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Written By Bahiya

May 17, 2021, 8:06 p.m.(6/27/1015 AR)

Relationship Note on Natalia

To have the aid of so clever and honorable a Whisper, I am hopeful we can find a solution.

Written By Malcolm

May 17, 2021, 7:10 p.m.(6/27/1015 AR)

There's been a lot more going on in my head these days. I don't know whether it's because I have family back in the city, or, that thundercloud over my head finally lifted. All right, fine. Both. I asked Byrdie to take down some of my thoughts - but she laughed and just sent me down to the Archives. Guess that's for the better. Let's see. I got proteges now. I have friends in the peerage now. More than one. Each one of them couldn't be any more opposite of the other and know what - that's a good thing. I have their different viewpoints to draw on and learn from. I have ideas. Ideas that I am going to see turned into plans. Plans made into real and tangible.

I think I am finally getting a idea of how the Duke thing works.

Five years later.

Written By Viviana

May 17, 2021, 6:56 p.m.(6/27/1015 AR)

Would you believe that someone said that I was underdressed in my leathers?! I needed to prove a point.

It's not about the outfit. It's about the accessories.

Written By Gwenna

May 17, 2021, 6:52 p.m.(6/27/1015 AR)

Relationship Note on Jael

Proper words fail me right now - there is so much to say and yet can't be said directly. It was such a joy to catch up with my mother's side of the family when I came to Arx! How we all just Know How Our Mothers Are. I'm glad I was lucky enough to get your jousting figurine, and it holds a proud place in the Redrain Great Library. I still smile thinking about the dancing contest we won and I wear the dragon necklace almost always as a truly fond reminder. The laughs we've had, and the serious talks as well - I'm so grateful for them all and the time sharing them. I sincerely hope you find the answers you seek and I will miss you dreadfully while you take up the journey to do so.

Written By Raimon

May 17, 2021, 3:59 p.m.(6/27/1015 AR)

I continue to work on the poem of 'The Lament for the Fallen.' The Poem is changing. Not the words -- the are largely the same.

A seabird screams in hunger
and in outrage and in pain.
Her screams but go unheeded, for
No living ears remain.

Yet bronzing sun glints light upon
the ocean's soft blue waves.
The breakers rush up on the sands
to backfill shallow graves.

Mangata's Tears thus sanctify
the acres of the slain.
And bloodstained walls and cobblestones
await Her cleansing rain.

The words are the same, but the Poem is changing. Moving. Flowing. Growing. As if alive. As if the poem, itself, reacts to my efforts to assuage this crisis. Perhaps: it is possible -- the -Poem- guides -me-? I do not know. It is, at the same time, 'the strangest of things' while also being 'the most natural thing in all of the world" . . .

Written By Volya

May 17, 2021, 3:22 p.m.(6/27/1015 AR)

Conversations with Existentialism

1: "Hey, do that thing that makes my head feel all weird."

2: "Sure. Out of the millions of living things throughout time that could have been, out of all possibilities, you exist here and now as you. But what and who 'you' are could only exist here and now. Any other time or place, and you would not be 'you'."

1: "...neat."

Written By Cirroch

May 17, 2021, 10:39 a.m.(6/26/1015 AR)

Sometimes that which we seek can be found in the garden of the property. Other times, we must go on a long journey to then only be lead back to the garden. However, if we hadn't gone on said journey, we would never have known that the garden held such treasures, let alone understood why we should enjoy them in the manner that we do now.

For this measure, there will be new trees planted in the center of the maze of the Marquessa's garden. One for each of our children, each a tree that holds true to the type of person they are showing us that they are.

May both grow strong.

Written By Ludovic

May 17, 2021, 9:28 a.m.(6/26/1015 AR)

On Entering the City, and the Southlands:

Barely four days ago I arrived in Arx, a nomad Prodigal cast out by his tribe, and distrusted by the Compact. My accent is thick, and the people here seem distrustful of the idea that a Prodigal would still consider their tribe. The few who I met who understood, notably the Clearlakes, cautioned me to keep my origins and my beliefs to myself. In part, I agree with their advice, but the bonds of my people are strong. I was... am... proud to have endured the blizzards and the beasts of the North, to have stood beside my brothers and sisters in battle, to have eased the tribe's relations with others, even the Compact. Each of us, every member of an Abandoned tribe, is a piece of a greater whole. It weighs on me that my piece of the whole is no longer present, and yet...

There is no other way. We believe in the purity of endurance, the sanctity of the struggle against the cold - to prove our worth to tribe and spirit. But there is no other way - we cannot continue to stand alone, apart. What sights must I see, or allies make, to convince the rest of us to bend the knee? Would the seers even listen to a, 'Prod' such as myself? One who journeyed to southern lands of warmth and comfort, and returned to share the good fortunes? I ask myself these questions, even fearing I know the answer. I am reminded of the words of Vind, when we stood shoulder-to-shoulder against the Bitter Wind sept.

"The measure of a man is not how well he handles an axe, Ludovic. It is that he fights on, even when others would despair. Bravery is not the absence of fear, or despair - it is the will to overcome them." So, ka, my friend. I will remember.

Written By Cristoph

May 17, 2021, 7:20 a.m.(6/26/1015 AR)

Relationship Note on Jael

You've left.

I wish that before you'd gone I had taken the time to adequately express what you mean to me. But I was consumed with other things as I so often am and now we're in separate places. I don't know if there's another person alive whose rage and grief would so closely resemble my own that it would be like looking in a mirror, save for some minor and inconsequential differences.

I understand why you had to leave, even if your departure weighs on my heart. But in your wake, I promise you the following:

I will care for your children like they were my own. I'll tell them stories about a master of horses, who could outride nearly anyone else in the Oathlands. I'll tell them about the fearless general of our armies. I'll tell them about how you could shoot out an enemy's eye from an incredible distance away. That you were there to shore up common sense when my own failed me. That you were often annoyed with me and would sigh, sometimes roll your eyes. That you love this family with such ferocity that you made a choice no mother should ever have to make.

I promise to keep what remains of our family intact.

I won't tell them about the bear and the tree or Norwood. You can tell them that when you return.

Until then, good luck. I love you.

Written By Mabelle

May 17, 2021, 5:03 a.m.(6/26/1015 AR)

Relationship Note on Orland

When I walked into Lord Amadeo's event to thank the physicians and mercies, I knew I came to be grateful for those who are grateful.
It was only when he greeted me with a reminder that our first encounter was when he was injured and me and another saved his life, I realized how sometimes things we do out of duty, rings volumes in other people's lives.

Gratitude is certainly not why we do it, but it clearly makes it all worth the while.

Written By Medeia

May 17, 2021, 3:07 a.m.(6/26/1015 AR)

Relationship Note on Savio

My heart sings when in the presence of Lord Savio Proscipi. At the moment, it sings mournful love songs as it breaks in the wake of the horrific tragedy at Tremorus. Haakon and I waited impatiently for word after the war, wanting to hear the fate of not only the band of 500 Eswynders we sent to aid them but of our friends and allies among the Leporidae. Only a scant number of our people returned home, part of the crushing toll the Skal'dajans made Tremorus pay. I can imagine the grief the Saltfather to my children, the namesake of my daughter, is feeling. And I wish I could do anything to lift it from him.

For now? I will hold pride, joy, and celebration in my heart beside the mourning. When he is ready for it, it will be there for him to receive. Because even the worst moments can lead to good. That one who has proven their courage, their loyalty, their friendship has been elevated and now might forge the shape of the future for the remainder of his people is something to celebrate. Eswynd blood has spilled on Proscipi land, and Proscipi blood has spilled on an Eswynd ship, preserving both houses. I am glad my children will have such a strong example of perseverance and growth to look to.

And someday my heart will sing fanciful songs in his presence again.

Written By Medeia

May 17, 2021, 2:45 a.m.(6/26/1015 AR)

Relationship Note on Thea

My former patron, my companion in mischief, my dear friend, the one who will turn my hair gray in conjunction with my sister, has been raised up and now is Countess of Highhill in the wake of her husband being granted the title of Count after his brother stepped aside.

There has been much change in her life these last months, which she has been rolling with quite well. I suppose it helps that she favors Lagoma. I may give her a hard time tutting after her and fussing like a mother, but I know she has a big heart and determination to do good for everyone she can. The people of Highhill will be well served by their new countess. And I'll do my best to serve them, too, by continuing to tut and fuss to keep her alive.

Written By Medeia

May 17, 2021, 2:35 a.m.(6/26/1015 AR)

Relationship Note on Malcolm

For at least the last ten years, "family" has been a difficult thing for me. Whether due to physical or emotional distance, death, disagreement, the blood relations I have are few and far. My husband recently said something about me turning friends into family. He was right, but that didn't make Duke Malcolm's offer to be my 'cousin' any less surprising - or welcome.

Humble, humorous, hard-working. The man knows what the daily lives of his people are like, so he knows how his decisions will impact them. I couldn't be happier to have such a lovely person to call family. With him as patron to another I consider family, I foresee a great many pranks, adventures, and projects to strengthen Eswynd, Shepherd, and Wyvernheart to come.

Written By Lucita

May 16, 2021, 10:21 p.m.(6/25/1015 AR)

So much news to catch up on, it boggles my mind to think about it. So many changes.

Written By Giada

May 16, 2021, 10:09 p.m.(6/25/1015 AR)

I'm often asked questions with no solid answers, and it's always the best part of my day. May we all be so challenged. Best shit ever.

Written By Natasha

May 16, 2021, 9:40 p.m.(6/25/1015 AR)

I will never look at an empty wine barrel the same way again.

Written By Lucita

May 16, 2021, 8:44 p.m.(6/25/1015 AR)

Odd how ideas for composing songs arise. My latest one came from my children asking questions about when I was a child, how I came to learn music.

Written By Catalana

May 16, 2021, 8:41 p.m.(6/25/1015 AR)

Relationship Note on Aethan

If Lord Wash starts wearing a giant hat and making us call him Admiral Kennex of the Kennex Kay again, I will throw a shoe at you.

Written By Domonico

May 16, 2021, 7:06 p.m.(6/25/1015 AR)

Impromptu melee at the Southport Square Training Centre was illuminating and also bore some insight into the abilities of several peers of Compact.

The following team melee was won handily by myself, Ian and Ainsley against Orland, Savio, Raimon and Samira.

The primary deciding factor was the choosing of Ian for my team. Fighting alongside him is always vastly preferable to fighting alongside him.

Written By Lisebet

May 16, 2021, 7:06 p.m.(6/25/1015 AR)

Somedays it's nice to just stay home with the family and enjoy a bit of quiet time. Maybe I should spend more days like that.

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