((I actually wrote one of these for DAOC but never had the courage to post it. Here is a piece of my story in all its non-glory. I will make a posting in the tavern for comments. Please leave your comments in that forum and keep this one clear for my postings.))
The long and slender frame of an elf in full plate paces through the warm rain in front of an axe that appears more like a scythe buried in ground before him. The smells of wet leather, iron and large beasts waft about you in the humid air and fog that is the hallmark of these human lands. The elf finally comes to a halt next to a worn and disheveled battle standard and turns slowly but distinctly to face a formation of elves, dwarves and men. A muster has been called early this morning it would seem, regardless of the weather conditions as usual. The troops are tired and they are few, but nevertheless they stand.
If you are a dwarf the first thing you notice about Yehoshua, the WAR Knight standing at the head of your formation, is that his favorite stein, what had seemed inseparable from his hand during Keg End ,is not present in it’s customary position on the knight’s belt. A serious matter indeed…
If you are an elf you will notice that beyond the stoic composure displayed by the knight that is typical of your kind there are undertones of more reckless and perhaps sinister emotions. There are undertones of serious grief and dismay that if not kept in check… Well there are none present that are ignorant of how your dark kin came to be. You know that the other races will not see these things present in the knight, but you must remember to keep watch on him lest he fail to control his emotions.
If you are a human you see nothing more than another imported elven officer seeking to satisfy his lust for pomp and circumstance while you can plainly see the fires burning your homeland in the distance beyond the formation in which you now stand.
The one thing that everyone in the formation notices to be amiss is the white lion, Judah. All of you have had the opportunity to fight alongside the magnificent beasts. The beasts seem to have an almost magical or psychic connection to their masters. When attempting to read the sentiment of their stoic White Lion masters it is almost always better to try and get an impression of the beast first as they are far more social creatures and easier to read than their stone faced and seemingly emotionless elven masters. Judah lays deathly silent in the wet grass next to your worn and disheveled standard, the standard of Saint Crispin’s League. You find it unnerving that you cannot hear the breaths of a beast that large amidst the gentle pitter patter of the rain. It is this silence that is the sound of death when fighting a White Lion. When the lion roars at the enemy it is most certainly a sign that the beast has little intention of harming them, he is only playing with or baiting them. It is this silence that cloaks the beast before a killing blow, and it is quite an unnerving thing to stand in formation before one of these beasts who is carrying itself thusly; it is also quite telling of the demeanor of his White Lion master. This is to be a dark day.
The elven knight pauses to look at the unit mustered before him as if taking in all of the troops in one long glance and then begins to speak in calm, even and emotionless tones.
“Do you see this standard here before you? The one I carry into battle against the hordes of Chaos?... <he pauses emphatically and repeatedly during his speech as if to give the troops time to ponder the implications of what he is saying> Do you know who gave it to me?... Forgive me, some of you are young and may not know of these things... This standard was given to me by the Knight Aeneis Anchioses of Saint Crispin’s League. This Aeneis is my brother in arms and in blood… Do you see him here today?... You have not seen him for some time, for he has lost himself to a dark passion… the path that leads to the ways of my dark kin… Do you think that I do not feel the pain of loss that accompanies the gaps in your ranks ?... <he steps between two members of the formation who had left a space between them for a comrade who had fallen during the last skirmish> Does the pain that I feel justify the presence of these gaps? … When you are cut in two by some nameless Black Orc because our ranks were too thin to proplerly hold back the tides of chaos will you have sympathy for our fallen brethren?... No you will not, for you will be dead. My brother’s banner, your banner, will be a hindcloth for some nameless warboss and this League will be no more. Is this why you came here? Do you wish to die as heroes?...”
“I for one do not wish to die at all and I am no hero that much is certain. We are not some otherworldly thing thrown here from some parallel universe beyond the warp. We are here now to stand against the tide, and all that will be remembered of us, if anything at all, will be how we carried ourselves and the parts we played in this conflict. If our ranks thin and this League fall it will because we have failed this League. If this League is to succeed in holding back the hordes it will be because of how you have carried yourselves and how others have come to our aid because of your actions.”
“There is no need of recruiting here. Any you see this far into the fight are here for the war effort. What sets this unit and this League apart is how we fight and how we carry ourselves. The standards that we hold near and dear are what give this Knight and this Battle Standard their meaning, their purpose and their strength.”
“Let us not fail each other in the sight of our enemy…” <he points to a human town burning in the distance>
“There will be no muster today. This force is not large enough to properly face a fully manned brigade of Chaos warriors. Break camp and prepare yourselves for skirmishing.”
Yehoshua removes the Battle standard and his impossibly large axe from the ground in one fluid motion and marches downhill towards the burning town. You still hear nothing from Judah as the large beast in full plate disappears into the grass.