As the day dies, lighting my last smoke, I wonder down the pathway, as I did so many times before. It’s winding and cold, but the voices from the past are still behind me. I’d like to turn around and grab the hand of “yesterday”, but all that’s left is a story and a bittersweet smile.
Warm evenings, sounds of metal swords, battle cries… the crafting hammer in Colhen… and the late “ready up” on the boats… I can’t even…
Everyone gave their best. As it was, poor or wealthy, black or white, it was ours. And we never needed more. As we were, few or many, we’ve held on to the ground under our feet and pushed onward for tomorrow.
Divine Punishment was a dream that promised forever and lit up the sky with a thousand stars. There have been many goodbyes along the way, but everyone’s memory lives on. All those years ago, we set out to be anything and everything: an abbey for the silent, a map for mercenaries, a boat for survivors or a cemetery for the departed, a monument for the lost and a piece of truth or fairy-tale for the present day.
I have to thank you, for silence has never met my cries. Some of you came along and faded into more lightful places and I’m thankful for the mile we walked alongside, for the corner we’ve turned together… a mile that turned into a story of wisdom and smiles, one that has braided into the legacy we have today. Some of you are still here, with lines on the face and hands, bearing scars alike… walking the path we’ve always walked. I feel blessed for that, because the moment lasts forever and I am in-between what happened, and what could never be.
Despite the fact that this may be my last cast on the European Forum as it is right now, I will be here, surrounded by the Divine Punishment Guild, tracing trails through the mirrors of time onward and back, as we have done from the first days, and as we’ll do until all things are cinder.
Yours,
Dominnique – D.P. GuildMaster