Written By Esoka
July 15, 2017, 5:34 p.m.(11/5/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Emele
My beloved cousin has recently come from the Riven lands to Arx to serve the Whitehawks, and it does my heart very good to have her here. She is sweet and dreamy and dear - many things that I am not - and I've missed her terribly. Some days this city feels like it has become home to me, others I still count myself a stranger in it, but having my kin close makes the place feel more familiar.
Written By Esoka
July 14, 2017, 12:24 a.m.(11/2/1006 AR)
I had heard much of the challenge of The Gauntlet in the Valardin and wished to test myself against it.
It is, indeed, most bracing! I managed a score of 127, which I gather is decent enough. The climbing wall reminds me of the riverside cliffs back home, and I did rather well with it. I wish I'd made a better showing of the final rope, though. Gloria grant me strength, I shall work to better myself in my next run. I shall make it a point to test myself in challenges of martial expertise and knightly prowess, outside the realm of sparring. Not that I won't take a good sparring match any chance I can get! But acts that pit us against ourselves and our own speed and stamina are a good reminder that our most difficult opponent is the limit of our own body.
It is, indeed, most bracing! I managed a score of 127, which I gather is decent enough. The climbing wall reminds me of the riverside cliffs back home, and I did rather well with it. I wish I'd made a better showing of the final rope, though. Gloria grant me strength, I shall work to better myself in my next run. I shall make it a point to test myself in challenges of martial expertise and knightly prowess, outside the realm of sparring. Not that I won't take a good sparring match any chance I can get! But acts that pit us against ourselves and our own speed and stamina are a good reminder that our most difficult opponent is the limit of our own body.
Written By Esoka
July 9, 2017, 11:17 p.m.(10/21/1006 AR)
After much thought and prayer, I have come to the decision to give up leadership of the Gold Order. I wish I could have done as well by it as Lady Niamh would have required, but my duties to the Rivens press me, as do other duties, and new commitments I'm exploring. In truth, I am simply not ready to command a knightly order, and certainly not ready to build one from the ground up. I shall remain attached to it as a knight for now, while my duties allow. The memories it holds for me of Niamh are happy ones, and it has assembled fine warriors. I am not sure what will come of it, though I pray the strength it has gathered can still be used to fight against the darkness, in its current form or another.
Written By Esoka
July 6, 2017, 11:15 p.m.(10/15/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Calaudrin
Thena Grayhope is a woman of wisdom and eloquence, and you should listen to her.
Also, stop trying to give your things to people. No one wants them. You'll just have to hold onto them yourself for many years.
Also, stop trying to give your things to people. No one wants them. You'll just have to hold onto them yourself for many years.
Written By Esoka
June 30, 2017, 10:38 p.m.(10/3/1006 AR)
The Gray Forest returns to life, which gladdens my heart. The Silent Army drained so much life from the land, but hard work by the likes of Paladin of Groves Leola, Princess Reese and countless others has aided in restoring it. I am proud to have had some small part in it. And particularly gratified that seeing such efforts on behalf of the forest by citizens of Arx convinced a handful of the tribal Abandoned in that area to bend the knee. The war and hardship that followed convinced them that life within the Compact was the better path. Though I think seeing a willingness of its people to sweat and toil on behalf of the land made it a more appealing thing to embrace, as well. I shall help those new prodigals integrate as best I can.
Written By Esoka
June 27, 2017, 12:04 a.m.(9/24/1006 AR)
Prince Ainsley Grayson and Princess Reese Grayson both carry the mantle of Gloria well, and gave us a good-spirited, well-fought little contest.
My own wager was on Princess Reese, though, for the purposes of collecting, I am considering it a tie. I shall consider how I want my terms satisfied in the coming days.
My own wager was on Princess Reese, though, for the purposes of collecting, I am considering it a tie. I shall consider how I want my terms satisfied in the coming days.
Written By Esoka
June 25, 2017, 9:29 p.m.(9/21/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Thena
An admirable young woman. She strives to embrace Lagoma's changes, and do well by them, with a grace I don't possess. Lady Niamh was her patron through the Gold Order, and I aim to continue that. I pray I do well by her.
Written By Esoka
June 22, 2017, 11:39 p.m.(9/15/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Armel
Faith is not an easy thing, and sometimes not a pretty one. The virtues demand much from men and women, and meeting them requires sacrifice in mind, body, and heart. Grandmaster Armel is not an easy man, but he is a good and godly one, and one I'm proud to know. He has helped me in many of my darker hours, and I pray we can confront the evils in this world together as warriors and friends.
Written By Esoka
June 18, 2017, 1:15 p.m.(9/4/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Niamh
I try to find the words to honor Lady Niamh Greenmarch.
I have nothing that is adequate.
I knew her only a short time. I think we became friends, but I shall always grieve we did not have more time together. She struck me as a fierce warrior, a knight who embodied chivalry and honor, and a woman truly dedicated to fighting for light and righteousness. The loss of her is a wound to the Compact, to all who knew her, and to my own heart.
There will be much to be done and settled in the coming days. Sister Gisele and myself have taken command of the Gold Order and we shall soldier on. Lady Niamh was trying to build something good, and we shall honor her by seeing it through so well as we can. We know she cannot be replaced, though. She was a woman without peer, and I shall try to hold my memory of her close and carry on as she would have wanted.
May the Queen of Endings bring you rest or glory anew, my friend.
I will miss you.
I have nothing that is adequate.
I knew her only a short time. I think we became friends, but I shall always grieve we did not have more time together. She struck me as a fierce warrior, a knight who embodied chivalry and honor, and a woman truly dedicated to fighting for light and righteousness. The loss of her is a wound to the Compact, to all who knew her, and to my own heart.
There will be much to be done and settled in the coming days. Sister Gisele and myself have taken command of the Gold Order and we shall soldier on. Lady Niamh was trying to build something good, and we shall honor her by seeing it through so well as we can. We know she cannot be replaced, though. She was a woman without peer, and I shall try to hold my memory of her close and carry on as she would have wanted.
May the Queen of Endings bring you rest or glory anew, my friend.
I will miss you.
Written By Esoka
June 17, 2017, 10:59 p.m.(9/3/1006 AR)
I was raised to revere all of the Pantheon, and I have tried to take the lost gods (now found) into my heart with the zeal They deserve. There are some virtues I am easier with than others. Courage, justice, fidelity. And others I struggle with, like Jayus' creative grace and Lagoma's drive for change. I sense Skald will be one that's not easy for me. I'd like to think my life shaped by duty and kin, but the path I've picked has been entirely of my own choosing. That is not always easy to admit. There is something both heartening, and a little terrifying, to accept that we keep our oaths and promises only by our own resolve each day.
Written By Esoka
June 17, 2017, 3:21 p.m.(9/3/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Calaudrin
I love Calaudrin Estardes as well, of course. I have devoted a rather embarrassing amount of ink to this subject already, but fortunately all of that is between me and Vellichor, and shall stay that way. For the masses I leave it at that, for it sings in my heart and requires no elaboration.
I am concerned that you're also writing about rashes, though. Especially in conjunction with were-rats and alleys in the Lower Boroughs. Please consult a Mercy about such things, for I want no part of it!
This is loving advice.
I am concerned that you're also writing about rashes, though. Especially in conjunction with were-rats and alleys in the Lower Boroughs. Please consult a Mercy about such things, for I want no part of it!
This is loving advice.
Written By Esoka
June 11, 2017, 11:02 p.m.(8/19/1006 AR)
My that was bracing!
I was honored to take part in a melee for the benefit of the Iron Guard. Grandmaster Armel, Dame Leta, Princess Alis, Princess Marian, and myself made up the opposing side. Lord Commander Silas, Prince Ainsley, Lord Esteban, Master Merek, and my good First Officer Calaudrin represented their Iron Guard. It was very hard-fought, but the Iron Guardsman emerged triumphant. Gloria's honors to all who took the field, and thanks to a fine fight!
Perhaps Dame Leta has a point, that we should have formed a wedge. Next time!
I was honored to take part in a melee for the benefit of the Iron Guard. Grandmaster Armel, Dame Leta, Princess Alis, Princess Marian, and myself made up the opposing side. Lord Commander Silas, Prince Ainsley, Lord Esteban, Master Merek, and my good First Officer Calaudrin represented their Iron Guard. It was very hard-fought, but the Iron Guardsman emerged triumphant. Gloria's honors to all who took the field, and thanks to a fine fight!
Perhaps Dame Leta has a point, that we should have formed a wedge. Next time!
Written By Esoka
June 10, 2017, 2:07 p.m.(8/17/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Calaudrin
On the subject of First Office Estardes and his noble quest for hobbies, I have a few suggestions to submit to him and Vellichor.
I'm a grand fan of bare-knuckle fisticuffs. I'm out of practice now, but I've been meaning to get back into it. It's a very fine hobby, and the occasional black eye really gives the face character!
I also have a dog now, who I will allow you to walk if you want. He is time-consuming. That's like having a hobby, sort of.
I'm a grand fan of bare-knuckle fisticuffs. I'm out of practice now, but I've been meaning to get back into it. It's a very fine hobby, and the occasional black eye really gives the face character!
I also have a dog now, who I will allow you to walk if you want. He is time-consuming. That's like having a hobby, sort of.
Written By Esoka
June 10, 2017, 12:18 a.m.(8/15/1006 AR)
I've been reflecting on the virtues of Lagoma recently. And trying to embrace them, though that is hard. As someone wiser than me said recently, she is a demanding goddess. Perhaps more than any of the others. For me, at least. There is no struggle in aspiring to courage, or charity, or justice. They are a struggle to attain, but not to want.
Wanting change is harder for me. I do not think all change is for the better. Forests burn and do not grow back swiftly, and sometimes their old beauty is lost forever. People you love die, or are gone from your life forever in other ways beyond reclaiming. Wounds heal but turn to scars that will never fade. The lives of good friends move farther and farther from yours. These are changes that are life, and I accept them, but I don't do it happily.
The demand of Lagoma is to take all changes, good and bad, and make yourself something better from them. Be greater. Accept the life you have, and do something vital with it. It is very hard. I feel the need to weep sometimes, for how hard it is.
Being prodigal is many things to me. But more than anything else it is, I think, the decision to change. I was one thing when I was just a daughter of the Greenwood tribes. I bent the knee to Riven fifteen years ago and became something else. I was just a girl then and did not understand the full weight of what I was doing. I know it better now. When I meet those who have recently bent the knee, they are wild and untamed and fierce in the ways and traditions of their tribes, in ways I am not anymore. I am not what I was then, and I miss that girl sometimes.
On the whole, though, I think I have changed for the better. I am proud to be a citizen of the Compact. There is respect for law here, for order, a unity of many peoples who've come together to make something better and stronger than they are apart. The things built here endure after those that made them are gone. I am part of that, and it is a good life.
I do wonder how much I've changed. How much the girl I was at fifteen would even recognize who I am today. The things I find myself wanting now, the things I think might make me happy, are different than what she thought she wanted.
I feel this place, and the people I meet in it, changing me still the more. I'm not sure what I will be at the end of summer, or autumn or winter beyond them. Something greater, I pray to Our Lady of Change. I will try not to fight against what the future would make of me.
Wanting change is harder for me. I do not think all change is for the better. Forests burn and do not grow back swiftly, and sometimes their old beauty is lost forever. People you love die, or are gone from your life forever in other ways beyond reclaiming. Wounds heal but turn to scars that will never fade. The lives of good friends move farther and farther from yours. These are changes that are life, and I accept them, but I don't do it happily.
The demand of Lagoma is to take all changes, good and bad, and make yourself something better from them. Be greater. Accept the life you have, and do something vital with it. It is very hard. I feel the need to weep sometimes, for how hard it is.
Being prodigal is many things to me. But more than anything else it is, I think, the decision to change. I was one thing when I was just a daughter of the Greenwood tribes. I bent the knee to Riven fifteen years ago and became something else. I was just a girl then and did not understand the full weight of what I was doing. I know it better now. When I meet those who have recently bent the knee, they are wild and untamed and fierce in the ways and traditions of their tribes, in ways I am not anymore. I am not what I was then, and I miss that girl sometimes.
On the whole, though, I think I have changed for the better. I am proud to be a citizen of the Compact. There is respect for law here, for order, a unity of many peoples who've come together to make something better and stronger than they are apart. The things built here endure after those that made them are gone. I am part of that, and it is a good life.
I do wonder how much I've changed. How much the girl I was at fifteen would even recognize who I am today. The things I find myself wanting now, the things I think might make me happy, are different than what she thought she wanted.
I feel this place, and the people I meet in it, changing me still the more. I'm not sure what I will be at the end of summer, or autumn or winter beyond them. Something greater, I pray to Our Lady of Change. I will try not to fight against what the future would make of me.
Written By Esoka
June 3, 2017, 5:18 p.m.(8/2/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Gisele
Not all warriors fight with swords, and I sometimes think the scholars who array themselves against darkness and lost knowledge with their wits have the more difficult task. The priestess Gisele and I are different sorts of women, but I have found her to be brave and stalwart and warm of spirit. Not to mention very, very smart, which I need oftentimes. I am proud and happy to call her my friend.
Written By Esoka
May 29, 2017, 11:25 a.m.(7/19/1006 AR)
Well, that was a day.
I'm not really one for gardening, but I think I did all right planting a tree. I dug a very large hole and then filled it up with dirt again. It excellent strength and endurance training. I should make a point to dig more holes.
I pray to Petrichor that my sapling grows strong. It will be a good tree, I think. It's just a spindly little red cedar now, but it looks healthy and if the land nurtures it I think it will do well. Blessed Aleksei and Sister Gisele spoke of returning here in a year, to see how the trees were growing. That would be a good thing, to mark this day. If I keep doing it, year after year, perhaps I'll be able to climb my tree. Not for a long time, though. I think I'd break it now.
It wasn't all trees. The Grayson Princess Cara gave birth, right then and there. I did not get too close to that, though to witness it at all was quite amazing. Perhaps Petrichor and the Queen of Endings worked some wonderful power for her and children.
Or perhaps it was just a day of very good things, which is enough. All honors to Mistress Leola Allenatore, Paladin of Groves, and Blessed Aureth, for their work to make things bloom again.
I'm not really one for gardening, but I think I did all right planting a tree. I dug a very large hole and then filled it up with dirt again. It excellent strength and endurance training. I should make a point to dig more holes.
I pray to Petrichor that my sapling grows strong. It will be a good tree, I think. It's just a spindly little red cedar now, but it looks healthy and if the land nurtures it I think it will do well. Blessed Aleksei and Sister Gisele spoke of returning here in a year, to see how the trees were growing. That would be a good thing, to mark this day. If I keep doing it, year after year, perhaps I'll be able to climb my tree. Not for a long time, though. I think I'd break it now.
It wasn't all trees. The Grayson Princess Cara gave birth, right then and there. I did not get too close to that, though to witness it at all was quite amazing. Perhaps Petrichor and the Queen of Endings worked some wonderful power for her and children.
Or perhaps it was just a day of very good things, which is enough. All honors to Mistress Leola Allenatore, Paladin of Groves, and Blessed Aureth, for their work to make things bloom again.
Written By Esoka
May 27, 2017, 8:15 p.m.(7/16/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Viviana
The Sword of Setarco is more than just a pretty face. She's pretty face who hits very hard and can put a warrior on the ground. I shall feel these bruises for weeks. And she made me owe her a drink.
Written By Esoka
May 27, 2017, 2:11 p.m.(7/15/1006 AR)
I took part in a patrol of the Gray Forest, along with several warriors from the Grayson ranks, some of the Crimson Blades, the young Iron Guardsman, and a highly skilled archer sworn to the Velenosas. We came upon a party of shav'arvani carrying a banner bearing the symbol of a vulture feasting on a dead man. Their leathers, upon examination, were made of human skin.
It was not a friendly encounter.
They turned hostile, and we determined they had prisoners from another, more peaceable, tribe trapped as hostages. A fight ensued, and we managed to free the captive shav'arvani and offer them safe passage back to Arx. With their own homes no longer places of refuge, perhaps they shall bend the knee. I would offer all aid to helping them adjust to the city, if they remain.
More and more each day, I give up the idea that there shall be any ease to the dangers we face now that Tolemar Brand has been slain. If the darkness is less pressing at our walls, I feel I see it more than ever. And it takes fine warriors from us still. My heart grieves for Princess Peregrine of the Gold Feathers. I pray that Sir Mathias Coaldust of the Knights of the Solace might be found, though nothing I've heard seems to promise it. I shall remain vigilant and fight so well as I can for me and mine. There is still so much to do.
It was not a friendly encounter.
They turned hostile, and we determined they had prisoners from another, more peaceable, tribe trapped as hostages. A fight ensued, and we managed to free the captive shav'arvani and offer them safe passage back to Arx. With their own homes no longer places of refuge, perhaps they shall bend the knee. I would offer all aid to helping them adjust to the city, if they remain.
More and more each day, I give up the idea that there shall be any ease to the dangers we face now that Tolemar Brand has been slain. If the darkness is less pressing at our walls, I feel I see it more than ever. And it takes fine warriors from us still. My heart grieves for Princess Peregrine of the Gold Feathers. I pray that Sir Mathias Coaldust of the Knights of the Solace might be found, though nothing I've heard seems to promise it. I shall remain vigilant and fight so well as I can for me and mine. There is still so much to do.
Written By Esoka
May 19, 2017, 9:37 p.m.(6/28/1006 AR)
I have been asked by my Count Thesarin and Lady Tikva to take the position of Sword of the Twainfort, as Riven establishes itself in Arx. The twin scimitars have been wielded by many peerless warriors in the House's history, and it is my privilege to take them up in defense of Riven and the Compact. By Gloria, I shall carry them with honor and righteousness. By Limerance, my heart shall remain true to the Twainfort and its peoples in all my dealings. This I vow.
Written By Esoka
May 18, 2017, 11:46 p.m.(6/26/1006 AR)
Relationship Note on Calaudrin
A very decent man. If I'm to be in Arx awhile longer, I might as well have some fun.
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