Written By Amari
Sept. 7, 2018, 10:39 a.m.(7/19/1009 AR)
I had so much fun hosting the Archery Party with Lady Jael. The turn out was quite good and there was no shortage of conversation. I'm not sure I was able to thank everyone personally for attending, so thank you, everyone. Apologies also to anyone I wasn't able to properly greet. I tried! My gratitude also to Marquis Kael and Marquessa Reigna Keaton for permitting the use of Commander's Field and for making an appearance themselves!
Highlights of the event included Lady Shae and Commandant Violet, of the Crimson Blades, offering some of us less practiced and experienced types some extremely helpful instruction. There was almost a chest popping challenge between Lord Nightgold and Marquis Keaton, though the Marquessa wouldn't permit the removal of his shirt. Oh and some very earnest and forthright questions were asked of Baron Norwood, and his nephew Eddard was introduced. Finally, at the end, a very casual competition was held between myself and Lady Jael which she won, quite handily, despite the spirited attempts to distract her.
Things to consider for a possible repeat of the event include the following:
There was a demand for stiffer drink than tea, and the claim that archery and whiskey actually go together, but I still find it a bit dubious.
I didn't fully account for the possibility of a large crowd. I should have had additional seating brought out for spectators.
The expectation from some guests was that there would be an archery contest, which I hadn't planned in any great detail. I'll have to think up something exciting.
More tarts were needed.
Lastly, a desire for a "No Shirts" event was expressed. I'm almost curious enough to try arranging one.
Highlights of the event included Lady Shae and Commandant Violet, of the Crimson Blades, offering some of us less practiced and experienced types some extremely helpful instruction. There was almost a chest popping challenge between Lord Nightgold and Marquis Keaton, though the Marquessa wouldn't permit the removal of his shirt. Oh and some very earnest and forthright questions were asked of Baron Norwood, and his nephew Eddard was introduced. Finally, at the end, a very casual competition was held between myself and Lady Jael which she won, quite handily, despite the spirited attempts to distract her.
Things to consider for a possible repeat of the event include the following:
There was a demand for stiffer drink than tea, and the claim that archery and whiskey actually go together, but I still find it a bit dubious.
I didn't fully account for the possibility of a large crowd. I should have had additional seating brought out for spectators.
The expectation from some guests was that there would be an archery contest, which I hadn't planned in any great detail. I'll have to think up something exciting.
More tarts were needed.
Lastly, a desire for a "No Shirts" event was expressed. I'm almost curious enough to try arranging one.
Written By Joscelin
Sept. 7, 2018, 2:03 a.m.(7/19/1009 AR)
It surprises many to learn that many of the metals I work with have similar properties to clay, in that they can be pulled and molded and drawn into shape without losing material. The wire draw plates, the shot plates, the cold forging; even the dapping and chasing tools. It's slower, of course, but the principle is same. Sort of.
Silver is the Queen of metals. Soft in its purest form, it stays white the same as its bright, sunny counterpart. Too soft for most, though, it lacks durability. Adding copper to it is how we come up with 'sterling silver', just a touch, just enough, to give it that harder edge. But when you melt it down to cast, always replenish it with more pure silver; the copper burns away at those casting temperatures. Annealing it when it's work-hardened is a constant must, too much moving and shaping without that and the silver will crack, or even shatter! if you quench it too often.
Gold is the most forgiving, the most malleable. You can melt it, mold it, beat it, melt it again and it will never lost its mass. Draw it into wire, shape it flat, pound it into submission, it rebounds again and again, untarnished, clean, pure, resistant to flaw. And so soft, so very soft, and still it keeps its shine much longer than you'd expect. While it's rare, yes, it is the soft, sweet nature of this metal that draws me to work with it, it's radiant color brightening my spirits.
Jeweler's bronze can be similar in color, soft as well, but it succumbs to air like snowflakes on the tongue. Tarnishing easily, dulling to hard yellows or! into a lovely shade of green, both of these attributes can be used to the advantage of the jeweler. Rubbing the freshly polished surface with wax can help it stay warm-gold without dulling, but you can etch into the metal first and rub vinegar and salt into the lines, let it stand and you've bright green images left behind for the world to see.
Brass. I hate brass. In my youth I quenched a thick gauge of wire one too many times, the thing splintered and a sliver slid up underneath my fingernail. It was a thick bit of metal, easily withdrawn, but there's nothing quite as awful as that particular feeling. I still shudder to remember it. I don't like brass. I rather think of us as enemies in a truce. Please don't ask my to work with it.
Copper. Ah, copper. Soft and malleable as gold but tarnishing as quickly as bronze, it took can be used to etch lines that are turned green, rubbed with wax to reserve the natural pink color of the metal. In its pure form, it's added as an alloy to lower the purity in metals too soft to work with in their natural state. Copper can also be warmed slowly in an oven or a kiln at low temperatures, to give it a visceral, living shade of bright red. This patina can stay for ages, if handled with care. Blue stones look quite fetching, especially the light, opaque ones the color of a spring sky. Truly, though, I find it's use is best met when it comes to chasing relief designs. The metal is cradled well in pitch, preserving the minute details, polishing with ease.
I should make a few of those, maybe chase a few scenes into some wide copper or bronze cuffs. Time is where the real value comes in to crafting, time is the measure of it, the true 'karat' of an item. A wide bracelet with an intricately detailed scene of a Hunt, perhaps, hunters in the wake of a fleeing Stag ... Every arrow caught mid-flight in high detail, every expression agonized over, the pelt of the deer chased into perfect texture ... It takes time. A long time. But it's satisfying work.
Yes. Perhaps-
Silver is the Queen of metals. Soft in its purest form, it stays white the same as its bright, sunny counterpart. Too soft for most, though, it lacks durability. Adding copper to it is how we come up with 'sterling silver', just a touch, just enough, to give it that harder edge. But when you melt it down to cast, always replenish it with more pure silver; the copper burns away at those casting temperatures. Annealing it when it's work-hardened is a constant must, too much moving and shaping without that and the silver will crack, or even shatter! if you quench it too often.
Gold is the most forgiving, the most malleable. You can melt it, mold it, beat it, melt it again and it will never lost its mass. Draw it into wire, shape it flat, pound it into submission, it rebounds again and again, untarnished, clean, pure, resistant to flaw. And so soft, so very soft, and still it keeps its shine much longer than you'd expect. While it's rare, yes, it is the soft, sweet nature of this metal that draws me to work with it, it's radiant color brightening my spirits.
Jeweler's bronze can be similar in color, soft as well, but it succumbs to air like snowflakes on the tongue. Tarnishing easily, dulling to hard yellows or! into a lovely shade of green, both of these attributes can be used to the advantage of the jeweler. Rubbing the freshly polished surface with wax can help it stay warm-gold without dulling, but you can etch into the metal first and rub vinegar and salt into the lines, let it stand and you've bright green images left behind for the world to see.
Brass. I hate brass. In my youth I quenched a thick gauge of wire one too many times, the thing splintered and a sliver slid up underneath my fingernail. It was a thick bit of metal, easily withdrawn, but there's nothing quite as awful as that particular feeling. I still shudder to remember it. I don't like brass. I rather think of us as enemies in a truce. Please don't ask my to work with it.
Copper. Ah, copper. Soft and malleable as gold but tarnishing as quickly as bronze, it took can be used to etch lines that are turned green, rubbed with wax to reserve the natural pink color of the metal. In its pure form, it's added as an alloy to lower the purity in metals too soft to work with in their natural state. Copper can also be warmed slowly in an oven or a kiln at low temperatures, to give it a visceral, living shade of bright red. This patina can stay for ages, if handled with care. Blue stones look quite fetching, especially the light, opaque ones the color of a spring sky. Truly, though, I find it's use is best met when it comes to chasing relief designs. The metal is cradled well in pitch, preserving the minute details, polishing with ease.
I should make a few of those, maybe chase a few scenes into some wide copper or bronze cuffs. Time is where the real value comes in to crafting, time is the measure of it, the true 'karat' of an item. A wide bracelet with an intricately detailed scene of a Hunt, perhaps, hunters in the wake of a fleeing Stag ... Every arrow caught mid-flight in high detail, every expression agonized over, the pelt of the deer chased into perfect texture ... It takes time. A long time. But it's satisfying work.
Yes. Perhaps-
Written By Joscelin
Sept. 7, 2018, 1:45 a.m.(7/19/1009 AR)
I'm a plump lady. It's good for the cold months and entertaining (I'm told) in the warm ones. I'm soft all over. I rather like myself this way.
But now, I have a belly. It's noticeable in a way it wasn't. I'm starting to miscalculate when I turn and I'm up against a work table or a bench. I brushed a file almost onto my toes and knocked several hammers onto the floor. I didn't realize how often I let the handles hang over the edge until today. It's a bad habit, one I know I picked up from Master Wolbrand, I know he grumbled to himself about it
("Do as I say, not as I do, girl!")
...but it's never too late to change. I'm tucking my tools further into the bench and across my workspace. I've already started on the tongs on the anvil, that's just a skirts-on-fire incident just waiting to happen.
It is going to get awkward, however; as I see it, this baby is just going to get bigger which means I'll have to lean further and further to get at my work.
I bet if I removed the bottom work-drawer out of my bench, that might help ...
... hmm.
It's hard not to rub at it. The belly. Or imagine that it's going to get as enormous as I suspect it will. I don't have a small husband; this child is likely to be, as Yasmine would say, "a big fat healthy baby", but she says it cuter, her 'baby' sounds iike 'beh-beh'.
I hope I don't catch anything on fire.
But now, I have a belly. It's noticeable in a way it wasn't. I'm starting to miscalculate when I turn and I'm up against a work table or a bench. I brushed a file almost onto my toes and knocked several hammers onto the floor. I didn't realize how often I let the handles hang over the edge until today. It's a bad habit, one I know I picked up from Master Wolbrand, I know he grumbled to himself about it
("Do as I say, not as I do, girl!")
...but it's never too late to change. I'm tucking my tools further into the bench and across my workspace. I've already started on the tongs on the anvil, that's just a skirts-on-fire incident just waiting to happen.
It is going to get awkward, however; as I see it, this baby is just going to get bigger which means I'll have to lean further and further to get at my work.
I bet if I removed the bottom work-drawer out of my bench, that might help ...
... hmm.
It's hard not to rub at it. The belly. Or imagine that it's going to get as enormous as I suspect it will. I don't have a small husband; this child is likely to be, as Yasmine would say, "a big fat healthy baby", but she says it cuter, her 'baby' sounds iike 'beh-beh'.
I hope I don't catch anything on fire.
Written By Joscelin
Sept. 7, 2018, 1:38 a.m.(7/19/1009 AR)
Relationship Note on Gianna
Inspiration strikes at the strangest of times.
Thank you for letting me help you properly set your prizes. It was an honor.
Thank you for letting me help you properly set your prizes. It was an honor.
Written By Shae
Sept. 7, 2018, 1:36 a.m.(7/19/1009 AR)
Vinegar.
Handy stuff.
Handy stuff.
Written By Shae
Sept. 7, 2018, 1:34 a.m.(7/19/1009 AR)
There are so many of these. Who reads all of them? Just pick the ones you like and let the others gather dust. These entries we pen aren't truly meant to be read. The times I do are few and far between, limited to personal interest. No one can possible -want- to read every entry as it's currently written, can they? Doesn't that interfere with sleeping/eating/breathing/cleaning/living/whelping/playing?
Written By Shae
Sept. 7, 2018, 1:27 a.m.(7/19/1009 AR)
Relationship Note on Kenna
Check for protruding nipples and lightly rub her belly. If it feels like she might have little beans in there, it's likely.
Written By Shard
Sept. 7, 2018, 1:09 a.m.(7/19/1009 AR)
Relationship Note on Thesarin
I bang that drum often enough, yes.
But some things are enough to stand out, even past that.
But some things are enough to stand out, even past that.
Written By Kenna
Sept. 6, 2018, 11:19 p.m.(7/18/1009 AR)
She's not a particularly TAME squirrel. I mean, she just knows where the best acorns are at...
Written By Harper
Sept. 6, 2018, 11:13 p.m.(7/18/1009 AR)
Relationship Note on Kenna
You oughta have Jyri take a look at Sally Acorn. He can tell you, I bet!
Written By Riagnon
Sept. 6, 2018, 10:27 p.m.(7/18/1009 AR)
Relationship Note on Kenna
This is very scandalous news.
Written By Kenna
Sept. 6, 2018, 9:55 p.m.(7/18/1009 AR)
I think Princess Sally Acorn might be pregnant.
I am not sure how one knows if a squirrel is actually pregnant though.
She might just like stealing my things and hiding them in trees.
I am not sure how one knows if a squirrel is actually pregnant though.
She might just like stealing my things and hiding them in trees.
Written By Vanora
Sept. 6, 2018, 9:28 p.m.(7/18/1009 AR)
To My Eldest,
Sweet little Darion. I am writing this letter just for you, so that one day when you are a man grown you will find it tucked away for you and perhaps understand who you are and where you come from in new ways.
Never doubt that I love you. I do with all of my heart and always will. Your father loves you as well, just as much, and in that know you have been fortunate. In many ways you are fortunate, though it might be confusing before it is easy to see.
Everyone's family is different, unique in its own way, and they are part of what shape us. Your father grew up with his own father's wisdom to guide him, and that wisdom saw him learning things he might never have otherwise, seeing places and meeting people that helped him learn the world and his place in it. I grew up with my mother's strange affection and with complicated experiences surrounding my relationship with my own father. Your auntie Isolde and Grand Uncle Niccolo helped me find my way, and I love them for it even still.
About a week ago, give or take, you spent the night with me here at the Grimhall Longhouse for the first time, and you were so happy it melted my heart. It's true that your brothers are incredibly unimpressive right now, and I'm sorry for your disappointment, but I promise you they will grow quickly and before long you three can run around the courtyards together like the thickest of thieves. They will need you, you know. A wise, strong, caring big brother is a very special thing. I had less caring big brothers, but I know you will be good to them.
Whatever complications might arise between now and the day when you can read this letter with your own eyes, merely know this. The most important thing in the world is family. Love your kin, care for them and let them care for you, bolster yourselves against the rest of the world.
I have made many mistakes in my life I'm sure...and have further to make. Yet I've put some good into the world too. You, Arkyn, and Antony...you are that good at its most pure. I am so proud of you.
Sweet little Darion. I am writing this letter just for you, so that one day when you are a man grown you will find it tucked away for you and perhaps understand who you are and where you come from in new ways.
Never doubt that I love you. I do with all of my heart and always will. Your father loves you as well, just as much, and in that know you have been fortunate. In many ways you are fortunate, though it might be confusing before it is easy to see.
Everyone's family is different, unique in its own way, and they are part of what shape us. Your father grew up with his own father's wisdom to guide him, and that wisdom saw him learning things he might never have otherwise, seeing places and meeting people that helped him learn the world and his place in it. I grew up with my mother's strange affection and with complicated experiences surrounding my relationship with my own father. Your auntie Isolde and Grand Uncle Niccolo helped me find my way, and I love them for it even still.
About a week ago, give or take, you spent the night with me here at the Grimhall Longhouse for the first time, and you were so happy it melted my heart. It's true that your brothers are incredibly unimpressive right now, and I'm sorry for your disappointment, but I promise you they will grow quickly and before long you three can run around the courtyards together like the thickest of thieves. They will need you, you know. A wise, strong, caring big brother is a very special thing. I had less caring big brothers, but I know you will be good to them.
Whatever complications might arise between now and the day when you can read this letter with your own eyes, merely know this. The most important thing in the world is family. Love your kin, care for them and let them care for you, bolster yourselves against the rest of the world.
I have made many mistakes in my life I'm sure...and have further to make. Yet I've put some good into the world too. You, Arkyn, and Antony...you are that good at its most pure. I am so proud of you.
Written By Lucita
Sept. 6, 2018, 8:46 p.m.(7/18/1009 AR)
Relationship Note on Tikva
It was such a pleasure watching our children playing side by side and not clunking each other with blocks. I hope we will get to visit and let them do that again soon.
Written By Karadoc
Sept. 6, 2018, 8:20 p.m.(7/18/1009 AR)
Relationship Note on Iseulet
You're a cat-napper, my lady Iseulet. A pussy-cat thief!
Written By Sophie
Sept. 6, 2018, 7:40 p.m.(7/18/1009 AR)
I have been in self imposed solitary mediation for.. I don't even know how long. Hearing of the impending marriage of my dear sister Isabeau and Ansel was difficult. I'll admit that. I might have spent the first few days of meditation in tears, but they are spent. I hope.
I am emerging with renewed energy and sense of purpose. The first order of business - a complete scrubbing of the House of Solace. Everything must shine! I must place orders for new linens, beds, and anything else that needs attention! Now to tackle this paperwork that has been piling up while I was in meditation.
(New player here! New to ARX as well so please be patient with me!)
I am emerging with renewed energy and sense of purpose. The first order of business - a complete scrubbing of the House of Solace. Everything must shine! I must place orders for new linens, beds, and anything else that needs attention! Now to tackle this paperwork that has been piling up while I was in meditation.
(New player here! New to ARX as well so please be patient with me!)
Written By Reigna
Sept. 6, 2018, 6:17 p.m.(7/18/1009 AR)
Relationship Note on Jaenelle
I was going to ask why you would lay upon your loved ones the task to destroy your last wishes! I am relieved that that is not the case, as you seem to be a lovely woman!
I am developing a theory that bearing a child diverts much of the humors needed to sustain intellect to the child within you. I blamed many an outburst of emotion or moment of forgetfulness on being with child. I think most other mothers can relate to the concept of 'baby brain'.
I am developing a theory that bearing a child diverts much of the humors needed to sustain intellect to the child within you. I blamed many an outburst of emotion or moment of forgetfulness on being with child. I think most other mothers can relate to the concept of 'baby brain'.
Written By Thesarin
Sept. 6, 2018, 6:15 p.m.(7/18/1009 AR)
Relationship Note on Shard
My experience, hero deeds and villain deeds are mostly the same thing.
Same name a thing to glory in song or spit out like a turd crossed your lips, just which side of which river you hail from.
Same name a thing to glory in song or spit out like a turd crossed your lips, just which side of which river you hail from.
Written By Jaenelle
Sept. 6, 2018, 6:14 p.m.(7/18/1009 AR)
Executors. They are not killing people. Unless they do so on their own. My will is not going to ask them to kill anyone.
Written By Jaenelle
Sept. 6, 2018, 5:17 p.m.(7/18/1009 AR)
Perhaps I have never done anything that was quite dangerous enough to require a will. Perhaps I don't own anything anyone would wish to have after I die. With the birth of our first child quickly approaching, I feel as if it is something I should do now in case I do not make it through.
My Will will be written within my Black Journal, and only that entry may be released upon my death to both my husband, Ettore Mydas Velenosa and to my sister Dame Leona Thrax. I name both as the executioners of my last desires.
My Will will be written within my Black Journal, and only that entry may be released upon my death to both my husband, Ettore Mydas Velenosa and to my sister Dame Leona Thrax. I name both as the executioners of my last desires.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.