The Haiku thread got me thinking and I decided I might as well post a few poems inspired by Dominions 3. Three of these are the result of story ideas (coming from a couple of games I played), and since their seeds are back in teh days of Dom2, they assume my own preferred version of Dominions world history.
The fourth verse is, unsurprisingly, inspired by the name of the magic site "The Sea of the Tears of Men". That's just a phrase so awesome it was begging to have something written about it.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy them. Feedback would also be nice.
These also serve as something of Dom3 Trivial Pursuit: See how many in-game references you can find...
The Sea of the Tears of Men (February 15th, 2008)
Born of crystal drops people cannot help but spend,
Stretches to the horizon, an ocean without end,
Fed from unending streams, for always there are more
A great salt and bitter sea without a shore...
Not much a single raindrop, yet soon they make a trickle;
Becomes a bouncing stream, fast, turbulent and fickle;
Joins a larger river flowing strongly down a channel deep,
Down to the sea that gathers more from tears the clouds weep
They say it's born of evil, of suffering and pain,
Of hurt and death and hopelessness, of dreams that died in vain.
Through the ages so many have tried, yet there are none that ken
How to drain dry the Sea of the Tears of Men.
******
Children of the Flame (February 17th, 2008)
Children of the Flame, cast down in defeat,
Banished to the wastes of sand and stone,
Damped the heat of their fury, capped the Earthfire's glow,
Now only sullen smoke rises from the Smouldercone.
Weakened and corrupted, seduced by a False God,
Forgotten the days of old when they would sing
In temples unsullied by the stink of blood
Praises to the Lord of Magma, Earthfire's King.
Diluted the Earth's Blood, tainted with devils' touch
Joined too by magic to the blood of mortal men,
Cools the heat of lava running through their veins,
Comes doom from the dabbling of Warlocks in their den...
Their Flame by demon plots and plans smothered,
Lost the ways of Old Power, secrets cast out of mind,
The desert heat just a shadow of what used to be,
Yet not gone but only hidden, for the bold to find...
Forbidden, yet whispered, rumors have wings,
Give life to ambition in a dreaming heart;
Set in motion plots, intrigue and treason
Where murder, lies and poison play a part...
Stands tall above his peers, merciless and feared,
One of the Old Blood, called the Enemy of Man;
Advisor to the False God, Old Fire in his veins,
Plans downfall of his master, in any way he can...
Legends of the piece of Sun that fell from the sky
That burns forever in a great, Eternal Pyre,
Trapped and hidden far from prying mortal eyes
The kindling needed to relight a dying Fire...
Hard to reach the Sun's Anvil, Desert's Heart,
Across a waste of cracked and broken stones,
Strewn and scattered with gleaming white,
The barrens known as the Desert of Bones...
Heart of the desert, shimmers of rippling heat,
Rocks, sand and sky all one vision in the glow
Of the brightly burning rays of the Sun Above,
Yet just as fierce the Fire of the Sun Below...
Time of Prophecy for the Children of the Flame,
When the King of the Wastes, the Chosen One
Restores to them an age of blazing glory,
Opens up the Prison of the Desert Sun!
******
The Fall of the Iron Kingdom (February 17th, 2008)
In the wake of Death and Darkness,
In the aftermath of blood and pain,
A chance to cast aside their yoke,
To choke the slavers with their chain...
Yet they face a new threat, worse by far
Souls from beyond the Gates of Death,
Bony legions marching out to war
Till no living thing draws breath...
Seek solution in the old ways,
Songs of the smiths, men who could feel
The soul of the iron glowing red,
Turn base metal to the Enigma of Steel.
Their roots in the mountains,
The ancient forests of the wild,
A hard life of struggle in the cold,
Where survives only the strongest child...
Yet wisdom gleaned from former masters,
Replaced the trial of the Wheel of Pain,
Brought forth an army of steelclad men,
That struggle against Death not be in vain...
From a scattering of tribes,
Barbarians at the gates,
Rises now a mighty nation,
Proud men sole masters of their fates...
Great cities, castles of stone,
Mighty citadels to guard the border,
Peace and prosperity for all,
Watched over by the Black Order.
In its thews the Iron Kingdom's strength,
Disdainful of magic, tool of the frail,
Yet no good is brawn without wit,
And thus even great nations fail...
Grow fiercer the sermons of steel,
Grows the might of Black Priests,
Shifting power from the Guardians,
Smiths no longer seen at the feasts...
With their God falling silent,
The Great Keep filled with spies,
The Council riven by suspicion,
How to tell the truth from lies?
Secret plots, unholy rites,
Auguries that offer doom;
Corruption creeping in,
The land sinks into a gloom...
Comes then an unlikely quartet,
Witch, Demon, Master Smith and Knight;
Made pawns in the games of power,
On treason can they shed light?
Sent forth on a secret mission,
A journey to the Library of Time,
Answers in Acashic Records,
Where to find clues to the crime?
Yet not so easy their task,
For plans dark are coming nigh;
Foes sent in the guise of help,
With orders given from on high...
When discovered the Cavern of the Pool,
Secrets come out, hidden daggers drawn,
Friends scattered through the mists of Time,
Not one of them to see the next dawn...
Made false the chance of last hope
No one left to shine truth's light,
Traitors free to do their will at last,
Send the Kingdom forever into Night.
Path clear now for the Dark God,
The plots dismissed as fiction;
Plunged the nation into Civil War,
Leading to the Malediction!
Dark of the moon, unholy hunger!
Death rushing in, a red flood,
Men turning on their fellows,
Slaver at a feast of flesh and blood!
Comes the land to wrack and ruin,
Tumbles down the Great Keep;
Iron Inquisition burning people;
Wailing laments as the widows weep...
Prophecy of the Black Forest (February 17th, 2008)
High the wild mountains, dark the deep woods,
Once tame, in the days before the Curse...
Deadly now, only fools venture in,
Home to brigands, wolves and worse...
Castle, keep and city ruled by iron hand,
Folk preyed upon by man and beast;
Night a time of blood, death and terror,
Scant relief dawning light in the east
No hope in sight, yet it lives in secret:
"Some day..." the fearful whispers say,
"...we can dream again!", but quietly,
For otherwise there's hell to pay!
Whispered the secret, rumor in the wind,
Rantings of a madman they seem,
Yet they call it vision, a prophecy,
Words fever-born, a fool's dream:
"Damned those who swore, then betrayed,
Black Lord's men, each called a knight,
Join forces with the Demon Horseman,
Become spectral Riders in the Night...
The Witch, a sorceress of Death and Flame,
Imprisoned by the traitors' spell,
Caged with chains of Banefire
Trapped alone in a deathless hell...
Last of his kind, the Master Smith,
Cast adrift in Time's strands,
Exile from a forgotten age,
Keys to salvation in his hands...
The Seeress in return for her life
Reads a fortune from a deck of cards:
Opens the doors of Destiny,
Draws together Fate's shards...
Bloodhounds baying at their heels
Forced to flee into the night;
Guided by the Werewolf's help
Survival still a desperate fight...
Forced against the Dark God,
The Smith cannot find any sleep,
His task unfinished till again
Forgefires burn in the Ruined Keep..."