Written By Joscelin
April 28, 2017, 4:31 p.m.(5/11/1006 AR)
It's rare enough that I receive gifts, but the ones I especially covet are the ones made by the giver. I suppose it's because I'm an artisan, others have told me they think I can do better. My temper is slow to build but I'll confess this gives me pause, a prickle across my skin because, dammit, it's about the care and time and thought that goes in creating something, especially for another. I wear most everything that was made and given to me, in honor of the thoughtful consideration put into every piece, bracelets, coats, all of it.
So now, I've a painting hung in my home, a portrait of my beastie, Mongoose, and it's a sharp left and sideways drop into the strange unknown of the mind, abstract in its presentation. Mongoose likes the fact that she's got extra limbs in the painting, and I love the time the painter took to brush in each singular hair, feathery appearance giving her a strange, mythological appearance, she sharp angle of her neck denoting a movement that's near terrifying.
I -love- it. And you can mock me all you like for my tastes, but they are broad and wide and diverse.
So now, I've a painting hung in my home, a portrait of my beastie, Mongoose, and it's a sharp left and sideways drop into the strange unknown of the mind, abstract in its presentation. Mongoose likes the fact that she's got extra limbs in the painting, and I love the time the painter took to brush in each singular hair, feathery appearance giving her a strange, mythological appearance, she sharp angle of her neck denoting a movement that's near terrifying.
I -love- it. And you can mock me all you like for my tastes, but they are broad and wide and diverse.
Written By Joscelin
April 23, 2017, 10:36 p.m.(5/1/1006 AR)
Thanks to the generous help of many, I've successfully purchased all of the outstanding debts from the merchants and suppliers that get food to the city. As soon as I got the paperwork, I forgave
every
single
one.
146,000 silver in debts completely wiped clean, with no one shorted, not even the financiers.
To say this is a relief is an understatement. It's my hope this will relieve the commoners of the anxiety that plagues those who owe money along with the need to keep trade flowing and the black-markets and mark-ups to a minimum. Less tensions in the city will only help all of us.
My gratitude to those that helped, you know who you are. I couldn't have done this without your support. Thank you.
every
single
one.
146,000 silver in debts completely wiped clean, with no one shorted, not even the financiers.
To say this is a relief is an understatement. It's my hope this will relieve the commoners of the anxiety that plagues those who owe money along with the need to keep trade flowing and the black-markets and mark-ups to a minimum. Less tensions in the city will only help all of us.
My gratitude to those that helped, you know who you are. I couldn't have done this without your support. Thank you.
Written By Joscelin
April 23, 2017, 5:32 p.m.(5/1/1006 AR)
I've said it often and I will say it again: The Guildmaster serves her Guild, it isn't the other way around, not for me. I will work my fingers to the bone to make sure they all have what they need, homes, shops, supplies, food.
I watch them work with pride, I watch as they laugh and joke, praise each other and offer support. Someone asked me about the competitive nature of the crafters and I laughed openly. There's little in the way of it, we're more apt to share techniques than we are to be competitive over such things. Maybe over being the first to discover something but that's the only thing I can recall.
They are all so -different- from each other. Do they know how talented they are, how special it is that even those of the same profession have completely different tastes and styles? That I can spot, generally, who made what by the nature of their hands, the experience they put into their work?
I am so proud, so very proud, that they are all unique and yet cohesive. They never hesitate to step forward for help, they don't look at me like a boss, but as someone they know will help them. It's a trust I find sacred and feel absolutely honored to have.
Forgive the tears, scholar. The Crafters Guild has become my family and I cannot thank the gods enough for them.
I watch them work with pride, I watch as they laugh and joke, praise each other and offer support. Someone asked me about the competitive nature of the crafters and I laughed openly. There's little in the way of it, we're more apt to share techniques than we are to be competitive over such things. Maybe over being the first to discover something but that's the only thing I can recall.
They are all so -different- from each other. Do they know how talented they are, how special it is that even those of the same profession have completely different tastes and styles? That I can spot, generally, who made what by the nature of their hands, the experience they put into their work?
I am so proud, so very proud, that they are all unique and yet cohesive. They never hesitate to step forward for help, they don't look at me like a boss, but as someone they know will help them. It's a trust I find sacred and feel absolutely honored to have.
Forgive the tears, scholar. The Crafters Guild has become my family and I cannot thank the gods enough for them.
Written By Joscelin
April 23, 2017, 5:15 p.m.(5/1/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Alis
Even if no one else says it, it makes me happy that someone as esteemed as you sees how hard my Guild works, as best as they are able, with repairs and defenses in the city. I know what it's like to feel useless while the word around you picks up and takes care of things, if I've alleviated any of that for the Crafters with the purpose put before us by Calypso, I'll take that small success. With pleasure.
Don't you forget to take care of yourself as well, my friend. Does no good if we're the last ones we see to, yes?
Don't you forget to take care of yourself as well, my friend. Does no good if we're the last ones we see to, yes?
Written By Joscelin
April 17, 2017, 12:06 p.m.(4/16/1006 AR)
Another crafter, gone.
I hope someone will be able to tell me how.
I hope someone will be able to tell me how.
Written By Joscelin
April 16, 2017, 9:10 p.m.(4/14/1006 AR)
I've spent the last several weeks rounding up man-power and people to help shore up the defenses of the city, and still I hear of those managing to get in somehow. However, as it was explained to me, Bringers can look like anyone and it's not our fault. I still feel a twinge of failure when I hear of another attack, especially when my people are involved.
Written By Joscelin
April 13, 2017, 1:15 a.m.(4/7/1006 AR)
It wasn't written without careful thought and consideration, it wasn't a childish snapping of teeth at some wise old man.
Do not reduce Lady Donella's words to immature gibberish. It's clear she meant what she meant and wrote what she meant. Nothing needs to be re-stated or explained to her. Navigating inside the rules she was born into takes skill and intelligence, far more observant person than anyone realizes.
Most everyone knows that despite my mother's origin, I've had no great love of Thrax. But it's been Lady Donella, the Voice of Thrax, who has shown me time and again that not all of its people are remotely similar to each other. I've -known- this since I was small and yet fear and hurt and anger discolored all of that for a long time. Bit by bit, wounds have been cleaned and healed and I remember the rich culture of the Saffron Chains.
This isn't about picking sides, as I fear this may rend the city asunder, and if I'm over-reacting then I blame it on the siege that threatens our homes just beyond the walls. I am a Disciple and still I feel the hurt of collective blame, and conflicted because, as a commoner, though I am also a Guildmaster, speaking out against the flaws and poor choices of a noble would put me in danger.
This record of my emotion shouldn't be held against me. It's clear this is a Mess of the first order, the timing is awful and my fears have doubled.
Do not reduce Lady Donella's words to immature gibberish. It's clear she meant what she meant and wrote what she meant. Nothing needs to be re-stated or explained to her. Navigating inside the rules she was born into takes skill and intelligence, far more observant person than anyone realizes.
Most everyone knows that despite my mother's origin, I've had no great love of Thrax. But it's been Lady Donella, the Voice of Thrax, who has shown me time and again that not all of its people are remotely similar to each other. I've -known- this since I was small and yet fear and hurt and anger discolored all of that for a long time. Bit by bit, wounds have been cleaned and healed and I remember the rich culture of the Saffron Chains.
This isn't about picking sides, as I fear this may rend the city asunder, and if I'm over-reacting then I blame it on the siege that threatens our homes just beyond the walls. I am a Disciple and still I feel the hurt of collective blame, and conflicted because, as a commoner, though I am also a Guildmaster, speaking out against the flaws and poor choices of a noble would put me in danger.
This record of my emotion shouldn't be held against me. It's clear this is a Mess of the first order, the timing is awful and my fears have doubled.
Written By Joscelin
April 13, 2017, 1:02 a.m.(4/7/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Kima
Reading Lady Kima Saik write the word 'moderation' near made me choke on my quill.
Written By Joscelin
April 12, 2017, 3:40 p.m.(4/6/1006 AR)
You don't tell a baker how to bake if you don't know anything of it. You don't lecture a priest when you've never cracked open a religious text in your life. You don't tell the blacksmith the color his coals should be if you've only ever witnessed logs in a hearth, you don't tell a painter how to paint if you've never held a brush.
Don't assume to know better than a person who's made it their life's work to practice their trade. Noble, commoner, just don't. It doesn't make you look wise and important, you just look like a jackass who doesn't know what the blazes they're talking about and no one will take you seriously.
Don't assume to know better than a person who's made it their life's work to practice their trade. Noble, commoner, just don't. It doesn't make you look wise and important, you just look like a jackass who doesn't know what the blazes they're talking about and no one will take you seriously.
Written By Joscelin
April 9, 2017, 10:58 p.m.(3/28/1006 AR)
To the best of my knowledge as Guildmaster of the the Crafters Guild, there's no ban in the works for anything, including spirits. If there is, I would stand against it. There's a possibility of a -percentage- of grain being locked in for bread to ensure the city has enough to eat, with a small percentage going to the distilleries.
You will get your booze, but food takes a priority for now.
You will get your booze, but food takes a priority for now.
Written By Joscelin
April 9, 2017, 9:20 p.m.(3/28/1006 AR)
Is it worse to lose someone to a higher calling than death? So they stay out of reach, for always, but you can still see them sometimes, glimpse them in their passage, in their work?
I've lost so many people, forever. I think, if need be, I can learn to accept it all. Maybe. Probably. I hope so.
I've lost so many people, forever. I think, if need be, I can learn to accept it all. Maybe. Probably. I hope so.
Written By Joscelin
April 7, 2017, 12:24 a.m.(3/23/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Acacia
It's always a pleasure to see this woman, and especially to be on the receiving end of her flirtations. But she's a tease on a massive scale, with her sweet kisses and caresses, it's enough to take the wind out of a lady's sales. Thankfully, she makes up for it with that dashing smile of hers.
Written By Joscelin
April 4, 2017, 9:47 p.m.(3/18/1006 AR)
Mark my words, if any one is over-charging or price-gouging the supplies we as a city helped put together, I don't have to threaten you with dire consequences.
Your reputation and your actions during this siege will be remembered by the people you live with, the people you need to buy your wares during peace-time just as much as during a war, the same people who might call you kin, or neighbor, or ally. Your business will not survive if everyone remembers how you raised your prices and sold your goods to businesses that would turn it into something -other- than foodstuffs. For example: selling your grain to a distillery instead of a miller.
In the end, your money will amount to shit and it will run out in the aftermath as you spend it on body guards, security, and bribes to keep yourself safe.
It won't work, though. Silver is finite, you will run out without a source of income and you will not find it here in Arx if you let greed win out over compassion.
We need to work together. That's the only way any of us will get through this whole and hale.
Your reputation and your actions during this siege will be remembered by the people you live with, the people you need to buy your wares during peace-time just as much as during a war, the same people who might call you kin, or neighbor, or ally. Your business will not survive if everyone remembers how you raised your prices and sold your goods to businesses that would turn it into something -other- than foodstuffs. For example: selling your grain to a distillery instead of a miller.
In the end, your money will amount to shit and it will run out in the aftermath as you spend it on body guards, security, and bribes to keep yourself safe.
It won't work, though. Silver is finite, you will run out without a source of income and you will not find it here in Arx if you let greed win out over compassion.
We need to work together. That's the only way any of us will get through this whole and hale.
Written By Joscelin
April 2, 2017, 11:41 p.m.(3/15/1006 AR)
It shouldn't surprise me that my skill as a jeweler is still needed despite the war that hovers over us. I am pleased this is so, it's nice to take a break from the constant planning and counting that seems to fill my days. I'm not complaining, the shift in responsibility and the added weight of more of it has taken some getting used to but it's falling in to place.
It's work. It's busy work, too, and it's -useful-. I'm enjoying it far more than I ought to, I think. There is a deep satisfaction in it.
It's work. It's busy work, too, and it's -useful-. I'm enjoying it far more than I ought to, I think. There is a deep satisfaction in it.
Written By Joscelin
March 31, 2017, 12:12 a.m.(3/9/1006 AR)
The Lady General Calypso Malvici has put me in charge of city-wide repairs and structure reinforcements, as I have a small army of crafters, makers, merchants, and suppliers in my network of fellows.
I'll admit to being a little intimidated; it's a lot of responsibility when I already have that with my Guild, 'all the focus of a mother to your crafters and merchants', I was told. It was meant to be a snide remark but I think on it with great pride.
Anyway. I've spoken to a few people and I have no worries about rising to the task at hand, I just hope I don't let anyone down.
I'll admit to being a little intimidated; it's a lot of responsibility when I already have that with my Guild, 'all the focus of a mother to your crafters and merchants', I was told. It was meant to be a snide remark but I think on it with great pride.
Anyway. I've spoken to a few people and I have no worries about rising to the task at hand, I just hope I don't let anyone down.
Written By Joscelin
March 30, 2017, 11:47 p.m.(3/9/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Eleyna
When I ask for aid, I never expect a response. I mean, I hope for one, but it's not expected; that would be rude and a setup for disappointment. I hope for the best but expect the worst, a lesson I've learned quickly as Guildmaster and one that's proven to be wise.
When I asked Princess Eleyna for extra supplies for the healers, I gave her a list of things: clean scraps of cloth, silk thread, lye soap, honey, lye soap with honey, medicinal herbs.
Not four hours pass and I receive several large crates of almond-honey lye soap. Such soap in its basic form can be found easily and a necessity for many, but with the honey mixed in it's a boon to a hospital trying to do its best to keep the humors of its patients clear and strong.
No few people may find her generosity surprising, but I've never known her to be anything else. My deepest gratitudes to her.
As a side note, if you have such things to donate please send me a message, every little bit helps. I will come by in person if need be. The thread must be silk, as it doesn't snag like wool or cotton does when sewn to flesh. Bandages can be made of many kinds of cloth, from linen to cotton to silk, and if it's not wide enough or as absorbent, I'm sure it can be used to hold dressings into place.
When I asked Princess Eleyna for extra supplies for the healers, I gave her a list of things: clean scraps of cloth, silk thread, lye soap, honey, lye soap with honey, medicinal herbs.
Not four hours pass and I receive several large crates of almond-honey lye soap. Such soap in its basic form can be found easily and a necessity for many, but with the honey mixed in it's a boon to a hospital trying to do its best to keep the humors of its patients clear and strong.
No few people may find her generosity surprising, but I've never known her to be anything else. My deepest gratitudes to her.
As a side note, if you have such things to donate please send me a message, every little bit helps. I will come by in person if need be. The thread must be silk, as it doesn't snag like wool or cotton does when sewn to flesh. Bandages can be made of many kinds of cloth, from linen to cotton to silk, and if it's not wide enough or as absorbent, I'm sure it can be used to hold dressings into place.
Written By Joscelin
March 29, 2017, 2:09 p.m.(3/6/1006 AR)
Used some more of my personal stock to forge out a mask made of gold. I didn't use anyone as a reference, it was rather just ... tinkering with a few design ideas.
It's beautiful. There's an octopus at the temple with tentacles that trail out across the brow, over the nose, to clutch at a fish on the far cheek.
I didn't like it. I couldn't place my finger as to why for several hours. It wasn't until I was setting sapphires under the eyes of the mask that I realized what I'd done.
I'd made the mask in Ianthe's likeness.
I broke the gems I'd placed in it, popped every one of them out as fast as I could, and through the thing in my crucible, melting it down as fast as I could fan those coals.
I went to sleep later, much later, and dreamt of my little sister at the bottom of the ocean, lifeless eyes open, opaque, staring up, with an octopus on her temple, testing in her hair as it caught a fish over her far cheek.
It wasn't a vision, at least I don't think it was, but it wasn't a nightmare either. It was ... something.
Not to say it didn't bother the shit out of me, either. I woke up weeping before the sun came up, and pulled out my sketchbook to draw a bracelet, something to encapsulate a lock of her hair I've kept with me since her wandering nomad days. I have a few good designs; despite the dream, I know she loved the sea.
Oh, baby sister. I miss you.
It's beautiful. There's an octopus at the temple with tentacles that trail out across the brow, over the nose, to clutch at a fish on the far cheek.
I didn't like it. I couldn't place my finger as to why for several hours. It wasn't until I was setting sapphires under the eyes of the mask that I realized what I'd done.
I'd made the mask in Ianthe's likeness.
I broke the gems I'd placed in it, popped every one of them out as fast as I could, and through the thing in my crucible, melting it down as fast as I could fan those coals.
I went to sleep later, much later, and dreamt of my little sister at the bottom of the ocean, lifeless eyes open, opaque, staring up, with an octopus on her temple, testing in her hair as it caught a fish over her far cheek.
It wasn't a vision, at least I don't think it was, but it wasn't a nightmare either. It was ... something.
Not to say it didn't bother the shit out of me, either. I woke up weeping before the sun came up, and pulled out my sketchbook to draw a bracelet, something to encapsulate a lock of her hair I've kept with me since her wandering nomad days. I have a few good designs; despite the dream, I know she loved the sea.
Oh, baby sister. I miss you.
Written By Joscelin
March 26, 2017, 11:17 p.m.(3/1/1006 AR)
Now the real work begins.
I'm thankful we had the foresight over a year ago to begin working establishing warehouses, stocking them and keeping them stocked. I can't take the credit, the idea was Dame Eirene's, an idea that spans several organizations.
I only we've enough .... well. Enough of everything. Food, water, medicines...
Time will tell. I have faith.
I'm thankful we had the foresight over a year ago to begin working establishing warehouses, stocking them and keeping them stocked. I can't take the credit, the idea was Dame Eirene's, an idea that spans several organizations.
I only we've enough .... well. Enough of everything. Food, water, medicines...
Time will tell. I have faith.
Written By Joscelin
March 26, 2017, 6:34 p.m.(2/28/1006 AR)
Bloody buggery balls. Shit is a mess, trying to keep people calm and moving and fed and clean but at the same time...
Some have asked, what's the point? We could all die, why bother?
Our humanity is one of many things that separates us from the monsters at our door, in that we will care about what happens to the people next to us, reach out and haul them up to their feet even if we can do little more than direct orders and bark instructions.
Viktarkim once compared me to a house-cat. He wasn't wrong and at the time I laughed. I am plump, soft, and then hard in ways many don't expect. Possessive at times, protective too.
I'm right where I'm supposed to be.
Some have asked, what's the point? We could all die, why bother?
Our humanity is one of many things that separates us from the monsters at our door, in that we will care about what happens to the people next to us, reach out and haul them up to their feet even if we can do little more than direct orders and bark instructions.
Viktarkim once compared me to a house-cat. He wasn't wrong and at the time I laughed. I am plump, soft, and then hard in ways many don't expect. Possessive at times, protective too.
I'm right where I'm supposed to be.
Written By Joscelin
March 20, 2017, 10:02 p.m.(2/16/1006 AR)
I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't look for an apprentice to pass on my knowledge. I've got an extra room attached to my shop besides my quarters, I could provide room and board in exchange for work, as well as payment for any item of their own they sell.
I have no intention of retiring soon. I've helped many jeweler journeymen in advice, and as a journeyman myself, part of my certification required that I teach the apprentices who came into Wolbrand's shop when I was -his- apprentice. But since making master-jeweler myself, I haven't taken on one. I should remedy this.
Would anyone be interested in that, I wonder?
Scholar, if you receive interest in this post, forward such responses by messenger, would you? My thanks.
I have no intention of retiring soon. I've helped many jeweler journeymen in advice, and as a journeyman myself, part of my certification required that I teach the apprentices who came into Wolbrand's shop when I was -his- apprentice. But since making master-jeweler myself, I haven't taken on one. I should remedy this.
Would anyone be interested in that, I wonder?
Scholar, if you receive interest in this post, forward such responses by messenger, would you? My thanks.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.