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Written By Sydney

Feb. 5, 2021, 10:55 p.m.(11/19/1014 AR)

The cost of war is not coin, not ships, not swords, not supplies, not strategy tables, not maps, not diplomacy, and not time.

To go to war is to trade lives as currency, and those are debts that can't be repaid once incurred.

I'm no pacifist. But when I can, I don't spend my time turning over hornets nests, kicking anthills, and taunting rabid animals. Were I to be that manner of lamentable person, I would fight my own battles instead of hiding behind armies and ideologies to do so.

Written By Quenia

Feb. 5, 2021, 10:28 p.m.(11/19/1014 AR)

Relationship Note on Amanita

Oh, I quite assure you, there's plenty of mystery left even with what I have revealed.

Written By Quenia

Feb. 5, 2021, 10:26 p.m.(11/19/1014 AR)

Oh, Journal.

I can't believe I did that. Right in the middle of the Arvani League meeting. Why did I do that? Oh why?

I suppose it needed to be done, after years of hiding away in my manse.

I announced that I was seeking a husband, and someone responded that they would work their magic as a matchmaker.

I guess we shall see what comes of it.

Luis will be thrilled, as I had threatened to make him heir several times if something ever happens to me.

Written By Decius

Feb. 5, 2021, 10 p.m.(11/19/1014 AR)

Relationship Note on Jan

Now this is a high noble who does not act like she was and more like myself. Approachable to a point (do not bring up marriage), and willing to assist me. I might take her up upon it if I backslide into previous behavior and have an angry spouse or two hunting me. She did develop a fascinating and intricate variation of the game Stones. I think the game is fine as it is, but then again considering how much she lost to me, I would think such. Still, perhaps next tie I might play a different faction so I can loose, and have both of my arms attached to me and not beaten blood by them as makeshift clubs.

Written By Decius

Feb. 5, 2021, 9:55 p.m.(11/19/1014 AR)

Relationship Note on Gabriella

I tend to not believe much claptrap about when people say things about the people and nobility of Setarca. I am after all from the heart of Velenosa lands, and there is still bad blood upon the water/ Perhaps it is why the Princess did not even respond to my offer. For myself, I am but a simple armor smith with a desire to see all soldiers and more of the Compact protected, and I know my work compares favorable or better to what is out there. My cousins say I should be better off than I am. Perhaps I would be if my own work effort was different, but alas I cannot let a person wear one of my work without it receiving the refined care I give it. I have even lost money because of my work effort, yet still provided quality craftsmanship at the end. Perhaps one day my name alone will be enough. It is clear such is not the case today.

Written By Martinique

Feb. 5, 2021, 9:46 p.m.(11/19/1014 AR)

So now my company is dead. My friends, all but one slaughtered. The guilt I feel for not having fallen with them will never fade. At least I still have a place in Redreef.

Written By Decius

Feb. 5, 2021, 9:44 p.m.(11/19/1014 AR)

Relationship Note on Delilah

I understand while I am a highly skilled craftsman and armorsmith, and not all might not want my services. I am also certain noblewomen like the Duchess Consort have many demands on their time Perhaps y expectations were high and colored having only know other high noble from Grayson. Still I do not think it paints me too much wrong to expect some response. Again perhaps it is me and my expectations.

Written By Raven

Feb. 5, 2021, 9:02 p.m.(11/19/1014 AR)

It is time I learned to bring something to my interactions with others, not to simply spew salt. I hate it when Savio's right. The depths of my chagrine in underestimating the art Orland's duties demand of him cannot be measured. I am lucky the skillset my duties require of me do not include finesse.

Written By Sunaia

Feb. 5, 2021, 7:24 p.m.(11/19/1014 AR)

Sorry, sorry -- I made you haul all that back out in order to add:

figs, sharp white cheese, honey
small grilled fish, garlic, crunchy bread
apples, hazelnuts.

Written By Sunaia

Feb. 5, 2021, 6:52 p.m.(11/19/1014 AR)

It was too good, Scholar Einar.

It was so painfully perfect -- just for a moment. A day feels like a minute feels like a year. When lived in that moment. I was present. Afterwards? A memory to savor, like the way the air tastes after it snows, like peppermint. So clean and cold and green. It should also have bubbles, like sparkling wine. It should feel like, I don't know, it should feel the way a sunshower does. I'll forget them, undoubtedly, and the clarity of those memories that I'll reflect upon in my Blacks will soften and dull and turn into nostalgia. Maybe they won't -- and I'll regard them differently.

Who can say?

Written By Zyxthylum

Feb. 5, 2021, 6:23 p.m.(11/19/1014 AR)

I have made my rounds through the other local businesses. The Lair is looking quite homey and the orders are starting to pour in. Life is looking up for us.

Written By Jan

Feb. 5, 2021, 6:19 p.m.(11/19/1014 AR)

I completed the first version of my own board game. Fealty, A Game of Conquest. I am going to start reaching out to artisans to see if they can help me develop it further and add some artwork to it all. At the very least it appeals to a larger audience then any other game I've played.

Written By Amari

Feb. 5, 2021, 11:40 a.m.(11/18/1014 AR)

I cannot conceive of nature as "mindless chaos". It is surely ordered, and all living creatures and the forces that animate the world follow innate and unbreakable laws. Some of those are readily observable in its oft repeating cycles and patterns, while others are entirely more mysterious to us and well hidden from casual observation.

While they are not the laws we'd wish nature would conform to at times, they still exist. That's little solace when disaster occurs, but it is some. A storm does not rage to punish us for some slight against someone claiming to speak for the gods, it rages because it's a storm that rages.

Written By Amanita

Feb. 5, 2021, 11:37 a.m.(11/18/1014 AR)

The questionnaire that has taken over the White Journals seems interesting, but I do wonder if people are at least doing the smart thing and playing their cards close to their chest. Revealing too much leaves no mystery, no meat. No element of surprise.

Written By Raymesin

Feb. 5, 2021, 9:11 a.m.(11/18/1014 AR)

Relationship Note on Orland

So. Questions.

1. What are you afraid of?
Me. There are a lot of fears in this world, but in the end the thing I'm most afraid of is my very own self.

2. What are your opinions on honor?
Must be nice to have the sort of money where honour's a real concern. The rest of us are just trying to scrape a living as best we can while still being able to sleep at night.

3. What path do you see for yourself?
I don't see a path for myself in the way people seem to think I should. I see a collection of choices ahead, forever in (a few half-words crossed out here) flux. Perfect word, Scholar. Um. Some of those choices won't be taken because I don't want to go where they lead. Others won't be taken because I don't have the money, or the power, or whatever else I might need to take them. It's only a path when you look back, because the possibilities of the future are forever changing and you never really know what's going to happen.

4. You can give one piece of advice who really needs advice to live by...what do you tell them.
Live in the now. The past is gone, you can't change it, so learn from it and don't live in it. The future hasn't made it here yet and you might get run over by a cart tomorrow, so don't live in that either. Live in the moment, it's all any of us has.

Interesting exercise. Thanks, Scholar.

Written By Macario

Feb. 5, 2021, 8:08 a.m.(11/18/1014 AR)

Scholar, if I might provide a philosophy grander than my earlier voyage of mint from an under-appreciated herb to its wonders today...

When we're insecure, our actions project our insecurities. It's true! If we mumble "don't fall" while we dance, we're likely to fall. If we keep telling ourselves "don't screw this up", you're likely to screw it up. That's been spinning in my mind this week.

Most times, the young and brash have no thoughts of insecurity, and they trample through the world. But then they grow, and realize what they do has an affect on the people around them. Some don't care, and go on with their ways, and others fumble and fall, with the intention to learn. I yearn to be the latter.

That is to say, there have been many falls of late with people dancing. Now, I am petrified to step out into the dance floor. But isn't that what life is about, to dance and fall? I learned that from a Whisper this week. She made the fall spectacular. She also excepted help, when it was offered. An important lesson for me, to be sure.

Clever, those Whispers!

Written By Ember

Feb. 5, 2021, 5:28 a.m.(11/17/1014 AR)

Any in the Isles who wish to tune up their armies by laying waste to a shav'arvani tribe that has threatened my holdings, do send a messenger. It will be good to make sure that these soldiers are ready for war.

Written By Sina

Feb. 5, 2021, 1:22 a.m.(11/17/1014 AR)

I have given some thought to the questions recently posed, and have decided to answer them. I shall keep the answers brief.

1. What are you afraid of?

The Dream plunged into Nightmare.

2. What are your opinions on honor?

Remembrance that our lives are a precious gift. Treating each other accordingly, with respect and dignity.

What path do you see for yourself?

The path diverges. A choice is made. We shall see what comes of it.

4. A piece of advice?

If you are staring into the unknown, seek to know it.

Written By Sydney

Feb. 5, 2021, 12:31 a.m.(11/17/1014 AR)

Relationship Note on Orland

Though a Wise General has already stolen a march on me for advice that should be marked and heeded well by all, I'll nevertheless scribble my thoughts, as well.

1. What are you afraid of?

The end of all things.

2. What are your opinions on honor?

A noble pursuit.

3. What path do you see for yourself?

Forward, inexorably.

4. What advice would you give to one who really needs it?

All things pass. Remember this and apply it to your comfort or your dread as the mood allows.

Written By Nina

Feb. 5, 2021, 12:01 a.m.(11/17/1014 AR)

I worked so hard this week. But I have more ideas for songs and designs and projects than there are hours in the day!

Lately I have had to make longer and longer lists to keep it all organized.

I just want some new pillows, so I will have to go shopping again, before it gets too cold.

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