Written By Evaristo
Feb. 25, 2019, 2:14 p.m.(8/20/1010 AR)
I need to become filthy rich so I can by my cousin's jewelry, every piece of it and hoarde it in a big room and dive into it and just swim around in bliss in all the beautiful shinies.
Went by the shop and there's this amazing gold necklace there with sapphires and amethysts. And more things too, but that one in particular has me just dying of want. And it wouldn't even fit me very well.
That said, her assistants crafted me a few trinkets last week that I'm very, very pleased with too. Another spider ring, this one with a pink sapphire, and another skull in silver with pink sapphire eyes.
Yeah, that's right, I'm a big fan of the Queen.
Went by the shop and there's this amazing gold necklace there with sapphires and amethysts. And more things too, but that one in particular has me just dying of want. And it wouldn't even fit me very well.
That said, her assistants crafted me a few trinkets last week that I'm very, very pleased with too. Another spider ring, this one with a pink sapphire, and another skull in silver with pink sapphire eyes.
Yeah, that's right, I'm a big fan of the Queen.
Written By Perronne
Feb. 25, 2019, 2:07 p.m.(8/20/1010 AR)
I should probably talk a bit about the Kismet Carnival, since I attended the Arx version and had great fun there. It was housed in a great hall, which while odd at first, was truly an inspired choice - no need to try and set up pavilions to be safe from the weather, and it allowed the performances to really fill the hall. There were games, songs, acrobatics, knife throwing, and a selection of the best beers that I've tasted in a while. If the Kismet Carnivals traveling the land have even a fraction of this sort of excitement, then it's no wonder they are fantastic successes.
The only thing that was missing was dancing. But that's just because I do love a good dance or five, and it would have been fun. I think I'll return to the Hall at some point and try my luck against some of the games again.
The only thing that was missing was dancing. But that's just because I do love a good dance or five, and it would have been fun. I think I'll return to the Hall at some point and try my luck against some of the games again.
Written By Rysen
Feb. 25, 2019, 1:40 p.m.(8/20/1010 AR)
I recently had the privilege of attending and performing at Venturo's Kismet Carnival. It seemed very well attended, and the performances, save my own, were first rate. I must press the Nightingale for voice and music lessons soon. Lygeia did not love playing the lyre before so large a crowd, though I think she did admirably. The games seemed popular, and - by the gods and spirits - the ale was superb. My only complaint is that I did not have the opportunity to dance in that dirt floored hall - though, of course, I know no partner who might be willing, nor have I the skill to impress if I did. But it truly felt good to find a ray of light amidst the gathering storm clouds, and to be reminded that we are indeed strong together, in merry making, as well as mutual defense.
On the topic of reminders: I encountered again a young woman who is beautiful and fascinating - dangerously so. I completely misread her, and must admit that she caught me off guard. Forsake me not, Limerance, and keep me true to my oath - for what nobility is there in humanity, save that we live by our word?
On the topic of reminders: I encountered again a young woman who is beautiful and fascinating - dangerously so. I completely misread her, and must admit that she caught me off guard. Forsake me not, Limerance, and keep me true to my oath - for what nobility is there in humanity, save that we live by our word?
Written By Enid
Feb. 25, 2019, 12:36 p.m.(8/20/1010 AR)
It was a long trek from the gates to the Redrain District and I found myself lost several times, but thankfully despite hesitance from some of the locals (which I assume is based in my differing garbs and accented speech) a few very kind and helpful locals pointed me the right way and also noted that on some streets there are signs to help narrow down one's location in the city. It was those signs that helped me find my way to this place. The Great Archive. A vast collection of information housed and guarded. Again I have found myself overwhelmed. The... I think they are priests, maybe? I should have asked for clarification. In any case, the guardians that watch over the mountain of tomes were kind and willing to explain the purpose of this place in more detail than I had understood previously. They were even charitable enough to create my own pair of journals and help me get started. They call it a White Journal and a Black Journal. I am still not entirely clear on the purpose of the Black Journal, but in time I'm sure I will better understand.
Many of our stories are passed only via spoken word, art or song. The collective of our people maintain our history and heritage through these facets (as I've seen recently mentioned by my dear Lord Cadern) via a strong bond and duty to its memory. We are possessive of it and like these sentinels of the Faith of the Pantheon protecting this amassed structure of knowledge, we too have guarded who we are though in a different capacity.
I suppose fear is a large portion of the reason. A history of strife between the tribal communities and the amassed collective that is the Compact gives many pause even after these many years of bending the knee. That fear appears to go both ways, exemplified by those who were not so kind and helpful as the few I met thus far when coming to Arx. Utterances of the word "barbarian" were heard in my peripheral from time to time as I made my way through the city. I'm fairly certain "backwater cannibal" was another scathing comment left in my passing. At first thought, my reaction is to let them think what they will. Let those opinions stand and let that fear fester. Perhaps they will leave me and others like me alone? Alienation isn't why I have come to this bastion of progress, though. I have come to learn and cloistering myself behind the safety of negative stereotypes isn't going to help that.
How cathartic this is. To write all these thoughts out on a page knowing that they will be preserved, that perhaps another like me who has or will struggle like I do may take solace in knowing that someone out there maybe from long past or even in the present feels as I feel and for a moment we may hold a connection through our shared stories.
It really is quite a beautiful idea. I will ask these wardens of knowledge if they have any recommendations on journals that I may share a commonality with.
Many of our stories are passed only via spoken word, art or song. The collective of our people maintain our history and heritage through these facets (as I've seen recently mentioned by my dear Lord Cadern) via a strong bond and duty to its memory. We are possessive of it and like these sentinels of the Faith of the Pantheon protecting this amassed structure of knowledge, we too have guarded who we are though in a different capacity.
I suppose fear is a large portion of the reason. A history of strife between the tribal communities and the amassed collective that is the Compact gives many pause even after these many years of bending the knee. That fear appears to go both ways, exemplified by those who were not so kind and helpful as the few I met thus far when coming to Arx. Utterances of the word "barbarian" were heard in my peripheral from time to time as I made my way through the city. I'm fairly certain "backwater cannibal" was another scathing comment left in my passing. At first thought, my reaction is to let them think what they will. Let those opinions stand and let that fear fester. Perhaps they will leave me and others like me alone? Alienation isn't why I have come to this bastion of progress, though. I have come to learn and cloistering myself behind the safety of negative stereotypes isn't going to help that.
How cathartic this is. To write all these thoughts out on a page knowing that they will be preserved, that perhaps another like me who has or will struggle like I do may take solace in knowing that someone out there maybe from long past or even in the present feels as I feel and for a moment we may hold a connection through our shared stories.
It really is quite a beautiful idea. I will ask these wardens of knowledge if they have any recommendations on journals that I may share a commonality with.
Written By Beatrice
Feb. 25, 2019, 10:59 a.m.(8/20/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Avary
The Archlector's recent journal on charity was, while modest, neither futile nor unrevelatory. I see these arguments daily in the business of domain stewardship.
I present five archetypes with a pile of dirt. The physician wants a hospital. The soldier says better to prevent harm first and recommends fortifications. The artist tells the soldier that utility is not the end of life and insists on a statue. The priest advises the artist that art should be divine and suggests a shrine. The academician argues that man's capacity for understanding is the better tribute to the gods and proposes a school. The physician points out that schools without bodies to fill them are wasted. And on we go.
None are inherently wrong. Futility? We must know what to do in the face of these debates. Too often we are left torn, divided, and with what we began: a pile of dirt.
Resources will ever be finite. Quantifying, assessing potential opportunities, the benefits and the consequences - and choice without consequence does not exist - for what to do with resources is, yes, an art. One which some of us have dedicated our lives as surely as the painter to his canvas. Yet, at the end, the most important part is not which you built, but that you built. Choose, before paralysis becomes stagnation.
I appreciate the opportunity to discuss these most crucial of needs.
I present five archetypes with a pile of dirt. The physician wants a hospital. The soldier says better to prevent harm first and recommends fortifications. The artist tells the soldier that utility is not the end of life and insists on a statue. The priest advises the artist that art should be divine and suggests a shrine. The academician argues that man's capacity for understanding is the better tribute to the gods and proposes a school. The physician points out that schools without bodies to fill them are wasted. And on we go.
None are inherently wrong. Futility? We must know what to do in the face of these debates. Too often we are left torn, divided, and with what we began: a pile of dirt.
Resources will ever be finite. Quantifying, assessing potential opportunities, the benefits and the consequences - and choice without consequence does not exist - for what to do with resources is, yes, an art. One which some of us have dedicated our lives as surely as the painter to his canvas. Yet, at the end, the most important part is not which you built, but that you built. Choose, before paralysis becomes stagnation.
I appreciate the opportunity to discuss these most crucial of needs.
Written By Gilroy
Feb. 25, 2019, 8:37 a.m.(8/19/1010 AR)
I'm good not reading any pubic records of anything.
Written By Lisebet
Feb. 25, 2019, 8:32 a.m.(8/19/1010 AR)
The Kismet Carnival was a lot of fun. It was interesting to try the games, even if I had no moments of inspiration or luck at them. The drinks were good and the company was better.
Master Venturo has outdone himself. I am not sure how he will ever top that.
Master Venturo has outdone himself. I am not sure how he will ever top that.
Written By Mirella
Feb. 25, 2019, 8:24 a.m.(8/19/1010 AR)
I managed to find someone who can take better care of the raven than I can. Now, though, I've come into possesion of a cat. Not sure how. I just woke up, and there she was at the end of my bed, purring away like the rumble of thunder. So I suppose I have a cat now. Seems to be a common thing for people these days, mind. One day you just turn around, and there -- cat. And that's how it goes.
She's nothing like the vicious stringy alley-strays from Caina. She's like the pretty lapcats from the homes of affluent merchants. She's small, white as a dove feather, and just a little bit plump, so I suspect she's getting fed elsewhere too. Maybe she's from Domus Inverno, maybe from another nearby estate, and I just haven't seen her before.
Whatever the case, she's tolerably pleasant, though a little foolish. I tried dangling a ribbon for her to bat with her paws, and she just stared at me with the blankest big blue eyes, purring that purr of hers and then making the most bizarre quacking sound I've ever heard. Terrible hunter, no killer instinct. She's supremely uninterested in the crow, which is good. But I'll be wearing silk from now on. The fur she sheds sticks like glue to dark clothes.
She's fine, I guess. I don't really mind having her around. Cats aren't bad, as horrible as the bird-murdering might be. Animals can't help their natures, after all.
She's nothing like the vicious stringy alley-strays from Caina. She's like the pretty lapcats from the homes of affluent merchants. She's small, white as a dove feather, and just a little bit plump, so I suspect she's getting fed elsewhere too. Maybe she's from Domus Inverno, maybe from another nearby estate, and I just haven't seen her before.
Whatever the case, she's tolerably pleasant, though a little foolish. I tried dangling a ribbon for her to bat with her paws, and she just stared at me with the blankest big blue eyes, purring that purr of hers and then making the most bizarre quacking sound I've ever heard. Terrible hunter, no killer instinct. She's supremely uninterested in the crow, which is good. But I'll be wearing silk from now on. The fur she sheds sticks like glue to dark clothes.
She's fine, I guess. I don't really mind having her around. Cats aren't bad, as horrible as the bird-murdering might be. Animals can't help their natures, after all.
Written By Skye
Feb. 25, 2019, 2:35 a.m.(8/19/1010 AR)
When I was a little girl, my mother would tell me bedtime stories of dashing sea captains, villainous pirates and monsters of the deep. Every damsel had a prince to rescue her. Every villain got his just desserts by the end of the tale. Everyone lived happily ever after.
It was an illusion, a gentle fabrication to entertain me to sleep. It wasn't a roadmap to live my life. Yes, monsters exist but they rarely show their true face unless you look deeply into the mirror. Villians may have their reasons for flying the black flag. Heroes can indulge in the hubris of their own greatness.
At the end of the day there's no prince to save the princess. If she wants out of that tower, she has to rescue herself. That's a story I want to tell my future daughter. Whenever in time I find that pragmatic partner who wields more than just steel in his hand.
It was an illusion, a gentle fabrication to entertain me to sleep. It wasn't a roadmap to live my life. Yes, monsters exist but they rarely show their true face unless you look deeply into the mirror. Villians may have their reasons for flying the black flag. Heroes can indulge in the hubris of their own greatness.
At the end of the day there's no prince to save the princess. If she wants out of that tower, she has to rescue herself. That's a story I want to tell my future daughter. Whenever in time I find that pragmatic partner who wields more than just steel in his hand.
Written By Derovai
Feb. 25, 2019, 1:52 a.m.(8/19/1010 AR)
Arx, I left you alone for five minutes, five minutes! And look what you have got yourself into.
(Okay, it was decidedly longer than five minutes, but even so, the point stands.)
(Okay, it was decidedly longer than five minutes, but even so, the point stands.)
Written By Laric
Feb. 25, 2019, 12:55 a.m.(8/19/1010 AR)
Balance is always a popular topic, and its recent relevance behooves me to reiterate old thoughts on it. A discussion about balance without defining and contextualizing what 'balance' is will simply fail or lead to misunderstanding after misunderstanding. The balance that leaps to mind in matters of good and evil is often harmony, or in other words coexistence.
Can true good coexist with true evil? Yes -- as evil. That 'balance' is a form of stasis. With stasis there is no change, with no change there is no growth, and with no growth everything loses its value, even freedom. True good ceases to be good when it decides to ignore true evil. It becomes moral convenience. True evil does not relent. It plays to win. It must be opposed in force. Anything less than that is dishonest to the gods. That struggle waxes and wanes in perpetuity. That unending change is a sort of balance; an acceptable balance, far above what may as well be consigning yourself to inevitable defeat.
Can true good coexist with true evil? Yes -- as evil. That 'balance' is a form of stasis. With stasis there is no change, with no change there is no growth, and with no growth everything loses its value, even freedom. True good ceases to be good when it decides to ignore true evil. It becomes moral convenience. True evil does not relent. It plays to win. It must be opposed in force. Anything less than that is dishonest to the gods. That struggle waxes and wanes in perpetuity. That unending change is a sort of balance; an acceptable balance, far above what may as well be consigning yourself to inevitable defeat.
Written By Vitalis
Feb. 24, 2019, 11:51 p.m.(8/19/1010 AR)
I taught a lecture on stealth as a form of courtesy. In the Archives it is important to be quiet! It was not widely attended, perhaps due to the hour (late), but Lady Mabelle and Lady Ysbail proved excellent ‘shushers’ listening for our ‘quiet researchers’ Lady Rhiannon and Messere Zeriax. I also thank Scholar Lira for providing refreshments. I will likely conduct any future lessons elsewhere, but I think it went well for all that.
Written By Pasquale
Feb. 24, 2019, 11:48 p.m.(8/19/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Venturo
I don't think anyone would call me a merry individual, but Messere Venturo gets me as close to it as I'm able to come. The import of his Kismet Carnivals to Nilanza's growing prosperity, and the morale of the realm in general, cannot be over-stated. I salute Raconteur Brewing and the good messere himself as a pin that holds our Compact together by making us a little bit happier in these grim times.
Written By Arik
Feb. 24, 2019, 11:29 p.m.(8/19/1010 AR)
So much talk of civilization these days. It is the sum work of Faith, Noble, and commoner. People.
Civilizations built upon the backs of slaves are like a single man lifting a wagon with a lever. Destined to fail when the lever breaks.
Civilizations built upon the backs of slaves are like a single man lifting a wagon with a lever. Destined to fail when the lever breaks.
Written By Alarissa
Feb. 24, 2019, 11:28 p.m.(8/19/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Aerwyna
I enjoy seeking out the new seamstresses and fabric whisperers in the city as they crop up. You never know whether they will be the next thing.
To say that she has made a good dress and hat for my pilgrimage is an understatement. Or the few other dresses that I had made. She convinced me to even have pants made. I am not a fan of the restriction of such
They feel wonderful. Mistress Aerwyna, most certainly up there with those I will turn to and it was nice to indulge in some new clothing instead of throwing everything at thrall children as I have for the last few months.
To say that she has made a good dress and hat for my pilgrimage is an understatement. Or the few other dresses that I had made. She convinced me to even have pants made. I am not a fan of the restriction of such
They feel wonderful. Mistress Aerwyna, most certainly up there with those I will turn to and it was nice to indulge in some new clothing instead of throwing everything at thrall children as I have for the last few months.
Written By Malesh
Feb. 24, 2019, 11:27 p.m.(8/19/1010 AR)
It's a very clear night here in the city. The stars are very present here, and I don't wonder how the view might be from the bridge at Stonehearth, over the river, might be on a calm night like tonight.
Written By Cadern
Feb. 24, 2019, 11 p.m.(8/19/1010 AR)
I'll be honest. Not sure how I feel about people reaching out based on journal entries. But in general a good week of research. Sir Andry had a most excellent discussion of Civilization and it's corrolary. I was fascinated to see how many people were already intrigued in the subject and hopefully a few others who will become routinely people to discuss matters of import for. Unfortunately it means a whole new set of things to look into. Still as long as one continues to learn it's a step in the right direction.
I did have a fascinating discussion with Khanne. It did leave me with mixed feelings about how to next pursue how to better preserve knowledge in the north. It's a reminder that being only passingly involved with the Inquisition, Scholars and Spirit Walkers makes it easier to investigate but at the same time allows none of the protections of such things. Perhaps it's worth another reconsideration of doing this alone... I don't think I'll ever be able to convey how great a loss Gareth was.
I did have a fascinating discussion with Khanne. It did leave me with mixed feelings about how to next pursue how to better preserve knowledge in the north. It's a reminder that being only passingly involved with the Inquisition, Scholars and Spirit Walkers makes it easier to investigate but at the same time allows none of the protections of such things. Perhaps it's worth another reconsideration of doing this alone... I don't think I'll ever be able to convey how great a loss Gareth was.
Written By Ajax
Feb. 24, 2019, 10:44 p.m.(8/19/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Elise
A busy whisper whose been working hard to improve her combat abilities. I can respect that.
Written By Khanne
Feb. 24, 2019, 10:41 p.m.(8/19/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Venturo
It was quite a while ago now we first spoke and you suggested that it would greatly benefit my House if we helped back your enterprise. Over a year, surely. That partnership has paid off both for my House and our lands, and myself. For a long time now, I have been awaiting the Kismet Carnival, and here, tonight, I attended the first ever here in Arx! They did NOT disappoint one bit. Stunning acts! Fun games! DELICIOUS DRINKS! Amazing Company! I haven't been able to get out much in... far too long.. but I am so glad I was able to make it tonight. The carnival was fantastic, and I cannot wait for it to travel to the northlands! And you, Master Brewer, were a phenomenal showman. Thank you and your other hosts for a lovely evening. I look forward to the next!
Written By Videl
Feb. 24, 2019, 10:13 p.m.(8/19/1010 AR)
Relationship Note on Liara
I've sung the praises of my patron before, but never in the whites. Allow me to change that.
Princess Liara Grayson is all I could ever ask for in a patron, and more. I am glad she chose to accept me as her protege.
Princess Liara Grayson is all I could ever ask for in a patron, and more. I am glad she chose to accept me as her protege.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.