A Last Journey

[Z3r05t4r 855]

http://youtu.be/eGPuSQN2t3o

 

 

Silus wanders the walls of Abresi... lonesome... forgotten, one would say. Turning his gaze through the housings of the city, glancing a bit at his office, he sighs. Yet another glance touches the Imperial Palace, high up, a further one, the church of Abresi. The noise from the people on the street below barely reaches up to him, two dragon knights patrolling past him on the wall.

 

Leaving the walls behind, he walks through the crowds and streets of Abresi, some bowing to him with respect, but more others glancing at him with hateful expressions. Silus, though well aware, does not pay any mind and continues to his appartment.

 

...

 

"Sire, we are ready." A brown cloaked servant approaches Silus. A sigh from him turns into a sentence. "Please, do not call me Sire. I am Silus. That's all." In the gloom of the candles in his room, Silus' face looks old and tired. Yet a dry chuckle and smile crosses his face. "How do I look?"

 

The servant frowns, avoiding to answer, yet after some hesitation. "Like one of us." - "A mere mortal being I am, so much I know. I honestly can not say why the hell I have gotten so humble all of a sudden. But let's go..." Silus extingushed the candles, following his servant downstairs to the waiting cart.

 

...

 

Silus glances back a last time to the glowing Imperial Palace and to the closing gates of Abresi, as they vanish in the distance, the cart beginning to slowly rumple through Corazon, his Duchy. "Sire, what will happen now?" - "I will go on a journey. Perhaps my last one, perhaps just another one. And I told you to call me Silus, please." - "Yes... Silus."

 

The cart rumples on, past the wine orchards of the Auvergne, the town of Baile, through the empty Emperor's forest, slowly crawling towards Kingston. "What is your name, good man?" - "I am Renhard." - "Alright Renhard. Here, take this. When we approach the gates of Kingston we will need it." Silus hands Renhard a scroll and a ring with the Imperial sigil. "For passing through. At a nighttime like this." Another dry chuckle.

 

...

 

The cart rumples on and on. A turn to the north, towards the Kingdom of Kaedrin. In the distance, to the east the Castle of Ard Kerrack can be seen, constructions and repairs have begun, new banners with the flayed man slowly moving in the wind. "Silus, what do you think?" - "Nothing. My thoughts I have left behind. This is my nephew's decision and his fate."

 

Turning towards the North, the red gloom distant in Castle Greywynn can be seen. "We have been forsaken." Silus looks away, closing his eyes, as the cart rolls towards Lenfarthing.

 

...

 

Gloomy at first, Malinor reaches his eyes as he opens them again. Yet the track leads straight west, through the rather empty lands of Kaedrin and the place where the Delvers supposedly have their hold. Dawn was approaching. The cart halting somewhere in the middle of nowhere. With aching back and bones, Silus climbs down in his simple brown garb, only to be approached by a dark shadow in the early morning. "Are you sure about this? I mean, you coul-" - "I have thought well enough. Renhard, go home now. I thank you for your service. Your last service. As for you... yes. Let us go." The man hands Silus a backpack and motions him to follow him.

 

South. Across a number of mountains. It would be a long climb.

 

...

 

During the approaching day, in all towns, cities, castles of the Empire, yes even in Lenfarthing and Malinor, letters are being pinned on the boards, being brought to all the lords, to many a peasant or clergyman capable of reading, public readings are being made and even the Emperor himself is being given a letter by a purple cloaked messenger. Listening or reading would bring following:

 

"

 

A last letter to my beloved Empire,

 

The hour is early to start writing this. Yet, I know I will need a long amount of time to finish. I am Silus Iullius Horen, nephew of Godfrey Horen, Cousin of Horen Horen and uncle to our current Emperor William Horen.

 

With this letter I bring forth my resignation from the office as Lord High Treasurer, as I am not longer able to carry this burden. Furthermore, I hereby bestow the title as Duke of Corazon to his Imperial Majesty as my lawful heir. Shall he decide upon what to do with aforementioned titles.

 

The duties I have been given and the burden I had with these I tried to fulfill and carry as best as I could. Perhaps to the joy or dismay of one or another. To where I will be going, it is not needed anymore. I am a young man, I admit, yet I have lost my strength to hold on. I beg for forgiveness from you, your Imperial Majesty William.

 

There are so few things in this world which hold me here, I admit, and of these few things I have already lost many. With the recent coronation and reformation of the council, I see that my absence will be easily sustained and filled in.

 

As for the treasury's possessions, you are free to break all the locks on all the chests and crates you find. There are many of them. Many hundreds. Enjoy finding them. I myself do not wish to see them anymore.

 

Now before I simply conclude this letter, I wish to give out a few words to various people.

 

To William, our new Emperor, I bid him to lead well and just and for him to be aware of his own men. The electing of the new Archduke Pius Silverblade as High Chancellor is a move which I personally do not favor and I wish to warn you that this demagogue may speed the inevitable downfall of the Empire, shall such come sooner or later. The signs are here, yet will it happen is the question.

 

To our new High Chancellor, Pius, forgive me this much, yet I mistrust your person. You are an odd being in the Empire and I still have quite the feeling that you might have either splitted my head or taken my crown. Presumably both, but who could confirm it anyway.

 

To Lord Codrik Green, I wish to thank you for your support through this time, yet I bid you to forgive me for being an improper liege. I have tried, but I failed.

 

To Lady Valois, by times I have to consider what to write, yet since this is a last letter, I shall be honest. You have no idea how much I actually despise your greedy, selfish, arrogant nature. Your constant lying about others and your attempts to become more powerful through forcing your will about, despite the fact that you are ALONE and WEAK, anger me, each time I think about it. But hell, I do not care anymore, you may go ahead and claim the Duchy, shall you ever see fit to be executed for High Treason. I wish you a horrible death and a good suffering in the depths of Drauchreich.

 

To Lord Edmund Stafyr, I admit that your Uncle's books have brought me into writing this. They have changed me a lot, I admit. I am truly envious and wonder myself why I could have not been one of your kin. Regardless of such, I wish you a safe future. You serve the Empire loyally and trustful and I assume you shall continue with that until the very end of the world.

 

To Gladius Flay, I only can say to be aware what comes from the North. Greywynn is a dark place.

 

To Scarlett Silverblade, shall she ever read this letter or hear about it, I wish to note that I have chosen to let her go, in order to save myself, but also to save her from me. I have changed a lot and what I am now, you would not love.

 

To Patrick Horen, I advise you to be careful.

 

To the remains of my family, I can also recommend to be safe and careful.

 

To the remaining councillors and lords, unity is strength. For what is coming now, we need it the most in order to survive. Everyone of us.

 

To the people of Oren, I advise you for once to put down your own greed and be prepared for the end of our very nation itself. Who knows if the mortal humans will survive or not. Anthos may be our race's end.

 

To the people of Lenfarthing, forgive that I never came around to enjoy your peace. Do not grudge the Humans for what they do, all beings err and so do the Humans.

 

To the Mali, Aheral, Ker or Ame. I can only repeat myself what I have written for the Halflings. We Humans err, we have the tendency to be greedy and wroth, but some of us can be considerable too, be wise enough. I would acclaim that our racial differences should not be enforced that much. I bid for you to stand on our side for this time, as darkness approaches fast.

 

A last bidding to you William, please sign a peace with the dwarves. I have always despised the war with them.

 

That is all.

 

A last journey,

 Written by Silus

 

"

[Galendar 631]

*Alexander lowers his head as he reads it... shocked that a man in witch he knew and admired so much had just left.*

"Please, Your Grace... Well now just Silus... return to us, please..."

[Ned Lud 1260]

Bango Blackfoot reads over an official-looking letter that has been pinned on the noticeboard in Lenfarthing. It seems to have found itself nestled beside the tattered remains of an older notice that once warned the locals of the White Roses. The grizzled halfling farmer's face twists into a skeptical sneer. He takes a drag from his pipe and bellows out the smoke with a resigned chortle.

 

"Sodding wall-mongers"

[Fid 566]

A tall, hooded figure listens from a distance as a minor clergyman expounds the letter to a huddled mass of people in Abresi. With a sigh, the Arch Druid turns away.

 

 

"So passes  a great man, it seems. Would that I knew him better... the realm needs such, especially in the days to come."

 

 

He removes his hood, looking up at the Cathedral of Abresi. Almost inaudibly, he whispers, "Do it, Osterwald."

[ski_king3 0]

Rose reads over the note several times, specifically, the section regarding herself. Her lips purse into a slight frown, her eyes scanning the letter one more time. She glances out the window, letting out a quiet sigh.

 

"The Creator presents men to emulate, and men to not. I would never have thought a man who quoted Godwein Stafyr to be so distasteful, yet you clearly demonstrate that even the most wise men cannot change the bane of some men's hearts.

 

I will not write back to you, Silus, for I am sure that the Creator shall bring you this knowledge when you burn and your life becomes but a mere shadow of a memory. Even you, a man who seems to have been so blinded in life, cannot escape the illumination of the Creator's light forever. I do not command the Creator, as no man or woman can claim to do. Unlike you, however, I have followed the Creator's path, and served him in basking the world with his holy light. I am his servant and he my master, a just and faithful one who rewards those who follow his path. And for this, he will deliver my message to you when you meet the flames reserved for a sinner's death.

 

Silus, you say i am greedy, selfish and arrogant. Yet it is humorous that you use the traits which describe none other than yourself. You showed your lust for power, your greed, your self-serving nature when you first became my liege. You wished to unite the banners of our Duchy when there were innumerable issues, conflicts, differences between the men of Green and Auvergne. You wished to unite our banners under the guise of promoting unity, but in truth, it was to maintain your place as a landless Duke. Your arrogance continued when you listened to the power hungry and foolish within the Duchy, the man Codrik Green and my traitorous cousin Alexander the Nameless. And as such, I refused to accommodate your selfish demands, the guise of unity to further your covetous ambitions for power. Yet your arrogance truly shown through when you tried to remove me from power, without legal right, logical reason or any sort of indication or warning. Worse than this, though, you wished to replace me with an incompetent, and created a threat to the well-being of my family and my home. And this is why I wrote to the Emperor of my claim and he granted it, whether or not you are knowledgeable of such.

 

Yes, Silus Illius Horen, your cousin granted my claim for your land, presuming the claims were true. I would have pressed my claim, were it not for the fact that he said he would fulfill an investigation and, once it were to be shown you truly did what you claimed, would revoke your title and grant it to myself instead. Unfortunately, two elven days later, the war broke out, and the investigation was ceased. With the Emperor departing, and those investigating leaving the continent with him, it is clear I will never get the land which was yours. However, the simple thought of the stain that is you, gone from the land which I reside, is more than ideal for me.

 

And now, you tell me I am weak and alone, that you hate me, despise me. And yet I will tell you, Silus, I do not hate you. In truth, the only emotion I feel for you is pity. I am not weak, Silus. I have the support of a dozen brave men the likes of which you've never known, a family filled with supportive, kind people, and the Creator whose will I enact upon the world. I, who have a family and friends and allies, pity you Silus. Split from your family since childhood, and with your betrothed disappearing, I am not surprised you wish to displace your own state onto another. Pity is what I feel for you Silus, not hate. I am sorry that your life was not as fulfilling as you hoped it would be, I truly am. Yet those words, of all the others, your talk of hate, of loneliness, of weakness, they are the ones that hurt me. Not for me. For you."

 

Rose looks down at the ground, the dialogue she'd held in the empty hall chilling her. She thinks over what she said, her eyes constantly returning to the word "despise" written on the paper. After a while, tears well up in her eyes, a look of despair and pity plain on the features of her face. She shuts her eyes, letting the tears roll down her cheeks. She takes a few breaths, quietly filling her lungs with air, more of a calming habit than anything else. She keeps her eyes closed, kneeling down to the ground, beginning to utter a silent prayer. Slowly, she grows louder, her hands clasped tightly together. As the prayer goes on, a feint glimmer of rosy light escapes through the slit of each of her closed eyes. The light slowly grows brighter, until eventually, her prayer stops. She opens her eyes, an unmistakably holy glow emanating from them. She merely sits, staring forward for a while, a look of spiritual calm on her face.

 

After some time, the light begins to fade, sweat trickling down from her brow. With the disappearance of the light, she stands, beginning to walk through her manner, up to her own room. As she walks, she speaks quietly to herself.

 

"Perhaps in a different world, Silus, we could have been friends. I bond of friendship, something I believe you lacked in your life. But alas, it seems that in this world, it could not happen, and so I hope when we have both passed on you will find the Creator's favor as I will, so that perhaps we may be friends when the petty desires of mortals are meaningless.

 

I do not hate you, Silus. Truly, I pity you."

[Jay Lenos 384]

Pius receives his letter he feels bad that Silus left and wonders how he remembered that one time. ((at band camp.))

[Kickstarted and Running 965]

Patrick Horen makes the holy symbol across his breast "God's speed"

[Moot 1719]

Moved to the Great Library. It shall be sorted into appropriate category shortly.