A Crusader's Plea

[Altiak 1648]

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAJ1orZ44f0

 

In the mighty cathedral of Felsen, throngs of acolytes and priests converse and servants dart around hurriedly. Several papal guards stand at the ready, rigidly unmoving. Sitting at the head of the assemblage, the High Pontiff Sixtus III rakes his gaze over the thriving hall.

 

Meanwhile, Guy de Bar strides through the cathedral in black satin. Flanked by a retinue of Order-men, the men march toward their High Pontiff at a steady pace. As they enter the cathedral, the rowdy crowd attending Sixtus’ court come to a hush, all of them unspeaking as Guy rises to address the Vicar of God.

 

"Your Holiness, I have travelled through the forests of Drusco, over the crownlands’ rolling fields, and through our capital’s bustling square to talk to you about the night I killed an orc. The brute whom I slew was the very same evil and dejected creature that took my elder brother as a prisoner years ago. Forced into arduous labor, flesh marred by his captors’ wicked lashings, my kinsman was enslaved and tortured for three cruel years. When I learned of my brother’s capture and heard of the atrocities he had endured before his escape, I - I felt myself disappear and became a man made of straw."

 

Guy looks to the crowd, a morose grimace etched on his visage. Breaking the silence with a solemn inquiry, the Grand Master spreads his arms as he addresses the crowd.

 

"Who here knows such devastation?"

 

The High Pontiff nods slowly, remarking, "We all do."

 

Guy bobs his head in response, marching forward as he further addresses his Holiness.

 

"When I learned the identity of the assailant, the beast that exploited and bled my brother, it did not take long for me to find him. He towered over me - a fearsome greenskin with tusks the size of an arming sword - yet I looked him in the eye and I stuck him with my dagger. I twisted the blade until his insides wept. He whimpered and collapsed and I had won. The world cleansed of another devil."

 

Guy smiles thinly, looking to the crowd once more. His voice booms with passion, query echoing around the grandiose hall as he once more calls out to the crowd, “Who here knows such victory?”

 

"Some of us do," Sixtus replies.

 

"And how does it feel - to stand tall and righteous, stained in the ichor of a fallen adversary?"

 

Gazing at the brazen crowds from his throne, Sixtus leans forward inquisitively, "Triumphant?"

 

"How else?” Guy asks.

 

"Blissful?"

 

"How else?"

 

The Vicar of Horen falls silent, and once more the hall is cast into an uneasy and tepid stillness. Guy once more raises his voice and speaks, expression steely.

 

"Frightening! It is frightening to endure the biting cold of wickedness, your Holiness, because the only way to rid the world of evil is by putting yourself in its path; baring your true colors. Calm are the complacent, never rising from their chairs. Calm are the judgemental, never putting themselves at risk."

 

Guy's tone grows in vehemence as his visage remains stoic, his pale gaze betraying his overt passion as his rhetoric continues to embed itself in the hearts of all present.

 

"But show me a man who feels fright, and I will show you a man with values and loved ones! I will show you a man wrought with admirable ideals, a man with a deep belief in liberty and ardor! I will show you a man born not with cowardice or passiveness, but the capacity for true BRAVERY - because he is willing to stake his last breath on something that is more than nothing!"

 

Guy paces the room slowly as his gaze pierces a few of the onlookers, rendered silent from his intensity. "I have taken a life in the name of my God. I have fathered sons, progeny to carry on my legacy. I have felt true and sincere love. Each time, as I fought for what I believed in - I was afraid. I was afraid, but it was my fear that spurred me onwards, giving me the vigor to dare for greatness. Fortune favors the bold, so those who do not know such fear do not know COURAGE!"

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx_-TlilyyI&index=2&list=FL4fqHCZ7MZ_FEO53rJqeVQA

 

"Holy Father, at this moment, the horns of the Uruk darken the world. The wretched sons of Krug, with their knack for violence and evil, slaughter our children on the roadsides and enslave our kin! Canonist mothers suffer at green-skinned hands. Faithful pilgrims seeking divine inspiration are massacred, cut down on their passage by godless savages!”

 

“Words hold no meaning; diplomacy is met with naught but slaughter. The King’s own brother, just a few moons ago, narrowly evaded capture whilst treating with the uruks. Those accompanying him were afforded no clemency and most have since ascended to the Seven Skies.”
 

“My own brother is ample testament to orcish cruelty; seized and enslaved, the foul scars on his back betraying him as a captive of the malformed offspring of Krug. When I learned of the abhorrent state the orcish slavers had left him in, I felt weak, and I felt exposed. The brute that had captured and castigated my brother left me wanting nothing more than vengeance. When I cut down the brigand, and felt his blood on my face, I felt no fear; I felt courage, coursing through my veins.”

 

“Courage, Holy Father - Courage is the downfall of villainy. While we stand idle, the orcish marauders tear the realm asunder. The savages grow bolder by the day, ushering in a reign of blood and iron. We stood staunch and unfaltering in the face of terror before, and now, when our countrymen call for aid, we must be the ones to help them.”

 

“There is a trail of straw men from here to the blood-stained sands the infidels call their home! Men paralyzed with fear, men who would do little to halt the spreading scourge. But these are men of Oren, your Holiness, and these men have within them, like any other sons of Horen, a sense of heroism. Heed my words and give the order; imbue them with a sense of zeal and patriotism!”

“The horns of the orcish tribes sound and an era of oppression accompanies them. No longer will Oren condone these atrocious and evil acts. Raise the banners of the faithful, sound the horns of the loyal, and beckon forth humanity's army of heroes. Before the might of your flock, it will be the uruks and their allies who shall become men of straw.”

 

“With our vigilant crusaders assembled, those who prey on the weak and defenseless will be given quarter no longer! The time is now; prove yourself the pontiff you were destined to be. Prove yourself to be no man of straw.”

[Ser Paul Ryan 1139]

Ser Paul Jr, nods in agreement!

 

"Race war....now...."

[Cleggmire_ 130]

*grits his teeth, moving his helm to his head, and grips the hilt of his sword "It is time. The crusades have come."

[Lima 774]

Lori preemptively invested well, and now goes to the winchester till it all blows over.

[Jonificus 2741]

Caspar de Gueux nods firmly in agreement with his liege lord.

[Fireheart 2777]

Franz nods in agreement  "It ends here."

[Harri 4815]

Dorian, upon hearing these words, exits his farming hut, approaching Grim. He places a hand on his shoulder firmly, offering a smile of understanding.

 

"Prepare your anvil sir.. Seems you have some busy days ahead of you."

[Aetosion 2062]

Vladimir, having just finished reading the tales of the Third Empire,  fills with a most heroic fervor, and utters a childish shout from his chubby face, the air escaping from around his missing two front teeth, 

 

"EXTWURMINATUS!!"

[Salvo 1852]

 

Dorian, upon hearing these words, exits his farming hut, approaching Grim. He places a hand on his shoulder firmly, offering a smile of understanding.

 

"Prepare your anvil sir.. Seems you have some busy days ahead of you."

 

 

Grim sighs.

 

"This is the will of God, Brother Dorian. Do you remember our vows? Kill the mutants. Deus Vult."

[Travista 1361]

Shreck'Lak has a moment of silence for Oren...

 

 

 

[Fixed that damn grammatical error] 

 

 

 

Bear Jew = The Iron Uzg

[Ford 1996]

Archibald smiles the smile of his people.

"Praise the Lord."

[DagonsChosen 85]

Einar listens to the words, and his chests swells up in pride. He clenches his fist, with hopeful determination stamped onto his countenance, but also fright.

[calculusdesola 1658]

House de Sola and the Lancers of Dour Watch declare for crusade. 

[ausbrig renegade 238]

 

Basil II sharpens his blade and gets ready to glass those sand dwellers.

[craotor 617]

Brother Radovid watches the speech and sighs "Ah just 'ope tae soldiers target t'ose t'at are truely evil and naught all non 'umans. T'ere be many inocents and even canonist non 'umans, like moiself, t'at 'ave been burnt by tae fiore of zealotry before. Ah 'ope t'at we 'ave learnt from tae mistakes of tae past.  A guiding 'and must be given to tae zealots or else t'ey will become no better t'an tae evil they are trying tae fioght against!!"