Written By Miranda
July 4, 2019, 10:48 a.m.(5/25/1011 AR)
I have been considering getting out of town for a bit. I love Arx and the people within, but I feel as if I am slowly burning out.
There is so much to do here and I have the energy for it all, but I find I have little downtime.
I know downtime is good and usually, for me, it's not good to have too much of it. But downtime with a purpose will be good.
Maybe a pilgrimage, which I've been invited to join. Maybe just some solitude to get my bearings, reaquaint myself with the Gods and my purpose in life.
It's still just a thought.
There is so much to do here and I have the energy for it all, but I find I have little downtime.
I know downtime is good and usually, for me, it's not good to have too much of it. But downtime with a purpose will be good.
Maybe a pilgrimage, which I've been invited to join. Maybe just some solitude to get my bearings, reaquaint myself with the Gods and my purpose in life.
It's still just a thought.
Written By Miranda
July 4, 2019, 10:42 a.m.(5/25/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Domonico
From the Journal of Brenlin, Aide-de-Camp to Lady Miranda Rubino, Commander of the Gryfalcon Infantry, Lady, Knight, Voice, and Sword of Gemecitta...
Well, this Duck Platter Thief blew it. I'm in the doghouse.
I let my overzealous concerns get the better of me and not only did I upset my Lady, a crime for which she may forgive me but I won't forgive myself, I upset Admiral Domonico Malvici.
Apologies were made... but still...
I'd better start learning to sleep with one eye open, if I sleep at all.
What was I thinking?!
Well, this Duck Platter Thief blew it. I'm in the doghouse.
I let my overzealous concerns get the better of me and not only did I upset my Lady, a crime for which she may forgive me but I won't forgive myself, I upset Admiral Domonico Malvici.
Apologies were made... but still...
I'd better start learning to sleep with one eye open, if I sleep at all.
What was I thinking?!
Written By Sparte
July 4, 2019, 9:13 a.m.(5/25/1011 AR)
Princess Zara and Princess Tikva were very fine hosts at the recent hunt. It has been so long since I've been able to go hunting in the woods and feel as if it were entirely a safe and pure thing, and that is what it felt. People were happy, enjoying themselves, the woods were what I felt they were when I first came to Arx again. Perhaps even better.
Written By Saoirse
July 4, 2019, 1:29 a.m.(5/25/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Gaspar
Any noble house that doesn't post room assignments in its personal halls is AN ENVOY OF CHAOS AND MADNESS, do you HEAR ME, Berenice?!
No I canNOT just knock, thank you.
No I canNOT just knock, thank you.
Written By Aureth
July 4, 2019, 12:49 a.m.(5/24/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Juniper
There is nothing wrong with walking your own path on the road to the gods, provided it is a path that embraces the ideals of the Faithful. I was proud to stand with you and I look forward to seeing what comes next.
Written By Monique
July 3, 2019, 11:03 p.m.(5/24/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Elisha
My mythic friend, I think you would know the answer to that question better than I, for surely the Gods have laid their hand fully upon you.
Written By Ras
July 3, 2019, 10:40 p.m.(5/24/1011 AR)
The coughing made me angry, mostly at myself. I tried to ignore it. I've heard it a lot, haven't I? But there's just something really sad about it this time. I thought about it for a long while afterwards. Maybe Nyce is right about the world. Everywhere I step is crap, but if I stop walking there's just too much time to mope.
Written By Mirk
July 3, 2019, 8:42 p.m.(5/24/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Morrighan
Dame Morrighan has outdone herself. I seldom bother to write in the whites, but she deserves the acknowledgement. I have never spent so much silver on myself, but never have I been as pleased with the results. This is a thing of beauty.
Written By Saoirse
July 3, 2019, 8:17 p.m.(5/24/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Niccolo
Niccolo. How will I ever demand access to the back of the bar again at the Black Fox.
Written By Aureth
July 3, 2019, 8:10 p.m.(5/24/1011 AR)
I'm very familiar with the kinds of profit one can make spinning vaguely plausible but occultish-sounding nonsense for the credulous, but as a word of advice, from someone who has been there: pick your targets wisely.
To invite them indiscriminately can lead to unpleasantness, even if you're absolutely certain you're either harmless or correct.
To invite them indiscriminately can lead to unpleasantness, even if you're absolutely certain you're either harmless or correct.
Written By Reese
July 3, 2019, 7:40 p.m.(5/24/1011 AR)
I am blessed to have triumphed in the great hunt hosted by Princess Zara and Princess Tikva.
Their feast was wonderful and a great time. I haven't enjoyed myself so much in a while.
I am thankful to Petrichor for his bounty and Gloria for her guidance. And to those who kept me
company there. The time, stories and words they granted means more than the victory.
Reese
Their feast was wonderful and a great time. I haven't enjoyed myself so much in a while.
I am thankful to Petrichor for his bounty and Gloria for her guidance. And to those who kept me
company there. The time, stories and words they granted means more than the victory.
Reese
Written By Juniper
July 3, 2019, 5:45 p.m.(5/24/1011 AR)
I have never felt so small as I did standing in the Cathedral before an audience, making oaths to the Faith. Especially the bits where I went a little off the beaten path in my replies. But it's done now, and I've become Sister Juniper, Most Kind Peacemaker, servant of the gods.
It's a bit of a mouthful, isn't it?
To those who came to witness my swearing, thank you. Seeing you there, it gave me the courage I needed to go through with it. No amount of Whisper training is enough to compensate for the nerves when you stand before the watchful eyes of the gods, in their house, and give voice to immense things, things you hope to live up to.
It's a bit of a mouthful, isn't it?
To those who came to witness my swearing, thank you. Seeing you there, it gave me the courage I needed to go through with it. No amount of Whisper training is enough to compensate for the nerves when you stand before the watchful eyes of the gods, in their house, and give voice to immense things, things you hope to live up to.
Written By Evaristo
July 3, 2019, 4:41 p.m.(5/24/1011 AR)
I wanted to know if bats lay eggs and that path led me down to become First Harlequin. There was some stuff in between there too, but my POINT is that you shouldn't be afraid to look for answers and bother people about things, because life's short and you best have fun while living it and poking at things will lead to very entertaining and amazing results.
Except some things, some things you shouldn't poke at. A lot. Like sleeping bears. Well, maybe a LITTLE if you can also run very fast, then it's no trouble.
Except some things, some things you shouldn't poke at. A lot. Like sleeping bears. Well, maybe a LITTLE if you can also run very fast, then it's no trouble.
Written By Lora
July 3, 2019, 4:16 p.m.(5/24/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Calista
There are many things that you could ask of me. There are many things you have asked. I have done many, and will continue to do each to the best of my ability.
But this? I think it might at last be more than I can bear. But he would've wanted it.
How can I say no?
We do not choose the paths that lie ahead of us; we can but decide which to follow, seldom knowing where it might lead. Betimes we learn from looking back, but the future is uncertain and the plans we make today may tomorrow be what brings us into ruin. But living forever at the crossroads, paralyzed into indecision by potential, is no life at all.
This is why we have hope, isn't it?
It's a dark world after all.
But this? I think it might at last be more than I can bear. But he would've wanted it.
How can I say no?
We do not choose the paths that lie ahead of us; we can but decide which to follow, seldom knowing where it might lead. Betimes we learn from looking back, but the future is uncertain and the plans we make today may tomorrow be what brings us into ruin. But living forever at the crossroads, paralyzed into indecision by potential, is no life at all.
This is why we have hope, isn't it?
It's a dark world after all.
Written By Elisha
July 3, 2019, 2:50 p.m.(5/24/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Rinel
Every Truth I Tell Is a Wall (Rinel)
If you pledge yourself to the Mistress of the World,
you will denounce everything you worship. (Vere)
She weaves her own patchwork
of perception and experience and (Selene)
every thread is woven from a nameless color (Celeste)
into a story from beyond the graveyard. (Nicely)
Yet even the dead need care. (Keyser)
In the time before death was born, (Sparte)
we answered only to the goddesses (Juniper)
who dreamed of turning the Wheel of the world. (Harlex)
Reworking our sense of we,
shifting our I. (Zara)
We're not a mess of rats,
we're a swarm of locusts, (Jack)
marked because we saw Her;
apparently that is enough. (Jeffeth)
What does it mean,
to be chosen by the gods? (Monique)
The answer is the death of knowledge. (Aureth)
Therefore, this must be truth. (Sina)
Our breath carries all the things we forget, (Tescelina)
to the home that awaits the end of our journey. (Reigna).
Elsewhere,
a man sweeps dust into her hand. (Celeste)
If you pledge yourself to the Mistress of the World,
you will denounce everything you worship. (Vere)
She weaves her own patchwork
of perception and experience and (Selene)
every thread is woven from a nameless color (Celeste)
into a story from beyond the graveyard. (Nicely)
Yet even the dead need care. (Keyser)
In the time before death was born, (Sparte)
we answered only to the goddesses (Juniper)
who dreamed of turning the Wheel of the world. (Harlex)
Reworking our sense of we,
shifting our I. (Zara)
We're not a mess of rats,
we're a swarm of locusts, (Jack)
marked because we saw Her;
apparently that is enough. (Jeffeth)
What does it mean,
to be chosen by the gods? (Monique)
The answer is the death of knowledge. (Aureth)
Therefore, this must be truth. (Sina)
Our breath carries all the things we forget, (Tescelina)
to the home that awaits the end of our journey. (Reigna).
Elsewhere,
a man sweeps dust into her hand. (Celeste)
Written By Alecstazi
July 3, 2019, 2:38 p.m.(5/24/1011 AR)
I finally had a chance to speak with High Lord Victus. I find myself in something of bind. He is not the man I knew all those years ago. He is not simply the coarse and unrefined brute that he was made to be.
We all had our roles, our masks as much as Uncle had. His he chose to hide the effects of age, his vanity unable to bear the sight of himself at anything but his prime. He was so fixated on appearances. On the surface, as if that had any real correlation to the meat of a thing. Skin is only so deep. It is a shallow truth, skin.
I do not like this feeling. It is like standing on the tide's edge, and with each retreat of the waves, the sand under your feet is pulled inexorably away. When the tide returns, more sand is laid atop, planting you, even as more is pulled out from under your heels and you are left unbalanced. That was very much the feeling of Donrai's court. Uncertainty, unbalanced. You were given a role and made to live it. You were what you were and that was all. Deviation was not encouraged, change... change was allowed to an extent but never seen with joy. It became rote. To be what you were told to be. And as with practice in any thing, the more time spent doing or being that... the more natural it all became. To see people as no more than the surface masks we were assigned. The loyalist. The perfect woman. The brute.
Coming to Arx has challenged me in many ways. I have had to remove that mask and examine my actions, both today and of the past. My perceptions have been flawed. The proof stands in front of me. A man I swore was incapable of successful leadership has been shown to be one I am eager to follow. His words moved me. The logic, the respect, the intellect all show me how false those masks were. I admit freely, gladly, that I was wrong.
I cannot abandon my core belief that traditions are important, or that tradition is what makes us uniquely, supremely Thrax. But no single tradition defines us. I still think it is a slippery slope. I do not like the precedent set. But I am not enough of a fool to cling to what was, when what *is* is going to keep us alive.
We all had our roles, our masks as much as Uncle had. His he chose to hide the effects of age, his vanity unable to bear the sight of himself at anything but his prime. He was so fixated on appearances. On the surface, as if that had any real correlation to the meat of a thing. Skin is only so deep. It is a shallow truth, skin.
I do not like this feeling. It is like standing on the tide's edge, and with each retreat of the waves, the sand under your feet is pulled inexorably away. When the tide returns, more sand is laid atop, planting you, even as more is pulled out from under your heels and you are left unbalanced. That was very much the feeling of Donrai's court. Uncertainty, unbalanced. You were given a role and made to live it. You were what you were and that was all. Deviation was not encouraged, change... change was allowed to an extent but never seen with joy. It became rote. To be what you were told to be. And as with practice in any thing, the more time spent doing or being that... the more natural it all became. To see people as no more than the surface masks we were assigned. The loyalist. The perfect woman. The brute.
Coming to Arx has challenged me in many ways. I have had to remove that mask and examine my actions, both today and of the past. My perceptions have been flawed. The proof stands in front of me. A man I swore was incapable of successful leadership has been shown to be one I am eager to follow. His words moved me. The logic, the respect, the intellect all show me how false those masks were. I admit freely, gladly, that I was wrong.
I cannot abandon my core belief that traditions are important, or that tradition is what makes us uniquely, supremely Thrax. But no single tradition defines us. I still think it is a slippery slope. I do not like the precedent set. But I am not enough of a fool to cling to what was, when what *is* is going to keep us alive.
Written By Mabelle
July 3, 2019, 11:15 a.m.(5/23/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Zara
Often when we try to think about the influence of the choices we made in our lives or those forced upon us, it requires outer prespective. As a young girl I would often complain about having to marry to benefit the House, because it was my duty as one born to a noble house.
A recent conversation with Princess Zara exposed me to perhaps the greatest benefit I got from the entire affair - being able to relate to both sides, Lycene and Oathlander, and speak to their hearts which was a critical factor last time we visited the border.
I pray fate will look down kindly upon us again and I'm happy for friends who manage to shine a light on things we consider darkness.
A recent conversation with Princess Zara exposed me to perhaps the greatest benefit I got from the entire affair - being able to relate to both sides, Lycene and Oathlander, and speak to their hearts which was a critical factor last time we visited the border.
I pray fate will look down kindly upon us again and I'm happy for friends who manage to shine a light on things we consider darkness.
Written By Sparte
July 3, 2019, 8:54 a.m.(5/23/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Rinel
I had a wise soul once tell me that it isn't for me to force others to walk the path I think is right for them. That to do so was not only a violation of their own stories, but a violation of the faith. It was to steal their choice.
I had thought that I was aiding the stories of others, when I heard that. I thought I was providing tools for the stories that they were pursuing, but by allowing them to skip the struggles that would have brought them to those goals themselves, they were losing something important. It wasn't that helping them was wrong, but that I hadn't realized too much help could be a burden. Just as sure as no help at all would be a burden.
So it is with the burdens of judgment and justice. Too little brings terrible things, but just as surely too much will choke a person.
It has been a year, now, that you've been a penitent. A year.
I had thought that I was aiding the stories of others, when I heard that. I thought I was providing tools for the stories that they were pursuing, but by allowing them to skip the struggles that would have brought them to those goals themselves, they were losing something important. It wasn't that helping them was wrong, but that I hadn't realized too much help could be a burden. Just as sure as no help at all would be a burden.
So it is with the burdens of judgment and justice. Too little brings terrible things, but just as surely too much will choke a person.
It has been a year, now, that you've been a penitent. A year.
Written By Ophelia
July 3, 2019, 8:39 a.m.(5/23/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Niccolo
I love you, Uncle. I will hold onto your memory as tightly as I hold onto Luca's. Non omnis moriar.
Written By Arcadia
July 3, 2019, 6:12 a.m.(5/23/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Dariel
Nemesis?
Are you still cranky about the time I glittered your bath? Or when I scared you? Or was it when I threw that scone at your head? I guess there was the time I stole both your teas.
I will promise to try to be less nemesis like if you promise to keep sharing your tea and pastries.
Are you still cranky about the time I glittered your bath? Or when I scared you? Or was it when I threw that scone at your head? I guess there was the time I stole both your teas.
I will promise to try to be less nemesis like if you promise to keep sharing your tea and pastries.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.