Fragments from the Rim [429403]

[DoS Archive]

From: lantillian@aol.com (Lantillian)
Date: 11 Feb 1999 01:15:52 EST

The Historian of Ilium paused momentarily before tacking the third excerpt to the bulletin board of the Duel of Swords.

This one was meta-commentary, somehow... A mirror in a mirror, the historian's retelling of Fandral Kurgan's visit to the very same board... A posting within a narrative within a posting.

Makros shrugged... If they did not understand, they would not be the first.

-----

Accompanied by the scent of freshly-cut grass, Fandral Kurgan made his way down the stairs to the dueling hall. As always, his gaze panned across the Southern gallery, the wall and mantle bedecked with the honoraria of many a duelist past and present.

His recovery thus far had been by no means swift, but he found some consolation in its steady progress. As had been surmised by Doc Holliday and Naresh Kir, he would raise the crysknife again some day... The sooner, in Bishop's mind, the better.

With a hand that trembled only slightly, he pressed a cleanly-cut square of paper to the board and secured it with one of the unused brass tacks arrayed along the pitted cork border.

.....

Esteemed duelists,

I have been absent from your company for so long
that I can no longer with clear conscience count myself
your fellow. Nonetheless, I would ask a small favour of
those who are pleased by its prospect.

With all of the discussion of late concerning the
rich heritage of the dueling rings, I thought back upon
my own experiences of the duels. It struck me that the
most cherished recollections I could summon to mind had
little to do with our shared history. Rather, singular
moments of little or no import to the traditions of the
dueling hall remained to my mind the dearest.

I ask you, whosoever is able to find both the time
and the candor to respond, to share your treasures with
your fellow duelists (and, indeed, with me).

These halls have known the tears and laughter of
generations. It is in these fleeting portraits of purest
humanity (be you dracosaur or trolloc) that the soul of
the rings shall ever reside. And so, I beg that you make
the sum of our fears the less and the pride that springs
in each duelist the greater... Let not these treasures
stolen from time be reclaimed by silence.

Speak your heart, and know your home always to be
in the sand of the ring.

Respectfully,
Fandral Kurgan

-----

[DoS Archive]

From: marzan@aol.com (Marzan)
Date: 11 Feb 1999 16:40:17 EST

::smiles warmly and nods:: Excellent.