Written By Thorley
Feb. 8, 2018, 1:02 p.m.(2/21/1008 AR)
Mangata, help me to journey beyond the familiar,
and into the unknown.
Give me the faith to leave old ways,
and break fresh ground with You.
Mistress of the seas, I trust in You,
to be stronger than each storm within me.
I will trust in the darkness and know,
that my times are under the guidance of your compass.
If I should find myself beyond the mortal veil,
It is to you that I shall embrace your bosom's swell.
Shield thine heart of those that care,
and help them to know that I died, in honor, not despair.
and into the unknown.
Give me the faith to leave old ways,
and break fresh ground with You.
Mistress of the seas, I trust in You,
to be stronger than each storm within me.
I will trust in the darkness and know,
that my times are under the guidance of your compass.
If I should find myself beyond the mortal veil,
It is to you that I shall embrace your bosom's swell.
Shield thine heart of those that care,
and help them to know that I died, in honor, not despair.
Written By Reigna
Feb. 8, 2018, 1:01 p.m.(2/21/1008 AR)
They have come. By the hundreds, even thousands! Healers from across the whole of Arvum, bearing medicines and remedies, bandages and skills. I cannot believe how successful this campaign has been. I am humbled, deeply humbled by the response of my fellow healers. And those here from Arx, Princess Sasha, with her lessons, Princess Sophie and Cybele, Ladies Lethe, Rey and Neve. Valery, the *legendary* Valery all working, helping making this possible. Dame Thena! Lady Eirene for her full support and assistance. The response of the healers, the fact that we have so many here, that we're coordinating and organizing... this gives me so much hope. Hope that we will be able to save lives, that there will be a higher rate of survival, that this will *help*. I feel... accomplished. I am no warrior, but I have, I hope, done something to help in this fight.
Written By Reigna
Feb. 8, 2018, 12:38 p.m.(2/21/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Khanne
I know I have been remiss in not getting this to you sooner. I have been blessed this last year to have so many good memories, so many moments when my heart lifted and I was swept away in a sense of wonder and delight. Trying to pick one has made me really stop and consider how much gratitude I have to the gods, to my husband, to my friends who have all become family to me. I look at where I am now and I think upon the girl I was when I first came to Arx and I have difficulty believing they are the same person. So, I give you my memory.
As a child, my life was... strained. My mother inherited a parcel of land on the edge of collapse. My grandmother's addictions had beggared our coffers and there were stretches of time when it seemed that we would not be able to keep our people safe as we had so little coin and running a Household relies on coin to pay guards and buy foodstuffs. We always managed to make it work, but my mother was often distant. My father was infrequently home, choosing to spend his time on the road with his cousins doing whatever it was that kept him away. My mother adored him, dashing man that he still is, her love evident in my six siblings and myself, though the strain of so many children, so much hardship and no partner, or at least no reliable partner to speak of, bred a distance between her and her children. We were both proof of her love and a reminder of the man who did not need her as she needed him. My siblings and I were never particularly close, and as we grew and they were married off, we grew less so. So despite coming from such a large family, I never really understood what it meant to be a part of something. Perhaps this was one of the reasons I so wished to be godsworn. I longed to feel a part of something. To belong in a way I had not felt, and the calling of Faith drew me in. So when it turned out that I was to be married instead of godsworn, for the sake of brevity, I'll not go into that tale now, I was not thrilled. I should have had more faith. Just a little over a year later, seated at my table in a Hall built for my new House, there was a dinner held. At the table was my husband, our liege, Duke Cristoph, Lady Jael, our aunt Margerie, Sir Norwood Clement. Kael and Jael were laughing, Cristoph looked exasperated, Lady Margerie was teasing Sir Clement and I realized in that moment... that *this* was my family. These people had accepted me. I *belonged*. The feeling of connection was so intense, so momentarily overwhelming that I nearly wept. I was home.
As a child, my life was... strained. My mother inherited a parcel of land on the edge of collapse. My grandmother's addictions had beggared our coffers and there were stretches of time when it seemed that we would not be able to keep our people safe as we had so little coin and running a Household relies on coin to pay guards and buy foodstuffs. We always managed to make it work, but my mother was often distant. My father was infrequently home, choosing to spend his time on the road with his cousins doing whatever it was that kept him away. My mother adored him, dashing man that he still is, her love evident in my six siblings and myself, though the strain of so many children, so much hardship and no partner, or at least no reliable partner to speak of, bred a distance between her and her children. We were both proof of her love and a reminder of the man who did not need her as she needed him. My siblings and I were never particularly close, and as we grew and they were married off, we grew less so. So despite coming from such a large family, I never really understood what it meant to be a part of something. Perhaps this was one of the reasons I so wished to be godsworn. I longed to feel a part of something. To belong in a way I had not felt, and the calling of Faith drew me in. So when it turned out that I was to be married instead of godsworn, for the sake of brevity, I'll not go into that tale now, I was not thrilled. I should have had more faith. Just a little over a year later, seated at my table in a Hall built for my new House, there was a dinner held. At the table was my husband, our liege, Duke Cristoph, Lady Jael, our aunt Margerie, Sir Norwood Clement. Kael and Jael were laughing, Cristoph looked exasperated, Lady Margerie was teasing Sir Clement and I realized in that moment... that *this* was my family. These people had accepted me. I *belonged*. The feeling of connection was so intense, so momentarily overwhelming that I nearly wept. I was home.
Written By Itzal
Feb. 8, 2018, 12:21 p.m.(2/21/1008 AR)
Shadows? Freeze? They dance as soon as lights are plentiful, and should you stand in the sun all day, they will most certainly move even were you a statue. Someone needs to spend more time looking at shadows, clearly.
Written By Cadenza
Feb. 8, 2018, 12:19 p.m.(2/21/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Lou
I can't wait to see it. I'm sure it's lovely. As for the mask: I'll have one on standby just in case.
Written By Khanne
Feb. 8, 2018, 11:29 a.m.(2/21/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Joscelin
Dear Josie:
Like the leaves that bud in spring only to turn to colors of flame before they fall in autumn;
Like the coast that changes its curves with the pounding of the waves over time;
Like the rain that turns to snow in the cold of winter;
Like our faces that slowly become etched by every emotion it expresses though our lives;
Change is constant, it is unavoidable. It is on the horizon, and shadows that loom over us could destroy so much we hold dear. It is truth. Even when we win the war, for we will, we will have great loss to recover from, in many ways. So what choices can we make now, with so much potential for dark times ahead? What choices do we make now that we can hold fast to in the aftermath?
We make the choices that give us reasons to fight. We make the choices that give us the determination to survive. We make the choices that allow us to enjoy our every single day between now and then as best as we can make it; full of love and happiness, friendship and even romance. We make the choices to hold the darkness at bay however long we can, by embracing these things that make us feel light. If the choice now means enough to us as all that.....
...they will be the ones we are still holding onto when we begin to rebuild.
Like the leaves that bud in spring only to turn to colors of flame before they fall in autumn;
Like the coast that changes its curves with the pounding of the waves over time;
Like the rain that turns to snow in the cold of winter;
Like our faces that slowly become etched by every emotion it expresses though our lives;
Change is constant, it is unavoidable. It is on the horizon, and shadows that loom over us could destroy so much we hold dear. It is truth. Even when we win the war, for we will, we will have great loss to recover from, in many ways. So what choices can we make now, with so much potential for dark times ahead? What choices do we make now that we can hold fast to in the aftermath?
We make the choices that give us reasons to fight. We make the choices that give us the determination to survive. We make the choices that allow us to enjoy our every single day between now and then as best as we can make it; full of love and happiness, friendship and even romance. We make the choices to hold the darkness at bay however long we can, by embracing these things that make us feel light. If the choice now means enough to us as all that.....
...they will be the ones we are still holding onto when we begin to rebuild.
Written By Thena
Feb. 8, 2018, 11:29 a.m.(2/21/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Thorley
But shadows don’t freeze...it’s more that they are trapped in the light. Tethered.
That doesn’t go nearly as well with ‘melting’ though...
I’ve ruined it, haven’t I scholar?
That doesn’t go nearly as well with ‘melting’ though...
I’ve ruined it, haven’t I scholar?
Written By Thorley
Feb. 8, 2018, 11:07 a.m.(2/21/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Percephon
You and Princess Ann are quite correct. A shadow is frozen in place to it's master's whims in the light - and in the darkness fades.
Written By Sameera
Feb. 8, 2018, 10 a.m.(2/20/1008 AR)
1. I only do things to put myself at risk and those will it to step into risky things.
2. Probably won't need a healer.
2. Probably won't need a healer.
Written By Ann
Feb. 8, 2018, 9:10 a.m.(2/20/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Percephon
I said I wasn't good at riddles... Turns out I was quite right it seems.
A shadow could very well be it. That is a good guess but I don't think I have seen a shadow freeze. My own tends to follow me wherever I go.
Maybe it is a more obscure thing... Like an emotion... Or something within... Hmm...
A shadow could very well be it. That is a good guess but I don't think I have seen a shadow freeze. My own tends to follow me wherever I go.
Maybe it is a more obscure thing... Like an emotion... Or something within... Hmm...
Written By Percephon
Feb. 8, 2018, 8:29 a.m.(2/20/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Ann
Count Duarte is quite right - it is a riddle known among the Lycene (and Mirrormasks, I suppose) - and the answer is a reflection. This does not make you poor at riddles, your Highness, it simply makes the rest of us more keen to answer them.
As for the riddle that the Count himself poses, I wonder if it could be a shadow.
Although, I return to edit this entry as others have noted - shadows do dance when lights strike at them from all angles. They are not frozen to anyone but the thing that they are attached to. Although, they do melt into the darkness - don't they?
Clever things, shadows.
I feel as I ought to draw tiresome parallels between shadows and light, truth and honesty. Perhaps play the opposite saying that we always seek to know the truth - the full and complete truth, but we are caught up by honesty. We are bound to be honest with one another, but we are not always truthful. To me, honesty means not to speak falsely. To me, truth means actively making known all of a matter. Truth is a shadow, honesty is the light.
As for the riddle that the Count himself poses, I wonder if it could be a shadow.
Although, I return to edit this entry as others have noted - shadows do dance when lights strike at them from all angles. They are not frozen to anyone but the thing that they are attached to. Although, they do melt into the darkness - don't they?
Clever things, shadows.
I feel as I ought to draw tiresome parallels between shadows and light, truth and honesty. Perhaps play the opposite saying that we always seek to know the truth - the full and complete truth, but we are caught up by honesty. We are bound to be honest with one another, but we are not always truthful. To me, honesty means not to speak falsely. To me, truth means actively making known all of a matter. Truth is a shadow, honesty is the light.
Written By Lou
Feb. 8, 2018, 8:05 a.m.(2/20/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Cadenza
I went through past journal entries. It was apparently Natalia who sent it to me. I still love that dress to pieces, and you know how I feel about dressing up. I think I can manage a mask. Possibly.
Written By Preston
Feb. 8, 2018, 5:33 a.m.(2/20/1008 AR)
For the first time in generations the armies of the Faith are assembled in their full. Thousand upon thousands of troops, tens of thousands even, in the colours of the Templars and of Solace. Some are simple pious disciples from far flung lands, who wield spear and sword as they wield pitchfork and scythe in the field, whose only military experience is the training they have undertaken over time with their parish Templars, others are sworn knights, scions of noble families and indeed nameless commoners like myself who joined the Faith as Godsworn to fight to defend our values, trained and bloodied veterans of previous skirmishes mounted in full plate on Valardin warhorses. Like the Faith, our army is diverse. Like the Faith, we draw strength from that - for no single soldier will win a battle except as part of an army.
Hopefully our enemies, and I do not count just the pirates of the east in this, will understand our resolve and our strength from this. The Faith is the traditions and the conscience of Arvum, the heart of our people, and will not allow any threat to that position or to the protection it allows us to provide. Make no mistake, as we look out at the ranks of the Templars, if the word Crusade has not left the Dominus' lips then that does not make this any less a Holy War.
Hopefully our enemies, and I do not count just the pirates of the east in this, will understand our resolve and our strength from this. The Faith is the traditions and the conscience of Arvum, the heart of our people, and will not allow any threat to that position or to the protection it allows us to provide. Make no mistake, as we look out at the ranks of the Templars, if the word Crusade has not left the Dominus' lips then that does not make this any less a Holy War.
Written By Duarte
Feb. 8, 2018, 5:24 a.m.(2/20/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Ann
Everyone from the Lyceum knows that one.
Written By Ann
Feb. 8, 2018, 5:17 a.m.(2/20/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Sameera
1. I saw your classified ad and now I'm intrigued. A bit afraid, but intrigued.
2. Not to worry. I /am/ an adept healer, and if something should go wrong I will certainly help you to recover.
2. Not to worry. I /am/ an adept healer, and if something should go wrong I will certainly help you to recover.
Written By Ann
Feb. 8, 2018, 5:07 a.m.(2/20/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Duarte
Alright, fair enough.
I'm terrible at riddles -- so let me pose one to you as I think about yours.
What can be seen in the water, but never gets wet?
I'm terrible at riddles -- so let me pose one to you as I think about yours.
What can be seen in the water, but never gets wet?
Written By Duarte
Feb. 8, 2018, 4:03 a.m.(2/20/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Ann
Incorrect.
On both counts.
On both counts.
Written By Ann
Feb. 8, 2018, 3:56 a.m.(2/20/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Duarte
A troll.
Which is what I suspect you are being right now, Count?
Which is what I suspect you are being right now, Count?
Written By Joscelin
Feb. 8, 2018, 2:54 a.m.(2/20/1008 AR)
Forgive me, scholar.
I'm still a bit speechless. I'm not used to poetry.
And now I'm plagued by uncertainty, confusion.
Change on the horizon, like a wave threatening to over-shadow and bring with it all the reaping of life it can swallow, drag out to see and pull it all down to the bottom. It's not the razing of death that brings with it new life, but the end of so much.
What choices can we make now, in the face of such desperate loss of time, that we can trust to holdfast in the aftermath, if we survive? If we succeed? If we're the ones left standing at the end?
[droplets on the page]
Scholar, do you weep for us? Don't. Here-
I'm still a bit speechless. I'm not used to poetry.
And now I'm plagued by uncertainty, confusion.
Change on the horizon, like a wave threatening to over-shadow and bring with it all the reaping of life it can swallow, drag out to see and pull it all down to the bottom. It's not the razing of death that brings with it new life, but the end of so much.
What choices can we make now, in the face of such desperate loss of time, that we can trust to holdfast in the aftermath, if we survive? If we succeed? If we're the ones left standing at the end?
[droplets on the page]
Scholar, do you weep for us? Don't. Here-
Written By Cadenza
Feb. 8, 2018, 1:56 a.m.(2/20/1008 AR)
Relationship Note on Lou
Because it's you and I love you like a sister? I'd forgive you....
But I might call you Princess as payback....
Just get a mask...or I might have a spare you can have...murder and kittens hm?
But I might call you Princess as payback....
Just get a mask...or I might have a spare you can have...murder and kittens hm?
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.