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Written By Orazio

Sept. 21, 2017, 3:43 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

To the Faithful Reader:

One of the most fundamental and elemental questions a priest gets asked - usually very soon after their first day ministering the public, but sometimes even before, tends to revolve around the existence and/or efficacy of the gods. How much power do the gods have in our lives, and if they mean us well, then why are so many lives so very, very hard? If the gods are real, are they powerless? Or do they simply not care for our struggles and travails?

It is a fair question. It is one I asked myself a very long time ago, as a matter of fact, after watching most of my family and many of my people die of plague, despite my most fervent prayers and cries to Elysium for succor. There was even a time when I, only a step out of childhood and still with the mindset and knowing of a child, cursed the gods and blamed them for the pain and suffering I saw around me.

In the decades of study, worship, and experience I have lived since, I have come to understand how wrong I was, both relative to the teachings of the Faith at the time, and the truth we are slowly reclaiming. For the past centuries, the Faith has spoken of the gods as ideals and virtues, models to be aspired to - the Faith promises no miracles, and does not support the expectations of anyone who believes that they are deserved them. The Faith has never claimed the gods to be all-powerful, all-knowing, or able to wash the ills of the world away with a wave of their hand. We, mortals, stand in the space between dark and light, and where we walk is a constant battleground, both in a spiritual and (we are learning) in a very real sense. The gods are our beacons and our guides - yes, they do have our best interests at heart, and they wish with all of their own soul that we will live and love and fight for righteousness wherever we go. But they are not servants or soldiers to come at our call and carry out our orders or our desires. They defend us against threats we cannot even imagine, the barest spillover of which form our worst nightmares and greatest challenges.

To be a worshiper of the Pantheon is not a path of 'unquestioning love', nor meek submission. It is a struggle. It is a war, every day and every moment, for our own soul, and the souls of others. And no one has ever said that it is not possible to /lose/ that war, when we sneer at the virtues which guide us and embrace darkness, either in our own minds, or through the practices we champion. One of the things I have come to understand is that we cannot expect the gods to do our work for us. They gave us hands, and eyes, and hearts, and minds, and the ability to use them. Vellichor demands that we dispel ignorance and champion wisdom - he does not just drop the knowledge we should know into our minds, nor does he wrap the lies in glowing lights so that we might never be fooled. The Sentinel directs us to seek the truth and fulfill the demands of justice - and it does not claim that either of those things are easy, nor does it simply hand us the answers and absolve us of the fear of failure, of misjudgment. Gloria calls us to courage in deed and in word, to stand by our own words, and defend our honor with steel and blood when required.

A child looks to the gods as parents, judges them as parents, and blames them for not upholding a child's idea of a good parent: endlessly powerful, wise, and protective, no matter the foolishness of the child. Part of one's spiritual growth often involves understanding that the world is larger than that simplistic view of god and mortal, that the gods love us and wish the best for us, but that they are not all-powerful, and the world has rules for gods, even as it does for men. We worship the Pantheon not because of their power, or because of what we think they can do for us (or demand they do for us), but because Love, Justice, Courage, Charity, Wisdom, Choice, Death and Rebirth, the Sea and Sky, the Land, Creativity and Dreams, Change, and yes, even the Great Dream that binds them all, and the knowledge of our own Reflections - these are things worth honoring, worth turning our eyes and hearts to and saying, "Yes, I will fight for you, I will love you, I will live my life with you in mind."

And then you spend the rest of your life questioning that, and reaffirming it, with each new heartache to come along. It is easy to mock faith. There is nothing more difficult than /having/ faith.

Written By Freja

Sept. 21, 2017, 2:56 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

To be honest, all of my father's children are caustic assholes.

Anze, you're included in this.

Well, minus myself of course! I'm the darling daughter, the baby, that has yet to cause a near political disaster. Yet.

I love them dearly though, admire them not only for what they have done and accomplished (blind to the public eye apparently), but also for what they continue to do.

Edain's gilded tongue is far more eloquent than my own.

Written By Ira

Sept. 21, 2017, 2:55 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

Relationship Note on Orazio

There is no such thing as atheism when the Gods speak in your head and magic is real.

I just have a practiced indifference to Them and Their machinations. I would explain why, and how, but quite honestly it would be akin to yelling into an empty bucket. That's just not pleasing to me. Considering your position in life, I think you are more than a little predisposed towards unquestioning love for Them. So why bother? But consider this: is it wise to worship some entity who cannot even keep their own Reflection in check? Do you really think these powerful beings, beings who can shape the very Fabric we breath every day, who can pierce the Veil and bend it to their will, have your best interests at heart?

I would love to debate you on the subject, priest. Father. Legate. Whatever you are -- I don't have a degree in theology, I have a degree in alchemy. A much more worthwhile pursuit. You have but to pick a time and a place of your choosing.

----

Alas, this brings up a concerning trend: people pretending to know me. Or speak for me. Don't do it. I am from Tor, where Thralldom is illegal -- I wish I the scholar recording this could appropriately record the sarcastic clapping of my hands right now. Because my fellows consider something illegal, that does not mean that it is wrong. It only means that somebody, somewhere, with enough power, decided to make it so. I'm not inclined to trust people that aren't me. Therefore, do you really think I give a Gods damned fucking wit about what people in my homeland think of Thralldom?

----

I am not crazed. If you want to see crazy, you really should come by the Asylum sometime. It will provide you some much needed... perspective. I'll do tours, for ten thousand coins a piece. Consider it my blue-blood discount.

Written By Brianna

Sept. 21, 2017, 2:51 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

Instead of speaking on slavery, I would like to reflect on freedom. I recently referred to myself as a free woman, and asked a man if he were free as well. He spoke of duty, responsibilities, the ties that bind us all. But, that is not what I think of when I think of being /free/.

There is a freedom in passion, in what drives us forward. It may be honor and duty for nobles; it may be putting food on the table for commoners. That drive, however, is a freedom in itself. Being able to throw ourselves forward to right wrongs, to follow our hearts, to keep our minds open. All of this is freedom.

When I find a man that I want to kiss, I kiss him. When I find a tree that should be climbed, I climb it. When I find a fight that needs fighting, I will fight it. A shot of whiskey burns, but I find pleasure in having a drink. A broken heart hurts deeply, but I do not stop myself from feeling.

I am free.

Written By Edain

Sept. 21, 2017, 2:42 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

I feel I should speak in defense of Prince Fergus who I think is being unfairly lumped in with the Defenders of Thralldom. He suggested that people should mind thier own business. And while it is certainly a debatable point if that is indeed the right answer it is an opinion that is his to have.

Maybe he believes that since change IS indeed coming to the Mourning Isles it is time to let them finish sorting through this change on thier own. If that is Prince Fergus' opinion then I will respect it even if I do not share.

Prince Fergus' has been through shit, blood and battle that would fold you, me and pretty much anyone that comments in these journals with regularity like a paper doll and he survived. Is he a caustic asshole at times? Certainly! But by the Gods he has earned that.

Written By Ford

Sept. 21, 2017, 2:31 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

This morning a friend of mine directed me towards the Journal entry that referred to me as Lord Ian's Voice.

Thank you.

I haven't laughed that hard in months.

Written By Korka

Sept. 21, 2017, 2:24 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

Got my own place to stay. It's pretty nice. It's also quiet. It's strange how much different it is to be alone in the city than it is to be alone in the forests. Never had my own space like this before, don't really know what to do with it.

Written By Orazio

Sept. 21, 2017, 2:19 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

Glancing over the journals my acolytes have curated for me, it seems the defenders of the institution of thralldom incorporate: a Grimhall (a family whose treatment of its people is known to make even other members of the Isles shuffle their feet and speak of restraint and dignity owed to the ones under your care), a recent member to the fealty (sadly of my own family - I assure you, however, that no Saik tutor ever expressed positive sentiments towards thralldom), a crazed atheist (and a strong argument against such foolishness if there ever needed to be), and a Prince (or, at least, the legitimate son of a Princess) who is known to lie about his opinions on colors (and worse, to do so /poorly/) out of fear of having to defend them.

They are at least each in appropriate company.

Written By Freja

Sept. 21, 2017, 2:06 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

Relationship Note on Ira

I do not make it a habit of reading other journals, for I have you know...impending threats against the lives of my people to contend with, but I do have one of my men keep an ear out for when my name is mentioned.

Poetry, attributed to me over a pun it seems?

It isn't often I get and admirer, if ever. Let alone one I have never met.

If this 'crazed alchemist' is so inclined, I like whiskey, flowers, poetry, and long walks through the battlefield over the enemies I have bested.

Beaches on moonlit nights are -so- last year.

Written By Caelis

Sept. 21, 2017, 2:01 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

Guard puppy needs a bigger bladder so we have less night time guard puppy potty trips. I now understand the true purpose of a nightgown.

Written By Thena

Sept. 21, 2017, 1:49 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

Relationship Note on Fergus

Ah, right, complacency. That always solves things.

Written By Eleyna

Sept. 21, 2017, 1:47 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

Relationship Note on Eirene

You had me at "black goo".

Written By Fergus

Sept. 21, 2017, 1:41 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

All these fucking bleeding hearts. Thralldom is bad, slavery is bad. Blah-fucking-blah.

Here's a thought. Tend to your own fucking business and let Thrax sort their own shit. Ain't my business, ain't your business.

Written By Preston

Sept. 21, 2017, 1:26 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

Relationship Note on Ira

Faith is slavery? If you wish slavery, imagine a world without the Faith. Locked inside our own minds and self interests. Beholden only to temporal powers. Imagine a world where the roads are no longer kept free by the work of the Knights of Solace. Imagine a world where Templars are not there to hold the enemies of the faithful at bay and deal with the abandoned tribes and other dangers. Imagine a world where people die of want because there are no mercies to provide for them. Imagine a world where our memories flit away, unknown with no scholars to record them. Imagine the lands, untamed and unusable, trapping us within our cities because there is no lodge of petrichor to care and tend to it. And I could go on.

Faith, and The Faith, have done more to lift our eyes from the mud and to the horizon than anything. They have opened us to whole new understandings. And even ignoring the spiritual, the stability the Faith has given allows for the Compact. Our guardianship of our customs, our history, our tradition has allowed us to endure even when the world wants to crush us. To see life as slavery is to revel in death as freedom. And that I will not do.

Written By Shae

Sept. 21, 2017, 1:21 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

Relationship Note on Edain

I can send some bacon apple cinnamon muffins over via Mal!

Written By Alis

Sept. 21, 2017, 1:18 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

Relationship Note on Edain

I'm sorry. (Okay no I'm not)... there are no maple bacon muffins left >.> I needed comfort food okay??

Written By Edain

Sept. 21, 2017, 1:03 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

Relationship Note on Ira

I can not for the life of me figure out what emotional investment an..... eclectic alchemist from the Lyceum has in defending the institution of Thralldom which is as illegal in the Lyceum city-states as it is the rest of Arvum outside the Mourning Isles.

I feel like maybe this is another form of experiment. Testing the results of combining combustible words and emotions instead of chemicals. If so that's impressive actually and I commend you.

Even so you seem a bit unbalanced. I could send some saurkraut soup and maple bacon muffins if you like. They are amazing recouperative foods.

Written By Ira

Sept. 21, 2017, 12:59 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

Relationship Note on Aureth

Faith is just slavery with another name.

Being embraced by it after I die? Well, that's just shite. Can you talk to Her about that? Maybe ask Her to make an exception, and ignore me?

Written By Ira

Sept. 21, 2017, 12:23 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

Relationship Note on Freja

How soft the snow does fall
Soft and still
Beauty serene
But you, princess
Are more beautiful yet.
Your hair tumbles,
Freshly spun
Your eyes glisten
Mirth untold
Were I a different man
Would it were
I'd marry you for sure.

---

I'm a better composer than a poet, but there you have it. My heart on a page. She's so perfect. I would kill a God for her. I'm head over heels madly in love.

Written By Aureth

Sept. 21, 2017, 12:20 p.m.(4/4/1007 AR)

Relationship Note on Ira

Grayhopes have higher standards.

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