Welcome, traveler! Claim a seat by the hearth and enjoy the songs of Gabriel the Bard as he recounts the adventures of the Order of the Dragon’s Tooth from an epic Dungeons and Dragons campaign.
The following poems were originally posted on the Toggi Team Naver Cafe between 2010 and 2011.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Solan the Ruby Knight
2 Gazpacho and the Chupachups
3 Brezhnev the Deathless
4 Rinacita the Bright Star
5 Tath’rymeryl and the Shadowbane
6 The People of the Lake
7 The Tomb and the Ruby Knight
8 The Keep of Darkness
9 The Angel and the Fey
10 Jack the Handsome
11 The Fall of Menelios
12 The Dark Undahunt
13 The Flower of the Sun
14 In the Belly of the Worm
15 Astro the Candiru
16 The Choice of Brezhnev
17 A Song of Challenge
18 At the Gates of the Abyss
19 Tierra in the Abyss
20 The Eclipse
21 The Knight of the Lake
22 The Lake of Dreams
23 The Order of the Dragon’s Tooth
24 Farewell
25 A Journey Through Time
1
Solan, the Ruby Knight
Brave Solan, our steady friend
In needful times, our stalwart shield,
Raises his voice above the din
Of warriors on the battlefield.
Faced with foes and beasts of legend,
Brave Solan would never yield.
In one fell moment, he met his end
Holding his halberd and his shield.
By Lydia’s will, his great voice swelled
And rumbled again as he returned.
Around his heart, a shadow fell.
Around his fist, a darkness burned.
Grim Solan, the knight of dread,
In dire times, our deadly shield,
Raises his voice above the dead
And stalks across the battlefield.
2
Gazpacho and the Chupachups
The ground shakes when he is near.
The water trembles in the pier.
The Great Gazpacho, he is here
Holding the fearsome Chupachups.
His boots are heavy, his cloak is long.
His hands are many, his arms are strong.
He wades through armies, hordes and throngs
Wielding the deadly Chupachups.
No fortress wall or gate can stand,
No giant, fiend or wyrm can last
Against Gazpacho, whose mighty hands
Carry the awesome Chupachups.
He shatters their spears and breaks their bones.
He crushes their champions beneath his toes.
Like a tempest he rages, like thunder he roars
Swinging the dreaded Chupachups.
His hands are bloody, his smile is plain.
His boots are covered with guts and brains.
Upon the field are the legions slain
By Gazpacho and the Chucachups.
3
Brezhnev the Deathless
He hears without ears. He speaks without breath.
His eyes float ahead of his shadowy steed.
He lives without life. He dies without death.
His destiny no mortal prophet can see.
His limbs and his flesh have crumbled to sand
But the robes of fate wrap his ashes and bones.
A ruinous staff ever clutches his hand
And casts a fell shadow on his vanquished foes.
Behold their sorrowful howls and cries
For none can escape from his piercing sight.
Behold the dark knowing in their mournful eyes
For none can resist his baleful might.
Brezhnev the deathless, behold his black crown.
On his path there awaits both glory and gloom.
None does he serve, but to Chaos he bows.
None but the Worldwalker knows his doom.
4
Rinacita, the Bright Star
Rinacita, fair lady bright,
Our beacon in the moonless night.
Her bow is taut, her arrow sings.
Into the darkness, light she brings.
High above, her wings are spread,
And in their wake, no shadows tread.
From heaven’s clouds, her eyes can see
Through veil and fog and wizardry.
From distant skies, her shining came,
Through evil winds that have no name.
And lingering in her vision’s fold
Are whispers of a doom untold.
A beast beyond the walls of time
Beckons with its dreadful chime.
It reaches from its lair afar,
Searching for her falling star.
Beyond the walls, we must descend.
In darkness, all our songs may end.
But with our hearts and valiant deeds,
We follow where our lady leads.
5
Tathryme’ryl and the Shadowbane
Tathryme’ryl is an elven knight.
His hands are black, his eyes are bright.
A hero with the might of kings,
His name alone the Moonblade sings.
Behold, the mighty Shadowbane.
Immortal darkness it has slain.
Beneath the moonlight and the shade
Was forged the metal of its blade.
Together they have journeyed far,
Past twilight and the distant star.
Their scars are deep, their toils were long
Against the wicked and the strong.
Although the earth beneath the skies
May crumble and new seas may rise,
In songs of legend they shall live
And hope and courage they shall give.
6
The People of the Lake
We came upon a wondrous plain
Whereon a lake was born in rain.
Beside its shore awake with dawn
We heard a million infants yawn.
Their limbs grew long, their eyes grew bright
Beneath the heavens’ morning light.
They marveled at the forms they clad
And songs they sang for they were glad.
The People of the Lake were they
Arising with the blooming day.
In hours few, long years went by
As riders on swift errands fly.
Ere long the day grew old and waned.
The water of the lake was drained.
The People fell towards their star.
No song can tell us where they are.
7
The Tomb and the Ruby Knight
In the jungle stood the tomb,
A ruin of forgotten doom.
There fell a black and evil rain
And wandered many spirits slain.
The howling ghost and creeping bone
Were guardians of the sleeping throne.
Eternal Darkness, black and cold,
Lied hidden there since time untold.
It brooded in its wasted keep,
Dreaming in its frozen sleep,
Seeing with immortal sight,
Waiting for the ruby knight…
Solan the Brave, our noble friend,
With valor fought, but in the end,
The Darkness crept into his heart
And bade his noble soul depart.
Then from his body he was torn.
The ancient Evil was reborn.
The Darkness and its deadly Cold
Killed the valiant and the bold.
But they returned from death’s embrace,
Saved by Lydia’s holy grace.
And brave Solan, who would not yield,
Raised once more his shining shield.
Yet victory we did not find.
The Darkness we have yet to bind…
8
The Keep of Darkness
The darkness fell upon the keep
And madness filled its chambers deep.
The evil in the shadows grew.
It feasted on the souls it slew.
We fought against its fiendish horde
With song and magic, shield and sword.
But in that place of gloom and fear,
Our hope was lost, our doom was near.
Then Tathryme’ryl took up his blade
And saw a vision in a glade.
Upon a hill stood Shadowbane
In form of elves, a noble twain.
They gave their hands to Tathryme’ryl
And followed him across the hill.
When they returned, the Moonblade shone
And pierced the darkness on the throne.
The darkness roared upon its death
And cried out with its final breath.
Its dark blood spilled upon the floor.
The ancient evil was no more.
9
The Angel and the Fey
Before the mighty armory,
We saw a legion on the plain.
They sat in quiet reverie.
Upon the grass their swords were lain.
They heard Tierra’s melody
And listened to the Angel’s lay
Whose voices made in harmony
The songs of heaven and the fey.
They played for us their wondrous themes
And lit our spirits like a flame.
They shared their visions and their dreams
In words no mortal tongue could name.
And all who heard their songs of grace
Were filled with joy and reverence,
For in the world, we saw a place
Of goodness, hope, and innocence.
10
Jack the Handsome
Jack the Handsome, scoundrel of fame,
Seeker of treasures and relics of name.
What glittering wonders his pockets may hold.
What marvelous legends the harpers have told.
What vessel that hovered above the queen’s land
Was shrunk by the fingers upon his right hand.
What shimmering sword from among the queen’s men
Is held in his pouch without bottom or end.
No hunter can match him in cunning or craft.
No legion can catch him by spear or by staff.
Beware, ye that guard the queen’s castles and keeps.
Jack the Handsome will find what he seeks.
11
The Fall of Menelios
Where is the knight of sorrow
Who returned from death unforgiving?
He fell into darkness and shadow,
Spurning the breath of the living.
Where are the children unnumbered
Whose cries in the night were forgotten?
Their flesh and their bones he plundered.
From their ashes his host was begotten.
Where is the sword of the goddess?
It was claimed by the hands of the fallen,
By he who abandoned his promise
And challenged the powers of heaven.
Where is the shield that was woken
By the hands of the brave and the pious?
The sword and the shield were broken.
So ended the doomed Menelios.
12
The Dark Undahunt
They live in the shade of the mountain,
Estranged from the Sun and the Goddess.
Their halls are the shadows unbroken.
Their lord is the Watchful Darkness.
Long ago they left the kingdom
Of their kindred in the city of light,
Seeking the void and its wisdom,
Following the voice of the night.
But now, the Dark Wings have risen
To join the White Wings in the sky.
The Light and the Darkness are kinsmen
In the doom that is drawing nigh.
13
The Flower of the Sun
To the garden above the clouds
Came Rinacita, Lady of Spring.
She found among its sunlit boughs
A golden flower blossoming.
In ages before night unfurled,
When sorrows sang and shadows grieved,
The light of a forgotten world
Was sealed within its golden leaves.
Upon its stem, her hand she lays
And from its petals bright and fair
The fire of the ancient days
Shines forth upon her silver hair.
Through evil nights and darkling halls
The flame upon the flower sings.
No sunless sky or doom may fall
Upon the light our Lady brings.
14
In the Belly of the Worm
The great worm rose like a cloud of thunder.
The forest was shaken, the earth tore asunder.
Its cavernous mouth came down upon us.
And the night of its belly closed in around us.
In the darkness we beheld an ancient ruin,
Lore that was hidden and secrets forgotten,
The shadow of horror, the flesh that is crawling,
And Breshnev the Deathless, into madness falling.
Trapped in the prison of his tormented soul.
No magic could heal him. No song made him whole.
Then a brother of courage came to his aid
And his own life for Brezhnev’s did he trade.
The evil was vanquished and Breshnev returned.
The whispering call of madness he spurned.
By the life of his brother, he had been saved.
Once more he was Brezhnev, Brezhnev the Brave.
15
Astro, the Candiru
Red wizard, shaman, priest of bane,
She dines upon their tender brains.
Great mummy, lich, and baatezu,
They satisfy the candiru.
Black dragon, wyrm, and fiendish beast,
Upon their flesh she has a feast.
Immortal darkness from the tomb,
Within her stomach lies its doom.
Behold the screams upon the skies.
Behold the terror in their eyes.
The hungry one is drawing nigh.
Upon her teeth the doomed shall die.
16
The Choice of Brezhnev
In the tomb of gods unremembered,
The evil emerged from its womb.
The fate of a mortal was sundered.
The wizard was called to his doom.
He battled the knights of the kingdom
And the armies of heaven and light.
He freed the queen who was hidden,
And he moved the stars of the night.
But at last, he was crushed by Gazpacho.
By Tathryme’ryl’s sword he was slain.
And a song of despair summoned Cosmo
Who plundered his flesh and his brain.
Then he fell into terror and darkness.
On the pyres of hell he was hung.
So ended the one who was deathless.
No more shall his stories be sung.
17
A Song of Challenge
Hear me, ye orcs of the ironmaw clan,
Slaves of the ancients in the outer lands!
We go now to vanquish your wretched lords
And send their foul spirits to the unseen shores.
Behold the great Ramius and his lance of doom!
Tremble in his shadow in your halls of gloom!
Before your pitiful gates we stand
To claim what was stolen by your wicked hands.
Gather your champions and let them come forth
To honor their masters and prove their worth,
Or the ancients shall know of your cowardice
Before they are banished to the abyss.
18
At the Gates of the Abyss
Beneath the red sky on the highway of ash,
The spirits are driven by spear and by lash.
Above the fell barrens and mountains of blight,
The black wind is howling as harpies take flight.
Behold the abyss where the demon lords reign,
Where hope turns to dust and courage is slain.
Within her deep halls filled with horror and dread,
The spider queen waits on her nightmarish web…
19
Tierra in the Abyss
In the depths of the city of terror,
The webs of nightmares are woven.
Fell demons are clad in their splendor.
The trains of the damned are unbroken.
Here Tierra the Fey had fallen.
The voice of despair was inside her.
By cruelty and gloom she was bidden,
Cocooned in the heart of a spider.
In darkness, her sorrow was sighing,
Calling to he who had loved her.
Tathryme’ryl, with courage undying,
Sailed to the abyss to find her.
The gates of her prison he sundered,
The webs of her torment he shattered.
The rage of the spider queen thundered.
The host of her demons had gathered.
But swift was Tathryme’ryl’s vessel.
The storms of the abyss he braved.
Returning from the realm of evil,
The soul of Tierra he had saved.
20
The Eclipse
The black cloud has gathered, the darkness has risen.
The key has been turned and the sun has been broken.
The light of the Helios lies shattered in heaven.
The Ancients have come, and our doom they have spoken.
But behold the brave armies upon the great meadow–
The sura and yodi, the jummoning and shadow,
The fey and the angels whose song knows no sorrow,
Great heroes of legend who fight for the morrow.
Together they stand on the Field of Menelios,
The strong and the wise, the good and the pious.
Their hope and their valor are the lamps that guide us
As we go to challenge the Knight of the Geas.
21
The Knight of the Lake
The tears of the lady had blessed him.
The sword of the lake he had wielded.
The will of the empress had graced him.
To his geas the mighty had yielded.
By the fate of the stars he was driven.
For freedom and death he was yearning.
He shattered the lamp upon heaven.
The kingdoms of earth he left burning.
But in sorrow his story has ended.
His spirit the angels shall gather.
No more can his future be mended.
The Arondight weeps for its master.
22
The Order of the Dragon’s Tooth
When dragons from their aeries flew,
The spirits roamed and darkness grew,
When evil gods from death returned,
The ancient orcs the skies had burned,
When land by heroes’ blood was stained
When fear and terror might have reigned,
The Order of the Dragon’s Tooth
Came forth and stood against our doom.
Fair Rinacita, lady of light,
Tathryme’ryl, a warrior of might,
The great Gazpacho, Solan our shield
Dark Brezhnev fallen on the field,
Cosmo and Gismo, the wondrous twins,
Nexal the wise, Gabriel who sings,
Brave Ramius, Claire a fortune’s friend,
And Berryiel whom heaven sent–
They came to us in times of need.
Uncounted are their valiant deeds.
Fell hordes they challenged on the plain.
Dark gods and demons they had slain.
Against the ancients they had brought
A great alliance that they wrought,
And many were the clans that came
Around their banner and their name.
By heaven blessed, by fate decreed,
Whither their journey’s end shall lead,
Of Dragon’s Tooth, the harpers sing–
The light of valor they shall bring.
23
The Lake of Dreams
In ages long ago, it seems,
I saw her in the lake of dreams.
Beneath the everlasting leaves,
My lady, she was dreaming.
Awaking from her reverie,
A song of dreams she played for me.
Her voice was like the endless sea,
Her music filled with dreaming.
The stars and spirits heavenly
Did hearken to her melody,
As wondrous things were shown to me
Upon the shores of dreaming.
Through plains of night and halls unseen,
I search for her from eve to eve.
Among the dreamers, far and free,
My lady, she is dreaming.
24
Farewell
Farewell, oh lands that homeward lie–
The mountains and their crowns of snow,
The forests spread beneath the sky,
The rivers where my memories flow.
Farewell, my friends in sunlit halls–
No more your hearth shall I come near.
From distant shores, my journey calls.
No more your laughter shall I hear.
Farewell, oh world of innocence–
No more your wonders shall I know.
My voyage lies beyond the fence.
On roads untraveled must I go.
25
A Journey Through Time
What land is this where strange winds blow?
These stars and skies I do not know.
What realm is this whose ancient mark
Was but a shade from memories dark?
Behold the sun whose youthful light
Has yet to mourn the fateful blight.
The mighty kings upon their thrones
Are doomed to lie in halls of bones.
Beyond the path our feet have strayed
But fate and wisdom guide our way.
By time we are no longer chained.
By history we are not reigned.
© Bum Lee 2010-2011