Of Knights, Wars and Beauty

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Borin Drakkmurl
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Of Knights, Wars and Beauty

Post by Borin Drakkmurl » Sun Aug 04, 2019 5:58 pm

“Son, the World is a wondrous place, of unimaginable beauty and joy.”

The voice of his father followed him up the mountain. A voice that he had not heard in years, but that now took center stage in his mind, despite the maddening chaos erupting all around him. Men were pressed tightly against each other to his right and to his left, as well as in front and behind him. Large shields raised above their heads deflected an endless barrage of arrows, spears and stones. Heels digging against the shifting rocks and slippery grass, they slowly advanced up the hill, in a chorus of pained grunts and heavy breathing.

A large boulder broke a gap between the shields and sunk deep into the skull of the man to his right, the lifeless body rolling limply down the mountain. Another soldier quickly took up the empty space, and they kept on pushing. The man in front of him fell to his knees, a javelin piercing his shield, forearm and forehead together. Orestes leaned on the dying man’s shoulder for support and hurried to take his place on the line.

“Wherever you go, you will find landscapes, structures and art that defy the imagination. Your heart will be full to the brim with the endless glory of creation.”

They were climbing over their own dead. He felt his boots press and dig into something meaty. His fingers found grips on empty eye sockets and broken rib cages. Piss and blood and guts trickled freely down the mountain like little streams at the dawn of a red spring.

Finally and suddenly the incline gave way to solid, flat ground. With barely any thought to his actions, moving on instinct and training alone, he freed the battle axe from his belt and ran forward to take his place on the shield wall. They pushed slowly forward, trying to make space for the men coming up behind them.
The enemy threw themselves angrily, savagely, against their shields and blades. They died freely and quickly, cut, gored and mauled, doing their best, their utmost best, to protect the cave entrance behind their own lines.

“It is Love, son, that fuels all of this Beauty. There is no greater force, no greater mover of mountains, than the purity of Love. Through it, nothing is beyond reach. Through Love, you will see just how Good the world is.”

They were inside the cavern. Torches flickered weakly on the walls. Only the dying and the wounded broke the dark silence. Bodies were piled knee high, twisted and bent, mangled beyond any hint of humanity. The faces were still there, though.
Bearded men with empty eyes, their death throes an eternal grip on their expressions.
Orestes also recognised some of his friends among the carnage. His best friends. Brave men, good men, that he had served with for many years. All gone now.
And then he saw the first of many, half buried and drowned in the gore, some still holding weapons and cloven shields: women and children, as dead and broken as the rest of them.

He sat down against the cave wall, let go of his axe and shield, and hid his face in his hands.

“Love and Beauty, son. Always remember. Love and Beauty.”
Past characters: Daedin Angthalion; Lurg Norgar; Urebriwyn; Ubaldo Ferraz; Erodash Uzdshak; Borin; Belchior Heliodoro; Orestes Fontebela

Jaytega
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Re: Of Knights, Wars and Beauty

Post by Jaytega » Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:58 pm

I dont think that I have even the slightest idea of what this is about or who or when or whatever but the way it was written has me shocked nobody else has replied yet so I will!


This was masterfully composed. The scenes intersect perfectly from present to flashback and the quotes stand so highly adjacent to the present reality it is beuatifully jarring.

Great post, thank you.

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Borin Drakkmurl
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Re: Of Knights, Wars and Beauty

Post by Borin Drakkmurl » Mon Aug 26, 2019 2:29 pm

Oh damn!

Thank you so much! It does mean a lot.


This story was, and is, a way for me to figure out the background of my current character, whom I have little time to playm sadly.

Thanks again!
Past characters: Daedin Angthalion; Lurg Norgar; Urebriwyn; Ubaldo Ferraz; Erodash Uzdshak; Borin; Belchior Heliodoro; Orestes Fontebela

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Gideon DeVay
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Re: Of Knights, Wars and Beauty

Post by Gideon DeVay » Sat Sep 21, 2019 5:40 am

Let me second with a very sincere kudos! Powerfully written. I hope we will have more in the coming months!
"Yog don't think Beat Up Guy know how dogman work."

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Borin Drakkmurl
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Re: Of Knights, Wars and Beauty

Post by Borin Drakkmurl » Sat Apr 04, 2020 3:42 pm

The opposite of love was supposed to be hate, just as the opposite of beauty was supposed to be ugliness, but he knew, with all his heart Orestes knew, that War was the true antonym of all good things.

Sitting by a warm campfire, surrounded by tents and horses and thousands of other soldiers, it was hard for him to find beauty in a month-long siege. Less than a mile away, even in the dim evening light, he could see the walls of the stone fortress they had surrounded, parts of it now crumbled and destroyed, clouds of smoke billowing up from the buildings within.
When the winds blew from that direction, they carried with them the screams and cries of the suffering and the dying.

Meanwhile, in the other tents and camps, his countrymen laughed and talked merrily. Throughout the weeks since they had encircled the small settlement, they had only used their blades and axes to cut food and hack down timber. Many of them barely used any armor at all, and some even managed to sleep during the daily bombardments.

But their enemy would not give up. They had certainly run out of food more than a week prior. Death and disease and misery must’ve been rampant within those walls.
Was that courage? Was that the bravery he had been told to aspire to as a child? The same sort of courage that the Knights and Lords he used to glorify were supposed to represent?

He had seen them, those Sirs, Dukes, Barons and Princes, cheering and laughing with the rest of the army, as they witnessed people jumping from the walls of the fortress, preferring death to surrender, to starvation and cannibalism.

Was that what Honorable men looked like? Was that Justice? Chivalry?

He fervently hoped not. He truly hoped his father was right, that there were things out there worth fighting for. Worth protecting with every ounce of one’s being. That Love truly existed in the world. That there was nothing nobler than being a shield for, and a symbol of, these higher values.

But Orestes knew what was coming next. Within a day, maybe two, he would be stepping through a hole in those walls. It would not be a battle, but a stroll through an open tomb. They would step through piles of emaciated corpses, and conquer a castle made of ghosts. Anyone unlucky enough to have survived would either be taken prisoner, or killed on the spot. It would be grim work.

A soldier’s work.

His work.

Where would Love be then?
Past characters: Daedin Angthalion; Lurg Norgar; Urebriwyn; Ubaldo Ferraz; Erodash Uzdshak; Borin; Belchior Heliodoro; Orestes Fontebela

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Borin Drakkmurl
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Re: Of Knights, Wars and Beauty

Post by Borin Drakkmurl » Mon Aug 17, 2020 4:28 am

The cold was unbearable.

For weeks, for months, had they crawled like vermin through miles of frozen trenches, too afraid to rush over the white plains, too isolated to march back.
What once were men had become statues that jutted out from odd corners, icy and rigid ghosts of those who had died of hunger, thirst and sheer desperation.

Somehow, young Orestes found himself giving orders through clattering teeth. Most of the leadership was either dead or incapacitated. The men huddled close together, shivering and mumbling, staring wide eyed at him, as if he could conjure any more food out of the rarified air, as if he could will fire and warmth into existence, as if he could quiet the terror filling his own mind.
Still he smiled at them, holding their shoulders and reassuring them, speaking quietly to some, while from others he managed to pull frail laughter. It was all that he could do.

Eventually he made his way through and found a niche for himself, an isolated spot dug from the hard earth in which he sat, hugging his knees against his chest, his back turned towards the others. Had his eyes not been so painfully cold, he might've shed tears.

But there was also something else, a distant warmth, tugging at the back of his mind, vague words that had been chasing him for days, sad memories of happier days that now took shape and form within his chest.

Softly, with a voice broken by fear and a frigid throat, he sang for himself:


I dream of those sunsets,
Of the bay set on fire
Of sweet mellow nights
By the Golden Water

I dream of your hair,
Silver with starlight
Your warmth in my arms,
Your smile and your laughter.

Oh Summer oh Summer,
I can hardly recall,
The taste of your lips,
And swing of your hips.
Oh Summer oh Summer,
I can hardly recall...

I dream of the mornings,
With light purple skies
Of dawns full of hope
By the Golden Water

I dream of your eyes,
Lazy in waking,
Your love so pristine
So full of laughter.

Oh Summer oh Summer,
I can hardly recall,
The beat of your heart
So close to mine.
Oh Summer oh Summer,
I can hardly recall...

I can hardly recall...
Past characters: Daedin Angthalion; Lurg Norgar; Urebriwyn; Ubaldo Ferraz; Erodash Uzdshak; Borin; Belchior Heliodoro; Orestes Fontebela

Jaytega
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Re: Of Knights, Wars and Beauty

Post by Jaytega » Thu Jan 12, 2023 1:51 am

Thanks for these followups. It was a pleasure to come across them again after a couple of years and find more to Orestes' story. Poor Orestes, I hope he found something beautiful in the world to love.

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Borin Drakkmurl
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Re: Of Knights, Wars and Beauty

Post by Borin Drakkmurl » Mon Jan 23, 2023 1:20 am

Oh wow, wasn't expecting to get a notification about this story when I logged on.

He did find somehing beautiful to love. He found a friend who became like a daughter, and it was one of the best roleplaying experiences I've had on Arelith, even if short lived.

Thanks again for the compliments!

Past characters: Daedin Angthalion; Lurg Norgar; Urebriwyn; Ubaldo Ferraz; Erodash Uzdshak; Borin; Belchior Heliodoro; Orestes Fontebela

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