Written By Leola
June 21, 2020, 5:07 p.m.(7/8/1013 AR)
It was a delight to spend time with Evaristo again, to watch him and his friends explore their love of spiders. I enjoyed introducing them to Porshia, who also enjoyed the event tremendously.
Yes, scribe, I did have a bath immediately before coming here.
Yes, scribe, I did have a bath immediately before coming here.
Written By Adrienne
June 21, 2020, 4:21 p.m.(7/8/1013 AR)
I've been in Arx for a full season, and I'm struck by how different my experience has been from those who have lived here longer. I've never known Arx without a whirlpool and the unrest that it has caused. I've also never known it without emissaries from far off, exotic lands. I can take tea with them - with Jadara and Zulana of Jaidaral, the Undying Empire, or Bahiya'al'mathali of Skal'daja in the Dune Kingdoms of Eurus - as easily as I can my family. This would have seemed mad a year, two years ago. Now it is simply life.
I'm grateful for Arx's kind welcome, for the opportunity to meet with so many, and for what they (or rather you, Reader) have shared with me. We love one another, we fight with one another, we celebrate together, and we mourn together. Even something as abstract as a debate about the role of honor in warfare will make us all stronger in the end.
Thank you, Our Lady, for reminding us to cherish change, even when it is hardest. We are not done, and we will be better in the end. I believe it wholeheartedly.
I'm grateful for Arx's kind welcome, for the opportunity to meet with so many, and for what they (or rather you, Reader) have shared with me. We love one another, we fight with one another, we celebrate together, and we mourn together. Even something as abstract as a debate about the role of honor in warfare will make us all stronger in the end.
Thank you, Our Lady, for reminding us to cherish change, even when it is hardest. We are not done, and we will be better in the end. I believe it wholeheartedly.
Written By Porter
June 21, 2020, 4:19 p.m.(7/8/1013 AR)
Not only did I meet the Bread Baron this week, but I've also met Dot, the adventurous spider.
Written By Sabine
June 21, 2020, 3:11 p.m.(7/8/1013 AR)
Relationship Note on Vanora
It would be far more noteworthy were I not of the South, one expects, even so far north of the South as we are in Iriscal. Thank you.
Written By Rukhnis
June 21, 2020, 2:30 p.m.(7/8/1013 AR)
"The voice of the people must be heeded while it is still a whisper, or it becomes a roar."
This, I have read, is the motto of the Commoners Council.
This Council has existed, so far as I have been able to discover, for several years now. It has, from what I have also read, held elections for new members within the last three.
And yet, we have just heard in deafening measure the roar of the people, crying out angrily for food, for security, for fairness, for their lives. And so, this begs the question: who was heeding the whisper?
The words I have written above concerning the Commoners Council are derived, as one can see, from what I have been able to discover by combing the city records for fragments of information. This information has not been derived from any public meeting of the Council, nor from ever once speaking to any of them in the person of Council members, nor from hearing any word issued by them until the recent roaring of a suffering people finally made itself heard. And beyond such additional small scraps of information, such as the names and ranks of the people presently serving, this is the entirety of what I have ever discovered, though I myself have lived in Arx for three years now.
This being the case, when I heard of the elections to be held, and put my name forward for consideration, I found that I had many, many questions about the Council.
Does the council meet regularly, I wondered, or only to address special concerns and crises? If the former, when and how often? If the latter, what concerns has it met specifically to address, and what actions have been taken?
Does the council hold open forums to which all commoners are invited to attend and air their concerns? If so, how often? If not, what is the method by which concerns are brought to the attention of the council?
Do different representatives focus on the concerns of different groups of commoners, so that peasants, tradesmen, immigrants, the general populace of the Lowers versus the Uppers, etc., each have somebody who is well versed in their own unique concerns to speak particularly on their behalf? Or do all representatives attempt to address the concerns of all commoners at once?
And, perhaps my most pressing question of all: Why did the Council not open communications and strive towards greater activity /before/ the latest crisis, when some of the worst of the suffering might have been averted or at least alleviated through focused action and foresight beforehand, rather than only once things had reached a catastrophic tipping point?
These questions perhaps make me sound very unforgiving towards the Council. But in truth, I mean no insult towards them, as I know they are people of good character and still better intentions, who have in fact done good in the Compact. And gods know that one cannot anticipate everything, and that there has been no lack of serious troubles abroad in the world to distract us all and draw us away from our goals. Nevertheless, I feel that it is vitally important for those who are serving on the Council to view that service as foremost among their various duties, and not as something that can be set aside while seemingly more pressing matters call out.
Is there, in fact, any more pressing matter than the happiness and well-being of the vast majority of people who make up the Compact?
The problems that commoners presently face, not just in the Lower Boroughs, not just in Arx, but across all Arvum -- poverty, hunger, poor housing, sparse education, exploitation by the ruthless, limited opportunities to fully use their native skill and intelligence, the view that they are somehow less than the present leaders of society -- are very difficult ones, and will not be simple to resolve. I do not pretend to have the answers to these questions myself. But I also do not /intend/ to have the answers to them myself. The Commoners Council should exist to allow the people themselves a voice, not to be a voice unto themselves that speaks over that of the people, thinking they know what is best for commoners as a whole.
How can the Council expect even to know what the concerns of commoners are, let alone address and solve them, if it does not communicate regularly with them? How are we as commoners supposed to put our faith in the Council, if we are not encouraged to see them as truly our representatives, as /us/, the means by which we collectively work our will in the Compact?
What I would most wish as a new member of the Council is to hear from others, to find out what most interests them, what most troubles them, what they feel are the greatest problems and challenges they face. I wish to hear their ideas for the future, and what paths they themselves would like to take to attain that future. Knowing what people's concerns are, and knowing also what they might like to see done to address them, the Council should work together among themselves to devise a practicable course of action based on these wishes of others -- and then fight to see it enacted. I would like also to help enable commoners to better help themselves, to devise their own projects, fund their own fondest schemes, and not need to rely upon the benevolence of nobles and other powerful people to achieve their goals.
But in the end, commoners cannot solve all their problems individually, by themselves -- for the most fundamental problems they face are very large and deeply entrenched, and there are many in positions of power who will work against them; just as the powerful in Eurus have crushed those beneath them who oppose slavery, and as those in the Compact who have relied upon the forced servitude of others for their own benefit have worked against the abolition of thralldom. And even if such people do not work against commoners outright, they will attempt to turn a deaf ear to their voices, while others who might truly wish to work for change simply fail to hear the whispers. I would strive to ensure, with the others on the Council, that nobody can fail to hear; that the voices of the commoners ring loud and clear from the streets of Arx to the great halls of the nobles to the throne room itself. Not only because this is what the Council's own mission promises to do, but because we have seen for ourselves with these latest calamities that it is for the good of the Compact as a whole that this should be so.
All commoners are not alike, and we will among ourselves have different afflictions and aspirations, and different ways of tackling problems. All of us will have different ideas, different strengths, different ways of acting and speaking. I wish to see this great variety working together, drawing collective strength from our individuality, and speaking in concert -- whether in a whisper or a roar. I wish to work harder to bring the Commoners Council to the people, and the people to the Commoners Council. But in the end, it does not truly matter whether I myself am elected to the Council, so long as this body renews its sense of purpose in just this way and helps give all of us our voice, whether we sit upon the Council or not.
The Council should empower commoners, not attempt to appease them. The Council should listen to commoners carefully, and devote their time to speaking /with/ them, before they ever attempt to speak /for/ them.
The Council should be us. All of us.
This, I have read, is the motto of the Commoners Council.
This Council has existed, so far as I have been able to discover, for several years now. It has, from what I have also read, held elections for new members within the last three.
And yet, we have just heard in deafening measure the roar of the people, crying out angrily for food, for security, for fairness, for their lives. And so, this begs the question: who was heeding the whisper?
The words I have written above concerning the Commoners Council are derived, as one can see, from what I have been able to discover by combing the city records for fragments of information. This information has not been derived from any public meeting of the Council, nor from ever once speaking to any of them in the person of Council members, nor from hearing any word issued by them until the recent roaring of a suffering people finally made itself heard. And beyond such additional small scraps of information, such as the names and ranks of the people presently serving, this is the entirety of what I have ever discovered, though I myself have lived in Arx for three years now.
This being the case, when I heard of the elections to be held, and put my name forward for consideration, I found that I had many, many questions about the Council.
Does the council meet regularly, I wondered, or only to address special concerns and crises? If the former, when and how often? If the latter, what concerns has it met specifically to address, and what actions have been taken?
Does the council hold open forums to which all commoners are invited to attend and air their concerns? If so, how often? If not, what is the method by which concerns are brought to the attention of the council?
Do different representatives focus on the concerns of different groups of commoners, so that peasants, tradesmen, immigrants, the general populace of the Lowers versus the Uppers, etc., each have somebody who is well versed in their own unique concerns to speak particularly on their behalf? Or do all representatives attempt to address the concerns of all commoners at once?
And, perhaps my most pressing question of all: Why did the Council not open communications and strive towards greater activity /before/ the latest crisis, when some of the worst of the suffering might have been averted or at least alleviated through focused action and foresight beforehand, rather than only once things had reached a catastrophic tipping point?
These questions perhaps make me sound very unforgiving towards the Council. But in truth, I mean no insult towards them, as I know they are people of good character and still better intentions, who have in fact done good in the Compact. And gods know that one cannot anticipate everything, and that there has been no lack of serious troubles abroad in the world to distract us all and draw us away from our goals. Nevertheless, I feel that it is vitally important for those who are serving on the Council to view that service as foremost among their various duties, and not as something that can be set aside while seemingly more pressing matters call out.
Is there, in fact, any more pressing matter than the happiness and well-being of the vast majority of people who make up the Compact?
The problems that commoners presently face, not just in the Lower Boroughs, not just in Arx, but across all Arvum -- poverty, hunger, poor housing, sparse education, exploitation by the ruthless, limited opportunities to fully use their native skill and intelligence, the view that they are somehow less than the present leaders of society -- are very difficult ones, and will not be simple to resolve. I do not pretend to have the answers to these questions myself. But I also do not /intend/ to have the answers to them myself. The Commoners Council should exist to allow the people themselves a voice, not to be a voice unto themselves that speaks over that of the people, thinking they know what is best for commoners as a whole.
How can the Council expect even to know what the concerns of commoners are, let alone address and solve them, if it does not communicate regularly with them? How are we as commoners supposed to put our faith in the Council, if we are not encouraged to see them as truly our representatives, as /us/, the means by which we collectively work our will in the Compact?
What I would most wish as a new member of the Council is to hear from others, to find out what most interests them, what most troubles them, what they feel are the greatest problems and challenges they face. I wish to hear their ideas for the future, and what paths they themselves would like to take to attain that future. Knowing what people's concerns are, and knowing also what they might like to see done to address them, the Council should work together among themselves to devise a practicable course of action based on these wishes of others -- and then fight to see it enacted. I would like also to help enable commoners to better help themselves, to devise their own projects, fund their own fondest schemes, and not need to rely upon the benevolence of nobles and other powerful people to achieve their goals.
But in the end, commoners cannot solve all their problems individually, by themselves -- for the most fundamental problems they face are very large and deeply entrenched, and there are many in positions of power who will work against them; just as the powerful in Eurus have crushed those beneath them who oppose slavery, and as those in the Compact who have relied upon the forced servitude of others for their own benefit have worked against the abolition of thralldom. And even if such people do not work against commoners outright, they will attempt to turn a deaf ear to their voices, while others who might truly wish to work for change simply fail to hear the whispers. I would strive to ensure, with the others on the Council, that nobody can fail to hear; that the voices of the commoners ring loud and clear from the streets of Arx to the great halls of the nobles to the throne room itself. Not only because this is what the Council's own mission promises to do, but because we have seen for ourselves with these latest calamities that it is for the good of the Compact as a whole that this should be so.
All commoners are not alike, and we will among ourselves have different afflictions and aspirations, and different ways of tackling problems. All of us will have different ideas, different strengths, different ways of acting and speaking. I wish to see this great variety working together, drawing collective strength from our individuality, and speaking in concert -- whether in a whisper or a roar. I wish to work harder to bring the Commoners Council to the people, and the people to the Commoners Council. But in the end, it does not truly matter whether I myself am elected to the Council, so long as this body renews its sense of purpose in just this way and helps give all of us our voice, whether we sit upon the Council or not.
The Council should empower commoners, not attempt to appease them. The Council should listen to commoners carefully, and devote their time to speaking /with/ them, before they ever attempt to speak /for/ them.
The Council should be us. All of us.
Written By Hadrian
June 21, 2020, 2:19 p.m.(7/8/1013 AR)
Relationship Note on Braith
Lady Braith took it upon herself to arrange a dinner, joined by friends and family, a good time was had. Food, drink, music. Good company and conversation. I'm given to understand the invitation roster will differ from dinner to dinner, which I'm excited to see unfold into the future.
Plus, I didn't have to arrange or host it. Which makes it about 42 times better. I fully support her new unofficial role as the curator of family dinners. I can only imagine there will be some necessity for guest list reviews at a point, though.
Regardless of the particulars, the dinner was a resounding success and Lady Braith truly demonstrated her exceptional talents for all to enjoy after dinner. Her performance was truly breathtaking!
Plus, I didn't have to arrange or host it. Which makes it about 42 times better. I fully support her new unofficial role as the curator of family dinners. I can only imagine there will be some necessity for guest list reviews at a point, though.
Regardless of the particulars, the dinner was a resounding success and Lady Braith truly demonstrated her exceptional talents for all to enjoy after dinner. Her performance was truly breathtaking!
Written By Bron
June 21, 2020, 1:25 p.m.(7/8/1013 AR)
Due to being laid up I haven't really met anyone this week, however that lass who'd been writing me turned up at the bar!
Turns out I have some family in the city. Makes it ever so slightly less lonely if I'm honest.
Maeve turned up in the bar carrying a basket of fish and wearing bunny ears on her head. Certainly a curious lass but she hugs like a Redrain if I'm any judge. She's married and has a yurt in the lowers (that just hurts my soul) with her husband Frond and her daughter. She's an Apothecary and she's offered to help out should I ever need it, I of course extended my own offer of help to her and her family.
Turns out I have some family in the city. Makes it ever so slightly less lonely if I'm honest.
Maeve turned up in the bar carrying a basket of fish and wearing bunny ears on her head. Certainly a curious lass but she hugs like a Redrain if I'm any judge. She's married and has a yurt in the lowers (that just hurts my soul) with her husband Frond and her daughter. She's an Apothecary and she's offered to help out should I ever need it, I of course extended my own offer of help to her and her family.
Written By Bron
June 21, 2020, 1:14 p.m.(7/8/1013 AR)
Why do people insist at talking politics at me?
It's not like I don't give out hints. Do I not look thick enough?
Very comfortable just sitting on my chair thank you.
Don't much care about the council and I don't believe the silks care at all about the lowers.
The place is a dump but not intolerable. It would take a serious effort of will do do anything about it and I doubt any of the oh so zany idiots dressed in silk that I've seen can focus on one thing for more than five minutes.
It's not like I don't give out hints. Do I not look thick enough?
Very comfortable just sitting on my chair thank you.
Don't much care about the council and I don't believe the silks care at all about the lowers.
The place is a dump but not intolerable. It would take a serious effort of will do do anything about it and I doubt any of the oh so zany idiots dressed in silk that I've seen can focus on one thing for more than five minutes.
Written By Preston
June 21, 2020, 12:15 p.m.(7/8/1013 AR)
Relationship Note on Piccola
I am not so certain that all warfare is deceit - I give those who wish to be my enemy the chance to choose that path, or to diverge from it. As Princess Sabella and others did for Ivan Helianthus. There was no deceit in that, I did pretend to come as anything other than the sword arm of the Faith - indeed, I do not know how to be anything other. I stake my troops, and my life alongside theirs, and I fight - for a cause that I wear as brightly as a sash across my armour. I am exactly as I appear - I would hope those that know my personal secrets would agree they change nothing about my motives, my beliefs, my cause.
As to honour, it is a simpler affair. Honour is your duty to Gloria - and the paramount concern of a knight alongside their oath. Others speak as noble knights of a hope - a prayer - to fight with honour and to bring glory on their house. For Templars it is a simpler prayer. We pray for the courage needed to act with honour, even when all is lost, and that should victory be granted, the mercy to treat our enemies with honour they may not deserve. The Faith is the Gods, glory never ending - any glory in the actions of even the mightiest of us are as candles against the midday sun.
As to honour, it is a simpler affair. Honour is your duty to Gloria - and the paramount concern of a knight alongside their oath. Others speak as noble knights of a hope - a prayer - to fight with honour and to bring glory on their house. For Templars it is a simpler prayer. We pray for the courage needed to act with honour, even when all is lost, and that should victory be granted, the mercy to treat our enemies with honour they may not deserve. The Faith is the Gods, glory never ending - any glory in the actions of even the mightiest of us are as candles against the midday sun.
Written By Sydney
June 21, 2020, 11:58 a.m.(7/8/1013 AR)
I've seen hundred of fistfights. I've participated in more than I ever cared to count, and I they bled together to effectively with time for me to bother counting them all, but one thing that doesn't translate to is weaponry. I'm always baffled and amazed by what people come up with in order to do harm to one another, and I'm certainly no exception to that rule.
I've certainly never seen someone incorporate mummery and staffwork into their combat style, and it was interesting as hell to test myself against. I wonder what the man is capable of when he isn't literally fall-down drunk, or if that's just how he is all the time.
It's good to know that after so much observation, I can still be taken off my guard in the name of innovation. The more tricks I see, the less likely I am to fall for them when it truly counts.
I hope.
I've certainly never seen someone incorporate mummery and staffwork into their combat style, and it was interesting as hell to test myself against. I wonder what the man is capable of when he isn't literally fall-down drunk, or if that's just how he is all the time.
It's good to know that after so much observation, I can still be taken off my guard in the name of innovation. The more tricks I see, the less likely I am to fall for them when it truly counts.
I hope.
Written By Rosalind
June 21, 2020, 11:03 a.m.(7/8/1013 AR)
Relationship Note on Poppy
My dear friend Poppy! You never could run. EVER! Can I take you out with me next time I go exploring? Please please please?! Soon as the bandages are off! I don't know how you ever climbed and things. No wonder your brother had to carry you around all the time!
Written By Marian
June 21, 2020, 4:55 a.m.(7/7/1013 AR)
Relationship Note on Piccola
No victory has ever come with ease. It is hard won with the blood and bones of Faithful warriors who have placed their trust in me. I have never assumed victory before my enemy has lowered their swords in defeat. Such hubris would be a detriment on the battlefield.
Now on the matter of deception. Yes, at times, I seek to defeat not just the sword but the plans of my enemy by outmaneuvering them. The right placement of troops can sometimes save lives of my warriors, reduce the impact of the battle on the innocent. I would prefer to win without bloodshed by convincing my foe to bend through diplomacy. However, it's never taken for granted that my forces are superior in strategy or might.
I pray to Gloria before every battle that we may fight with honor, bringing glory to the Compact. I honor the sacrifices of those warriors who give their lives in service to the Compact. I dream of peace, when I give my sword to the next generation, and sit in taverns entertaining our future heroes on tales of my deeds so they will not make the same mistakes.
Now on the matter of deception. Yes, at times, I seek to defeat not just the sword but the plans of my enemy by outmaneuvering them. The right placement of troops can sometimes save lives of my warriors, reduce the impact of the battle on the innocent. I would prefer to win without bloodshed by convincing my foe to bend through diplomacy. However, it's never taken for granted that my forces are superior in strategy or might.
I pray to Gloria before every battle that we may fight with honor, bringing glory to the Compact. I honor the sacrifices of those warriors who give their lives in service to the Compact. I dream of peace, when I give my sword to the next generation, and sit in taverns entertaining our future heroes on tales of my deeds so they will not make the same mistakes.
Written By Poppy
June 21, 2020, 4:45 a.m.(7/7/1013 AR)
Scholar. I need some help.
Now stop it. This is serious.
Scholar. I need to learn how to climb a ladder in a much more proficient manner. It does not look good if after three rungs you're out of breath and feel like every muscle is aching.
Stop laughing scholar. I am serious!
Shut up scholar. I could to run if my life depended on it.
Now stop it. This is serious.
Scholar. I need to learn how to climb a ladder in a much more proficient manner. It does not look good if after three rungs you're out of breath and feel like every muscle is aching.
Stop laughing scholar. I am serious!
Shut up scholar. I could to run if my life depended on it.
Written By Tarik
June 21, 2020, 3:30 a.m.(7/7/1013 AR)
So, it is another terrible and uncomfortable summer in Arx, but this time I am prepared for it. This summer I think about all the time and people I have met in the Arx. I am thankful for each and everyone who has aided me in my journey. I think about Lady Aislin who I believe that a lot of people in this city are grateful for the knowledge that she shared with them. She helped me without asking for anything in return and hope that one day she returns to Arx. I think about Marquessa Sasha, who was a Princess when I met her. She was the one who provided me with the first step on my journey. I like to thank Duke Aiden who stood up for me when no one else did. I will always be grateful to Duchess Khanne who was the first one to helped me established roots here. There are so many people that I have called be lucky to call friends and have helped me in my time in Arx. Some have allowed me to twist their ears, and others have kicked me in the butt when I needed it. From Princess Valencia to Prima Shard to Dame Thena to Admiral Wash and all the others that I hope to buy a few more drinks for, or in most cases allow them to buy some more drinks for me. There are people I have formed closer bonds since I returned to Arx like my patron, Ranger Lou and Lord Mirk, which have made my second stay in Arx utterly amazing. There are so many who I have not name that hold a place in my heart, and I hope they know I am thankful for each everyone of you. For I believe that all of you are the best of Arvum, those with the truest of hearts and minds.
I have save the best for last. Someone one far wiser than me told that there is more than life than what I was doing, and finding it brings new meaning and purpose to everything thing. I have found the "more" of life with Rowenova. She has brought new meaning and new purpose to my life. I hope to marry her when the weather turns nicer, until then I am glad that Rowenova, best of future wives , and best of women is by my side.
I have save the best for last. Someone one far wiser than me told that there is more than life than what I was doing, and finding it brings new meaning and purpose to everything thing. I have found the "more" of life with Rowenova. She has brought new meaning and new purpose to my life. I hope to marry her when the weather turns nicer, until then I am glad that Rowenova, best of future wives , and best of women is by my side.
Written By Valda
June 21, 2020, 2:38 a.m.(7/7/1013 AR)
It's been years since we arrived in Arx. Lady Rona took far more of my time than I ever expected she would, but I'm finally finding time to myself. As she grows older, her need of me dwindles. It's time to find new ways to pass the time. New duties with which to occupy myself. I've spoken to the Sword of Whitehold, and he's provided me with a great many places to start. And so, let us see where the spirits take me.
Written By Cambria
June 21, 2020, 2:28 a.m.(7/7/1013 AR)
Dreams are like the contrary songbird,
With wonders seen in the black nocturn,
Whose ineffable melody is sounded,
To a world dead to a bewitching sleep.
With wonders seen in the black nocturn,
Whose ineffable melody is sounded,
To a world dead to a bewitching sleep.
Written By Lys
June 21, 2020, 2:24 a.m.(7/7/1013 AR)
I dreamt I walked through a laughing crowd. I tried to join in on the fun and merriment, but they turned away or looked straight through me. I dreamt that when I spoke my words fell on deaf ears. I dreamt of screaming at the top of my lungs but no one heard me.
I dreamt of a cold stone floor, of laughter in the hallway, and drunks stumbling by in the night.
When I woke I went to his room to find company, but he is gone. And his room sits collecting dust.
I dreamt of a cold stone floor, of laughter in the hallway, and drunks stumbling by in the night.
When I woke I went to his room to find company, but he is gone. And his room sits collecting dust.
Written By Cambria
June 21, 2020, 1:30 a.m.(7/7/1013 AR)
The study of knowledge is a complicated subject.
Written By Lisebet
June 21, 2020, 12:08 a.m.(7/7/1013 AR)
Languages are fascinating to learn, but once started I think anyone would find themselves trying to learn more and more.
I wonder if one might explode from too many languages.
I wonder if one might explode from too many languages.
Written By Vanora
June 20, 2020, 11:12 p.m.(7/7/1013 AR)
Relationship Note on Sabine
I came across your writing the other day and wished to praise it. You philosophize like a mirrormask, it is truly noteworthy.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.