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Written By Lianne

Jan. 18, 2017, 1:44 p.m.(9/12/1005 AR)

Our inability to change the past should not preclude our attempts to understand it.

Written By Aureth

Jan. 18, 2017, 1:44 p.m.(9/12/1005 AR)

I woke up this morning and it looks like we got fucked by the high lords again.

Must be Wednesday.

Written By Alistair

Jan. 18, 2017, 1:41 p.m.(9/12/1005 AR)

And we are left with nothing.

But we need nothing. Blood and blade can overcome any abyssal foe.

Written By Alistair

Jan. 18, 2017, 1:41 p.m.(9/12/1005 AR)

And we are left with nothing.

But we need nothing. Blood and blade can overcome any abyssal foe.

Written By Bethany

Jan. 18, 2017, 1:37 p.m.(9/12/1005 AR)

Relationship Note on Ira

Torian reputation, alchemist's flare -
Questionable sanity, very strange hair.

Written By Alistair

Jan. 18, 2017, 1:35 p.m.(9/12/1005 AR)

I played my part. I did my duty. As the Crown's agent I acted as guard and guide.

I entertained her absurd requests. I took her where she wanted to go. I answered her questions, both the insane and the not so insane. In turn she answered some of mine. I do not know what she saw in me.

And now our games are finished and our follies done.

And we are left with nothing.

Written By Bethany

Jan. 18, 2017, 1:33 p.m.(9/12/1005 AR)

Relationship Note on Cicero

A skilled dancer knowing,
The ways of business and silk flowing.

Written By Joscelin

Jan. 18, 2017, 1:26 p.m.(9/12/1005 AR)

I've been up to my eyeballs in inventory manifests looking over the warehouses we've stockpiled through the months, and I resurface to find out the world has been shaken up.

And Nox'Alfar. Dominus. Highlords and Voices.

Oh my.

-no, scholar, I've nothing else to say for the moment. Too much work to do.

Written By Bethany

Jan. 18, 2017, 1:26 p.m.(9/12/1005 AR)

Relationship Note on Branan

Deft like bees, as skilled and busy,
No perfect rhyme, but still witty.

Written By Samantha

Jan. 18, 2017, 1:23 p.m.(9/12/1005 AR)

Many things are happening now that will have an effect on the state of Arvum. Some will think me superficial because I do not write to discuss them, but rather to speak of something personal, possibly girlish in consideration. But my need to put my thoughts down doesn't mean that I don't care about what has passed - I think anyone who knows me knows better than to think so.

I have been pondering the nature of love.

I thought I loved someone, but have come to realize it was an infatuation. Built I think, from a kind of hero-worship that occurred in childhood, and easily flourished by manner and appearance. Confession lead to rejection as kind as can be offered given the circumstances, and if affection at times lingers, I truly endeavor to bear no grudge or resentment. As time passes, I see the points at which we would be incompatible in our natures for such an involvement, or even that while it might have been mutually satisfying on a physical level, I think emotionally it would have left much to be desired for both of us.

Only weeks later, I met someone else. We became acquaintances, then friends, and then...something more. His belief in the nature and purpose of nobility, his honor, his bravery - they remind me a great deal of Gabriel. We talk about our mutual cares, and find ourselves engaging in efforts to bolster up the other. I inspire him. He inspires me. When we touch, it feels sacred.

I do not know what the future holds, or if there even is a future. But now I know the difference, I think, between infatuation and love.

Written By Bethany

Jan. 18, 2017, 1:21 p.m.(9/12/1005 AR)

Relationship Note on Samantha

Deepwood serenity, Old Oak cider.
Constantly present, still beside her.

Written By Isolde

Jan. 18, 2017, 12:49 p.m.(9/12/1005 AR)

We are never alone, dear ones.

The sun will rise when the moon sets, and we shall rise to be the people we were meant to be. Children though we are in our brief lives, we have within us the Strength to be mighty.

Let those with the luxury of no burden of leadership take comfort in those that do, for in blessed days and cursed nights, we grow, thrive, and overcome.

May our pride bring us the strength to mold our future, and not be chained by our past.

Written By Ida

Jan. 18, 2017, 12:36 p.m.(9/12/1005 AR)

Apparently it was perhaps for the best that I slept several nights in the back room of the shop rather than my quarters at the Valardin estate. Maybe as much for me as for the Compact. On the plus side, I am nearly caught up with my work and can look forward to a shitton of whiskey and maybe even some good brawls sooner than I thought I might.

Written By Julea

Jan. 18, 2017, 12:26 p.m.(9/12/1005 AR)

What is done, is done. We can't change that, but we can change what happens next. We can either spend the next few weeks bickering and throwing around accusations, as to who did what worse, who started it, what fuck up was worse, and passing on the blame, demanding compensation. Fighting and bickering and more fighting.

Or we can prepare. We can seek out the knowledge we need to win this, with as few lives lost as possible. Instead of wasting time we don't have, that's all too precious. Time that might mean saving the lives of dozens.. hundreds, maybe even thousands of people. We have a lot to do, and we don't even know how much time we have. Tactics and planning matter as does knowledge. Preparation, arms, training.

This fight against the incoming Bringers, against the Undead, against everything else that would stand against Arx, is not one we can afford to lose.

Written By Eirene

Jan. 18, 2017, 11:56 a.m.(9/11/1005 AR)

Amidst all this upheaval all I can think is now I'll never know what the answer to Norever's riddle is. And apparently I was first runner up thus so far in 'Favorite But Wrong'.

Actually that isn't the first thing I can think of, but in light of the severity of ongoings I'll refrain from being crass. This time.

Written By Merek

Jan. 18, 2017, 11:17 a.m.(9/11/1005 AR)

I went to the memorial of Lord Damon. It was a quiet and somber affair, and I saw how the nolbes of this Great City seem to honor their own. It was much like memorials back at home, and I think it did proper honor. I gave my condolensces, I've heard great things of the man, from travelers passing by on their way to the service, and from the people at the service. If war is on the horizon, does this mean there will be more services like this? The Thirteen, I wonder on their own musings, but I dare to not fathom a guess on their thoughts.

Written By Darren

Jan. 18, 2017, 10:27 a.m.(9/11/1005 AR)

The Nox'alfar killed my father. They spilled the blood of countless men, put our king to sleep. They returned my father's head to me - not his body, just his head - with spiders for his eyes. When the diplomatic envoy first went to deliver the letter to the Nox'alfar, Lorelai and Norever mocked our pain. They mocked the death of our people. They made jokes. I never asked for payment for that insult, I never demanded blood for those slights. I carried on.

The Teind came, and all we have that it "protected" us based on only the word of King Calithex. In reality, the Teind shielded the Nox'alfar from the Bringer army and prevented them from being attacked. We lost all ability to negotiate at that point. All we had left, was a hope that we could leverage the marriage contract for the return of King Alaric.

The Nox'alfar didn't demand my cousin duel them to the death. First, they demanded his hand. Then, three fingers. Then? His penis. Then, to brand something onto his face - I believe they wanted to cut a penis onto his cheek for shits and grins. It was then that they offered a duel, accepted no champions, and Lorelai later claimed her weapon of choice was magic. After that, they made other demands for portions of his body, or all of his blood. As in any situation where my person insulted a diplomatic envoy, I offered countless suggestions which were not deemed harsh enough. She wanted all of his blood. She wanted pieces of him. She wanted him to suffer. There was no honor in that, there was nothing but chaos and insanity.

Towards the end, Norever and Lorelai laughed in our faces and claimed they did not need us because we already paid the Teind. They were protected. We were not. Too bad, so sad, because they didn't need to help us. Those weapons that everyone covets? They didn't even bring them with them. They were willing to walk away from the Treaty. And when I agreed to brand Anze - a punishment Lorelai herself offered - they disappeared in a magical cloud and further threatened our people.

You can look upon the Regent Council with shame. You can look out onto the world with despair. Or you can realize that we shouldn't beholden ourselves to people who demand blood, who thrive on chaos and insanity. They weren't going to help us against the Bringers - even they said steel cuts them down all the same. They weren't going to help us with anything. They are safe behind their magic shield that we spilled our blood to create for them.

We are alone. But we are not, because we have one another. And for the past however long, we've been able to get along just fine without knowledge that the Nox'alfar exist. We still have one another now. And I'll be damned if I'm going to look upon the future with despair.

Written By Avary

Jan. 18, 2017, 10:17 a.m.(9/11/1005 AR)

Someone has named my actions not once but twice. My name is Avary Ashford, Archlector of the Sentinel, and I called one of the envoys 'elf'. I did not joke at her. I answered her question with my earnest beliefs. But I offered her insult with a single word. How that weighs against the insults of another, I cannot judge without more information at hand. My legate meted out my punishment without any demands of the envoys.

But yes, if I had to pay the price with a duel to the death, then I would have accepted it. Why? Because not only am I Archlector to the Sentinel, but I believe in the Sentinel. He would have seen the justice of the matter and intervened in any such duel. If I died, then it was just.

I know that is easy to write now, but in times like these, we must believe in something.

I believe in the Faith of the Pantheon. I believe in Gild and Gloria and Jayus and Lagoma. I believe in Limerance and Mangata and Petrichor and Vellichor. I believe in the Thirteenth, as he has his rightful place in our Faith. And most of all, I believe in the Sentinel.

Can we all say what has been done is just?

Written By Alis

Jan. 18, 2017, 10:14 a.m.(9/11/1005 AR)

The Teind was paid, and the Nox'Alfar broke /their/ word this time. We gave them what they said they needed. They got the blood of thirteen willing sacrifices, and with that sacrifice the Nox'Alfar are safe for another 169 years. As are we, from more Bringers being created. The Nox'Alfar have shown themselves to be a bloody, brutal, violent people. They think nothing of being eaten alive by spiders, or beheading people so they can be used as inkwells. And everyone really believes they would be insulted by anything we said? A people they don't even bother with unless they have to? No, I don't think so. I think they care absolutely nothing for us, or our lives. They may have been different in the past, when our former rulers made a treaty with them. I have no doubt at the time the treaty was drawn up, it was in the best interests of the Compact. That does not mean it is currently so.

I truly regret that there are those who believe we acted out of anything other then what we felt was best for the people of the Compact as a whole. There has been enough of our blood shed for the Nox'Aflar and I wish no more of it spilled for them. Those 13 sacrifices may have protected the Nox'Alfar, but they also prevent more Bringers from being created, and that protects us too, no matter what else happens.

They spent their time mocking us, and making people perform like trained pets for their pleasure, in order to hand out an unspecified number of weapons that would help fight demons - not Bringers - demons. Unless it was several military units worth of those weapons, I dare say they were playing us for fools.


I don't need an alaricite blade to fight a creature from the abyss. I, and others, have already faced one and defeated it. It will take courage, and cunning. It will take ingenuity and improvisation. I am Valardin. I am a Knight. I will not back down, and I will not give up. I will face whatever comes for us with my Faith and my Weapons and my Will. I know there are many others who will do the same.

Written By Halsim

Jan. 18, 2017, 9:56 a.m.(9/11/1005 AR)

The Compact is about to get a lot more 'interesting', it seems.

Now comes the part where we find out if we can survive the year fumbling about in the dark, as our Council seems content to do.

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