The door to an officer’s quarters burst open and Dalen marched in. He practically had to drag a grunting, struggling Kera the entire way. Despite how much she kicked and bucked at his limbs, the Xonan stallion kept his motions slow and non-threatening. At last, when they were a third of the way into the room, he let go of Kera, and the little foal scrambled to the far end of the interior. Her breathless body knocked into a table, upsetting a picture frame that fell over and shattered across the floor. Kera squatted beside the broken photograph of Fortis smiling besides an old mare and three younger ponies. She hid behind the bed, hyperventilating.
Slowly, Dalen side-stepped until she was within sight again.
Hissing like a cat, Kera floated a lamp with her horn and tossed it across the dimly-lit room.
The object shattered across Dalen’s tattooed cheek. His head turned, but slowly pivoted back. He showed no signs of pain, merely staring at the foal with concern and wonderment. At last, he opened his lips.
“Hemjj druus mehn rekk thriul, trentte? Trentte Xon-Nagu’n?”
Kera fumed and fumed, glaring at him.
He narrowed his eyes and spoke more emphatically, “Gremm bahkk leeh vrass staye? Kurn vas rekk thriul Ledomulian mehm?”
She said nothing. Her ears twitched slightly, but it was the only telegraph of her fear.
Dalen blinked. He turned and glanced over his shoulder, as if to see if any of his fellow soldiers were patrolling that section of the Lightning Bearer. After seeing no sight of another tattooed pony, he turned back and leaned forward, almost whispering, “Halasuthien meruut braasunuul rekkhu thriulen Ledomulian mehmasiel, trenttist Xon-Nagu’n?”
Kera’s brow furrowed in confusion, but she remained mute.
Dalen took a deep breath, as if preparing to take a dagger to the heart. At last, his tongue produced a honey’d sound. “M’dlen sas’tal lilithu’lialen siul rek’stakar thri’len Ledo’mul’n meh’naseen, tre’nt Xon-Nagu’n?”
Kera’s face scrunched up exagerratedly.
Dalen finally blurted, “You truly do not know any of the Serpent Tongues?”
“I only know one tongue, pal!” She leaned forward and pressed her lips together. ”Blblblblblblb!”
Dalen’s ears drooped. “How tragic. Just what have they done to you? By Nagu’n’s name, is nothing sacred anymore?”
“And just what were you doing up above?!” Kera growled, dragging her hooves against the floorboard. “And to my friends?! Huh?! Was it so peachy?!”
“Those whom you call friends are heretics, apostates, and war mongerers,” Dalen said as he trotted slowly towards her. “They rape and pillage this land in the name of heartless sciences, forsaking the glory that Nagu’n has placed before their hooves. They cling to the idea of peace, but they live out cold and amoral lives, even turning upon their own kind with cruelty and deception.”
“Not my friends!” Kera shouted at the top of her lungs. “In this whole rotten land, they’re the only ones who actually give a crap about one another, and I want you to let them go!” She stomped her hooves. “I want you to let us go!”
Dalen slowly nodded. “You are capable of so much anger. There is a great vacuum left in your heart from what has been robbed from you. I suspect you are too lost to hear the song of Nagu’n, but I can see that Her fury has found its way into your etchings.”
“Did you hear a single friggin’ word I said, bub?”
“Imprisoning the innocent is beneath me,” Dalen said. “When I sacrificed everything to take position among these hopeless sinners, I knew that the blood of foals would be on my hooves, one way or another. Better that my soul be blemished than a true warrior of Nagu’n, but to harm a child of Xon?” He slowly shook his head. “I would suffer my own shame a million times over than damn myself that way.”
“Then let me go already!” Kera stammered. “I don’t care if our lines match, dude! I need to be with my friends!”
“We will find you a home to rejoice with the glory that you deserve, but do not cling to those wretches you were with any longer.”
“Why not?!” Kera frowned. “I like those wretches just fine! We look out after each other!”
“They will only deceive you, child,” Dalen said. “And I suspect you have been a victim of deception for many lonely years--”
“Ungh! Fine!” Kera folded her limbs and turned her back to him. “If you’re just gonna spout a bunch of bullcrap instead of helping me, then get lost! I’ve got better things to do than listen to your nonsense!”
“I only wish to bring you back to the song of Nagu’n as you deserve--”
“I belong with my friends!” Kera sneered from over her shoulder. “As a dude who gets off by running around in sheep’s clothing, I can’t expect you to understand that!”
Silence.
Dalen exhaled a sad breath. He trotted towards the doors to the quarters, but paused. Looking over his shoulder, he said, “‘Clover.’”
Kera jerked her head about. “Excuse me?”
“That’s what it means.”
“That’s what what means?” she grunted.
“Your name,” he said. “‘Kera.’”
The filly blinked at that.
“I found out from the one called Madame Nightshade,” Dalen said. “It pained me to have you locked in that prison cell for so long, but I had to carry on the facade of ‘Straker.’ The security of Zytharros’ forces depended on me playing my part.” He slowly shook his head. “You were never meant for this life, a frantic flight from disaster to disaster, being hounded by militants, sadists, and cultists. Your name is like it’s meaning, child, something healthy and green with life, like the clovers that sway in the warm winds blowing through the Verdant Valleys of Xon’Nameh’naseen. Somewhere, beyond the righteous Song of Nagu’n, a mother and father wait for you with open arms to welcome their daughter into the Tides Unending. A lost soul like yours should not be forced to stumble into that warm surf with utter confusion, choked of meaning and love.”
Kera blinked, her eyes darting to the floor.
“Those companions of yours? They may have given you many material things.” He pointed at her. “But did they give you your etchings, child?”
Kera said nothing; she merely clutched her own limbs.
“You belong to something far greater and older than yourself.” Dalen tilted his muzzle up. “It is something far greater and older than all of us. What else would the Children of Xon fight for than to restore righteousness where it belongs? You deserve no less a restoration child, and my brothers and sisters and I will be there for you when such a time comes that you will be ready to embrace Her Song.”
He left, closing the door behind him. To Kera’s surprise, he didn’t even bother locking it.
And yet, she stood still, shivering slightly as she ran hooves over her multiple tattoos, studying them with sudden, reverent silence.
The Cake is a lie Kera! Tis a LIE. ALL LIES! Don't listeeeeeeen!
Or, learn their magic and backstab em with it. Works too.
wiki.teamfortress.com/w/images/thumb/4/49/Knife_ready_to_Backstab_1st_person_red.png/103px-Knife_ready_to_Backstab_1st_person_red.png?t=20120407195606
Quite the gift of gab this one has. Paints a pretty picture, too.
Kera is too no-nonsense to really fall for it, I think. Sure, a lot to ponder over, but "Straker's" zealotry is on par with every other faction thus far. Reverent fervor to gods and idols and royalty, blind to, but in the name of, peace and harmony.
Curious. What, then, sets Rainbow's religion apart from the rest? Friendship and loyalty to people. Living the ideals, not just preaching them.
Dick. Trying to turn Kera against Dash. Stay strong, kid.
Forty pushups, ):(.Knock 'em out!
3426091
Kera backstabing the Xonans would be the pinnacle of irony.
Clover the Clever, or at least the resourceful. Hmm... I kinda like Dalen, he seems nice, at least to his own people... was it ever stated who started the war? Ledomare aggression or Xonan religion?
3426108
2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jl7pMl00VMY/Ti9R_MrwAQI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/aUQ3_DXekpw/s1600/medusa%2Bvector.jpg
Snakey stab.
3426110
I would bet both sides blame the other. It's rare to have such an obvious starting point as, say, WWII.
Hmm, so there's multiple dialects of the Xonan language. Despite having a bit of issues with his fluency, Dalen seems to do pretty well with them. It looks like it's all based off of one cypher. I'd love to crack it :3.
3426110
a bucket.
a Xonan stole a Ledomare bucket.
In the attempt to reclaim said bucket, several lives were lost on both sides.
fast forward a few years and the entire continent is in chaos.
3426169
For the want of a bucket a Xonan was lost
For the want of a Xonan a Ledomaritian was lost
For the want of a Ledomartian a town was lost.
For the want of a town a city was lost.
For the want of a city, chaos was found.
For the loathing of the chaos, a Rainbow was found.
You bastards...
Also, why does everyone want to corrupt Kera?
She's been through hell and now that she's with ponies that truly care about her, they just can't stop meddling, can they?
3426060
... challenge accepted.
Dalen
wat r u doin
Dalen
stahp
Kera, you might have parents in Xona, it's true. But would you go to a family that might not exist, and turn your back on the family you have right now? Think about it.
Shell ETA: 10 chapters.
Jury ETA: 45 chapters.
Dalen seems nicer than most of the other misguided fools.
Watch as Xonan becomes the Klingon of the Jury.
~Basso
Dalen seems like he might be a decent fellow. Y'know, if you get past his religious fanaticism, and the way he betrayed and facilitated the murder of a seemingly honorable family man (Fortis). Hearing people like that talk of righteousness and so forth always makes my butt tired. I just hope Kera can keep her head about her. A Xonan is what she is, but who she is so much more than that - something wonderful, and nourished by friends who care about her beyond abstraction. With any luck, something of Dash will have rubbed off on her in their time together, and she'll remember what's worth being loyal to.
It's a sad fact that every side thinks that they're right and will do what they deem necessary in its name, and to force anyone else to bend to the same will. One has to wonder what is wrong with allowing others to get on with their lives in their way, as long as it doesn't adversely affect others.
Someone said to me recently that war is like someone fighting over a grain of sand; whereas if they stopped and understood things as they truly are: they could have all the beaches in the world.
Kera should tell them about austraeoh and how awesome she is. She should say how horrible the land she inhabits is, but that her friends saved her and treated her right. Feel free to also tell them about your goal of the ends of the world and see what they say. It can't really hurt (much).
3426169 So... This?
3426102
I think the point is that Rainbow doesn't HAVE a religion. She's got all sorts of friendship and harmony (sort of) ideals, and she doesn't preach so much as live. But it's not a codified system, she doesn't think she has all the answers, doesn't think her 'side' is right, doesn't think she has a 'side' at all. Her entire world is limited to the friends she's made and the quest she's on, everything else is either obstacle or scenery. A little ironic, considering how much of the world she's flown over, but illustrative. It's not a religion, it's not an ideal, it's not a lifestyle, it's life. Everyone else is a zealot of one form or another, Dash is just a person trying to go east.
Again, a little ironic considering that she's literally out to save the world, and has so little faith, while those with great faith are so damnably narrow in their sight and can't imagine anything beyond their personal, petty goals.
3426880
yes, that
stupid Italians...
3426637
Isn't that the one consistency in all of history?
3426110
He's a brutal zealot, but he's not evil. I think that's one of the great themes of this story, that no one has truly been evil. Not even Shell, he's just a tortured, mad soul. Everypony thinks they're right, but so far they've all been wrong.
Grrrrrrrrrrr...
This guy realy gives me the creeps with the ways hes talking to Kera. Trenttist and variants, Xon-Nagun? Little or young? Lonely or lost?
I so wanna show them what happenes when you combine a mana flight crystal with runes and water, to give a mountain piercing beam. You got the snakes of darkness buddy? Well, we got the snake of light.
Ill be sat in the time out corner. 8(
Don't give in to the dark side, Kera! Even if Straker offers you some parents to rule the galaxy alongside, it's not worth it!
What fascinates me is that the Xonans have just one goddess after all, not many. That would of course open the doors for the combination of my earlier speculations: the voices Zetta was hearing, the goddess of the Xonans, the evil in the north, the hand that broke the Ring, the disharmony poisoning the world, perhaps Chaos itself - perhaps they're all the same thing after all? Then again, they know and respect, if not revere the Austraeoh. Wouldn't that make their goddess the opposite of the Ring's destruction? A force of good, of Harmony even?
Weird. The last tongue is in many parts a contraction of the earlier, but is described to be 'honeyed'? It's usually the other way around. Can't figure this out. At least we're getting the chance to learn a few more words.
3426215 Well if you saw a little girl from your country being held hostage by your enemies, what would you do?
3426091 Two chapters later:
3430232 I know, I know...
But it's the same sense of self-righteousness and close-mindedness that has been the main source of conflict through all of Innavedr and Odrsjot.
Shell has his mind set on catching RD because he believes it will justify everything he has done so far
The Heralds of Angels are (were?) convinced that they're destined to fulfill the role of Eljunbyro.
Ew Sater assumes taking Kera back to Xona willbe the best for her just because she's Xonan and thus, must be with her own kind.
And it sucks because believing that our way of doing things is the right one simply because it's our way, and treating others according to that belief instead of trying to understand each other and reaching agreements is what causes so many conflicts in the real world.
So, I'm just saying, man.
I'm just sayin'...
Word-heavy chapters are not that easy when you don't understand what is said.
3430399 It is my stern belief that in the end, no realistic character is ever evil. Skirts - and of course many others - seem to follow a similar approach: the will of a person matters, and that will can be non-good at worst, but never evil. There have been cases of harmful indifference (Axan) as much as saviour complexes (Nightshade) or straight out insanity (the Searonese), combined with either megalomania or fanatism (which is essentially the same thing) to form an explosive little brew - but never one who didn't think that what he did was right. He isn't trying to corrupt Kera. He is trying to help her to the best of his knowledge and belief. Like Nightshade most of all, his actions disagree with his intentions. Sad as it is, as with any malign cancer if he cannot be corrected he must be removed.
3430859 No evil is inherently evil. No evil scientist calls their science "evil" in the real world, for they truly believe that what they're doing is correct.
The same way you can argue that some of the things RD has done on her travels are "evil", we would disagree because she's the protagonist, and we've seen what she's been through.
Had this story been told from any other perspective we would probably be rooting for the other side.
Who amongst us wouldn't read the story about a military man who has had a fall from grace and is struggling to find fulfillment after losing everything on his life?
Or a story about a small band of people trying to fix the world through a higher calling?
Or an underdog country fighting a war against a technologically superior foe that gets the upper hand?
One can argue about wether or not what a charachter does is good or bad, but in the end everything falls somewhere in the middle.
...
Damn it, IC, why haven't you updated yet? I'm starting to get all philosophycal.
3431234
Well, except for the minotaurs from early on. They were pretty evil, if you think about it.
3426998
Well, that's my point. Rainbow isn't preaching a religion, but everyone else around her is still participating. Religion really isn't the word, though, but "cult" is too mean.
3431570 I think I'll have to re-read that, but yes, I remember the minotaurs as the villains with the most straightforward goals. Then again, you could say the same about The Killas, and the conversation could keep going and going and going.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
No, Kera! Don't believe in him! He's just trying to get you to leave Dash to get you on his side! Stay strong! These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
>Your name is like it’s meaning, child
Do you mean "its"?
Ah, crap. Identity crisis coming on? Learn the super snakey summon thing and then bail, I say. Dash, Belle, Pilate and all the other weirdos tagging along at this point are more than enough family for anyone to handle.
Onward!
Kera, don't listen to him!
-Spirit
Interesting, that's all I have to say.
Oh shoots, identity crises for Kera!
If she'd just a bit more quick-witted, she could have explained that Rainbow and (maybe) Zaid have nothing to do with any of this shit, and they would have been able to skedaddle the fuck outta here.
Alas, it was not so. We still got Roarke lurking around, though!
Poor deluded fool.
I don't think Kera will be swayed so easily.
Wait, did you not only make up a new language but separate dialects within it? That's...kind of impressive.
3426169
Also, the bucket was Chrysalis in disguise.
8165074
DUDE! SPOILERS
3426169
... Until now I thought this was just a random joke, not something that literally happened.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Bucket
8165074
DUDE WHAT THE HECK?! YOU CAN'T JUST SAY THAT! SPOILERS, DUDE!
If anyone’s curious about the three dialects—early in the Jury arc, I think in Eljunbyro, it’s explained that the first king of Xonan introduced three different languages which would be distributed to the military, the common people(?) and the nobles, ensuring greater control of the facets of the country due to the language barrier. Dalen clearly knows all three, but that’s not information that would be safe for him to reveal, hence his furtiveness.