AstriaS

Velsyni Indoren sighed in disappointment, preparing to move all of her business operations to a more stable location. Preferably one with corporation-friendly tax laws.

The High Keeper looked over the missive as she tended her wounds from her own battle with the otherworldly host. “For the good of all, we must repel the darkness.” She nodded in agreement, preparing to pledge her support to the cause.

The High Keeper, a very busy woman, was far too busy dealing with a demon incursion to care too much about undead emperors and ashed Rurics coming out of the woodwork. But, nonetheless, she took a moment to comment. “Is this really the best time to do this?” She said in an annoyed, exhausted tone.

High Keeper Alisa hummed in thought as she read over the missive that had found its way to her. Upon seeing Siol’s name marked at the bottom, her eyebrows piqued in mild surprise, having not expected his name to cross her desk. “Been a few years,” the priestess commented, remembering her previous interactions with the man. She sighed in slight disappointment. “Troubling to hear, if nothing else.” Alisa then nodded, and made a mental note of the information contained within the missive.

The High Keeper sighed sympathetically as she read the notice. “What a shame. You hate to see it.” She then had a drink, preemptively mourning Darrowmere’s apparently-declining birth rate. “If only we had some sort of system so the singles of the world could connect over long distances.”

High Keeper Alisa sighed as she read over the notice. “Well, here we go again. May the Paragons bless our endeavors.”

The High Keeper nodded contently as she oversaw the ceremony. As Jager raised the lit flamebrand from the hearth, she gave a brief round of applause. “Congratulations, Keeper. And welcome. May you serve the Father well.” 

High Keeper Alisa hangs out and shares some booze with the other observers. “At least there’s good drinks at this party.”

The High Keeper read the poster and as it landed on her desk. “Morsgrad is the name of the city.” She commented with an idle sigh, folding the document and casually dropping it into one of the cluttered drawers of her desk. “Too bad I already have a coronation to do that day.”

The High Keeper nodded in approval as she heard the news. “Only thing a bandit deserves in life is a short drop followed by a sudden stop. Give ‘em hell.”

“So, new king already, huh?”  Remarked the young Sylvia Camian as she worked on her chores for the day. “I thought kings were supposed to... Y’know, last a while? Hmmm.” The girl paused, pondering a moment. She shrugged, letting out a quiet laugh. “Oh well. I can win a fight against Halvar if I need to, anyway.” 

The High Keeper read over the missive and gave it a quiet nod. “Not sure what the hell is going on down there anymore, changing things as often as they do, but good luck to ‘em, I guess.” The priestess would then shrug indifferently and toss the missive in her fireplace. “Maybe they’ll find some semblance of order soon. Not placing any bets on it, though.”

The High Keeper signs her name to the document.

Velsyni Indoren nodded contently as she restocked the shelves of her store in Morsgrad’s market square. “Nice.”

The High Keeper would sigh, rolling her eyes. “I suppose I’ll respond,” the priestess complained, taking out her paper and writing utensils to begin writing a response to one Friar Boniface.

To Friar Boniface,

To ask for the extradition of an urn is silly; You embarrass yourself. If you wish to have a pot full of ashes to prosecute for a crime committed outside your empire, then by all means, be my guest. The man was put to death. Be content with the course of justice, rather than finding reasons to complain about people who bear you no ill will. Furthermore, I will remind you that I quite openly opposed the Courlandic claim to be part of our faith. Leave the past in the past, lest your soul be consumed by the apparent hatred within you. 

Father’s Blessings,

High Keeper Alisa Camian

The High Keeper stretched her arms above her head, yawning as she rose from her bed. As she roused herself from her rest, she came to find a small stack of letters at her door; one about the acquisition of Rubern, one about the subsequent demolition of Rubern, and a number of letters of general discontent. She sighed, tossing the lot of them into her fireplace. “F****** hell. I’m going back to bed. If I can sleep through this much of the problem, maybe I can sleep through getting rid of it, too. Your move, Caedric.” With a huff of mild annoyance, the priestess placed a ‘do not disturb’ card on her door handle, and locked the door behind her as she went back to bed.

High Keeper Alisa read the notice that had reached her in Morsgrad. “Mmm. I think not. But good luck to them with the whole marriage thing, I guess.” She remarked with a shrug before promptly casting the missive into a nearby fire. 

Velsyni Indoren clasped her hands in delight as the news reached her.  “It’ll be such a delight to have him about again. Oh, how I’ve missed that face he makes at me when I say things that annoy him,” the ‘ker remarked, a mischievous grin crossing her lips. Then, after a moment’s consideration, the second part of the news processed in her mind.  “Oh, and Taurus is regent now? Well, there’s no better Indoren for the job, I suppose.” With a small smile, she then returned to her work, content in the knowledge of the good days to come.

The High Keeper tried to shake off the intense mental whiplash of the rapid change of opinion. “Uh. Well. That didn’t last long.” With a shrug, the priestess proceeded to toss the missive into her fireplace. “Southerners are weird.”

High Keeper Alisa Camian blinked in mild bemusement as the news was relayed to her. “Um, excuse me, what?” She rolled her eyes and let out a long sigh. ”So, the Church of Canon didn’t want them, and only then do they look to the Father? And they don’t even bother reaching out to me, or Jager? This sounds markedly political, like all things southern. I do despise these false conversions made in the name of political posturing. I suppose we’ll see what they do. If they think I’ll just let them claim to be of the Faith and then do as they like, then they’re sorely mistaken.” With an annoyed groan, the Keeper would put pen to paper and begin writing a letter.

To whom it may concern,

It has been brought to my attention that you have taken to calling yourself practitioners of the Red Faith. To my eye, this rather abrupt, unprompted change looks rather politically-inspired, rather than based on any true sense of faith or piety. It should be noted as well that this action is being taken by a selection of people who, until the institutions of their previous faith refused them, showed no interest in change. Is it not, therefore, fair to assume that your loyalties are not to faith but to institutions that you expect will grant you some measure of influence or power? Continuing this line of reasoning, is it not also fair to assume that you will disregard those laws of our faith that you find inconvenient? In short, I trust neither you nor your intentions. I cannot trust you to uphold the Tenets, I cannot trust you to serve the Father faithfully, and I cannot trust you to keep our faith out of your petty political squabbles. As far as I am concerned, you are not and shall never be true followers of the Father, only politicians looking for any sort of leverage to further your schemes. Prove me wrong, and perhaps I will change my mind. 

Signed,

High Keeper Alisa Camian, Hearth Mother of Norland

As much as I hate playing the part of the cynical pessimist, I feel this needs to be said; As good of a message as this is-- and it’s a very good message, don’t misunderstand-- it seems to me that this is a lot of words with little weight behind them. As great as it would be for everyone to play nice, the fact remains that due to inaction on the part of all parties involved, nothing will change. So long as the powers that be, either by intention or ignorance, willingly turn a blind eye to the issues in question for whatever reason, there will continue to be no confidence in the system. With no confidence in the system, people won’t step forward when they’re mistreated. When people stop stepping forward, the inaction appears justified, and the cycle continues. Nothing will change, harassment and toxicity will continue.

tl;dr: If you want change, the way to do it is through principle and integrity, not just telling people to be better. Change is achieved by action.

Signed,

Astria, Local Cynic

The High Keeper read over Edward’s work, nodding in quiet approval as she did so. Impressed by the Purifier’s work, she penned a brief note to the man.
 

Edward,

Having just finished a cursory examination of your work, I can express only approval of your work. Not only have you produced a very good piece of work with your litanies alone, but you’ve also thoroughly and concisely explained your purpose for putting them to paper. As far as the work of Initiates goes, this is some of the finest I’ve read. Well done. Very well done. I look forward to reading more of your work.

Sincerely,

High Keeper Alisa

The High Keeper silently objected to the addition of the word ‘Holiness’ to her name as she read over the document. But she chose to just shrug it off with a sigh.

Velsyni Indoren hummed in quiet sorrow as the rumors reached her ears. “I never did get to take her up on that conversation she wanted. What a shame,” She let out a long sigh and rose from her seat, wandering outside to go on a short walk to clear her mind.

8 hours ago, Fanasty said:

-House Ruric

The High Keeper let out a quiet hum as she looked over the invitation on its way to Caedric. As her eyes caught the words ‘House Ruric’ she let out a nervous laugh. “All of the Rurics? Oh... Oh dear.” The priestess gave out a long, concerned sigh, thinking that perhaps the invitation should have specified ‘Edvardsson’. But, nonetheless, she would bear word to the other Rurics, the Eirikssons and the Freyssons.

6 hours ago, HadvarAvMitteland said:

Thou shalt not wear masks within the walls of Darrowmere.

1 hour ago, Draiden said:

Jager would adjust his Purifier's mask and laugh cynically. "I hope they don't expect me to take these Sutican laws seriously." He'd crumple up the missive and toss it into the fire, per tradition, and stand up with a sigh. "The last guardsmen who asked me to remove my mask didn't fare so well."

The High Keeper hummed a quiet tune as she cleaned her own mask, holding it up to the light as she reflected on the document that had found its way to her desk. “Hmm... I wonder if they realize that a mask is part of the outfit I wear for official work. I do hope they aren’t attempting to ban Keepers from their land.”