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Blank-Page-Emperor — The Swords, The Shields
Published: 2009-12-18 23:26:48 +0000 UTC; Views: 1018; Favourites: 5; Downloads: 8
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Description Mila, Lady-Scribe of Brivhamen under Her Serenity Queen Lorelei, the Lioness under Heaven, writes to her King Arug, Master of the Sword, Noble Lord of Brivhamen, the Lion under Heaven, on the Thirtieth Day of Terras, in the Seventh Year of her King's reign.

This is an inconvenient time for My King Arug to be away assisting our allies in Denua.  His cause is just and his sword is swift, but his Lady's servant bears a warning.  In recent days we here in the capital have received refugees from the hill tribes in west.  An unknown power is moving there, burning villages.  It gives no name and no quarter- most of the refugees have been women and their children.
Very few men have escaped.  

My Queen greeted them formally and sent word to the outlying areas of Brivhamen to be vigilant.  A young chieftain described the taking and burning of her village by night: Arrows, spears, swords, maces- all manners of weapons held by all manner of soldier, though little of them could be seen until the fires started.  The few who escaped did not stay long enough to understand what manner of rank made up the enemy.  Walking among the assailers on horseback, she says a figure kept pace in some manner of armor, wearing a helm with the horns of a ram.  She believes it their general.  We are unsure of how large the force is, or where it is moving.

Brivhamen is strong even without most of Your Majesty's loyal Men of the Sword here, and we shall not fail our duty.  The Women of the Shield stand guard against the chaos of the world.  Our Queen and her knights await the return of their husbands without tears.  We send you these messages swiftly in hopes of your reply, and news of the Denuan front.  Gods grant you safety and victory.

The Thirty-Fourth Day of Terras-

My King Arug-The chieftain has fallen ill, and her people claim the enemy general cursed her with a plague.  They endeavor to leave Brivhamen.  Queen Lorelei fears for them in the wild, but has granted them safe passage to the forests to the North.  They hope to honor an ancient rite of kinship with forest tribes and start new lives.  They are strange people, and simple.  We pity them, but they have never had anything to offer us.

The Fortieth Day of Terras-

Even more refugees have arrived to replace those that have departed.  Our food stores hold, but any increase in even our contented nation needs to be watched.  Word of this enemy is spreading.  The tribes are fleeing to us now before the threat appears.  We do not even know if they are still being followed, but we fear this barbarian shadow will have no qualms about assaulting our land.  Only a fool would dare to breach our borders without a significant force.

The Fiftieth Day of Terras-

We are inspirited to hear of His Majesty Arug's ongoing success in the Eastern Campaign, punishing his foes for their upstart ambitions.  More refugees arrive, and we must relocate them.  Our Beloved Queen Lorelei and the valiant General Esmera have discussed conscripting them, and ultimately decided that the less we associate with them at this time, the less wrath we stand to bring to our own gates.  The stories of horror centering around the so-called Ram's-Head are growing more and more fictitious- blind panic is driving peoples to our sanctuary long before it appears.  They grow unruly, and we are preparing to turn them out.
The days grow shorter and colder upon us all.

The Sixty-First Day of Terras-

We closed our gates to the hill tribes, but still they come.  With the Men of the Sword away at His Majesty's service, the ignorant harass us, then learn that our small, quiet country's strength is two-fold.  We are fast and fierce.  We ignore pain as statues do.  We have rid of the capital of refugees, vying to maintain the dignity of Brivhamen Citadel and give our ladies a place to prepare stratagems.  Fools who have tried to have their ways with us have been made examples of.  These weak savages see the might of our nation now, and tremble: Women who are knights, for the essence of womanhood is a struggle.  The mother is always a guardian of that which she has already fought to bring into the world

The Sixty-Fifth Day of Terras-

News of the enemy has come to us as we continue to negotiate with the hill tribes.  The Ram's-Head marches on our borders.  Our spies confirm it to be moving towards the City of Cliffs from the northwest with a sizeable army.  Many of us have been dispatched to quell and relocate the tribes.  It is our way to leave our homes and children only when we are called by immediate danger; many wonder if we should not have taken action sooner.

In accordance with the threat, Her Serenity Queen Lorelei shall take her royal contingent of Shield Knights to the frontlines, and there join an alliance of friendly tribal armies to attempt to hold the enemy at the border.  The natives shall lure them between cliffs of the Royal Pass, and then we shall descend on them from the rocks and tear them apart.

The Seventieth Day of Terras-

Your contingent arrived yesterday, oh Valiant King, so henceforth I shall supplement the messages from your servant, Lord-Scribe Derrok, Scholar of the Grey Marches, with the tidings of your Queen herself, and my own experiences.  My beloved king is most gracious to spare us these troops to help quell the vast number of outsiders.

Our Queen is mustering arms and moving her soldiers out to the City of Cliffs.  I, Mila, Lady-Scribe and Historian of the Realm, remain at the citadel, but my spear sits by my side in my study.  I have strength of memory and writing, but the curse of the cripple shall keep me from witnessing Our Lady's battle.

The Fifth Day of Ventras.  Avaer is King in Heaven, and Avlin his Queen.  May their blessings sustain us in this new season of icy wind.

Your Lady, our Queen returned this day, supported as she walked by the General Esmera, the She-Wolf.  She wore the split helm of the outlaw general instead of her own, and brought back many captives, who speak an unknown tongue.  The General herself attests that the Queen, bearing her fearsome pike on foot, challenged the Ram's-Head, demanding to know its name, allegiance, and purpose.  Its only answer was an unearthly roar from beneath its horned helm, and it charged her.  The duel outlasted most of the fighting- our tactic had succeeded.  The foe bore a great battle axe and swung with the force of thunder.  Her Serenity was swift and agile- she let the Ram's-Head bear down on her for a time, then moved under its guard to try to strike against the strange armor each time they met.  She was only struck once by a glancing blow, and spun away in a second of recoil, bringing her blade between the ram's horns.  The enemy fell, and the fearful helm rolled off.  The tribal warriors nearby drew back, fearing a curse, but Queen Lorelei was brave, and looked upon the face of her foe- in surprise:  Hardened and scarred by harsh winters and a hundred pounds of armor, blocky and chiseled was the face.  But it was most certainly that of a woman.

We do not know what we have faced.  Her Serenity has retired to her chambers and awaits your return, My King Arug, Lion under Heaven.  She has only spoken to me and the General, and said but this:

"I have seen all of us lying there."
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Comments: 28

LordoftheWolfDale [2011-09-03 18:58:11 +0000 UTC]

the shield maiden werent soldiers, theres only a hand full of them, the women of the kings house are shieldmaidens so in the time of Theoden, only Eowyn would have been a shieldmaiden

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Blank-Page-Emperor In reply to LordoftheWolfDale [2011-09-03 20:23:08 +0000 UTC]

I honestly didn't know that, but still... What's the point, then? If there's only one of them, then why even teach her to fight at all, since her death could be a serious blow to the line of the king? That really just hurts their case even more, since it means the women of Rohan were just as helpless as everyone else, even though they obviously didn't *have* to be.

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LordoftheWolfDale In reply to Blank-Page-Emperor [2011-09-03 20:32:45 +0000 UTC]

its just women arnt warriors in that world just like in history, its just not there place. and in the book eowyn only rode to war because she was looking for death. in the movie they made it more heroic.

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Blank-Page-Emperor In reply to LordoftheWolfDale [2011-09-03 20:51:03 +0000 UTC]

Hey, if that makes my idea a bit more original, then I'm okay with that.

Anyway, not trying to sound like a dick here, but I'd like to ask you to respond to my work or else not comment on my piece, because I really am looking for feedback on it. I do appreciate you setting me straight on those aspects of Tolkien's world (and I agree, Jackson's take on it was really different from the books' ) but it mostly just reinforces my desire to make good on the idea behind Eowyn's personal bravado as it was presented in both places.

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PurpleLikeWoah [2010-08-30 17:17:48 +0000 UTC]

I really enjoyed this. Great work.

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Blank-Page-Emperor In reply to PurpleLikeWoah [2010-09-03 05:32:27 +0000 UTC]

Thank you! ^^

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PurpleLikeWoah In reply to Blank-Page-Emperor [2010-09-03 08:53:42 +0000 UTC]

No Problem.

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Moon-Willow [2010-01-05 03:06:23 +0000 UTC]

I've featured this image in my journal [link]

Happy New Years!

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RebornDead [2009-12-22 23:32:22 +0000 UTC]

I agree with everyone's comments, this was amazing. I was really surprsied reading it and had to scroll up to make sure it was you. Not that I don't think you could write it, but because it's just so new and different! I enjoyed every bit of it. And you made it SO believable, which is what made it so emersive. I would love to read more if you ever get to expanding out the scenes and characters.

I am, however, totally going to steal the genre idea epistolary . Maybe it'll break me out of this terrible block to try something new... But I'll do it far enough down the road so no one suspects I stole your somewhat-original idea. <_<

>_>

^_^;

Anyway, yeah. Loved it.

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Blank-Page-Emperor In reply to RebornDead [2009-12-23 04:38:37 +0000 UTC]

Wow, thanks! >w< Yeah, I'm trying to think about what I want to do with it now. Considering that I have to do practically no research except for studying terms for armor pieces, it'd be easy to start off. I've got character interactions that are barely or not hinted at that I've REALLY got to work in.

I hope I don't ruin it. ._.;

Go ahead and try the epistolary. Half the class did it. There were some pretty good shots at it other than mine. This one guy's was fucking SCARY. Totes incomplete story, but wonderfully freaky. C: They're quite rewarding.

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RebornDead In reply to Blank-Page-Emperor [2009-12-24 01:13:20 +0000 UTC]

Maybe the hardest part would be in keeping the language consistent? That was my first thought. Other than realizing how much modern English blows. Old English is gorgeous. I love how it flows so poetically.

I shall try. At some point. When I hunker down and do some writing.

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Blank-Page-Emperor In reply to RebornDead [2009-12-25 05:39:03 +0000 UTC]

I. Wouldn't. Know.

So I'll just write it and let you put it in Old English. 8D

But yeah. You can do a really simple epistolary or a really tough one. There's just so many avenues!

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RebornDead In reply to Blank-Page-Emperor [2009-12-25 15:06:14 +0000 UTC]

....

Those faces are creepy.

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Blank-Page-Emperor In reply to RebornDead [2009-12-25 15:16:57 +0000 UTC]

Thought they'd be worth a try. XD

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Sain-Nayuakuioa [2009-12-20 17:12:15 +0000 UTC]

Man, that was incredibly emersive! I really, really want to read more of this story. Fairly unique among things I've read recently and one of your best things ever.
Maybe we could collab on something? I'd love to try my hand at a series of corresponding letters.

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Blank-Page-Emperor In reply to Sain-Nayuakuioa [2009-12-21 19:55:03 +0000 UTC]

Thank you! I really feel like maybe I should take a crack at a novelisation of it. 'Cause of course you know the Ram's-Head is... *stops before spoilerz LOL*

I'd be perfectly willing to do something like that with you if you've got an idea or something. I'm not currently super-occupied, but I probably will be come next semester. F***ing graduate. X_X

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ShadowtheRipper [2009-12-19 07:17:31 +0000 UTC]

I love Mila! <3
Great story, btw.
Definitely NOT fantasy, I agree with you.
Just... ancient story-telling.
c:

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Blank-Page-Emperor In reply to ShadowtheRipper [2009-12-19 19:09:47 +0000 UTC]

Mila is awesome. I'm going to give her a really significant role in the futuar.

And thanks! >w< Do you think maybe I should switch it to General Fiction? Historical requires REAL history and this isn't real history.

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ShadowtheRipper In reply to Blank-Page-Emperor [2009-12-19 20:05:27 +0000 UTC]

Definitely.

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Blank-Page-Emperor In reply to ShadowtheRipper [2009-12-19 21:01:41 +0000 UTC]

Kthxdun.

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Moon-Willow [2009-12-18 23:53:22 +0000 UTC]

this is a best seller in the making... seriously dude... I would read EVERY single page...

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Blank-Page-Emperor In reply to Moon-Willow [2009-12-19 03:33:36 +0000 UTC]

Wow. 0.0 Thanks! >///<

I'm thinking that maybe I should try to work on it if the style's working so far. C: Problem is that I need to decide exactly WHAT to do with it. I don't think it needs to be terribly long, unlike most of my stuff. I have the beginnings of a plot, though I figure this would actually be in the early-middle.

I've been told by several people that getting short stories out that are successful will have people asking if you have a NOVEL, because THAT can really be marketable.

I stopped work on my long-form stuff for the time being just because I didn't want to write 200 pages of crap. Maybe I should try again...?

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Moon-Willow In reply to Blank-Page-Emperor [2009-12-27 19:11:20 +0000 UTC]

I know there used to be sci-mags that published short stories years ago....I wonder if they are still around? might be a way to get published & have more exposure

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Blank-Page-Emperor In reply to Moon-Willow [2009-12-27 22:21:27 +0000 UTC]

They still exist, but it's not a terrible lot of exposure. I claim to look into them but don't really. The short story market in the U.S. right now is dead. DX

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Moon-Willow In reply to Blank-Page-Emperor [2010-01-02 22:23:27 +0000 UTC]

hey S...listen, Shay just got a kindle and we downloaded a bunch of short stories.. some were free, some were 99¢ and some were $3.99... most novels run @ $9.99...... it may not seem like alot, but it is when a whole bunch of people do it

[link]

Look, then DO IT

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Blank-Page-Emperor In reply to Moon-Willow [2010-01-27 07:36:30 +0000 UTC]

I'm looking into this, BTW.

The issue here is that I DO need a formal editor, and that this has no screening process. I'd like to think that I could make a better impression here than on deviantArt, and I'd make money for whatever impression there is, BUT

This allows ANY crap onto it, and that's the tough part.

Maybe I'll toy with a few of my stronger ones. IDK.

I appreciate the support, but I'm just not comfortable enough yet with my work for this sort of thing, for the most part.

If there's any story you think I should throw onto it, I'll take suggestions. C:

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Moon-Willow In reply to Blank-Page-Emperor [2009-12-28 19:21:18 +0000 UTC]

hmmm.... you need to look towards the future then of the digital downloads, like the kindle and get a profit from each download.... hmmmmmmmm

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Blank-Page-Emperor In reply to Moon-Willow [2010-01-27 07:37:29 +0000 UTC]

Thinking about that sort of thing, myself, BUT

Editors are a good thing, and I need zem. I want to see if I can talk to real publishers about it.

Plus I hate reading on the computer. Hate hate hate. Books never run out of batteries or get viruses.

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