hoard but so that we might share our blessings to those who are less fortunate no matter where they may be? That through hospitality, humanity might see each other not as strangers to shun but instead the commonality of having a soul that exists in all? Nobility are obligated by their position to look after those less than them, to lessen the burden upon those vassals they are responsible.
Does not Gloria bring chivalry, honor and war to humanity so that we do not feed our dark passions, that we might utilize the issue of physical contest in a limited way to focus on peace and the plans after war? The nobility through their position have a responsibility they cannot shirk from, that the actions of those who fight in their name is an action upon their banner and house. That while some might ask for all out war and the ends justify the means, that restraint and offers of mercy are the virtues of the honorable leader.
Does not Jayus bring inspiration, craftsmanship and art to humanity so that we might aspire to be greater than we currently are? That the nobility have a key responsibility in ensuring that their people are used to the best of their abilities, to inspire their people to reach beyond their current place and achieve greater possibilities, to make the world better where they can? The nobility are required to do these acts, for where the light of inspiration is shared, the realm shows great abundance.
Does not Lagoma who brings about growth, cycles and purification to humanity so that we might change for the better? Is it not the duty of the noble to not simply make demands upon their people but instead carefully nurture and heal deficiencies for those of their realm? That those who see to their fealties with such care and attention are aware of problems before they become so great. Healing and prevention is by far better and less costly than treatments....a proactive noble in their fealty who focuses on their lowborn will reap the rewards.
Does not Limerance who brings fidelity, love and true dealing with oaths maintained? At the root of nobility is this, that the vassals who have sworn oaths of fealty to their lords for lands and title. That for the vassal, they represent the counted lowborn in their new fealty and as such, have an obligation to care and treat them according to the oaths they have given to their higher lord. A noble truly is noble because of their oaths, their responsibilities and specifically their honor. A noble who has lost their honor is no more noble than a rock, although redemption could be possible.
Does not Mangata bring the air and water to sustain life? Does not a noble have an obligation to sustain life in their fealty through being responsible caretakers? Is not their wellbeing tied directly to their lowborn, and if they drink too much, will they not be thirsty later on? A noble's honor is not about taking life, it is through effective administration, management and care of duty that they are able to bring a sustained yield from their fealty to support the Compact and the Faith as a whole. Those that take too much or have no care soon see their fealties dry up.
Does not the Queen of Endings bring souls to and fro the Wheel, so that through humanity's choices, the dream can continue onwards? That nobility requires careful selection and encouragement to their lowborn, ensuring that each have a place and each have an opportunity to excel in their own place. And just as a wheel, when all the spokes are in place, doesn't the wheel move far more effectively and efficiently? So to is the relationship between the nobility and the lowborn.
Does not the First Choice bring to humanity the right to live their lives freely and by their own terms? Nobility have a responsibility in ensuring their vassals and lowborn have the opportunity to be engaged, that they have their opinions and concerns heard rather than ignored, that they are included in the process of governing due to the lowborn choosing to accept the noble as their representative. Choice is the most powerful tool one has.
Does not the Sentinel see all and brings justice, law and order? Is not the responsibility of the nobility to their vassals and lowborn to show that they might count on their noble's honor to maintain justice? That where injustice is, the noble will pursue with vigor to right the wrongs, that their vassals and lowborn might find a foundation to build their trust and hope on? That through their actions, the noble themselves will be judged by the Sentinel?
Does not the Thirteenth bring balance to all things? While the gods bring to us our aspirational ideals, does not the Abyss represent all that which is born from our darker thoughts? That without controlling our emotions and using our choice, we will be hopelessly controlled by them? The noble has a requirement to show restraint, to bring about in others a conduit so that their destructive desires are instead focused in far more better results for the world as a whole. A noble listens to all voices no matter their position and weighs heavily upon their action and choice, not to appease all people as that is an impossibility, but instead that their position of authority is exercised in a way to prevent further folly.
Seek not to see first the evil in men's hearts but recognize that life is about choices so that we all might grow and evolve to a higher purpose.
Written By Preston
Feb. 19, 2018, 5:59 p.m.(3/21/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Cristoph
And I regret that - but I make my choice all the same, Duke Laurent. If you feel strongly, it is easy to protest - I answer only to four. My grandmaster, the Blessed Cassandra, His Most Holy and his voices, and to the Gods.
Written By Cristoph
Feb. 19, 2018, 5:14 p.m.(3/21/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Preston
It's not my Faith in the Pantheon or the Faith of the Oathlanders that you're making me question, Sir Preston. It's you.
Written By Aiden
Feb. 19, 2018, 5:08 p.m.(3/21/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Artur
I'm sure my squeals of delight were heard all throughout the manor!! I'm over the moon!
Artur, you're an amazing wonderful marvelous tremendous friend!
For those of you that missed it, I had a birthday. You know what Artur did?
He went and painted me something so superb I had to ask the scholars of Vellichor to do their very best in replicating the details into text, so it could be preserved forever in my whites and in my memories! What a brilliant day!
Here it is:
Vaulted skies painted in a palette of brilliant, crystalline
blue stretch untold miles across a patchwork canvas of woods
and fields and tiny hidden valleys. Here and there, slender
ribbons of sapphire slice through an ocean of golden yellows
and verdant, forest greens, marking the branching courses of
rivers and streams. The subject of the painting, is perhaps
made rather more fantastic by contrast with the somewhat hum
drum pastoral setting agains which it is set. Soaring out of
legend, the majestic form of a Gryphon with Leonine body and
an Eagle's head glides with a regal bearing, talons and beak
glinting like daggers in the summer sun. Vast wings extended
the creature bears a single rider with dignity. Sheathed all
in shining steel, the form of Prince Aiden Grayson is seated
astride the noble beast, the sun of a cloudless sky glinting
upon the plates of the armor he wears. The piece captures a
sense of swift motion, the winds whipping through dark curls
and ruffling feathers of burnished gold. Held firmly in his
left hand, Aiden carries a spear, six feet long with a shaft
of ash, its razor-edged, leaf shaped tip glints in the light
of the sun that hangs, heavy and golden, behind the pair and
backlights them dramatically. A kite-shaped shield, blazoned
with the crest and colors of House Grayson - gray and green.
Artur, you're an amazing wonderful marvelous tremendous friend!
For those of you that missed it, I had a birthday. You know what Artur did?
He went and painted me something so superb I had to ask the scholars of Vellichor to do their very best in replicating the details into text, so it could be preserved forever in my whites and in my memories! What a brilliant day!
Here it is:
Vaulted skies painted in a palette of brilliant, crystalline
blue stretch untold miles across a patchwork canvas of woods
and fields and tiny hidden valleys. Here and there, slender
ribbons of sapphire slice through an ocean of golden yellows
and verdant, forest greens, marking the branching courses of
rivers and streams. The subject of the painting, is perhaps
made rather more fantastic by contrast with the somewhat hum
drum pastoral setting agains which it is set. Soaring out of
legend, the majestic form of a Gryphon with Leonine body and
an Eagle's head glides with a regal bearing, talons and beak
glinting like daggers in the summer sun. Vast wings extended
the creature bears a single rider with dignity. Sheathed all
in shining steel, the form of Prince Aiden Grayson is seated
astride the noble beast, the sun of a cloudless sky glinting
upon the plates of the armor he wears. The piece captures a
sense of swift motion, the winds whipping through dark curls
and ruffling feathers of burnished gold. Held firmly in his
left hand, Aiden carries a spear, six feet long with a shaft
of ash, its razor-edged, leaf shaped tip glints in the light
of the sun that hangs, heavy and golden, behind the pair and
backlights them dramatically. A kite-shaped shield, blazoned
with the crest and colors of House Grayson - gray and green.
Written By Preston
Feb. 19, 2018, 5:01 p.m.(3/21/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Cristoph
If people think that an observation that some have lost their Faith could apply to them, I would suggest that if it causes them to seek discussion and affirmation of their faith with their holding's Seraph, with the Godsworn, and perhaps in your case with your former sister, then that is for the good - though I cannot say I have ever seen any member of House Laurent ever doubt the deep affection I hold for their lost Duchess for the choice she made to join the Faith. While teasing me to get the info works I am sure with many others, I fear I must disappoint. I chose not to name the individuals, because even if I disagree with their choice as to their attitude to the Faith, I can at the same time still respect them for other parts of their life. You can believe or not whether I have affinity for the Oathlands or surprise at such a reaction - but I have never hid my Orthodoxy, nor my attention and appreciation to the words of the Seraph of Sanctum.
As I say, if nobles dislike me for it - then I do regret that, but I love them still. But if a single noble asks a question of their Seraph from this, and through it dialogue? I see my discomfort and regret as happy payment.
As I say, if nobles dislike me for it - then I do regret that, but I love them still. But if a single noble asks a question of their Seraph from this, and through it dialogue? I see my discomfort and regret as happy payment.
Written By Violet
Feb. 19, 2018, 4:56 p.m.(3/21/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Tobias
The Lord General of the Crimson Blades took me on after the decimation of my home. He and his blades taught me to be the person I am now. I owe him much. While he is strict it makes for some of the most well-trained and disciplined troupes one can hire in the Compact. It is my hope that I will continue to bring a good name to the Blades. With Lord Tobias to lead us, though, that is not hard.
Written By Cristoph
Feb. 19, 2018, 4:40 p.m.(3/21/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Preston
Yet when you claim that it is multiple members of the nobility within a region, you create a situation in which people will think you're pointing them out specifically. And while you claim this is only because you're so "surprised", I can't help but feel you're attempting to cover your tracks. If you don't wish to create this kind of discourse in the Whites, I'd suggest you not dip your toe into those kinds of waters.
Written By Violet
Feb. 19, 2018, 4:38 p.m.(3/21/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Thorley
You surprise me, dear knight. Make me question the things I've held too, to protect others. How simple it seemed only a short while ago. The future was something that was there, but I didn't worry about it. I'm young yet after all. But you make me think about potential futures beyond the next contract, the next fight, the next drink. I think this is a good thing, this door you have opened. I suppose we shall walk through and see.
Written By Preston
Feb. 19, 2018, 4:30 p.m.(3/21/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Cristoph
I would suggest you inquire with your fellow nobles and royals as to their faith in, well, the Faith and her armies, Duke Laurent. I mention Valardin only because that any there should feel this way surprises me because of the known piety, and my own personal affections for the lands. But it is not Valardin alone that faces this, so naming individuals will do little but occupy all of us in duels until Gloria herself grows weary of us. Especially as I do not know if it is their fault or some fashion - or indeed perhaps some fault of our own that may have caused them to drift and doubt. I will say though that Prince Victus is a paragon of sorts for how to combat this attitude, and has by deed shown others a way to dialogue with the Faith and how to construct a relationship, and his work with the Seraph Ailith made me question many of my own pre-judgements on what I should expect of others.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.