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Written By Kima

June 20, 2016, 12:21 a.m.(10/21/1003 AR)

I think I might be imbibing too much alcohol of late - ale especially. I don't particularly like having to put extra effort when I'm out on the practice grounds, but if I don't, next thing I know I won't be able to wriggle into my pants. It's not funny, either. I'd rather fling myself off the nearest bridge. As if old age won't be bad enough. Thank goodness I don't have huge breasts. Once you start dropping brats they'll be at your knees.

Why am I rambling on about this?

Right, the ale. Between Piglet and Tropical Frown my pants are going to split. If I'm going to have any sort of torn clothing, I want it for Other Reasons. Still, the dancing last night surely helped. There's much more to it when you do it like the regular folk, as opposed to that stiff, formal stuff you'll find it court. I guess I can't blame them, though. When you spend four hours on hair and make up, then another three getting into a gown composed of silk and gems, you don't want to sweat in it.

Written By Dagon

June 19, 2016, 8:32 p.m.(10/20/1003 AR)

Relationship Note on Valerius

My cousin. Oh, how I wish you would stop wishing for a rich wife so you can spend your days in luxury and drink. You should be practicing with blade in hand and honing your skills. At least to appease grandfather. I hope you are not married out into an arrangement that you hate, I would at least try to find you something you will be happy with.

Written By Dagon

June 19, 2016, 8:32 p.m.(10/20/1003 AR)

Relationship Note on Donrai

My grandfather and the Prince of Maelstrom. I am not entirely sure of his thoughts regarding me. All I can do is see to my duties and prove that I am no layabout and that I have the good of House Thrax at heart. Perhaps we do disagree a little on that, as I think the future of the house will involve much diplomacy with the other great houses.

Written By Dagon

June 19, 2016, 8:32 p.m.(10/20/1003 AR)

Relationship Note on Kieran

Kieran Redrain. I think if the man could apply himself instead of bragging about tavern wenches he's shared furs with he might be someone to keep an eye on. He just might be worth keeping an eye on, just in case. Still, he is a personable fellow and easy to talk to, and seems to be open to joining any conversation.

Written By Dagon

June 19, 2016, 8:32 p.m.(10/20/1003 AR)

Relationship Note on Victus

Victus. What can I say about the man? He's brash, rude, vulgar, violent. I could go on, but there are qualities about him that do redeem him. He wants what is best for Thrax and he is a skilled fighter. If I could convince him that honor and chivalry are virtues that will make him a better man instead of things to be scoffed at or beliefs for fops, he might be a forbiddable man.

Written By Acacia

June 19, 2016, 4:14 p.m.(10/20/1003 AR)

Relationship Note on Talen

Oh, Talen is something, alright. He takes to Silks like a fish takes to water, but he's decided to straddle this line between worlds, even if it's only a single toe in the lower sections. He's far too intelligent, really, and he tosses lessons in the same manner I'd like to return knives. I typically enjoy all manner of games, but he's somehow located my buttons and he prods at them incessantly. I don't want to lose contacts, nor burn bridges, but fighting with him is gaining appeal for an entirely different set of reasons at this point.

Written By Alis

June 19, 2016, 1:47 p.m.(10/20/1003 AR)

Relationship Note on Aurelian

A fist cousin, who has always been supportive of my efforts to pursue Knighthood so matter how difficult the challenge may be.

Written By Victus

June 19, 2016, 11:49 a.m.(10/19/1003 AR)

Relationship Note on Edain

When the day comes that he has to make a hard choice, is he going to choose his beloved fucking Chivalry and Honor and Glory, or is he going to choose what's best for him and his accursed House? If he does the first, he's a fucking idiot. If the does the latter, he's been a fraud and a liar his whole fucking life. Hard choices come for everybody, and that's a fucking fact of life.

He's better with his sword than I'd thought, though, I'll give him that. He could have yielded when I first put him down on a knee, but he didn't. No, he kept fighting until he couldn't, and that deserves a bit of respect.

Written By Victus

June 19, 2016, 10:02 a.m.(10/19/1003 AR)

I woke up today with a headache, the kind that tells you that you drank too much last night. I didn't remember sending Rik out to fetch a girl, so when someone brushed against me I nearly stabbed her to death with my bedside dagger. Heh, wouldn't that have been fucking awkward. Blood is the worst to get out of sheets. For some reason I was disappointed when I discovered her hair was red.

Trying to move proved that Edain Valardin hits harder than I thought he could. Not as hard as me, of course, and that almost makes it worth it. Still, my fucking side is black, my right knee aches, and for the first couple of hours of the day I walked around like a gods be damned eighty year old grandma, muttering every time I came across a fucking stairwell.

I didn't join the men drilling today. I'm not a fucking masochist.

It feels odd not to have any fetishes left in my beard. Tossed them all into Gloria's fires so I could have it trimmed. Particularly miss Lord Hammond's fingerbone. It doubled as a nice scratch stick for that scar under my jaw where that big Cadian pirate nicked me some years ago. On the other hand, I don't rattle quite so much when I walk, and I might actually be able to sneak up on someone for once. Heh. I bet I can make Denica jump. Calista better not make my beard look like some fucking fop's though.

I'll be able to eat my morning porridge without getting beard in it, too.

Written By Marian

June 18, 2016, 8:37 p.m.(10/18/1003 AR)

It was pretty obvious there was a storm coming after the attack that took Valen and so many others. Now it's here, clear as day. With the attack on the King's retinue. Another Valardin dead, Dayne, one of Valen's uncles. I didn't know him well, but we'd met numerous times in Sanctum, and I know Valen respected the man completely.

Beheaded. The entire retinue, except for Alarix and Dayne. And then the entire thing sent back to Arx? The storm is here all right, but nobody knows if it's storming or raining or if fire is falling from the sky. How do these two attacks happen like this, without us knowing anything? I'd suggest somebody send some soldiers out in search of the bodies, but who knows if they'd find anything. Or if they'd even return.

    One thing's for sure, though. If the Houses of the Compact can't put away their squabbles until this threat is found, the future seems dark. And with the King all but dead on his throne, every story I've ever heard about scheming nobles makes me worry the allure of that oversized seat is going to get them salivating and unable to focus on what's immediately more important.

Written By Marian

June 18, 2016, 8:29 p.m.(10/17/1003 AR)

Relationship Note on Victus


Where to start? Truth be told, it's not hard to see why Alarissa felt a little uneasy around this man. He seems the sort who'd have been perfectly at home during a bonfire with my father's tribe after a successful raid, with a few severed tongues and ears and fingers hanging from his belt. Maybe moreso at home than he is surrounded by silks and titles. Lord Victus Thrax is an entirely different beast from every sort of noble I've thus far encountered. ...Granted, I've less than a decade of dealing with nobles under my belt and all of that limited to Sanctum until recently...still. Going from just hearing stories about soft Compact nobles and fighting shiny-plated Valardin Knights, to life with Valen in Sanctum, surrounded by everything Valardin and chivalrous...To the capital, where I'm just now getting my first real taste of the Compact's diversity, Victus is a sort of beast I'm unfamiliar with. And..yet /am/ familiar with. If he's half as hard as he seems to be, maybe the rest of the Compact isn't as utterly soft and hopeless as I'd feared.

Written By Marian

June 18, 2016, 8:17 p.m.(10/17/1003 AR)

Relationship Note on Hadrian


A Lord of the Lyceum, I met Duke Hadrian Malvici alongside Lady Kima Saik. The pair of them together seemed intent on making me believe every off-handed comment and rumor I've ever heard about the people in their corner of the Compact. Her with the blatant attention seeking and hip-swaying, him with telling me I need to worry about protecting my family from poison and backroom plots here in the capital more than any other sort of threat. Very curious to discuss such a thing so openly, but maybe it is commonplace in the Lyceum.

Written By Marian

June 18, 2016, 8:10 p.m.(10/17/1003 AR)

Relationship Note on Kima


A knight of the Lyceum. Met her in the Ambassador, where she stood out due to her fashion choices. She appears to be a fan of garnering attention, unsurprising based on what I've heard of the Lyceans. Lady Kima Saik might make for entertaining company if I stumble across her path again. Certainly need to make a point of seeing if she has any clue how to use that sword she was carrying. I find myself hoping she's not the incompetent noble playing at knight she came across as. Something about her made me think the aura of incompetence was feigned. Or maybe I'm just wishing it was.

Written By Marian

June 18, 2016, 8:02 p.m.(10/17/1003 AR)

Relationship Note on Alarissa


My sister, by marriage. She was wed to one of Valen's younger brothers, Vance, a few years after I'd married into the family myself. I've not had much opportunity to get to her know her as of yet, as it feels like the Tragedy happened not long after their marriage and I wasn't in much of a state to get to know her after it. We've both come to the Capital now, so perhaps that can be remedied. Alarissa seems a sweet woman. Young, very young still. Or am I just getting old? Certainly too young to have lost her husband in that fashion. She seems to know the Capital and the 'dance' of politics and etiquette that all the nobles are so fond of, so perhaps she can help me learn what to expect in that arena. Another family member that needs to be protected from the coming storm.

Written By Marian

June 18, 2016, 7:22 p.m.(10/17/1003 AR)

Relationship Note on Aurelian


One of Valen's family members, a cousin to the Valardin main line. Very pleasant, easy company. He's a fair example of the way I used to think of soft Compact nobles, once upon a time. A scholar, he'd rather than have his nose in a book or be examining some ruin than doing much of anything else. I no longer think of, or view that as an insult or weakness of character, but it does make me worry. Worry for him, and for other members of the Family who aren't trained for war. There's a storm coming. It's here, already, and very obviously so, between the attack that killed Valen and so much of our family, and now the tragedy with the King, Valen's uncle Dayne, and everyone who was with them. I will give everything I have to protect the Valardin family, but there is only one of me, and I can only be in one place. Will have to ensure Edain sends plenty of guards with Aurelian should he decide to go out on another scholarly excursion.

Written By Ailith

June 18, 2016, 7:02 p.m.(10/17/1003 AR)

It is encouraging to see that, even in these dark times, the gods are still honoured, Prince Edain and Lord Victus fought bravely, with sincere determination and skill when they tested each other before Gloria. I do feel that Lord Victus' appreciation of the gods is perfunctory, but can only hope that he turns his undeniable strength against the enemies of the Pantheon and the faith when the time comes.

Written By Valerius

June 18, 2016, 6:31 p.m.(10/17/1003 AR)

Relationship Note on Margot

I feel sorry for Margot. It must be terrible to be poor and a thrall. At least she is friendly and helpful, which is, I think the best way for poor people to behave. When I remember her family murdered my parents, I start to get angry, so I do my best not to think about it.

Written By Valerius

June 18, 2016, 6:25 p.m.(10/17/1003 AR)

Relationship Note on Victus

I'm glad Victus exists. Without him, grandfather might freak about about how no one in the family is Thraxian enough, and that could lead to drastic measures. Of course, he might just have Victus kill us all. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Written By Valerius

June 18, 2016, 6:22 p.m.(10/17/1003 AR)

Relationship Note on Dagon

I like Dagon. He seems more interested in cooperating with the other Houses than he is in destroying them. As for his chivalric code, well, it seems like far too much work to me. Still, I don't have to understand why he would want to pin himself down with all of those rules to understand that he wants to do the right thing. That is enough for me.

Written By Dagon

June 18, 2016, 6:17 p.m.(10/17/1003 AR)

Relationship Note on Alis

Princess Alis Valardin. There's not much I can say about her. A female knight and Edain's sister. There's little I know of her, but I do hope to learn more. Her hair is rather pretty. That's an odd thought, isn't it?

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