Written By Sparte
April 10, 2019, 11:34 a.m.(11/24/1010 AR)
I heard tell that quick thinking recently saved a Legate's life, or at least their leg. My full appreciation to Sir Jeffeth for the care he gave the wounded.
I'll take this as a reminder that we never know when danger will strike or if a mercy will be close enough. I will be restocking my own emergency kit and encouraging the Iron Guard under my command to carry their own.
I'll take this as a reminder that we never know when danger will strike or if a mercy will be close enough. I will be restocking my own emergency kit and encouraging the Iron Guard under my command to carry their own.
Written By Sparte
April 3, 2019, 1:59 p.m.(11/10/1010 AR)
I havn't shaved the past few days, inspired by the impressive whiskers I witnessed at the Open Throne.
This morning Wilhelm informed me that he couldn't tell.
It would seem I'm not destined for whiskers. I'll have to try again in a few years.
This morning Wilhelm informed me that he couldn't tell.
It would seem I'm not destined for whiskers. I'll have to try again in a few years.
Written By Sparte
April 1, 2019, 3:14 p.m.(11/6/1010 AR)
It is nice to see commoners giving the Champion's Guild some work. They are hiring champions, right?
Written By Sparte
March 31, 2019, 5:43 p.m.(11/4/1010 AR)
The Grand Melee was AMAZING! In hindsight trying to fight multiple people at once probably wasn't the wisest tactic if I wanted to win, but I still enjoyed the opportunity to participate and all of the watching after I was benched. I'm comfortable with losing the way I did though, the combatants were exceptional.
Written By Sparte
March 31, 2019, 12:50 a.m.(11/3/1010 AR)
The jousts were amazing! I'm so glad I finally went. It was an honor to compete, and I can already see ways to improve before next year's bout.
Written By Sparte
March 28, 2019, 11:02 a.m.(10/26/1010 AR)
I commend Princess Reese on her decision not to participate in the Grand Melee when there was even the appearance of impropriety. However, I looked into this matter further than Princess Reese's actions. I did this because so long as there are people acting in secret alliance, I worry it undermines the Grand Melee's intent. Here is what I found.
Princess Reese knew nothing of the attempts to aid her until after someone had gone to the King and complained about it. Her actions and her words say she was not complicit in this, and I believe her.
I'm told a group of participants ganged up on Princess Reese at the previous Grand Melee, with the specific intent to prevent her winning that year. A secret alliance against her. I will call them the Anti-Ribbons. I do not know who participated nor how true this claim is.
The group seeking to aid Princess Reese, who I'll call the Pro-Ribbons, were specifically attempting to prevent a repeat of the prior year. I do not know who agreed to participate in this group. I'm told their intent was to counteract expected impropriety, a repeat of the last Grand Melee. Not to ensure Princess Reese won. I know for certain this group existed before Princess Reese backed out of the Grand Melee.
To be absolutely clear, I did not participate last year. Nor did I specate. I have no knowledge of what transpired that is first hand. I did not know about the Pro-Ribbons or Anti-Ribbons groups until after Princess Reese had already removed herself from the Grand Melee. I do intend to participate this year, and it is my intention to aquit myself in such a way that Gloria approves.
I know many will recoil at the notion of me standing in judgment of anyone, so I will just say this. It is all too easy to justify our actions to ourselves and dismiss how we impact others. May Gloria be able to smile on the winner.
Princess Reese knew nothing of the attempts to aid her until after someone had gone to the King and complained about it. Her actions and her words say she was not complicit in this, and I believe her.
I'm told a group of participants ganged up on Princess Reese at the previous Grand Melee, with the specific intent to prevent her winning that year. A secret alliance against her. I will call them the Anti-Ribbons. I do not know who participated nor how true this claim is.
The group seeking to aid Princess Reese, who I'll call the Pro-Ribbons, were specifically attempting to prevent a repeat of the prior year. I do not know who agreed to participate in this group. I'm told their intent was to counteract expected impropriety, a repeat of the last Grand Melee. Not to ensure Princess Reese won. I know for certain this group existed before Princess Reese backed out of the Grand Melee.
To be absolutely clear, I did not participate last year. Nor did I specate. I have no knowledge of what transpired that is first hand. I did not know about the Pro-Ribbons or Anti-Ribbons groups until after Princess Reese had already removed herself from the Grand Melee. I do intend to participate this year, and it is my intention to aquit myself in such a way that Gloria approves.
I know many will recoil at the notion of me standing in judgment of anyone, so I will just say this. It is all too easy to justify our actions to ourselves and dismiss how we impact others. May Gloria be able to smile on the winner.
Written By Sparte
March 27, 2019, 9:04 a.m.(10/23/1010 AR)
I'm honored to have been able to lead some of the good people of the Order of East Light recently. They proved to be both able and willing to do hard work. I wish the cause hadn't existed, that the people on the roads were safe, but the call for action came and was answered. There are still many more threats on the roads, both external and from within the compact. There is also still time for those committed to those paths not yet deal with to change their ways, and I hope they will.
Written By Sparte
March 22, 2019, 12:08 p.m.(10/14/1010 AR)
Today I spent time at the Confessional of the Waves. Thinking on the battles behind me, and the battles ahead. I feel a sadness to know I'll need to lift up arms again, because it means diplomacy and reason have failed. I feel no anger or hate for those who I'll face, even knowing how terrible some of them are. The lack of fury doesn't waver my resolve, my hands are steady and my mind is set. There are things to be fought for. Lost friends and foes, may the wheel take them all somewhere better.
Written By Sparte
March 21, 2019, 3:15 p.m.(10/12/1010 AR)
'Some people's truth is more true than other people's truth.'
A phrase that has lingered with me. I've realized that the word I use the most in my thoughts is perhaps. Perhaps this, perhaps that. Some take it as uncertainty, some take it as doubt, some take it as a lack of commitment to a personal truth.
I've always taken it as a willingness to entertain that I might be wrong. Not because I want to be wrong, but because the world has so many possibilities and so many wonders. At times my heart and my will push me to stand for a thing that I believe is true in order to make it more true, but that doesn't mean I discount the possibility I've erred. I've just accepted it as a risk I must take at times to be true to myself.
Is that hubris, to be willing to stand for a thing without sufficient proof to know you stand on the right side of it? Is it folly to draw the line past which you trust a thing is true differently than others?
More questions. They spring eternal. Yet even uncertain as I have been in the past, these questions have allowed me to build up a foundation. Not of perfect truths, but of choices on which truths matter the most to me.
Perhaps (ha) I have been too open with doubts and uncertainties that everyone experiences quietly. Or perhaps (ha) - by chance or by choice - I have just questioned things others never bother to question.
Today I have stood before the tapestry in the Great Cathedral. I've questioned what the stories were of each of those threads, how they came to be here and used for such a unique task. Then I asked, in turn, whether there were threads that hadn't fit the tapestry. Ones given that simply wern't needed, that didn't have a place. Threads of poor quality, or threads given late. I asked what might become of such a thread. Questions tied to symbolism given the recent events in the compact, not the fate of actual bits of string. If someone actually tracks down a bin of unused string send it to Rinel Tern, not me.
A phrase that has lingered with me. I've realized that the word I use the most in my thoughts is perhaps. Perhaps this, perhaps that. Some take it as uncertainty, some take it as doubt, some take it as a lack of commitment to a personal truth.
I've always taken it as a willingness to entertain that I might be wrong. Not because I want to be wrong, but because the world has so many possibilities and so many wonders. At times my heart and my will push me to stand for a thing that I believe is true in order to make it more true, but that doesn't mean I discount the possibility I've erred. I've just accepted it as a risk I must take at times to be true to myself.
Is that hubris, to be willing to stand for a thing without sufficient proof to know you stand on the right side of it? Is it folly to draw the line past which you trust a thing is true differently than others?
More questions. They spring eternal. Yet even uncertain as I have been in the past, these questions have allowed me to build up a foundation. Not of perfect truths, but of choices on which truths matter the most to me.
Perhaps (ha) I have been too open with doubts and uncertainties that everyone experiences quietly. Or perhaps (ha) - by chance or by choice - I have just questioned things others never bother to question.
Today I have stood before the tapestry in the Great Cathedral. I've questioned what the stories were of each of those threads, how they came to be here and used for such a unique task. Then I asked, in turn, whether there were threads that hadn't fit the tapestry. Ones given that simply wern't needed, that didn't have a place. Threads of poor quality, or threads given late. I asked what might become of such a thread. Questions tied to symbolism given the recent events in the compact, not the fate of actual bits of string. If someone actually tracks down a bin of unused string send it to Rinel Tern, not me.
Written By Sparte
March 18, 2019, 12:04 p.m.(10/6/1010 AR)
It has come to my attention the Templars hold me in poor regard because of my role in the recent matter involving the Scholars. I make it known that I still take responsibility for my choices, and accept the consequences of my actions. There were other ways I might have handled those matters in hindsight, but what was done remains done. The Templars have my respect and my aid, and I hope in time I will have their forgiveness. If I do not, so be it.
Written By Sparte
March 16, 2019, 11:40 p.m.(10/3/1010 AR)
Make ready for another war.
Written By Sparte
March 12, 2019, 5:16 p.m.(9/22/1010 AR)
I stand with Highlord Victus.
I thought for a while about trying to same something more elaborate, but that is all that needed to be said.
I stand with Highlord Victus.
I thought for a while about trying to same something more elaborate, but that is all that needed to be said.
I stand with Highlord Victus.
Written By Sparte
March 11, 2019, 12:04 p.m.(9/20/1010 AR)
The Seafarer's Riddle.
Born of land, beneath sun and stars.
We struggle to walk then seek to go far.
Burning ground and cutting grass, biting winds or icy blast.
We are driven to explore our lands so vast.
At land's end we could have stopped.
At journey's end we could have rested.
Log and tar, sheet and breath.
We see the horizon and we continue on.
Why does the sailor seek the salt and the sea?
With stars their guide and wind their stride.
Their homeland will never be the sea.
Yet only at sea are they ever home.
Not all riddles have answers, some only have questions.
Born of land, beneath sun and stars.
We struggle to walk then seek to go far.
Burning ground and cutting grass, biting winds or icy blast.
We are driven to explore our lands so vast.
At land's end we could have stopped.
At journey's end we could have rested.
Log and tar, sheet and breath.
We see the horizon and we continue on.
Why does the sailor seek the salt and the sea?
With stars their guide and wind their stride.
Their homeland will never be the sea.
Yet only at sea are they ever home.
Not all riddles have answers, some only have questions.
Written By Sparte
March 10, 2019, 12:59 a.m.(9/17/1010 AR)
Trust has been on my mind. We're trusted, we trust people to do things, things to happen, and most rarely of all people themselves without constraint.
Just as we can give our trust, others can give their trust to us in turn. That brings with it an implicit request to keep that trust, and to keep it well.
Unfortunately, that can put us in difficult situations. Ones where we have to choose. Not every trust we're given is compatible with every other.
All of that is before we consider our duties. Our obligations. Our honor.
I sit with these thoughts after having had time to reflect upon my own choices, and the trusts I chose to keep and why. I know there are some who would focus on whether the choice made was right or wrong, but when we are in a place that will harm someone no matter what we do there is no such clarity. Just as the choice to accept the trust of others was neither right or wrong.
Lifetimes have been lost trying to see ways to avoid those failures. Spent in hindsight, looking backwards without remembering to look forward once again. Some in judgment of themselves, some in judgment of others. I ask myself what I have learned that will change my choices tomorrow. Tomorrow I will have my answer, but not before.
Just as we can give our trust, others can give their trust to us in turn. That brings with it an implicit request to keep that trust, and to keep it well.
Unfortunately, that can put us in difficult situations. Ones where we have to choose. Not every trust we're given is compatible with every other.
All of that is before we consider our duties. Our obligations. Our honor.
I sit with these thoughts after having had time to reflect upon my own choices, and the trusts I chose to keep and why. I know there are some who would focus on whether the choice made was right or wrong, but when we are in a place that will harm someone no matter what we do there is no such clarity. Just as the choice to accept the trust of others was neither right or wrong.
Lifetimes have been lost trying to see ways to avoid those failures. Spent in hindsight, looking backwards without remembering to look forward once again. Some in judgment of themselves, some in judgment of others. I ask myself what I have learned that will change my choices tomorrow. Tomorrow I will have my answer, but not before.
Written By Sparte
Feb. 28, 2019, 8:13 p.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
What is considered simple food? Is it just eating bread and potatoes?
Written By Sparte
Feb. 26, 2019, 10:49 p.m.(8/23/1010 AR)
Balance is an interesting topic. The way many speak of it brings to my mind the image of scales, trying to add and subtract things from two sides. I personally think of it more like a large cloth. In our lives we have one or more opportunities to touch a spot, and where our finger lands the colors change.
Brighter, darker, more red, more yellow. Sometimes the change isn't just one color, sometimes it isn't only brighter or only darker, but each touch leaves a mark.
Trying to take that myriad of choices and simplify it down to scales feels inadequate. I know a colored cloth is too simple to reflect the whole of human choice and behavior. The imagery only goes so far, but I like to believe people can make surprising choices. I want to imagine a medium that goes in more than two directions, and where every choice can have value that isn't an arbitrary light or dark.
In my example and in my thoughts, balance isn't an equal light and an equal dark. I just can't define it so neatly. It is what an artist needs to make a good painting or a tailor needs to make a stunning dress. It is creating something vibrant and beautiful, knowing that it is fragile and that exact thing will one day change and might never exist again. Balance is that moment of beauty, however long it can be held onto. It is ephemeral, a direction, but not a destination.
The choice in how we contribute to a balance is just that, our choice. We're a slew of hands all reaching out and leaving our marks, often with no common vision. Yet, once in a while...
Brighter, darker, more red, more yellow. Sometimes the change isn't just one color, sometimes it isn't only brighter or only darker, but each touch leaves a mark.
Trying to take that myriad of choices and simplify it down to scales feels inadequate. I know a colored cloth is too simple to reflect the whole of human choice and behavior. The imagery only goes so far, but I like to believe people can make surprising choices. I want to imagine a medium that goes in more than two directions, and where every choice can have value that isn't an arbitrary light or dark.
In my example and in my thoughts, balance isn't an equal light and an equal dark. I just can't define it so neatly. It is what an artist needs to make a good painting or a tailor needs to make a stunning dress. It is creating something vibrant and beautiful, knowing that it is fragile and that exact thing will one day change and might never exist again. Balance is that moment of beauty, however long it can be held onto. It is ephemeral, a direction, but not a destination.
The choice in how we contribute to a balance is just that, our choice. We're a slew of hands all reaching out and leaving our marks, often with no common vision. Yet, once in a while...
Written By Sparte
Feb. 24, 2019, 8:16 p.m.(8/18/1010 AR)
Apparently there are stories that have been spread about me I havn't yet heard, which people think I spread. I don't fault people for creativity at my expense, but I find myself wondering at what sort of person would spread those sorts of rumors about themselves.
Written By Sparte
Feb. 23, 2019, 10:05 p.m.(8/17/1010 AR)
Sometimes we step on a new path not because we know where it goes, but we know where it leads us from.
Written By Sparte
Feb. 19, 2019, 11:18 p.m.(8/9/1010 AR)
I like the purple of a hill covered in bellflowers, the rustling petals in a breeze that are as soft as they are plentiful. The perfect bed for a tired shepherd. Purple rolling down like a splash of paint across a tilted canvas, a canvas that same shepherd would roll down given the chance.
So that is my favorite color. No mystery needed.
So that is my favorite color. No mystery needed.
Written By Sparte
Feb. 19, 2019, 12:16 a.m.(8/7/1010 AR)
I've just tested the new buckler design. They're lightweight, a good blend of wood and steel, and didn't mess up my staffwork too terribly much. It'll take practice to get used to fighting with one on my arm, but I'm sure it can be managed. The Iron Pike should benefit greatly from these.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.