Tuesday 29 January 2013

News from Olverym: Disant Two Combs Speaks


A large crowd gathered at Wartin Seat, in the Hammer Hills, to the north of the great walled city of Dragon's Cradle, looking out upon the superlative view of the Olver Valley, as is traditional upon the idea of January. Whereupon Disant Two Combs (so called for his quite magnificent moustache, which needs two combs just to groom it) stood upon the seat, the time-honoured place of calling, and proclaimed that he, and he alone, could bring the Dragons back. Much discussion greeted this announcement and, when the injured were cleared away, Disant expounded upon his thesis.

What follows is a verbatim account of Disant's words. He has a powerful voice and your humble scribe could hear every word clear as an eagle calling upon the hunt. Some of the rejoinders from the crowd were, however, lost to this scribe's ears, raddled as they were with strong drink and, your scribe suspects, dreamleaf smoking.

A CALL TO RIGHTEOUSNESS


'Friends, people of Olverym, countrymen and women, I have come here upon this day, upon this auspicious day, with a new moon in the sky, and a new year just dawned, to tell you, nay to beseech you to join with me in a great mission to call forth the Dragons from the earth where they slumber. For is it not said —' Somebody yelled something, quite indistinctly. 'What? They are the lifeblood of our nation. How dare you speak of fire and death. The Dragons would not harm us, for we are their people. They slumber, they dream, beneath the very soil upon which we stand. They are all that we are, all that we ever should be, and all that we can be. Yes it does, it makes perfect sense. They are our past and our future, we are the people of the Dragons, forged in their fire.'

Somebody yelled. People laughed. Disant continued.

'Why do they slumber? Why do they not come to us in our hour of need?' Somebody yelled. 'Are we not in need? Are we not always in need? I can bring them back. I saw it in a vision. I lay out upon these hills not five days past and looked up at the stars and…no I was not partaking of that pernicious leaf, I am a man of truth. Where was I? What? Oh, right. I looked up at the stars and saw with the eyes of a man reborn, with the vision of a saint, with all the truth overflowing in my heart, that the Dragons dream because we, we the people of this once great land, have cast aside all righteousness in their sight. We  —  the people born of heroes great and true  —  drink, and smoke, and fornicate. And so the Dragons do not come, they do not wake … they're Dragons, they can still see while they dream if they want to. Um … yes … they do not wake for we disgust them. We must cast aside the drink, cast aside the leaf, cast aside the loose morals of those other lands beyond the mountains. We, the people of Olverym, must follow the righteous path to truth and then, and only then, will the Dragons return.' Loud applause.

A NEW MOVEMENT BORN


Much discussion went on amongst the crowd and, when the injured were cleared away, a smaller group, mostly made up of the older matrons from the towns and villages, conversed with the mighty Disant about his great mission, to bring back the Dragons.

Your scribe, with joy in his heart, imparts these true words to you.

Cuffid Longnose

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