That book was hard to read at times.  So many horrible things happening to people I love.  There were times when I had to set it down and grit my teeth in rage or cry in frustration.

But now it's over, and I'm glad.  I'm glad to see Terre d'Ange is still the wonder, beautiful place I always imagined it to be.  And I'm glad to see it promises to grow even more so.  Now it is time for me to take up my brush and start to work adding on that canvas again.

This is a short story I wrote. I'm thinking I'll write another one soon.  There is some bad language in it, but I can't imagine that offending y'all too badly.



   

The year started out with a small mystery, but by the end of it, paranoia, deception, and betrayal had become the new order of the world.

The snow was still thick on the ground when a minor Baron, Artur Valene called on two of his family friends, the Duc Trevalion and the Marquis d'Winter, to request assistance in finding the people who ransacked his house, stealing everything in his library.  The culprit was later revealed to be the son of a rival Comte, Girard Untrusse, looking for love letters which proved his affair with the Baron's daughter, which would enrage his father.  The boy was not aware of the fact that the Baron Valene had be sending information to a foreign spy organization for decades, and because of this lack of knowledge he was killed when the organization's new agent arrived.  This agent, a delightful chandler named Luc Acier, then began to move in high social circles, becoming a darling of the court while he worked his machinations behind the scene, one of which included trying to arrange a marriage between Prince Narcisse and a Shahrizai noblewoman.  Although investigations by many, including the Dauphine herself, were closing in on him, he managed to slip out of every one of them until a random assault on his home by a foreign pirate caused the entire house of cards to come tumbling down, revealing his crimes to the nation.  After his trial he was given the option of telling the court everything he knew about his masters, or dying.  He chose to end his own life with the same poisons he killed many others with.

The Dauphine lost confidence in her family, and this became even more intense when it was discovered that her family was actually somewhat larger than any had known.  The death of the Dahlia dowayne brought with it a stunning revelation; earlier in her career, she had fell in love with the King when he was a regular patron, and had light a candle to Eisheth without his knowledge.  The result was Yseult no Dahlia.  The King greeted his new daughter openly, but the Dauphine was not quick to forget her brother's betrayal, and this sudden revelation was met with extreme suspicion.  The Crown at first decided it was best for the stability of the nation that this information not be publicly revealed, but then another action by Prince Narcisse forced the King to reveal the information in a public scandal.

Meanwhile, raids on the Skaldi border continued.  Marquis Hernan D'Basilisque, General of the Unforgiven, rallied the Crown for more support on that front.  During an impassioned appearance before Parliament, he punched the Duc Trevalion in his face, leading to a great deal of political outrage.  The King ordered him to quarters, and then later accompanied him to tour Camlach and see its current state.  After this tour, more funds were levied to help shore up border defenses and the General formally apologized to the Duc.

That was far from the only trouble Terre d'Ange was having with its neighboors, though.  Conde Matamoros y Matamoros Juan Carlos de Grenda y Viana came to Terre d'Ange early in the year, looking to rally support from nobles against the Usurper king in Aragonia.  He quickly became close to the Dauphine, who introduced him to the King.  The Crown made it known that it would not support either side in a foreign civil war, but allowed the foreign noble to continue to stay in Terre d'Ange and make whatever arrangements with individuals he wished.

A horrible event occurred in the border down of Port-au-Peid in Siovale.  The entire town was destroyed by agents unknown, with every person killed.  Initial suspicions were on the Aragonians, and when Duq Emmanuel de Viana came before Parliament, he was questioned aggressively, which lead to great insult.  Things may have ended well enough with just the insult of the Parliament, but shortly thereafter Marguerite no Bryony, a former Night Court courtesan and the betrothed of Marquis Decimus d'Winter, came to his barge, offering her support and information.  Emmanuel saw this as the act of either a traitorous woman who couldn't be trusted, or as a test, so he revealed this plot to the King.  The King brought Marguerite before the two, and when Marguerite accused the Duq of threatening rape, King Gustave asked if this was true.  Finding both the accusation and the fact that it was taking seriously offensive, Emmanuel left the scene fuming with rage.  The diplomatic efforts of the Duchess de Namarre helped things somewhat, but ended up leading to other problems.

The Duchess Clarisse L'Envers de Namarre has previously offered support to Conde Matamoros de Grenda.  However, Duq Emmanuel somehow knew when the ship she was sending to support Matamoros was setting sail, and it was ambushed an destroyed with many men lost.  The Conde Matamoros publicly accused Duchess Clarisse of fault, and while he was raging against her an assassin made his move, shooting and injuring Clarisse and killing one of her Cassilines.

While these events were occurring, the Dauphine had slowly been trying to grow less paranoid and more involved in society.  But this backfired when she was accused of being unworthy of being a Queen.  One of her Cassilines had been developing a close relationship with her, and seeing her so distraught had affected his heart deeply.  This man, Henri Chatdelune, rejected the dictates of his Order and began a relationship with the Dauphine.  Since then, there has been much outrage in the city, made all the worse by a pair of seemingly contradictory statements from the two; the Dauphine Phadrea appearing to claim uninvolvement with Henri, while Henri publicly announcing his love and his willingness to fight for it.

And so we are brought to the current day.  The relationship with Aragonia is still strained, with much talk of war.  The Skaldians have pulled back from the borders, causing a great deal of questioning as to what is going on.  The relationship between Henri and Phadrea has created uncertainty as to the fate of the Courcels.  As the new year approaches, the prayers uttered for peace and stability in the realm become more desperate.

The quality of the play on Terre d'Ange just gets better and better!

http://terredange.wikispaces.com/Role-play+Logs

I'll have Luc make a log entry about it soon enough; in the meantime everyone should read that!  If that doesn't tickle your fancy then I don't know what will. 

Terre d'Ange MUSH is a text-based role-playing game based on the Kushiel's Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey. A world where the blood of angels flows through the veins of men, and the gods of old still have an eye on the world, working their wills upon it, Terre d'Ange is a land rich in culture, philosophy, and brimming with undercurrents of intrigue. The fate of the world can be changed by the stroke of a sword or the bat of an eye, a careful word or a desperate act of vengeance - it is a world of breathtaking beauty and overwhelming threats.

Terre d'Ange is an alternate history version of France in the late Middle Ages. When Yeshua bin Yoseph died on the cross, his blood mixed with the tears of Mary Madgalene and conceived a child born of the Earth herself - Elua. When he grew older, Elua wandered the world teaching and practicing a simple credo, "Love as Thou Wilt". Eight angels of the One God, Elua's grandfather, rebelled to join Elua out of love, and together these Companions came to the near-empty lands of what is now Terre d'Ange and mixed their bloodlines with the people, creating a beautiful, sophisticated race.

Terre d'Ange MUSH is an active world, with a large number of staff to assist players and run plots. Our philosophy is that everyone should be able to feel involved and important, and should be able to immerse themselves in whatever sort of fantasies they prefer, from being a noble plotting in Parliament, to a priest working the will of one of the Companions, perhaps a seductive courtesan of the Night Court, or a lowly thief that gets into more trouble than she can handle. While we hold close to the canon of the books, it is quite possible to play without reading them; there are a wide variety of resources available to help new players understand the theme, from a range of news and wiki files, to the staff members themselves. All players of the game must be of the age of consent, as gameplay may involve adult situations.

Set in the year 1109, 75 years after the events of Kushiel's Justice, when the game starts Terre d'Ange has been through a difficult fifteen year war with Skaldia, which has proven straining both parties, and have since enjoyed a lengthy period of tense peace. Now, alliances have been formed, one between the various Skaldi tribes, Caerdicci Unitas and Khebbel-im-Akkad on one side, and Terre d'Ange, Aragonia, and Alba and Eire on the other. It is widely believed that war is not likely to happen again, despite the brinkmanship politics being used on both sides; a war between these alliances would be shatter the continent, and devastate all peoples involved.

Greetings with much love my cousin.  I hope this letter finds you in good spirits and good times.  It will likely be fall in La Serenissima when it arrives, and that should boost your business swimmingly.  I cannot imagine that there is anyone who works with furs as well as you in all of the Caerdicci states.

My fourtunes have been quite up recently.  After securing a contract with House Egalatine to produce candles for them, I have become somewhat of a fashion among the Mistresses of the Household for the nobles in the city.  A few Counts and Countesses are even aware of my work now, having asked pointedly who made such sweet-smelling lights.  I would be a liar if I said I was not quite proud of myself and my work; I believe father would have been gladdened to see what I am doing in his name.

I seem to be particularly admired by the Baroness Angelique de Triovere.  She came to my shop three days ago to pick up candles for a romantic dinner.  The next day, I was invited to her home, and what did I find but the table set with my candles?  The wine was lovely, as was the Baroness; I do believe I am quite in lust, if not in love.

Best wishes to you, cousin.  Do tell me all the latest news of La Serenissima.

Written into the back of the paper in the juice of lemon is a secret message that reads:

I am in position now, and I have managed to seduce a few minor Lords and Ladies to get access to the Palace.  My first sighting of the Target was two days ago, and though I didn't get to speak to her I am sure I made a good impression.  I feel confident that I will be able to secure influence over her.

I have seen some evidence to lead credence to our theory that the King has started his own Guild to oppose our efforts.  Have an individual contact me in person as soon as you can, and I will spend the meantime investigating further.

I still get my breath taken away to see all these people who have chosen to come and spend time with me on Terre d'Ange.  Starting this game has been one of the more rewarding (or at least confidence boosting) things I have ever done.  I got so used to a few people telling me that everyone hated me, that I was a worthless troublemaker, that I was barely tolerated and nothing more that I started to believe it.

And it hurt.  It hurt loving something as much as I loved the old game and getting pushed further and further from it.  And it really hurt to have it snatched totally from me just when it looked like I was going to have the power to affect change for the better there.  And I reacted to that hurt poorly at times, becoming almost as bad as the people I had been rallying against.

But now that things are so much better and brighter, I'm actually kind of glad I sunk so low.  It has given me an appreciation for just how much hurt can twist up basically normal, decent folk.  And I'm going to keep that in mind as an admin, and do my best to never make anyone feel as hurt as I did.  I always new about the fundamental attribution error, but it helps to be reminded of it.

And because I don't want this post to be a total bummer, time to say a few words to the people I care about:

Shemhazai: You live up to your Angel-name, and bring a wonderful knowledge of the setting.
Angra Mainyu: You showed me the power of aggressively going after what I want, and the danger of letting that aggression get out of control.
Cassiel: You are the gentlest and sweetest fellow alive, and I'm glad I can give you a fun place after dragging you through hell before.
Reaper, Apok, Thoth, and the Shadowrun Germany team: You set the bar high for me as an admin, and showed me how to reach it.
Wodin: Thank you for having the balls to tell us when we are doing something wrong.  Most people don't, and as such people keep doing things bass-wackers.
Eisheth: You lept into the game with a fierce will and got more done than anyone else, and brought a number of great people with you.  If I'm the head, you are definitely the heart.
Naamah: You believed in me and supported me before anyone else would, and I won't ever be able to thank you enough.  If I'm ever in California I'll bake you cookies.
Camael: You're refreshingly straightforward, and it's nice not to be the oldest!
Valo: WIthout you I'd still be fiddling around hosting the game on my own computer trying to figure out how to do the simplest things.  You're definitely the MVP, mate.
Desiree: You bring the cuteness, which is key to any fun game.
Azza: And you bring the complicated manipulations, and you keep them IC where they belong.  Good job, mate.
Anael: You stepped up when we needed you and got right to work.  You'll always have friends in Terre d'Ange.
Asherat: You created a palace fit for the scions of angels that is still realistic enough for blood to be shed in its halls.  Enjoy your honeymoon!
Rain, Skye, Moon, and the less thematically named Decimus, Gerard, Botros and everyone else coming in: The fact that you are so eager to play that you hang around is awesome, and chatting with you certainly breaks up the monotony of building.
Kushiel: Thank you for being my light mirror and showing me that I'm not bound by just what the dark has told me over and over again.

We near completion now, as businesses are being tossed onto the grid and described.  We've got a very impressive City of Elua, and I'm quite happy with it.  I am particularly happy with the fine work Eisheth, Naamah, Shemhazai and the other builders have done, and Valo and Anael have done great coding work.  The rest of the staff applauds them, and is eager for the chance to pitch in with storylines.

Speaking of storylines, we now have an overarching plot for the next two years.  One of the admins spelled it out, and it blew me away with it's perfection.  It is quite a bit different from anything I would have thought of, and that's wonderful; I'm constantly excited by how many surprises there are for me in this game.

Unfortunately, things aren't all good.  I was forced to ban one of our players and staff, Angra Mainyu.  I feared it would happen, but he is my friend and I had to give him a chance.  Unfortunately, he was not able to keep himself under control and he was beligerant on the staff channel, insulting several people with foul and deliberate language.  In a way, I'm glad this happened now; it is better to get these things done with quickly before they cause everything to sour.

We are now hosted on a professional server, and we have a really great wiki up at http://terredange.wikispaces.com

The grid is laid out, and the character creation system is almost done.  We should be ready to go live no later than the second week in November.  Already we have 8-10 different players on at night, so I imagine we'll start out with at least 30 different characters being actively played.  I can't imagine a better start.  Of course, we were lucky enough to appeal to a group of group of people who were already concentration together and who were looking for alternatives to what they were doing.

The game is continuing to advance as a quick pace.

We've got a site now: Terre d'Ange MUSH Angra_Mainyu and Eisheth have done a lot of work for it, and I'm very glad to have them on my team.  It's a great team now; we've got enough admins to make sure that no player ever gets bored, and they all have different interests and different viewpoints that they bring to the table.  We had a bit of friction today for the first time, but we got through it, and that makes me more confident about our ability to handle things like this.