Written By Orazio
Dec. 24, 2016, 9:53 a.m.(6/20/1005 AR)
I have written less than I should, a fact of which a few Scholars of my acquaintance have gently but firmly reminded me. In Vellichor's name, then, I should address this deficiency.
I have been appointed to the position of Legate of Concepts. Most outside the Faith are not familiar with this position. Unsurprisingly, as it is largely a bureaucratic one - few of those who interact with the Faith only as laity realize just how much work and organization goes into the things that they Faith provides to the men and women of the Compact. The Knights of Solace require food, housing, training, salaries, and supplies. They must be tracked on their routes so that we might know if they or the pilgrims they escort have been lost, as well as how we might best support them. The Houses of Solace and the many charitable works of Gild require the knowledge of logistics to execute correctly. And so on, and so forth.
So, ultimately, the position of Legate is to handle the paperwork and organization so that the Faith can continue to do what the Faithful require.
I am honored to have the opportunity, although I will miss some of the more hands-on opportunities I have had in my position of Archscholar.
I have been appointed to the position of Legate of Concepts. Most outside the Faith are not familiar with this position. Unsurprisingly, as it is largely a bureaucratic one - few of those who interact with the Faith only as laity realize just how much work and organization goes into the things that they Faith provides to the men and women of the Compact. The Knights of Solace require food, housing, training, salaries, and supplies. They must be tracked on their routes so that we might know if they or the pilgrims they escort have been lost, as well as how we might best support them. The Houses of Solace and the many charitable works of Gild require the knowledge of logistics to execute correctly. And so on, and so forth.
So, ultimately, the position of Legate is to handle the paperwork and organization so that the Faith can continue to do what the Faithful require.
I am honored to have the opportunity, although I will miss some of the more hands-on opportunities I have had in my position of Archscholar.
Written By Khanne
Dec. 24, 2016, 9:41 a.m.(6/20/1005 AR)
It was asked recently, what is beauty? I am not sure I could put it any better than Mydas, truly, but I am feeling a bit introspective and thought I would put ink to paper.
So many think of the visual aspect of beauty only, the symmetry of a person's face, the silken fabrics they may wear and how they cling to a body, or how someone's hair catches in the light, just so, making them seem radiant. All beautiful things perhaps, but there is much more in life that is purely, simply, beautiful.
I believe it is also in the way the wind caresses your cheek and rustles the leaves of a tree, in how the sun warms you right to the bone as if wrapping its embrace around your very souls, or in the sound of near silence when you are in the mountains alone during a snow fall, the fresh layer of white crunching beneath your feet.
Ah, that last one gets me. It is so hot here... I miss the mountains, the cold, snow, freedom, and sometimes, I miss the solitude. At no time in my life have I felt more at peace, more balanced with myself and the entire world around me, than in those moments where I was dressed in furs and leathers sitting on a boulder to watch the snow fall. I can close my eyes now and see it, feel it. Crystalline snowflakes catching the light of the sun or moon as they fall, blanketing the ground in a pillowy layer of pristine white, collecting on the branches of trees, sticking to my eyelashes as I blink in awe of the beauty around me. There is a sublime serenity in this moment, the hush that sweeps the area, as if every little creature is just as captivated by it as I am.
On the converse, my mind floats to flame and heat, naked bodies enraptured in passion by one another as a fire crackles nearby. Skin glistening from the light sweat that lovemaking creates. The scent of one another's musk in the air, the sounds of gasping breaths and thrilled little moans culminating in a crashing of bodies and voices lifting in songs of primal pleasure...
I digress. Apparently being introspective is a bit dangerous for me... Beauty is everywhere we wish to seek it. It is in quiet moments of solitude, in passions ignited and shared, in the crowded gatherings of people with laughter ringing through the air, and even in the darkened shadows many fear to look in. All you have to do is open your mind and your souls to it, and you will find it.
So many think of the visual aspect of beauty only, the symmetry of a person's face, the silken fabrics they may wear and how they cling to a body, or how someone's hair catches in the light, just so, making them seem radiant. All beautiful things perhaps, but there is much more in life that is purely, simply, beautiful.
I believe it is also in the way the wind caresses your cheek and rustles the leaves of a tree, in how the sun warms you right to the bone as if wrapping its embrace around your very souls, or in the sound of near silence when you are in the mountains alone during a snow fall, the fresh layer of white crunching beneath your feet.
Ah, that last one gets me. It is so hot here... I miss the mountains, the cold, snow, freedom, and sometimes, I miss the solitude. At no time in my life have I felt more at peace, more balanced with myself and the entire world around me, than in those moments where I was dressed in furs and leathers sitting on a boulder to watch the snow fall. I can close my eyes now and see it, feel it. Crystalline snowflakes catching the light of the sun or moon as they fall, blanketing the ground in a pillowy layer of pristine white, collecting on the branches of trees, sticking to my eyelashes as I blink in awe of the beauty around me. There is a sublime serenity in this moment, the hush that sweeps the area, as if every little creature is just as captivated by it as I am.
On the converse, my mind floats to flame and heat, naked bodies enraptured in passion by one another as a fire crackles nearby. Skin glistening from the light sweat that lovemaking creates. The scent of one another's musk in the air, the sounds of gasping breaths and thrilled little moans culminating in a crashing of bodies and voices lifting in songs of primal pleasure...
I digress. Apparently being introspective is a bit dangerous for me... Beauty is everywhere we wish to seek it. It is in quiet moments of solitude, in passions ignited and shared, in the crowded gatherings of people with laughter ringing through the air, and even in the darkened shadows many fear to look in. All you have to do is open your mind and your souls to it, and you will find it.
Written By Ida
Dec. 24, 2016, 8:28 a.m.(6/20/1005 AR)
Ah, the look on poor Teldra's face when I visited the Valardin kitchens and asked if she would make a basket full of cinnamon struesel cakes with caramel and sweet cream, and little pieces of apple cooked in honey. The tart ones, not the sweet ones, she should mind.
Written By Mirari
Dec. 24, 2016, 3:10 a.m.(6/20/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Orazio
What a thoughtful man.
Written By Julea
Dec. 24, 2016, 2:08 a.m.(6/19/1005 AR)
The entry has been completely scratched out with charcoal pencil.
Written By Mirari
Dec. 24, 2016, 1:53 a.m.(6/19/1005 AR)
Love, loyalty, and purpose.
These are the things that I contemplate. I have defintions for the latter two.
Loyalty is the easiest, it is the trust and faith in another. It is following her lead without doubt and second questioning. It is thinking of how one's actions may reflect. It is supporting and caring. Loyalty is easy.
Purpose is almost as easy. Purpose is what makes you wake each day. Purpose is what you strive for.
Love... I have yet to find my own definition. I have gotten others defintion.
Love is impermanent.
Love is sorrow.
Love ends.
These are the things that I contemplate. I have defintions for the latter two.
Loyalty is the easiest, it is the trust and faith in another. It is following her lead without doubt and second questioning. It is thinking of how one's actions may reflect. It is supporting and caring. Loyalty is easy.
Purpose is almost as easy. Purpose is what makes you wake each day. Purpose is what you strive for.
Love... I have yet to find my own definition. I have gotten others defintion.
Love is impermanent.
Love is sorrow.
Love ends.
Written By Mirari
Dec. 24, 2016, 1:44 a.m.(6/19/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Lianne
Well, aren't you a curious surprise. I didn't expect to see myself in you.
Written By Audric
Dec. 24, 2016, 1:15 a.m.(6/19/1005 AR)
One of my true joys in life is when you have a thousand things in front of you that don't quite fit together, and then you find that last piece. The one that makes everything hang together and turns it into something beautiful.
Written By Rymarr
Dec. 24, 2016, 12:38 a.m.(6/19/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Orazio
Logical and clever. Legate Orazio is increasingly proving to be a valuable friend as time wears on. Our first encounter involved facing, and talking down, an impending riot together. More recently he and I had a discussion that was peculiar to say the least. He helped explain, or at least what we think explained, some strange matters that I've experienced.
Only time will tell, but I know that I can look to the Legate for advice in troubling times.
Only time will tell, but I know that I can look to the Legate for advice in troubling times.
Written By Pietro
Dec. 24, 2016, 12:12 a.m.(6/19/1005 AR)
Duke Giovanni and his wife, Duchess Liavetta, took my brother and I in and raised us as wards at a time in my life when my family was uniquely struggling. The debt of gratitude we owe to them is the kind that cannot be wholly repaid -- just as Duke Marco Zaffria was kind enough to take on as ward my half-sister, Lady Iovita, and safeguard her in his own house.
The Duke's assassination was tragic, but we have successfully hunted and slain the killer who did it. I leave the gory details to others. I was honored to put my sword to the service of my liege lord in the battle with the culprit, and honored to see Duke Valkieri valorously avenge his father by taking the killing blow against the wicked foe.
Of course Granato, like Gemecitta, will grieve for Duke Giovanni, and we offer our sincerest condolences to his family and to his honored widow the Dowager Duchess Liavetta; but I believe that House Rubino will prosper under Valkieri's guiding hand.
I know he will never forget where House Igniseri stands.
The Duke's assassination was tragic, but we have successfully hunted and slain the killer who did it. I leave the gory details to others. I was honored to put my sword to the service of my liege lord in the battle with the culprit, and honored to see Duke Valkieri valorously avenge his father by taking the killing blow against the wicked foe.
Of course Granato, like Gemecitta, will grieve for Duke Giovanni, and we offer our sincerest condolences to his family and to his honored widow the Dowager Duchess Liavetta; but I believe that House Rubino will prosper under Valkieri's guiding hand.
I know he will never forget where House Igniseri stands.
Written By Rowan
Dec. 23, 2016, 10:46 p.m.(6/19/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Ida
Mama Ida. Is twenty-something too old to be adopted? She makes the best fucking toys, and I think she'd probably spoil me rotten. She has a motherly way about her, in the way that makes you want to drag in after a shit day, flop down, and ask her for cinnamon struesel cakes. With caramel and sweet cream. And little pieces of apple cooked in honey. The tart ones, not the sweet ones. Hint hint.
Written By Cai
Dec. 23, 2016, 10:09 p.m.(6/19/1005 AR)
06/19/1005
There isn't anything to do in this city. I feel like an idiot wandering around with fuckall to do. There's no use for someone like me in a city like this.
Though about the idea of opening like, I don't know, some kind of school in survival or training people to use a sword, but I feel like you could throw a stick and find five people who could do that one better than me.
Just want to be damn useful beyond just sitting on my thumbs all the time.
There isn't anything to do in this city. I feel like an idiot wandering around with fuckall to do. There's no use for someone like me in a city like this.
Though about the idea of opening like, I don't know, some kind of school in survival or training people to use a sword, but I feel like you could throw a stick and find five people who could do that one better than me.
Just want to be damn useful beyond just sitting on my thumbs all the time.
Written By Bethany
Dec. 23, 2016, 9:57 p.m.(6/19/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Abbas
"When one is as lost in thought as you. One might stumble. When sailors and reavers are so lost in their head -- they miss the danger off in the distance. Sometimes I envy those who can afford to be lost in their own thoughts whenever they desire."
Written By Lianne
Dec. 23, 2016, 7:11 p.m.(6/19/1005 AR)
I advised another to act with patience and distance today, fine tools of which I make frequent use.
The prospect of remaining patient and distant while I wait to see how that advice is applied leaves me anxious.
The prospect of remaining patient and distant while I wait to see how that advice is applied leaves me anxious.
Written By Morrighan
Dec. 23, 2016, 3:07 p.m.(6/18/1005 AR)
To say that Joscelin Arterius is a master of her craft doesn't do the woman justice. It's an extreme understatement. That woman must have the hands of Jayus, because everything she makes is absolutely divine. I received one part of my order today, and the pendant is absolutely stunning, words simply cannot express how marvelous it is.
She's simply the best jeweler in all of the world, hands down. Jos, you're amazing.
She's simply the best jeweler in all of the world, hands down. Jos, you're amazing.
Written By Donella
Dec. 23, 2016, 2:50 p.m.(6/18/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Abbas
It is taking time, but I think that we are coming to value and understand one another. It is a hard-fought victory. He challenges me, not just my authority, but my judgement, and my notion of what my place is for the future... and whereas I might have cheerfully helped him appreciate the lampreys up close for it, now I see that I need his perspective. This is Himself's influence.
Written By Aleksei
Dec. 23, 2016, 2:36 p.m.(6/18/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Orazio
He's pretty funny for a priest!
Written By Mydas
Dec. 23, 2016, 12:14 p.m.(6/18/1005 AR)
I spoke of beauty. Shall I now speak of love? No, I have no lady towards whom I would profess deep feelings of affection and passion. I'm not prone to easy declarations when it comes to such matter. One should not play with a lady's heart and expectations. No, I was thinking more on the multiple facets of love. Love for a woman, yes, but also love for one's family, love of one's home. Is it still love when one speaks of duty? What are the limits we impose on love? Is it to generalize the term to see it everywhere, or is love that fundamental?
I do not offer answers nor arguments, only the beginning of paths towards reflection. I leave it to those better spoken and creative to make their points on the matter.
I do not offer answers nor arguments, only the beginning of paths towards reflection. I leave it to those better spoken and creative to make their points on the matter.
Written By Lucio
Dec. 23, 2016, 11:35 a.m.(6/18/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Lianne
I met Lianne at the Pravus Manor, and she seems to miss the Lyceum as much as I. I have learned she is a scholar, and she may be a good source for new song material.
Written By Eirene
Dec. 23, 2016, 11:17 a.m.(6/18/1005 AR)
I must be getting more morbid than I thought I was. I've always been fascinated by wounds and blood and the workings of the body. Mostly to find ways to fix what was broken, to repair the harm.
But now? I find myself wanting to delve into the mysteries that keep fucking piling on top of us and to do that I need to understand my enemies. To do that, I need to take them apart piece by piece and know how they work.
What blood runs in their veins? What poisons kill them more efficiently? What pains do they feel? Does fire work more effectively? Does blessed water do anything? Does different kinds of metal work differently- thus the reference to elfwork swords and the power of our heirloom weapons from those earlier days...
I'll take them; dead or alive. Let me study. Let me work. Let me find new ways to best our foes.
And to those of you that think me sick for such experimentation? Back off man, I'm a scientist.
But now? I find myself wanting to delve into the mysteries that keep fucking piling on top of us and to do that I need to understand my enemies. To do that, I need to take them apart piece by piece and know how they work.
What blood runs in their veins? What poisons kill them more efficiently? What pains do they feel? Does fire work more effectively? Does blessed water do anything? Does different kinds of metal work differently- thus the reference to elfwork swords and the power of our heirloom weapons from those earlier days...
I'll take them; dead or alive. Let me study. Let me work. Let me find new ways to best our foes.
And to those of you that think me sick for such experimentation? Back off man, I'm a scientist.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.