BARDS AND BRAGGARTS-FAVORITE RPG CHARACTER

[Phobos_Jugular]

This third Gamers Extraodinaire poem for a notable RPG Character is thanks to Turelek from The Great House Fliggerty for his suggestion of Moraelyn, the Dark Elf Witch King of Ebonheart as a subject for a poetic portrayal.

Moraelyn is a supporting character in the fictional (?) twelve volume biography of King Edward of Daggerfall. He plays many roles thoughout those volumes but his encounter with a dragon named Akatosh in Volume Seven proved to be a neat fit with a narrative poem of a Viking Warrior titled "The Skeleton in Armor" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The actions of Moraelyn, his two companions Mat and Mir, and of course Akatosh fit Longfellows rhyming structure of "The Skeleton" to a tee although their actions make a mockery of the poet's tragic tale.  So get ready for a fast moving poetic fit of fun in "The Dunmer and the Dragon's Tooth" which is posted in the BARDS AND BRAGGARTS section of the Dragonborne site ( http://dragonborne.proboards.com ).

BARDS AND BRAGGARTS  has more poetic events and characters available to rhyme and read: from Fallout:New Vegas there is the Courier and Benny in the Tops Casino, the raising of the B29 bomber from Lake Mead; and from Oblivion a shop keep has a meeting in "The Twilight Zone"with an ancient mariner and his ghostly ship.

I've room for more, so post your RPG character or quest from the worlds of The Elder Scrolls or Fallout and if time allows you can see your post cast in lyrics or verse.

[Turelek]

That was a very nice read, Phobos Jugular. Good job!  

[Phobos_Jugular]

Thank you Turelek -  there's been too many years since I played Daggerfall to go by memory but that gap turned out to be a plus.  I enjoyed digging into the internet fan base of Daggerfall lore to learn about Moraelyn to establish a theme and give him a voice. A great NPC from one of the great CRPG's  that most gamers today will never know or play on their new machines.

[Phobos_Jugular]

BARDS AND BRAGGARTS - NOTABLE RPG CHARACTER AWARD - SULIK FROM FALLOUT 2

This sixth Gamers Extraordinaire poem suggestion award for a notable RPG Character or Quest from the Fallout or Elder Scrolls series goes to propyro from Steam's Fallout Site for his suggestion of Sulik wreaking havoc with his super sledgehammer.

A little research on Sulik suggests that his creator, Fallout 2's lead designer Matt Norton, was probably influenced by the Maori art of facial carving (Ta Moko) and the concept of Ancestor Spirit. Regardless I felt obligated both as a fan of that game and a teller of tales to insert the Grampy Bone and the Ancestral Spirits into my adaptation of Robert E. Howard's poem "The Return of Sir Richard Grenville" about Sulik's culling of the Slaver population in the remains of the great redwood forests of the northern California coast.

"The War Song of the Grampy Bone" is posted in the BARDS AND BRAGGARTS section of the Dragonborne site ( http://dragonborne.proboards.com ). Also note that BARDS AND BRAGGARTS is becoming a collection of memorable deeds and characters suggests by gamers and modders of the Fallout and Elder Scrolls games to rhyme and read just for fun.

There's room for more, and I would really like to see your suggested RPG character or quest from the other Fallout and Elder Scrolls games: thus far Daggerfall, Oblivion, Fallout 1, 2 and New Vegas are represented. I'd love to see Morrowind, Skyrim and Fallout 3 and 4 along with their assocaited DLC's represented.

[Phobos_Jugular]

BARDS AND BRAGGARTS TALE - VIVEC, THE DEATH OF NEREVAR  

This seventh Gamers Extraordinaire poem suggestion award for a notable RPG Character or Quest from the Fallout or Elder Scrolls series goes to Mr. Nobody from Steam for his suggestion for the ultimate NPC from the venerable game of Morrowind.

Vivec is one of the most lore documented characters in Bethesda's entire Elder Scrolls/Fallout RPG lineup. He is portrayed in the game and literature as a character of Shakespearean dimensions: hero, villain, victim, cursed by Azura and ultimately the agent of destruction for Morrowind and the Dunmer culture. He is all of these and much, much more. So where to begin and which role to tell?

For the Bard to spin his tale I chose the accusations of the Ashlanders and Dissident Priests of the Tribunal Conspiracy and the murder of Horator Nerevar Moon and Star at Red Mountain. To do this I went to Shakespeare and his edgy play of suspense, regicide and suicide in Macbeth: Double, double, death and trouble! The Bard's tale "Vivec, The Murder of Nerevar Moon and Star" is published in the BARDS AND BRAGGARTS section of the Dragonborne site at http://dragonborne.proboards.com.


BARDS AND BRAGGARTS is beginning to compile a collection of Bardic tales representing a growing spectrum of Bethesda's RPG's to read and rhyme:
⦁        Daggerfall - The Witch King of Ebonheart
⦁        Morrowind - Vivec, The Murder of Nerevar Moon and Star
⦁        Oblivion - Norbert Lelles, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
⦁        Fallout - The Master, Ultimate Villain
⦁        Fallout 2 - Sulik, The War Song of Grampy Bone
⦁        Fallout New Vegas
    ⦁             Benny, The Fatal Daisy Suit
    ⦁             Raising the B29 "Bumble Bee" From Lake Meade

There's room for more, and I would really like to see your suggested RPG character or quest from the other Fallout and Elder Scrolls games (note that Fallout New Vegas and its DLC already have Mr. House, Father Elijah, and Joshua Graham scheduled for future editions, while Fallout 2 will be delving into the gangland wars of New Reno. I would really like to collect more from the Elder Scrolls series and some nominations from Fallout 3 and 4).

[Turelek]

Ria Silmane from TES Arena might be fun. I remember her well from the first dungeon (as well as when I wandered around a city at night and got mugged).

[Phobos_Jugular]

I admit my love affair with RPG games began with Daggerfall so Ria Silmane is a totally new character to me. But what a character! Her bio spread on the Internet would also be a slam dunk fit for the Planescape Torment classic RPG! She will make a great main character for a FanFic if not a game. Well done Turelek!

Ria Silmane will be appearing in heroic verse shortly once the current FanFic chapter is done.

And to all you Fliggerty loyalists who are still on this great site please feel free to recommend more characters from the Elder Scrolls Arena thru Skyrim series. Most of my current requests come from Steam gamers and most of them are for Fallout 1,2 or Fallout New Vegas and its DLC, and while I've played and loved that series, the Elder Scrolls and its lore base is ever a so much the more a multi dimensional base from which to launch a paraphrased foray into the works of the great writers, playrights and poets of history.

[Phobos_Jugular]

Hi Turelek, I have to say that the Bards and Braggarts eighth Gamer's Extraordinaire notable character will be delayed. The story of the disembodied spirit quest giver named Ria Silmane from Arena is being told using the poetry of Dante's Inferno to tell her tale. The problem is that English is a lousy and time consuming vehicle for capturing the rhyme and rhythmic  schemes of Dante's Italian. But thus far Ria has escaped Jagar Tharn's assassination plot via a daedric  haunted Purgatory and has encountered Kagrenac and the vanished Dwarves in Limbo. Next and still to do is her descent into Hell to gain the Ruby Key and finally access to the cell where her Champion lies imprisoned by the evil Illusionist.

Until next time when hopefully she has set her Champion on the Main Quest.

[Turelek]

Indeed, English makes it a bit harder to be poetic. I love that you are using Dante's Inferno though! That is very fitting for the narrative, and the best epic written post-antiquity (I think, at least). I can't wait to read what you come up with.

[Phobos_Jugular]

BARDS AND BRAGGART'S TALES - Arena,Walking the Planes of the Multiverse

This eighth Gamers Extraordinaire poem suggestion award for a notable RPG Character or Quest from the Fallout or Elder Scrolls series goes to Turelek from Great House Fliggerty for his suggestion for the quest giving sorceress spirit Ria Silmane from the venerable game and cult classic of The Elder Scrolls: Arena.

For those Elder Scrolls aficionados who have never played Arena, Ria Silmane is a sorceress apprentice to the villain Jagar Tharn. She was murdered when she attempted to warn the Elder Council of the plot to kidnap and impersonate the Emperor using a powerful tool called The Staff of Chaos to banish the Emperor to another Plane. She is thus a spirit that guides the Player through the world of dreams to locate the parts of the shattered staff and reassemble it to unmask and defeat Jagar Tharn.

For the Bard to spin his tale I chose her survival as a spirit separated from her body as she finds herself and her mission in the Planes of Existence that constitute a multiverse somewhat like that upon which the classic Planescape Torment was based. To do this I went to the evocative poetic trip through the circles of Hell as described by Dante Alighieri in his narrative poem "The Inferno". So here Ria will travel to the planes of "The Forest of Fear", "The Limbo of the Lost", and "The City of DIS" before she finds her way to return to the world of Nirn and guide the Player through the quest arc to complete the game. Her story is told in the Bard's Tale "Sorceress" and is published in the BARDS AND BRAGGARTS section of the Dragonborne site at http://dragonborne.proboards.com.

Note for those who like a visual trip of Dante's trip through Hell I strongly suggest doing a Google search on "Gustave Dore's Illustrations of Dante's Inferno" for some truly awesome pictures to make a sinner cringe.

BARDS AND BRAGGARTS is beginning to compile a collection of Bardic tales representing a growing spectrum of Bethesda's RPG's to read and rhyme:
⦁        Arena - Sorceress
⦁        Daggerfall - The Witch King of Ebonheart
⦁        Morrowind - Vivec, The Murder of Nerevar Moon and Star
⦁        Oblivion - Norbert Lelles, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
⦁        Fallout - The Master, Ultimate Villain
⦁        Fallout 2 - Sulik, The War Song of Grampy Bone
⦁        Fallout New Vegas
⦁             Benny, The Fatal Daisy Suit
⦁             Raising the B29 "Bumble Bee" From Lake Meade

There's room for more, and I would really like to see your suggested RPG character or quest from the other Fallout and Elder Scrolls games (note that Fallout New Vegas and its DLC already have Mr. House, Father Elijah, and Joshua Graham scheduled for future editions, while Fallout 2 will be delving into the gangland wars of New Reno. I would really like to collect more from the Elder Scrolls series and some nominations from Fallout 3 and 4).
 
------------ 000 ------------    
               
SORCERESS*
Written by John Baumgartner
All Rights Reserved

CANTO THE FIRST: The Forest of Fear

Slain was I upon a desperate quest to save a Septim's life.
I was trapped and my spirit wrapped within a gnarly forest dark,
Lost as a bodiless Spirit, my fears were running rife.

But Jagar Tharn had failed to slay me and I'm cast in this dreary park,
I'm sore afraid but I must be brave to haunt his evil scheme.
I'm an arrow to nock for the bow to cock and Justice to hit the mark.

The forest's littered dead leaf ground doth an exit path beseem.
But in the thick and thorny branches lies a Hunger swift and lean,  
To block my  way with fearsome tongue and the hungry primal scream.

And then I turned to run neath the faded sun to find another leafy rift,
But shadows ran with a crossing plan and barred my Warning's way.
First t'was a Daedroth with claws both sharp and swift.

He seemed as if against me, his hunger to allay,
He smiled an ugly cruel smile, that crocodile, t'was a terrifying grin.
The aura from it's lizard lips was that of rank decay.                       

Next She of bloody web work, of dread and silk to spin.  
A lady's style and bloated bile and fang of poison's bite.
My thoughts became jumbled, my courage began to thin.
                        
She was the symbol of despair and fear's consuming blight.
As She drew near my future's drear from Her web of fear and pain.
I gave up hope and fled from her in a panic craven's flight.

As I ran away the distance grew and my fear began to wane,
My body was dead but my spirit fed on the magic I had learned.
And I sensed a Portal to fate and chance upon another Plane.

And thus I left that place of hopeless fear and to the unknown turned.

CANTO THE SECOND: Limbo of the Lost

Thus broke the ties of grief and lies that fed upon my soul,
A iron bell rang and my spirits sang and my eyes they looked around.
I saw the verge where clouds do merge in an infinite silver bowl.

And round my eyes were silver skies and rolling rumbling sound,
I heard wailing and chants and mad men's rants in the clouds that rose about.
From a valley deep an abyss steep in the shifting insubstantial ground.

I saw a ghost, t'was a Shadow Spell host with a hood an aquiline snout.
The Shadow fell it was a cloud from Hell through the sky without a star.
It stopped by me, t'was Jagar Tharn I see, eyes red of godless drought.

The Spell shone clear, not hoary and drear but a snare and a cell that I knew.
By what ways it came I couldn't yet name but a path to Justice might be.
It stopped for a bit then sank into the pit as doth a curse in a witch's brew.  

But curse or not I had not the thought to let the Shadow Spell flee,
I followed it down into that hole in the ground and the tumult of grief and woe.
I saw a banner of a king, a dwarven thing, and countless dwarves in a forlorn sea.

An ancient Dwemer chased my Spell across the dead gray ground.
He  grabbed it in his wrinkled fist and raised it high to white haired ear,
A tear formed in his crumpled eyes and he sighed a mournful sound.

"What hearest thou"" I made a bow, my face its most sincere.
"Kagrenac." Was all he said but that name told of Doom come true.
The Doom no Dwarf would ere again trod the Mortal Sphere.

The Spell slipped free of Kagrenac and a foul wind it blew.
The face it wore was Jagar Tharn I swore, and at me it made a  curse,
"I'll leave this trench you part dead wench!" it said and towards the clouds it flew.

That Shadow should not have cursed at me, it had made its future worse,
For in this land of Limbo the fades and shades of outside things have a monetary worth.
And quick pounced a hidden poacher to seize it chanting an ensnaring verse.

I grabbed the Shadow quickly and a Portal split the earth
Below and down we tumbled into the Portal's berth.

CANTO THE THIRD: The Nether City of DIS

And thus were we fallen into a stinking sable mire.
'Twas a great arc of gurgling swamp, a filthy moat profound.
For iron walls and lost soul calls and twin towers spewing fire.

The Shadow Spell rose in muddy throes as a toad with a sucking sound.
It was an image shorn, haggard and worn, and with a face that was most contrite.
"Good Mistress Not Yet Dead," is what it said "but for thee I would be bound!"

"I did save you, so thank me true!" And the Shadow looked affright.
His aura was dark as soot and shame and the blame t'was my turn to ask,
"How came you the power and plane gate might to send me here in my current plight."

"T'was panic awoke to a mismatched stroke when your foe cast me to the task.
"His weapon was the Chaos Staff, a tool to open Portals, not shut the Door to Life.
"And Doors and Death conflicted me, so half of each I duly did, and hid behind a mask."

A black tower flared and a wild wind declared an angry slashing knife;
The Shadow Spell screamed and the face of Jagar Tharn flowed like melting sin.
The wind blew and a face that was new appeared when the wind was rife.

The wind howled and the Face growled that the Staff's Creator was within.
The Creator's soul, an Avenger's goal might guide me from this hole into Hell.
Iron walls and vengeance calls, and the Face opened a gate like a skull with a grin.

We passed beneath those Skull Faced teeth, the Face and I, and found DIS to be a shell.
A vast graveyard of stone doors leading down in somber multitude between the iron walls.
The tombstone doors leaked flames betwixt their jams and a burning brimstone smell.         

Unto me the Face said, "Turn thee; the creator of the Chaos Staff for thee calls."
Behold a slab opened in the ground and a corpse emerged from the fire waist high.
The corpse eyed me unmindful of the fire with a fury over the sinful misuse of his creation.

"My Staff," he said in heated tone, "Was made to open doors to the worlds beneath the sky.
"Not for an imposter to kidnap foolish Emperors and drop the sin on me to pay the price.
"Go ye back to the living world and bring this Jagar Tharn to pay the debt in this fiery tomb!"

And thus was I sent to find an imprisoned Champion left to die behind a prison door,
And guide the way to defeat the upstart Jagar Tharn and free the Staff's Creator from the DIS  tomb's floor.

------------ 000 ------------
*Poetry paraphrased from Dante Alighieri's "Inferno"

[Turelek]

I loved this, Phobos! Very nice use of Dante. I very much enjoyed how you described the Dwemer realm "... a banner of a king, a dwarven thing, and countless dwarves in a forlorn sea." It definitely evoked strong imagery in my head. The other part I enjoyed was meeting the staff's creator in this epic. Vengeful and speaking words with passion. I believe his name was Loreth, but in any case, with how the staff was hidden it seems he regretted the creation of it (and therefore Tharn's use of it).

At the beginning, I loved how you explained Ria Silmane's confidence. That is, she saw herself as the arrow of justice and therefore knew that she would have to claw her way through the multiverse to make sure that justice is delivered. Even if it meant that she had to flee daedric creatures near the beginning, of course.

Excellent use of Dante, excellent description of scenery, and how you describe Ria Silmane's thoughts through all of this was one of the best touches to an amazing piece of poetry. Another fantastic addition was Jagar Tharn taunting her through the ordeal. This for sure gives me a new perspective of her arriving to help the Eternal Champion in the first cutscene.

(Also, I'm still getting acquainted with Iambic pentameter - were you using it when creating this?)

[Phobos_Jugular]

Thank you Turelek. I am very gratified that you enjoyed and captured so much of what I was trying to portray. I started paraphrasing poetry and song lyrics when I found during writing up a game play session that the rhyming rhythms of a poem could often capture and amplify the essence of what I was trying to capture in prose. Anyway the difficulty that frustrated me so much with Dante was the rhyming scheme which must be beautiful in Italian but fits poorly in English. The Wiki called it "Terza Rima" consisting of interlocking 3 line stanza's: aba, bcb, cdc, ... etc  and then terminating with a single line or couplet using the last word in the middle of the last stanza. Even with the resources of the Rhyme Zone it was a frustrating grind when I knew what I wanted to say in a stanza only to learn that there was no proper word that would fit the requirement that it rhymed with the final word of the middle line of the prior stanza.

Still despite the frustrations it was a gratifying experience and a sense of accomplishment when I finally wrapped it up with Ria Silmane leaving DIS on an avenging mission for Loreth and  headed back into the "real" world of Arena .

[Turelek]

Thanks for your reply, Phobos! It certainly appears that your hard work paid off in spades. Indeed, Terza Rima was definitely made with the Italian language in mind. It sounds like this poem took you through an exercise for sure. But hey, if you can take Dante from Italian and apply it to a fantasy character in English and still preserve the good there's not much to stop you now!

[Phobos_Jugular]

BARDS AND BRAGGART'S TALES - The Burning Man

This ninth Gamers Extraordinaire poem suggestion award for a notable RPG Character or Quest from the Fallout or Elder Scrolls series goes to Scthia from the Steam's Fallout New Vegas site for the NPC Companion Joshua Graham, and his unique pistol, A Light Shining in Darkness,  from the "Honest Hearts" DLC addition to the game.  Note that the Burning Man here is not to be confused with the annual Burning Man arts festival which is itself a mind blowing visual extravaganza rivaling the natural drop dead beauty of the Zion National Park portrayed in the game.  

I found it an interesting side note that this DLC has a ton of underutilized potential to develop a powerful redemption and 'turn the other cheek' theme given Joshua's history and his iconic sidearm. But then the game's DLC is about the Courier trying survive and return to the Mojave on a caravan route gone bad. Anyway, at first I was going to portray the first meeting of Joshua with the Courier, where Joshua wasn't sure that the Courier might be another of Caesar's Agents like Ulysses. I worked with Rudyard Kipling's "Ballad of East and West" but that quickly morphed into the story of Joshua's fall from grace into the Malpais Legate and his betrayal by Caesar after the Boulder City catastrophe.

The story of the Burning Man is told in the Bard's Tale "And The Light Shineth In Darkness" and is published in the BARDS AND BRAGGARTS section of the Dragonborne site at http://dragonborne.proboards.com.

BARDS AND BRAGGARTS is beginning to compile a collection of Bardic tales representing a growing spectrum of Bethesda's RPG's to read and rhyme:
⦁        Arena - Sorceress
⦁        Daggerfall - The Witch King of Ebonheart
⦁        Morrowind - Vivec, The Murder of Nerevar Moon and Star
⦁        Oblivion - Norbert Lelles, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
⦁        Fallout - The Master, Ultimate Villain
⦁        Fallout 2 - Sulik, The War Song of Grampy Bone
⦁        Fallout New Vegas
⦁             Benny, The Fatal Daisy Suit
⦁             Raising the B29 "Bumble Bee" From Lake Meade
⦁        Fallout DLC Honest Hearts - The Burning Man and A Light Shining in Darkness"

[Phobos_Jugular]

Favorite Scene, Favorite Character?

If you have one from any of Bethesda's (and Black Isle games now licensed by Bethesda) Fallout and Elder Scrolls games or DLC you would like to see in verse I'd love to hear from you.

Five months ago I made my first request and been paraphrasing those recommendations to lyrics and verse on Dragonborne's "BARDS AND BRAGGARTS" poetry board at  (http://dragonborne.proboards.com ). While I still have a few suggestions left (the gangland wars of New Reno from Fallout 2, Mister House from New Vegas, and Father Elijah from the New Vegas DLC) but I would like to add to the list.

So take a few minutes and post your choice for immortality and I'll post your name and chosen one as published on Dragonborne on all the game sites I'm publishing on.

[Turelek]

It's a bit weird, but could I recommend the Heart of Lorkhan? I could recommend the Ramayana of Valmiki (and Homer's Iliad of course) for some lyrics or inspiration. If you use the Ramayana though, take a look at these cantoes (from http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rama/index.htm):

Canto XV.: Sítá to Canto XXXVIII.: Sitá's Gem for some literary ideas.

[Phobos_Jugular]

Thanks again Turelek - The Heart of Lorkhan is on the list - and the Hindu poetry why not? The Greek Gods are always great material and if Hindu epic poetry is as fantastic as the erotic sculptures in the ancient Hindu temples, creating a scene from Lorkhan lore could be a great challenge. Just to add that along these lines, I've picked up a suggestion from Fallout for a sort of Rites of Spring using (hopefully) 1950's Rock and Roll lyrics for a throw away cut scene of three drunken NCR women soldiers dancing in a fountain in front of a Vegas Casino.

[Phobos_Jugular]

BARDS AND BRAGGART'S TALES - Mister House

This tenth Gamers Extraordinaire poem suggestion award for a notable RPG Character or Quest from the Fallout or Elder Scrolls series goes to Steam's AlmightyDunkle and Prostories for their suggestion of Mister House from Fallout:New Vegas.

Mister Robert House, his Casino "The Lucky 38", and his Platinum Poker Chip are major elements in the story line of Fallout:New Vegas. He is the motivating figure behind the scene that starts the story rolling in a hilltop graveyard and an anonymous grave for the Player. As the story develops he is seen through many references but his true physical nature is a mystery until the Player actually enters the Lucky 38 Casino. Whether or not he is actually a human or a cyborg is debatable. He is human because if his body dies he dies, he is a cyborg because his intellect is buried in the computer network of his Casino, and his hands, eyes and ears are his army of Securitron robots. As a NPC he can be interpreted as either a goal driven but coldly practical far sighted captain of industry or a scheming power hungry egomaniacal spider lurking in the dark and hidden heard of the New Vegas Strip.

Regardless of interpretation, his role in the game is a good fit for Rudyard Kipling's classic "Ballad of the Red Earl", a poetic story of the 5th British Earl of Spencer who had both a red beard and a red relationship in 19th Century Ireland.

The story of Robert House is told in the Bard's Tale "The Tycoon" and is published in the BARDS AND BRAGGARTS section of the Dragonborne site at http://dragonborne.proboards.com.

BARDS AND BRAGGARTS is beginning to compile a collection of Bardic tales representing a growing spectrum of Bethesda's RPG's to read and rhyme:
⦁        Arena - Sorceress
⦁        Daggerfall - The Witch King of Ebonheart
⦁        Morrowind - Vivec, The Murder of Nerevar Moon and Star
⦁        Oblivion - Norbert Lelles, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
⦁        Fallout - The Master, Ultimate Villain
⦁        Fallout 2 - Sulik, The War Song of Grampy Bone
⦁        Fallout New Vegas
⦁             Benny, The Fatal Daisy Suit
⦁             Raising the B29 "Bumble Bee" From Lake Meade
⦁             Robert House, "The Lucky 38th"
⦁        Fallout DLC Honest Hearts - The Burning Man and A Light Shining in Darkness"

There's room for more, and I would really like to see your suggested RPG character or quest from the other Fallout and Elder Scrolls games.

[Phobos_Jugular]

BARDS AND BRAGGART'S TALES - Lorkhan's Heart

This eleventh Gamers Extraordinaire suggestion award for a notable RPG Character or Quest from the Fallout or Elder Scrolls series goes to Great House Fliggerty and Turelek's nomination of the Heart of Lorkhan, the powerful and baneful artifact which made its most prominent appearance to date in Morrowind.  I deviated slightly from the Heart itself to tell the story of the battle of the gods and the fall of the Heart to earth. This is told in the Bard's Tale of "Shezarr's Song".

"Shezarr's Song" is published in the BARDS AND BRAGGARTS section of the Dragonborne site at http://dragonborne.proboards.com. It is also posted here since I thought it might be a good gesture to include the BRAG on the site from which the suggestion came: enjoy!

To depict the battle of the deities in the starry sky of Nirn I took the suggestion from Turelek and  used an epic Hindu saga, the "Ramayana" as the source to paraphrase. Despite the unfamilair aspects of the gods, heroes, and demons the Ramayana is written in a closed couplet structure that portrays the battles that are rhymically as evocative as anything in western prose or poetry. In "Shezarr's Song" for example where my paraphrase is nearly exact, change the names of the Aedric Gods Trinimac and Lorkhan to the Archangel Michael and Lucifer and the Biblical battle in heaven from the book of Revelations chapter 12 actually comes to life.

Thanks Turelek.

BARDS AND BRAGGARTS is beginning to compile a collection of Bardic tales representing a growing spectrum of Bethesda's RPG's to read and rhyme:
⦁        Arena - Sorceress, Ria Silmane's travels in the Inferno
⦁        Daggerfall - The Witch King of Ebonheart pulls a dragon's tooth and wins a sword
⦁        Morrowind
⦁             Vivec, the Tribunal Plots the murder of Nerevar Moon and Star
⦁             The Heart of Lorkhan, "Shezarr's Song" of war among the Aedric Gods
⦁        Oblivion - Norbert Lelles, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and a cursed ship arrives in Anvil
⦁        Fallout - The Master, Ultimate Villain in "The Angel's Boneyard"
⦁        Fallout 2 - Sulik, The War Song of Grampy Bone, sword slinging in the red woods.
⦁        Fallout New Vegas
⦁        Benny, The Fatal Daisy Suit and a lethal poker chip from the Lucky 38th
⦁        Raising the B29 "Bumble Bee" From Lake Meade
⦁        Robert House, far sighted Captain of Industry or scheming Robber Baron?
⦁        Fallout DLC Honest Hearts - The Burning Man and A Light Shining in Darkness, Caesar's nightmare

There's room for more, and I would really like to see your suggested RPG character or quest from the other Fallout and Elder Scrolls games.

------------ 000 ------------

Shezarr's Song*
Written by John Baumgartner
All rights Reserved

Canto 1: The Bard Begins His Song

The Bard strums his lute, the lights are low
The crowd is large and tips do flow.
His cap rings with the clink of gold
As he sings a song of the gods of old.

Canto 2: The Anger of Auri-El

Again, O best of gods, give ear:
Of Auri-El attentive hear,
And listen to the tale of old
Of the war the Fates foretold.
Of Lorkhan, the trickster thief,
Brought on his people death and grief.
The Doom Drum god, the mortal pain
Lost to heaven, death to gain.
And Auri-El, in anger great,
Called Aldmer gods to convocate.
With Trinimac the mighty lord,
The two sought justice and accord.
But Lorkhan in defiance grim,
Sang Nirn's mortal battle hymn.
Shezzar, Lorkhaj, Shor and Sep,
His many names, one common step.
In Auri-El's eyes there now would be,
War and not tranquility.

Canto 3: The Battle

Forth went the gods in brave attire
Trinimac and Auri-El in glory fire.
With impestous knights with massive bows,
Destroyers of a host of mortal foes:
Heaven trained in martial lore,
And masters of the arms they bore:
Each rivalrous and fiercly bold,
With banners wrought with glittering gold
Waved o'er their chariots, drawn at speed
By coursers of the noblest breed.
On through the stars and heavenly grove
At Lorkhan they fiercly drove.
And from the ponderous bows they strained
A shower of deadly arrows rained.
Then scarce was seen Lorkhan's form
Enveloped in the missile storm.
So the spirit of man stands like a King
When arrow clouds about him fling.
By nimble turn, by rapid bound
He shunned the shafts that rained around,
Eluding, as in air he rose.
The rushing chariots of his foes,
The mighty Lorkhan undismayed
Amid his archer foemen played,
As plays the frolic wind on high
Mid bow-armed clouds that fill the sky,
He raised a mighty roar and yell
That fear on all the army fell,
And then, his warrior soul aglow
With fury, rushed upon the foe,
Some with his open hand he beat
And trampled with his armored feet;
Some with sword he rent and slew,
And others with his fists o'erthrew;
Some with his legs, as on he rushed,
Some with his bulky chest he crushed:
While some struck senseless by his roar
Dropped on the ground and breathed no more.
The remnant, seized with sudden dread,
Turned from the grove and wildly fled.
The trampled earth was thickly strown
With steed and car and flag o'erthrown,
And the red blood in rivers flowed
From slaughtered fiends o'er path and road.

Canto 4: The Fall of Lorkhan

But Trinimac, as his fury burned,
His eyes on Lorkhan swiftly turned.
Who rose impetuous at his glance.
And shouted for his bow and lance.

He rode upon a glorious car
That shot the light of gems afar.
His pennon waved mid glittering gold
And bright the wheels with jewels rolled.
By long and fierce devotion won
That car was splendid as the sun.
With rows of various weapons stored;
And thought-swift horses whirled their lord
Racing along the earth, or rose
High through the clouds whene'er he chose.
Then fierce and fearful war between
Lorkhan and Trinimac was duly seen.
Man and aldmer stood amazed,
And on the wondrous combat gazed.
A cry from earth rose long and shrill,
The wind was hushed, the sun grew chill.
The thunder bellowed from the sky,
And troubled ocean roared reply.
Thrice Lorkhan strained his dreadful bow,
Thrice smote his arrow on the foe,
And with full streams of crimson bled
Three gashes in the Aldmer's head.
Then rose Trinimac in the air
To shun the shafts no life could bear.
But Lorkhan in his car pursued,
And from on high the fight renewed
With storm of arrows, thick as hail
When angry clouds some hill assail.
Impatient of that arrowy shower
The Aldmer chief put forth his power,
Again above his chariot rose
And smote him with repeated blows.
Terrific came each deadly stroke:
Breast neck and arm and back he broke;
And Lorkhan fell to earth, and lay
With all his life-blood drained away.

Canto 5: Heart of Lorkhan, Heart of Nirn

His body lay a broken wreck
With not a servant to protect.
Then Trinimac with power endued
The beating Heart of Nirn pursued.
Trinimac raised the Heart in bloody hand,
To destroy the foe as he had planned.
But Heart spoke, laughed and said,
This Heart be Nirn and Lorkhan the thread.

Now Auri-El with anger stirred,
Seized the Heart with curse deferred.
The Heart to arrow on his bow
The arrow launched at Nirn below.
The shaft was shot: the battle done:
But in this transport doom was spun

Canto 6: The Doom Drum

The Heart was found and mischief rose
Of Dwemer dreams and Chimer blows.
Tribunal dreams the dooms betide
The Heart within Red Mountain's side.

Canto 7: The Bard Concludes For The Night
 
"Of old deeds, I fain would hear
The tale of Lorkhan full and clear.
Did hollow ghost and Heart mend,
Did sword of justice ere descend?"

The Bard continued with a smile:

"Then return to me, son of Nirn, another day
With coin within my cap to lay.
Another night my song proceeds
To tell of Nerevaine and Horator deeds.
Of Wulf a wrinkled shell and specter old
Will the Wraithguard thus behold
A lucky coin for fortune's sake
The broken god his Heart to make."

------------ 000 ------------
*Poetry paraphrased from the Ramayana

[Turelek]

This was a fantastic read Phobos Jugular, I'm happy to see that you used the Ramayana. I can very clearly see where the influences came from the Ramayana into your poem. I think this retelling in lore would be very fitting in Dunmeri culture for the explanation of how the heart ended up in Vvardenfell! Seeing the description of the chariot, the divine fights and the people watching (not to mention the countless arrow storms) were some of the best details I saw. I also especially loved reading about Lorkhan being struck down by Trinimac, a very vivid description.

Overall, I loved your usage of the Ramayana. You used cantoes I did not think you would use, well done! I have to admit, I had kind imagined the story itself depicting Lorkhan's heart like Sita, waiting for deliverance from Dagoth Ur (Ravana) by the Nerevarine (Rama). This was definitely a better and more believable take I think.

[Phobos_Jugular]

Thank you Turelek. The Ramayana was a fantastic eye opening adventure that I never knew existed and a great tool to paraphrase in constructing a story - I love your suggestion of telling the tale of the Heart waiting for deliverance although I must confess I feel that Dagoth Ur is more of a tragic hero then a villain and I'm not sure about the moral alignment of the Heart since every elf that tried to use it brought misfortune on himself and his house.

To hold that thought for a moment, I actually came close to giving the Heart a prominent voice paraphrasing Sita when I got caught up in the machinations and dialogs of Sita (sort of an abducted Helen of Troy) and Ravan her rakshasa demon abductor in Book V. That approach could make a great bardic brag if the Sita did the Heart and Ravan played Kagrenac, but when I was starting this project I hadn't a clear conception of the roles the Heart could play and the battles were crystal clear in concept and flowed easily with the published Elder Scrolls lore.

Please tell me what you think. Your suggestions are among the heavy hitters on BARDS AND BRAGGART"S and my fictional Bard's fingers or trembling to pluck the strings of another story paraphrased from the Ramayana or another source you recommend.

[Turelek]

Phobos, I am glad to hear you liked the Ramayana! I'll think of another character soon. Another source I would recommend is the Monkey King (Su Wukong) and the Journey to the West: https://chine.in/fichiers/jourwest.pdf That is a Chinese novel though, not an epic poem but you may find things you like in it. The other large Indian epic poem that isn't a Veda is the Mahabharata: http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/maha/ This one has lots of battles if I remember correctly.

With Dagoth Ur and Ravana, I believe the only bad thing Ravana had done was kidnap Sita. He did actually worship Shiva and was supposedly a well-educated monarch who had done mostly right. I figured that he would be perfect in Dagoth Ur's shoes who, up until that point had been in a similar pretty much good position until he made that mistake of kidnapping Sita. Or in this case, using the heart.

With the moral alignment of the heart, well, therein is why it would be Sita. Everyone used it to bring themselves power (to fail of course) but the heart's existence itself - a living tool to be used - probably would have made it (if it were self conscious) want an end to its suffering of simply being abused for power. Hence, the Nerevarine prophecy of taking down the false gods by destroying the heart being one the heart may agree to I think. It would result in its miserable existence ending. The main problem I would perhaps see would be where the role of Hanuman, who met with Sita, would fit in. Perhaps a ghost?

[Phobos_Jugular]

First Turelek I really appreciate your list of future sources, my  exposure to literature either English or general is sporadic and limited and I've relied heavily on Internet queries to supplement my knowledge. Needless to say I've appended your suggestion to my DO List of Bardic projects.

Your suggestion of the suffering Heart fits Sita well. The subject of the Heart is still wide open for another pass through BARDS AND BRAGGARTS.

Thanks again.

[Phobos_Jugular]

BARDS AND BRAGGART'S TALES - Little Buster and the Ultra Luxe Fountain Blues

This twelveth Gamers Extraordinaire suggestion award for a notable RPG Character or Quest from the Fallout or Elder Scrolls series is jointly shared by three gamers at Steam's Fallout New Vegas Site: Asaki (The 3 Card Bounty), GRESH 1990 (Driver Nephi), and xabie (the semi-nude NCR Ladies Dancing in the Ultra Luxe Fountain to the frustration of one of Mr. House's Securitrons).

"Little Buster and the Ultra Luxe Fountain Blues" is published in the BARDS AND BRAGGARTS section of the Dragonborne site at http://dragonborne.proboards.com.

The scene beween the women and the robot in front of the Ultra Luxe is a classic reason why this aging RPG is still one of the most popular Steam destinations for Bethesda's Fallout and Elder Scrolls games: Securitron "Please remove your bra from the bottom of the fountain. And gather your clothes and belongings. Ladies, please disperse."   Female NCR trooper 3 "Come on big man, roll on over here!".

Great staging and dialog rates great lyrical accompanyment and I returned to the early days of Rock 'n' Roll when the lyrics were fast, loud and fun: Bobby Darin (Splish, Splash), Little Richard the architect of rock 'n'roll (Long Tall Sally, Keep A-Knocking), Nervous Norvis (Transfusion), and lastly the piano pounding 'Killer' of rock 'n' roll and rockabilly Jerry Lee Lewis (Great Balls of Fire).

BARDS AND BRAGGARTS is beginning to compile a collection of Bardic tales representing a growing spectrum of Bethesda's RPG's to read and rhyme:
⦁        ARENA - Sorceress, Ria Silmane's travels in the Inferno
⦁        DAGGERFALL - The Witch King of Ebonheart pulls a dragon's tooth and wins a sword
⦁        MORROWIND
⦁             Vivec, the Tribunal Plots the murder of Nerevar Moon and Star
⦁             The Heart of Lorkhan, "Shezarr's Song" of war among the Aedric Gods
⦁        OBLIVION - Norbert Lelles, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and a cursed ship arrives in Anvil
⦁        FALLOUT - The Master, Ultimate Villain in "The Angel's Boneyard"
⦁        FALLOUT 2 - Sulik, The War Song of Grampy Bone, sword slinging in the red woods.
⦁        FALLOUT NEW VEGAS
⦁              Benny, The Fatal Daisy Suit and a lethal poker chip from the Lucky 38th
⦁              Raising the B29 "Bumble Bee" From Lake Meade
⦁              Robert House, far sighted Captain of Industry or scheming Robber Baron?
⦁              Little Buster and the Ultra Luxe Casino Blues
⦁        FALLOUT NEW VEGAS DLC HONEST HEARTS - The Burning Man and A Light Shining in Darkness, Caesar's nightmare

There's room for more, and I would really like to see your suggested RPG character or quest from the other Fallout and Elder Scrolls games.

[Turelek]

Queen Barenziah would be a good addition I think. There's plenty of lore about her so we can see she's clearly had an interesting life.