Anniversary: The End of an Era

[DoS Archive]

From: sidarthax@aol.com (Sidartha x)
Date: 29 Jan 2000 21:46:40 EST

A lone figure sat in an overstuffed chair by the fire, clothed in deepest, somber black. In thin, feminine hands were held several aging pieces of parchment, stained with long-gone but never forgotten tears. The first piece of parchment was written in this woman's very own hand..a poem placed on the ancient piece of cork the morning after a night of death and sorrow. After that
came copies of condolences posted by members of the community, offering words of respect for a fallen leader.

" Pure spirit! O where art thou now!
O whisper to my soul!
O let some soothing thought of thee,
The bitter grief control!

'Tis not for thee the tears I shed,
Thy sufferings now are o'er
The sea is calm, the tempest past,
On that eternal shore.

No more the storms that wrecked thy peace
Shall tear that gentle breast;
Nor Summer's rage, nor Winter's cold,
Thy poor, poor frame molest.

Thy peace is sealed, thy rest is sure,
My sorrows are to come;
Awhile I weep and linger here,
Then follow to the tomb.

And is the awful veil withdrawn,
That shrouds from mortal eyes,
In deep impenetrable gloom,
The secrets of the skies?

O, in some dream of visioned bliss,
Some trance of rapture, show
Where, on the bosom of thy God,
Thou rest'st from human woe!

Thence may thy pure devotion's flame
On me, on me descend;
To me thy strong aspiring hopes,
They faith, thy fervours lend.

Let these my lonely path illume,
And teach my weakened mind
To welcome all that's left of good,
To all that's lost resigned.

Farewell! With honour, peace, and love,
Be thy dear memory blest!
Thou hast no tears for me to shed,
When I too am at rest.
---ANNA LÆTITIA BARBAULD"

"Friends of Dalamar Ar 'Daumon
I offer my sincere condolences for the loss of your dear friend.
He will live on,so long as do, the Duel of Swords.
Seamus"

"Lord Dalamar Ar'Daumon is a man to be remembered and remembered fondly. Not everyone agreed with his politics, but no one can take away the talent Dal possessed, even if you didn't agree with his decisions.
I know I have lost an Overlord, a mentor, and a dear friend. Let us set aside our differences and welcome a new Overlord, yet honor the memory of a man that faced each challenge with that which we hold true as members of the Duel of Swords; Honor, Integrity, and Skill.

With a heavy heart,
~Taylara Locklorn Tyree~Koei~"

"To the community at large,

Dalamar gave his heart and soul to this sport, although some viewed him in not so well a light as others, no one..::pauses momentarily:: No one can deny the great things he has done for the sport and within the sport..Loyal, Neutral and Renegade alike..It saddens me to hear that he has been released from this mortal coil, but I hope he is truly happy now that he has rejoined his father bless them both.

::scrawled in blazing blue ink::
~Daelin Dragonsblade~
~Baron of the 7th~
~Regent King of Dragonia~
~Member of House Dragoon-Talanador~"

"As far as Dalamar, well no words can describe the turn of events and best we leave that at that for all conerned. He was one of the most skilled duelists to hold the crown and now we must move on to a new era of the community.

~Ecore"

" To all,

The news seems to be that Dalamar is dead. If this is so, then he needs to be remembered as the great duelist and skilled politician he was. He should be honored and respected, whether you supported or opposed him. Whatever one thinks of his policies, he always did his best when he was in the ring. His last duel was one of his greatest. One of the greatest ever. My condolences go strongly to Sidartha, who is a worthy woman. May you find the
happiness you deserve.
May we all find happiness.



Duc Percival Marchand de Clermont"

"Dalamar....rest in peace...no one can deny your place in history....no one.




Cassius Gaius Maximius"

"If Dalamar has truly departed from this life, may his next life be as great as this one. And may he alway be remembered by those whose lives he touched."

"Dalamar was in my eyes the greatest Overlord to wield a blade. His amazing reign shall never be forgotten and it will serve as a standard for true greatness. It twas too bad that a night of joy such as the passing of the crown should have such a dismal finish. Dalamar will always hold a special place in the history of this sport.COLOR="#000000" SIZE=3 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">


~Galin Taelca
Baron Of The Ninth
Member of the Disengaged"

Each piece of parchment fell from her fingers as they were read, fallilng into the blazing hearth before her. With a quiet hiss, each piece was consumed in fire and quickly turned to ashes. The figure paused a moment to reflect on one particular note, from the man who defeated her love. The hood of the night black cloak dipped as she pondered that the hands that wrote this note had also struck Dalamar down. Forgiven or not, there was blood on those
hands.

"Barons, Warlords, GrandMasters, Master at Arms', Swordsman, Commoners, Officials of Swords,

It is with a heavy heart that I make my address to you today. What normally would be and exciting and joyful time, is a time of sorrow and loss. I am pleased to be your new Overlord. Although I had the great Honor of being a part of the greatest duel in the History of dueling, It would be selfish of me to spend any time savoring my victory. Alas, this moment belongs to our Former Overlord,
Lord Dalamar Ar'Daumon. From what I have learned after the Challenge, the Healing Ward of Gondor, which heals the wounds of all duelers in the rings, did not apply to the Twenty-eighth Overlord of Swords. Thus, it is with great sadness that I inform you that Lord Ar'Daumon did pass away last eve at the conclusion of our duel. I extend my heartfelt condolences to his Widow, and to all who called themselves his friend, of whom I considered myself
one.

I would ask the community to join me in prayer for the soul of Lord Ar'Damoun. As I have stated from the start, he is a man worthy of Honor, whom I always held in high regard. I sought to convey this in the form of my challenge. I sought to convey it in the song which I wrote in his Honor. I toiled over it for many an hour. I sought to convey it in how I treated him when in his presence, and I sought to convey it when I spoke of him out of his
presence. May his soul rest in peace.

I would ask all of you to voluntarily join me in a period of mourning. I shall be dueling in the name of Lord Ar'Daumon until the time that the standings are officially noted. During this time I shall not be wearing robes of Ivory, but those of mourning; darkest black. I would ask that all duelers, friend and foe, Commoners to Barons, wear an article of black to Honor our fallen comrade.

I ask those of you who encounter the grief stricken, the angry, the disillusioned, to offer aid and sympathy. Many cared for him and loved him. Some are unable to comprehend the change which has taken place. Let us extend our hands to them, until their personal period of misery and pain has passed.

Although my reign shall not officially begin until such a time as the standings are noted, I offer you this address now out of necessity and compassion for the friends of our fallen leader.

We shall survive his passing on. I believe he would have wanted it that way. I would ask the Barons who were loyal to him, to join me in the Honor which I have shown to him in the past, and will continue to bestow to his name. I ask you now, in this time of great transition, to unite with me in his Honor. We can and will survive and flourish together in a spirit of cooperation. When our time of mourning for this great Overlord has passed...and
we have put our own personal demons to sleep, may we reflect back on the great Challenge that has taken place.
~~~~~Blessings of Twilight~~~~~~
Lord Eros DeBurgo
XXVIIII'th Overlord of Swords"

As a soft sob slipped from her lips, the woman tossed it to into the fire and moved on.

"With much surprise to myself with what words I am writing, I mean each and every word beyond the ink that shall remain on this parchment.
Despite the mutual anger and disrespect towards Dalamar and I, I, too, shall honor the man who held such skill by dueling as hard as I do every day. Dalamar's final duel was fought valiantly, and any refusal to try by anyone would dishonor the final duel of Dalamar.
Is this how Dalamar wanted to go? I am probably one of the last people Dalamar would want to speak for him. Thus, I shall only say my piece, and leave the speaking for Dalamar to someone who I believe Dalamar would want to have speak.
I have to emphasize the commendable duel fought by Dalamar and Eros. Dal dueled twenty-eight rounds when he knew every strike would injure him more. Did he know he was going to die? I honestly don't know, but I never thought it would have come to this.
Dalamar was a great dueler. If his soul ever finds this note, I hope he will realize that is something I never disputed.


Dalamar
28th overlord for 19 months
Baron: Second holder of ring IV
First perfect shutout in a challenge
Secured other endeavors during his life
May he rest in the peace he deserves


Simply,

Var Medici-Giovanni
±
|¯Proud father, proud husband¯|
|¯Warlord of Duel of Swords¯|
|¯Soul dedicated to Noelle¯|
|¯Devoted to his children¯|"


Reaching out her arm, adorned by a simple black armband edged in silver, she tossed the last post into the fire and leaned forward, clasping her hands in front of her shadowed face as if in prayer. Closing her eyes, she let sounds and visions from that fateful night fill her mind as they had filled her nightmares for months.

"He needs to breathe!"
"Give him room!"
"He needs to go!"

None of the arguing made a damn bit of difference. He was dead either way, and she wasn't there. In all this time, she *still* didn't forgive herself for not being there for him, but how could she have known? Firelight flickered in her vision as the vision turned to the Annex.

The Annex was dim and quiet when Sidartha arrived. Usually the serving lads
would be about, cleaning up after the Challenge, but they were nowhere to be
found. To her relief, the chaos in her mind faded to nothing, allowing her to
think clearly and to hear the soft weeping near the caller's couch. She found
Marcus curled up in a ball on the floor, tears staining his cheeks. Sidartha
knelt before the boy and touched his shoulder.

"Marcus, sweetie what's wrong? Did somebody hurt you?"

He shook his head and sniffled. "N-no, Lady Sid..I'm okay, b-b-but." Pointing
to the center ring, he began to sob once more.

A sense of dread rose in her as she stood, turning to the ring generally used
during Challenge matches. Blood soaked the sand and stained the ropes.
Slowly, she walked to the center ring, slipped through the ropes and knelt.
As Sid lightly touched the blood, a wave of pain and cold shot through her
and a vision of her beloved Dal collapsing to the ground filled her Mind's
Eye. With the vision came the heartbeat, that slowed down to a deathly
silence.

The figure let the hood of her cloak fall back to her shoulders as she opened her eyes to watch the flames flicker in the hearth...the color of Dal's hair, she remembered. As fiery as his spirit. A fire that would live on in the memories of those who respected and cared for him.

"Let none forget.." Sidartha whispered, repeating the words she uttered the night Eros set his blade before her in offering. Would that she were right. Sadly, it didn't seem so.

[DoS Archive]

From: xericmues@aol.com (Xericmues)
Date: 02 Feb 2000 18:03:59 EST

::Thinks about it a moment, then replies::

Mrs.Elgarette
While I cannot claim, to be fortunate enough, to have ever shared the rings with Dalamar. I have heard many legends, and read much about him. From what I have read, and heard, he seems to have been a great man, a great baron, possibly the greatest overlord.
Yet, somehow, I feel cheated. Because I never knew him. The best way for the young to learn, is by watching the old. Dalamar was gone when I got here, and Sartan has followed him. Two of the greatest old ones, can no longer strut for the young. I know it sounds selfish, but it is how I feel. Denied almost, of a great treasure, a great leader.


Xeric