Donnybrook

[Wizry 1218]

[Theme]
 

In aged plate-metal came the man that bore a banner of blue and yellow. Upon it, an eye gazed upon those nearby with a comforting presence. Many battles had been fought beneath this banner, yet it had never fallen. Now, the wearer approached the steps of the Dragon God’s children, carrying a letter adorned with a golden, glowing lightstone, wrapped and sealed, and then posted upon the exterior of the lair. 

It was for the Third Eye, the Prophet of the Archdrakaar. He who had seen the Golden-blooded Lion perish; he who had seen the old world die in painful agonies; and he who had seen a new world be borne anew from that suffering caused by the Apotheosis.

 

“Greetings An-Gho,

You know who I am, for you know the banner of which I carry. It hails from a time before the death of the Lion, much like you and me - before the victory of Ruin over Order that led to the encroaching darkness that subsumes the corners of the world itself.

I come to you now with a chance to answer a question that can only be answered through the nature of battle - for battle is the reflection of our basest of natures. I would be surprised if you have never asked yourself these same questions and wondered if you truly could come to live up to your claims.

You claim that you are baptised in the blood of the divinity that was Xan, the Golden Lion of Order; you claim that you are the usherers of a new, free age; and you claim that there is now change stirring in the dragaarkin. Let us test that through combat.

I do not claim to know the truth of your claims - but battle will. In combat, all is laid bare, and your capabilities to fulfill these claims will be tested.

You might question my right to do this—I am a Templar, and you are Dragonkin. Yet we Templars have long known that our purpose is singular: to fight. Not for honor, nor for God, nor for country, but for the love of the fight itself—a pursuit we hold as the purest expression of our Truth. I would be remiss not to acknowledge that I speak for my brethren without their consent, but I know we are a people forged and enlightened by our blessing.

I have sacrificed much for this path: loves that would have brought me happiness, family now lost to memory, a mind once sharp against challenges, limbs taken in the heat of battle, aspirations beyond the endless cycle of combat, and a destiny other than a glorious death.

But all this I would not change, for I represent the truest expression of oneself in the nature of combat. Combat reveals strengths, weaknesses, truths, and lies as one cannot lie that they weren’t ‘beaten into the dirt’ or ‘struck down by another’s sword’. In the crossing of blades, the old Masters - Meyer and Lichtenauer - call to one's mind that one will feel their opponent’s energies and strengths through the Fühlen. We shall do the same in our fight.

An old national saying that I learned long ago was that “... not by speeches and majority votes are the great questions of the day determined - but by blut und eisen…”. And it is true, An-Gho, these claims can only be proven through blut und eisen. We shall face each, as Dragon and as Templar, testing the conviction of your claims.

On that day, one of us shall die,

Aelfraed Seregon-Fabius,

Templar of Malchediael.”

Spoiler

@Jentos

DONNYBROOK!

 

Edited March 20, 2025 by Wizry

[Jentos 9422]

[!] 

An answer is returned;

 

”Tell me friend, tell me foe, how is it that you wish to be buried?” 

[Wizry 1218]

[!]

"A body burned to ashes in a pale campfire.

And you?"

[Jentos 9422]

33 minutes ago, Wizry said:

[!]

"A body burned to ashes in a pale campfire.

And you?"

“Take my body of stone and hew it upon a shrine by my Father’s altar.”