AC:DM CD Lore/Dericost Texts/The Lay of Leikotha - Revision history

imported>An Adventurer: applying template, formatting

2019-08-24T13:01:34Z

applying template, formatting

imported>Tlosk: Text replace - "’" to "'"

2011-12-10T17:19:49Z

Text replace - "’" to "'"

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:19, 10 December 2011
Line 17:		Line 17:
	<br>Grim-visaged was the noble dame		<br>Grim-visaged was the noble dame
	<br>From training under great Illkarm		<br>From training under great Illkarm
	<br>No ~~man’s~~ servant was she born		<br>No man's servant was she born
	<br>A mighty chevaird, strong in arm		<br>A mighty chevaird, strong in arm
	<br>Stands of saffron veiled her eye		<br>Stands of saffron veiled her eye
Line 24:		Line 24:
	<br>At hand stood Alysse, her child		<br>At hand stood Alysse, her child
	<br>The girl looked to her mother stound		<br>The girl looked to her mother stound
	<br>Eyes bright and pale as ~~Alb’arel~~		<br>Eyes bright and pale as Alb'arel
	<br>For to her young adoring eye		<br>For to her young adoring eye
	<br>A goddess stalked the tiny dell		<br>A goddess stalked the tiny dell
Line 50:		Line 50:
	<br>To wish the ships quicksilver pace		<br>To wish the ships quicksilver pace
	<br>Leikotha, standing on a prow		<br>Leikotha, standing on a prow
	<br>Sought in the crowd her ~~child’s~~ face		<br>Sought in the crowd her child's face
	<br><br>The tempests tossed the mighty fleet		<br><br>The tempests tossed the mighty fleet
	<br>The starless waters bucked and reared		<br>The starless waters bucked and reared
Line 62:		Line 62:
	<br>At every creak and grumble		<br>At every creak and grumble
	<br>Their swords and fire useless now		<br>Their swords and fire useless now
	<br>To fight the dark ~~seas’~~ tumble		<br>To fight the dark seas' tumble
	<br>Leikotha sat alone these nights		<br>Leikotha sat alone these nights
	<br>And chanted songs of ancient days		<br>And chanted songs of ancient days
Line 69:		Line 69:
	<br>Yet more she thought of Alysse		<br>Yet more she thought of Alysse
	<br>The gentle center of a heart		<br>The gentle center of a heart
	<br>Long-given to a ~~chevaird’s~~ steel		<br>Long-given to a chevaird's steel
	<br>She grieved each day they were apart		<br>She grieved each day they were apart
	<br><br>The army fell upon the shores		<br><br>The army fell upon the shores
Line 81:		Line 81:
	<br>Before that fell and drear plateau		<br>Before that fell and drear plateau
	<br>Both armies drew in lines abreast		<br>Both armies drew in lines abreast
	<br>And ‘fore the dawn of ~~winter’s~~ morn		<br>And ‘fore the dawn of winter's morn
	<br>The light advanced to face the test		<br>The light advanced to face the test
	<br>The living troops of the Ice Throne		<br>The living troops of the Ice Throne
Line 87:		Line 87:
	<br>As somnolent birds began to stir		<br>As somnolent birds began to stir
	<br>The battle echoed through the mists		<br>The battle echoed through the mists
	<br><br>~~Leikotha’s~~ host slid through their foes		<br><br>Leikotha's host slid through their foes
	<br>As gromnatross through smoke and air		<br>As gromnatross through smoke and air
	<br>She reached old brooding ~~Gelid’s~~ feet		<br>She reached old brooding Gelid's feet
	<br>As fading haze laid her host bare		<br>As fading haze laid her host bare
	<br>Then, revealed, the undead struck		<br>Then, revealed, the undead struck
Line 125:		Line 125:
	<br>“Alysse!” she called in pain		<br>“Alysse!” she called in pain
	<br>As agony caused knee to bend		<br>As agony caused knee to bend
	<br>~~Leikotha’s~~ host did pull her back		<br>Leikotha's host did pull her back
	<br>Yet Ashbane fell from limpened hands		<br>Yet Ashbane fell from limpened hands
	<br><br>Meantime, behind the shambling ranks		<br><br>Meantime, behind the shambling ranks
Line 138:		Line 138:
	<br>The greater slunk away		<br>The greater slunk away
	<br>And vowed upon eternal life		<br>And vowed upon eternal life
	<br>~~They’d~~ have revenge one day		<br>They'd have revenge one day
	<br>The dead and twice-dead lay in heaps		<br>The dead and twice-dead lay in heaps
	<br>Across the smoking, frosted grounds		<br>Across the smoking, frosted grounds
Line 168:		Line 168:
	<br>Alysse facing undead screamed		<br>Alysse facing undead screamed
	<br>The chevaird awoke with a brief howl		<br>The chevaird awoke with a brief howl
	<br>To face the face of which ~~she’d~~ dreamed		<br>To face the face of which she'd dreamed
	<br>~~Nerash’s~~ rotted teeth did grin		<br>Nerash's rotted teeth did grin
	<br>In hollow sockets pale fire gleamed		<br>In hollow sockets pale fire gleamed
	<br>“I love thee, pretty one,” he said		<br>“I love thee, pretty one,” he said
Line 185:		Line 185:
	<br><br>The proud chevaird was bound in chain		<br><br>The proud chevaird was bound in chain
	<br>None know the torments that occured		<br>None know the torments that occured
	<br>To Leikotha at ~~Nerash’s~~ hand		<br>To Leikotha at Nerash's hand
	<br>In darkness of the underworld		<br>In darkness of the underworld
	<br><br>Three years hence a tattered ship		<br><br>Three years hence a tattered ship
Line 204:		Line 204:
	<br>Of the child-ward kept in her safe repose		<br>Of the child-ward kept in her safe repose
	<br>“Alysse?” the herdsmen shrugged		<br>“Alysse?” the herdsmen shrugged
	<br>For they knew of her ~~mother’s~~ fame		<br>For they knew of her mother's fame
	<br>“Still in the ~~lady’s~~ safe repose		<br>“Still in the lady's safe repose
	<br>For her Leikotha never came”		<br>For her Leikotha never came”
	<br>And the figure hurried on		<br>And the figure hurried on
	<br>With ~~pain’ed~~ gait and shuffling		<br>With pain'ed gait and shuffling
	<br>To the ~~Lady’s~~ verdant hold		<br>To the Lady's verdant hold
	<br>Where grain stood softly rustling		<br>Where grain stood softly rustling
	<br><br>Night had gathered up her skirts		<br><br>Night had gathered up her skirts
Line 237:		Line 237:
	<br><br>But then the household guard did pass		<br><br>But then the household guard did pass
	<br>Along his nightly rounds		<br>Along his nightly rounds
	<br>And from ~~Alysse’s~~ room he heard		<br>And from Alysse's room he heard
	<br>The whispered, sobbing sounds		<br>The whispered, sobbing sounds
	<br>The door flung wide, he entered in		<br>The door flung wide, he entered in
Line 259:		Line 259:
	<br>Her warder Lady Orsinu		<br>Her warder Lady Orsinu
	<br>Only the cloak was found outside		<br>Only the cloak was found outside
	<br>At the ~~guard’s~~ description		<br>At the guard's description
	<br>Orsinu shook her head, dismayed		<br>Orsinu shook her head, dismayed
	<br>Yet would not let her men alert		<br>Yet would not let her men alert
	<br>The chevairds in ~~Alaidain’s~~ pay		<br>The chevairds in Alaidain's pay
	<br>“There is a monster on the loose!”		<br>“There is a monster on the loose!”
	<br>The guard exclaimed in rage		<br>The guard exclaimed in rage

imported>An Adventurer: Created page with '''From the AC:DM CD Lore NOTOC NOEDITSECTION
AC:DM CD Lore NOTOC NOEDITSECTION <div style="background-color:#E0E0E0; border:2px solid #C0C0C0;width:80%;padding:30px;margin-bottom:20px;margin-left:5%;m…'

New page
''From the [[AC:DM CD Lore]]
NOTOC NOEDITSECTION
<div style="background-color:#E0E0E0; border:2px solid #C0C0C0;width:80%;padding:30px;margin-bottom:20px;margin-left:5%;margin-right:10%;">
=== <center>The Lay of Leikotha</center> ===
<center>Leikotha, child of Haebrous
 Stood proud upon the field,
 And spake unto the crafter Dhere
 The weapon she would wield
 Her eye was blue as tropic sea
 White-flecked with spindrift foam
 Her hair hung long and golden-hued
 Her high cheeks flecked with loam
 A set of silver armor borne
 To ward away the blows of man
 To stay the magely power faced
 Were rings once forged by old Velan
 Grim-visaged was the noble dame
 From training under great Illkarm
 No man’s servant was she born
 A mighty chevaird, strong in arm
 Stands of saffron veiled her eye
 In nightspawn wind her hair blew wild
 The sweat of practice pearled her skin
 At hand stood Alysse, her child
 The girl looked to her mother stound
 Eyes bright and pale as Alb’arel
 For to her young adoring eye
 A goddess stalked the tiny dell
 Smith Dhere with all his subtle might
 Crafted silver burning bright
 Ashbane by name to the old wright
 And hardened then with chorizite
 So armed, she joined the great crusade
 The army sailed to west, away
 And crossed the raging Jhenecaer
 For four score and a dozen day
 So proud they sailed from old Planae
 Their banners snapping in the wind
 Argent were their alloyed keels
 With stalwart larchess bound within
 The damask light of sunrise washed
 The churning water in their wakes
 And glinted merri-ly about
 The polished fittings on their rakes
 Aureate sails unfurled as one
 To catch the rising vendavals
 Bells sounded bright along the shore
 And laymen filed from the halls
 With one great voice the people hailed
 To wish the ships quicksilver pace
 Leikotha, standing on a prow
 Sought in the crowd her child’s face
 The tempests tossed the mighty fleet
 The starless waters bucked and reared
 Like mountains rising, falling fast
 As had the weather-sages feared
 Slow-turning galleons groaned aloud
 A-tremble in their sturdy bones
 The valiant chevairds sweated fast
 And tossed their well-worn knucklebones
 They sang the old rounds as they flinched
 At every creak and grumble
 Their swords and fire useless now
 To fight the dark seas’ tumble
 Leikotha sat alone these nights
 And chanted songs of ancient days
 She practiced on the storm-slick deck
 To maintain fine-honed warrior ways
 Yet more she thought of Alysse
 The gentle center of a heart
 Long-given to a chevaird’s steel
 She grieved each day they were apart
 The army fell upon the shores
 Of ancient Dericost so bleak
 The decayed cities stilled the heart
 The mountains rose with silvered peaks
 Gelid brooded in the mists
 And sent its armies to the coast
 But only harried their advance
 Withdrawing ‘fore the serried host
 Before that fell and drear plateau
 Both armies drew in lines abreast
 And ‘fore the dawn of winter’s morn
 The light advanced to face the test
 The living troops of the Ice Throne
 Were scattered in the foredawn mists
 As somnolent birds began to stir
 The battle echoed through the mists
 Leikotha’s host slid through their foes
 As gromnatross through smoke and air
 She reached old brooding Gelid’s feet
 As fading haze laid her host bare
 Then, revealed, the undead struck
 And slew her company in wrath
 Yet as her fellows turned and fled
 Leikotha held the one clear path
 Around her Ashbane drew a ring
 Declaring ground she would defend
 She beckoned then to clacking bones
 The passage back she would forfend
 The pestilencial foes advanced
 And Ashbane spun and whirled about
 The dead came on in blackened waves
 But Leikotha bold prevented rout
 Black tide advanced and then fell back
 Like seas oppressing stony shore
 Yet like the Rock of Sennaj stood
 The chevaird who their assaults bore
 High above the Sand Kings lurked
 To watch the violent play below
 And Nerash, mighty general, spake
 Unlimbering his mighty bow
 “Beautiful,” he nodded down
 At Leikotha whirling ‘round her foes
 He looked at her with eyes of lust
 And aimed his black and mighty bow
 The string did sing; the arrow flew
 And darkness ran the chevaird through
 A poison sliver pierced her breast
 Old Nerash smiled in private jest
 Her veins did burn with crawling fire
 And staggering, she then retired
 But Nerash high above worked charms
 To keep her marked and safe from harm
 “Alysse!” she called in pain
 As agony caused knee to bend
 Leikotha’s host did pull her back
 Yet Ashbane fell from limpened hands
 Meantime, behind the shambling ranks
 Two heroes crept in lightless danks
 Heavy-bearded Jailne and the gold-eyed Alaidain
 Soldier-king of Haebrous; enchantress-empress of Yalain
 Alaidain alone returned
 To join her soldiers on the field
 The pools of night were gathering then
 The wounded had begun to heal
 The lesser undead fell like wheat
 The greater slunk away
 And vowed upon eternal life
 They’d have revenge one day
 The dead and twice-dead lay in heaps
 Across the smoking, frosted grounds
 The once were gathered in straight rows
 The twice in flaming charnel mounds
 “My lady,” spake Leikotha weakly
 To the grieving Alaidain
 “Did the dread lord speak to thee
 Before sent into dark again?”
 “Nay,” replied the Empress then
 “No words from that fell beast”
 Yet turned a worried weather eye
 To the deep and darkening east
 The army gathered then to leave;
 Return across the frozen plains
 Among them groaned the wounded souls
 And Gelidites in sobbing train
 But in the silvered mountain peaks
 Above the cities so decayed
 A fearsome squall brought heavy snow
 Besieged, the army was delayed
 One moonless night
 As ill winds gusted
 Nerash approached
 A tent snow-dusted
 Inside Leikotha tossed and rolled
 In the grips of foul dream;
 Her child held by rotted arms
 Alysse facing undead screamed
 The chevaird awoke with a brief howl
 To face the face of which she’d dreamed
 Nerash’s rotted teeth did grin
 In hollow sockets pale fire gleamed
 “I love thee, pretty one,” he said
 And laid his hands upon her
 “I would have thee by my side
 Until all ends in fire.”
 Leikotha scrabbled for a sword
 Yet none lay close at hand
 And weakened by the poison bow
 She fell before the damned
 The camp awoke to find her gone
 And not a trace was found
 The snow withdrew, and so did they
 Back to Planae bound
 The proud chevaird was bound in chain
 None know the torments that occured
 To Leikotha at Nerash’s hand
 In darkness of the underworld
 Three years hence a tattered ship
 Reached port at Haebrean Aribel
 From this wretched craft debarked
 A figure wrapped in grey, and fell
 Of all the greeters on the shore
 None stood forth to meet her;
 Though none saw face or skin beside
 Her voice was woman or of girl
 To blooming Dernehale she walked
 And spoke to few along the road
 Her way was paid with sparkling gems
 And walked as if with heavy load
 In blooming Dernehale she asked
 For the Lady Orsinu, and begged those
 In the fields if any of them knew
 Of the child-ward kept in her safe repose
 “Alysse?” the herdsmen shrugged
 For they knew of her mother’s fame
 “Still in the lady’s safe repose
 For her Leikotha never came”
 And the figure hurried on
 With pain’ed gait and shuffling
 To the Lady’s verdant hold
 Where grain stood softly rustling
 Night had gathered up her skirts
 When the figure did arrive
 And ventured cautiously upon
 The well-worn stonework drive
 She sought not the iron gate
 Nor any other entry there
 But crept along the outer wall
 Until she reached a casement fair
 She entered into the great house
 Moved silently along the hall
 She ventured for the tower room
 Her thin hand clutching at the wall
 There within the tower room
 Lay Alysse in sweet repose
 A girl of thirteen seasons now
 And blooming like the summer rose
 The figure wept then, silently
 A thin hand to her shadowed face
 And looked upon Alysse sweet
 Curled up in her sleeping lace
 With a shaking, whispered voice
 The figure sang to Alysse
 An ancient Haebraen sleepsong crooned
 To drive the fears of night away
 But then the household guard did pass
 Along his nightly rounds
 And from Alysse’s room he heard
 The whispered, sobbing sounds
 The door flung wide, he entered in
 And saw the figure stading there
 He drew his sword to slash and kill
 But only sliced the empty air
 The figure had evaded yet
 In motion lost her long grey shroud
 There disclosed by torchlight stood
 A rotting woman, proud head bowed
 The guard decried the vile thing
 Not-dead reviled by his race
 Alysse wakened in a fear
 And shuddered at the rotting face
 The woman glided for the sill
 And turned for one last stare
 “I love you,” she said to the girl
 And leapt into the starless air
 The house was in a row till dawn
 Alysse clutching close beside
 Her warder Lady Orsinu
 Only the cloak was found outside
 At the guard’s description
 Orsinu shook her head, dismayed
 Yet would not let her men alert
 The chevairds in Alaidain’s pay
 “There is a monster on the loose!”
 The guard exclaimed in rage
 Yet Orsinu bade him to stay
 And spake words greatly sage;
 “I will not have her so decried
 So let it thus be known;
 Despite an evil done to her
 Leikotha Arenir came home”</center>
</div>

[[Category:AC:DM CD Lore]]