Written By Bliss
Feb. 28, 2019, 8:24 p.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
<A page has been inserted into this journal, looking a little weathered>
Scholars, please hold my journals until I'm back in the city for a few days before publishing them - I would rather not have potential raiders know where I am on the road.
Brighthold always seems to catch me off guard. Whether it is something in the simple look and feel of the town itself or the kinds of people you find there, I'm not certain, but it has so often been a surprise to me. This time it was because of the Great Road, though - it's really the first time I've seen it. It's something of a marvel, when you step to the edge of town and look, seeing this thread go off into the horizon, winding through hills and trees. I don't know how I missed the early stages of construction now - I think I just hadn't put all the pieces together? - but still.
It might be my imagination, but the markets seem a little busier, a little livelier than the last time I visited. Not just the fish and oysters, but there are more things from other parts of the Compact, and the more successful merchants seem to be dressed a bit better. The market is loud and busy, and it smells like the sea, but there is still a tension in the air. The King's proclamation seems to have beaten me here, and I hear it being talked about in snippets as I walk.
We aren't here long enough for me to write much. There is an awful long way to go and the Knights are letting me know we're ready.
I suppose that's it for now, though. An inconvenient time to leave Arx, certainly, but the sooner I do this, the sooner it's done. And I have been putting this off for a very long time now.
Scholars, please hold my journals until I'm back in the city for a few days before publishing them - I would rather not have potential raiders know where I am on the road.
Brighthold always seems to catch me off guard. Whether it is something in the simple look and feel of the town itself or the kinds of people you find there, I'm not certain, but it has so often been a surprise to me. This time it was because of the Great Road, though - it's really the first time I've seen it. It's something of a marvel, when you step to the edge of town and look, seeing this thread go off into the horizon, winding through hills and trees. I don't know how I missed the early stages of construction now - I think I just hadn't put all the pieces together? - but still.
It might be my imagination, but the markets seem a little busier, a little livelier than the last time I visited. Not just the fish and oysters, but there are more things from other parts of the Compact, and the more successful merchants seem to be dressed a bit better. The market is loud and busy, and it smells like the sea, but there is still a tension in the air. The King's proclamation seems to have beaten me here, and I hear it being talked about in snippets as I walk.
We aren't here long enough for me to write much. There is an awful long way to go and the Knights are letting me know we're ready.
I suppose that's it for now, though. An inconvenient time to leave Arx, certainly, but the sooner I do this, the sooner it's done. And I have been putting this off for a very long time now.
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 Azova
Feb. 28, 2019, 7:58 p.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
I do so hate writing these journals. Not that I don't like the journals - they are a splendid tribute to the Gods, as well as an excellent tool for the public record. It is just that I frustrate myself in their writing. One's life can not fit so neatly into entries fit for the journals. But what is life about if not trying to make all the awkward pieces fit nicely in one image? Ah, how blessed we all are.
Pilgrims come from across the realm to Arx to seek the healing abilities of our Mercies. Day in and day out we tend to them, washing their wounds and cleansing them of sickness so that the weak may grow strong and the wounded can rise again to live their lives in health.
The rabbits in Solace Square won't even come out to let me pet them when I offer them food. How cruel the nature of desire is that we can only want that which we do not have?
Bah!
I'll keep a copy of this journal by my bed to remind myself to be more grateful. I hope it reminds you as well.
Pilgrims come from across the realm to Arx to seek the healing abilities of our Mercies. Day in and day out we tend to them, washing their wounds and cleansing them of sickness so that the weak may grow strong and the wounded can rise again to live their lives in health.
The rabbits in Solace Square won't even come out to let me pet them when I offer them food. How cruel the nature of desire is that we can only want that which we do not have?
Bah!
I'll keep a copy of this journal by my bed to remind myself to be more grateful. I hope it reminds you as well.
Written By Bhandn
Feb. 28, 2019, 2:56 p.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
Valena would say that today is a day of rememberance, unless she was talking to me, at which point it would be to tell me to stop "brooding." I can't say she was wrong, looking back on the years before I met her. There were always times when there was truly nothing for me to do /but/ think, usually while engaged in some other task. One does not typically think solely on what one is carrying during some labor or another. Of late, I find myself in that state often.
In particular, I think on the many stories, and the assorted rumors that have flown around Arvum during my travels. I never had much time or concern for superstitious tales, but it feels as if the number has increased. What's more, some of them were actually corroborated by the Knight-Commander, and he had more to add as well. Some part of me still finds it difficult to believe, particularly the one about the snow, but until I learn more -- /much/ more -- I will keep my thoughts here instead of speaking them.
There is more to write on the matter, but that is for another time.
In particular, I think on the many stories, and the assorted rumors that have flown around Arvum during my travels. I never had much time or concern for superstitious tales, but it feels as if the number has increased. What's more, some of them were actually corroborated by the Knight-Commander, and he had more to add as well. Some part of me still finds it difficult to believe, particularly the one about the snow, but until I learn more -- /much/ more -- I will keep my thoughts here instead of speaking them.
There is more to write on the matter, but that is for another time.
Written By Peri
Feb. 28, 2019, 11:43 a.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
I am thinking how to offer challenge to compare the conditions of Pearlspire's serfs against the conditions of the thralls of other lands.. For we see how poorly thralls have been treated once they survive to reach us. We do not work our pearldivers such long hours that they die of lung ailments. Our divers do not lose their sight from long hours of diving. We do not see so many scars or shriveled limbs from shark attacks. Nor scars from chains.
This is because we honor our pearldivers and they honor us. We grant them protection and they grant us the bounty of the sea. We do not demand unreasonable quotas of pearls and then put our divers in debt when they cannot work long enough to offer up all the pearls we imagine they owe.
While many waters have pearls, it is Pearlspire that is known best for hers.
This is because we honor our pearldivers and they honor us. We grant them protection and they grant us the bounty of the sea. We do not demand unreasonable quotas of pearls and then put our divers in debt when they cannot work long enough to offer up all the pearls we imagine they owe.
While many waters have pearls, it is Pearlspire that is known best for hers.
Written By Ann
Feb. 28, 2019, 10:52 a.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
On twins.
Silain prepared me for having twins. He was one big baby. So I mean, at least I didn't have to spend the last two months trapped to a bed in wintery Stormwall.
This time it was only one month in summer Stormwall. Which, I would like to add, is a very pleasant experience.
Someone once told me having twins was easier than having two individual children. I'm thinking... they were wrong. Like, dead wrong. I mean sure I didn't have to go through 18 to 20 months of growing, it was only 9 or 10 months and at the end I have two. Sure. But the exit is what counts. Growing them only involves eating and getting foot rubs.
Also it does not get easier the more you have.
I'm just setting the record straight, the business of childbirth is just not fun.
What's fun afterward is the actual children itself. Right now, the girls have my dark hair and Asger's eyes. Their toes are like jellybeans and they smell great.
Silain is hilarious - he's through his punching phase, but now he runs and has Asger's mop of hair and eyes. Thankfully, he doesn't bite or anything. No, no - he's turned from fighter into lover. And nudist. He won't stand for clothing. Maybe it's the summer heat. But either way, if you come to the Crovane home know that this is a struggle we are trying to get through. (We've been advised to not to react positively or negatively - bear with us as we move forward in this phase).
He's going to be a real terror to his sisters in a few years.
So much energy.
Silain prepared me for having twins. He was one big baby. So I mean, at least I didn't have to spend the last two months trapped to a bed in wintery Stormwall.
This time it was only one month in summer Stormwall. Which, I would like to add, is a very pleasant experience.
Someone once told me having twins was easier than having two individual children. I'm thinking... they were wrong. Like, dead wrong. I mean sure I didn't have to go through 18 to 20 months of growing, it was only 9 or 10 months and at the end I have two. Sure. But the exit is what counts. Growing them only involves eating and getting foot rubs.
Also it does not get easier the more you have.
I'm just setting the record straight, the business of childbirth is just not fun.
What's fun afterward is the actual children itself. Right now, the girls have my dark hair and Asger's eyes. Their toes are like jellybeans and they smell great.
Silain is hilarious - he's through his punching phase, but now he runs and has Asger's mop of hair and eyes. Thankfully, he doesn't bite or anything. No, no - he's turned from fighter into lover. And nudist. He won't stand for clothing. Maybe it's the summer heat. But either way, if you come to the Crovane home know that this is a struggle we are trying to get through. (We've been advised to not to react positively or negatively - bear with us as we move forward in this phase).
He's going to be a real terror to his sisters in a few years.
So much energy.
Written By Samantha
Feb. 28, 2019, 10:33 a.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
Welcoming old friends into one's home is a true pleasure.
It's like the best of times was years ago, but also yesterday.
Am I old enough now that I can feel nostalgic?
It's like the best of times was years ago, but also yesterday.
Am I old enough now that I can feel nostalgic?
Written By Willow
Feb. 28, 2019, 10:16 a.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Martino
It is a pleasant but not wholly surprising thing to learn that the most fashion loving man I know is the one person to respond! Up until this past week, seasilk has been my obsession due to the way it plays with colors, and then I found a volume in the family library so old I see no attributed author called 'The Silk's Guide to Silks' where I read about it. It is not an exaggeration to say I have two dozen lengths being woven as we speak in different color combinations. I think it is the painter in me that gives me such appreciation for the way a weave can alter the color play and finish of a garment without even the variances used in a pattern.
Written By Lou
Feb. 28, 2019, 9:55 a.m.(8/26/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Ahriman
Who could have guessed that on the one night that Willen goaded me into attending the Alarissa's linguistics night at the Ambassador Salon, which I usually avoid like the plague - the Ambassador Salon, not my cousin Alarissa, whom I very much love dearly - that I would run in to my long dead father, alive and well?
I will not apologize for my actions last night. When it's been 17 years, and you've long thought someone close to you dead, you'd go through a myriad of emotions, publicly, too.
There are so, so many questions. Hopefully, with time, there will be answers.
I will not apologize for my actions last night. When it's been 17 years, and you've long thought someone close to you dead, you'd go through a myriad of emotions, publicly, too.
There are so, so many questions. Hopefully, with time, there will be answers.
Written By Martino
Feb. 28, 2019, 1:40 a.m.(8/25/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Willow
I, for one, can tell you what it is. That finely woven double strand silk produces such a subtle, and beautiful, colour change in well lit conditions. One in the warp, another in the weft. The time it takes, quite worth if for a truly luxurious shirt or lining.
Written By Rysen
Feb. 27, 2019, 11:46 p.m.(8/25/1010 AR)
Some people think that art should surprise you, others, that it should disturb you, or make the familiar unfamiliar, move you with indescribable feeling, or bring you to contemplate some higher truth or beauty. Lady Willow's art does these things, and exceeds them all. I suggested a subject for her next piece in jest; I shall make it again in earnest.
For the first time in a while, I pushed my body to its limits under one of the greatest living sword fighters of our time, Princess Reese Grayson. Though perhaps I should have known better, I expected to meet the Princess in some vast estate of manicured lawns, with myriad servants, and countless breakable baubles. Instead, I was invited to her ivy covered watch tower, crowned with a training area overlooking the Seawatch Gate and the Gray Forest. Her style of teaching is a perfect balance between theory, application and adjustments, and her technique with the sword is simply unmatched. It was truly an honor to train with her, and I learned a lot.
Afterward I wandered into Lady Gretchen Moore's Serenity Spa, stiff and bruised. Not only did I leave feeling refreshed in body - but had the pleasure of witnessing perhaps the most insolent and hilarious man I've ever encountered, level a variety of baseless accusations against Lady Gretchen - which, I must add, the Lady handled with equal wit and humor. To anyone who has yet to visit the Serenity Spa, I can only say it would be well worth your time and coin.
For the first time in a while, I pushed my body to its limits under one of the greatest living sword fighters of our time, Princess Reese Grayson. Though perhaps I should have known better, I expected to meet the Princess in some vast estate of manicured lawns, with myriad servants, and countless breakable baubles. Instead, I was invited to her ivy covered watch tower, crowned with a training area overlooking the Seawatch Gate and the Gray Forest. Her style of teaching is a perfect balance between theory, application and adjustments, and her technique with the sword is simply unmatched. It was truly an honor to train with her, and I learned a lot.
Afterward I wandered into Lady Gretchen Moore's Serenity Spa, stiff and bruised. Not only did I leave feeling refreshed in body - but had the pleasure of witnessing perhaps the most insolent and hilarious man I've ever encountered, level a variety of baseless accusations against Lady Gretchen - which, I must add, the Lady handled with equal wit and humor. To anyone who has yet to visit the Serenity Spa, I can only say it would be well worth your time and coin.
Written By Jennyva
Feb. 27, 2019, 5 p.m.(8/24/1010 AR)
A star falls from the sky and into your hands. Then it seeps through your veins and swims inside your blood and becomes every part of you. And then you have to put it back into the sky. And it’s the most painful thing you’ll ever have to do and that you’ve ever done. But what’s yours is yours. Whether it’s up in the sky or here in your hands. And one day, it’ll fall from the sky and hit you in the head real hard and that time, you won’t have to put it back in the sky again.
Written By Monique
Feb. 27, 2019, 1:54 p.m.(8/24/1010 AR)
The prizes are coming together for the book launch event! I couldn't be more excited! Amazing custom perfumes, beautiful custom paintings and extraordinary brocade pieces (cloak, hat and gloves) and that's just the start. Now to figure out which prizes to match with which contest...
Written By Venturo
Feb. 27, 2019, 12:50 p.m.(8/24/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Perronne
I've had a few opportunities to meet with Mistress Perronne over the past month or two. In each it's been a fascinating experience, one that has left me the wiser for it. While luck might not have been with her at the Kismet Carnival - next time, surely! - I have a feeling it will be with her in her future endeavors. Each time I come away with more thoughts of my own for how to apply and improve the efforts of the Raconteur. Any land would be fortunate to have one of her trading houses within it.
Written By Peri
Feb. 27, 2019, 10:52 a.m.(8/24/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Sparte
That tension of the cloth. Sparte, now you have me imagine the surface of water. The surface of water is my cloth. My balance is on a bobbing vessel. The waters roil from life above and below. stirrings of gods and monsters.
Written By Avary
Feb. 27, 2019, 8:45 a.m.(8/23/1010 AR)
It is rare that I peruse the journals in the archives, and it is even rarer that I write upon any's thoughts submitted.
Each one's journal is their own and it is their duty and it is with great courage they submit to the whites. And I do not address them directly lest the weight of anything an Archlector might say would dissuade anyone, or others by the example set, from submitting to the whites.
But I do often task a curate with the charge to review a random selection of submission for certain topics, the mention of my name or mentions of the Sentinel. Today's curate brought to me a couple pieces concerning the subject of 'balance'. I have nothing to add, refute or comment upon to those, but it did bring to mind some symbolism of the Sentinel that I believe is often largely misunderstood.
The iconography of the Silent Watcher’s scales has specific meaning. But don't worry, there is still much about the metaphor to be debated for those of you who enjoy those sorts of things.
But this much is certain:
The scales of the Sentinel are not meant to represent a balance, or even the attempt to balance. It is not about determining weight (which is the reason to balance a scale). It is about comparison.
The scales of the Sentinel are suspended scales without foundation. This shows that Justice must be practiced without bias, privilege or corruption. It also shows that evidence must stand alone.
I wear a necklace of just such scales but, to be true, my pendant was incorrectly crafted. Perhaps I should not wear it, but I love gold and it was gifted by a dear friend. It is incorrect - my pendant - because it shows the scales off balance though empty. (If any read this and wish to gift me a similar necklace with a pendant of neutrally balanced and empty scales, I will not refuse the gift!)
You see, the Sentinel's scales are shown as balanced for one very simple reason: they are empty.
This means that there is no predetermination to the case. Wealth, stature and title have no bearing. The scales stand in perfect calibration waiting to compare the weight of evidence. And once compared, one side will out-weigh the other. And only then can Justice act.
But, as I promised, there is yet much to be meandered about: what material comprises the scales? Is it an alloy of righteousness and deceit? Or is it a purity of morality? Or is it made of history and experience? Where does the notion of legal precedent fit on the scale? Is it a rivet? The chains? Of what are the cups made? What substance, exactly, is being weighed? And what does the scale measure? Are its units constant or do they shift contextually, given the case?
The trajectory of humankind must be forward moving, progressing and ever bettering. There is no such thing as a balance. There is general decay or there is general growth. And the Gods of the Pantheon help us shepherd the decisions of our lives as individuals, and together, toward a constant growth and improvement.
If there is 'balance' in the Sentinel it is only, perhaps, to bring the balance of righteousness against an over-stepping evil - but not to achieve a general balance, but to maintain the constant general growth. But don't forget, It indeed also rewards righteousness. So, it is clear in which direction the scales of humanity It wishes overloaded against those who would bring darkness.
Each one's journal is their own and it is their duty and it is with great courage they submit to the whites. And I do not address them directly lest the weight of anything an Archlector might say would dissuade anyone, or others by the example set, from submitting to the whites.
But I do often task a curate with the charge to review a random selection of submission for certain topics, the mention of my name or mentions of the Sentinel. Today's curate brought to me a couple pieces concerning the subject of 'balance'. I have nothing to add, refute or comment upon to those, but it did bring to mind some symbolism of the Sentinel that I believe is often largely misunderstood.
The iconography of the Silent Watcher’s scales has specific meaning. But don't worry, there is still much about the metaphor to be debated for those of you who enjoy those sorts of things.
But this much is certain:
The scales of the Sentinel are not meant to represent a balance, or even the attempt to balance. It is not about determining weight (which is the reason to balance a scale). It is about comparison.
The scales of the Sentinel are suspended scales without foundation. This shows that Justice must be practiced without bias, privilege or corruption. It also shows that evidence must stand alone.
I wear a necklace of just such scales but, to be true, my pendant was incorrectly crafted. Perhaps I should not wear it, but I love gold and it was gifted by a dear friend. It is incorrect - my pendant - because it shows the scales off balance though empty. (If any read this and wish to gift me a similar necklace with a pendant of neutrally balanced and empty scales, I will not refuse the gift!)
You see, the Sentinel's scales are shown as balanced for one very simple reason: they are empty.
This means that there is no predetermination to the case. Wealth, stature and title have no bearing. The scales stand in perfect calibration waiting to compare the weight of evidence. And once compared, one side will out-weigh the other. And only then can Justice act.
But, as I promised, there is yet much to be meandered about: what material comprises the scales? Is it an alloy of righteousness and deceit? Or is it a purity of morality? Or is it made of history and experience? Where does the notion of legal precedent fit on the scale? Is it a rivet? The chains? Of what are the cups made? What substance, exactly, is being weighed? And what does the scale measure? Are its units constant or do they shift contextually, given the case?
The trajectory of humankind must be forward moving, progressing and ever bettering. There is no such thing as a balance. There is general decay or there is general growth. And the Gods of the Pantheon help us shepherd the decisions of our lives as individuals, and together, toward a constant growth and improvement.
If there is 'balance' in the Sentinel it is only, perhaps, to bring the balance of righteousness against an over-stepping evil - but not to achieve a general balance, but to maintain the constant general growth. But don't forget, It indeed also rewards righteousness. So, it is clear in which direction the scales of humanity It wishes overloaded against those who would bring darkness.
Written By Willow
Feb. 27, 2019, 5:48 a.m.(8/23/1010 AR)
Did you know what shot silk is? Anyone but Petal? Ah, well. It certainly puts seasilk to shame, on one hand at least. On the other hand it makes me wonder if blue-purple and pink-orange seasilk might be given the same treatment, and whether the effect would be an iridescent watercolor sunset
Written By Shard
Feb. 27, 2019, 2:33 a.m.(8/23/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Zeriax
If you were the very last one, with no one to come after you and no one to remember you, you could always try revenge against whoever or whatever took all the rest away.
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 Niklas
Feb. 26, 2019, 10:26 p.m.(8/23/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Mayir
Let it be known that so long as I live in the city of Arx, Mayir Grayhope shall never go thirsty.
I will cover his tab in perpetuity at the following drinking establishments:
The Queensrest
The Badger Boardinghouse
While I will not cover his drinks at the Ambassador Salon, I will pay for him to receive one (1) sparkling wine-soaked nectarine any day that they are in season.
Prince Niklas Grayson
"None more willing to pay for Mayir Grayhope's drinking habits than Grayson except maybe Mayir himself."
I will cover his tab in perpetuity at the following drinking establishments:
The Queensrest
The Badger Boardinghouse
While I will not cover his drinks at the Ambassador Salon, I will pay for him to receive one (1) sparkling wine-soaked nectarine any day that they are in season.
Prince Niklas Grayson
"None more willing to pay for Mayir Grayhope's drinking habits than Grayson except maybe Mayir himself."
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.