Written By Niklas
May 23, 2020, 9:41 a.m.(5/5/1013 AR)
I always find it odd when a noble boasts that they're a pirate.
It's so distasteful.
The point of being a noble is that you don't have to have a _job_.
It's so distasteful.
The point of being a noble is that you don't have to have a _job_.
Written By Ida
May 23, 2020, 9:22 a.m.(5/5/1013 AR)
Relationship Note on Joscelin
There are time when I feel like I can hear you smiling. It sound ridiculous, probably, but sometimes I'll stop whatever I'm doing and go sit in my rocking chair out front. Yours is still there too, of course. So I'll sit and watch people walk by and think about those early days of getting our shops in shape and such. Of pies and the renewal of the Crafter's Guild, of friends come and gone. Whenever I misplace a hammer, I get a little pang knowing that it's really just misplaced and not taken for ransom. I miss you, dear friend, but always end up with a wide smile when I think about the years of friendship and mischief.
Written By Dio
May 23, 2020, 7:44 a.m.(5/5/1013 AR)
Relationship Note on Shard
That's a lot of ink to brag about how rich, and how incompetent you are. Between fighting and looting the Compact's myriad enemies, or taking hardened mercenaries into the jurisdiction of the Iron Guard to bully the people of the Lowers, you chose the latter. Great call, Mate. I'll be sure to write you often for advice.
Written By Corrigan
May 23, 2020, 3:14 a.m.(5/5/1013 AR)
It's truly beautiful, the sheer amount of love some folk've got in them. Some have got so much, apparently, there's almost too much to go around.
Am I journal-ling right, Brother Felix? Has this got the right balance of vagueness, ambiguously bitter sentiment and unspoken cries for help?
Am I journal-ling right, Brother Felix? Has this got the right balance of vagueness, ambiguously bitter sentiment and unspoken cries for help?
Written By Tanith
May 22, 2020, 11:38 p.m.(5/5/1013 AR)
Oh. Oh I have a puppy. He's beautiful, and white and gorgeous and so sweet-
Well. One of them might be very excited by this. The other-
Well. One of them might be very excited by this. The other-
Written By Nurie
May 22, 2020, 9:11 p.m.(5/4/1013 AR)
So many memories jumbled up with the new. The kitchens were a safe retreat when I was a little girl, though I'm no great cook, I can follow directions, and they were warm and the people there kind. Now I tie my apron and follow directions again in the guild hall, feel the ache in different muscles after the meal is done, though it isn't a retreat, and this time I pray that even if it's just a little that I'm helping to give comfort this time. But I know it won't last long, and it isn't enough. But it /is/ some.
It's easy to look and see all the choices that you could be making, all the imaginings of how it might cascade into what others decide and how they choose to act. All of our threads woven and tangled together, and I am trying to make sense of the grand picture while my nose is but a mere inch from the tapestry.
I feel very small. There's so much to do, and sometimes there really isn't a choice that will not harm somebody, or cause them grief. It doesn't mean that I won't keep putting one foot in front of the other and doing what best I can. But sometimes it is hard to know if I am the tiny pebble in someone's shoe that will just cause them a hurtful stumble, or if could be one of the many in the hand to be added together to make a better path forward for those who come after.
I wish I could be less selfish and more at peace. I can keep trying.
It's easy to look and see all the choices that you could be making, all the imaginings of how it might cascade into what others decide and how they choose to act. All of our threads woven and tangled together, and I am trying to make sense of the grand picture while my nose is but a mere inch from the tapestry.
I feel very small. There's so much to do, and sometimes there really isn't a choice that will not harm somebody, or cause them grief. It doesn't mean that I won't keep putting one foot in front of the other and doing what best I can. But sometimes it is hard to know if I am the tiny pebble in someone's shoe that will just cause them a hurtful stumble, or if could be one of the many in the hand to be added together to make a better path forward for those who come after.
I wish I could be less selfish and more at peace. I can keep trying.
Written By Apollo
May 22, 2020, 5:26 p.m.(5/4/1013 AR)
The struggle to move people into useful arts and work is not small.
I'm certainly no scholar, but I've had very good luck in learning whatever I liked - in my youth the Countess saw I had plentiful opportunities to try my hand at whatever trade or task I liked, and I had the luxury of time that most don't. I fell in a bit with a family full of artisans, and dabbled about for years alongside with bits of this and that, until I found hides, felt a calling. It was scraps I sewed up into a bundle around a handful of river-pebbles, to play those foot-juggling games we liked back home. I found fabric shifty and willful - despite learning to sew a bit now I still do. Leather has a substance to it. It can be willful too of course, but it talks if you listen with your eyes and hands. I liked that. I liked that if I gave it right attention it would tell me just what I should do with it, how to tan it, how much to thin it, what dye it might like better than another, what shapes might suit.
I've... run off on a tangent, haven't I.
The seraphs taught us how to read and write, of course. And I found eventually I had head enough for numbers I could be a help outside just keeping shop. (Numbers though not record-keeping. I benefit a good deal from having hired on a scholar, who called my ledgers an abomination; very well then, keep them for me.) But fundamentally most of my learning has been about leather-craft, and along the way how to keep a business running, and how to negotiate a proper bargain, all the stuff necessary for the particular life I life.
I've been aboard a ship a time or two, and didn't lose my lunch, but if you asked me to sail the thing I'd be at a loss. At least I'd be starting from knowing next to nothing. I'd be rubbish at it a good long while. I've never learnt to cook properly, save a mess of scrambled egg, as likely to bounce off the plate as anything. (Gods keep the one person I've ever attempted to cook for; she kept her face straight eating.)
More's the trouble, if you didn't come up with a family that had plenty, likely as not you learnt whatever your mum or dad did, and that was that. No coin for idleness or options. Sailor's children become sailors, tanner's kids become tanners, cook's kids become cooks. Not always, of course. Might be there's an aunt or family friend somewhere in there to teach you something different, and every family needs to eat; can't teach all your children smithing as you can't eat metal. Or so I'm told.
So now we've got a lot of sailors with a lot of time on their hands. Some have learnt the tongues of far-off places, which has had us all smiling at the guild hall - turns out even if you don't know the words, a joke sounds like a joke no matter the language. They know how to sail, and (mercifully) some of them how to cook; I've found some know how to mend or care for leathers, some can stitch up a gash in a shirt, because like mercenaries on land they've had to make do until they can find their way to the city, see a tanner or tailor or smith to see to their gear. But many know mostly sailing, or sailing and arms, or sailing and the hard work of the stevedore, loading and unloading til backs threaten to snap.
It's going to take time for any of them to learn new trades. Many of them don't want to. They'd like to be back on their ships, doing what they know. Even paid journeyman's wage for apprentice work, I think most folk would like to end a day feeling proud of what they've done. A beginner's frustrations magnified by hunger, bristling energy and close quarters of the city, a craving for the lives they know - it isn't so well-suited to learning.
Yet we persist. And we hope that we will see folk fed and clothed and shod, good hands put to good work. Maybe memory will render this moment kinder than it is. Perhaps sewing back a loose button years on, they'll recall a time they used to pay to have it done. There might be a few who hadn't ever imagined any other life but on deck that find they favor the forge or the bench, disaster turned luck; for the rest, our hope is not to right every wrong (though how lovely that would be), but to connect the capable with the needful, that we may all find our bellies full enough when we find our beds.
I'm certainly no scholar, but I've had very good luck in learning whatever I liked - in my youth the Countess saw I had plentiful opportunities to try my hand at whatever trade or task I liked, and I had the luxury of time that most don't. I fell in a bit with a family full of artisans, and dabbled about for years alongside with bits of this and that, until I found hides, felt a calling. It was scraps I sewed up into a bundle around a handful of river-pebbles, to play those foot-juggling games we liked back home. I found fabric shifty and willful - despite learning to sew a bit now I still do. Leather has a substance to it. It can be willful too of course, but it talks if you listen with your eyes and hands. I liked that. I liked that if I gave it right attention it would tell me just what I should do with it, how to tan it, how much to thin it, what dye it might like better than another, what shapes might suit.
I've... run off on a tangent, haven't I.
The seraphs taught us how to read and write, of course. And I found eventually I had head enough for numbers I could be a help outside just keeping shop. (Numbers though not record-keeping. I benefit a good deal from having hired on a scholar, who called my ledgers an abomination; very well then, keep them for me.) But fundamentally most of my learning has been about leather-craft, and along the way how to keep a business running, and how to negotiate a proper bargain, all the stuff necessary for the particular life I life.
I've been aboard a ship a time or two, and didn't lose my lunch, but if you asked me to sail the thing I'd be at a loss. At least I'd be starting from knowing next to nothing. I'd be rubbish at it a good long while. I've never learnt to cook properly, save a mess of scrambled egg, as likely to bounce off the plate as anything. (Gods keep the one person I've ever attempted to cook for; she kept her face straight eating.)
More's the trouble, if you didn't come up with a family that had plenty, likely as not you learnt whatever your mum or dad did, and that was that. No coin for idleness or options. Sailor's children become sailors, tanner's kids become tanners, cook's kids become cooks. Not always, of course. Might be there's an aunt or family friend somewhere in there to teach you something different, and every family needs to eat; can't teach all your children smithing as you can't eat metal. Or so I'm told.
So now we've got a lot of sailors with a lot of time on their hands. Some have learnt the tongues of far-off places, which has had us all smiling at the guild hall - turns out even if you don't know the words, a joke sounds like a joke no matter the language. They know how to sail, and (mercifully) some of them how to cook; I've found some know how to mend or care for leathers, some can stitch up a gash in a shirt, because like mercenaries on land they've had to make do until they can find their way to the city, see a tanner or tailor or smith to see to their gear. But many know mostly sailing, or sailing and arms, or sailing and the hard work of the stevedore, loading and unloading til backs threaten to snap.
It's going to take time for any of them to learn new trades. Many of them don't want to. They'd like to be back on their ships, doing what they know. Even paid journeyman's wage for apprentice work, I think most folk would like to end a day feeling proud of what they've done. A beginner's frustrations magnified by hunger, bristling energy and close quarters of the city, a craving for the lives they know - it isn't so well-suited to learning.
Yet we persist. And we hope that we will see folk fed and clothed and shod, good hands put to good work. Maybe memory will render this moment kinder than it is. Perhaps sewing back a loose button years on, they'll recall a time they used to pay to have it done. There might be a few who hadn't ever imagined any other life but on deck that find they favor the forge or the bench, disaster turned luck; for the rest, our hope is not to right every wrong (though how lovely that would be), but to connect the capable with the needful, that we may all find our bellies full enough when we find our beds.
Written By Drake
May 22, 2020, 4:46 p.m.(5/4/1013 AR)
A duel well-fought by the Lady Brianna. At the end it was a close bout and I was starting to tire when I got the one blow in that made it decisive. I am grateful for the opportunity to do my duty before Gloria, and for the thrill of the challenge.
Unfortunately I may not be well enough to participate in the Gauntlet as a result of my own wounds. I suppose I'll see how it knits and refrain from anything too dangerous in the mean time.
Unfortunately I may not be well enough to participate in the Gauntlet as a result of my own wounds. I suppose I'll see how it knits and refrain from anything too dangerous in the mean time.
Written By Hamish
May 22, 2020, 3:52 p.m.(5/4/1013 AR)
The outpouring of generosity toward the Lowers is heartening, however it does make me fear that some people are missing the greater point. The wealthy see the whirlpool as having increased the rarity of brocade and dawnstones, mirrorsilver and diamondplate, and this is surely true. But it has also reduced the amount of food coming into the city. Pouring silver into the lowers is laudable, but silver cannot be eaten. Or at least it should not. Silver can buy food, but it will continue to be less food for more silver unless the greater problem is resolved. Turn your silver to those seeking to solve that problem and until food is brought into the city more readily, share what you have. I am far less concerned about nobles attending fancy parties wearing tens of thousands of silver worth of clothing that will get be worn once than I am about those parties having enormous piles of food to serve a handful of the wealthy when it could be spread out among those who are hungry and feed dozens in the Lowers.
Written By Shard
May 22, 2020, 3:50 p.m.(5/4/1013 AR)
Relationship Note on Dio
Wow, okay, I see I'm going to have to go through this step by step with you. Have you never dealt with mercenaries? That's unusual for a noble. I guess you're a pirate, so you just sit on a ship and shout at anyone daring to do things you don't like on land.
Step one: client asks to hire the Valorous Few (in this case, the Crafters Guild, through Felix)
Step two: terms are discussed. How many, how long, what specifically they want done.
Step three: I tell them how much that's going to cost, based on all of those things. Here's where it gets complicated, I'm sorry, maybe the Scholar can help you.
Step three-a: In this case, given the situation in the Lowers, I offer to do it at cost. That means the Valorous Few does not actually make any profit. Usually we make a lot of profit, at least for commoners. It doesn't stack up to taxes given to nobles, usually, but it's probably pretty similar to what pirates get, if they're decent pirates, except the people who hire us are willing to pay us.
Step three-a-a: Since I said 'at cost' and not 'free', that means we're still getting paid. Except that, as you may note (but probably not, I understand this is difficult), I said that /I/ was not taking a cut of this. That means I, personally, am working for free. This is the part where you were actually right, hooray! I am a shitty mercenary for working for free, in this one case.
Step three-a-b: In this case, I tell the Crafters Guild what it will cost to give my sellswords a very nice payout in which they will be allowed to comfortably support their families (this means they get to eat, and they don't get kicked out of wherever they're living. Hooray!). I note that it's possible for me to do it for half of that money, but it would take a lot of convincing, because, while I can use funds from the company's account to make up the difference, I probably wouldn't be able to make up /all/ of the difference. It's good to pay sellswords well, they aren't very happy when you don't.
Step four: Usually, we haggle. Haggling means they tell me why they shouldn't have to pay that much, I tell them why they should, we argue (this is an important tradition. See? I respect some traditions), and sometimes we come to a compromise. Other times, I exhaust them by continuing to argue (I'm good at this!), and they agree with me that they should actually pay that much.
Step four-a: But in this case, the Crafters Guild doesn't argue, because we both agree this is an unusual situation. I quoted them a fair price, they agreed to pay me a fair price. They decide to pay me the first amount I cited, which means all of my sellswords get a nice, comfortable payment while they're going through hard times.
Step five: We get paid. Hooray! I split the money between all of the sellswords who were hired for this job.
Step five-a: In this case, I take no cut. The company takes no cut. That means I eat whatever other costs there might be, and I don't get any money. This is, as I mentioned, the part where you're actually correct (hooray!) and I am a shitty mercenary, because I'm handling this for free. I am. Not my people. Me. Not them. if you can't understand this difference, I'm afraid I just can't help you there.
Step six: We do what we were hired to do.
Step six-a: So the Crafters Guild gets what they paid for: security while they feed hungry people. Hooray!
Now, I have no fucking idea when you think I ever spoke for the Faith or the Crown, when I started ordering people around (except the people I hired, that's my job), when I shit on any traditions (in this case, though sometimes I do shit on traditions!), or claimed that I was the only one who had the right solution (I just said your solution was blatantly self-serving, not the actual generous offer you keep claiming it is, do you think your solution is the only solution?). That sounds like shit you just made up! Boo.
P.S.: Guess who also kills slavers? Lots of people! Including me. Wow, imagine that, it's amazing.
Step one: client asks to hire the Valorous Few (in this case, the Crafters Guild, through Felix)
Step two: terms are discussed. How many, how long, what specifically they want done.
Step three: I tell them how much that's going to cost, based on all of those things. Here's where it gets complicated, I'm sorry, maybe the Scholar can help you.
Step three-a: In this case, given the situation in the Lowers, I offer to do it at cost. That means the Valorous Few does not actually make any profit. Usually we make a lot of profit, at least for commoners. It doesn't stack up to taxes given to nobles, usually, but it's probably pretty similar to what pirates get, if they're decent pirates, except the people who hire us are willing to pay us.
Step three-a-a: Since I said 'at cost' and not 'free', that means we're still getting paid. Except that, as you may note (but probably not, I understand this is difficult), I said that /I/ was not taking a cut of this. That means I, personally, am working for free. This is the part where you were actually right, hooray! I am a shitty mercenary for working for free, in this one case.
Step three-a-b: In this case, I tell the Crafters Guild what it will cost to give my sellswords a very nice payout in which they will be allowed to comfortably support their families (this means they get to eat, and they don't get kicked out of wherever they're living. Hooray!). I note that it's possible for me to do it for half of that money, but it would take a lot of convincing, because, while I can use funds from the company's account to make up the difference, I probably wouldn't be able to make up /all/ of the difference. It's good to pay sellswords well, they aren't very happy when you don't.
Step four: Usually, we haggle. Haggling means they tell me why they shouldn't have to pay that much, I tell them why they should, we argue (this is an important tradition. See? I respect some traditions), and sometimes we come to a compromise. Other times, I exhaust them by continuing to argue (I'm good at this!), and they agree with me that they should actually pay that much.
Step four-a: But in this case, the Crafters Guild doesn't argue, because we both agree this is an unusual situation. I quoted them a fair price, they agreed to pay me a fair price. They decide to pay me the first amount I cited, which means all of my sellswords get a nice, comfortable payment while they're going through hard times.
Step five: We get paid. Hooray! I split the money between all of the sellswords who were hired for this job.
Step five-a: In this case, I take no cut. The company takes no cut. That means I eat whatever other costs there might be, and I don't get any money. This is, as I mentioned, the part where you're actually correct (hooray!) and I am a shitty mercenary, because I'm handling this for free. I am. Not my people. Me. Not them. if you can't understand this difference, I'm afraid I just can't help you there.
Step six: We do what we were hired to do.
Step six-a: So the Crafters Guild gets what they paid for: security while they feed hungry people. Hooray!
Now, I have no fucking idea when you think I ever spoke for the Faith or the Crown, when I started ordering people around (except the people I hired, that's my job), when I shit on any traditions (in this case, though sometimes I do shit on traditions!), or claimed that I was the only one who had the right solution (I just said your solution was blatantly self-serving, not the actual generous offer you keep claiming it is, do you think your solution is the only solution?). That sounds like shit you just made up! Boo.
P.S.: Guess who also kills slavers? Lots of people! Including me. Wow, imagine that, it's amazing.
Written By Kiera
May 22, 2020, 3:34 p.m.(5/4/1013 AR)
The recent riots were disheartening and destruction. The frustration is justified. I am proud of the nobles taking it o upon themselves to ease the burdens faced by the common people. this is the right thing to do. Amidst all the all of the privleges of the nobility the poor and suffering shall be rememberd
Written By Aureth
May 22, 2020, 3:20 p.m.(5/4/1013 AR)
It's always so charming when noblemen think they can announce they are criminals for all to hear without the opprobrium of their peers.
Written By Ravna
May 22, 2020, 2:47 p.m.(5/4/1013 AR)
Hey diddle diddle, the frog and the fiddle, and the wolf who howls at the moon -
None of you are wise, to any sort of prize, nor magic, nor godly boon.
I-I once ate a spider, and got up inside her, and in there I found my soul. She whispered to me, "Why do you want to be free?" Sad as can be. So I said to her, "Because that's all I'll ever be." I made her moan, just one more time, before I swiped up a line, and left her there - in the dark.
...So, Scholar. Do you suppose, then, maybe, probably - possibly - th-that you're not actually winning at dice and I'm winning at dice, but because I am winning at dice, and you're gettin' some Woel that maybe you're actually winning at dice?
No, no. Hear me out, right?
I toss you a coin, and you buy some wine, the man who gets the coin can go buy something fine. Right? Now, follow me: The man who buys something fine, will go and buy more wine, to take to his date with the fine lady in rubi plate. Now, now, reeeeaady? The man who bought something fine, who bought more wine, to take to his date with the fine lady in rubi plate now comes to me, who sings real loud, you see? They toss me a coin, that I tossed to you, and - here's where it gets good - this story is true.
Maaaaan. Don't fuckin' look at me like that, it's not my fault I'm this way, see? It's not me, not mine, not the smoke or the wine - I in fact blame, this great black hat.
..What do you mean stop? Th'fuck you think I've been doin' this whole time, save stoppin'? You think I want to rhyme, constantly, like there's a gods damned beat droppin'? GAH!
Love? O Love. O Mine. Beautiful, and very, very fine. She stares at me, and in her is a sea, of something better, far better, than any, *any* wine. Her touch is godly, her voice, queenly, yet in this power, no matter the hour, not once has she bent me, broke me, nor shoved me away. It is this woman, O Love, O Mine, that I always, every time, find the price of Games easy to pay.
None of you are wise, to any sort of prize, nor magic, nor godly boon.
I-I once ate a spider, and got up inside her, and in there I found my soul. She whispered to me, "Why do you want to be free?" Sad as can be. So I said to her, "Because that's all I'll ever be." I made her moan, just one more time, before I swiped up a line, and left her there - in the dark.
...So, Scholar. Do you suppose, then, maybe, probably - possibly - th-that you're not actually winning at dice and I'm winning at dice, but because I am winning at dice, and you're gettin' some Woel that maybe you're actually winning at dice?
No, no. Hear me out, right?
I toss you a coin, and you buy some wine, the man who gets the coin can go buy something fine. Right? Now, follow me: The man who buys something fine, will go and buy more wine, to take to his date with the fine lady in rubi plate. Now, now, reeeeaady? The man who bought something fine, who bought more wine, to take to his date with the fine lady in rubi plate now comes to me, who sings real loud, you see? They toss me a coin, that I tossed to you, and - here's where it gets good - this story is true.
Maaaaan. Don't fuckin' look at me like that, it's not my fault I'm this way, see? It's not me, not mine, not the smoke or the wine - I in fact blame, this great black hat.
..What do you mean stop? Th'fuck you think I've been doin' this whole time, save stoppin'? You think I want to rhyme, constantly, like there's a gods damned beat droppin'? GAH!
Love? O Love. O Mine. Beautiful, and very, very fine. She stares at me, and in her is a sea, of something better, far better, than any, *any* wine. Her touch is godly, her voice, queenly, yet in this power, no matter the hour, not once has she bent me, broke me, nor shoved me away. It is this woman, O Love, O Mine, that I always, every time, find the price of Games easy to pay.
Written By Preston
May 22, 2020, 1:31 p.m.(5/4/1013 AR)
Choice is a funny thing. People are free to make them, for good or for ill, but choice with no consequence is easy to do. It's choice with consequence that can often be the most difficult to accept. Skald does not liberate you from those consequences, nor is he a shield you can hide behind and claim that the Faith protects you from them.
And I should make it clear, if any choose in this time of tension, to seek to incite harm against the Faith to distract from their own problems, to advocate or place at risk the Faith, as an institution, or its physical manifestations in property and the Godsworn singularly or assembled, rest assured those consequences will come. And you will get another choice. To stand, or to run. I'd advise running. Very fast and very far away. An enemy bears down on us from the east, there are other problems that assail, I have no patience left for you now.
And I should make it clear, if any choose in this time of tension, to seek to incite harm against the Faith to distract from their own problems, to advocate or place at risk the Faith, as an institution, or its physical manifestations in property and the Godsworn singularly or assembled, rest assured those consequences will come. And you will get another choice. To stand, or to run. I'd advise running. Very fast and very far away. An enemy bears down on us from the east, there are other problems that assail, I have no patience left for you now.
Written By Reigna
May 22, 2020, 1:03 p.m.(5/4/1013 AR)
Relationship Note on Drusila
Between yourself and the marquis that declares himself a criminal proudly, I can see that some scholar failed to impart the skill of reading comprehension, and that is very sad. I, myself am a skilled instructor and would be more than happy to tutor you in such.
You asked if people are not free to make their own choice. My exact words were:
"There is nothing chaining them to this place and if they had the desire or means to move, nothing stops them from doing so. That you think they are unaware of their options and are simply staying put out of ignorance to their options is a little insulting. Or rather, it is very insulting, but I was trying to be kind."
You then stated: If offering the people of Arx a choice is theft, are they then property? Has the Marquessa of Keaton become a proponent of Slavery? It pains me to have to dignify these ridiculous assertions at all, but I will not abide such fallacy to go unanswered. So: No. People are *not* property, obviously. And if you look to my words and read them you will see clearly that I was saying it was a theft of *taxes* not *people*.
"By encouraging the Crownsworn to leave Arx and move to Ischia, you do realize that you are publicly encouraging people to cease making payments to the Crown, and begin paying you? I know you have declared yourself a pirate and all, but that sort of brazen attempt at theft is rather bold."
Now, I have no idea who you are, and none that I asked had any clue either, so I will assume that you are a member of the Seraceni commonfolk who is taking up for their liege. I applaud the loyalty, though I wish it came with a better grasp of the written word. It would seem that Seraceni needs to spend more time on hiring legitimate scholars of Vellichor instead of engaging in the crime of piracy.
You asked if people are not free to make their own choice. My exact words were:
"There is nothing chaining them to this place and if they had the desire or means to move, nothing stops them from doing so. That you think they are unaware of their options and are simply staying put out of ignorance to their options is a little insulting. Or rather, it is very insulting, but I was trying to be kind."
You then stated: If offering the people of Arx a choice is theft, are they then property? Has the Marquessa of Keaton become a proponent of Slavery? It pains me to have to dignify these ridiculous assertions at all, but I will not abide such fallacy to go unanswered. So: No. People are *not* property, obviously. And if you look to my words and read them you will see clearly that I was saying it was a theft of *taxes* not *people*.
"By encouraging the Crownsworn to leave Arx and move to Ischia, you do realize that you are publicly encouraging people to cease making payments to the Crown, and begin paying you? I know you have declared yourself a pirate and all, but that sort of brazen attempt at theft is rather bold."
Now, I have no idea who you are, and none that I asked had any clue either, so I will assume that you are a member of the Seraceni commonfolk who is taking up for their liege. I applaud the loyalty, though I wish it came with a better grasp of the written word. It would seem that Seraceni needs to spend more time on hiring legitimate scholars of Vellichor instead of engaging in the crime of piracy.
Written By Svana
May 22, 2020, 1:02 p.m.(5/4/1013 AR)
I don't even know where to begin, Scholar. I have been cooking and helping to feed those at the Crafter's Hall day after day. I see merchant families who have recently moved to the city or are stuck here due to the markets being what they are, whom I know from my own travels - and they're hungry. Some of them are looking downright gaunt. It makes me so sad to see their children looking dirty and scrawny. I sneak extra servings to them, admittedly.
I've been handing out vouchers to my shop to make sure that those who are in need of new clothing know where they can come, but I've a feeling something else is brewing given how the other shops are closing.
I am single now, by the way. Sort of single. Not really single at all. I'm just done with Jules.
There is another in my life who will give his last name to my children - and me, when I'm ready for it and so he is. My heart has belonged to him for some time now in a way that I can't describe. Maybe I'm just silly and young, but at least he treats me like an equal - and more.
I've been handing out vouchers to my shop to make sure that those who are in need of new clothing know where they can come, but I've a feeling something else is brewing given how the other shops are closing.
I am single now, by the way. Sort of single. Not really single at all. I'm just done with Jules.
There is another in my life who will give his last name to my children - and me, when I'm ready for it and so he is. My heart has belonged to him for some time now in a way that I can't describe. Maybe I'm just silly and young, but at least he treats me like an equal - and more.
Written By Lucita
May 22, 2020, 12:21 p.m.(5/4/1013 AR)
Sometimes one does not know if to be amused or dismayed on overhearing the twins in the garden area. One twin started to sniffle and asking if it hurt, the other chattering away about stabbing and slashing and the gardening wards and nanny explaining that this time of year one is supposed to cut out the eyes of potatoes to plant them, the potatoes can't feel it. It is time they learn some about Petrichor, where food comes from and farming which is a major part of Saikland in addition to their other lessons.
Written By Lucita
May 22, 2020, 12:14 p.m.(5/4/1013 AR)
I've had the wards (students in Valary's school for farmers, gardeners, alchemists and such) plant extra food plants instead of so many annual flowers this year. Looks like we may be needing it to share with others.
Written By Esme
May 22, 2020, 10:24 a.m.(5/3/1013 AR)
I grew listless last night. I could not sleep and so I walked through the gardens and remembered Tor. The smell of roses on the air. The feeling of being at my family estate there. I have always and will always love Tor. It's my home. It's my origins. I started to think about the people I have met while in Arx. The tears, the laughter, and everything that has come with it. People who were strangers that I call friends. On the flip side, those I called friends that are now strangers. It's a strange mystical thing the way our paths touch and divide, touch and divide. I feel we are always saying hello or good-bye.
This is not a bad thing. As I walked in the gardens at Fidante in Arx and watched how the moonlight bathed the flowers, or how the shadows stretched while others slept; I found myself thinking of these things. Thinking of my next steps on the path before me and which directions that I should go on them.
I just want to thank all of you that have been on my path and might read this. I am not left untouched by any of you, be it in song and laughter, counsel and tears, or drink and faded memories. Thank you for enriching my path.
This is not a bad thing. As I walked in the gardens at Fidante in Arx and watched how the moonlight bathed the flowers, or how the shadows stretched while others slept; I found myself thinking of these things. Thinking of my next steps on the path before me and which directions that I should go on them.
I just want to thank all of you that have been on my path and might read this. I am not left untouched by any of you, be it in song and laughter, counsel and tears, or drink and faded memories. Thank you for enriching my path.
Written By Mirari
May 22, 2020, 9:59 a.m.(5/3/1013 AR)
Relationship Note on Joscelin
J-
This missive won't find you, so I'll file it in the Great Archive instead. How are you? I miss you. I was spending some time cleaning out my chambers today and re-organizing (how did it get this messy?), and I came across my copy of the promissory note of the initial loan you, as Guildmaster, gave me on behalf of the Crafter's Guild. So that I could set up Mixtures Obscura-- now Works Obscura. It was nearly eight years ago now.
I don't think I ever stopped to consider how much freedom you granted me that day. How much freedom the Crafters Guild gave me.
A path to walk of my own, a craft-- eventually two --of my own. Work for my idle hands. Something for which to pour myself into, and to put out into the world.
I miss you, my friend. Thank you for all you did as Guildmaster.
Yours,
Mirari Corsetina
This missive won't find you, so I'll file it in the Great Archive instead. How are you? I miss you. I was spending some time cleaning out my chambers today and re-organizing (how did it get this messy?), and I came across my copy of the promissory note of the initial loan you, as Guildmaster, gave me on behalf of the Crafter's Guild. So that I could set up Mixtures Obscura-- now Works Obscura. It was nearly eight years ago now.
I don't think I ever stopped to consider how much freedom you granted me that day. How much freedom the Crafters Guild gave me.
A path to walk of my own, a craft-- eventually two --of my own. Work for my idle hands. Something for which to pour myself into, and to put out into the world.
I miss you, my friend. Thank you for all you did as Guildmaster.
Yours,
Mirari Corsetina
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.