LAMENT FOR THE COMMONWEALTH

[indiana105 5126]

DEATH TO TYRANTS, DEATH TO RENILDE

LAMENT FOR THE COMMONWEALTH

“We the disparate lords, gentrymen, and peoples otherwise of the Petra do pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to the establishment of this Constitution upon the foundations of liberty and meritocracy. Let this charter be the highest law of the land, an inalienable contract for the formation of this Commonwealth of the Petra.” - P. Temesch, The Petrine Constitution, Preamble, 1885.

 

---

 

FELLOW CITIZENS,

 

MANY OF YOU HAVE NOT TASTED LIBERTY. You are shackled in servitude, beholden to the whim of your feudal lord. Any man who comes upon the ruin of the Commonwealth ought to weep. What was once a bastion of democracy, and of chivalry, has been destroyed by the lethargic nobility we fought to depose. Paul Salvian surely rolls in his grave. 

 

It has been 77 years since I bloodied my blade in the streets of Valfleur, and drove the Pennyduke Constanz from its ignoble halls in a soiree of fire. In the Commonwealth, I found purpose. Pride, peace, and prosperity. A true meritocracy, ruled not by the descendants of better men, but by those who had earned the right to speak through blood and steel. Now look at Her. The Knights of the Laurel, and we “Heroes,” cling desperately to the apparatus of generic tyranny. 

 

The heirs of Paul Salvian name themselves Queens, and with them lies all the power of the state. The Archduchy was not enough to sate his perfidious daughter. Unsurprising, for neither was Archduke Constanz. Now, a horde of Aaunishmen cross the river bearing his name, seeking to enforce the will of one despot over another. A meaningless war, wrought once again by the schemes of the Queen-Emeritus. No Petran shall find freedom in victory, for we shall remain slaves of the feudal bureaucracy. It matters not what banner our inbred master flies.

 

“Let these men and women embody our values, prevent the stagnation so oft found in the corrupt nobility of ages past, and provide the wisdom needed to guide the masses.” - P. Temesch, the Petrine Constitution, Article I: Establishment of the Order of the Petrine Laurel. 1885.

 

We, the Knights of the Laurel, have failed in our duty to prevent stagnation. We have stood idly by as the corruption of the Old Régime strangled the life from the Republic, and delivered Her into the hands of Renilde and her servingmen. By their cowardice they shall surely deliver us into either the grip of the Alstionites, or a mercenary army. And so we must act.

 

Renilde is a traitor to the Republic, and so she must die. The Marnans are invaders, and so too must they die. Let us string up the rat-Queen in the square of Vallagne! Let us drive the Alstionite back over the Constanz! Let us fight, and die for the dream of Paul Salvian!

 

PETRA, FLOWING WATER! AVE! AVE!

 

---

 

REMEMBER VALFLEUR,

Ser Stefan af Don af Petra, Knight of the Petrine Laurel, Hero of the Petra.

[seannie 7443]

With arms crossed over his chest, Tiber overlooked the River Constanz from atop a watchtower - imagining the deterioration brought upon by his drastic, yet nessecary, actions. Perhaps naively, the Elf thought itself not as a conqueror, but rather a liberator, however, he knew nevertheless that the contemporary Petrine would refuse to dispell the Wicked Witch of the West by themselves, for she permeated their society whole.

 

Thus, did the Protector find respect in the rising of the freedom fighters, who lead their own initiatives to reform their realm. Verily, their goals were his own - himself an admirer of the late Paul Temesch - yet, in their doing so, they cursed the unity he so staunchly advocates for, declaring him an invader and ostracizing his change. He thought to himself then, the fate of such wanton recklessness, to so easily risk the lives of the likeminded that refuses all aid; for what is a Man left alone to their own device, becoming a pitiful creature of no renown that isolates themselves from the greater good. Guidance was required.

 

An impasse did indeed form in Tiber's mind now, who raced to find a solution as he paced along his patrol. The Golden Path was ever changing, ever illusive, forever unknown, but decisions had to be made for the sake of means beyond measure; the Grand Ascension.

 

He would address these Knights in due time, for better or for worse.

 

 

[Rig 17580]

Valerius Montalt grabs his family sword and then goes off to make good on the New Regime’s blood which is owed to him.

[Cepheid 4304]

 A youthful Montalt picked up her child-sized sword, fulfilling the Promise of Petra, the promise of her ancestors... for freedom, for democracy. Maude knew not what the future held, only that her destiny aligned with the history of her House and she had to fulfil the duty that her fate was bound too.

[tilly 5115]

The woman, too old for even her great great grandchildren to count as high as her current age, filed the missive neatly on top of a hefty pile of others of alike content spanning over the last century or so calling for her death. Renilde had survived each threat, and was not about to let another belligerent back-from-the-dead no-one break her impressive combo. “How dare he quote my father; he never even knew him.”

[MrMojoMordor 2413]

"Zhu theze old people zhould juzt square up agh duel amongzt each-other, 'Like GOD intended' az iziz blah." the discharged goblin says to Albert-Gouliélmos de Rosius, who he's accepted bursts into peoples homes, continuing watching the chaos unfold. 

 

@Franczhiz

 

Edited July 22, 2024 by MrMojoMordor

[6xdestroyer 1610]

Jack grabs a pitchfork to kill the sinners!

[amongus 816]

Philip Montalt, now an elderly monk retired to the harsh deserts, recalled the very day his father and his close companions led a true Petra to victory in the name of Salvian. He remembered the ceremony that took place thereafter, in recognition of both heroes and knights among the people - where he had met his wife and witnessed his father's elevation to Grand Knight. Yet above all, the memory which stuck to him the most was his family's expulsion, and the ill-willed removal from their keep at the blink of an eye.

 

Following the footsteps of Pavel Ivanovich, he sought for his grandchildren, nieces and nephews to bring about the Petra he once knew.