Spirit of man

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

A hundred years after the Time of Heroes, nothing remained of the world they had tried to save. The Memory Keepers were buried deep in their fastness, all their energies turned to staying safe from those who sought to crack open their citadel. The Winter Witch was little more than a legend almost as fearsome as those she fought. The Sunchild was always heard of elsewhere, never here. All around the globe, the feeble lights flickered, and began to go out.

All that remained now of the prophecy for which the Nine Heroes had died was a piece of garbled doggerel, an inane nursery rhyme.

Keep the torch burning bright, keep it burning
Keep the torch burning bright, I pray
Keep the torch burning bright, keep it burning
Keep it burning till the break of day

Sing hosanna
Sing hosanna
Sing hosanna to the King To Come
Sing hosanna
Sing hosanna
Sing hosanna to the King.

Keep the memories safe, keep me hoping
Keep the memories safe, I pray
Keep the memories safe, keep me hoping
Keep me hoping till the break of day

Keep the sword in the tree, keep me fighting
Keep the sword in the tree, I pray
Keep the sword in the tree, keep me fighting
Keep me fighting till the break of day

Over the thousand years of darkness, sixty thousand men, women and children were sent to the fires for singing that song.

Three thousand of them were still singing it as they died.

Comments

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Create your own oral tradition! Coming up right now!

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

My own tuppence - well, two sheets... Jade's immortal and (barring accidents and/or failing her Thaum team) active for as long as there is evil in the world. Mhairie is likewise immortal - though she's _trying_ to keep a low profile, I'm not sure how successful this is likely to be.

The other thing I'm curious about is what society's likely to evolve into. I don't expect it to all go gritty and post-apocalyptic (...if you'll forgive the phrase) because the Wyrm likes to corrupt, and you can't corrupt people unless they've got something to aim for and something to envy. I expect a far greater divide between rich and poor; and for there to be troubles between nations, and factionalism and fracturing political allegiances, but no one's going to drop the bomb.

Likewise, regardless of motivation, science marches on. Look at how far advanced we are now compared to 1010 CE - even assuming that we're not likely to be working at the peak possible invention-rate, there's still going to be a lot of development. Where is this likely to go? Communications aren't as valuable to the Wyrm - weaponry and luxuries are...

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Y'see, I completely disagree.

The Wyrm likes to corrupt, sure, but it's not always subtle about it. Look at its legions; the BSDs, the Fomori, the monsters. It's not terribly bothered about whether the corruption is voluntary or forced, and right now it's reigning on Earth and all the monsters have come out to play.

The sixth age isn't the age of a bit of unpleasantness and international tension; it's hell on Earth. Literally.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Well, for starters I reckon that Sulien and Rehema will get conflated pretty darn' quick. Two sun-related women, one of whom (Suli) the populace doesn't have any background or other legends associated with? In a hundred years they're totally one person.