one | "lament of a broken blade"

[umuwhatsthis]

[ on the afternoon of the 24th, ink begins to appear on the network. first a dip, then a small blot of ink, and suddenly a title in black: ]

Lament of a Broken Blade

[ and then the words begin. they are endless, a single stream of thought from start to finish without any thought of editing or stopping. whoever this person is, they have an axe to grind. ]

Sing to me, O Muses, you daughters of Gaea,
Though I know not which will come.
Shall I call upon Calliope?
Or perhaps Clio?
Your words flow without voice,
Sung silently yet heard by many.

Sing, Muse, of tragedy and travesty,
Of a falsely-named champion and their touted glory.
The words, engraved in brass, weigh heavy on me.
A masterful screw, or so they have declared,
Not yet knowing what it means to gaze upon Venus,
Not yet having grasped the blushing buttocks of Bacchus,
Not yet laid down and held by the strong arms of Vulcan.

Would that only their idol were here,
Standing by this liar's plaque of brass.
Would that I had the strength to stand against them.
Would that my Master had summoned me into a war,
That I might reward such insolence as I saw fit.

But alas, this is no war,
And I am left with no mandate but to protect.
I will put down the pen with a sigh,
And retreat to my thoughts with regret.

[ the writing finally stops, the pen laid down against it. it seems its histrionic wielder has finished what it is they wished to say.

beneath it, an elegant and ornate signature appears in deep red: ]

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus

Comments

[ignisvulpes]

Hooolyyy fuck the mistress has completely lost her marbles.

Action bc Yenh's house is a Destination for everyone

[crimsonlight]

[ Yenh read the entire message to completion, though about halfway she stopped snacking on the stale coffee cake she sweet-talked out of the baker and peeked subtly out her window. Yes. A woman is out front, writing a poem. ]

[ ]

[ Yenh is too earnest for practical jokes, otherwise she might reply in the book. No, she kicks her own door open and stares at the tiny hyur woman. ]

Did you knock? I must have been in the privy.

[shieldofrohan]

You are not alone in longing for action, though you may be in your expression of it. Yet protection is not an empty mandate, even here. What higher need is there, than to be strong for others?

[meteorman]

[How dare you put poetry in his good magical book]

I'm not very good with poetry. Could you summarize that into a pithy couplet?

[Because oh boy his eyes crossed after the first verse and he has no idea what he's supposed to have gleaned here.]

[braveatheart]

Did you write that? It's... good.