Written By Sudara
May 21, 2017, 6:39 p.m.(7/4/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Arianna
I confess that I was both amused and startled to learn that I had apparently served as a role model for someone who is herself now old enough not merely to attend court but to have become a Voice for her House. But so I am assured by Arianna, who, it seems, has acquired or inherited something of my own branch of the Pravus's fascination for matters obscure and scholarly. She's a Stonewood by name and upbringing, but is flatteringly keen to connect with her mother's side of the family.
Written By Sudara
May 14, 2017, 6:53 p.m.(6/18/1006 AR)
The meaning and even the 'language' of flowers can be a matter of extensive discussion among women of either a certain calibre of breeding or a certain wistfulness of aspiration. Yet I find myself conducting serious research into the qualities, aesthetic properties, and symbolism of plants. Mostly of either flowering or aromatic kind (and ideally of both). Yet all as an exercise in pursuing hope, or in providing means for others to do so in future. I hope that the fruits of my studies will in some small way prove worthy of the sacrifices that have made them possible.
Written By Sudara
May 7, 2017, 9:26 a.m.(6/2/1006 AR)
Thousands upon thousands of our defenders fell, along with a vast stretch of walls and more than a few civilians. Prominent among those latter are to be numbered many of Thrax's subjects, but there are too many of all origins for us to yet have managed to count, while we are all but overwhelmed with the mass of wounded to be treated. Yet if we simply view our assailants as unthinking monsters, then I fear that we shall profoundly miss the point of so much of this: they, too, are to be mourned for the waste of their lives and the perversion of their hopes and fears by dark forces. Without remembering that they are part of the same dream as us, we risk falling prey to darkness ourselves.
Written By Sudara
May 7, 2017, 9:24 a.m.(6/2/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Dafne
Another Lycene lady who has found herself rather unexpectedly in a position of considerable responsibility and no small degree of authority. She is perhaps young enough to be my daughter, but I readily confess that I feel a degree of sympathy with her. And I certainly admire the readiness (shared with Princess Cara) to learn the rudiments of the medicinal arts so that she could offer some tangible assistance to our defenders in the wake of the slaughter at the walls.
Written By Sudara
May 7, 2017, 9:22 a.m.(6/2/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Cara
A heavily-pregnant young princess-by-marriage, widowed by the slaughter of the King's retinue. I might well be biased in favour of her Lycene origins, but she seems to be conscientious, intelligent, and thoughtful. We met at a gathering within the (attractively green-painted) Great Gray Hall of the Graysons, arranged to provide a forum for those of us without a shred of martial capacity to assemble while our defenders struggled to hold the line of Arx's walls and seaward defences. She was a gracious example of visible calm, while also being eager to learn something that would be of use to our warriors in the aftermath of the battle: we wound up discussing the basics of medical care, in some detail.
Written By Sudara
April 30, 2017, 8:48 p.m.(5/16/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Aleksei
A rather unusual young Crownsworn: leather-clad, apparently of knightly training, yet of priestly vocation. Forthright, with unfashionable interests (even to the extent of finding my own academic researches intriguing), and willing to be publicly supportive of Prodigals. I must say that I rather approve. Not, I admit, that the approval of a widowed bookworm is likely to be relevant to many in the broader Compact.
Written By Sudara
April 23, 2017, 7:15 p.m.(5/1/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Zhayla
I find myself musing upon quite what terminology might best be applied to my connection to this young woman. She is the half-sister of my late husband's informally-adopted daughter. Step-half-daughter-out-of-law? Whimsical musings aside, she seems to be someone with whom I can sympathise and (if I flatter myself) empathise. She is intelligent, appears capable, and finds herself straddling more than one culture. I certainly hope to have the opportunity to get to know her, and I have faith that she and others like her will help to ensure that the city surives its present travails.
Written By Sudara
April 16, 2017, 8:26 p.m.(4/14/1006 AR)
Sudara Pravus, organiser of lectures martial and esoteric! Perhaps I should aspire to a career in public education. At present, that might well be the best contribution I can make to the city's defence: I am currently endeavouring to find out just how difficult it might be to help our array of defenders to truly talk to one another: not to exchange boasts or issue challenges, but to provide one another with details of tactics both successful and unfortunate, as employed both against and by the enemy assailing us. I cannot find a way to make individual arms or pieces of armour stretch farther or be used by more people, but knowledge is not so limited in how it can be shared.
Written By Sudara
April 9, 2017, 7:10 p.m.(3/28/1006 AR)
It would seem that my errant unofficial kinswoman is fondly remembered by others within Arx, and that at least some are rather bolder than me when it comes to public expression of such. A text now exists, written in her honour though without her name, which makes for fascinating reading. Not that I can claim that it is remotely cheering to do so: even in these dark times, it remains a bleak story.
Written By Sudara
April 2, 2017, 8:43 p.m.(3/14/1006 AR)
It is unlikely to surprise any reader (even one so desperate for diversion as to turn to my own sparsely-updated and incoherent white journal) that I came to Arx without any notion of ever being besieged while here. Yet not only is there a horde beyond the walls, seemingly intent upon wreaking unspeakable horrors on those of us sheltered within; we also have to contend with the on-going spate of attacks by the Bringers of Silence. There is evidently not a horde of them inside to match the numbers of the besiegers outside, but they do still manage to mount a sporadic succession of bold attacks. One such was aimed at my cousin and Duchess: thankfully, our defenders consistently prove remarably effective even when drawn from the disparate ranks of those who just happen to be close to the latest intended atrocity.
Written By Sudara
March 26, 2017, 7:39 p.m.(2/28/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Joslyn
A trusted friend and confidante of Juliet. Distressingly young to an ageing widow's eyes; troublingly close in age to my own eldest offspring, in all honesty. It is quite perturbing to think how soon they might be pitched into affairs of state. Well, in all honesty it would be perturbing were they merely to be in line to brave the courts of the Lyceum and the broader Compact. But nowadays? The prospect is more than a little daunting. Yet observing Joslyn reminds me that competence and confidence can indeed go hand in hand, even among those who now look so very youthful to me.
Written By Sudara
March 19, 2017, 8:47 p.m.(2/14/1006 AR)
It would seem that steelsilk gowns are not only real, but something I might myself soon see with my own eyes. I have even had the opportunity to test the mettle of the astonishing fabric, running a sharp blade over it without causing any discernible damage whatsoever. The world-shaking wonders I hear of are in some ways less startling than a piece of soft cloth that can turn a blade while resting in my grasp.
Written By Sudara
March 12, 2017, 7:36 p.m.(1/28/1006 AR)
If dreams are to be believed, then at least one deity truly cares. If dreams can be trusted, then we are all in the direst of peril. If dreams are real, then reality itself is in danger of being undone. Yet secrets, cliques, and cabals seem as prevalent as ever. Certainly, there are mortal dangers aplenty in this world: if there were not, I would wear a different colour, at the very least. So what might our best response be? Perhaps my father's decision was wise: apolitical scholarship certainly has its temptations. Now more so than ever. It would certainly be pleasing to think that the pen might triumph over the sword in a time so troubled as the present.
Written By Sudara
Feb. 26, 2017, 6:37 p.m.(12/28/1005 AR)
It seems that the Lady Sudara Pravus has been spreading tales in the city regarding "Prince Torgen" (sic) and his progeny: these have found their way to me by more than one route. As someone who thought that she was in fact Sudara Pravus, and furthermore believed that she was the mother of Trogen's children, this has come as a shock to me on more than one level. Indeed, it has even been intimated to me by one individual that I do not have a right to learn the source of these tales, since it is "a family matter" for her - yet somehow not for me! I am sure that there are worse ways to offend a widow; this is, however, the most direct insult on the matter of my husband and my marriage that I have received since his death. As it is, I am decidedly keen to discover quite who has been letting it be known that "Sudara Pravus" is behind such stories.
Written By Sudara
Feb. 19, 2017, 8:27 p.m.(12/14/1005 AR)
Where and how has the time flown since my last entry? Fever-dreams have a great deal to do with it. I had no notion of the passage of many of the days that have whipped by in recent weeks, and now find myself adrift in a startlingly (and frighteningly) unfamiliar world. Today, I gave orders for my fleet to assist that of my House, and must now scramble to find out how we have come to this pass. I hope that it shall not take me as many weeks again to do so.
Written By Sudara
Jan. 8, 2017, 10:17 p.m.(8/11/1005 AR)
My Duchess got older today! Of course, she does so every day (and every second, for that matter), as do we all. But of particular note was her birthday party, held at the Pravus house within the Lycene quarter. In spite of a few less-than-couth interludes, it seemed to go well. And the unexpectedly collaborative nature of the entertainer's song was particularly effective in providing amusement. In spite of the strong impulse to take it all as proof of just how far beyond youth I must now be, I have to admit that I rather markedly enjoyed myself.
Written By Sudara
Jan. 1, 2017, 8:22 p.m.(7/18/1005 AR)
I hear that Prodigals are growing in number within Arx. I am pleased, but (naturally, given my tendency to over-think matters, most especially good news), I cannot help but wonder quite what might lie behind these reports. Are there truly more who have made the journey here? If so, it might speak to the severity of the assorted crises facing the Compact. Or were most already present, but now feel better-able to dress and speak as they feel themselves to truly be? That might speak rather more to a growing acceptance within the Compact, which I think is all the more needed in these troubled times.
Written By Sudara
Dec. 25, 2016, 9:08 p.m.(6/25/1005 AR)
Some unseasonal weather is rattling the shutters and thrumming rain against them, while I lurk within my cosy shelter and write by lamplight. Weekly scribing has become something of a routine for me, though I all too rarely find myself with time to enter anything into my white journal: the woes of turning out to be a great deal busier in Arx than I had ever anticipated being. But I have found myself with more ties as well as more duties than anticipated, and (in hope that a public declaration of such will spur me to strive to abide by it) must seek to spend more time with those about and for whom I care, as well as those who seek my aid.
Written By Sudara
Dec. 18, 2016, 8:36 p.m.(6/4/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Juliet
The cousin of my friend Prospero, this young lady apparently has something of a reputation behind her. But it would be a rather short-sighted Pravus who took gossip as truth: for myself, I have found the young lady of Fidante to be nothing but amiable and persistently pleasant company. She even turns out to have something of a scholarly bent, which has proved a welcome surprise. And now, she has founded a salon, to which I have been invited. How well an ink-stained and aging widow might be received by others, I do not know. But I have hopes of at least marginally expanding my social circle within Arx.
Written By Sudara
Dec. 18, 2016, 8:15 p.m.(6/4/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Cybele
Referred to me by the Archscholar, this rather unusual young man is striking even by the standards of someone accustomed to the tastes and fashions of the Truesworn. Conversation with him is yet to settle into a particularly conventional format, but it is certainly fascinating to make up one side of an encounter between an inveterate bookworm and someone raised in a firmly oral culture. I sincerely hope that we might both benefit from what we learn, about ourselves as well as each other.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.