Ballad of Torrun – “Vow of Valor”
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Gracious and wise Rod Rambler please edit this as you see fit.
Written upon 22nd of Kym-Nark-Mar
My good man, while I have not personally met King Guy of House Campton, Regent of the Timiro Kingdom. I know from the repeated statements and written facts of CrIsis. That people, not among the “fairer folk” keep repeating a wonder that this man has achieved and should be lauded!
He abolished slavery!
Let it sink in for the New Kingdom of the Elves and the Empire of the Dwarves had slaves! You know, you were there! You saw first hand our golden age brought low by our hubris and inability to set aside pride and find common ground. Our people shed blood for 2,000 years before our spent rage allowed time for the world to heal! This wonderful, daring, and brave king managed to accomplish this feat before his fifth year as king! My forbearer, the Dwarf King Isle-Wind ‘syn Ithanson, and Lord Azalon of the Elves took 50 years to plan and nearly another 50 years to arrange the summit in the Golden City of Baalgor before the Great Thunder. Be patient with this noble lord and realize fostering a long term relationship is the way to go here. You may end up dealing with his son by the time he can prove that even more change can be done. Right now anything that goes right and wrong will shape the lives of countless sentient creatures that deserve a shot at living with freedom. Give him credit where credit is due my good man.
Alloywin, I thought you might enjoy the following poem but this part of the letter is directed to our editor, Master Rod Rambler. Dear Bard of Glory’s Voice, I humbly beseech thee to please share this with Master Terramore Gleba. He got me to admit something about my poetry I am reluctant to share with the world. I have a HORRIBLE singing voice, alas I love hearing music! Upon the world of Congress I used to sneak out of the Golden Tower all the time and dress as a beggar. I would then find promising new musicians and give them some of my poems so they might put it to music. I never asked for credit only that if they ever got a chance to visit the Golden Tower they would sing the piece. When this comes to light I figure there will be a little over a hundred bards that have a shocked look on their faces! Since I knew them I made sure they could all get one night where at least one of their songs would be the words given unto them by the beggar Dwarf. So I tried very hard to think of something very thoughtful to send to Master Gleba. It is my hope when people hear this they realize the horror of war and the souls destroyed by mass violence.
I want to build, not destroy.
I want to grow, not take.
I want to help others live, not just survive.
Master Rambler & Gleba, Good Alloywin help me show the world that valor does not have to be paid in violence. It can be paid in such ways as a king saying, “From this day forth all people within the Kingdom of Timiro shall be free and treated equally under the law.”
That is the heart of the Vow of Valor! Read and hopefully, enjoy!
“Vow of Valor”
I’m drunk on you once more you know
Dreams once more enter sneaking
Twisting thoughts into believing
That a hero, lives now in my ole’ skull
To win the war
Within the Vow of Valor
In endless rage I stood alone
Among the halls of the dragon’s home
Amid the glow of its golden horde
Burning rage against my cold, dead, heart
When my soul was grabbed by the might of Ra’s true light
That cleaved my fright
And I took the Vow of Valor
Within his mighty light I saw
The broken pieces of an ancient god
Nations seeking without looking
Churches hurting without bleeding
Faithful scribing prayers, that clerics never share
Because no one dared
To take the Vow of Valor
Knaves, said I, you do not know
Violence like a plague it grows
Heed Ra’s gaze that he may reach you
Follow Osiris’ laws that he may guide you
Alas my plea, like heavy axes fell
And slaughtered those, betraying the Vow of Valor
At the end of the battle’s day
Did they see the violent price was paid
And the Gods blazed out their warning
Lighting carving out words now forming
And the message said, the words of the righteous are written upon your hearts
And bloodied arms
And uttered from the Vow of Valor
Prince Torrun Ithanson,
High Thane of the Dwarves
Sent upon the 22nd of Kym-Nark-Mar; in the 1st year of Koris Gwaisol – Kingdom of Ælfrik.
Pictures from our own AZ Rune
The poem’s cadence was taken from “Sound of Silence” as cover of the song sung by the band, Disturbed.
https://youtu.be/u9Dg-g7t2l4
I rewrote the whole thing from a war veteran’s perspective. Rather than a person seeing a crisis of faith. It’s been instrumental in seeing why Torrun is reluctant to be a leader once again. He has PTSD, but is highly functional at this point of his life.
I’m still discovering him but so far he makes more sense to me.
Your best log yet. Loved the sticking up for Guy
The 3rd verse was my favorite, but the whole thing was great! I had to listen to a karaoke version of the song to get the most out of it – I couldn’t disassociate the song lyrics from the music as I read it. https://youtu.be/LUtPaHQgMBI
I played it and found the mostly instrumental track very helpful to let me know that I got the cadence correct.
That Karaoke version really did help, now if we could get it as the opening theme song for the twitch sessions that would be bloody awesome.
Well done sir, well done.
You should chuck this one up on the palladium forums too.
My take is that CrIsis has taken the Vow of Valor and forsakes those take have taken it, but forsaken it or those that fail to take it.
Yes listening to the instrumental music while reading it was spectacular…shivers up my spine.