WE ARE HOME

[Monty Cobra 921]

𝕎𝔼 𝔸ℝ𝔼 ℍ𝕆𝕄𝔼

— — —

𝕋here is no kinder feeling in the world than coming home. No matter why or how long you've been away, I know you've felt it— when your tired bones and weary soul ache in kind for that place. Your safety, your solitude, your warmth. A quiet longing in the depths of your heart. How many times do we cry it as children, until we're taught not to? 

“𝕀 want to go home.”

ℕo conditioning can shake that yearning from within you. It never fades. It is always present, lingering, drawing you back from whence you came. And the moment comes when you finally sit, stand, lay in the presence of what your heart calls home. That must be, I think, a fleeting taste of what it's like to return to our final home in the Seven Skies.

ℙeace. 

𝔹ut I’m not sure how much longer I will be able to come home. With every passing day the security of knowing that Balian will always be there, waiting for me to return, slips further through my fingers. I cling to the days I have left out of fear for the days before me.

𝕀 believe it takes a certain type of monster to take the home of another. Not the monsters you read about in fairy tales. Not trolls or gibberers or darkspawn. These monsters are men like you and I who walk in plain sight. Their hearts are corroded by bitterness and scorn and hatred. The hurt they've undergone causes them to lash out and to take, take, and take until nothing is left. 

𝔹ut it leaves them feeling empty, and everyone else along with them. They cannot recognize the beauty that has been destroyed in their wake.

𝕎ill that beauty be remembered? That's what I keep asking myself as the day of battle looms nearer. Will people remember Balian? Will people remember us? How will they remember us?

𝕊o I want to tell you what Balian means to me.

𝕋o me, Balian means duty.

𝕀 have grown up with words stamped into my forehead. They say you are the heir of House Greye. One day we’ll be something, and you will help to make it so. 

𝕀 learned this sense of duty from those around me. Every single member of Balian is a leader by example. I grew up watching the duty and honor imbued into every soldier of the Regiment of Saint Lothar. They rallied for our allies in sunshine or rain, day or night. They formed rank to escort our King wherever he went. They put their own lives on the line to protect each other and the citizens of Balian.

𝕀 saw duty in the medics who, time and time again, treated our wounded with the utmost of care. They work with an unending well of patience and dedication. Without a single complaint, I have witnessed them nurse back to health even the sickliest of men. They ask not for compensation or thanks. It is merely their duty, their God-given responsibility—thankless as it is. Their reward is merely the virtue of saving another life.

𝕀 saw duty in my father, and he imbued it into my siblings and I. We were taught from a young age what it means to be honorable. It means to be dignified and to recognize the efforts that others put into your shared cause. It means that loyalty should flow through your bloodline. It means resilience in the face of hardship. I can think of no finer example of duty than my father, Sir Aurellius Greye, who was knighted for throwing himself in the path of a bomb thrown at our King.

𝕀 saw duty in our monarchs. They carry themselves with immeasurable dignity and grace, but never hold themselves as having higher worth than the rest of us. They lead with wisdom, compassion, and selflessness in every circumstance. They ride with us to battle and sit within the clinic to dirty their hands and heal those in need. They are a shining example of virtue, humility, and faith at every turn.

𝔸nd I see duty in the mindset of Balian towards each other. The people of Balian so clearly display a sacrificial selflessness towards one another. They respect one another, serve one another, and uplift one another. When our ally nations fell, it was not King John or Queen Kathryn who made the decision that Balian would fight—it was Balian's people who, in their deep-rooted spirit of duty, rallied to defend our home. That is simply who we are. 

𝕋o me, Balian means celebration.

𝕋his comes in many ways. It of course means literal celebrations. I have many fine memories of such. I remember boat racing at sea, hair drenched, wind against my cheeks. I remember feasts held by the royal family. I remember name day celebrations and anniversaries and weddings. I remember joy, laughter, dancing, singing, falling over and getting back up. 

ℂelebration also means celebrating one another. I have never seen a people so invested in one another, so hopeful for the success of their peers. When one person wins, we all win. If you have not witnessed such, you have certainly never seen a Balianese presence at a jousting match. Memories are etched into my mind—the roar of the crowd cheering for our own, pushing them further, believing whole-heartedly that they can succeed.

𝔹ut there is one quality above all else that sticks with me, and that is belonging.

𝔹alian means belonging.

ℕo matter who you are, Balian welcomes you. No matter who you are, Balian will lay itself down to help you. No matter who you are, Balian will usher you in with open arms and give you a place to come back to. You need not be canonist. You need not be human. Come as you are and it is enough.

ℂome as you are and you will find people that love each other as though they are family. You will find people that help one another without hesitation. You will find people with loyalty running through their veins, who will never betray your trust. You will find people who will seamlessly find a place for you in their lives and in their hearts, whose affection never runs out or dies.

𝕀f there is anything I want Balian to be remembered for, it is that. It is something that the church can never take away from us. They can take our walls but not our souls. We will find new places and our spirit will live on, never crushed, carrying Balian on our shoulders.

𝕌ntil finally we are home.

 

 

 

[Yeetboy0206 1574]

Estevot smiled as he read this. “Wise words for a young man Aurus.”

[Navigator 4260]

Owyn smiled down from the Seven Skies, hands clasped behind his back; "Always know you were the smart one."

[TaraJess 2848]

Johanna Vuiller weeps over the wise words of the young. She was proud of the young man Aurus had grown into. She recalls the very day she held him as a babe, so new to the world. Her godson would leave his mark, and in that, she trusted.

[Andustar 4143]

"Home is where we make it, young Aurus," John said in affirmation. "This place is our home, and we shall defend it. Portoregne may last a few years. Maybe longer, God willing. But if there's one thing that is certain, it's that Balian will endure. If not in any tangible presence, then in memory and the spirit of those who carry with them the dream that is our civilisation. Our culture. Our people."

"In the end, we are an idea, and you can't kill ideas."

[Spellblades 749]

Warrin Kolbeck reads over the missive with a new-found hope in his heart. "The lad's finally growing up." He would quietly laugh to himself to not draw any unwanted attention to himself
 

[Navalic 44]

Navalic of White-River reads the missive, but his eyes only showed pain and sadness as he looked around in his family's new home in Alba. A home that only feels like a prison to him. "Doesn't matters how many monsters and horrors i defeat... When i was needed the most, i left these brave people behind" his voice was heavy as his eyes turned to his son, peacefully sleeping on his metal arm. "We left the warm lands of Balian because i wanted to protect you... But in the end, your father is just a traitor you can never be proud of"

[WhimsicalOwl 268]

Lenora, on one of her usual herb runs, finds herself a copy of the missive - eyes drawn to the name signed at the bottom of it. She hadn't heard from Aurus in quite some time, and it is with this train of thought that she decides to give it a read. "What a shame... yet it is Balian's stubbornness that got them into this mess."

 

She would commend Aurus for a good read, if anything, though she tosses it away with little thought. Once she had returned home, to the Hill, she'd send Aurus a short letter.

 

Spoiler

Be safe, Aurus - no matter how this mess ends. 

-Letti

 

[_KnightEvil 41]

Aedric was sat on the top-bunk, his brother beside him. "Well said, brother. No matter what happens, we will get through this, together." He said after reading the missive.