In Memoriam, 324 E.S.

[Drew2_dude 2636]

In Memoriam: Lost the Battle,

Won the War, 324 E.S.

By: Sigmar Joren Baruch HKML

 

A depiction of the coronation of Josef Marna, 1715

 

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With the stirrings of the past in Helena as they hold their festival remembering the War of Two Emperors, I reflect on my early life and recall vividly the war that ravaged humanity. The war that set us on a course of destruction, the war that almost ended the kingdom that all haeseni and highlanders call home. With all that it cost us, I feel without it we would not enjoy the new lives we live today. The sacrifice that was made by all Marnanites to end the tyranny that bound us was one of great courage and greater meaning. Our haeseni leaders risked everything for a belief that Haense would no longer be a slave to the Renatus regime, and instead would liberate itself alongside its Adrian brethren and follow a new Emperor, Josef Marna, who believed in self evident rights and liberties that all man possessed.

 

I recall the sacrifice that all haeseni made for our noble cause. All men, no matter their status, fought to free themselves from the Pertinax. From lowborn to Prince, all walks of life supported the fight to free ourselves from oppression. The leadership shown by King Marius II, Georg Alimar and his brothers, and Lerald Vyronov inspired even me. Being in my teen years for most of the war, parentless and unsure of what to do, I looked up to them and followed their fervor for change, dedicating my own young life to fight for liberation. My parents, who turncoated and received a traitor’s death, would not define me nor deter me from serving the cause. My Great Grandfather, Marius Baruch, would educate me on the crimes against humanity that the Pertinaxi Tyrants committed and, in my young age, I was impassioned to fight along side my haeseni brothers for change. However, this excitement and hope did not last the length of the war.

 

As battle after battle the war raged on, I watched many friends make the ultimate sacrifice in war, and many mentors do the same. Others lost faith in our valiant cause and became uncommitted to freeing themselves from their chains, deciding slavery was better than death. In the late stages of the war, freedom felt further away than it did at the start and the looming fear of death, loneliness, and destruction grew uncontrollably as Haense stood alone friendless and ally-less. It seemed that the sacrifice was for naught, and all was lost. 

 

    Here we stand, decades after the Two Emperors, remembering the war that changed the course of human history forever. I can say without a doubt in my mind, that we lost the battle, but we won the war. We set free the chains that bound us and liberated ourselves from the tyrants that oppressed us. The Kingdom of Haense stands strong, rejuvinated and growing while the Renatus Regime cowers, removed from their seat of power, homeless and landless.

 

 I could not bring myself to attend the festival, as I refuse to break bread with renatus veterans who slaughtered innocent women and children on multiple occassions, but I hope that all of Haense never forgets the sacrifice we made for freedom, and one day, holds their own event to celebrate the noble Marnanite cause. We would Have perished had we not prevailed.

 

 

 

 

 

[MadOne 4945]

Osvald Barclay waits for the angry murmurs of Corwin.

[Security_ 2287]

An old Wick reads through the memoriam, quickly shoving it into his growing mountain of papers. “Damn youths don’t even know about the Czena wars!”