Written By Aureth
June 30, 2021, 8:47 p.m.(10/3/1015 AR)
There comes a time when you finally stop writing the last year's date when you write down the date, and for me, in this year, it has not come until the tenth month. For it is not 1014, but 1015, and today is October the 3rd.
In the annals of Vellichor, I believe this is my public confession that I am beginning to age.
There is a dirty rumor that next month I shall be 47. I am certain that Fortunato will never age past 34, however.
In the annals of Vellichor, I believe this is my public confession that I am beginning to age.
There is a dirty rumor that next month I shall be 47. I am certain that Fortunato will never age past 34, however.
Written By Aureth
June 1, 2021, 2:39 p.m.(8/1/1015 AR)
We live in times of unprecedented expansion of dominion and civilization.
Our reach grows, and with it, the threats we face - but the Faith shall never stand against the true growth of the Compact. For the first time in generations, the nobility of Arvum have been striving to grow their holdings beyond what their ancestors were content to hold.
What I ask is that those of you who have been working so hard to expand your holdings, by conquest or by diplomacy, remember to give thanks to the grace of Petrichor and to the gifts of Gild. Keep faith strong in your hearts, and do honor to Limerance.
Our reach grows, and with it, the threats we face - but the Faith shall never stand against the true growth of the Compact. For the first time in generations, the nobility of Arvum have been striving to grow their holdings beyond what their ancestors were content to hold.
What I ask is that those of you who have been working so hard to expand your holdings, by conquest or by diplomacy, remember to give thanks to the grace of Petrichor and to the gifts of Gild. Keep faith strong in your hearts, and do honor to Limerance.
Written By Aureth
April 19, 2021, 9:42 p.m.(4/27/1015 AR)
Once, long ago, I don't recall who, a group of the finest of nobles of Arx ventured down the great hill to the square in the Lower Boroughs, where they offered silver hand over hand to those who would take it. They talked gaily of the news of the day, dressed in their fine silks -- simple silk was fashionable that summer, not the high elegance that we see the royals of today at their sport -- and offered earnest smiles with their generosity.
A few streets away, the priests who sheltered the hungry and lost at the tragedy went about their business, ministering to those who needed it in their workaday way. They were unremarkable and unremarked, neither answering to the surly chip on the shoulder of the street rats, nor troubled by the performative grace of the wealthy.
I know now, as I did not then, that the value of those good works is not changed by the attention paid them. The blanket to the sick or the bread to the hungry or the silver to the destitute. All retain their value and are not cheapened by claims one way or another about them.
A few streets away, the priests who sheltered the hungry and lost at the tragedy went about their business, ministering to those who needed it in their workaday way. They were unremarkable and unremarked, neither answering to the surly chip on the shoulder of the street rats, nor troubled by the performative grace of the wealthy.
I know now, as I did not then, that the value of those good works is not changed by the attention paid them. The blanket to the sick or the bread to the hungry or the silver to the destitute. All retain their value and are not cheapened by claims one way or another about them.
Written By Aureth
April 14, 2021, 5:52 p.m.(4/17/1015 AR)
I shall shed no tears for the passing of the apostate known as Ivan Helianthus. He denied the gods and the Church and raised his banners in rebellion against his rightful liege. The history of the Compact and especially of the Lyceum is rife with what happens to such men.
I pray that his soul returned to the Wheel to be better situated for right choices in his next life.
As for the misguided wailing of the men who burned the Great Cathedral, killed Beloved Orazio and named himself a false dominus...
It is not too late for repentance.
To those who followed these heretics in the misguided belief that their traditions were more important than the guidance of the holy church:
Come back to the faithful. Forgiveness is possible. You need not be trapped by false choices. The Church is here for you. The Star of the Faith is here. The heart of the Faith is here. The priests of your mothers and fathers are here. The shrines you went to when you were a child are here.
One wrong choice does not define all future paths. Choose again. You can. I believe in you.
I pray that his soul returned to the Wheel to be better situated for right choices in his next life.
As for the misguided wailing of the men who burned the Great Cathedral, killed Beloved Orazio and named himself a false dominus...
It is not too late for repentance.
To those who followed these heretics in the misguided belief that their traditions were more important than the guidance of the holy church:
Come back to the faithful. Forgiveness is possible. You need not be trapped by false choices. The Church is here for you. The Star of the Faith is here. The heart of the Faith is here. The priests of your mothers and fathers are here. The shrines you went to when you were a child are here.
One wrong choice does not define all future paths. Choose again. You can. I believe in you.
Written By Aureth
Feb. 2, 2021, 3:45 p.m.(11/12/1014 AR)
There is a temptation being offered to the Faithful now to address the gods not with faith and worship but with blame; to afford to them responsibility for disaster, and to cry against them with anger, and with pain.
To attribute to the gods the mindless chaos of nature, to assign blame for disasters, this is both heretical and a slippery slope to darker paths: to blame and denial of responsibility.
Do not fall to this temptation. Do not stray from the path into this heretical mire.
We do not blame the gods when things go wrong in our lives. We pray for the strength to persevere despite our tragedies. The virtue and ideal of faith does not spend itself pointlessly to curse the dark. Light a candle. Pray with your neighbor. Pray for the lives lost, the souls returned to the embrace of the Queen of Endings and the turn of the Wheel, and pray for the lives yet found, and the rebuilding that must come in the wake of tragedy.
To attribute to the gods the mindless chaos of nature, to assign blame for disasters, this is both heretical and a slippery slope to darker paths: to blame and denial of responsibility.
Do not fall to this temptation. Do not stray from the path into this heretical mire.
We do not blame the gods when things go wrong in our lives. We pray for the strength to persevere despite our tragedies. The virtue and ideal of faith does not spend itself pointlessly to curse the dark. Light a candle. Pray with your neighbor. Pray for the lives lost, the souls returned to the embrace of the Queen of Endings and the turn of the Wheel, and pray for the lives yet found, and the rebuilding that must come in the wake of tragedy.
Written By Aureth
Jan. 10, 2021, 1:39 p.m.(9/22/1014 AR)
Relationship Note on Emberly
I can think of few more questionable uses of noble judgment than the elevation of a young lady to the Peerage who was cast out by her family for wildly inappropriate behavior. Especially since there as always a path for the commoner known as Emberly to reclaim her birthright: to make peace with her family and seek penance for her wrongdoing instead of claiming to be the wronged party all along.
I am disappointed to hear the words of the heralds this morning, for those familiar with this situation cannot avoid knowledge of how Miss Emberly came to be a commoner.
House Crovane absolutely has the power to make this foolish choice, but unlike the House of Lady Emberly's birth, they certainly did not request the advice of the Dominus on the matter.
I am disappointed to hear the words of the heralds this morning, for those familiar with this situation cannot avoid knowledge of how Miss Emberly came to be a commoner.
House Crovane absolutely has the power to make this foolish choice, but unlike the House of Lady Emberly's birth, they certainly did not request the advice of the Dominus on the matter.
Written By Aureth
Dec. 7, 2020, 1:01 p.m.(7/10/1014 AR)
In getting myself installed into the chambers of the Dominus, as part of my new role as Seraph of Arx, I was inspired to begin a new tradition. The inspiration came from viewing the Dominus's traditional dining room, which has a set of six chairs around a formal dining table. I believe that recurring small dinners with a selection of guests from all about the city are in order, and I have spoken with the Rectory cooks, who seem delighted with the idea as an opportunity to refresh their creativity on new palates (it makes sense ... with as many mouths to feed as we have traditionally at mealtimes in the Rectory I believe they would get tired of making so many stews).
One thing that my predecessor never really had enough time to do was exercise his social calendar on behalf of the Church. I think it was a matter of some regret for him, with so many crises and meetings and disciplinary issues to juggle. I expect that I will be similarly buried, and yet - I wish to embrace the parts of our teachings that elevate all souls, and I do think that people from many different houses and backgrounds will have much to learn from each other.
One thing that my predecessor never really had enough time to do was exercise his social calendar on behalf of the Church. I think it was a matter of some regret for him, with so many crises and meetings and disciplinary issues to juggle. I expect that I will be similarly buried, and yet - I wish to embrace the parts of our teachings that elevate all souls, and I do think that people from many different houses and backgrounds will have much to learn from each other.
Written By Aureth
Nov. 16, 2020, 3:11 p.m.(5/24/1014 AR)
Dominus Orazio was from the Lyceum, yes; a son of House Saik before he took his oath. But he was first, and foremost, a priest of the Faith. He was an institutionalist. As long as I knew him, he always used to sign his letters "in faith". He was mantled in it. Faith in the gods, yes, but above all, faith in the Faith. The Church.
It's a small thing, but since the Carnifex chose to claim me for the role pending the Convocation, I have done the same. It is my intent, too, to be an institutionalist. The structure and authority of the Faith must continue. It must not be eaten from inside or without by small men who would try to thieve its power for its panoply, and abuse its foundation, its public trust, for their own ends.
We must protect our flock, the Faithful. We must be as shepherds. And to do that, we must look to our own house. The walls must be sturdy as the bones of the Cathedral that did not break or shatter even when consumed in flames set by our avowed enemies.
This Orthodox should rally to this. The Pragmatists should rally to this. We are a whole Faith, and though there is room for difference of opinion about individual policies, differences of theological approach, of study, of aim, we must be a whole Faith as the gods are a whole Pantheon.
We are strong as our foundations if we but choose to be. Pray with me for our Dominion and reject those who would make us small.
It's a small thing, but since the Carnifex chose to claim me for the role pending the Convocation, I have done the same. It is my intent, too, to be an institutionalist. The structure and authority of the Faith must continue. It must not be eaten from inside or without by small men who would try to thieve its power for its panoply, and abuse its foundation, its public trust, for their own ends.
We must protect our flock, the Faithful. We must be as shepherds. And to do that, we must look to our own house. The walls must be sturdy as the bones of the Cathedral that did not break or shatter even when consumed in flames set by our avowed enemies.
This Orthodox should rally to this. The Pragmatists should rally to this. We are a whole Faith, and though there is room for difference of opinion about individual policies, differences of theological approach, of study, of aim, we must be a whole Faith as the gods are a whole Pantheon.
We are strong as our foundations if we but choose to be. Pray with me for our Dominion and reject those who would make us small.
Written By Aureth
Nov. 13, 2020, 1:47 p.m.(5/18/1014 AR)
An excerpt from the past that seems terribly relevant this morning:
"Grief isn't about the dead. It is about what you have lost. It is about the great hole in your life that the departed have left. It is about what should be there, that you came to rely on in life, about the habits of your heart and of your existence that have been ripped from you. I have complete faith that my mother's soul was taken into the protection of the Goddess; that her brilliant spirit, kissed by Jayus, has returned the Wheel to be woven anew, sometime that Death has a need for clear eyes and total, unrelenting fearlessness.
But the hole in my heart remains. Because grief is fundamentally selfish. It is about what you had, which you can no longer possess. To give it up is to sacrifice, not your memory of whom you love -- which is a treasure to be honored -- but instead, your hurt. Your unwillingness to accept that they are gone.
Pray to Death for the souls you love. Pray to Her because she is their guardian and she will keep them whole and safe. Pray to Her because she is the ending and because she is the beginning. Because she made each soul from her own self and set it into the world, and because all things must end so that they can begin anew.
Pray to Lagoma for the bereaved. Pray to Her that they may shed that part of themselves that clings to bitterness and loss. Pray to Her because you must continue on, and accept that you no longer are who you were when they were with you, and must be someone different now. Someone shaped by who they were, yes. Someone who will never forget. But someone else."
From the journal of Archlector Aureth Grayhope, in fact, in the spring of 1006 AR. I should probably listen to that guy. He sounds like he knew what he was talking about.
"Grief isn't about the dead. It is about what you have lost. It is about the great hole in your life that the departed have left. It is about what should be there, that you came to rely on in life, about the habits of your heart and of your existence that have been ripped from you. I have complete faith that my mother's soul was taken into the protection of the Goddess; that her brilliant spirit, kissed by Jayus, has returned the Wheel to be woven anew, sometime that Death has a need for clear eyes and total, unrelenting fearlessness.
But the hole in my heart remains. Because grief is fundamentally selfish. It is about what you had, which you can no longer possess. To give it up is to sacrifice, not your memory of whom you love -- which is a treasure to be honored -- but instead, your hurt. Your unwillingness to accept that they are gone.
Pray to Death for the souls you love. Pray to Her because she is their guardian and she will keep them whole and safe. Pray to Her because she is the ending and because she is the beginning. Because she made each soul from her own self and set it into the world, and because all things must end so that they can begin anew.
Pray to Lagoma for the bereaved. Pray to Her that they may shed that part of themselves that clings to bitterness and loss. Pray to Her because you must continue on, and accept that you no longer are who you were when they were with you, and must be someone different now. Someone shaped by who they were, yes. Someone who will never forget. But someone else."
From the journal of Archlector Aureth Grayhope, in fact, in the spring of 1006 AR. I should probably listen to that guy. He sounds like he knew what he was talking about.
Written By Aureth
Nov. 12, 2020, 12:08 a.m.(5/15/1014 AR)
Hold your family close. Tell them you love them when you can. You never know what tomorrow will bring.
Written By Aureth
Oct. 29, 2020, 6:25 p.m.(4/16/1014 AR)
What is your favorite word for nonsense?
Balderdash? Poppycock? Humbug? Bamboozlement?
It's a matter I've had reason to consider, in the course of my correspondence.
Perhaps I might start inventing new ones.
Hornswoggle? Who knows. There's no limit to the imagination, nor is there any limit to what men will expect to sell to the Church as fact, apparently.
Farfnoogat?
Balderdash? Poppycock? Humbug? Bamboozlement?
It's a matter I've had reason to consider, in the course of my correspondence.
Perhaps I might start inventing new ones.
Hornswoggle? Who knows. There's no limit to the imagination, nor is there any limit to what men will expect to sell to the Church as fact, apparently.
Farfnoogat?
Written By Aureth
Oct. 7, 2020, 3 p.m.(2/28/1014 AR)
Relationship Note on Tanith
Cous, I didn't know you were a blackberry tart.
Written By Aureth
Sept. 29, 2020, 3:47 p.m.(2/12/1014 AR)
Treachery masquerading as tradition shall not be countenanced. The Faith shall not be silent on the subject of those who choose to follow the words of a condemned apostate and to ignore the call of the faithful.
Our arms will ever be open to the repentant. It is not too late to turn aside from folly.
But one day it will be. The Church must protect the flock from those whose inconstance would tear the structures of society asunder and we will not shirk this duty.
Our arms will ever be open to the repentant. It is not too late to turn aside from folly.
But one day it will be. The Church must protect the flock from those whose inconstance would tear the structures of society asunder and we will not shirk this duty.
Written By Aureth
Aug. 28, 2020, 2:32 p.m.(12/4/1013 AR)
There is no wound more personal than a spiritual injury. A soul's ache is unlike any bodily ache, unsoothable by any physical salve. Nor is simple prayer the solution to all such agues.
A priest is not a physicker, but a simple guide. Shepherds guide sheep, but priests guide people, and people are altogether more difficult charges than sheep. Sheep are simple, sheep are trusting, sheep need protection. _People_ are not simple, nor trusting, for all that they need protection. People are clever, enterprising, dignified, self-deceptive, self-destructive. My crook can serve only so far, for a heart can make only its own choices; yet still, if I fail one of my charges, it's not on them, not on the wounded soul, nor upon the gods they desperately seek, whether they are aware or no.
The failure is mine. For the path is there to be walked, and I have taken an oath along with this ... imaginary crook. Yet I might lose some anyway. With all the passion, and certainty, and persuasion, and faith at my disposal, I might lose you anyway.
I did not want to fail any of you, but if a man never fails, he will never learn.
It is inevitable that we fall short of perfection, for we are only human, and the demand of the Church is that we strive, not necessarily that we achieve, for to live a perfect life of virtues across all those virtues we ask may not be possible, but the virtues themselves guideposts for which we reach, not goals that we claim and surpass.
It is inevitable that I fall short of perfection.
Yet no one need be lost forever. With prayer, and faith, and hope, it may be yet that a lost one may still find their way home.
A priest is not a physicker, but a simple guide. Shepherds guide sheep, but priests guide people, and people are altogether more difficult charges than sheep. Sheep are simple, sheep are trusting, sheep need protection. _People_ are not simple, nor trusting, for all that they need protection. People are clever, enterprising, dignified, self-deceptive, self-destructive. My crook can serve only so far, for a heart can make only its own choices; yet still, if I fail one of my charges, it's not on them, not on the wounded soul, nor upon the gods they desperately seek, whether they are aware or no.
The failure is mine. For the path is there to be walked, and I have taken an oath along with this ... imaginary crook. Yet I might lose some anyway. With all the passion, and certainty, and persuasion, and faith at my disposal, I might lose you anyway.
I did not want to fail any of you, but if a man never fails, he will never learn.
It is inevitable that we fall short of perfection, for we are only human, and the demand of the Church is that we strive, not necessarily that we achieve, for to live a perfect life of virtues across all those virtues we ask may not be possible, but the virtues themselves guideposts for which we reach, not goals that we claim and surpass.
It is inevitable that I fall short of perfection.
Yet no one need be lost forever. With prayer, and faith, and hope, it may be yet that a lost one may still find their way home.
Written By Aureth
Aug. 18, 2020, 3:09 p.m.(11/12/1013 AR)
I presume this donkey was intended as a birthday gift, or an editorial, but I admit, I haven't the first idea of what one does with one. Still, it will hardly be the first time in my public career that I've made an ass of myself.
Written By Aureth
July 27, 2020, 4:48 p.m.(9/24/1013 AR)
Spiders eat bugs.
Written By Aureth
July 6, 2020, 10:56 p.m.(8/10/1013 AR)
A few years ago, the world was threatened with extinction by the advance of the army of Silence. Only a few priests of the Pantheon even had an inkling of what the Shrine of the Lost was even about, or why those stone altars rested there, forlorn and forsook.
I could not be more proud of how the Harlequins and the Liberators are flourishing. The work will take lifetimes to do properly, all across the Compact, educating the faithful and ensuring that their embrace is understood.
Yet still. In this city, in Death's city, we have come so far.
I could not be more proud of how the Harlequins and the Liberators are flourishing. The work will take lifetimes to do properly, all across the Compact, educating the faithful and ensuring that their embrace is understood.
Yet still. In this city, in Death's city, we have come so far.
Written By Aureth
June 28, 2020, 10:14 p.m.(7/22/1013 AR)
I've never seen House Valardin sponsor a joust that wasn't excellently entertaining to observe. There's just something about an honor duel that observes the forms properly. Reminds me of something I can't quite remember.
Written By Aureth
June 24, 2020, 6:53 p.m.(7/14/1013 AR)
Relationship Note on Margot
Really... really unwise choice of sparring partners on this particular topic.
Written By Aureth
June 17, 2020, 2:07 p.m.(6/28/1013 AR)
I am weary, yet whole. A new day dawns. Each new day, a new beginning; each turn of the seasons, a chance for the bloom of change. Jokes aside, I genuinely believe that a man of my age is in the prime of life, provided he keeps fit and lays off the pastries, but this morning, my bones ache. Yesterday I walked the city the way I used to, down the hill to the Murder and back.
Never forget how large this city is. We are vast. We contain multitudes. We are a microcosm of the grand sweep of the lands of the Compact. And as the reach of the Compact grows, so too does the order and form of the faces that you see out on the street here.
Unrelated to these lofty thoughts and plaints of years, the bird has decided to crib several pairs of my underwear for his lair. Maybe he, too, is sore and in need of something soft to lie on.
Never forget how large this city is. We are vast. We contain multitudes. We are a microcosm of the grand sweep of the lands of the Compact. And as the reach of the Compact grows, so too does the order and form of the faces that you see out on the street here.
Unrelated to these lofty thoughts and plaints of years, the bird has decided to crib several pairs of my underwear for his lair. Maybe he, too, is sore and in need of something soft to lie on.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.