Written By Harlan
Jan. 5, 2018, 12:58 p.m.(11/27/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Aislin
Aislin...there's a reason that Ashfords don't go on boats when we can avoid it.
I refuse to believe that you were simply washed overboard. You vanished, and I'm certain you were taken. We will find you, and we will have justice and vengeance upon whoever has done this. If you are gone........I cannot think of that now. I will not.
We will find you.
I refuse to believe that you were simply washed overboard. You vanished, and I'm certain you were taken. We will find you, and we will have justice and vengeance upon whoever has done this. If you are gone........I cannot think of that now. I will not.
We will find you.
Written By Harlan
Jan. 5, 2018, 12:56 p.m.(11/27/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Killian
Cousin, you will be missed. Not just by me, but by Ashford as a whole. You were my cousin, you were my General, and I believe you were my friend. Your fight is over now.
Written By Cirroch
Jan. 5, 2018, 12:49 p.m.(11/27/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Echo
Part of my family by law. We have only spoken briefly to each other.
Written By Harlan
Jan. 5, 2018, 12:32 p.m.(11/27/1007 AR)
Dark times surround Ashford again.
Years ago, it was my father's illness and death that led me on the path of becoming Duke of Ashford myself -- no matter how I might prefer to spend hours hunting in the forest. Duty calls, after all. It's necessary, and has its own rewards.
Now, it is family that once again calls me back from Ashford Keep to Arx. First, my cousin Killian. Once lost, then found...now irrevocably lost again. I should have returned then to handle matters, not leaving Olivia and Aislin to handle this task.
Now, though.....now, it is Aislin who is lost. I cannot leave Olivia to shoulder this burden. I must return. My duty is now in the city. We will find you, sister, and if you're gone, we shall exact justice in your name.
Years ago, it was my father's illness and death that led me on the path of becoming Duke of Ashford myself -- no matter how I might prefer to spend hours hunting in the forest. Duty calls, after all. It's necessary, and has its own rewards.
Now, it is family that once again calls me back from Ashford Keep to Arx. First, my cousin Killian. Once lost, then found...now irrevocably lost again. I should have returned then to handle matters, not leaving Olivia and Aislin to handle this task.
Now, though.....now, it is Aislin who is lost. I cannot leave Olivia to shoulder this burden. I must return. My duty is now in the city. We will find you, sister, and if you're gone, we shall exact justice in your name.
Written By Skye
Jan. 5, 2018, 11:45 a.m.(11/27/1007 AR)
Prayer to Mangata
Help me to journey
Beyond the familiar
And into the unknown.
Give me the Faith
To shed my family's reputation
And navigate new waters
Under your watchful gaze.
Mangata, goddess of the air and sea
I trust your wisdom
Your strength to guide me
From my own storms within.
I will trust you
Even when the wind vacates
The waves fall silent
My ship runs aground.
Because I am in your hands.
Let me turn my spirit
To the music of the sea
So I may hear your voice
Find your will in all things.
Live as a Lady of Salt.
~SB
Help me to journey
Beyond the familiar
And into the unknown.
Give me the Faith
To shed my family's reputation
And navigate new waters
Under your watchful gaze.
Mangata, goddess of the air and sea
I trust your wisdom
Your strength to guide me
From my own storms within.
I will trust you
Even when the wind vacates
The waves fall silent
My ship runs aground.
Because I am in your hands.
Let me turn my spirit
To the music of the sea
So I may hear your voice
Find your will in all things.
Live as a Lady of Salt.
~SB
Written By Wynna
Jan. 5, 2018, 9:59 a.m.(11/27/1007 AR)
So many letters, so little time. Complaints about miserable food and conditions, of lords driving the common folk to their wits' ends. Some of pride in their higher-ups and the nobility of their conflict, from the highest lord to the lowest of levy soldier. These I squint at for the nuanced details, of names and places and events.
The only real details I've gleaned so far is that while politics will always be changing, the temperament of soldiers won't. Some will grouse, some will walk with pride, all walk to an uncertain fate on the whims of others. If history is kind, they will be remembered as dying for a glorious cause. If it isn't, they died for a tyrant.
But all stand equal before the Queen.
'Tis good to keep things in perspective, I feel.
The only real details I've gleaned so far is that while politics will always be changing, the temperament of soldiers won't. Some will grouse, some will walk with pride, all walk to an uncertain fate on the whims of others. If history is kind, they will be remembered as dying for a glorious cause. If it isn't, they died for a tyrant.
But all stand equal before the Queen.
'Tis good to keep things in perspective, I feel.
Written By Sameera
Jan. 5, 2018, 9:17 a.m.(11/27/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Edward
You are a strange man. I suppose that is not terrible.
Written By Aerandir
Jan. 5, 2018, 6:13 a.m.(11/27/1007 AR)
I still linger beneath the receding canopy of trees that marks the split of the Grey River. But it is more than the sun can bear. It relents, finally, and leaves me here. The silence and solitude of night has become a more familiar friend to me than the face of man, yet here where the starry shade is eclipsed; peeking between the trees, I find myself more restless than the rivers during snowmelt of distant lands; lands that I have not seen, and perhaps I never will. The ancient woodlands that rise like a wall to discourage foolish entry into this place speak not to the simple man that I am. I stand before their hollow watch, but they take little heed of me. My shrinking spirit is of no significance to this time-stilled place.
The great powers of time and circumstance do not seem to take their toll upon the trees. Yet mere days; mere hours; no, the briefest of moments have made in me a change that I feel every day in my heart. With the downward thrust of my blade I cast all my happier emotions into the earth. And although the world is wide, it would be so easy for my feet to spur me back to that place as if I could call it a home. It is not a home, and any home I might have once called my own seems only a distant memory to me now.
The moonlight pours down through the smattering of canopy brushes above me, and stretches like fingertips through the foliage to something beyond. Me? Or something even further away than that? Guided away from the eternal unknowns of the woods, I follow the gaze of the moon and pray that to whatever place it might lead me, it will be a place that brings less restlessness than this one.
The great powers of time and circumstance do not seem to take their toll upon the trees. Yet mere days; mere hours; no, the briefest of moments have made in me a change that I feel every day in my heart. With the downward thrust of my blade I cast all my happier emotions into the earth. And although the world is wide, it would be so easy for my feet to spur me back to that place as if I could call it a home. It is not a home, and any home I might have once called my own seems only a distant memory to me now.
The moonlight pours down through the smattering of canopy brushes above me, and stretches like fingertips through the foliage to something beyond. Me? Or something even further away than that? Guided away from the eternal unknowns of the woods, I follow the gaze of the moon and pray that to whatever place it might lead me, it will be a place that brings less restlessness than this one.
Written By Sameera
Jan. 5, 2018, 5:52 a.m.(11/27/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Edain
I am now, officially, waiting to see your wave riding cavalry.
Written By Donaldo
Jan. 5, 2018, 4:07 a.m.(11/27/1007 AR)
I was introduced to another part of the city that I either have never visited or I do not recall visiting. I do not think that I shall stay for long, not when the land is still so open and wild and untrod. Some might be trying to convince me to stay, or maybe they question my courage for the days to come. What am I in such a time? Just a man who trods.
Written By Driskell
Jan. 5, 2018, 2:24 a.m.(11/26/1007 AR)
There is a darkening storm coming, where the forces of darkness and the forces of light rise up like two tidal waves set to crash within each other. A series of decisions and choices made, some long ago yet some so recent, which have created an imbalance and a price which will be paid whichever side who fights claims a victory.
Why is there suffering?
Why is there misery?
Why don't the gods hear my prayers and give me what I ask?
I hear these questions often as a priest and more it seems today. The gods and their reflections are the epitome of either the highest values we cherish or the lowest values we despise. Pray to each of the gods, venerate them as you should and stretch yourself to those lofty aspirational dreams. But don't neglect to seek to improve and evolve by learning from the harshness of their reflections and the learning opportunities they present.
Remember dear readers, mortals defending the balance of the world is never about death, but life.
Why is there suffering?
Why is there misery?
Why don't the gods hear my prayers and give me what I ask?
I hear these questions often as a priest and more it seems today. The gods and their reflections are the epitome of either the highest values we cherish or the lowest values we despise. Pray to each of the gods, venerate them as you should and stretch yourself to those lofty aspirational dreams. But don't neglect to seek to improve and evolve by learning from the harshness of their reflections and the learning opportunities they present.
Remember dear readers, mortals defending the balance of the world is never about death, but life.
Written By Caelis
Jan. 5, 2018, 1:43 a.m.(11/26/1007 AR)
So I do not forget in the weeks to come. See about booms and harbor chains, get some nets in the water. Meet with midwife-discuss war duties, make a plan. Find back up midwife!! Update will, it's been ages. Get the damn boats blessed. That keeps falling off the to do list. Drag brother over for family dinner/quiet birthday, that will be here sooner than I'd like. I'm trying to remember other things I've forgotten to remember lately. Oh! Walk with Sunshine. Walks are good for pregnancies, right? Appoint some Vice-Admirals and ensure we have captains for the fleet. There, that seems a tidy list of things to do.
May your hopes find safe harbors.
May your hopes find safe harbors.
Written By Clover
Jan. 5, 2018, 1:42 a.m.(11/26/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Ryhalt
I am displeased.
Written By Calaudrin
Jan. 5, 2018, 1:03 a.m.(11/26/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Sparte
Things that will not change just because you're an officer:
-I will not stop sending you messengers asking you to clean stuff when I find you've had time to post classifieds about spiderwebs and wood.
-Checking the kitchen to see if you made food.
-Hassling you needlessly.
-Being proud of you.
-I will not stop sending you messengers asking you to clean stuff when I find you've had time to post classifieds about spiderwebs and wood.
-Checking the kitchen to see if you made food.
-Hassling you needlessly.
-Being proud of you.
Written By Sparte
Jan. 5, 2018, 12:36 a.m.(11/26/1007 AR)
Officer Sparte Fatchforth. It feels so strange, like a third arm. I don't even know what my new responsibilities will be yet, I just know I got promoted. At a meeting I was late for, because everyone in this city is having meetings. Three meetings just today, all about the same thing. I get that people are preparing and that is smart. I just wish they'd prepare on the same end of the city.
I still can't quite get over how different the responses have been to my joining Thrax. Some people call me brave, other people act like I just caught the plague, others gave me grief for not picking their fealty. Which was an odd sort of flattery. I think the ones whose first response was to worry for my safety were my real friends, though. They get that I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't important, and nothing important to me is safe.
I still can't quite get over how different the responses have been to my joining Thrax. Some people call me brave, other people act like I just caught the plague, others gave me grief for not picking their fealty. Which was an odd sort of flattery. I think the ones whose first response was to worry for my safety were my real friends, though. They get that I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't important, and nothing important to me is safe.
Written By Tristan
Jan. 4, 2018, 11:03 p.m.(11/26/1007 AR)
I have thought long and hard over the last day and have decided, although I have long cherished a general loathing for the institution of princessdom, I will offer myself as a potential marriage candidate for interested princesses.
Not that I want to be a prince. This is a selfless sacrifice for the good of the Compact.
After all, they appear to have run out of noblemen to marry, and it would be a terrible shame if not all royal branches were given the opportunity to flourish until all high lords and ladies had little twenty-second cousins running around just in case first through twenty-first cousins perished in an unfortunate gazebo incident.
I will refrain from sharing my observations of beneficial results from the crossing of unlike types, as gained from a lifetime's experience with the breeding of horses.
Messengers may find me at the royal stables. Please note they are in serious danger of being slobbered to death by my ferocious guard dog.
Not that I want to be a prince. This is a selfless sacrifice for the good of the Compact.
After all, they appear to have run out of noblemen to marry, and it would be a terrible shame if not all royal branches were given the opportunity to flourish until all high lords and ladies had little twenty-second cousins running around just in case first through twenty-first cousins perished in an unfortunate gazebo incident.
I will refrain from sharing my observations of beneficial results from the crossing of unlike types, as gained from a lifetime's experience with the breeding of horses.
Messengers may find me at the royal stables. Please note they are in serious danger of being slobbered to death by my ferocious guard dog.
Written By Caspian
Jan. 4, 2018, 10:39 p.m.(11/26/1007 AR)
Dear Stranger Who Reads White Journal,
Wow, people do read this! I got some messengers responding to my last two journal entries. I guess everyone has their own way to pass the time. Anyway, onto the important bits.
I attended a meeting about the oncoming fleet. Scary shit. I got some vague ideas what I should be doing about it. I'll probably inquire to some people I know and see what they are doing and what I can do to help. Though I realize as a beginner duelist I do not have much I can do - yet. I suppose as I grow in fame and talent I will have more resources and skills to work with. Until then all I can do is do what I can until it comes time to defend The Mourning Isles.
Champion by day, lover by night,
Caspian
P.S. I've been advised not to use a mask and was given solid reasoning.
Wow, people do read this! I got some messengers responding to my last two journal entries. I guess everyone has their own way to pass the time. Anyway, onto the important bits.
I attended a meeting about the oncoming fleet. Scary shit. I got some vague ideas what I should be doing about it. I'll probably inquire to some people I know and see what they are doing and what I can do to help. Though I realize as a beginner duelist I do not have much I can do - yet. I suppose as I grow in fame and talent I will have more resources and skills to work with. Until then all I can do is do what I can until it comes time to defend The Mourning Isles.
Champion by day, lover by night,
Caspian
P.S. I've been advised not to use a mask and was given solid reasoning.
Written By Cirroch
Jan. 4, 2018, 9:52 p.m.(11/26/1007 AR)
I am writing this journal not expecting to pen one again so soon. A noble of a nearby land had put a toll on a road leading into Giant's Reach, and there are few roads that even lead into my lands, thus it was a harm committed upon me and my people. I rode north to meet this noble to discuss removing the toll, sending a messenger ahead of me to inform the noble of my coming. But on the second day of my ride I received a messenger informing me that the nobleman had decided to remove the tolls. And thus I rode back to Arx, expecting to be at least a week away, if not more.
Written By Vanora
Jan. 4, 2018, 9:47 p.m.(11/26/1007 AR)
I appreciated the way that Prince Victus and Princess Alarissa were able to keep such a challenging and at times emotional discussion flowing and organized.
I wish that some words had been given more time and more weight, but the opportunity for such is not lost. At big meetings such as this one, it is often the smaller conversations held afterwards that truly help shape a strategy.
I wish that some words had been given more time and more weight, but the opportunity for such is not lost. At big meetings such as this one, it is often the smaller conversations held afterwards that truly help shape a strategy.
Written By Cirroch
Jan. 4, 2018, 9:42 p.m.(11/26/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Braith
My cousin is a woman of the arts and can be quite entertaining at times.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.