Written By Belladonna
Oct. 17, 2019, 11:18 a.m.(1/12/1012 AR)
Relationship Note on Marian
I stand before my Peers to apologize for my scorching, hurtful remarks on snow and winter. I was insensitive and careless, unable to comprehend the enduring values represented by such elements that, somehow, seem to represent all Northerners in Princess Marian Redrain's eyes.
In the future I will be more considerate in making colorful jokes about the worst season of the year and in this moment of great personal shame, I can only hope that one day I may yet see the saddest of seasons as something more than an excuse to have Clearlake marmots slain to make beautiful cloaks.
I will do better.
In the future I will be more considerate in making colorful jokes about the worst season of the year and in this moment of great personal shame, I can only hope that one day I may yet see the saddest of seasons as something more than an excuse to have Clearlake marmots slain to make beautiful cloaks.
I will do better.
Written By Cristoph
Oct. 17, 2019, 9:35 a.m.(1/12/1012 AR)
I had a good chuckle this morning. Are we truly going to be upset that someone has a strong dislike of winter when there's so many more important things to be concerned about?
Written By Martino
Oct. 17, 2019, 4:05 a.m.(1/12/1012 AR)
The turkey dinner in House Bisland was such a delight, every time I go there it seems a new extension has either been planned or built. The place is a delightful taste of Pridehall away from the Crownlands.
Meal itself was very well prepared but stuck with some tragic news for the host. Being the good guest, Lord Dariel and I did help the servants with clearing away dishes.
Meal itself was very well prepared but stuck with some tragic news for the host. Being the good guest, Lord Dariel and I did help the servants with clearing away dishes.
Written By Marian
Oct. 17, 2019, 2:37 a.m.(1/11/1012 AR)
Relationship Note on Belladonna
Do you seek to besmirch Northlanders with your careless words? Or just echoing stereotypes of the South that distract from the shining examples of diplomacy, elegance and grace of the fair Lycene I've had pleasure working with?
There is nothing sad about winter. The blanket of white snow eliminating the frail and weak. The warmth of family and friends who pause their lives to reconnect because of the impassable force that is nature. The welcomed weight of leathers and furs that protect from the exhilarating, biting winds of the North. Every season has merit in the cycle. Do not insult others fondness just because of difference.
There is nothing sad about winter. The blanket of white snow eliminating the frail and weak. The warmth of family and friends who pause their lives to reconnect because of the impassable force that is nature. The welcomed weight of leathers and furs that protect from the exhilarating, biting winds of the North. Every season has merit in the cycle. Do not insult others fondness just because of difference.
Written By Tyrus
Oct. 16, 2019, 11:09 p.m.(1/11/1012 AR)
I tire of hearing, reading, of these pious words. Do you think they are carried to the slaves that suffer now? That have suffered for untold years? Of course not. They're lost in the wind, whatever echo that might reach their shores silenced by the crack of the whip.
Symbolic gestures mean nothing. Do you think my heart and soul might have been comforted, to know of all the fine words being shared against slavery in the past decade? Of all these thoughts and prayers, these grandiose stands and declarations?
No. Only anger and hate at this sickening hypocrisy.
Yet can I blame them? Some, at least, are honest about their newfound sensibilities. Honest, that their eyes have taken a long time to open. It's not as if I knew, understood it to my very bones, before I lived it. Survived it.
Few are so fortunate. Few were.
And while we continue to bicker over words and symbols, they continue to die, their heartsblood maintaining the turning of a wheel far more sinister than the one in Death's keeping.
Symbolic gestures mean nothing. Do you think my heart and soul might have been comforted, to know of all the fine words being shared against slavery in the past decade? Of all these thoughts and prayers, these grandiose stands and declarations?
No. Only anger and hate at this sickening hypocrisy.
Yet can I blame them? Some, at least, are honest about their newfound sensibilities. Honest, that their eyes have taken a long time to open. It's not as if I knew, understood it to my very bones, before I lived it. Survived it.
Few are so fortunate. Few were.
And while we continue to bicker over words and symbols, they continue to die, their heartsblood maintaining the turning of a wheel far more sinister than the one in Death's keeping.
Written By Shard
Oct. 16, 2019, 9:29 p.m.(1/11/1012 AR)
Relationship Note on Belladonna
I don't love winter, though I do, sometimes, for reasons I'll never really be able to explain, miss northern winters in the way I imagine other people miss their childhood home, even if that home was cold and dangerous and never had enough food. I don't love winter, I respect winter. Where I'm from, if you don't respect it, it will kill you, it will kill your family, your friends, your tribe, your horses. It doesn't do this because it's cruel. It does this because it is, it was, and it will always come again. Winter is a beast that cannot be tamed, and must always be remembered, prepared for, endured. You can complain about it, shout at it, curse it, and it won't do you any good at all because winter does not care. Winter is a test. Have you done enough? Have you made the right choices? And what will you do when something in your plans inevitably goes completely wrong, because winter does not know mercy and will show no mercy to you.
And the most important thing about winter, the reason to respect it the most, is that, unless you follow it home, winter will always go away. It will always fade. No matter how long, or how harsh, winter will always, eventually, become spring.
And the most important thing about winter, the reason to respect it the most, is that, unless you follow it home, winter will always go away. It will always fade. No matter how long, or how harsh, winter will always, eventually, become spring.
Written By Rysen
Oct. 16, 2019, 5:44 p.m.(1/11/1012 AR)
Relationship Note on Braelynn
Alas, O emerald-eyed huntress, beware
That in chasing your game, too close you come,
And feel his bite before you are aware
That what you sought you cannot now out run,
For never shall this bright creative spark
Like the Prima's fail, and cease to endure,
But like Lagoma shine against the dark,
And seek to impress one so blessed with allure,
For as in blooms you inspiration find,
I in you discover means to express
My muse's peerless song that now inclines
To cast in verse that which is loveliest.
My heart to another I gave in trust,
But to've met you I count the best of luck.
That in chasing your game, too close you come,
And feel his bite before you are aware
That what you sought you cannot now out run,
For never shall this bright creative spark
Like the Prima's fail, and cease to endure,
But like Lagoma shine against the dark,
And seek to impress one so blessed with allure,
For as in blooms you inspiration find,
I in you discover means to express
My muse's peerless song that now inclines
To cast in verse that which is loveliest.
My heart to another I gave in trust,
But to've met you I count the best of luck.
Written By Dariel
Oct. 16, 2019, 2:11 p.m.(1/10/1012 AR)
I don't like this white stuff at all. At all.
Written By Llewella
Oct. 16, 2019, 2:06 p.m.(1/10/1012 AR)
"Not All The Isles."
Those four words are not the motto of my family, but they are repeated by those who have dealings with us more than the actual words sewn into our crests. They are the words that came to mind as I read the words of our Highlord in his recent discussion on the products of slavery that have become useful and fashionable.
Not All The Isles.
There is not a single stone of dragonweep, no scrap of Steelsilk, not a boot of Cardian Snakeskin to be found in Melaeris Fasthold. Travel to Astarrea and you will find many former thralls; not because we have complied with the wishes of House Thrax and removed their enslavement, but because we never had Thralls to begin with and have instead welcomed those who have become freed. We have invited them to the ongoing prosperity of our realm as equal citizens.
House Melaeris has always been a champion of the freedoms of humanity and our right not to be shackled to the will of another through anything other than our own choices. It is a history frought with times of friction when we have bristled against the decisions of House Marin and even, at times, House Tyde. For much of our existence we have been isolated from our neighbors at sea for our views.
Those four words I keep writing? The ones often attributed to us by our trade allies? This is what they refer to. Our fortunes have never been built on the backs of slaves or thralls, and never shall.
We have also given a home to anyone who agrees to follow our rules, our moral standpoints. The past is the past, there to be learned from but we cannot forever hold it against another if they show willingness to change. Lagoma would be quite wroth with us if we rejected someone's sincere efforts to change themselves to the better. Melaeris understands Prince Victus's concerns over possible hypocrisy. We do not demand he burn his steelsilk or his thrall-built ships. Only that he do better with his present and future than his past. So long as House Thrax continues to lead the way in ending thralldom and profiting from slavery they will have our support.
Those four words are not the motto of my family, but they are repeated by those who have dealings with us more than the actual words sewn into our crests. They are the words that came to mind as I read the words of our Highlord in his recent discussion on the products of slavery that have become useful and fashionable.
Not All The Isles.
There is not a single stone of dragonweep, no scrap of Steelsilk, not a boot of Cardian Snakeskin to be found in Melaeris Fasthold. Travel to Astarrea and you will find many former thralls; not because we have complied with the wishes of House Thrax and removed their enslavement, but because we never had Thralls to begin with and have instead welcomed those who have become freed. We have invited them to the ongoing prosperity of our realm as equal citizens.
House Melaeris has always been a champion of the freedoms of humanity and our right not to be shackled to the will of another through anything other than our own choices. It is a history frought with times of friction when we have bristled against the decisions of House Marin and even, at times, House Tyde. For much of our existence we have been isolated from our neighbors at sea for our views.
Those four words I keep writing? The ones often attributed to us by our trade allies? This is what they refer to. Our fortunes have never been built on the backs of slaves or thralls, and never shall.
We have also given a home to anyone who agrees to follow our rules, our moral standpoints. The past is the past, there to be learned from but we cannot forever hold it against another if they show willingness to change. Lagoma would be quite wroth with us if we rejected someone's sincere efforts to change themselves to the better. Melaeris understands Prince Victus's concerns over possible hypocrisy. We do not demand he burn his steelsilk or his thrall-built ships. Only that he do better with his present and future than his past. So long as House Thrax continues to lead the way in ending thralldom and profiting from slavery they will have our support.
Written By Tikva
Oct. 16, 2019, 1:21 p.m.(1/10/1012 AR)
Sisterhood has defined me all my life in ways that I never really understood. I am a sister who was chosen, and it turns out I am a sister who has lived.
Family is everything. Beyond lifetimes.
Family is everything. Beyond lifetimes.
Written By Belladonna
Oct. 16, 2019, 1:06 p.m.(1/10/1012 AR)
To all those who love winter, let me ask: what is wrong with you? Be gone, snow! Your sordid touch is unwelcome and your miasma of sadness anathema to all that is good.
Written By Mirk
Oct. 16, 2019, 11:51 a.m.(1/10/1012 AR)
I was going to say something about the first snows of winter, how pristine the world looks in those few minutes before the snow is marred with footprints...but it seems like I'm about the tenth person to get there. So instead, I think I'm going to sit down at the edge of a snowbank with my hip flask. That sounds like a good way to spend an afternoon.
I always have liked winter.
I always have liked winter.
Written By Sparte
Oct. 16, 2019, 9:50 a.m.(1/10/1012 AR)
I've been lucky enough to get my cloak looked at by a professional seamstress at last. I was given a solid earful for the shoddy stitchwork I did patching the holes, and another when she started digging the wax out I'd stuck in to keep the water from running through, then when I admitted I had torn the hem on purpose for something to tie off a wound? I was given the distinct impression admitting to further mistreatment of the garment would be the last thing I ever did.
The restoration work they performed was nothing short of extraordinary. I can still find the mends because I know where to look and only because of that. They've been paid for their solidly performed work, and I'll be sending over a box of pastries from Lottie's once a week for a while besides. I realize I may well need to mend this cloak again, and I would rather be welcomed back if I do than have to find another.
The restoration work they performed was nothing short of extraordinary. I can still find the mends because I know where to look and only because of that. They've been paid for their solidly performed work, and I'll be sending over a box of pastries from Lottie's once a week for a while besides. I realize I may well need to mend this cloak again, and I would rather be welcomed back if I do than have to find another.
Written By Arcadia
Oct. 16, 2019, 2:41 a.m.(1/9/1012 AR)
Relationship Note on Martino
Did I not send you new shoes? I am positive your socks were only a touch damp.
Perhaps just enjoy the tea next time.
Perhaps just enjoy the tea next time.
Written By Marian
Oct. 16, 2019, 2:28 a.m.(1/9/1012 AR)
Ice. Wind. Chill. The elements that herald winter are old friends. I find myself standing in snow, closing my eyes and listening to nature's fury. It soothes my own fires and lets me hibernate until the spring thaw.
Written By Amund
Oct. 16, 2019, 12:49 a.m.(1/9/1012 AR)
Snow falls to remind some of us there won't be a time to rest.
Written By Acantha
Oct. 15, 2019, 11:02 p.m.(1/9/1012 AR)
The Winter here in Arx makes me miss Clearlake Hold and my brothers even more. Well, I miss the family, not them shoving me in the snowbanks.
Written By Martino
Oct. 15, 2019, 4:02 p.m.(1/9/1012 AR)
It is Winter so the perfect time to review the gardens and consider if we could do more.
Written By Selene
Oct. 15, 2019, 4:02 p.m.(1/9/1012 AR)
Such unexpected and delightful discoveries at the Golden Hart have relit a flame deeply banked these past few weeks. Perhaps there is some charm buried in the very building by Princess Valencia to lend itself so to loosening those shackles on my creativity.
Written By Martino
Oct. 15, 2019, 3:53 p.m.(1/8/1012 AR)
Relationship Note on Arcadia
I have only just been able to properly re-enter the Bold Espressions after they seem to have, somehow, forgotten the moment I entered.
Coffee, however, might forever be ruined. Countess.
Coffee, however, might forever be ruined. Countess.
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