A CALL TO THE LOST

[Timer 1978]

 

ISSUED BY THE PRINCE IN REINMAR 

In the year of our Lord, 2023

 

TO THE HOSTS OF THE CHURCH AND TO THOSE WHO WAGE WAR IN THE NAME OF GOTT, AND ALLIES, AND SURVIVORS;

Lo—
I have watched as vultures, wanderers and the lost circle the smoking ruins of shattered keeps, calling out to any lord who would take them. The Lords of my kin or elsewise beckon with open hands and empty hearts, offering land that is not theirs to give, coin that holds no loyalty, and arms to those who pledge only fleeting allegiance. Men who served once beneath banners now serve none but themselves, shifting their loyalties as a man casts off a wet cloak. The wind changes, and so too do their oaths.

And what of it? What do we find in these offers of refuge? A moral salve to hide the shame of burning towns? An army of rootless men, lacking memory, lacking people, lacking purpose? All gathered under the banner of the Pontiff’s cause—yet who among them knows what that cause even means?

We were told the Church stood for something. For humanity. For the line of Horen, and the preservation of his legacy. We were told it would not bend knee to tea-parties, nor pamper scribes and courtiers who wear silk and perfume and speak of love when they mean decadence. Yet now—
Now I see Numendil throw open its gates to whoever walks by, elf or half-man, vagabond or blasphemer, so long as he bears a sword. I see the hosts of the Church swell, yes—but with whom? What vision binds them? What order?

I speak now not to shame, but to warn.
If the alliance that stands with the Pontiff is to mean anything—anything beyond convenience and vengeance—then let it become something greater. Let it not be a chimera of convenience. Let it not be another Oren, bloated on every traveler’s favor, shedding its humanity one compromise at a time.

For ask yourselves, lords of Numendil and captains of the Church: do we seek to reform mankind—to reforge it in the image of our fathers? Or do we merely mean to replace one hegemon with another, aping the very sins we condemned?

Unlike my Adunian brothers,
Unlike the elves,

I do not invite all.
I do not open my gates to every orphan of war and thief of flags.
If you are truly a Son of Horen, then you may come to Reinmar.

Come not for coin.
Come not for land.
Come to be made right.
Come to serve law, not men.
Come to put down roots and be a Vander—not for a season, but for life.

Let the elves mock this letter, as they once mocked their betters-

Let the tea-drinkers and parchment-lickers call us barbarians.

But we shall stand. And when the smoke clears, those with no roots shall be carried away with the wind.

This is no poetry. This is no teatime parable. This is the call of kin.

If you still know what that means, you are welcome.

[MercyAzalea 405]

---

⫸⋙✦⋘ ᛁ ⋙✦⋘⫷



"A warrior’s strength is not in their spear, but in their resolve to protect what they hold dear."

⫸⋙✦⋘ ᛁ ⋙✦⋘⫷
 

The Dame-Warchief reviewed the missive in a quiet agreement. It was the way of the Reinmaren to be conservative in who they welcome into the walls of Kretzen. Seeing that the Furst retained their ways instead of faltering to the greed of frenzy brought a newfound sense of hope. There was strength in their resolve, a steadiness that had long been the foundation of their people. In a world that twisted under the weight of ambition and thirst for power, the Reinmaren knew their survival depended on honouring the old ways; the rites, the bonds, the simple strength of their unity.
 

She leaned back, her gaze drifting to the distant horizon where the wind stirred the tall fields of wheat. Kretzen stood a fortress not only of stone but of spirit. The walls, aged only as much as she, had seen countless battles, and the warriors who had walked its gravelled paths knew that strength was more than just the ability to fight; it was the quiet determination to preserve, to endure, and to stand unwavering in the face of what others might consider inevitable.
 

"Rightly so... not even war shall shake the values we hold so dear. It relieves me to know my son will grow in a unified society as our ancestors intended."

⫸⋙✦⋘ ᛁ ⋙✦⋘⫷

---

WER RASTET, DER ROSTET.

[framalam 837]

A certain Vander - Vander long before he shared the blood of Reinmar - addends a short scroll in Limontine paper:

 

“To all prospective ‘Sons of Horen’: beware, lest you serve under a Dark Elf, be handed your ale by a High Elf, and be ordered into war by a woman who dramatically insists she is no Vander at all! To all Vanders, all true-oathed descendants of the Rhoswenii: beware, lest they draw you in with no hint that they take offense at our name, that they insist to be a Vander is not their culture, but an antiquated term long-gone. 
 

And to mein Furst: We both know you need men to burgeon your hearth as the fire of innovation has long since left you cold, and scrambling to rekindle something of any note. Take your defeat with grace. Do not butcher the name Vander only to cloak yourself in our skin like a prize. I would remind you, layman,  to FEAR THE CREATOR AND MAINTAIN HIS CHURCH, to AT ALL TIMES SPEAK THE TRUTH, to PERSEVERE IN ANY ENTERPRISE BEGUN and to KEEP FAITH - unless, of course, these words mean nothing to a Reinmaren, as they would to a Vander.

 

FR. H. SER HARRENIEL

YOURS, LUKAS VON BERKHOVEN”

[MRCHENN 4741]

A letter reaches in response.

 

"To the Prince in Reinmar,

 

I will not speak for Numendil, for that is not my parish, but I can speak for my brethren in Burgundy and Drusco.

 

You speak of a lack of purpose, and I must agree with you. Of course, how can our sons of Horen have any purpose when we are divided? When there is no national pride that all humans can point to? When there is no collective form of humanity, there is no shared goal. When there is not a central governing authority to promote this shared goal and require its citizens to set aside their private interests for the common good of the human state, there will never be an 'order' of which you speak. From your points, it seems that you are inclined to agree to some form of collective interest.

 

To your point of our offers of refuge, I do not understand why, but know this: the Tapestry of Man does not discriminate, nor should it discriminate. Our objective is as such: Give us your mercenaries, priests, tea-sippers, second-sons, bastards, and petty thieves, and we will turn them into God-fearing subjects who will push the progress of humanity through our institutions. 

 

Humbly,

Father Drusco."

[MadOne 4945]

11 hours ago, framalam said:

A certain Vander - Vander long before he shared the blood of Reinmar - addends a short scroll in Limontine paper:

 

“To all prospective ‘Sons of Horen’: beware, lest you serve under a Dark Elf, be handed your ale by a High Elf, and be ordered into war by a woman who dramatically insists she is no Vander at all! To all Vanders, all true-oathed descendants of the Rhoswenii: beware, lest they draw you in with no hint that they take offense at our name, that they insist to be a Vander is not their culture, but an antiquated term long-gone. 
 

And to mein Furst: We both know you need men to burgeon your hearth as the fire of innovation has long since left you cold, and scrambling to rekindle something of any note. Take your defeat with grace. Do not butcher the name Vander only to cloak yourself in our skin like a prize. I would remind you, layman,  to FEAR THE CREATOR AND MAINTAIN HIS CHURCH, to AT ALL TIMES SPEAK THE TRUTH, to PERSEVERE IN ANY ENTERPRISE BEGUN and to KEEP FAITH - unless, of course, these words mean nothing to a Reinmaren, as they would to a Vander.

 

FR. H. SER HARRENIEL

YOURS, LUKAS VON BERKHOVEN”

“Ironic how the oathbreaker Lukas Berkhoven, who holds three separate oaths and three or four separate names speaks about the Vander code!” Smiles Adelmar 🙂

[sapphic_spidy 1089]

"Well this is interesting." 

An elven medic says bitterly. 

[Jensen02 337]

"I Love Minitz Reinmar." Echoed an Elder Reinmaren