Written By Victus
March 28, 2019, 8:06 p.m.(10/26/1010 AR)
Visions of ice and immovability come to me in my sleep. A great fire roars through Lagoma's shrine only a few weeks later.
Coincidences aren't often so precise.
Coincidences aren't often so precise.
Written By Victus
March 27, 2019, 3:19 p.m.(10/24/1010 AR)
It isn't weird to sleep beside a sword.
Written By Victus
March 23, 2019, 1:55 p.m.(10/16/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Ida
Long have I heard rumor of one Dame Ida's talent for craftsmanship. Long have I heard rumor of Oathlands steel being superior to the mass produced weaponry as well. I asked for proof of both when I commissioned a greatsword in the Oathlands style from the 'Hammer of the West'.
I'm very pleased to say that my expectations were not met, not exceeded, but near entirely shattered with the finished product. It's more than I could have hoped for. I've always been envious of the greater metals like diamondplate, alaricite and so on. But with this piece, those concerns are immediately put to rest. There are only so many different ways to say 'incredible' and my vocabulary certainly doesn't encompass all of them.
It's going to be my honor to carry Dame Ida's work, this sword called Barathrum into the Tournament of Roses. And I'll even dare to say that it will be the audience's honor to lay eyes on the labor put forward by her own two hands.
Perhaps with Thrax's transition to a freed workforce, I'll have to see if I might lure any Oathlands smiths to the other end of the continent. A man can dream, aye?
I'm very pleased to say that my expectations were not met, not exceeded, but near entirely shattered with the finished product. It's more than I could have hoped for. I've always been envious of the greater metals like diamondplate, alaricite and so on. But with this piece, those concerns are immediately put to rest. There are only so many different ways to say 'incredible' and my vocabulary certainly doesn't encompass all of them.
It's going to be my honor to carry Dame Ida's work, this sword called Barathrum into the Tournament of Roses. And I'll even dare to say that it will be the audience's honor to lay eyes on the labor put forward by her own two hands.
Perhaps with Thrax's transition to a freed workforce, I'll have to see if I might lure any Oathlands smiths to the other end of the continent. A man can dream, aye?
Written By Victus
March 18, 2019, 3:10 p.m.(10/6/1010 AR)
In war there is death. It does not matter if you chose to fight or if you chose to abstain. If war comes to your lands, it will extract its toll as it cares to.
War is but another, darker aspect of our world that is wielded as a tool. Sometimes for the righteous, sometimes for the despicable. It can become easily twisted by the ulterior -- when good intentions become marred by greed, hatred or blood-lust. What separates us from savages is that we have our boundaries. An understanding of what is right or wrong, our restraint. Most importantly, our honor.
When men wield the power with other's lives being the resource, it falls to them to use that power with the utmost responsibility. Whether their duty is by their word alone or to their House and country, you fail your command when you overstep those boundaries.
Attacks on refugees who were provided promise of safety and defiling sanctuary granted by a holy Seraph is grossly overstepping. Acts perpetuated barbarically by those consumed with hatred before reason. Our word and honor are the strongest bonds that separate us from the low and take us to the height we aspire to be. Without them, we are worth nothing.
I urge the quarreling Lords of the Oathlands and the North to reconsider how much blood need be spilled. These differences will only stain your House's legacy if you continue down this path of senseless violence and diminishing of our Faith.
War is but another, darker aspect of our world that is wielded as a tool. Sometimes for the righteous, sometimes for the despicable. It can become easily twisted by the ulterior -- when good intentions become marred by greed, hatred or blood-lust. What separates us from savages is that we have our boundaries. An understanding of what is right or wrong, our restraint. Most importantly, our honor.
When men wield the power with other's lives being the resource, it falls to them to use that power with the utmost responsibility. Whether their duty is by their word alone or to their House and country, you fail your command when you overstep those boundaries.
Attacks on refugees who were provided promise of safety and defiling sanctuary granted by a holy Seraph is grossly overstepping. Acts perpetuated barbarically by those consumed with hatred before reason. Our word and honor are the strongest bonds that separate us from the low and take us to the height we aspire to be. Without them, we are worth nothing.
I urge the quarreling Lords of the Oathlands and the North to reconsider how much blood need be spilled. These differences will only stain your House's legacy if you continue down this path of senseless violence and diminishing of our Faith.
Written By Victus
March 17, 2019, 8:10 a.m.(10/3/1010 AR)
I am of the opinion that those who would murder for their traditions have earned the privilege of dying in a traditional manner as well.
Perhaps it's been too long since a cross faced Maelstrom's shores.
Perhaps it's been too long since a cross faced Maelstrom's shores.
Written By Victus
March 12, 2019, 11:50 p.m.(9/23/1010 AR)
A common phrase that I've heard most of my life is 'how much longer'.
How much longer until my happy days come? How much longer until I can get paid? How much longer until I get what I deserve? Some people don't have the luxury of asking how long it will take until they get something they want. Some can only ask, how much longer until it stops?
You see it everywhere in the Mourning Isles. In the rowers of our ships, in the ones tending our field, in the ones breaking their backs in our mines. They work day in and day out with shackles upon their wrists and they ask, how much longer until we're free? How much longer do they work until their debt is paid? Because theoretically, everyone who is placed into their chains will one day walk without them in our system. That is true for some places. It's the furthest thing from the truth in others. Whoever rules the land where they have been born or where they have been taken is who also rules their lot in life.
I tried to stop that, lawfully. But laws did not become enough to curb the atrocity that still festered in the heart of it. It could only slice the skin of the corruption, a flesh-wound at best.
Still, they looked at their masters with glassy eyes and asked them, how much longer until I am free? Until my spouse is free? Until my children are free? Yes, spouses, children. Because misery loves company, they find love in even the bleakest of places. They make something of that love, and then that too was wrapped in a chain and sent to work.
Those souls who looked at me and asked me why. Those souls who told me death would be preferable than a family in eternal servitude. Those souls who asked me how much longer? I could not give them an answer.
It makes me wonder how long these questions have been asked of us. In the time of Queen Triscali, did the slaves of the Compact ask when their torment would end? Or were they not given that carrot at the end of the stick? Was their hope for something that seemed unobtainable and not for something they were promised? I wonder what their eyes looked like when freedom came at last. What do the eyes of someone filled with nothing but hopelessness look like when they finally have a taste of humanity again?
It must have been beautiful for the ones who survived. As make no mistake, when evil infests your body it will take great pain to cut it free. That is true of a disease, true of an Abyssal root on your soul and it will be true of thralldom as well. We will bleed. If not for the sake of tradition, than for the sake of those who have known no other way. Who have lived for centuries knowing that this was their livelihood, their only means of survival. This will be no harmless transition.
Like every struggle toward the light, it will be found on top of the corpses of the defenders and the aggressors alike. The ones who have the conviction to die for what they believe in will populate both sides. Only one of them will be righteous. The world will suffer for it. This, there is no denying.
This is not for me, this is not for you, this is not for the man or woman who suffers in chains. This is for /us/. All of us to share in a world that rejects the cruelty of slavery. No more excuses. No more half-truths. No more infection from an aberration to our very Gods.
They will ask us how much longer they must suffer and we will give them an answer. Find your courage and join us.
How much longer until my happy days come? How much longer until I can get paid? How much longer until I get what I deserve? Some people don't have the luxury of asking how long it will take until they get something they want. Some can only ask, how much longer until it stops?
You see it everywhere in the Mourning Isles. In the rowers of our ships, in the ones tending our field, in the ones breaking their backs in our mines. They work day in and day out with shackles upon their wrists and they ask, how much longer until we're free? How much longer do they work until their debt is paid? Because theoretically, everyone who is placed into their chains will one day walk without them in our system. That is true for some places. It's the furthest thing from the truth in others. Whoever rules the land where they have been born or where they have been taken is who also rules their lot in life.
I tried to stop that, lawfully. But laws did not become enough to curb the atrocity that still festered in the heart of it. It could only slice the skin of the corruption, a flesh-wound at best.
Still, they looked at their masters with glassy eyes and asked them, how much longer until I am free? Until my spouse is free? Until my children are free? Yes, spouses, children. Because misery loves company, they find love in even the bleakest of places. They make something of that love, and then that too was wrapped in a chain and sent to work.
Those souls who looked at me and asked me why. Those souls who told me death would be preferable than a family in eternal servitude. Those souls who asked me how much longer? I could not give them an answer.
It makes me wonder how long these questions have been asked of us. In the time of Queen Triscali, did the slaves of the Compact ask when their torment would end? Or were they not given that carrot at the end of the stick? Was their hope for something that seemed unobtainable and not for something they were promised? I wonder what their eyes looked like when freedom came at last. What do the eyes of someone filled with nothing but hopelessness look like when they finally have a taste of humanity again?
It must have been beautiful for the ones who survived. As make no mistake, when evil infests your body it will take great pain to cut it free. That is true of a disease, true of an Abyssal root on your soul and it will be true of thralldom as well. We will bleed. If not for the sake of tradition, than for the sake of those who have known no other way. Who have lived for centuries knowing that this was their livelihood, their only means of survival. This will be no harmless transition.
Like every struggle toward the light, it will be found on top of the corpses of the defenders and the aggressors alike. The ones who have the conviction to die for what they believe in will populate both sides. Only one of them will be righteous. The world will suffer for it. This, there is no denying.
This is not for me, this is not for you, this is not for the man or woman who suffers in chains. This is for /us/. All of us to share in a world that rejects the cruelty of slavery. No more excuses. No more half-truths. No more infection from an aberration to our very Gods.
They will ask us how much longer they must suffer and we will give them an answer. Find your courage and join us.
Written By Victus
March 8, 2019, 8:07 p.m.(9/14/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Joscelin
The only thing tall people are truly good at is hitting doorframes.
Written By Victus
March 3, 2019, 8:22 p.m.(9/4/1010 AR)
A dream of ice and fear. It seems my mind has been especially creative while I sleep.
Written By Victus
Feb. 17, 2019, 11:45 p.m.(8/5/1010 AR)
In my dreams, I see Metallics. I see dragons. I see Cardians. And I see something else, something that I don't know should be there.
What a peculiar time to be thinking so deeply into the past.
What a peculiar time to be thinking so deeply into the past.
Written By Victus
Feb. 13, 2019, 11:43 p.m.(7/25/1010 AR)
The future is yet unwritten. There are a great many choices laid out in the path ahead. The good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. Some will be obvious, some not. Some will be disguised as another.
When one's mind is stricken with conflict, comfort in the Gods watch can provide clarity. I will be seeking that extensively from the Shrine of Limerance all this week and likely the next as well.
When one's mind is stricken with conflict, comfort in the Gods watch can provide clarity. I will be seeking that extensively from the Shrine of Limerance all this week and likely the next as well.
Written By Victus
Feb. 11, 2019, 7:01 p.m.(7/20/1010 AR)
Today, my daughter fell on her back and starting spinning in circles on the floor. Screaming. Hollering. Crying. "I. WANT. NOTHING."
The nannies weren't sure to do, so I am planning on ignoring it until it goes away.
The nannies weren't sure to do, so I am planning on ignoring it until it goes away.
Written By Victus
Feb. 8, 2019, 2:06 a.m.(7/13/1010 AR)
And so she fought and so she stood,
Fighting through the night,
For saving others was a simple good,
Even if it meant dying in the light.
Fighting through the night,
For saving others was a simple good,
Even if it meant dying in the light.
Written By Victus
Feb. 4, 2019, 7:47 p.m.(7/6/1010 AR)
I have nothing substantial to add to the arguments over the next few days, but there is something I wish dearly that would stop being conflated.
If you are a land holder within the Mourning Isles, do not act as though thralldom is meant to be beneficial for the ones within the system. Thralldom was conceived as a means of lawful punishment for criminals and those taken in war. Perhaps that is not how you specifically choose to treat them, perhaps you exercise differing rights and that is your right as a vassal.
But don't act like you do not have indentured peoples. Because that is what they are.
Thralldom is built upon repaying one's debt to society that is decided upon by ruling lords in their domains. You are not treating these people well by making their servitude more comforting for as long as they are forced into it. They are still /indentured/ and their quality of life would be vastly better if they were not so. There is no denying that and you look foolish if you try.
If you are a land holder within the Mourning Isles, do not act as though thralldom is meant to be beneficial for the ones within the system. Thralldom was conceived as a means of lawful punishment for criminals and those taken in war. Perhaps that is not how you specifically choose to treat them, perhaps you exercise differing rights and that is your right as a vassal.
But don't act like you do not have indentured peoples. Because that is what they are.
Thralldom is built upon repaying one's debt to society that is decided upon by ruling lords in their domains. You are not treating these people well by making their servitude more comforting for as long as they are forced into it. They are still /indentured/ and their quality of life would be vastly better if they were not so. There is no denying that and you look foolish if you try.
Written By Victus
Feb. 4, 2019, 3:20 p.m.(7/6/1010 AR)
I really cannot understand why my daughter asks for something and then hits the ground screaming after she receives it. Does everyone's child not make sense?
Written By Victus
Feb. 3, 2019, 12:26 a.m.(7/3/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Reigna
It depends on what odds are being faced and how high the cost. Will the world be better for it when you are done? How long will it take to reach that desired result?
Do the 100 that die today save the 1000 for tomorrow?
What will happen if 1 to 1.5 million criminals are freed over the course of a year? Does what it represent outweigh the destruction?
Do you yank the evil by the roots knowing you may not survive, so that you can die without regret?
Will you carry the weight yourself or will you have another do it?
Those are just a few questions I've run into over the course of my rulership. The answers are never easy ones. Nor are they something one could easily quantify as good or evil. The higher the costs, the larger the ripples become. Likewise, the more significant the goal the more will your work be rewarded.
In my opinion there is no room for anything but staunch pragmatism when you are in control of other's fates. Sacrifices must be made to maintain an orderly world. Sometimes it only needs to be the materials of one's person. Sometimes it must be soldier's lives. Your successes and your failures will be what write your legacy when you are gone. There will need to be someone left alive to tell them. Until that day comes, the most important thing you can do is act with honor.
Honor to your goals. Honor to your people. Honor to your lands. These are the things you may think of before you choose to act toward any end.
Likewise, it is just as easy to fall into disgrace. If your mind only thinks of the end result, you may find that the path you take has left more destruction than your end can repair. I point to the example of the monster known as Abbas Crownsworn. A man who twisted an end-goal into pure, horrible slaughter. You can look to his tale for what precisely can go wrong when someone slips so far. What I find to be the most frightening aspect of that man's story, beyond my own pure weakness in not dispatching him sooner, is that there are still those who exist that truly believed in his vision. Believed that what he'd done was necessary. Would defend such senseless slaughter and pure, unbridled cruelty. Those are ripples we will still be feeling for years to come -- because of senseless action taken in pursuit of a goal slated to be righteous.
Darkness can come from anywhere, even from within yourself without you realizing it. It is up to us as individuals to be strong enough to recognize it and then destroy it. Do not dwell on 'will the ends justify the means', for it is not enough. Dwell on what you would see become of the world and then pick every step you take wisely.
An honorable goal reached by a path without honor is a worthless road to nowhere.
Do the 100 that die today save the 1000 for tomorrow?
What will happen if 1 to 1.5 million criminals are freed over the course of a year? Does what it represent outweigh the destruction?
Do you yank the evil by the roots knowing you may not survive, so that you can die without regret?
Will you carry the weight yourself or will you have another do it?
Those are just a few questions I've run into over the course of my rulership. The answers are never easy ones. Nor are they something one could easily quantify as good or evil. The higher the costs, the larger the ripples become. Likewise, the more significant the goal the more will your work be rewarded.
In my opinion there is no room for anything but staunch pragmatism when you are in control of other's fates. Sacrifices must be made to maintain an orderly world. Sometimes it only needs to be the materials of one's person. Sometimes it must be soldier's lives. Your successes and your failures will be what write your legacy when you are gone. There will need to be someone left alive to tell them. Until that day comes, the most important thing you can do is act with honor.
Honor to your goals. Honor to your people. Honor to your lands. These are the things you may think of before you choose to act toward any end.
Likewise, it is just as easy to fall into disgrace. If your mind only thinks of the end result, you may find that the path you take has left more destruction than your end can repair. I point to the example of the monster known as Abbas Crownsworn. A man who twisted an end-goal into pure, horrible slaughter. You can look to his tale for what precisely can go wrong when someone slips so far. What I find to be the most frightening aspect of that man's story, beyond my own pure weakness in not dispatching him sooner, is that there are still those who exist that truly believed in his vision. Believed that what he'd done was necessary. Would defend such senseless slaughter and pure, unbridled cruelty. Those are ripples we will still be feeling for years to come -- because of senseless action taken in pursuit of a goal slated to be righteous.
Darkness can come from anywhere, even from within yourself without you realizing it. It is up to us as individuals to be strong enough to recognize it and then destroy it. Do not dwell on 'will the ends justify the means', for it is not enough. Dwell on what you would see become of the world and then pick every step you take wisely.
An honorable goal reached by a path without honor is a worthless road to nowhere.
Written By Victus
Feb. 1, 2019, 3:20 a.m.(6/27/1010 AR)
I will give 50,000 silver to anyone who can make an adequate design of a finger-knife gauntlet. With the realistic feeling of shredding with claws. My interest is piqued.
Written By Victus
Jan. 31, 2019, 12:25 a.m.(6/25/1010 AR)
Has anyone ever tried to put knives on gauntlets?
It seems so simple and yet also so ingenious at the same time. When one weapon fails, you'd have four or five more upon your fingers. Like the claws of a beast. Surely some brawler can adapt something similar?
It seems so simple and yet also so ingenious at the same time. When one weapon fails, you'd have four or five more upon your fingers. Like the claws of a beast. Surely some brawler can adapt something similar?
Written By Victus
Jan. 22, 2019, 8:37 p.m.(6/8/1010 AR)
If I see one more fucking goat in this house we're having lamb for dinner. The whole week, only lamb.
Written By Victus
Jan. 22, 2019, 8:36 p.m.(6/8/1010 AR)
If I see one more fucking goat in this house we're having lamb for dinner. The whole week, only lamb.
Written By Victus
Jan. 21, 2019, 3:41 a.m.(6/5/1010 AR)
There has not been and will not be any official stance from House Thrax about Brass' offer at the present time. There is still a month's worth of time for planning and consideration.
I urge all of those sworn to the Mourning Isles to remember this when speaking of that particular offer.
I urge all of those sworn to the Mourning Isles to remember this when speaking of that particular offer.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.