Location: Armathane, Alec's Study
Time: Day 88 After Arrival
Ledger Entry: Alec of House Alenia
I've begun keeping notes.
Not because I forget — I don't. But because details degrade when they remain trapped in a single mind. Reflection is not the same as memory. And I've come to believe the first is far more useful.
So here it is.
Eight pages so far. One column for progress. One for exposure.
This is not a diary. It's a status report.
To myself.
EDENIA: UPDATE
With access to new records, geographic logs, and maps, I now understand Edenia as a sprawling kingdom. The royal capital is Astana—not just a city, but a county-sized seat directly ruled by King Theren II, making him both Count and King in practice.
Edenia governs five vassal duchies: Midgard, Selvanis, Velbrunna, Hamstade, and Carowen. I lack precise territorial data, but if each duchy is comparable to Midgard—and I haven't even seen all of Midgard yet—then Edenia is vast.
Selvanis appears closest to Midgard geographically. Its posture? Hostile. The kind of cold disdain that suggests either unresolved history or anticipatory rivalry.
MIDGARD: INITIAL SURVEY
Midgard is defined by its containment. Political. Economic. Cultural. Its people are not slow—they've simply been trained to hesitate unless pushed.
But there's potential here.
I've walked its inner roads. Crossed its farmlands. Studied its ledgers. The duchy is rich in veins: irrigation systems, mineral seams, skilled labor. But it suffers from a fear of vision. The nobility builds only to preserve. Innovation frightens them because innovation invites change.
Infrastructure is old but reliable. Trade lines can be rerouted with minimal resistance. Literacy is surprisingly high. The climate favors cultivation. The borders? Unthreatened, though Selvanis watches.
The duchy is subdivided into six vassal counties: Oslo, Sundheim, Delsagade, Varensholt, Bulcrest, and Halstrad. Oslo seems strategically vital. It's ruled by a young, recently widowed countess. Notably absent during my titling ceremony.
Each county breaks further into 4–6 baronies. Feudal structure, layered bureaucracy. All adaptable.
DUCHESS VAELORA
She doesn't command power through fear.
She wields it through precision.
Vaelora is not dangerous because she lies—but because she tells the truth with surgical timing. She filters every conversation through analysis, not emotion. She surrounds herself with speakers of truth, then uses their clarity as a blade.
She makes no threats. She offers paths. All of them have cliffs at the edges.
She didn't give me a title out of generosity. She gave it because it was smarter to weaponize me than oppose me. A chess player who sacrifices bishops to corner kings.
I don't trust her.
But I understand her.
Which, in politics, is sometimes worth more.
LADY SERINA
She's more difficult to parse.
She doesn't echo her mother's movements. Doesn't posture with the same armor. She's unpolished, honest, deliberate. But not soft. Not easily led.
Serina watches. Learns. Then chooses.
She's navigating a world that expects her to be quiet, beautiful, and still. Instead, she asks questions. Dissects structures. Challenges calmly. She wants change—but she's never seen it made real.
Not until now.
We're not aligned. Yet.
But we're walking the same direction.
I've requested she be attached to my team. Administrative oversight. Observational input. If she's going to inherit a world I help shape, she deserves to see it built.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE
Grendale Project:
Coastal wall rebuilt
Tidal flow redirected
Marshland reclaimed
Agricultural output increased by 28% (projected 40-day cycle)
Infrastructure:
Drafted initial city expansion schematic for Armathane
Personnel:
Created builder rotation pool: 113 workers
Appointed 16 site managers, 5 provisional engineers
Council:
Earned formal title: Ducal Advisor & Chief Architect of Development
Granted direct reporting access to Duchess Vaelora
Resources Secured:
Northern quarry rights
Access to primary grain route maps
Partial survey access to historical land records
Public Perception:
Recognized by ~30% of Midgard's active nobility
Secondary Effects:
Name entered in noble correspondence & trade registries
Noted by Edenian observers (1 confirmed at last council session)
Hostile murmurs: Lord Halven, two unnamed vassals
Sympathy: Minor merchant house, Foreman's Guild
CURRENT POSITION
I am no longer invisible.
That changes the rules.
Every word I speak will be measured not for truth, but for allegiance.
Every action will be weighed against bloodlines I do not share.
Which means the real work begins now.
No more observation. No more masks. No more caution.
I've walked the halls.
Measured the pressures.
Mapped the gaps.
And I'm ready to move.
Not to tear it all down.
But to reshape it.
OBJECTIVES: NEXT PHASE
Conduct full territorial survey of Midgard's counties (field visits + archival data)
Begin first draft of ducal development reforms and infrastructure projects
Create a parallel intelligence ledger beneath the official recordkeeping system
Solidify Serina as trusted ally and embedded administrative partner
Avoid ideological declarations in court; lead with action, not rhetoric
Frame Midgard as center of regional reinvention
PERSONAL NOTES
I am not the same man who stumbled into Branhal.
I'm beginning to feel things I was never trained to accommodate. Frustration. Curiosity. Possibly even attachment.
That's dangerous.
Not because emotion weakens strategy.
But because I never learned to contain it. And if I don't, someone else will use it.
Serina makes me question.
Vaelora makes me prepare.
The nobility makes me sharpen.
But the future I see?
That makes me hungry.
And now?
Now it begins.
I've been patient.
I've played the clever outsider.
That game is over.
Let the world start catching up.