Written By Jaenelle
Nov. 5, 2017, 8:26 p.m.(7/13/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Lucita
Lady Lucita Igniseri and I have many things in common, and I have grown quite fond of her in the short time since we've met. I am glad that there are people such as her within Arx, and I hope she remains in the city for a long time to come. I would be sad to see her depart!
Written By Jaenelle
Nov. 5, 2017, 8:24 p.m.(7/13/1007 AR)
To the person(s) who informed my very lovely and darling twin sister that they wished to take me for a moonlit boat ride and has yet to come forward: Im not angry, just disappointed in your lack of courage to ask me in person. I adore boat rides!
Written By Lucita
Nov. 5, 2017, 7:16 p.m.(7/13/1007 AR)
While not a large crowd at the picnic, it was a congenial one. The children's choir led by Missere Magpie was delightful, both in reminding us of the simple joys of childhood, mischievously playing in the reflecting pool, swinging, hiding and exploring areas new to them, and in the songs they sang.
Prince Aiden was amazing when he was kind enough to share his skillful playing of the clavichord with us.
People seemed to enjoy the 'Last One Dancing' game. Lady Lethe was nimble, matching step for step with Prince Aiden and Lord Estaban until near the end, Lord Estaban the final winner. Lord Corban and Lady Monique, Lord Sebastian all caught onto the steps quite well while Lord Ian and Marquessa Quenia enjoyed watching. I was really glad to see each of them.
Prince Aiden was amazing when he was kind enough to share his skillful playing of the clavichord with us.
People seemed to enjoy the 'Last One Dancing' game. Lady Lethe was nimble, matching step for step with Prince Aiden and Lord Estaban until near the end, Lord Estaban the final winner. Lord Corban and Lady Monique, Lord Sebastian all caught onto the steps quite well while Lord Ian and Marquessa Quenia enjoyed watching. I was really glad to see each of them.
Written By Ryhalt
Nov. 5, 2017, 7:02 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Clover
Lady Clover will be absent for probably a couple of weeks to visit home, and I think I am about to realize how much I've come to rely on her here in Arx since I arrived.
Written By Eithne
Nov. 5, 2017, 6:54 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Ferrando
You my dear are the bees knees. Just for the record, I purposely threw the shoe wide to avoid you.
Written By Caelis
Nov. 5, 2017, 6:46 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
Today I spent some time between the many meetings that keep my husband busy exchanging small messages and reviewing the personnel that will be the future of Valardin's navy. It is a daunting thing to shape a military force in the face of battles to come. I am fond of these traditionally land bound warriors willing to brave the seas in combat with me. Too soon we will be rallying to battle forces that we have rightful cause to fear I'm sure. I continue to pray that we survive the battles ahead.
May your hopes find safe harbors.
May your hopes find safe harbors.
Written By Stefano
Nov. 5, 2017, 6:43 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
Being named Sword of Lenosia was an unexpected honor. I have seen and been around the Mirror Blade my whole life but never did I imagine I would wield it for House Velenosa. There is a long list of men and women that I must live up to and I intend to.
Written By Preston
Nov. 5, 2017, 6:24 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Caras
I am sorry to see Brother Caras removed - not because I think what he did was right, or that I think the Most Holy was wrong, but because I know Brother Caras to be a good man. There are few in the archlectors these days that have his background, with so many of the more recent archlectors coming from other areas of the Faith than the Oathlands. In that he gives an important voice to those who worry at times about the pace of progress, and the costs it brings. A voice that needs release from time to time.
Written By Preston
Nov. 5, 2017, 6:20 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
Thralldom is not an ideal practice - it is in fact problematic and if I must make a judgement, wrong. What is also wrong were the people we lost during the recent attack on Maelstrom. The pilgrims who are attacked every week, along with their noble guardians of the Knights of Solace, travelling the roads of Arvum to holy places. What is wrong are the tithes of hard working people of Arvum being stolen as the treasure trains of the Faith are pillaged by bandits from within the abandoned. It is wrong when children go hungry. It is wrong when good ben are kept behind while bad men flourish. It is wrong when the laws of mortals are placed above the laws of the Gods. The world is full of wrong, and suffering, and horror.
Blessed Aleksei is not a man theologically I agree with always. In fact, I disagree quite often with him. What he was doing though was not to force change. It was to use the existing structures to deliver an outcome we can all consider good. No-one, including those in Thrax, can think paying off these debts - debts that originate in crime and death - is bad. It must be good. In setting this example though, Kennex and others leapt into this change and it hurts them. It is always so tempting, to see goodness as a beacon on a hill and run to it - ignoring the swamp inbetween you and it. It is a failing I often have. I see so clearly the result I desire, and the straight forward route to that. But, alas, the world does not forgive good intentions. We must remember that there is so much that is wrong in the world, and so much we tolerate, that change will come over time.
The failing of Navegant though was in changing the rules as well - they saw Aleksei's use of their custom as a challenge to that custom. Understandable, but mistaken. Their response was exaggerated, and it bordered on targeting Blessed Aleksei and the freedom of his people. They should look next time outside threats come to their soil. They will see men and women in the tabards and armour of the Faith, of the Templar, standing at their side. And they must understand our first desire isn't to fix all wrongs immediately. It isn't to change them over night. Our first concern isn't even changing them at all. Our first and foremost desire is that they live so they can make that choice to live a more pious life if they wish it.
Blessed Aleksei is not a man theologically I agree with always. In fact, I disagree quite often with him. What he was doing though was not to force change. It was to use the existing structures to deliver an outcome we can all consider good. No-one, including those in Thrax, can think paying off these debts - debts that originate in crime and death - is bad. It must be good. In setting this example though, Kennex and others leapt into this change and it hurts them. It is always so tempting, to see goodness as a beacon on a hill and run to it - ignoring the swamp inbetween you and it. It is a failing I often have. I see so clearly the result I desire, and the straight forward route to that. But, alas, the world does not forgive good intentions. We must remember that there is so much that is wrong in the world, and so much we tolerate, that change will come over time.
The failing of Navegant though was in changing the rules as well - they saw Aleksei's use of their custom as a challenge to that custom. Understandable, but mistaken. Their response was exaggerated, and it bordered on targeting Blessed Aleksei and the freedom of his people. They should look next time outside threats come to their soil. They will see men and women in the tabards and armour of the Faith, of the Templar, standing at their side. And they must understand our first desire isn't to fix all wrongs immediately. It isn't to change them over night. Our first concern isn't even changing them at all. Our first and foremost desire is that they live so they can make that choice to live a more pious life if they wish it.
Written By Valery
Nov. 5, 2017, 6:11 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
I've been blending more teas. I've prepared a mix for each season and I already have the Summer one for sale.
I hope people like it.
I hope people like it.
Written By Esoka
Nov. 5, 2017, 5:57 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Calaudrin
It has been a stressful fortnight, in many respects, so it was with some relief that I read of challenges regarding breakfast foods when I went to make my confessions to the scribes today. This is a challenge I can look forward to.
Attempt not to bleed to death from dancing. I think Gloria would be displeased.
Attempt not to bleed to death from dancing. I think Gloria would be displeased.
Written By Daemon
Nov. 5, 2017, 5:56 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
I committed a sin most awful today. I told myself I wouldn't have sweets for breakfast, but the cake was just... /there/. Sitting there all alone, without a single soul there to guard it. You must understand, it would have gone to no fairer home had I not been there. I told myself, but one piece, but one piece wouldn't sully one's pallet. But oh, was I mistaken. One bite became two. Two became four. Four became... Too many.
Oh blast it all, I admit it! I ate the whole thing before supper! Avert your eyes, scribe, avert them away from me. My commander would be so displeased...
Oh blast it all, I admit it! I ate the whole thing before supper! Avert your eyes, scribe, avert them away from me. My commander would be so displeased...
Written By Samael
Nov. 5, 2017, 5:52 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Octavia
My heart goes out to Chief Magistrate Octavia Kennex and Stormward. She has named me Acting Chief Magistrate of the Court of the Crown. I don't take the responsibility lightly and thank her for thinking of me for this honor. I shall do my best to live up to the good Lady's name while she deals with the situation in her March.
House Bisland and House Grayson have already begun pledging aid with it's vassals. We support House Kennex and the eventual end of thralldom.
House Bisland and House Grayson have already begun pledging aid with it's vassals. We support House Kennex and the eventual end of thralldom.
Written By Fergus
Nov. 5, 2017, 5:47 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
I think the lot of you writing shit today are a bunch of sanctimonious assholes with some kind of fucking moral superiority complex. I ain't the biggest fan of Thrax but this thrall shit ain't any of my business. It's theirs. An they'll sort it one way or another. Though if you ask me, it was always easier to just kill prisoners of war than make them work for you. That's what I did. So whatever Thrax does, I ain't the one to judge'em.
Written By Prism
Nov. 5, 2017, 5:27 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
Dear Shard (and anyone else),
Oh please god no don't anybody tell SKALD.
Oh please god no don't anybody tell SKALD.
Written By Shard
Nov. 5, 2017, 5:20 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
I was going to write something here about thralldom. It would've been irritable and sarcastic and aimed at a bunch of other white journal entries. But something occurred to me, that, perhaps, hasn't occurred to a lot of other people, because Skald's still so new to everyone, where all the gods are new to me.
Skald does what he wants. And unlike the other gods, he does go around doing things fairly often. Not big things, generally. At least, I don't hear about them. But every now and then, I guess he gets an itch, and when he gets an itch, he goes right the fuck ahead and scratches it. Because he wants to. Because that's who Skald is.
There are some people getting pissed off because Archlector Aleksei raised a bunch of money from people through legal means and then followed the laws Thrax has laid out to purchase thrall debt and free thralls. A lot of thralls, sure, but so what? That's how it's supposed to happen. You wrote the laws, the Liberators followed them, now you have all that money to comfort you until you go and raid some more Abandoned villages to replace them. And you're mad about it.
But there's a god out there that isn't going to follow your laws or your rules or care about your economics if he gets an itch about what you're doing to people. He's not going to read all your essays about how you're actually doing good things and helping them. He's not going to listen to your justifications. If he gets that itch, he's going to scratch it. Because he's Skald, and Skald does what he wants. Because the gods are what they are and they don't change their natures. Right? And none of your Archlectors or disciples or Legates tell the gods what to do. And neither do you.
So...and, again, not that I'm expecting anyone to actually listen to my bullshit, but if anyone is reading this who finds it relevant, rather than yelling at the man who is following your laws, maybe, just maybe, you might consider the god who isn't and doesn't need to, and might just one day decide to pull a Kennex on your domain without so much as a by your leave or a proclamation. You could try talking to him and explaining how Thralldom isn't REALLY slavery. Maybe you'll convince him! Then you'd lay this whole argument to rest for good, wouldn't you? Or...maybe you might start making some contingency plans, I don't know. You could just keep ignoring that he exists. I'm sure that sort of thing works really well when it comes to other stuff you have no control over, like floods. Or hurricanes.
(okay, this was still sarcastic. You can't win them all.)
Skald does what he wants. And unlike the other gods, he does go around doing things fairly often. Not big things, generally. At least, I don't hear about them. But every now and then, I guess he gets an itch, and when he gets an itch, he goes right the fuck ahead and scratches it. Because he wants to. Because that's who Skald is.
There are some people getting pissed off because Archlector Aleksei raised a bunch of money from people through legal means and then followed the laws Thrax has laid out to purchase thrall debt and free thralls. A lot of thralls, sure, but so what? That's how it's supposed to happen. You wrote the laws, the Liberators followed them, now you have all that money to comfort you until you go and raid some more Abandoned villages to replace them. And you're mad about it.
But there's a god out there that isn't going to follow your laws or your rules or care about your economics if he gets an itch about what you're doing to people. He's not going to read all your essays about how you're actually doing good things and helping them. He's not going to listen to your justifications. If he gets that itch, he's going to scratch it. Because he's Skald, and Skald does what he wants. Because the gods are what they are and they don't change their natures. Right? And none of your Archlectors or disciples or Legates tell the gods what to do. And neither do you.
So...and, again, not that I'm expecting anyone to actually listen to my bullshit, but if anyone is reading this who finds it relevant, rather than yelling at the man who is following your laws, maybe, just maybe, you might consider the god who isn't and doesn't need to, and might just one day decide to pull a Kennex on your domain without so much as a by your leave or a proclamation. You could try talking to him and explaining how Thralldom isn't REALLY slavery. Maybe you'll convince him! Then you'd lay this whole argument to rest for good, wouldn't you? Or...maybe you might start making some contingency plans, I don't know. You could just keep ignoring that he exists. I'm sure that sort of thing works really well when it comes to other stuff you have no control over, like floods. Or hurricanes.
(okay, this was still sarcastic. You can't win them all.)
Written By Alarissa
Nov. 5, 2017, 5:09 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
Something to note, as I have come to learn from my months within the walls of the high house of the Mourning Isles and the Saffron Chain.
One should not confused Thrax, with the Mourning Isles and the Saffron Chain. The two are apparently quite exclusive.
One should not confused Thrax, with the Mourning Isles and the Saffron Chain. The two are apparently quite exclusive.
Written By Thena
Nov. 5, 2017, 5:08 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
Relationship Note on Calaudrin
Whatever, no one recognized that anyway.
Written By Leola
Nov. 5, 2017, 5:01 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
I quite understand that thralldom as a concept is something that sits poorly with the Faith, and I support this stance.
I understand that Kennex is within their rights to declare their thralls free.
Plan, then act.
That's all I want.
Now I need to do just that.
I understand that Kennex is within their rights to declare their thralls free.
Plan, then act.
That's all I want.
Now I need to do just that.
Written By Ryhalt
Nov. 5, 2017, 4:54 p.m.(7/12/1007 AR)
A brief note on thralldom and the economic woes it inflicts upon the Compact:
The core principle of trade is an exchange of something of value for something else of value. It is possible to enter into a bad trade, of course, where you lose value in the exchange, but for the most part it is a matter of different people valuing different things, trading for what they do not have but find desirable. A relatively equal trade that creates value on all sides. To that end, we price goods and services at a level that is (hopefully fairly) close to what we value them at. This system breaks down when value is misrepresented.
House Thrax's economy is intrinsically tied to the value they derive from their thralls. They take these prisoners and extract a stated value from them, presumably. The problem lies in House Thrax's consistent undervaluing of their thralls' labor. If you sell something at its stated price, and that exchange proves ruinous to you, you have misvalued that asset. In this case, Thrax grossly misvalues the work of its thralls, which does two things: It leaves people indentured far longer than they ought by the laws by which they are indentured, and, more importantly to this particular matter, it artificially drives prices down for both House Thrax and anyone who engages in trade with them or in competition with them. They effectively depress our economy by unfairly undercompensating their labor, both providing them with more of it due to not allowing people who would have paid their debt at a fair value free, and also forcing the rest of Arvum to compete in an unfair market.
Effectively, House Thrax and its vassals engaging in this practice without reform are not only stealing from those in their charge, but from the rest of us, as well as compounding a cycle that erodes their ability to function as a mercantile entity on their own. What response can we have but to attempt to ameliorate this situation? House Kennex is in crisis over doing something good. Many Thraxians have stated that this is folly, but in actuality it shines a light upon our long complicity in the way this affects the manner in which all of us conduct trade. The end result can, and should, be a bolster to the economy of all Arvum, and to that end we owe House Kennex gratitude, and should all attempt to bolster them in this time, as well as attempt to assuage the human cost in the displacement and resettlement of the house's thralls. Pay more for fairly worked goods and services, depress profits from thrall labor until it is untenable for them to be kept in unfair indenture. It profits the institution only as long as we are complicit.
The core principle of trade is an exchange of something of value for something else of value. It is possible to enter into a bad trade, of course, where you lose value in the exchange, but for the most part it is a matter of different people valuing different things, trading for what they do not have but find desirable. A relatively equal trade that creates value on all sides. To that end, we price goods and services at a level that is (hopefully fairly) close to what we value them at. This system breaks down when value is misrepresented.
House Thrax's economy is intrinsically tied to the value they derive from their thralls. They take these prisoners and extract a stated value from them, presumably. The problem lies in House Thrax's consistent undervaluing of their thralls' labor. If you sell something at its stated price, and that exchange proves ruinous to you, you have misvalued that asset. In this case, Thrax grossly misvalues the work of its thralls, which does two things: It leaves people indentured far longer than they ought by the laws by which they are indentured, and, more importantly to this particular matter, it artificially drives prices down for both House Thrax and anyone who engages in trade with them or in competition with them. They effectively depress our economy by unfairly undercompensating their labor, both providing them with more of it due to not allowing people who would have paid their debt at a fair value free, and also forcing the rest of Arvum to compete in an unfair market.
Effectively, House Thrax and its vassals engaging in this practice without reform are not only stealing from those in their charge, but from the rest of us, as well as compounding a cycle that erodes their ability to function as a mercantile entity on their own. What response can we have but to attempt to ameliorate this situation? House Kennex is in crisis over doing something good. Many Thraxians have stated that this is folly, but in actuality it shines a light upon our long complicity in the way this affects the manner in which all of us conduct trade. The end result can, and should, be a bolster to the economy of all Arvum, and to that end we owe House Kennex gratitude, and should all attempt to bolster them in this time, as well as attempt to assuage the human cost in the displacement and resettlement of the house's thralls. Pay more for fairly worked goods and services, depress profits from thrall labor until it is untenable for them to be kept in unfair indenture. It profits the institution only as long as we are complicit.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.