Post by Sir Dmitrii Zurban on Dec 4, 2011 3:15:52 GMT -6
Winter Solstice is moving them into 1335....
War is a manifestation of death and destruction... an exhibit of all the negativities of life. Wars deeply impact all the nations involved in it, nations' economy, and the life of its citizens… and most assuredly impacts on those who are on the forefront… the true warriors, the soldiers who stake their lives to guard their land. Wars stir their emotions, affect their lives, and gravely impact their states of mind.
In war, knights, warriors, and soldiers… all have to physically hurt or kill their opponents. Circumstances force them to end someone's life. True, the soldiers face their enemy and destroy the hostile forces, but after all, the enemy is human too. Though an opposing nation, they are after all human beings from regions across the border. Witnessing deaths becomes an almost every day incident for soldiers at war. They have to bear the grief of the suffering and deaths of their fellow mates as well. Such situations definitely have a depressing effect on those who fight. Death is bound to disturb and deprive them of peace of mind.
Dmitrii blows his hot breath on the cold windows and draws pictures on the fogged glass. Will he ever find peace here on this earth before death's fingers encircle his throat? Or will peace remain just beyond his girth, abandoning him eternally to a land remote?
While being surrounded by death, destruction, and sorrow, the warrior often remember their happier days. But those memories, and absences from home and families become painful and begin to grieve at their hearts… but duty to Country and Sovereign deprives them of those opportunities to reach out and relieve the pain of family separation.
Guarding the borders of the country day and night, being away from their loved ones, they are deprived of the all the little joys in their family…. And in war, there is no certainty that they will return home. The deaths the soldiers face, the sufferings they closely witness add to the possibility of emotional crisis… characterized by symptoms of nightmares; feelings of detachment, irritability, sleeplessness, and difficulties in concentrating. The violence, the injuries and the heavy destructions result in distress.
Prior to the reign of the Griffin, marriages were arranged to gain fortune or power, or to amass landholdings that would not often occur… but more often had little to do with love. A successful marriage was perceived as one that brought material advantages to the participants and their families. As love was clearly unrelated to marriage the requirement for romance could be gained outside marriage - as long as the rules relating to chastity and fidelity were strictly adhered to.
And distress caused by war was often minimal except for those that deeply loved, and was most often at the lower classes. But the attitude of love and marriage began to shift as the Aberdeens came to power and influenced the culture that “Love Built a Nation”. As that culture flourished, so did a “disease”… the disease of mental and emotional trauma.
Dmitrii stood at the window of their Manor, looking out over the frozen Lake. It was this time of year, six years ago, that he had met Captain Aegraine LePower, the Griffin’s new engineer. “God, it seemed so long ago…” he thought… Not understanding the emotional mood swings, he could so easily crawl into a corner and cry like a broken-hearted woman. Since the last war, a period of almost a year… since the birth of their twins, Pyotr and Rosetta, and Aegraine’s near death experience, Dmitrii had been suffering from emotional distress.
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Had she seen him cry? He knew she had experienced some angered moments… and in those moments, he wanted to even strike her… that, a feeling he had never even considered before the last war… And now, standing at the window… his deep brown eyes scanning the land, covered now by the whiteness of the winter solstice… he wanted to weep for his angered words to her… he wanted to die for screaming at his children… children even too young to speak well, nor understand what he screamed about.
He was tired of the nightmares… the sleepless nights that his mind mulled over and over, his twin swords hacking and slicing at men, young and old… blood splattering all over him. Even after his nightmares, he could taste the blood… that metallic tint to the red liquid that stained his lips. Headless men wandered his dreams… Young boys, too young to have even experienced a woman, lay in bloodied suits of armour, their mangled fingers still wrapped around a spear’s shaft or hilt of sword. Women lamented over swollen bodies of loved ones he had killed… and their lamentations echoed thru his dreams where songs of joy once rang.
He angled his head to look farther outside the window, but the reflection of something behind caught his attention… it was his twin swords hanging upon a rack against the back wall… and in his mind, something rang true…
“These are my swords. There are many like them but these twins are mine. They are my best friends. Being a warrior is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my sword is useless. Without my swords, I am useless. I must make my blade strike true. I must strike straighter than my enemy, who is trying to kill me. I must strike him true before he strikes me. I will. Before God I swear this creed: my sword and myself are defenders of my country, we are the masters of our enemy, we are the saviors of my life. So be it, until there is no enemy, but peace.”
War is a manifestation of death and destruction... an exhibit of all the negativities of life. Wars deeply impact all the nations involved in it, nations' economy, and the life of its citizens… and most assuredly impacts on those who are on the forefront… the true warriors, the soldiers who stake their lives to guard their land. Wars stir their emotions, affect their lives, and gravely impact their states of mind.
In war, knights, warriors, and soldiers… all have to physically hurt or kill their opponents. Circumstances force them to end someone's life. True, the soldiers face their enemy and destroy the hostile forces, but after all, the enemy is human too. Though an opposing nation, they are after all human beings from regions across the border. Witnessing deaths becomes an almost every day incident for soldiers at war. They have to bear the grief of the suffering and deaths of their fellow mates as well. Such situations definitely have a depressing effect on those who fight. Death is bound to disturb and deprive them of peace of mind.
Dmitrii blows his hot breath on the cold windows and draws pictures on the fogged glass. Will he ever find peace here on this earth before death's fingers encircle his throat? Or will peace remain just beyond his girth, abandoning him eternally to a land remote?
While being surrounded by death, destruction, and sorrow, the warrior often remember their happier days. But those memories, and absences from home and families become painful and begin to grieve at their hearts… but duty to Country and Sovereign deprives them of those opportunities to reach out and relieve the pain of family separation.
Guarding the borders of the country day and night, being away from their loved ones, they are deprived of the all the little joys in their family…. And in war, there is no certainty that they will return home. The deaths the soldiers face, the sufferings they closely witness add to the possibility of emotional crisis… characterized by symptoms of nightmares; feelings of detachment, irritability, sleeplessness, and difficulties in concentrating. The violence, the injuries and the heavy destructions result in distress.
Prior to the reign of the Griffin, marriages were arranged to gain fortune or power, or to amass landholdings that would not often occur… but more often had little to do with love. A successful marriage was perceived as one that brought material advantages to the participants and their families. As love was clearly unrelated to marriage the requirement for romance could be gained outside marriage - as long as the rules relating to chastity and fidelity were strictly adhered to.
And distress caused by war was often minimal except for those that deeply loved, and was most often at the lower classes. But the attitude of love and marriage began to shift as the Aberdeens came to power and influenced the culture that “Love Built a Nation”. As that culture flourished, so did a “disease”… the disease of mental and emotional trauma.
Dmitrii stood at the window of their Manor, looking out over the frozen Lake. It was this time of year, six years ago, that he had met Captain Aegraine LePower, the Griffin’s new engineer. “God, it seemed so long ago…” he thought… Not understanding the emotional mood swings, he could so easily crawl into a corner and cry like a broken-hearted woman. Since the last war, a period of almost a year… since the birth of their twins, Pyotr and Rosetta, and Aegraine’s near death experience, Dmitrii had been suffering from emotional distress.
................Had she seen him cry? He knew she had experienced some angered moments… and in those moments, he wanted to even strike her… that, a feeling he had never even considered before the last war… And now, standing at the window… his deep brown eyes scanning the land, covered now by the whiteness of the winter solstice… he wanted to weep for his angered words to her… he wanted to die for screaming at his children… children even too young to speak well, nor understand what he screamed about.
He was tired of the nightmares… the sleepless nights that his mind mulled over and over, his twin swords hacking and slicing at men, young and old… blood splattering all over him. Even after his nightmares, he could taste the blood… that metallic tint to the red liquid that stained his lips. Headless men wandered his dreams… Young boys, too young to have even experienced a woman, lay in bloodied suits of armour, their mangled fingers still wrapped around a spear’s shaft or hilt of sword. Women lamented over swollen bodies of loved ones he had killed… and their lamentations echoed thru his dreams where songs of joy once rang.
He angled his head to look farther outside the window, but the reflection of something behind caught his attention… it was his twin swords hanging upon a rack against the back wall… and in his mind, something rang true…
“These are my swords….”
