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It's interesting to consider how I feel about this.

How 'should' I feel? The answer is not obvious. Perhaps I should be vindicated. She did not listen to the advice of her sisters, now here she is paying a price. And it is such a mild price, such a minor rebuke. And she will never make that mistake again.

Acolyte Hypatia, surely, would feel such a satisfaction, and perhaps even might gloat to the poor, whimpering thing.

I know now that would be cruel. She is my sister. She has made a mistake, but it is so that she corrected her error. To err is not a sin, but persisting in error is. What is more righteous than to welcome her now with grace and love?

This, it seems to me, is how I should behave, but I haven't arrived at the answer of how I 'actually feel,' whatever that means.

The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that the question is immaterial. What matters is how I act. 

Gloating isn't necessary, unless it has an effect. Welcoming her is necessary, for it has an effect. So how I feel is of no consequence at all if I do not let it affect my actions.

And isn't the answer obvious? When she smiled at me, when she shared how it felt...

Yes, that gave me permission to feel it with her.

Estie,

I wrote a poem for you after our earlier talk about poetry. It's been some time since I've made an attempt like this, but I'm very happy with the result.

The little desert fox, he goes
Galumphing o'er the plains!
He sneaks along to find his prey
The little bird and her eggs!

The desert fox hides in the brush
His foeman passes him by!
No melek, kobold, goblin-band
Shall make a fennec pie!

A little fox must be so deft
If he shall earn his keep!
He has so many miles to go
Before it's safe to sleep.

But when the night is dark and still
The fox, he is alone.
"Where can I find me a friend,
That I might share my home?"

It always makes me smile to see the little foxes trotting across the sand. With their little footsteps! I hope it makes you happy too. Please send me your thoughts, and any other works of yours that you might like me to read.

Your friend,
Hypatia

Dear Alejandro,

Thank you so much for your words of advice. I thought further about the restriction, and realized that I only wanted to write a poem that would make my friend happy. Following from that, here have I written a poem which makes me happy. I am not used to sharing these things, but I thought you might like to see what your advice has helped to create.

The little desert fox, he goes
Galumphing o'er the plains!
He sneaks along to find his prey
The little bird and her eggs!

The desert fox hides in the brush
His foeman passes him by!
No melek, kobold, goblin-band
Shall make a fennec pie!

A little fox must be so deft
If he shall earn his keep!
He has so many miles to go
Before it's safe to sleep.

But when the night is dark and still
The fox, he is alone.
"Where can I find me a friend,
That I might share my home?"

Your friend,
Hypatia

Dear Alejandro,

Something terribly unfortunate has happened, which I hope you may be able to rectify.

I want to write a poem for a friend after we discussed her own (rarely-seen) poetry. To my great chagrin, all that I have been able to produce so far is a blank page. It disheartens. Have I really so little to say?

You are of course the first poet I thought of to write for help. Please, how do you decide what to write about? Is there a process that you follow?

Your friend,
Hypatia

[Received.]

I am not afraid, afraid, afraid, as I become myself, myself, myself.

This is the grace of graces. This is the peace of peaces.

All of me is given up. Now I am not afraid. Now I am only myself.

I have never been more free.

[Handled.]

honestly a no-brainer, i was shocked when i learned that nwn doesn't do this already

Estellise,

I'm trying my best. I'm going to do everything that I can.

Mercy is a virtue. I hope that they will be able to see it.

Hypatia

Janissary Thud,

It is in the interests of justice that we meet as quickly as possible. I suspect that certain parties are trying to indemnify themselves. I am hoping to meet with Legate Marcellus as soon as possible; we might both speak to him then, or else I can meet with you for an interview at your convenience. I regret that I cannot provide you with a detailed written account at present; I am pressed for time and must write in haste while I may.

Know that I do not have the full picture of events. I was only a party to the voyage on Qdim 19, yet I believe it holds relevance to the events of Qdim 20th, which we now find ourselves most concerned with.

Let Izdu's lantern guide your steps.
Acolyte Hypatia

Dear Aubrey,

We must speak as soon as possible. The Well cries out for justice, and I hope that we can together set these things to rights.

I've already sent a missive to the Legate in the hopes of forestalling things and explaining to him the truth of the matter, before those less guilty are scapegoated by vipers. We will have to move quickly if we are to fix this sorry mess which unfolds before us.

Hypatia

Domhnall,

Urrazir screams. Izdu weeps. Gellema laughs.

We must meet and see how the peace that was broken, and the counsel ignored, might still be answered for. There are some whose grasping hands reach too far, and who too eagerly take advantage of mercy.

If there is a third time, we will not live to regret it.

Acolyte Hypatia

Honored Legate,

I am taken to understand that something both terribly disastrous and utterly predictable has occurred. I would like to meet with you, at earliest urgency and haste, so that I might bring a fuller understanding of the matter to your attention.

I plead not to speak only of what has happened, but also what should happen. There are wrongs which must be put to rights, and might still be if a just hand guides the scales. We have seen the results of hubris, left unchained, and now is the time where wisdom might prosper in the stead of naked and unrestricted curiosity.

This is, of course, a delicate matter that I speak of, and I hope the delicate response I offer might satisfy both Urrazir's needs and the needs of the Pyramid. It is not the same answer that those who cry for blood would desire, but it will be satisfying for those in the Well who desire truth and yearn for justice.

In the path of Izdu's Lantern, in the pursuit of Urrazir's Justice
Acolyte Hypatia

Here's how I would rank the factions by ease of promotion in descending order, at least as I see it:

-Balladeers
-Banda Rossa
-Janissaries? Not entirely sure, I think scarab to soldier is probably easy enough to be in this 'tier' while further promotions are harder
-------- Line of Increased Difficulty
-Astronomers (with the caveat of being very systemized and defined, you know how far you are in promotion generally)
-Sisters
-Scribes (N/A - promotion is not mechanically a thing?)

If it's going to be changed, it makes the most sense to me to do so above the Line of Increased Difficulty.

That said, being voiced is a pretty good incentive for joining and ranking up in a DM faction, which I think is encouraged generally. (it's also beneficial for a faction to have more voiced members!) I'm not sure I really see the justification for taking it away.

Hypatia Kometou