[CW: Poetic Anthology/Feedback] Gates of Avarice: Bards of the Abyss

[Sutoratosu]

The Gates of Avarice... that ancient monolith that has dominated the face of the continent since time immemorial. As constant as the path of sun and many faces of the moon. As distant as the farthest star... as foreboding as the sweet voice of death itself.

Pulsing with the light of the full moon, what secrets might lay veiled beyond the sight of unworthy mortals? Man has come to take hold the very power of the stars themselves, the unbridled light of truth clasped within his very palms, and yet... yet so blind is he, that he acknowledges not his own nature.

He still plays the part of the fool, oblivious to the futility of his own denial.

How many more must die before he embraces the gaping abyss yawning wide in his heart?

How many demons must he face, before he finally realizes they are naught more than his own creation?

The time has come.

May the Gates yawn wide yet again...

Let the Second Reaping begin.

Perfer et obdura, dolor hic tibi proderit olim

Be patient and tough, my child. For someday, this pain shall be of use to you.

INTRODUCTION:

The Gates of Avarice. I've been working on this world for a while now. For those of you who might have read a few of my statuses many months ago, you might recall me mentioning it or bits and pieces of it's lore... especially of a man called Ryder.

As you can probably guess from that bit of introduction above, this is a fantasy world, and for all intents and purposes, the spiritual successor of the long since defunct Project Sky Slayer. It takes many of the same concepts present and adds onto them it's own spin and unique view.

In addition to it's unique spin, I also wanted to try something different with how I present the story of this world. Rather than outright writing a traditional chaptered narrative, revealing bits and pieces of lore and history as the plot advances and characters develop... I intend to do the same with nothing more than a collection of scattered writings in the form of poems, nursery rhymes, bard songs, historical records, rumors, and legends, passed down from one generation to the next.

Rather than laying it all out nice and neat, I will instead leave it up to readers to piece everything together, with each individual story and tale serving as a puzzle piece in the bigger picture of the world. I may eventually write a chaptered narrative, though whether I actually do and whether I ever share it... that's a matter for another day.

Feedback is welcome and encouraged. Even just commenting on what you like about a particular work will be enough.

For now, I will post work directly into this OP. In the future though, for the sake of space, I may shift to using Google docs to store each individual work and simply provide open links.

To start it off, I have two poems. More work will come soon as things expand.

THE BARDS OF THE ABYSS:

Woe to Old Myria

Where were you wen the phoenix burned

When the Myrians screamed

And the peace was scorned?

Where were you when the white flag fell

When the empire collapsed

And Ryder birthed the fires of hell?

Woe to the Myrians, so strong, so proud

They might yet have lived, had they not threatened Arkadia aloud

There is no desert, no sand, no sun

No, naught remained, once the Phoenix King twas done

Barren, dazzling glass, as far as the eye could see

Shining brighter under the sun than even the sea

Woe to old Myria, once so strong and so proud

You might yet have lived... had Lord Ryder not been roused

Primal Sins

The horde approaches, death's sweet aria in the wind

Faces like nightmares, uglier than sin

Black devils and fiends, emerging from within

This is the penance, recompense for man's primal sins

The Gates of Avarus, yawning wide to the abyss

The Gates of Avarus, opening by Avarice.

Where are our heroes, where are our gods

When the darkness falls, and we are crushed by our odds?