Written By Cambria
May 19, 2019, 11:54 a.m.(2/18/1011 AR)
A recent discovery has me wondering...
Have you ever been afraid of someone who is only there to help you?
Have you ever been afraid of someone who is only there to help you?
Written By Monique
May 19, 2019, 11:45 a.m.(2/18/1011 AR)
It is a testament to the skill of the Committee and the generosity and vision of others that this Tournament is coming together exactly as fast as it is. Mistress Rosemary and Mistress Lore are the reason all this steelsilk burns so bright a hole in my pocket (figuratively!) Their skill has been essential!
I wept, before the Gala, when I had to give away those splendid cloaks. I can feel the tears well up when I stare at the dragonweep and star iron for the Tournament of Thorns. So much beauty. It's terrible to think about being parted with it.
I'm getting maudlin in my old age.
I wept, before the Gala, when I had to give away those splendid cloaks. I can feel the tears well up when I stare at the dragonweep and star iron for the Tournament of Thorns. So much beauty. It's terrible to think about being parted with it.
I'm getting maudlin in my old age.
Written By Evonleigh
May 19, 2019, 10:42 a.m.(2/17/1011 AR)
I have recently returned from a journey of exploration and it's already time to pack for another. To think I spent most of my adult life on the road until two years ago (I know a couple people may be chuckling, as that isn't all that long in their eyes and experience, but to me it's a long time!). I find now that I'm traveling again, I missed it. Speaking with new people, seeing new places every day -- there really is no more exciting life, even if at times it's tiring and arduous, and other times, even dangerous.
I look forward to the adventures that lie ahead, though for at least a few more weeks, I'll enjoy sleeping in my own warm bed.
I look forward to the adventures that lie ahead, though for at least a few more weeks, I'll enjoy sleeping in my own warm bed.
Written By Evaristo
May 19, 2019, 8:18 a.m.(2/17/1011 AR)
New exciting projects in the works. Lady Peri Seliki has some things brewing. I'll be sailing a lot in the near future.
And there's a plan for a Festival of Death.
And there's a plan for a Festival of Death.
Written By Ishmael
May 19, 2019, 5:43 a.m.(2/17/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Ysabel
Baroness Ysabel has provided me with ample tasks to keep me busy in the city. It seems I am going to need a larger bag.
Written By Morgan
May 19, 2019, 5:19 a.m.(2/17/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Peri
I dream of a future when all are free to bellow as they wish, no longer shackled by the oppression of silence. My cousin is helping make this happen, I couldn't be more proud!
Written By Ajax
May 19, 2019, 5:14 a.m.(2/17/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Meesha
Welcome back, lass.
We'll get you sorted eventually here.
We'll get you sorted eventually here.
Written By Talwyn
May 19, 2019, 5:12 a.m.(2/17/1011 AR)
I have never much cared for the winter. Not the cold nor the snow, nor the bare trees nor the songbirds leaving for warmer climes. I recall, quite fondly, wintering in Gemecitta when I was younger and escaping the bitter chill.
Perhaps I only had to discover winter's joys to see it in a different perspective - the delight of a warm drink and roaring fire when coming in from outdoors, the tingling of nose and cheeks from the kiss of an icy wind thawing out with lyre and the best company.
Yes, I think I have come to appreciate winter.
Perhaps I only had to discover winter's joys to see it in a different perspective - the delight of a warm drink and roaring fire when coming in from outdoors, the tingling of nose and cheeks from the kiss of an icy wind thawing out with lyre and the best company.
Yes, I think I have come to appreciate winter.
Written By Ajax
May 19, 2019, 3:49 a.m.(2/17/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Emmerly
You're doing fine, just stop being so humble when I want to spoil you with new weapons. You'll have to do my job quite a bit when I am out of town when spring comes.
Written By Ajax
May 19, 2019, 3:48 a.m.(2/17/1011 AR)
You know, I hate being cooped up. The winter when it really starts in earnest is usually that quiet period, contracts slow. Your body aches which is good as the fighting stops for a lot of areas, and always that uncertain feeling when you're waiting. Like you know once the ice breaks, you can go out and make some more coin.
I hate this season.
I hate this season.
Written By Iseulet
May 18, 2019, 8:11 p.m.(2/16/1011 AR)
Now that was too close for comfort.
Written By Gwenna
May 18, 2019, 7:22 p.m.(2/16/1011 AR)
Winter has always been a season of quiet for me. The world seems so soft, encased in white, and even sounds seems buffered by the snow that covers everything. Is there any storm so silent as a blizzard? While the winters in Arx don't really compare to those in Farhaven, there is still that feeling to them. Duties and responsibilities do not cease, of course, but more might be done by messenger than by trekking off to a meeting someplace in one of the wards. I try to spend the extra time at the villa going over the stores and what we might need brought in from Farhaven when the spring allows, sharing some mulled wine with the head of the kitchens and staff, and generally catching up on those things that get put off 'until winter' during the rest of the year. While not a break, really, it is pleasant to focus on hearth and home a couple of months out of the year.
Written By Rysen
May 18, 2019, 5:37 p.m.(2/16/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Preston
Thank you for your advice and confidence, Grandmaster. Such wisdom is strong armor against the bloody claws of Vengeance.
Written By Mirella
May 18, 2019, 4:34 p.m.(2/16/1011 AR)
Some people write the weirdest things in their white journals.
Written By Brigida
May 18, 2019, 4:01 p.m.(2/16/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Sophie
Not all miracles are big ones.
Thank you
Thank you
Written By Willow
May 18, 2019, 3:31 p.m.(2/16/1011 AR)
Go figure an elf visits the Spirits and I am not there to see it. i hope next time I am there. I have always wanted to meet an elf.
Written By Sophie
May 18, 2019, 2:27 p.m.(2/16/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Delilah
I find myself so often cloistered in my office at the House of Solace in meetings. I really should go outside more often. You meet the most fascinating people when you simply give them a chance.
I've made a new friend recently and we bonded over obscure scraps of information and tea. I have a feeling there will be many more pots of tea, and many more scraps of paper exchanged before it is all said and done, and I feel smarter already, just for having met her.
I've made a new friend recently and we bonded over obscure scraps of information and tea. I have a feeling there will be many more pots of tea, and many more scraps of paper exchanged before it is all said and done, and I feel smarter already, just for having met her.
Written By Joscelin
May 18, 2019, 1:38 p.m.(2/16/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Stygia
You aren't wrong. Three are named after him.
Written By Radhilde
May 18, 2019, 12:59 p.m.(2/16/1011 AR)
Relationship Note on Marisol
My Patron, you are simply amazing!
Written By Corban
May 18, 2019, 12:51 p.m.(2/16/1011 AR)
In light of the recent discussion on 'warriors,' I offer an excerpt from 'On Chivalry.'
* * *
At its core, chivalry is the purest answer to the question of “how do we persuade humans to fight when they, personally, are not in danger?” It is not a question that lends itself to an obvious answer. After all, humans’ natural condition is to flee danger when it presents itself, and to fight only as a last resort. And there are good and sufficient reasons for that reaction. We wish to live, to thrive, and to die only after a long and fruitful life. To rush into peril when we are not personally and immediately threatened is contrary to those goals.
Yet if we are all to survive, some must commit themselves to danger, to fend off the Darkness, to protect the Light. The question is thus posed: How do we persuade some of us to take up that role, knowing that it may lead to a short life and violent end? Knights rarely die in their beds, surrounded by their families.
A leader could offer coin and wealth to those who are willing to fight, trading material reward for mortal risk. Those who answer that call we know as “mercenaries.” Or a leader could appeal to his subjects’ ties to their land and neighbors, exhorting them to fight for their homes and people. (Or a leader could simply draft them into service and punish those who do not fight.) Those who answer or accede to that call we know as “guards” or “soldiers.”
Chivalry arose as a third answer to this existential question. Put simply, chivalry answers the question in this way: “We fight, even though we are not personally in danger, because it is the right thing to do.” And that is what I mean when I say that chivalry is a pure answer to the question. Chivalry does not rely on appeal to greed or loyalty or obedience. The knight would fight even if there was no reward, even if it was for a stranger, even if no leader ordered it. The knight fights and protects because it is what ought to be done for the good of all.
* * *
At its core, chivalry is the purest answer to the question of “how do we persuade humans to fight when they, personally, are not in danger?” It is not a question that lends itself to an obvious answer. After all, humans’ natural condition is to flee danger when it presents itself, and to fight only as a last resort. And there are good and sufficient reasons for that reaction. We wish to live, to thrive, and to die only after a long and fruitful life. To rush into peril when we are not personally and immediately threatened is contrary to those goals.
Yet if we are all to survive, some must commit themselves to danger, to fend off the Darkness, to protect the Light. The question is thus posed: How do we persuade some of us to take up that role, knowing that it may lead to a short life and violent end? Knights rarely die in their beds, surrounded by their families.
A leader could offer coin and wealth to those who are willing to fight, trading material reward for mortal risk. Those who answer that call we know as “mercenaries.” Or a leader could appeal to his subjects’ ties to their land and neighbors, exhorting them to fight for their homes and people. (Or a leader could simply draft them into service and punish those who do not fight.) Those who answer or accede to that call we know as “guards” or “soldiers.”
Chivalry arose as a third answer to this existential question. Put simply, chivalry answers the question in this way: “We fight, even though we are not personally in danger, because it is the right thing to do.” And that is what I mean when I say that chivalry is a pure answer to the question. Chivalry does not rely on appeal to greed or loyalty or obedience. The knight would fight even if there was no reward, even if it was for a stranger, even if no leader ordered it. The knight fights and protects because it is what ought to be done for the good of all.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.