((The following audio files are stored on a memory chip located in the head of Windows Omega. They are recorded on a microphone inside her helm, so her normal, female voice is heard in all entries.)) entry001.wav Statement. Given... recent events, it may be wise to begin regular and private recordings of my day-to-day happenings. Introduction. I am Windows Omega, Knight Commander and one of the two Acting Grandmasters of the Order. Addendum. That is, if Sir Amson responds to my request to become Co-Grandmaster along with me, considering we were both the highest ranking members of the Order after yesterday's incident... Summarizing. Over the past few months, many things have happened. The Order's Second-In-Command, Franz, betrayed all of us, stealing everything from our treasury, put Grandmaster Astora into a comatose state, and... *There's a bit of a pause here* Despair. Lady Avi, the Knight whom I served under as her Squire back when I was a Soldier for the Order, was murdered as well. Continuing. I was only a Knight Errant at the time. The Civil War that ensued as a result of Franz's action was rather brief, as Franz reportedly committed suicide in New Chicago. I... was never able to seek vengeance for Lady Avi's death as a result, which sent me into a rather deep depression along with the grief associated with the loss of the one I considered my closest comrade. Admitting. I even went so low as to constantly wear my armor around others in the Order to conceal my emotions, and then consume large amounts of alcohol at New Chicago's bar at night. Optimistic. Hopefully things are beginning to turn around some. Consultation from both a human named Lucile, a Human who once served as my Squire, and a Glitch acquaintance I recently made by the name of Penelope, convinced me to at least stop my rapid consumption of alcohol. Honest. The pain of losing Lady Avi, along with the nightmares I have occasionally relating to her death, still pain me some, but I am at least able to hold my head high now. Continuing. With regards with what has happened to the Order, Sir John took the position of Acting Grandmaster after Grandmaster Astora went comatose. The Order has a whole has been slowly recovering from our Civil war, recruiting a good number of Soldiers and building up new infrastructure on Taranis since then. I have also taken four Squires under me since. Listing. Fireleaf, Isembard, Rhodok, and Widget are their names. Recalling. Just the other day, Sir John informed us that he was looking for a Knight to fill in a position for Second-In-Command. Sir Amson and I both expressed interest in the position, and Sir John decided to promote us both to Knight Commander. Sir Amson would be in charge of foreign matters while Sir John was unavailable, while I would be in charge of internal matters on Taranis, along with training of our Soldiers. Honest. I was very pleased with the promotion, to say the least. I had been seeking one for some time, and the duties of my new Knight Commander rank gave me responsibilities I was content with, all without the massive burden of running the entire Order. Lamenting. Alas, that did not last very long... Statement. After only two days of being in my new Knight Commander position, the unthinkable happened. Sir John's beloved, Sharptooth, was killed on Taranis. I can not be certain of the details at this time, and I will have to launch a full investigation of the incident, but it seems that Sharptooth was having one of her incidents, potentially related to an earlier incident involving one of our members and a Floran. After many words and threats were thrown about, Sharptooth was apparently killed on the spot by one of our Bartenders. I am also hearing reports of a grey-furred Apex, likely our new Warden, Jack, was also heavily involved in the incident, and has perished as a result of it. Sharptooth's death apparently caused Sir John to go insane with grief, and he made himself disappear to locations unknown. Blunt. More or less, the Order was once more without a Grandmaster. Informative. Since then, I have declared Sir Amson and I as Acting Grandmasters of the Order, since the two of us are currently the highest ranking members after the comatosed Astora and missing John. Worry. Alas, Sir Amson was not available at the time when I made the announcement, so I did not get his input on the matter at all. Reasoning. However, I did this to prevent possible chaos that would result from the Order having no leader. Seeing how the two of us were of equal rank, I felt it best that we both share the title of Grandmaster for the time being. Not only that, but I felt making a swift announcement would quell any attempts from the Soldiers to seize power for themselves in some way. Hopeful. Hopefully he will respond to the notice I sent him soon, so we may straighten out the matter of leadership... Nervous. Needless to say, this has been quite an unexpected and bothersome twists of events. In the span of only a few days, I have been promoted from a simple Knight to one of the two leaders of the entire Order. I could not have expected such a huge responsibility to come upon me so quickly. I suppose I will figure it out eventually, but it is all rather difficult to swallow, in a metaphorical sense. Hopefully Sir Amson will decided to co-lead with me, so that we may assist each other with the burden and duties of leading the Order in the coming days and potential months ahead of us. Statement. There are also many things that will need to be taken care of in the coming days. Listing. I will need to determine what the current status is of the Order's supplies and trading to other factions, along with determining what the Order's priorities need to be at this time. I will also need to launch a full investigation of the matter that led to Sharptooth's death and Sir John's disappearance. I will also need to speak with Chief Nightshade of the Ailanthus Tribe, since it seems members of her tribe were involved in this, and I wish to quell any distrust between our two groups. Lastly, I will need to consider promoting another Knight, on the off-chance something happens to both Sir Amson and I, and we are unable to lead. Conclusion. Well... that was... rather lengthy... but it should serve as a good base if anyone besides me ever needs to access these files... Departing. May the Order remain strong, and may whatever divine force that may be out there guide Sir Amson and I in our new tasks.
entry002.wav Intrigued. I met a rather interesting Glitch today. She was just like any other Glitch, save for the fact she had a Floran lisp in her speech. She is supposedly the daughter of Sir John and Sharptooth, and is even in direct contact with the former as of right now. Worry. she certainly seems to distrust me, however. She has a room just above Sir John's in the Castle, and Sir John supposedly even told her to find Sir Amson or I, but I can not tell at this time what she wants to do with us. I just hope she does not get hurt, or tries to bring harm to the Order herself in some way... Statement. I have been looking into the matter of Sharptooth's death. From what I have gathered from initial testimony, it seems that Jackson was the one who initially shot her after following orders, but Soldier Jack was possibly the one who finished her off. Uncertain. I will need to gather more testimony from others to be sure, particularly from the Florans who were present at the time. Thinking. It seems that the initial confrontation that sent Sharptooth into her state that caused her to be locked up in the attic stemmed from an earlier incident involving the Floran Frax and Aubrey. I will need to speak with Chief Nightshade when I get the opportunity, since it seems multiple members of her Tribe were involved in this... Closing. Other than that, the day was rather uneventful. Sir Amson accepted his position as co-Grand Master, multiple members of the Order and other Florans grieved over the recent losses, as to be expected, and I did my best to lead the Order.
entry003.wav Despair. Am I to lose all those I guide now? Worried. A malevolent alternate personality that was thought to be erased on one of my Squires, Widget, has resurfaced. Exposition. It was something that only lurked within Widget's mind a bit ago, and he referred to it as his "King", since it seemed to rule over his actions to a degree. It was harmless enough, at least until it attempted to gain full control of Widget's body and use it for his malevolent desires. Some colleagues of mine had apparently destroyed it, but, it seems, to no avail. Regret. Because of the resurfacing of this alternate personality, along with the threat to the Order it can pose, I was forced to lock Widget in the dungeons of Castle Lordran. Worried. Worse yet, it seems Widget is unaware of this alternate personality's continued existence. Hopeful. Perhaps we will soon destroy this alternate personality once and for all, and I will be able to explain everything to Widget. Luckily the "King" was talkative enough that he gave me the idea to record proof of his continued existence with the camera in my helm, so hopefully I should not have too much trouble convincing Widget of my good intentions... Concern. I met Lady Ash at the bar in New Chicago today. She seemed to be completely out of touch with reality, thinking the deceased Sharptooth was speaking with her, and that she wanted her to stay at the bar forever. Regret. I... had to knock her out by hitting her with the hilt of my Rapier, which I assume hurt quite a bit, just to snap her out of everything. Annoyed. Of course, there were people there who had no idea who I was, and they attempted to arrest me for assault and attempted kidnapping. Relief. At least some comrades of mine were with me, and could confirm my identity and story. Worried. I do have to wonder if Lady Ash distrusts me now. As to be expected, she was not exactly pleased with what I did to her. I... just hope she can forgive me for what I did. Closing. All in all, being Grand Master certainly has its challenges when it comes to the interactions with my subordinates. I just hope I do not lose the trust of everyone in the Order through my actions...
entry004.wav Despair. Am I simply destined to lose all those near me? Regret. It would seem that... we were too late to save Widget. The malevolent alternate personality completely destroyed him. We had no choice but to completely destroy him. My own Squire is now... dead... Statement. I am just... going to rest in my room for a bit while I try to think of things that are not related to the constant harm that is brought to those near me...
entry005.wav Exhausted. The Outcast raids here on Taranis have been non-stop, it seems. Annoyed. Worse yet, I am exhausting myself from guarding the beam-down point and getting everything ready for the meeting this week's end, and the Outcasts always decide to attack when I finally do take a rest... Worry. I really hope Taranis does not wind up like New Chicago did. I have worked so hard to try and have Taranis hold a positive spot in people's mind, but these constant attacks and the security measures we have had to take as a result may be destroying all that. Despair. Unfortunately, we have no credible leads as to where the Outcasts may be hiding out, so we can not hope to attack them directly at this time. I fear Taranis will wind up being destroyed, either by the Outcasts or through our measures to counter them. Hopeless. Is Taranis really, truly going to fall to this small group of terrorists?
entry006.wav Hopeless. Am I simply just doomed to fail at everything? Recalling. Aubrey was on Taranis, with his big mouth as usual. I thought I could simply challenge him to a duel and teach him a lesson about keeping his mouth shut when he could not defend himself fro his actions. That... did not quite go as planned, unfortunately... Annoyed. He wound up giving absolutely no effort in trying to defend himself, possibly because he somehow knew I would not actually kill him. Not only that, but I eventually gave up on him when he started saying things about how I hide behind my armor... Query. I... have to hide my inner depression over the loss of Lady Avi somehow, Correct? I can not be expected to be all mopey around others, correct? Depressed. Ignoring my lingering feelings over Lady Avi's death, this is only one of a number of recent failures on my part. Another recent incident caused by me was when I wound up failing to properly communicate with Sir John and the Grey Knights about how one specific prisoner was only supposed to be held until this morning. They were obviously not pleased when they spoke to me about the matter a few hours ago... Query. Am I simply unfit to lead the Order? Despair. I only want to protect my comrades, and avoid more unneeded deaths like with those of Lady Avi and Widget. Lamenting. Alas, the only way I even know how to protect anyone is with my blade...
((Having a position of authority and responsibility will give you said feels sometimes, I guess. xD))
entry007.wav Hopeless. No matter what I do, no matter what I try... I can not seem to protect anyone... Query. Am I just... weak...? Denail. No... that can not be... I... I was not built to be weak... Determined. I refuse to be weak... weakness will just cause more death around me, right? Ultimatum. And if I am weak... then...
entry008.wav Flat. It has... been some time since I have recorded one of these... Lamenting. Here I sit in my ship... only a shadow of what I once was. I now sit here in this wheelchair, with no armor, no weapons... and not even my own body anymore... Recalling. About two weeks ago, I had heard a commotion coming from just outside the castle's doors. When I arrived on the scene, I found the front door of the castle smashed to pieces by a power-hungry Glitch and a few of his buddies. I would hardly utter a single sentence before one of them shot at me with a bolter, loaded with explosive bullets, no less. Lamenting. I do not quite remember anything after that, but I was told after the fact the bullets had pierced my armor, and entered my chest, where they detonated. Now... I am told everything below my neck used to belong to Lady Avi... Despair. Why? Is this truly the reason Lady Avi died? So that she may use her own body just to save my pathetic excuse for a life??? As I sit here, trying to calibrate her body so I may use it for myself, I can not help but feel... some sort of a lingering presence in this new body. Is this just regular resistance from calibration, or am I simply killing off what remains of Lady Avi? I am starting to wonder if my own worries about this matter is the reason this calibration process is taking much longer than I initially anticipated... Flat. Personal issues aside, the Order only continues to spiral down further into ruin. Our numbers are at a record low, Miniknog Rebels threaten to destroy us simply because we refuse to pick a side in their conflict, and the security on Taranis is still pathetically weak. The only positive I can find in this mess is that we have considerable funds to potentially spend to remedy these problems. Statement. I called a meeting for all members of the Order this weekend. Hopefully then we can sort this whole mess out, be it we use our funds to begin considerable security improvements, somehow find a way to increase our numbers, outright abandon Taranis and start anew elsewhere... or dissolve the Order completely...
entry009.wav Relief. At long last, things may finally be getting back to normal. Recalling. Taranis was destroyed after its orbit drifted into an asteroid field. The destruction was complete and absolute. As a result, what remained of the Order suddenly found itself without a home. As it is, Sir John and a handful of others are the only ones we've been able to locate. This does not include Sir Amson, unfortunately... Worry. I do hope Sir Amson is alive and well, along with the others we have yet to find. If we lost more than we already have, I do not know how well I would be able to take it... Hopeful. At the very least, Sir John managed to salvage the Order's funds, so we are at least not broke. This has allowed us to colonize a new planet. This planet, which we are calling Gryphon's Peak, is quite peculiar. There is an odd formation composed of a stone and a sword made of stone lodged in it. Sir John thinks it is a sign that we were meant to colonize this planet, but I am somewhat skeptic. The planet is rather cold, which would not fare too terribly well for any visitors who do care about ambient temperature much. But... it is a home, at long last... Concluding. Construction of Gryphon's Peak has nearly concluded, and we are now in the process of hiring staff for the new Bar and Spa, as well as finalizing any construction matters that remain. Soon we shall open up our doors once more, and hopefully thrive now as the Knights of Gryphon's Peak.
