Written By Arcelia
Feb. 22, 2017, 6:59 p.m.(12/20/1005 AR)
So many people complain about what they do not have but they do not seek to use what they do have. They see the door that was crafted with the most skill and pursue it above all else and miss that there is a window behind the tattered curtains to their left. My life may not always be glamorous but it is mine and I will not waste it.
Today I invited Lord Ford Kennex to meet with me and he was kind to stand for me when he believed I was being insulted. The individual who he thought insulted me and himself both have a place in my life, one more than the other, and each had at least one lesson for me today.
From Lord Kennex I learned that I have a new friend who will rise and defend me, that armor does not matter if you cannot move in it, and you should always act with a cool head when weapons are involved. (I knew that last part already, really, but a reminder never hurts.)
From the other individual I learned that I can maintain some measure of calm around people I find difficult to be around. That even when in the past I have felt insulted I can turn around and instead of being cruel I can offer kindness. Instead of yelling and screaming I can offer a lesson of my own and I can do this all without compromising my integrity.
I am forever humbled by the world wrapped around me and I am forever bound to everyone by the world. Each word I speak can spread on wings of hope or waves of poison. What I learn and how I affect the world around me is not always within my control but it is within my control to continue to try. And so I will.
Written By Arcelia
Feb. 22, 2017, 6:32 p.m.(12/20/1005 AR)
Written By Arcelia
Feb. 22, 2017, 6:25 p.m.(12/20/1005 AR)
Written By Marius
Feb. 22, 2017, 3:28 p.m.(12/20/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Edain
Written By Margot
Feb. 22, 2017, 2:27 p.m.(12/20/1005 AR)
When we make some headway against these foul forces though I shall celebrate with something truly lovely.
Written By Marius
Feb. 22, 2017, 1:55 p.m.(12/20/1005 AR)
Unless I'm about to eat poison, leave me alone, you thrice-damned annoyances.
Today, anyway.
Written By Lark
Feb. 22, 2017, 1:20 p.m.(12/20/1005 AR)
I see before me a People indoctrinated into a system that, yes, varies greatly from that of our own -- neither more or less flawed than the other. I bid you not to forget in your haste to denounce them that our beloved Queen, my own cousin by law whom I mourn to this very day, was a Sea Serpent long before she ever shed her skin to become a Griffin.
Casting aside age-old stigma and historical subversion to peace is no easy feat but it is what I beg of you nonetheless. Now is not the day in which we crumble from within, turning against one another with pointed finger and sword. I am no Godsworn Sister. I am guilty as easily as any woman of just this but I acknowledge and endeavor to listen, to watch and to withhold judgment. Answer the long-planted seed of derision in your hearts with a contagion of conscience, understanding, and patience.
Change and peace are possible.
Written By Dagon
Feb. 22, 2017, 12:52 p.m.(12/20/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Margot
If they only knew what we know. I will love you, and protect you, until my last breath. Not because it is what my father would have wanted.
But because it is what I want.
Written By Dafne
Feb. 22, 2017, 12:48 p.m.(12/20/1005 AR)
But as I grew--well, not up for the most part, but just grew--it became clear I was destined for a lifetime of staring at people's chests and being a rather awkward dance partner for strapping young men. My governess sought to reassure me by speaking of the advantage of being small, which is that no one can see you coming.
And then you can steal their kneecaps.
I think she may have been joking about the kneecap part.
Written By Dagon
Feb. 22, 2017, 12:42 p.m.(12/20/1005 AR)
I am not fit to lead Maelstrom.
A true Knight of Mangata would not entertain the idea of war to appease his ego. A true Knight would have never lost in the first place. I was that person once. I can be that person again. Victus has given me the means of my own salvation. I am l the Sword of Maelstrom, and I will serve my countrymen as a true defender once more.
No more ego.
No more pride.
No more of my Dark Reflection.
Written By Dagon
Feb. 22, 2017, 12:30 p.m.(12/20/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Zhayla
Written By Merek
Feb. 22, 2017, 12:27 p.m.(12/20/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Leola
Written By Merek
Feb. 22, 2017, 12:26 p.m.(12/20/1005 AR)
Relationship Note on Drea
Written By Julea
Feb. 22, 2017, 10:28 a.m.(12/20/1005 AR)
I am curious what people will think of them, I've been walking around in my old leather boots for so long, it will be quite the change. They will add inches to my height, but I was already quite tall, especially compared to most women in Arx who barely scrape past five feet. I do not know how well I'll be able to walk in them, I suspect I'm going to be stumbling a lot till I get used to them. And while the idea of something as fabulous as a new pair of shiny shoes appeals, I wonder if they will suit me.
The cobbler estimates that they will be done by this time next week.
Written By Eleyna
Feb. 22, 2017, 9:03 a.m.(12/19/1005 AR)
Those changes are not always positive. Sometimes, the truth can destroy. What does one do when facing that truth? Do you bear it and watch the world as you have known it burn? Do you hide it in hopes of protecting a fragile peace? Is there an answer that will ever satisfy?
Truth sits like a stone in my chest.
Written By Leola
Feb. 22, 2017, 4:30 a.m.(12/19/1005 AR)
I have been asked to write on my thoughts on Petrichor, and in particular, why I believe that the right of hospitality demanded by the Forest Lord impacts all of us, each day, in our relationships with those above us, and those below. I apologise in advance; I am no scholar or wordsmith, but I will lay my thoughts out as I was taught them, and how I have interpreted them since.
It is through Petrichor's grace we hold dominion over the lands of the Compact. This does not mean the animals, the trees, the people; it means all of these, and more. The lands of the Compact do not belong to the King, the Regent, to the High Lords; they belong to the Compact as a whole, held in trust by these people whom we refer to, truthfully, as our lords and masters. Therefore, each of us acts as a guest within the Compact, a guest of all those around us, and we must act with the care and politeness hospitality demands. This is, what was taught to me before I came to Arx, what is meant by civilised behavior, the understanding that we shall act in the better interests of those around us, not only ourselves.
This is not a call to rebellion, but the opposite. Those who stand at the peak of the Compact, the leaders of the Great Houses, have the responsibility to all within their domain that a host does to their guests, for they have the greatest demands placed upon them by the right of dominion; they must act in the good of all of their Great House, and speak to the King, the Regent, the Council, and account for their actions in doing so. Likewise, those beneath them, whether Duke, Count, Baron or free folk, must ever keep in mind the interests of those they serve, and trust in them that they act in the best interests of those below them. Again, we are but guests in their House; we sit upon their land, and they offer us shelter and hospitality from those outside it.
I am Leola Allenatore, Vassal to Saik, who is sworn to Malvici, who are part of the Great House Velenosa, of the Compact of Arx. My responsibility, then, is to act to aid my immediate masters, as I lodge with them; literally, at this time, I lodge in Saik Tower. In return for their hospitality and their protection, I train their horses, their lions, and perform other duties in times of need. The Duke Malvici is not my lord. Nevertheless, those I am sworn to owe him fealty, and so I in turn respect him; for my own lords, and thus myself, are counted as on the lands of the Malvici, and so we are his guests. The same, to Velenosa. The Grand Duke is unlikely to make any call upon my time, but as he is my host, and responsible for all upon his lands, as a good guest I should take his wishes into account.
This is why I treat the demands of hospitality with such seriousness. If I did not, if I did not give my thanks at each door, and honor the right of the Church to defend those within as their guests, if I did not consider my thanks for what I am given as a part of my House; if I did not trust my Baroness, my Duke, my Great Duke, to hold my interests at the core of their being, how could I continue living under their roof as their guest
Written By Dominic
Feb. 21, 2017, 10:36 p.m.(12/19/1005 AR)
P.S I do not make veiled threats so whomever started that narrative, fuck you.
P.S.S Duchess Sylvie, I imagine you are a nice lady and did not mean me calling you out that day to be taken as a threat to your life. People now days are very sensitive when we should be focusing on important shit like our enemies surrounding us.
Written By Dominic
Feb. 21, 2017, 10:35 p.m.(12/19/1005 AR)
Written By Samantha
Feb. 21, 2017, 6:22 p.m.(12/18/1005 AR)
One would think such efforts of social consciousness would be pleasing to the Faith, to witness its followers actively promoting compassion and aiding in the betterment of humanity. Wouldn't one?
Imagine my surprise to find I have recieved, or heard of messages from members of the Faith complaining that for the Crown or private individuals to create charitable institutions is to overstep into their territory.
Imagine my surprise to be given such a reason as the idea that while the Faith will never falter, but a simple regime change could remove such institutions. As if any effort of aid isn't worth offering because it might be dismantled?
I do not understand such hubris, and will continue to do as my heart and my soul guides me.
Written By Lyiana
Feb. 21, 2017, 6:02 p.m.(12/18/1005 AR)
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.