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THE LAY OF THE LADY She held his hands, she held his head, “Sir, please don’t go, please stay with me” He kissed her hands, her head and said “Within a year I’m back, you’ll see.”A teardrop slowly left her eye And found its way across her cheek More teardrops fell when she said “I Will follow when it’s Death you seek.”“I seek Queprur? You know, my love That duty binds me to this war. But please ask Armeros above That you will see me from afarWhen I return from battles won With bags of gold, my armour sold To live with you and you will run To greet me! Now, release your hold.”He gently took her hands and kissed Her fingers and her lips. One tear Did leave his eye: he too would miss His newly wed, his love, his dear.Thus as they held their heads so near And felt their hearts beating as one Upon her cheek he left his tear A final kiss; then he was gone.So all that she had left of him As he rode o’er the path down south And went over the mountain’s rim Was this small tear that passed her mouthAnd with the other tears streamed from Her neck towards her bosom where From cold or desperation some Did freeze upon those two flanks fair.And long after she’d lost the sight Of him did she remain up there Till cold and darkness forced her flight While she bade Armeros to careFor him “Whose braveness, strength and wit Would surely save his skin,” she said “But gods might disagree.” and lit A candle to amend for that.And as she looked into the flame The little warmth reached to her breast To melt the fear away. His name She spoke when she lay down to rest.So each night when she went to sleep She lit a little candle so That he might live in Arm’ros keep And fell asleep by candle’s glowThen one night she woke up and saw That only starlight filled the room The flame was gone. A sudden flaw Of wind had heralded her doom.The darkness and the cold now clawed Together at her heart and she Who put her fate in flames was gnawed By cold and dark anxietyAnd as the light of morning came Her heart was icy-cold. No fear Was left, nor did she speak his name, Nor did she shed a single tear.She only followed the same road That he had taken when he went Away. The noise ahead forebode The truth that nightly wind had sent.She never reached the market square Where widows new and old alike Were weaping for their fate unfair She only gazed down from a pikeAnd saw the cart with bodies filled She recognized the armour which She would not sell. His blood was spilled, Queprur had hungered for his lich.Within a year he had returned But she would not run down to him Instead she turned, ran back and burned Their house and threw herself therein.Or maybe she went to the top Of the White Lady mountain where Beneath its flanks her life did stop And did she find her lover there.And every spring the mountain cries Fresh tears from frozen waterfalls Just like a flame, before it lies And is put out by sudden flaws.And if you venture past the tears Of hope and up the mountain side You might feel that the Lady nears Or see her if she does not hide…

FAIR LADY IN WHITE She leaves not a trace, not a shadow you see But when she comes by she looks always at me Her fair eyes; like flowers with frostbite they be So haunted, not sparkling, no trace left of glee.Fair lady in white, won’t you tell me your name Or tell me at least if we aren’t the same Did fate break your heart or did he find a dame Who suited him more, tell me, who is to blame?The fairness of her; it is worthy of song But chilly! You shiver when she comes along And like all her kind - it’s not here they belong – She saves on her speech and keeps guard on her tongueFair lady in white, oh please tell me your name Or tell me at least; aren’t we two the same? Did fate break your heart or did he find a dame With whom he took off, tell me, who is to blame?I once met this girl who I admired most And I had to have her, no matter the cost But when I did tell her, to me she was lost Her heart it was covered with layers of frostA lady in white she was, without a name An icy-cold heart she had, was I to blame? You’re dead with no lover and so is my dame So tell me now, Lady, are you two the same?

THE WRETCHED ELF Ears of the dagger point; Eyes of the fire burn, Lips of the ruby blood; The wretched elf comes.Cold of the frozen soul; A mind of the sinister kind, Hands of a killer be; The wretched elf comes.Skin brighter than white; Hair darker than night, Teeth yellow as rotten flesh; The wretched elf comes.Pain in the heart; Loss of the mind, Freezing of the lungs; The wretched elf comes.Body gone cold; Soul gone to dust, Death is to me; As the wretched elf comes. THE VENLAKEN NIGHTMARE Past the jungles of the west, Birds of red and yellow, Over seas of scattered leaves, Rivers calm and mellow,Further than the states of Zhun, Over Kimbar’s song, Past the lively Hootar harbours, 'cross beaches gold and long,Over Marmarra's dark ancient city, echoing from jet black stone, leaving behind troubling witches, their chilling screams and moans,Into the enclave of pain and death, it is a land of twisted power, its armies marching in collosal terror, A haunting presence every hour,Venlaken is the place I speak about, A land that lives fatality, Shrouded in clouds of black magic, A perverse and dark reality,Go! Back to the shores of homely Zhun, To the soothing Kimbar tunes, Return to the calm and golden beaches, the magnificance of desert dunes,Hide back into your thick rainforests, Stay in your lively palace, For Venlaken, it is not beautiful, There is only pain and malice,Go back to your familiar havens, Your tranquil, safer lands, For in Venlaken you must fulfill, The Daedhirian souls' demands,Do not return to Venlaken's wastes, The land of nightmares true, Stay where the mystic terrors of the lost, Will never again find you... DO NOT WHISPER TO THE WIND Do not whisper to the wind, For wind winds far and deep, Deep down into the shadow land Where evil creatures sleep. The echo of thy uttered word Can wake them, make them creep!Do not whisper to the wind, For seething monsters hear; The winds will carry monologues To meet their careful ears, And they will rise up from their tombs To plague the world with fear.Do not whisper to the wind For demons know, they say, Where rests thy sleepy, pretty head When darkness swallows day, And in the night they’ll come on thee And steal thy soul away!Do not whisper to the wind, For evil’s waiting there With anxious claws and open ears Just listening to the air. And waiting for a foolish child To whisper unaware.Do not whisper to the wind, For beasts come leather skinned With eyes aglow in sickly hue And figures tall and thinned. Thou may not, shall not, cannot Ever whisper to the wind!

THE MEWLIPS When tales they tell by firelight, Of things the children to affright, Then Mewlip’s name is whispered soft, For sodden Mewlip haunts the night, A ghastly, gormly sight.In stagnant marshes dank and deep The Mewlips dwell, the Mewlips creep. Where grey-grim mosses hang aloft, Where dripping willows ever weep, And corbies murder sleep.The tall reeds make a dismal wall, Their roof a murky waterfall, A shadow for a blanket there, And mist a ready-whitened pall, Hovering over all.Their soft blanched hands are quick to hold, Beware, ye travellers too bold! They wrap you in their clinging hair, And then the scaly limbs enfold, Down in the bog and cold.No eye has seen a Mewlip face, Only the sodden weeds which trace Strange fungal features dimly guessed, A maw that seeks and gapes apace, Dining without a grace.Seek not the Mewlip marshes fey! Walk not that slime-beshadowed way, Naught but the mould'ring head-bones jest, Baring their teeth to the wincing day, Clacking their jaws with 'nay!