C H E V E N G A • L I V E S • H E R E | weblit by Karen Wehrstein

Chevenga's armour

Submitted by Karen on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 18:09

(Being a description prompted by a request from Meeks for guidance on what he is wearing during a certain juncture of the story she has undertaken to illustrate.)

Chevenga is not the kind of guy who wants to encase himself completely in plate, in part because his fighting style depends on speed. Wearing chain-mail in the Lakan war he hated for its heaviness (not the least because of his teen build) and so abandoned it for the Arkan war.

639 - Flames lengthening from my skin inward

There was no one who could be a credible threat to me militarily, now, by what I saw; not enough warriors were willing to oppose me to form a big enough army. But there were those who could hinder and harass, killing while they were at it, and make life difficult and dangerous for those on the Miyatara and in remote country. Chief among them was Farnias, working with a deviousness I could not help but admire.

The Philosopher in Arms

638 - Your luck in love has been bad

17 Jenir 4977 | City of Arko

Dear Mamin:

I shouldn’t be that upset about what happened with Klara. She and I made no plans to marry, weren’t having sex or even holding each other, weren’t even together nearly as much as that other woman and I were back during the war. I just... got very used to those regular dinners. It was so pleasant to be in her company. It did become part of my life, maybe the nicest part. (Curing people used to be a miracle, but now I do it every day.)

The Philosopher in Arms

637 - One word to him

Excerpt from the personal journal of Intharas Terren, High Editor of the Pages of Arko, for the eight-day following Risae 18, 54th-to-last Y.P.A.

It was time to meet with my oily team... the lawyers, I mean. I decided to get both Sirikas Aren, my usual libel man, and this Yeoli that Shefenkas recommended, pretty sure that Siri knows Arkan libel law better, while Feresinkas (as best I can spell it) knows better how these woolly-arm-pitted morons who have come after me think.

The Philosopher in Arms

636 - A chill through the entire public discourse

The wisdom of the short-chainers
Ipicha Shae-Shaila
Terera Pages, hyerasora 20, 1552

Observed shallowly, it’s a natural defense of reputation, the reaction of those who have been impugned and had that calumny produced on the Great Press of Arko, which can spit out a hundred thousand copies of anything in a day, making all whose writings go through it immensely powerful.

But look deeper and you will see it is just an offshoot of the tedious policy of harassment of Chevenga ascribed to by certain Servants of Assembly.

The Philosopher in Arms

635 - The mob cannot see its way clearly enough

Excerpt from the personal journal of Intharas Terren, High Editor of the Pages of Arko, for the eight-day following Risae 18, 54th-to-last Y.P.A.

Gentle reader! You would never guess who is suing me for libel.

Oh, I wrote bluntly about them. I waxed eloquent upon their errors. I characterized them with exasperation that is surely understandable considering their actions. But libelled them? Absolutely not. Libel is FALSE!

The Philosopher in Arms

Tourism of the mind, Part II : Authenticity

Submitted by Karen on Sat, 01/28/2012 - 19:20

(Opening disclaimer: If the idea of spirit guides is too weird for you, just count it as my way of directly contacting the higher and wiser part of myself, okay?)

You might recall in the last update on the first Tourism of the Mind blogpost, I wrote:

Okay, I can boil the emotional imperative for me here into two little words.

Quit! Hiding!

A strategy from the courses I have been taking:

"If you feel a loss of power, it is because somewhere you are not being authentic... what are you hiding?"

634 - I have betrayed all my children

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t at all down-hearted in that time. I also felt I was starting to hear the whisper of fate, as I had in Yeola-e before the war. Great change is coming, it breathed, but there wasn’t a feeling of personal helplessness about it, almost more an itch, as if it was me who must set that change in motion. But the sense of boredom and stagnation, I mostly put down to sadness and loneliness.

The Philosopher in Arms

633 - An education in vilification

When Niku left, Shaina and Etana decided to as well, taking Kima and their kids, for their safety. I could not blame them. Fifth was steadfast about staying with me except in summer, though, so he and Younger Kallijas became the only two youngsters in the Imperial section, and their bond grew stronger.

The Philosopher in Arms

632 - The heart-slash of grief

The Assembly of Yeola-e should be told: “Down!”

Intharas Terren
The Pages of Arko, Risae 4, 54-to-last Y.P.A.

This morning, our beloved Imperator received a letter from his so-called masters in the Yeoli Assembly calling him to task for his expert handling of the slave revolt in Temono already covered elsewhere in these Pages. In fact, they are debating whether to command him—as by Yeoli law they have the right—to grant the ringleaders of the revolt full pardons and full freedom.