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| Copyright © 2007-2008 Richard H. Fay |
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Ere men followed a true anointed king,
When sacred glade knew only an elf's light tread,
Pagan tribes traded tales in gilded mead halls.
Sagely scholars dwelt in white marble towers
As a dark mage delved into arcane knowledge.
Morath’s heart harboured forbidden desires.
He wished to linger past his allotted span
And command powers beyond a mortal’s ken.
In search of the secret of eternal life,
The sorcerer summoned an ancient evil.
Morath’s path led to damnation and ruin.
He roused the wrath of the wicked
And paid for his folly with his flesh and blood.
Endless life became a deathless existence.
Undying hate filled the shade’s enduring soul.
The black wraith blamed all life for his fate
And levied an army of darkness and dread.
Fell beasts and foul folk flocked to his banner.
The vile rabble torched field and pillaged town
In their quest to extinguish goodness and light.
Elfame marched out to meet the dark goblin host.
King Finas faced the foe on the Churan Plain.
Four of his sons perished on that bloody field.
Many an elf fell before the raging storm
Until a glimmer of hope shone in the west.
Aedan Elf-Friend answered the king’s call for aid.
Armar’s mail-clad knights routed the fiendish horde.
Aedan forged an everlasting alliance with the fay
As elves and men piled earth over the dead,
Interred together on the mist-shrouded moor.
The fell shade possessed an uncanny mettle.
Mere iron and steel could not defeat Morath.
Saint and sorcerer wrought a sacred weapon,
A living blade quenched in a gold drake’s pure blood.
Spells and prayers bound it to Armar’s brave young lord.
Aedan set out to drive back the foul foe.
Sword in hand, he struggled in a hostile land.
The Armarian king battled the black wraith
On the grassy banks of a distant river.
Armargon’s light banished Morath to the dark.
Past a hidden bronze door deep underground,
The wraith lies restlessly in his sepulchre.
Seals, hexes and curses keep Morath entombed.
His ageless spirit remains forever trapped,
Until fate’s fickle hand spins its wheel around.
When sacred glade knew only an elf's light tread,
Pagan tribes traded tales in gilded mead halls.
Sagely scholars dwelt in white marble towers
As a dark mage delved into arcane knowledge.
Morath’s heart harboured forbidden desires.
He wished to linger past his allotted span
And command powers beyond a mortal’s ken.
In search of the secret of eternal life,
The sorcerer summoned an ancient evil.
Morath’s path led to damnation and ruin.
He roused the wrath of the wicked
And paid for his folly with his flesh and blood.
Endless life became a deathless existence.
Undying hate filled the shade’s enduring soul.
The black wraith blamed all life for his fate
And levied an army of darkness and dread.
Fell beasts and foul folk flocked to his banner.
The vile rabble torched field and pillaged town
In their quest to extinguish goodness and light.
Elfame marched out to meet the dark goblin host.
King Finas faced the foe on the Churan Plain.
Four of his sons perished on that bloody field.
Many an elf fell before the raging storm
Until a glimmer of hope shone in the west.
Aedan Elf-Friend answered the king’s call for aid.
Armar’s mail-clad knights routed the fiendish horde.
Aedan forged an everlasting alliance with the fay
As elves and men piled earth over the dead,
Interred together on the mist-shrouded moor.
The fell shade possessed an uncanny mettle.
Mere iron and steel could not defeat Morath.
Saint and sorcerer wrought a sacred weapon,
A living blade quenched in a gold drake’s pure blood.
Spells and prayers bound it to Armar’s brave young lord.
Aedan set out to drive back the foul foe.
Sword in hand, he struggled in a hostile land.
The Armarian king battled the black wraith
On the grassy banks of a distant river.
Armargon’s light banished Morath to the dark.
Past a hidden bronze door deep underground,
The wraith lies restlessly in his sepulchre.
Seals, hexes and curses keep Morath entombed.
His ageless spirit remains forever trapped,
Until fate’s fickle hand spins its wheel around.
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Wailing banshees presage lordly passings,
Keening woefully on the windswept moor.
Crowned basilisks poison trees and pollute wells,
Striking onlookers dead with a mere glance.
Black dogs pad silently along moonlit roads,
Bringing note of death's dreaded approach.
Greedy dragons slumber upon horded gold,
Devouring virgin maids and noble knights.
Hulking giants lumber across gorsy highlands,
Causing the hills to quake with every step they take.
Mischievous goblins play malicious pranks,
Leading the unwary traveller astray.
Hideous hags reside in trackless fens,
Snatching up lost souls in their iron claws.
Troublesome kobolds bother miners at work,
Wreaking havoc deep beneath the earth.
Uncouth ogres prowl the untamed heath,
Hunting endlessly for their human prey.
Cruel Peg Powler lies submerged in stagnant pools,
Waiting to drag children to a watery doom.
The dour Redcap haunts ruined towers,
Dyeing his crimson hat in human blood.
Swarthy trolls lurk in dark woods and deep caves,
Shunning the Sun's petrifying gaze.
Wicked wights wing through the still midnight air,
Seizing hapless mortals that cross their path.
However, the worst peril of all
Is that nameless terror,
That faceless fear,
Known simply as
The unknown.
Keening woefully on the windswept moor.
Crowned basilisks poison trees and pollute wells,
Striking onlookers dead with a mere glance.
Black dogs pad silently along moonlit roads,
Bringing note of death's dreaded approach.
Greedy dragons slumber upon horded gold,
Devouring virgin maids and noble knights.
Hulking giants lumber across gorsy highlands,
Causing the hills to quake with every step they take.
Mischievous goblins play malicious pranks,
Leading the unwary traveller astray.
Hideous hags reside in trackless fens,
Snatching up lost souls in their iron claws.
Troublesome kobolds bother miners at work,
Wreaking havoc deep beneath the earth.
Uncouth ogres prowl the untamed heath,
Hunting endlessly for their human prey.
Cruel Peg Powler lies submerged in stagnant pools,
Waiting to drag children to a watery doom.
The dour Redcap haunts ruined towers,
Dyeing his crimson hat in human blood.
Swarthy trolls lurk in dark woods and deep caves,
Shunning the Sun's petrifying gaze.
Wicked wights wing through the still midnight air,
Seizing hapless mortals that cross their path.
However, the worst peril of all
Is that nameless terror,
That faceless fear,
Known simply as
The unknown.
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fleeting shadow
borrower of lost tools
fair folk neighbour
hidden helper
doer of undone chores
ragged brownie
keeper of gold
cobbler of one shoe
lone leprechaun
poetic muse
vampiric inspiration
deadly fay mistress
dark young stallion
hungry riverside spirit
sinister kelpie
dank algid fog
tattered spectral mist
dreaded Grey Man
baleful trickster
reveller in mayhem
malicious goblin
borrower of lost tools
fair folk neighbour
hidden helper
doer of undone chores
ragged brownie
keeper of gold
cobbler of one shoe
lone leprechaun
poetic muse
vampiric inspiration
deadly fay mistress
dark young stallion
hungry riverside spirit
sinister kelpie
dank algid fog
tattered spectral mist
dreaded Grey Man
baleful trickster
reveller in mayhem
malicious goblin
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Augur
tosses old bones
to read battle-omens
and proclaims a heart-rending doom -
defeat.
tosses old bones
to read battle-omens
and proclaims a heart-rending doom -
defeat.
Keen blade
engraved with charms,
forged from mystical steel,
may draw blood only to spread peace,
not war.
engraved with charms,
forged from mystical steel,
may draw blood only to spread peace,
not war.
Pure thought
powers this craft
across our vast cosmos.
It sails from star to star as time's
tide ebbs.
powers this craft
across our vast cosmos.
It sails from star to star as time's
tide ebbs.
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