Author: Wyatt Starr

Alphonse finished sweeping the laboratory, frowning in thought. Each bit of broken glass, sticky residue and ash that he swept out the door mirrored the clarity that had crept over him in recent months. Around him brushes scrubbed and rags boiled themselves, animated by his art.

The mists were clearing. He could feel it. And somehow that was affecting him, too. His listlessness, his cravings and his distractions were all fading. It was time to work.

He considered the bottles on the counter one last time. Then, with a nod of conviction to himself, he scooped them up and stepped outside. Methodically, he bound the burdens of Earth and called upon the beasts of the land and air. Birds and squirrels surrounded him as he continued to cast until finally he had enough for the task. He tied the recently cleaned vials to each animal carefully, not wanting to impede their movement. Then with a gesture, he bade each of them go. Eight directions by land and eight directions by sky.

Each bore the same note, written in a neat hand:

“My name is Dr Alphonse Veneaux. I serve House Beauchene of Luisant in the Lorrasaint region of Capacionne.

All is not well. We have been lost in strange mists for generations. These same mists bind some remnant of the Witchking Chiropoler and ancient malefic created by his atrocities. Our House is fallen and we are without leadership or protection.

The mists are now clearing. Some here wish to make deals with strange spirits to make them stronger, but not I. No devil’s deal can compare to the might of mankind united. Send the questing heroes and knights of House Marseilles. Send the Templars and the Church to guide us in these dark times. Tell them there are monsters here. And tell them there are people, too. People who need their help.”

I regret that I cannot seriously name my choice for the most worthy successor to the Owl’s Nest for she will not be here long, nor has she expressed an interest, nor has she any specific claim. But while others speak for Nadia or Ambrose by linguistic technicality (“live as IF he were a peasant”) or a council of bandits, I cannot think of anyone more qualified or inspiring as a leader. Here is the pinnacle of nobility in her prime who retains the dark beauty of her youth while having mastered the poise and experience of age.

I cannot deny that thoughts of joining her retinue, especially if she were unable to leave this place, have flitted through my mind every time I think of her and the future. While her lands and ways are undoubtedly foreign, she speaks with the refinement of the Gothic elite. Her keep probably has books and polished stone and soft black beds and I hope one day to visit it.

And beyond the aesthetics she listens and speaks with education, confidence and understanding. When presented with the fallacies inherent in the Beauchenes initial offer, she immediately sought compromise while ensuring that her people’s needs were still met. When presented with the demands of a bandit rabble and hate-fueled false priest, she answered eloquently and without anger.

If ever there was a true soul of nobility, it inhabits her body, and we are fortunate to be graced by her presence even for a little while. I dearly hope that her daughter was raised similarly and might someday reach such greatness if she is to be the one who rules us.

It is easy to forget that the nobility serve a purpose in a small town such as ours, but the ideal behind them is an important one and one that connects us to the Throne of God of which we are all a part.

In any community, it is an extremely difficult task to keep track of and respond swiftly and appropriately to all matters of health, safety and social welfare that may come up. Emergencies can and do happen. Threats to the survival of the community such as famine, plague, violent enemies, and rampant crime are disastrous if not planned for seasons or years in advance. The situation only becomes more complicated when a community is large enough to host myriad traditions and opinions that may interfere with swift action.

The answer that the Throne and God have presented for dealing with these grave issues are the noble caste that governs us. While individual nobles and even entire families can stray from the perfect path laid for them, and these corruptions are important to address, the true purpose of the noble is still one that is holy and important.

In a perfect order, nobility would be educated from birth in every unique trade, culture, tradition, and social class that they must serve, and furthermore must learn how all of these various groups fit together and how they can be guided to work together better. While not every noble is a smith, they must learn what is needed to make their smithies operate, what materials are needed to keep them working and prospering, and how many smithies are useful and supported by their community. They must know what their mines produce and why and which veins of ore are needed by their smiths. They must know the markets for which the smiths work and whether swords or plows are needed for the next season. And so on for farming and field rotations, for the tides of nearby conflicts and banditry that may require soldiers or other protections, for the disposition of nearby markets where surplus goods may be traded for needed wares in short supply locally. And complicating each of these issues are the personalities and beliefs of each of these people- for they are people. Individuals with needs and holy purpose to experience the world and add their meaning to God. The good noble must know them and meet them and hear their troubles and help them through.

The list goes on and boggles the mind. And it is for this reason that the structure of nobility is ultimately based upon lineage. Children must learn from birth and be immersed deeply in the needs of their people and the ones most competent to teach them are their parents, who learned from their parents and their own experiences and so on back to the establishment of their House. It is also for this reason that new noble houses are carefully raised from the ranks of knights and other worthies who work closely with the nobles they are sworn to, who can educate and coach and support them during their first generation of service when they do not have a great legacy to teach them.

Some among our fair community think that perhaps a gathering of our elders could replace the necessity of a noble family, but I must gently disagree. Rule by committee, or “democracy” as it has been termed in the south, has myriad flaws that are much harder to correct. Each representative only is educated in what their family knows best. They lack the intense tutelage of the noble houses. Furthermore, rule by committee leads to lengthy debate and slow responses where rapid response to emergent issues is needed. We need only look to our religious gatherings of late to see that when presented with even simple issues we have as many opinions as we have people.

I cannot speak to the competence of Lord Ambrose, personally. I cannot say that he is suited to the position because we have evidence to the contrary, but I can say that we should trust in those others of the nobility that have been delivered to us by the grace of God, and support and teach them when we can to fill in the gaps of what they know. Perhaps we do not have someone who knows every one of our issues, but I do know with certainty that these people have a greater foundation than you or I on the difficulties of rulership. And it is the humble and righteous thing to do to help them however we can.

It’s been a long time since I’ve organized my thoughts like this. Getting it down on paper makes me think about it, much like transcribing the Testimonium. I envy the true writers, though. I fear my own efforts, if they are ever read one day, will be deeply boring.

Hezke is gone for a few weeks. She told me what’s been weighing her down, finally. She’s chosen a dangerous path, but I’m committed to helping her and if we succeed it will be our life’s work. She told me she’s committed to resisting temptation and I trust her. I only hope she can trust her chosen ally and resist her enemies long enough to succeed. I’m happy, though. She trusts me and relies on me. Having someone really believe in me is the strongest feeling in the world.

The long work of getting Stragosa on its feet is almost complete. We’ve improved the city in every way except digging a moat- which is absurdly expensive and unnecessary. We’ve built almost every village we can manage and I hope to have a Confectioner operating in the city by mid-winter. At that point we’ll have all the food we can produce and it will be up to Reinhart to stabilize things with the military. Father apparently brought two thousand spearmen. I’m not sure he’s ever engaged in war himself before, but even I know what a waste that is.

My current frustrations lie with Silbrin and Borso. Both would be solved by transparency, but I’m also not sure how much I can trust either of them.

The Baroness exaggerates the status of her city to aggrandize herself. ‘A second district has been built’ means that a second district is being built- that sort of thing, but it’s constant. As far as I can tell, Silbrin is struggling due to far too many people and no infrastructure to feed them. In contrast, Corvo seems to be learning quickly. He’s started building villages for them, and has even discovered that such villages operate well on hills as well as plains- a boon to us all. They’ll probably need more villages and to tax them strenuously over the next year, but I believe Silbrin will survive. Hopefully they take my advice and leave some of their markets unused to slow their growth.

More personally, the Baroness and her strange Paladin companion originally claimed that she was no longer human- a fact that was disturbing enough that many were sharpening knives. However, in mixed news that was proven false when her Paladin killed her (later resurrecting her on the Miracle) and found Wrath on his soul and his Covenant broken. Those things would not have happened without her being human- happy news. Unfortunately, Areteus now is burdened by his Mortal Sloth and Deadly Wrath- a situation as dangerous as Suriel’s a year or more back. We will have to watch him closely. I hope the atonement from the Bishop is enough to heal him and the community.

Borso is another sort of problem. My fears were confirmed by a masterpiece song he commissioned and I heard in the morning at forum- his greatest drive is Greed for more gold. It affects every part of his interactions and I have fooled myself into thinking there might be something beyond it up to this point. I had hoped that gold was just his chosen method to help others and advance Mankind. But it is not so. He tempts the people with ‘silver for their pockets’ knowing that it will come back to him and what he pays is only a tenth of what he receives for their labors. He exploits the Princess’s generosity in using her lands for far less than any other noble. I have seen his ‘lack of coin should not get in the way of a good deal’ contracts- they indenture people, especially nobles, to him for years and cost three times the loaned amount to buy out of early.

Deep breath. I want Hestralian economics to work. I want to see how competition works toward innovation. But I don’t see it yet and I’m not sure Borso is the man to do it. I hope he can be convinced to do the right thing and set aside his Greed soon. The goal is to bring everyone together. But so far he just seems in it for himself.

On a brighter note, I continue to meet good people and grow my relationships with old friends. I met a huntress named Daciana at forum and hit it off immediately. She is so enthusiastic with how our little brotherhood operates that I feel like it must be Cyaniel himself guiding us together. Adrian approached me and wants to work with us more closely- I think he’s starting to see that what really unites us is the good in our hearts. That means a lot to me. He came from a pretty rough world before coming to Stragosa and it makes me happy to watch people grow. I met another young woman named Saiorse, a farmer who was going to help staff our Dairy, but she ended up going to Silbrin instead. Strangely, I’m at peace with it despite the strain on our resources. She is doing it to help those most in need and that’s admirable. Reinhart, Kirsa and I are getting closer. I love my brother, but I often kept the other nobles in our group at arm’s length to give him his space. I miss him, but his absence gives me the opportunity to know everyone a little more personally. Speaking of, Lord Volksnand is a godsend. I hope I’m not being completely deceived, but he feels to me like a good man wearing the clothing of an evil man. It makes me laugh when he speaks of villainy while selflessly helping everyone around him more than himself. As efficient as Bakara was, and the right man for the job at the time, Volksnand has added something we previously lacked in our ruling council. Ansel, Sif, Heinrich and Lysander provide me with a strong spiritual environment. It’s nice to finally talk with others who understand as I do and want to learn more about the philosophy and theology of our faith. Alonzo and Sif made me very proud this forum. Sif was knighted by Dame Rundelhaus, Ansel’s mother, which is a big commitment for her. She’s going to be an excellent Templar. I also got to know Alonzo better and he has gained a new passion for purity of action. I’m not sure I understand him fully yet, but he’s a wonderful artist and I look forward to sharing his enthusiasm. The Beggar Kings also deserve praise for bringing him closer to God with their beautiful music.

I could go on all day with the good people in my life, but I’ll save some for the next entry, I think.

Father is here in Stragosa. He is upset at his daughter for disowning the family name. Sebastian and I knew he would be, but it seems I was left holding the bag. I defended her choice as well as I was able- and as I had sworn to do- but Father was set in his purpose. He has cut her off from the brotherhood. I have mixed feelings. I want Father to reconcile with his daughter and meet his grandson, but at the same time I feel he is justified, politically. If I could choose the resolution it would be that Alexandria makes her own way, on her own merit, but that she and Father can treat each other as family again privately and spend some time together while he’s here. I pray for neither full support nor enforced distance from our brotherhood. She was never fully invested, more than materially, in the work we do and that’s ok. But she deserves credit for the help she has given us and I want to support her goals when they are good ones.

I had a revelation on Saturday evening. I used my Sacred Blade to face the plague wraith once more. The Lazarine who tricked me appears to be controlling it now. But my blade did not seem to do lasting harm to the creature, which made me think. The blade isn’t intended to defeat Malefic- it’s intended to defend against them. I drove off that creature and only one very tough Njord got sick and was subsequently healed. That is an accomplishment. But I’m not a monster slayer- monsters aren’t meant to be slain. They’re meant to be helped. Realizing this will help me work better with the Nuranihim. I can watch their backs while they help these lost souls and that feels pretty good.

Overall, I feel like I’m growing every day. I read a book on the Age of Heroes and even in there, before the time of Benalus, there is wisdom to be gleaned. One thing that resonated with me that I read from an ancient leader’s journal excerpt was that people sometimes need someone to more forcefully guide and train them into being good people. You can’t expect children to make all the right choices. That’s what parents are for- teaching them the hard lessons learned by generations past so they can stand on our shoulders and be even better. I can’t just present the information and avoid conflict anymore. I need to start really teaching and taking responsibility. I don’t know how I should do that or what it’s going to look like yet, but it feels like time to learn.