The Haer'Dalis reading list

[JPS]

If there's a poem, song, novel or something else that you think is somehow suitable as inspiration, please let us know. Try to keep things reasonably short, though, otherwise I can't promise I'll read it. Something like the title, the author, how it relates to Haer'Dalis and possibly a short quote (if it's a copyrighted work there are all kinds of issues about "fair use" and so on, so don't post an entire novel, please). Oh, and if there's a place where you can read it online, please tell us. I'm really cheap... ehh... economically challenged....

 

I'll start myself:

 

The poem "Cynara" by Ernest Dowson (1891, can be found here) is really my starting point for Haer'Dalis' view on love.

 

Robert Browning's "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" (1855, read it here) is much longer and generally not an easy read (especially not from a computer monitor), but once you get into it it explains a few things about the Doomguard mindset. I hate to admit this, but finding an edition with footnotes really helps (I generally don't like footnotes. They hide in the darkness and bite my toes- oh, wait, you said footnotes?)

 

Various works by Shakespeare, Donne, Eliot and lots of other (usually dead) poets also help.

 

JPS

[Eyreequel]

well i already made two long posts with love-talks and get-to-know-you-talks from writers who tried to make a hd-romance ... take a look here  

[Eyreequel]

oh and maybe hd could tell the pc some stories about love i'll just post some, okay ?

 

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Mehach and Ereyon.

 

Tales speak of how Mehach, Goddess of Death, used to visit the world of Aii Chriaston in the past. She would herself step down from her ebony keep, and gently weave and coax souls from their discarded shells - and legends speak of how she, when gathering souls from a battlefield, met a wounded, but still breathing young man by the name of Ereyon.

 

Ereyon was beautiful in a way the Goddess had never seen before - she had seen beauty in Gods, but here, she saw beauty in life. In his pulse, in the beat of his heart, and she came to love him - and he came to love her.

 

She visited him every night, and every night they kissed. For nearly a year, they were together, but Ereyon had a secret he did not share with his mistress. Though her presence when she was with him was dimmed down - she was still Death, and she was slowly killing him. Rather than telling her, and losing what little time he had left with her, he kept quiet, and wasted away. Mehach was blinded by her love for him and suspected nothing until the day he actually died - and she felt his passing from her throne.

 

He did not come to her, though, as souls should. He clung to his grave and haunted the cemetery at night. Mehach called for him but he would not come - so she was forced to go down to him once again.

 

He did not want to go to the ebony keep, because he knew that then he would lose his memories and his love for her - he would lose what he had left. Haunting the cemetery, at least, would let him remember what they had shared.

 

Mehach spent the night in the graveyard, playing her harp - weaving patterns of his soul through her fingers, until, quiet as the wraith he was, he could no longer resist... and floated towards her, kissing her cheek - and she kissed him in return and thus stole his memories, and his love, and all that he once was... truly stealing his life before taking him back to the dark keep.

 

It is said that after this incident, after the tragic death of Ereyon, the Goddess of Death has never been seen on Aii Chriaston again.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Innocence", he said, while his eyes fell away and slowly slid their black irises to study the mist-laden woods around him.

"Losing your innocence, is like losing a limb."

The smile that appeared on his lips was neither cold nor warm - it was colourless. Flat.

"You can still live - you can move around. But you will never dance again, not like you once did. You will never run across a meadow without a shadow drifting over your heart."

The eyes returned. Slowly lifting - swaying upwards like birds taking flight.

"She crippled me."

Quiet, for a moment, and then,

"For that, I will cripple -her-."

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The doves should not be white, my love,

No more than your lonely tears.

 

And yet, white they remain,

Pure like your innocence,

Even in the face of sin.

 

The doves should not be white, my love,

Forgive me for tainting them black.

 

Forgive me, my love, the sin was all mine.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

 

he could tell this poem to the pc maybe when she turned into the slayer or something :

 

The road to the throne, is littered with corpses.

With each step,

Their blood stains your heels.

 

Closer to salvation, and yet,

Deeper in sin -

The road to freedom comes at

A cost of the same.

 

The road to the throne, is littered with corpses,

And one of these corpses,

Is of your heart.

 

Old, black, rotten -

Festering.

 

Closer to salvation, and yet,

Never have you been

So far

 

Away.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"From darkness, to light, for you -"

Whispered, a breath of honey in the air tinged with emeralds.

"I turned my back on my friends,"

A rustle of leaves. A soft trail of air against a cheek. Locks of ashes and ebony.

", I turned my gaze from my family,"

Fingertips, alabaster pale and softer than ice,

", and you - you turned my lips from yours."

His palm drifts like a feather against the trunk of a tree.

 

Rough, the bark. Digging into his palm. It should have been a caress. It should have been her, but it is not.

 

"From darkness, to light, for you -"

 

Eyes, closing.

 

"but you... pushed me back into shadows."

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Songs under the apple tree.

 

Red like the apple: lips, heart, robins - the sun that glows bright like a lantern before it sets. Pale olive, the feet, the hands, the tips of the bird's wings - and shadows cast by bright yellow trees across the lake.

 

And in her heart, she knew - in its inner, bright-redness, that today was the day - today it would rain and the droplets would part like a curtain. To let him approach.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

all these were written by the wonderful Linda Berkvist and i do hope it'll give some inspiration

[Elianto]

Hi to you all!

Hope you will find these useful  

 

-*-

 

Has no one said those daring

Kind eyes should be more learn'd?

Or warned you how despairing

The moths are when they are burned?

I could have warned you; but you are young,

So we speak a different tongue.

 

O will you take whatever's offered

And dream that all the world's a friend,

Suffer as your mother suffered,

Be as broken in the end.

But I am old and you are young,

And I speak a barbarous tongue.

 

[Two years later, W.B.Yeats]

 

It sounds like something that HD would say to Aerie when she whines about her being dismissed  

 

-*-

 

Be you still, be you still, trembling heart;

Remember the wisdom out of the old days:

Him who trembles before the flame and the flood,

And the winds that blow through the starry ways,

Let the starry winds and the flame and the flood

Cover and hide, for he has no part

With the lonely, majestical multitude.

 

[To his heart, bidding it have no fear, W.B. Yeats]

 

Maybe an interesting answer about [CHARNAME]'s doubt on the doomguard philosophy?

 

-*-

 

Poets are not shadows, remember,

they have flowers of disease

and pangs at feet:

do not love them,  treat them,

without love's promises.

Sew toghether wings

and eternal let them fly:

you would never see them again

day after day.

 

[i poeti non sono ombre, ricorda - Alda Merini]

 

Err... that's from an italian poetess, Alda Merini. I made the translation by myself, so forgive me if there's something wrong!  

[JPS]

Very interesting. Yeats has come up in the workshop forum as well, and if I had happened to think about it, I would have mentioned "The Second Coming" in my first post (the first part of it is strangely suitable for the slightly darker romance path).

 

So now I'll have to learn to write like Yeats. See you in fifty years or so...

 

(Actually, MysticTempest has written most of the poetry so far, so I shouldn't pretend that I'm the one who's doing something here....)

 

JPS

[Elianto]

Since you've mentioned Browning in your first post, what do you think about  Love among the ruins?

In my opinion this may suits well for the "positive" path (I mean for the path that wouldn't end with autodestruction...    )

[KIrving]

I for one can't help but think of Shakespeare when I think of Haer'Dalis.  Of course there is the obvious parallel with Romeo and Haer'Dalis(pining hopelessly for one fair maiden but quickly changing heart when another opportunity presents).  However I think of Macbeth the most and his descent into evil.  Will Haer'Dalis be similarly tormented if he slides into the evil path I wonder??

 

Macbeth. "Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor

Shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more."

 

I'll go no more.

I am afraid to think what I have done;

Look on 't again I dare not.

 

How is 't with me, when every noise appalls me?

What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine eyes!

Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood

Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather

The multitudinous seas incarnadine,

Making the green one red.

 

To know my deed, 'twere best not know myself.

[Bibbi]

well, everything is subject to change, but from what I see right now, I don't think Haer will be too troubled when he turns down the "evil" path.  there will be the PC helping him along, but in the end it's his choice which leads him there, no tragic, unavoidable fate.  he might even have a little fun doing his evil thing  

[Tali]

So JPS you' re the kinda guy who likes it rough    I'm just kidding but you really didn't make it easy for yourself, however I must say I really admire you (cause I'm more an "easy way out" person. So here are some of the poems I find usable (apologies to all as this is gonna be a long post)

 

some verses from THE DANCE OF THE DEAD (BAUDELAIRE)

 

For he who has not folded in his arms

A skeleton, nor fed on graveyard charms,

Recks not of furbelow, or paint, or scent,

When Horror comes the way that Beauty went.

 

From Seine's cold quays to Ganges' burning stream,

The mortal troupes dance onward in a dream;

They do not see, within the opened sky,

The Angel's sinister trumpet raised on high.

 

In every clime and under every sun,

Death laughs at ye, mad mortals, as ye run;

And oft perfumes herself with myrrh, like ye

And mingles with your madness, irony!"

 

There's a lot more these are just some extracts I find most interesting (especially the last one)

 

I'm not sure whether this one really fit's however I find it beautiful (well in some aspect)

BAUDELAIRE: the EYES OF BEAUTY

 

YOU are a sky of autumn, pale and rose;

But all the sea of sadness in my blood

Surges, and ebbing, leaves my lips morose,

Salt with the memory of the bitter flood.

 

In vain your hand glides my faint bosom o'er,

That which you seek, beloved, is desecrate

By woman's tooth and talon; ah, no more

Seek in me for a heart which those dogs ate.

 

It is a ruin where the jackals rest,

And rend and tear and glut themselves and slay--

A perfume swims about your naked breast!

 

Beauty, hard scourge of spirits, have your way!

With flame-like eyes that at bright feasts have flared

Burn up these tatters that the beasts have spared!

 

Again BAUDELAIRE: MUSIC

MUSIC doth uplift me like a sea

Towards my planet pale,

Then through dark fogs or heaven's infinity

I lift my wandering sail.

 

With breast advanced, drinking the winds that flee,

And through the cordage wail,

I mount the hurrying waves night hides from me

Beneath her sombre veil.

 

I feel the tremblings of all passions known

To ships before the breeze;

Cradled by gentle winds, or tempest-blown

 

I pass the abysmal seas

That are, when calm, the mirror level and fair

Of my despair!

 

And the most famous of all: HAMLET's MONOLOGUE

 

To be, or not to be: that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;

No more; and by a sleep to say we end

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give us pause: there's the respect

That makes calamity of so long life;

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,

The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,

The insolence of office and the spurns

That patient merit of the unworthy takes,

When he himself might his quietus make

With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

But that the dread of something after death,

The undiscover'd country from whose bourn

No traveller returns, puzzles the will

And makes us rather bear those ills we have

Than fly to others that we know not of?

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;

And thus the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,

And enterprises of great pith and moment

With this regard their currents turn awry,

And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!

 

I guess a lot could be made out of this one

 

I guess you won't agree but I'll try anyway: THE DOORS

CRYSTAL SHIP

Before you slip into unconsciousness

I'd like to have another kiss

Another flashing chance at bliss

Another kiss, another kiss

 

The days are bright and filled with pain

Enclose me in your gentle rain

The time you ran was too insane

We'll meet again, we'll meet again

 

Oh tell me where your freedom lies

The streets are fields that never die

Deliver me from reasons why

You'd rather cry, I'd rather fly

 

The crystal ship is being filled

A thousand girls, a thousand thrills

A million ways to spend your time

When we get back, I'll drop a line

 

THE END just some verses I find usable

This is the end

Beautiful friend

This is the end

My only friend, the end

 

Of our elaborate plans, the end

Of everything that stands, the end

No safety or surprise, the end

I'll never look into your eyes...again

 

Can you picture what will be

So limitless and free

Desperately in need...of some...stranger's hand

In a...desperate land

.

.

.

 

It hurts to set you free

But you'll never follow me

The end of laughter and soft lies

The end of nights we tried to die

 

This is the end

[Elianto]

Dunno if you like it, but while I was listening to this song, I can't help but finding it rather suitable:

 

 

-*-

 

Raven Heart

 

Angel of Orleans in me

I'll tell you no lies

Ravens have bore me wings to fly

King of the night time forever

It's all I'm living for

I'll embrace my immortal

Forever night

 

Raven - say you want me to

Rain the dark on forever you

Raven heart

No there ain't nothing dark that I won't do

My raven heart'll bleed all over you

 

One crimson kiss is bleeding

My raven heart Tales of the darkside here is all right

Bring me the night time forever

It's all you're dying for

Take my hand and I'll show ya

Forever night

 

Raven - say you want me to

Rain the dark on forever you

Raven heart

No there ain't nothing dark that I won't do

My raven heart'll bleed all over you

 

[Wasp, Raven Heart]

[Dancer Fitz]

I must say, I am glad that you all have taken up the H'D romance challenge!  So much so I've actually registered to make occassional appearances...  

Always wanted to romance that bard - Aerie got on the blacklist not so much from whining, but from getting his attentions....

Anyway, as I am a long time fan of Sigil, and especially tieflings, I thought I would throw in this link for the writers;

 

http://www.mimir.net/cant/cant2.html

 

It's a dictionary of planar slang to spice up H'D's talk, if you like.  Always thought his speak made him unique...among other things, of course.  Good luck!  I shall return...

[Elianto]

I've found some information on the Doomguard faction in some of my old books about the planescape settings.

Hope it'll helps ya!

 

-*-

 

Everything just decays. We're just here to help it along

 

Faction Philosophy:

Ever hear of entropy berk? Take a look around: Everything is going down the tubes, falling apart, stopping. People die, rocks erode, stars fade, planets melt away. That's entropy, the fate of the multiuniverse. A lot of folks think that's a terrible thing, but no the Doomguard. They're pretty sure that nothing lasts forever, not even the planes. It's the way things are supposed to be, they guess, the goal of everything. Sooner or later, the last bits of the multiuniverse'll decay, and then there'll be nothing left - think of it as existance's ultimate release from toil and pain. Now, the sods who try to fix things - stop the decay and put everything back together - they've got it all wrong. They're fighting the natural goal of the multiuniverse, trying to do something unnatural. That ain't right. So look, the Doomguard's here to see that the multiuniverse gets its way. Things are supposed to crumble, and it's the Doomguard's job to keep the meddlers from messing it up too much. What right do mortals have to deny the natural existence of things? And somebody's got to wath the proxies and the powers, to make sure they don't meddle with the process. Can't have the powers restoring things or ending them too fast, you know.

Don't get this faction wrong. It's not like somebody builds a house and they tear it down. That building's part of the whole decay: the stonecutter chips the rock, the logger cuts the tree, and later the termits chew the beams until the whole case comes down on its own. There's a long view to this. The sod who can't see the grand scheme'll go barmy trying to tear down everything that gets built. So everything's got a part in this. The primes slowly eat away their world, and planars do the same. Look at the petitioners - entropy reaches perfection when they fade away. It'll all happen in time.

 

Primary Plane of influence:

The Doomguard maintains one great citadel on each negative quasiplane: Ash, Vacuum, Salt and Dust. The negative energy plane represents the Doomguard's idea of the ultimate fate of the multiuniverse, so the Doomguard's citadel are built as close to the plane as practicality allows. In Sigil, their headquarters is the city's main armory.

 

Allies and Enemies:

Both the Bleak Cabal and the Dustmen find the entropic visions of the Doomguard well suited to their own philosophies, although the Cabal sneers at the idea that entropy is the "goal" of the multiuniverse. The Godsmen agree with the idea that the multiuniverse is fated to end, but they can't accept the idea that destruction is the purpose in itself. The Fraternity of Order and the Harmonium reject the Doomguard's philosophy on the wholesale.

 

Benefits:

The Doomguard is very military in organization and outlook. All members are trained to fight with a sword, gaining a +1 to attack rolls when wielding one. Those bashers normally denied the use of swords can use one without penality.

 

Restrictions:

The Doomguard are naturally resistant to healing and cures. For such spell or magic device to have effect, a Doomguard cutter must first fail a saving throw vs. spell. If the save is succesful, the magic is negated.

 

-*-

 

P.S. If you need some other chants on the City of Doors or the factions, let me know, I'll found out something as soon as possible  

[JPS]

@Dancer Fitz: Welcome to our humble little forum, and thanks for the link. I used to have mimir.net bookmarked before the infamous disk crash, so I've seen the list before, but if I hadn't, I would really have appreaciated it  

 

@Elianto: Thanks for the info. I've gathered most of it from various sources already, but it's good to have it all in one place. And if you feel like doing some research for us, I'd really like to find out if the Doomguard has an official line about the undead. How would a Doomguard react if, say, he was turned into a vampire and someone cured him? (hmm... wherever did I get that from?   )

 

JPS

[MysticTempest]

Thanks for the links - I actually have the planar cant saved to my hard drive, but I am trying not to use too much in the dialogues I am writing so that it is easy for most ppl to understand.

[Barren Fischa]

Wait a minute... You guys both knew about that link but never mentionned it?  

Now I feel stupid