DIGNITY OR DEATH

[Unwillingly 18106]

 

“Heave, heave! Onward, o’ Dawn Treader!”

 

The exhausted chimes of elven shipwrights and mariners puncture the drum of boots and wood, rickety wagons hauling voyage rations aboard and the crack of sails unfurling high upon the masts. A small assembly of elves crank the ship’s capstan, whose chain-links shudder one by one until its anchor bursts from the waters, seaweed and slimy muck clinging to its surface. Their skin burns a crude shade of red and glistens with a warm veneer of sweat, thin strands of hair sticking to their heat-beaten faces, yet they smile the sun’s smile. 

 

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

 

The ocean's waters shimmer like little shards of diamond beneath the light of the high sun, radiant and burning and bright. It gently warms Dawn Treader's main deck, whose wooden floor thrums with the joyous rapport of dance and song, bare heels and twirling gowns sent into rhythm by elven maritime shanties. Two elves were wed over the waters this day, laughter trilling through the drum of their union’s song. They await the new world ahead, and they too smile the sun’s smile. 

 

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

 

The eastern sun shafts through nestles of pine needles and spindly branches. The eastern woods thrum with latent energy, their canopies watching dutifully— and with such curiously— over the slow trek of wayward elves. They would lay claim to a craggy peak overlooking the woodland, and work with haste. With time, the woods had been tenderly cleared, supplemented with kindred tents and drapes to house the weary and weak whilst the fervid set to work. Yearning sets their hands into motion, while hope tempers their tired hearts, and they smile the sun’s smile.
 

D E C R E E    O F   E L H A L E R N ’ Y U L L N

Issued by the Ivory Crown & Grace of the High Prince,

1st of The Deep Cold, 257 s.a.

 

 

Plainly written is the birthright of Cauróst, our righteous domain. 

 

The Ivory Mission decrees it the duty of her people to guard the nobility of elvish blood and dignify the mighty banners that came before them. Though only the most ignoble of elves would deign to challenge this edict, often in favor of today's comfort or tomorrow's pleasures, it is the deeds of the ambitious that shall protect the comforts of the complacent.

 

History would witness haughty elvenkings and vicious warmongers weaponizing the prospect of elven unity as a tool of vanity and self-fulfillment. Indeed, incendiary propaganda and reckless tongues would suggest it is the will of the Princedom to invoke the mantle of Malinor. While the legacy of elven unity has been, and perhaps shall always be well within its grasp, what stays its hand is the fundamental recognition that Malinor was not a conquest, but a home. 

 

Yet, however gentle this truth may seem, it is the duty of the Princedom to act with such unerring resolve that it would steer away treachery to the legacy of our people and the banners that came before ours. It is the recognition that stewardship cannot be realized without conviction, nor conviction without honesty. It was the folly of those who came before us, and shall be the folly of those who come after us to neglect these principles. While the mantle of Malinor has earned its due reverence, it is the will of the Princedom to forge a legacy of its own.

 

Thus, she bids elvendom this: reject the weakness, the indignity, and the apathy that has encumbered the late hearts of our kin, for legacy scarcely honors the hermit, but rather the bold. Cast aside callings of indolence and idle pleasures, and turn your gaze towards those whose hearts burn— turn your gaze towards the laborers, the dreamers, and the visionaries of elvendom alike. 

 

Should you find this dignified message agreeable, you are invited to our honored Eldertide to witness formal address from the Ivory Crown and her reverential promise to the people. 

 

Spoiler

City Address

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26th at 6pm EST

Caurost Palace Halls

When entering the city, continue straight forward through the square until you reach an entrance leading underground
 

 

 

Signed,

Galahad Ílumrin

High Prince of Cauróst, Prince of Malinor & Eldest Son of Húrin Ibarellan