Where have the summer days and the independency of people gone?

[Sunniva]

How can you all stand this?

You live in this eternal place of cold, frigid air and blustering snow, never allowed to even mention the other seasons for fear of… of what? Finding the elation that comes with running down a sunlit hill in the middle of summer, or the happiness when a dear little plant that you nurtured through the winter has finally begun to bud after the first spring rain. The crackle of leaves underfoot as you gather firewood for the oncoming, but not eternal, winter.

At first when I woke, I thought that everyone was joking when they said we were in an eternal winter. Then, once I realized that they were not in fact joking, I thought that perhaps I was dreaming, or that I had gone mad. But once I realized that I truly was here, in this frozen castle, I was not imagining it, I began to wonder. Why were we brought to such a secluded place, so far from the joys of the rest of the world? A place without seasons, and without the pure sun to bathe us in it’s light?

That massive, imposing gate has not opened in so long, it looks almost rusted into place. So few have ventured outside the castle, so few can even remember life before. Are we prisoners in our own home, not allowed to leave if we wish? We have our benevolent Queen, but is it really her truest wish for these people that live in her care to stay trapped forever in a castle that never changes? In a castle that yes, is our home, but also confines us. Keeps us from seeing what is outside. Keeps us from the joys of spring and the hot summer, and the crisp breezes and fresh apples of the autumn.

Those who do remember life before here, and I am sure there are those that do, I cannot be the only one, they willingly forget. They forget all of the emotions that each season brings, trying to compress them into the coldest season of all, for fear of not speaking their hearts, not speaking of the times they remember so dearly. Out of fear for who only knows what reason, they are frightened, and refuse to acknowledge the beautiful things that are their memories and loves from before. Those memories of walks in a spring forest, flowers swaying in the wind, or the crisp cracking as the fields are harvested later in the year.

The seasons are a well-balanced cycle. One cannot have the large harvest of the fall without the early rains of the spring and the crackling heat of summer, and thusly, during the time of regeneration, we regather and freeze the earth in a state of calm before beginning anew as the ground below us begins to thaw. To try and live with only one of these four, it is an imbalance, a kind of one-sidedness that will hurt us more than we like to admit. There must be balance in the world, else things will begin to fail.

And yes, magic is all around us, that is how we live. Or so I have been told on many occasions, by many different people. We find these reasons to give thanks for being trapped in this hellish world, living in a secluded bubble, forced to find joy in things, to fill our days with repetitive actions to distract ourselves from what is right before us. We try to find thanks for being stuck in a world of eternal, frigid winter, where we are slaves to a Queen who has stolen our souls and minds and brought them and trapped them within the stone walls of the keep.

We are slaves to this Queen and her Consort, mere playthings within their castle, something to amuse to these immortal rulers. We should rise up, and take our freedom.

~Sunniva Larsdatter

*the parchment that this post was written on seems to be slightly tear-stained*

[BigRedV]

Unless you're blind, we do have a sun. Otherwise, we would be cloaked in darkness forever, considering you were able to write this lengthy missive I think we can both say the sun is still very much there. Furthermore, perhaps the Awakeners forgot to mention this, but you died, sweetheart. Which means the magic in this castle keeps you alive if you went outside the wards you would once again be dead. You were brought to this home as a mercy for your poor lost soul from our Queen. It's a shame that you spit in her face after you've been given a second chance. I mean if you prefer to be a soul lost forever and never truly living, I guess that is your prerogative. The rest us prefer living.

Instead of moping and crying about shite from your past you should try to look ahead and make a new life here. I can't recall if I've met you, but I'd be happy to show you all the fun things in the castle. Join a guild, find love, become a crafter, get a hobby. There is plenty of fun and joy to be had, but only if you open yourself up to it. You shouldn't let something so simple as the weather dictate how you live your life. So you can either stop complaining and grab a cloak or go to sleep, but if you ever fix your hands or lips to insult my Queen again, I will challenge you to a duel and you can find any Champion you want.

Thank you and I really do hope you write, I don't want anyone to go to sleep. Okay, maybe some people can go to sleep, but not before you've fully had the chance to live and experience your new home.

[Euphelia]

Ooh, it has been a while since there has been such outright treasonous talk. How exciting.

-EN

[Taite]

Perhaps, instead of focusing on what's behind you, you should open your eyes and watch where you're going.

As you have been told, there is a realm full of amazing people and there are many paths one can take. If you choose to ignore people's words and help, that is not on us.

[Sunniva]

This place does, yes, seem to have a great many kind people within it, and people who have found lives within. But I cannot help but gape and wonder at how you cannot see that you were stolen. We have all been told that our souls were lost, yearning and crying out in the realm beyond this one, yet is that really true? Did you feel that your heart suddenly became complete when you woke, or did you wake with a sense of fear, and unsurity?

Were you not startled, and wary of your surroundings? They will tell you that is merely because it is such a shift from what you are used to, yet it feels as though you have been torn from calm existence, and thrust into this strange, dark, and unfamiliar place. It is nothing but a story that is woven so carefully to trick you, and make you happy about living here, where you were stolen from. Even if, yes, we did die before, is it not natural for us to have been resurrected and brought here.

And, Vasilisa, it is not only about the seasons, it is about why we were brought here. I have accepted that I have been brought here, that this is corporeal and that my feet fall true. I do not linger overmuch on the past, though I miss all my family and my love dearly. But my question still lies, why can we not leave, why is our very existence so nipped and kept close to Winter alone? Why we have all been gathered in this place together. Do you not wonder why you and I were… “chosen”, to live here? Perhaps it is because yes, our Queen has shown Mercy and favor on us, but is it not also as likely that we are pawns, to be watched and laughed at, when we challenge and kill each other over such blantantly clear subjects as this? You see what has happened, you acknowledge that we would not be living were we not brought here, but for what reason? A second life? Not all desire such a life, and particularly not one so trapped as this. You can try and forge new lives, but even with that, you are so limited with what can be done, or by who.

~Sunniva Larsdatter

[BigRedV]

You ask questions that were already answered, so I'm not going to reply to those.
Yes, it was startling to wake here, but to know the why and how helped me understand.

So no, I do not vividly recall my past and nor do I wish to. I have a new and better life now, I have the opportunity to do things I likely would not have had in my past life.
I'm given everything I could need and or want. Your purpose here is what you make it!

I'll be around if you have different questions. I'm the loud mouth with the red dreadlocks!

[Blodwen]

She said the S word.

- BvO

[Sunniva]

To BvO-

Which S word do you speak of, or do you mean both Spring and Summer, those blissful words which people hush and speak not?

Or if in fact, it is against the law, are our every words that are spoken regulated here?

~Sunniva Larsdatter

[Taite]

Queen Vivienne does not randomly pick us. This isn't a game of 'Pick a number' and the person who chooses the closest number gets a second chance at life. She brought us here because she feels that we have potential to become someone AMAZING!

Queen Vivienne, also, gave us free will, with that, we are allowed to choose our own paths. We can follow the same path that many before us have followed, or we can create our own. You feel 'trapped' but yet, those who have arrived before us have shown us great mercy. They welcome us to the castle, they teach us how things are. I have SEEN courtiers, Lords and Ladies engaging with newly awakened, asking about their present and their future. I have WITNESSED the generosity of those who have come before us, offering clothing to those who had just awaken, or words of wisdom to those who need it. I have EXPERIENCED the lifting words of those around me when I have fallen and have a hard time finding my way.

So no, I have never felt 'trapped' or 'stuck'. There are things about my past that I remember bits and pieces of. Nobody is saying that you have to forget, but if you do not find a way to adjust to these new changes, you will find it much harder to find a path that you can safely walk. I want the best for you that the realm has to offer. We will all help you find the path that is perfect for you, BUT, you must walk the path and work toward goals that you set for yourself.

[Sunniva]

Taite-

Can you not see how delusional you have grown, as you have lived here? The Queen hand-chose each of our souls, because she thought we had the potential to be "Amazing."

I do not say that there are not kind people who live here, I find few people are truly evil or maliciously mean to others. But living in such a small, secluded place as this, is it not easier to trick their inhabitants? Convince them that all is well, that we live in a place of peace and Mercy? To turn one another against each other if we speak anything save what had been told to us?

I feel sorry for you, as it seems that you have grown into such a life here, willingly drawn into this elaborate tale of falsity. If we are allowed to shape our own goals, and our own life, can my goal be to leave, to explore that which I can see, but cannot touch? To climb those tall mountains and descend the rocky sides to whatever lies below. A second life that is lived to the fullest would not be one that is so restrained.

Instead, I must always stay, and give many thanks for all of the blessings and the Mercy that was shown unto me. Have you never noticed that the story that everyone speaks about our arrival is eerily similar? They all speak of our souls crying out and being lost, with the same words. Much as though they are echoing what was told to them, and to those before. We repeat only what we know, and do not question what we are comfortable with. We do not find our own words, and see the truth.

~Sunniva Larsdatter

[Edstave]

If you're interested in exploring all that you see beyond our walls but cannot touch, I'd advise you to dress warmly.

[chindora]

Are you just trying to get yourself jailed, tortured and killed? Feel free to toss yourself into the trash chute, if you are so quick to judge our way of life, and cannot be bothered to learn more about it.