Written By Margot
Jan. 8, 2017, 12:50 p.m.(8/10/1005 AR)
The Teind?
I am struggling, my place, my duty, my role is to be empathetic to and understand those mindsets alien to those of the isles.
In that I understand the outrage of those who have lived in worlds where war is minimal, where they have the luxury of grieving over every life lost. Where survival is, perhaps not easy but can be achieved without blood shed. Perhaps their morality and religious dedication has become more developed than ours with the much more frequent contact they have had with each other as a means to prevent constant, large scale battles between them that would result in massive losses of life.
I also understand the simplicity of this decision among those raised on the isle. It is not as many would believe a willingness to throw thralls blood to the elves. I know when Donrai Thrax says I will have 13 who will willingly sacrifice themselves for the survival of the rest of us that those are not thralls but free men. They are our Reavers, our sailors, our warriors. Every time they man a ship to go out and defend us against any threat they are making that very same decision. In the Isles we honor those sacrifices, and respect them, they are not abhorrent, they are the cost of survival in isolation from the rest.
I look back on my own history and wonder, had we existed any where else and I had see what I had seen, would it have destroyed me? If even the idea of the loss of one family member to my peers is so great a threat that they are filled with fury and rage, what toll would it take to not only be parted with every single one of them, small to large, powerful to powerless, but to have witnessed each one?
I am not immune to grief, but I will not drown in it either. My family broke it's agreements and oaths. A blood price was paid as a result - far less willingly. Such is the cost of breaking one's oaths. That understanding is intrinsic to my existence now.
I cannot help but feel that the mathematics of it are simple now, having a view the whole board as it where - with the threats of the Rex'alfar and the brings of silence to the north, south and west, and Gyre to the east. Silence and Oblivion cannot be allowed to win, but they will should nothing change from it's current configuration.
Thirteen lives, given freely to spare hundreds if not thousands? To Lady Dawn Baseborn and her 12 I give the same respect I would to any of our fierce and mighty reavers. And thank her for her sacrifice rather than cry over it.
Let us not waste that sacrifice but ensure that it accomplishes what it is intended to.
I am struggling, my place, my duty, my role is to be empathetic to and understand those mindsets alien to those of the isles.
In that I understand the outrage of those who have lived in worlds where war is minimal, where they have the luxury of grieving over every life lost. Where survival is, perhaps not easy but can be achieved without blood shed. Perhaps their morality and religious dedication has become more developed than ours with the much more frequent contact they have had with each other as a means to prevent constant, large scale battles between them that would result in massive losses of life.
I also understand the simplicity of this decision among those raised on the isle. It is not as many would believe a willingness to throw thralls blood to the elves. I know when Donrai Thrax says I will have 13 who will willingly sacrifice themselves for the survival of the rest of us that those are not thralls but free men. They are our Reavers, our sailors, our warriors. Every time they man a ship to go out and defend us against any threat they are making that very same decision. In the Isles we honor those sacrifices, and respect them, they are not abhorrent, they are the cost of survival in isolation from the rest.
I look back on my own history and wonder, had we existed any where else and I had see what I had seen, would it have destroyed me? If even the idea of the loss of one family member to my peers is so great a threat that they are filled with fury and rage, what toll would it take to not only be parted with every single one of them, small to large, powerful to powerless, but to have witnessed each one?
I am not immune to grief, but I will not drown in it either. My family broke it's agreements and oaths. A blood price was paid as a result - far less willingly. Such is the cost of breaking one's oaths. That understanding is intrinsic to my existence now.
I cannot help but feel that the mathematics of it are simple now, having a view the whole board as it where - with the threats of the Rex'alfar and the brings of silence to the north, south and west, and Gyre to the east. Silence and Oblivion cannot be allowed to win, but they will should nothing change from it's current configuration.
Thirteen lives, given freely to spare hundreds if not thousands? To Lady Dawn Baseborn and her 12 I give the same respect I would to any of our fierce and mighty reavers. And thank her for her sacrifice rather than cry over it.
Let us not waste that sacrifice but ensure that it accomplishes what it is intended to.
Written By Aislin
Jan. 8, 2017, 12:29 p.m.(8/10/1005 AR)
"Why pay the Teind?"
Gods and spirits, how many times am I going to be asked that question? Messengers, and conversations, and even chance encounters in the street.
Why?
At best, the ritual may stem the tide of these cold, emotionless creatures spilling across the Crownlands.
At worst? It restores a treaty—a treaty /we/ broke by attacking /them/—which grants us the alaricite weapons we'll so desperately need to face abyssal threats.
"Why the Teind? Why the treaty?"
Because Queen Alarice and the high lords of her time—who knew far more of how all this works than we do, of the nature of magic and of the threats facing us—thought the benefits outweighed the costs enough that they signed a treaty to ensure we would work together against what we now face. If I know /nothing/ else for certain in all of this, I know that.
The treaty we broke, and were offered one more chance to fix.
And so even where my knowledge is guesswork, or has gaps, and even though I loathe the idea of the Teind itself, I choose to trust the judgment of Queen Alarice and her peers in preparing a treaty to stand against this threat.
If the leaders of that time, with all their greater knowledge of magic, of the world, of all the things we've forgotten -- that were stolen from us, by the Great Fire or other means -- thought this was a necessary evil to face a greater one, who am I, with my fragments of history, to say they were wrong?
And besides, why do people question it /now/? Payment has been arranged, as dear a price as it is. At worst, if the Teind does nothing else, it will buy alaricite to fight the darkness.
And I hope everyone remembers the cost of that shining metal when they wield it.
Gods and spirits, how many times am I going to be asked that question? Messengers, and conversations, and even chance encounters in the street.
Why?
At best, the ritual may stem the tide of these cold, emotionless creatures spilling across the Crownlands.
At worst? It restores a treaty—a treaty /we/ broke by attacking /them/—which grants us the alaricite weapons we'll so desperately need to face abyssal threats.
"Why the Teind? Why the treaty?"
Because Queen Alarice and the high lords of her time—who knew far more of how all this works than we do, of the nature of magic and of the threats facing us—thought the benefits outweighed the costs enough that they signed a treaty to ensure we would work together against what we now face. If I know /nothing/ else for certain in all of this, I know that.
The treaty we broke, and were offered one more chance to fix.
And so even where my knowledge is guesswork, or has gaps, and even though I loathe the idea of the Teind itself, I choose to trust the judgment of Queen Alarice and her peers in preparing a treaty to stand against this threat.
If the leaders of that time, with all their greater knowledge of magic, of the world, of all the things we've forgotten -- that were stolen from us, by the Great Fire or other means -- thought this was a necessary evil to face a greater one, who am I, with my fragments of history, to say they were wrong?
And besides, why do people question it /now/? Payment has been arranged, as dear a price as it is. At worst, if the Teind does nothing else, it will buy alaricite to fight the darkness.
And I hope everyone remembers the cost of that shining metal when they wield it.
Written By Margot
Jan. 8, 2017, 12:18 p.m.(8/10/1005 AR)
I am reminded that we all are sailors, simply those of us who are not asea are navigating the tides and winds of the social and political here in Arx.
We cannot always control these forces greater than ourselves but we can adjust our approach without losing sight of our destination.
We cannot always control these forces greater than ourselves but we can adjust our approach without losing sight of our destination.
Written By Cicero
Jan. 8, 2017, 12:17 p.m.(8/10/1005 AR)
A sweet reunion.
Youthful playmate found again.
Trouble. Such trouble.
Youthful playmate found again.
Trouble. Such trouble.
Written By Cicero
Jan. 8, 2017, 12:09 p.m.(8/10/1005 AR)
A subtle tease. Blush.
A challenge for future days.
First attempt? Failure.
A challenge for future days.
First attempt? Failure.
Written By Cicero
Jan. 8, 2017, 12:07 p.m.(8/10/1005 AR)
The idiocy.
Is delegation unknown?
The chase of glory?
Is delegation unknown?
The chase of glory?
Written By Max
Jan. 8, 2017, 11:54 a.m.(8/10/1005 AR)
Ordering the death of men should never be easy.
But we were not given title and rank, we were not given wealth and privilege, to do the easy thing.
We were given these tools to better defend our people. To make the call that no man wants to make. When to make war and kill men. To end lives and start vendettas that will last the memory and lifetimes of the survivors.
I am not afraid of violence. I am not afraid of war. But one with the duty and courage to do these things, we must measure with our wisdom, when it is appropriate.
I can't sleep.
But we were not given title and rank, we were not given wealth and privilege, to do the easy thing.
We were given these tools to better defend our people. To make the call that no man wants to make. When to make war and kill men. To end lives and start vendettas that will last the memory and lifetimes of the survivors.
I am not afraid of violence. I am not afraid of war. But one with the duty and courage to do these things, we must measure with our wisdom, when it is appropriate.
I can't sleep.
Written By Eirene
Jan. 8, 2017, 11:23 a.m.(8/10/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Juliet
**At note left in the pages of Juliet's entry re: the mysterious note***
Wasn't me- E
Wasn't me- E
Written By Juliet
Jan. 8, 2017, 10:43 a.m.(8/9/1005 AR)
I was handed a note by one of the guardsmen today. Apparently a very inebriated man had taken up a job as an impromptu messenger, and was very insistent the note be given to "the one with the tits". Which I presume could be any of the women in the Fidante villa, but I suppose it's flattering the guardsman thought of me first.
The scrawl was barely legible, but seemed to be a transcribed exchange. About the sharpening and rubbing of sword.
Possibly it was a piece of erotica. Sometimes it's difficult to tell.
Whatever it was, it stopped before it got to the good part.
And the guards never found out who the damned note was from.
The scrawl was barely legible, but seemed to be a transcribed exchange. About the sharpening and rubbing of sword.
Possibly it was a piece of erotica. Sometimes it's difficult to tell.
Whatever it was, it stopped before it got to the good part.
And the guards never found out who the damned note was from.
Written By Silas
Jan. 8, 2017, 10:36 a.m.(8/9/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Aldwin
The Archscholar is incredibly knowledgeable and cryptic at the same time.
But I enjoyed being led to the conclusion.
But I enjoyed being led to the conclusion.
Written By Max
Jan. 8, 2017, 10:28 a.m.(8/9/1005 AR)
War is never without cost.
I mentioned this in my last entry. That war is never without cost.
Sometimes, it costs a storm its sea.
The storm draws power, it draws its glory from the heat of the sea. You might think, to look at it, that the sea was cold. That it lacked for warmth, but I assure you, the sea is a storehouse of heat and power and the storm is only its reflection.
What is a storm without its sea?
I know not.
Perhaps but a breeze.
- Maximilian Darkwater.
I mentioned this in my last entry. That war is never without cost.
Sometimes, it costs a storm its sea.
The storm draws power, it draws its glory from the heat of the sea. You might think, to look at it, that the sea was cold. That it lacked for warmth, but I assure you, the sea is a storehouse of heat and power and the storm is only its reflection.
What is a storm without its sea?
I know not.
Perhaps but a breeze.
- Maximilian Darkwater.
Written By Max
Jan. 8, 2017, 10:26 a.m.(8/9/1005 AR)
The Teind.
I see the Teind as the cost of war.
There is a war raging. Most of you don't see it. But I see it. I have always seen it. The way our history is culled, our brilliance dimmed and our wisdom silenced.
I accept the cost of war. I accept that good men will die for no seeming reason. For a scrap of beach, for a point of pride, for a duel between a prince and a lower ranked noble woman.
Men -die- every day.
And they die for far less, far worse reasons than 'Saving their brethren and keeping a compact whole'.
Keep your perspective, Arvarini.
War is never bloodless.
I see the Teind as the cost of war.
There is a war raging. Most of you don't see it. But I see it. I have always seen it. The way our history is culled, our brilliance dimmed and our wisdom silenced.
I accept the cost of war. I accept that good men will die for no seeming reason. For a scrap of beach, for a point of pride, for a duel between a prince and a lower ranked noble woman.
Men -die- every day.
And they die for far less, far worse reasons than 'Saving their brethren and keeping a compact whole'.
Keep your perspective, Arvarini.
War is never bloodless.
Written By Esera
Jan. 8, 2017, 9:50 a.m.(8/9/1005 AR)
The Teind is abhorrent. My blood burns against it.
Before the Assembly, I spoke to my Vassals. I asked them to support me, to fight with me, to find a future with no Teind, and no blood sacrifice. Some supported me in this. Passionately. They did not wish this choice -- this concession to the Nox'Alfar -- to be what the Compact becomes, as the world awakens.
Others, though they abhorred the Teind as I did, urged me to support it. To carry the burden of guilt for the sacrifice of those thirteen men. You wish to protect those thirteen men, they told me. You will protect those thirteen men -- and you will destroy the world. You will see all life, and all hope, devoured. And then your ideals will not have mattered at all. What you wished the Compact to be will not have mattered -- because there will be no Compact.
I was torn. The choice felt ... Impossible. It was not until I talked to Dawn that my choice was made. You might hate her. You might hate the mistakes she made as Regent. But if this woman would carry the guilt for the Teind, if she would take this stain upon herself, for the sake of the Compact ... I could not let her carry it alone. Though that, it seems, is exactly what she meant to do, all along.
You are right to hate the Teind. You are right to hate the decision the Assembly made. That you hate the Teind gives me hope that this will not be what the Compact becomes. This will NOT be what defines us.
This will be the last Teind. This will be the last of the Nox'Alfar. No one may harm us unpunished.
Before the Assembly, I spoke to my Vassals. I asked them to support me, to fight with me, to find a future with no Teind, and no blood sacrifice. Some supported me in this. Passionately. They did not wish this choice -- this concession to the Nox'Alfar -- to be what the Compact becomes, as the world awakens.
Others, though they abhorred the Teind as I did, urged me to support it. To carry the burden of guilt for the sacrifice of those thirteen men. You wish to protect those thirteen men, they told me. You will protect those thirteen men -- and you will destroy the world. You will see all life, and all hope, devoured. And then your ideals will not have mattered at all. What you wished the Compact to be will not have mattered -- because there will be no Compact.
I was torn. The choice felt ... Impossible. It was not until I talked to Dawn that my choice was made. You might hate her. You might hate the mistakes she made as Regent. But if this woman would carry the guilt for the Teind, if she would take this stain upon herself, for the sake of the Compact ... I could not let her carry it alone. Though that, it seems, is exactly what she meant to do, all along.
You are right to hate the Teind. You are right to hate the decision the Assembly made. That you hate the Teind gives me hope that this will not be what the Compact becomes. This will NOT be what defines us.
This will be the last Teind. This will be the last of the Nox'Alfar. No one may harm us unpunished.
Written By Edain
Jan. 8, 2017, 9:02 a.m.(8/9/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Dawn
When I was a boy, I would sometimes go with my father when he would travel to Bastion to meet with the Grayson. When I was there there was a little girl, that was just a bit older than me. Being young and stubborn I sulked with being left this girl instead of getting to talk about 'knight stuff.'
Then she asked me if I wanted to see her 'Explorer Headquarters.' and I said 'sure' and she preceeded to lead me to this lean too she build in the woods, near an outcropping of quartz. Her enthusiasm for the world around her was infectious and suddenly I wanted to explore too. We explored the outcropping and spied a particular crystal that was loose and when it caught the light glowed like that last big of pink on the horizon in the dawn hours. Clearly we knew that one /had/ to be magical.
I tried to climb up to reach it and feel, and kept repeating this constantly yelling, "This time I have got it!" and of course I feel every time. She studied the terrain and eventually put a hand on my shoulder to stop me and proceeded to lay out a very complex plan. I had trouble following to the point where they had to draw diagrams in the dirt for me. Once she got it through my thick (and now slightly bruised skull) we enacted her plan and we claimed our 'magic' crystal.
That was the moment I knew that Dawn Grayson was born to be a great leader.
I have always believed in her. I still do. You can disagree with someone, you can disagree with them with all the fury of of the most violent storm, and still believe in them.
I do not believe the Teind will save us. I mourn that this has become a world with so little hope that she believes sacrificing herself to blood magic is the only answer. I would rather see if our enemies have the strength to silence the thunder of our armies riding down on them. Despite all these differences one thing has not changed. . .
I still believe in my friend, Dawn Grayson.
Then she asked me if I wanted to see her 'Explorer Headquarters.' and I said 'sure' and she preceeded to lead me to this lean too she build in the woods, near an outcropping of quartz. Her enthusiasm for the world around her was infectious and suddenly I wanted to explore too. We explored the outcropping and spied a particular crystal that was loose and when it caught the light glowed like that last big of pink on the horizon in the dawn hours. Clearly we knew that one /had/ to be magical.
I tried to climb up to reach it and feel, and kept repeating this constantly yelling, "This time I have got it!" and of course I feel every time. She studied the terrain and eventually put a hand on my shoulder to stop me and proceeded to lay out a very complex plan. I had trouble following to the point where they had to draw diagrams in the dirt for me. Once she got it through my thick (and now slightly bruised skull) we enacted her plan and we claimed our 'magic' crystal.
That was the moment I knew that Dawn Grayson was born to be a great leader.
I have always believed in her. I still do. You can disagree with someone, you can disagree with them with all the fury of of the most violent storm, and still believe in them.
I do not believe the Teind will save us. I mourn that this has become a world with so little hope that she believes sacrificing herself to blood magic is the only answer. I would rather see if our enemies have the strength to silence the thunder of our armies riding down on them. Despite all these differences one thing has not changed. . .
I still believe in my friend, Dawn Grayson.
Written By Julea
Jan. 8, 2017, 8:44 a.m.(8/9/1005 AR)
Reason. The course is set and our destination is inevitable, only the algorithm has changed. By refusing to accept it, are we delaying our FATE. That ominous dawn to break over our darkness, a stone wall at the end of lifeline.
Hope. There is always another way. FREE WILL gives breath to our FATE; it expands and contracts the whole of it, forcing the forks and winds outwards as our choices create new possibilities.. They collapse upon themselves as time turns these possibilities into realities and banishes the impossible into the ABYSS.
Reason. Our path is set and our FATE has always been defined; all your forks lead to the same end. And the illusion of choice only causes you unnecessary PAIN.
Hope. If this EVIL is to win and there is no FREE WILL, then all our choices are wrong, and can be nothing else, which is.. of course, a fallacy. There is no good and evil without CHOICE. Our purpose will be proved by our choices and we can bend the shape of FATE with its power, as the forge can force metal into the shape of a blade.
Reason. We have proven that we cannot. We have proven that the blade has already shaped herself.
Hope. We have only proven that we can fail, at times. Without failures and successes there can be no growth, no motion. No enlightenment.
Reason. There is only time, ageing. We are propelled forward towards the inevitable, an arrow to the target.
Hope. The arrow wishes to make it's own mark. Find its own target. That desire proves that FREE WILL exists, that choice exists, your analogy breaks down and becomes a lie!
Reason. I know what you desire, it is a petty thing, unworthy and inconsequential.
Hope. I desire only the possibility of it and faith in the concept. If that possibility continues to exist and we can make our own choices that will uphold its existence, then BALANCE too continues to exist. And we prove that it is not just possible for monsters, but that which is right and good and possible to strive for greater than that.
Reason. And you believe this?
Hope. We must; we have no other choice.
Hope. There is always another way. FREE WILL gives breath to our FATE; it expands and contracts the whole of it, forcing the forks and winds outwards as our choices create new possibilities.. They collapse upon themselves as time turns these possibilities into realities and banishes the impossible into the ABYSS.
Reason. Our path is set and our FATE has always been defined; all your forks lead to the same end. And the illusion of choice only causes you unnecessary PAIN.
Hope. If this EVIL is to win and there is no FREE WILL, then all our choices are wrong, and can be nothing else, which is.. of course, a fallacy. There is no good and evil without CHOICE. Our purpose will be proved by our choices and we can bend the shape of FATE with its power, as the forge can force metal into the shape of a blade.
Reason. We have proven that we cannot. We have proven that the blade has already shaped herself.
Hope. We have only proven that we can fail, at times. Without failures and successes there can be no growth, no motion. No enlightenment.
Reason. There is only time, ageing. We are propelled forward towards the inevitable, an arrow to the target.
Hope. The arrow wishes to make it's own mark. Find its own target. That desire proves that FREE WILL exists, that choice exists, your analogy breaks down and becomes a lie!
Reason. I know what you desire, it is a petty thing, unworthy and inconsequential.
Hope. I desire only the possibility of it and faith in the concept. If that possibility continues to exist and we can make our own choices that will uphold its existence, then BALANCE too continues to exist. And we prove that it is not just possible for monsters, but that which is right and good and possible to strive for greater than that.
Reason. And you believe this?
Hope. We must; we have no other choice.
Written By Ainsley
Jan. 8, 2017, 5:49 a.m.(8/9/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Dawn
Damnit.
Written By Killian
Jan. 8, 2017, 4:50 a.m.(8/9/1005 AR)
The events of the past week or two have seemed to move so quickly, and yet at the same time they move so slowly in other ways. I find that it is difficult for me to reconcile all of what has transpired in my mind. The Assembly of Peers..the chaos that it has created. Worrying about Dawn. About the city. Cara and Aislin are in pain and I can see it, so very clearly, in all the things that they do. Of a certainty it was easier before I had others I had to worry so deeply about, had to care so much for. Now though, I find my life entangled with others. Family..some few friends who I have come to trust. It is strange to see how much has changed in so little an amount of time.
Written By Anze
Jan. 8, 2017, 3:43 a.m.(8/9/1005 AR)
Its so damn FLUFFY
Written By Agnarr
Jan. 8, 2017, 3:26 a.m.(8/9/1005 AR)
Wonder if a smith somewhere knows if one could weld an edge of diamondplate or alaricite to common steel, or use it as the flanges or studs on a mace head or what. Could arm more that way with the same amount of metal.
Written By Gian
Jan. 8, 2017, 2:10 a.m.(8/8/1005 AR)
Of all that transpired within the Assembly of Peers; of all the momentous events and announcements, I will repeat the one that may be of greatest weight in days to come, from the voice of Lady Eirene Malvici:
One: Diamondplate weapons cut and burn demonic flesh.
Two: Alaricite blades cleave and consume demonic flesh.
Three: Holy water of Mangata’s shrine eats at demonic flesh.
Four: Holy fire from Lagoma’s shrine cleanly consumes demonic flesh.
I will hold these words close to my heart, as will- I hope- all others.
One: Diamondplate weapons cut and burn demonic flesh.
Two: Alaricite blades cleave and consume demonic flesh.
Three: Holy water of Mangata’s shrine eats at demonic flesh.
Four: Holy fire from Lagoma’s shrine cleanly consumes demonic flesh.
I will hold these words close to my heart, as will- I hope- all others.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.