Written By Joslyn
March 28, 2017, 6:16 a.m.(3/3/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Calypso
When I first met Calypso, it was in the Southport training center. She'd offered a spar, and I decided to take her on. I didn't realize she was a general. It was a tough fight, and I'm still convinced my victory was dumb luck. Which is why I'm probably the only victor that ever wanted a rematch when they've trained all the harder.
Today, I had asked to meet with her, and it was far more productive than I had expected. She asked me for details on the attack in the Lower Boroughs, and I obliged her. She asked me the questions, and appreciated my intel. I felt rather important for a few moments.
Eventually the real reason that I wanted to speak with her came up, and I asked how I could better serve the defense of the compact. After a lengthy conversation, I became an agent in the Ministry of Defense. I'm looking forward to serving with her.
Today, I had asked to meet with her, and it was far more productive than I had expected. She asked me for details on the attack in the Lower Boroughs, and I obliged her. She asked me the questions, and appreciated my intel. I felt rather important for a few moments.
Eventually the real reason that I wanted to speak with her came up, and I asked how I could better serve the defense of the compact. After a lengthy conversation, I became an agent in the Ministry of Defense. I'm looking forward to serving with her.
Written By Aislin
March 27, 2017, 11:08 p.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Valkieri
When the history of this fight against the Silence is someday written, Gemecitta's name should damned well be /celebrated/; Rubino and Zaffria have carried more than their fair portion of the burden, and now... now one more.
I didn't know Duke Valkieri Rubino that well; we tended to orbit the same people, but interacted ourselves only rarely. A sparring match, a dinner or two, occasional messengers. I kept telling myself that, sometime soon, I'd have more time and would sit down with him.
There isn't enough time in the world for everything we'd do, I suppose.
In the end, I knew him best through the opinions of those we both cared about: Cara, Vincere, Pietro. And all of them thought well of him. Even when they were at odds with him, even when they were cross with him, they loved him. Even though by all accounts he wasn't an easy man to get along with.
And he loved them in turn.
Whatever else I might say about Duke Valkieri, in the end, he loved and was loved by so many of those I care about.
I can't help but feel the world is poorer for his loss.
I didn't know Duke Valkieri Rubino that well; we tended to orbit the same people, but interacted ourselves only rarely. A sparring match, a dinner or two, occasional messengers. I kept telling myself that, sometime soon, I'd have more time and would sit down with him.
There isn't enough time in the world for everything we'd do, I suppose.
In the end, I knew him best through the opinions of those we both cared about: Cara, Vincere, Pietro. And all of them thought well of him. Even when they were at odds with him, even when they were cross with him, they loved him. Even though by all accounts he wasn't an easy man to get along with.
And he loved them in turn.
Whatever else I might say about Duke Valkieri, in the end, he loved and was loved by so many of those I care about.
I can't help but feel the world is poorer for his loss.
Written By Dulcinea
March 27, 2017, 11:02 p.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
Dear Me,
Now Percy and I can drink together and cry.
Huzzah.
~Me
Now Percy and I can drink together and cry.
Huzzah.
~Me
Written By Ailys
March 27, 2017, 10:41 p.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Aiden
Brother I am happy you have come, I hope maybe you can get Ainsley to come out of his room.
Written By Lazarus
March 27, 2017, 7:56 p.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
Lord Tobias of the Crimson Blades is a man I respect dearly. His officers safeguard the safety of my parents and my home. As things get more complicated and dangerous, the soldiers do not move from their post but instead ensure the security that allows me to stay here in Arx handling the business instead of having to return to the vineyard to secure my family. For that I am greatful because family is everything. The Crimson Blades will be staple of the Mercier House now and many years to come.
Written By Calypso
March 27, 2017, 5:56 p.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Valkieri
Our relationship started off with caution. Keeping one another at arms length as we from the Lyceum are known to do. Carefully calculated friendships.
Though as time moved on, I began to truly see Duke Valkieri for the brilliant mind that he was. His stern exterior kept so many at a distance, and I feel fortunate enough to have been allowed to look past that, even if just briefly, and see a man dedicated to his people and steadfast in his values.
I am mourning his loss. There are so few who speak the language of War fluently. I will miss our conversations.
Though as time moved on, I began to truly see Duke Valkieri for the brilliant mind that he was. His stern exterior kept so many at a distance, and I feel fortunate enough to have been allowed to look past that, even if just briefly, and see a man dedicated to his people and steadfast in his values.
I am mourning his loss. There are so few who speak the language of War fluently. I will miss our conversations.
Written By Dafne
March 27, 2017, 4:11 p.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
Under different circumstances, I might have taken that meeting.
But I am still trying to catch up on paperwork, and the Seraph was Valkieri's friend, and most of Gemecitta still thinks of me as a little girl--
So much turns on little things sometimes.
The guards told me not to go in. They told me not to, but I did anyway. And I saw--
No. I can't describe it, because Cara will read this and she doesn't need to know. But I still see it when I close my eyes. All sorts of deaths can sound poetic, even beautiful when you write about them, but being faced with the reality of what violence does to the human body is very different.
I closed his eyes. I knelt on the floor and closed his eyes so he wouldn't stare sightlessly at the ceiling.
I cannot say Valkieri and I were ever close. Perhaps if he lived--but he could never believe I had grown up. He hated my cat and my stories and thought i was strange. But, beneath all his prickles and passion, he was _true_, truer than anyone I'd known. He was a rock, and he held the world in place. We are lesser for losing him.
Valkieri. Sylvie. Vincere. Pietro. So many gone. Almost all I think of as family.
Is Gemecitta cursed?
But I am still trying to catch up on paperwork, and the Seraph was Valkieri's friend, and most of Gemecitta still thinks of me as a little girl--
So much turns on little things sometimes.
The guards told me not to go in. They told me not to, but I did anyway. And I saw--
No. I can't describe it, because Cara will read this and she doesn't need to know. But I still see it when I close my eyes. All sorts of deaths can sound poetic, even beautiful when you write about them, but being faced with the reality of what violence does to the human body is very different.
I closed his eyes. I knelt on the floor and closed his eyes so he wouldn't stare sightlessly at the ceiling.
I cannot say Valkieri and I were ever close. Perhaps if he lived--but he could never believe I had grown up. He hated my cat and my stories and thought i was strange. But, beneath all his prickles and passion, he was _true_, truer than anyone I'd known. He was a rock, and he held the world in place. We are lesser for losing him.
Valkieri. Sylvie. Vincere. Pietro. So many gone. Almost all I think of as family.
Is Gemecitta cursed?
Written By Belladonna
March 27, 2017, 3:13 p.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Valkieri
You can't be gone. I think I acknowledged the possibility and braced myself for every death I could be facing save yours. I did not stop to think that you could be lost in this conflict. You weren't supposed to die. Gods above, not like this.
I will miss you, my friend. More than I have words for.
We fight on.
I will miss you, my friend. More than I have words for.
We fight on.
Written By Samantha
March 27, 2017, 2 p.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Mirari
I have not forgotten that I owe you silver.
Written By Cara
March 27, 2017, 1:04 p.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Valkieri
I can't--
Written By Aureth
March 27, 2017, 12:54 p.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
I pray to the Queen of Endings to take the souls of those who fell defending Her city into Her hand. I pray to Her to guard those souls upon the Wheel, to guide them to their new weaves, howsoever she, the Queen, chooses to send them. I pray that those worthy souls of our heroes gave their lives, who fell to the Bringers, will be granted new beginnings, and that those beginnings will bring glory to the seed of human worth behind each pair of eyes.
We fight for Arx. We fight for the Compact. We fight for life and the cycle and all our souls.
I do not pray to Death to let this not be the ending of all endings.
That is what Death has prayed to us.
We fight for Arx. We fight for the Compact. We fight for life and the cycle and all our souls.
I do not pray to Death to let this not be the ending of all endings.
That is what Death has prayed to us.
Written By Eirene
March 27, 2017, 12:43 p.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
I've killed a demon. I've killed a giant.
We're Greedy Mother Fuckers is one of my unit battlecries. I want more. I want every last unnatural thing to fall under my sword. I want every wound and every harm healed until it's a painful memory and Gods help me if I could do something to ease those nightmares and flashbacks and haunted eyes I would. I want the cause of this hurt eradicated.
Because I sleep among the dead and dying. I rest my hand on the brow on the fevered and chilled. I watch the life slip away from their eyes and the last breath pass their lips before their souls and bodies disconnect. Every life I cannot save is a slap in the face to my skills and my determination. Every lost life kills a part of me as well, leaving anger and sorrow in its' place.
Spend a few minutes, an hour, a day in the House of Solace where our soldiers lie. In the Saving Grace where many of our civilians lie. Spend some time among those who have been terrorized body and soul by these monsters and unnatural fucks and see if it doesn't booster your resolve to do -everything- in your power to defeat them.
Gods know I will.
We're Greedy Mother Fuckers is one of my unit battlecries. I want more. I want every last unnatural thing to fall under my sword. I want every wound and every harm healed until it's a painful memory and Gods help me if I could do something to ease those nightmares and flashbacks and haunted eyes I would. I want the cause of this hurt eradicated.
Because I sleep among the dead and dying. I rest my hand on the brow on the fevered and chilled. I watch the life slip away from their eyes and the last breath pass their lips before their souls and bodies disconnect. Every life I cannot save is a slap in the face to my skills and my determination. Every lost life kills a part of me as well, leaving anger and sorrow in its' place.
Spend a few minutes, an hour, a day in the House of Solace where our soldiers lie. In the Saving Grace where many of our civilians lie. Spend some time among those who have been terrorized body and soul by these monsters and unnatural fucks and see if it doesn't booster your resolve to do -everything- in your power to defeat them.
Gods know I will.
Written By Eirene
March 27, 2017, 12:38 p.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Valkieri
Duke Valkieri is dead. I do regret not knowing him better. And after reading the Blacks he released, I regret never having the chance to screw him.
What is it about Gemmicita that provokes our enemies to strike at them through supernatural means?
Moreso - now in additional to INVISIBLE bringers, we have masqued ones.
I'm going to look in my ring a lot more now-a-days...
What is it about Gemmicita that provokes our enemies to strike at them through supernatural means?
Moreso - now in additional to INVISIBLE bringers, we have masqued ones.
I'm going to look in my ring a lot more now-a-days...
Written By Ailys
March 27, 2017, 12:34 p.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Merek
Nice shopkeeper, we made some perfumes together.
Written By Ailys
March 27, 2017, 12:33 p.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
Nice shopkeeper, I helped mend. We created some perfumes together.
Written By Tobias
March 27, 2017, 12:27 p.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
So it has begun.
When I first accepted our main contract, I figured we'd be defending Arx against the occasional skirmish for the most part. Siege was a possibility, but unlikely given the army was only 20000 strong with no real archer or cavalry support.
Then I heard we had four more coming for us, and I knew a siege was inevitable. The Compact has great military leaders, and have shown it with the near destruction or two columns and the crippling of another... but when your enemy is so completely controlled to make morale a non-issue and the numbers they have... It was a matter of when, not if, a siege would take place.
I am happy to say that the Crimson Blades did their part preparing the outskirts for the inevitable, and that the Crimson Blades did their job well at the First Battle of Arx. Many routed, but many more held firm. I'm proud to say that the Crimson Blades never faltered, and that we had only minor injuries from the holding action at the Gate, even until the end when we wheeled around and skewered numerous Bringers in one hit.
The Compact can be proud of their sons and daughters. We held the line, and Arx survives.
Now comes the hard part... the waiting, and the infiltration.
When I first accepted our main contract, I figured we'd be defending Arx against the occasional skirmish for the most part. Siege was a possibility, but unlikely given the army was only 20000 strong with no real archer or cavalry support.
Then I heard we had four more coming for us, and I knew a siege was inevitable. The Compact has great military leaders, and have shown it with the near destruction or two columns and the crippling of another... but when your enemy is so completely controlled to make morale a non-issue and the numbers they have... It was a matter of when, not if, a siege would take place.
I am happy to say that the Crimson Blades did their part preparing the outskirts for the inevitable, and that the Crimson Blades did their job well at the First Battle of Arx. Many routed, but many more held firm. I'm proud to say that the Crimson Blades never faltered, and that we had only minor injuries from the holding action at the Gate, even until the end when we wheeled around and skewered numerous Bringers in one hit.
The Compact can be proud of their sons and daughters. We held the line, and Arx survives.
Now comes the hard part... the waiting, and the infiltration.
Written By Samantha
March 27, 2017, 12:20 p.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
I spent a few hours last night at the Nightgold Estate, as the Duchess had invited nobles to come sit in vigil during the siege. There was food and drink a-plenty, and some talked, some prayed, and some did simple but useful work in the way of making and cleansing bandages to be used for the war effort.
The whole time I was there, I was wracked with guilt. Nevermore have I felt like what I am - the daughter of a servant. It felt like luxury I wasn't entitled to, and more to the point, what was I even doing there when there were people at the manor who needed me? Everyone was very kind, but soon enough, I couldn't bear it - a problem with me, and not my hostess, to be clear - and made my farewells to return home.
We could hear the drums, which seemed to make the very ground beneath our feet vibrate. We could hear the chanting as a dull but dangerous roar. Many of the younger refugee children were quite frightened, so I ordered that any of them who wished to sleep indoors might do so. The ballroom was filled with children, asleep in their camping bedding, those that could sleep. For those that could not, there was cocoa and stories and quiet games. I walked amongst them for a bit, receiving sticky kisses and too-tight hugs, and I knew then that I had done right thing by coming home.
And then deeper into the night, after the retreat, he came home, without a scratch on him. I know he fought, but I only saw he was unscathed after he walked into the parlor, and the first thing I thought was to thank the Thirteen. I held him tight. He is precious to me beyond imagining. And yet, I would never, ever demand he abjure his duty. It is part of who he is. All the same, during this siege, any time he leaves for the walls, I shall say a prayer, and any time he returns, I shall do likewise.
The whole time I was there, I was wracked with guilt. Nevermore have I felt like what I am - the daughter of a servant. It felt like luxury I wasn't entitled to, and more to the point, what was I even doing there when there were people at the manor who needed me? Everyone was very kind, but soon enough, I couldn't bear it - a problem with me, and not my hostess, to be clear - and made my farewells to return home.
We could hear the drums, which seemed to make the very ground beneath our feet vibrate. We could hear the chanting as a dull but dangerous roar. Many of the younger refugee children were quite frightened, so I ordered that any of them who wished to sleep indoors might do so. The ballroom was filled with children, asleep in their camping bedding, those that could sleep. For those that could not, there was cocoa and stories and quiet games. I walked amongst them for a bit, receiving sticky kisses and too-tight hugs, and I knew then that I had done right thing by coming home.
And then deeper into the night, after the retreat, he came home, without a scratch on him. I know he fought, but I only saw he was unscathed after he walked into the parlor, and the first thing I thought was to thank the Thirteen. I held him tight. He is precious to me beyond imagining. And yet, I would never, ever demand he abjure his duty. It is part of who he is. All the same, during this siege, any time he leaves for the walls, I shall say a prayer, and any time he returns, I shall do likewise.
Written By Merek
March 27, 2017, 11:41 a.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Orathy
This man from the Lower Boroughs is honorable, and fights for his people. Without them, the docks might have been lost, and he even led a hunt on Bringers of Silence. Amazing.
Written By Merek
March 27, 2017, 11:35 a.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Umay
I know it is difficult for her, but I believe she has it all in the right place. She should not feel bad about being afraid, for it is what we all fear, and she should also realize you can't save everyone on the field, but standing with those passing on is perhaps one of the greatest comforts anyone could lend to someone. She is truly a faithful person. The Bringers seek to undo people like this. I don't want any of that.
Written By Merek
March 27, 2017, 11:33 a.m.(3/2/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Sparte
This Guard is quite brave, even if he does not have pure skill. And his faith is astounding. I cherish him as a fellow member of the Iron Guard, and would stand beside him any day in a fight.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.