The Campaign Builder's Guild

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The Ballad of King Roland

Through fire from the east sailed boldly King Roland
Through fire from the east on ships made of stone
He came with an army of knights and of soldiers
To fight for the freedom they all did bemoan

   Chorus:
   The leagues stretched on endless, the days went uncounted
   The wind was a howling demon of spite
   Not once did despair though the bold King Roland
   His eyes with a purpose were always alight

The first men they met all spoke in sweet tones
The first men they met were regal and fair
But he saw through their lies, the wise King Roland
And none of the liars his bright blade did spare

   Chorus

They battled the fiends of the poisonous desert
They burnt out the pale, sick mock'ries of men
None stood 'fore the fury of knights and of soldiers
Fire and lightning purged foul monsters' den

   Chorus

The long ardrous journey they all had cost dearly
And soldiers and knights were tired to the bone
When they chanced on a city sorrounded by mountains
A place of shelter, a place they called 'žhome'

The journey was over, its days all were counted
Content knights and soldiers beneath city's dome
And bold King Roland looked down on his people
And ordered abandoned the great ships of stone

The story won't end here, that end is to come yet
So listen my friends to the tales bitter close
'Cause peace and content are no fate for a soldier
Whose life is destined for great battles and woes

Through fires in the south, to old King Roland
Through fires in the south the Witchlords arrived
And ordered King Roland to lay down his weapons
His anger none of the envoys survived

Rearmed were the knights, rearmed were the soldiers
Rearmed were the old great ships made of stone
To the south led King Roland his knights and his soldiers
Their backs they all turned on the place they'd called home.

   Chorus

Witchfire in the south burned bold King Roland
Witchfire in the south burned ships made of stone
He burned for his pride with his knights and his soldiers
Their fate to this day for us all to bemoan

The leagues stretch on endless, the days go uncounted
The wind is a howling demon of spite
We all must remember the bold King Roland
Lest pride and ambition us all set alight

Come walk the Long, Long Road
[ooc]This is a song for funerary occasions, especially intended to be sung at a deathbed.  It reminds those who hear it that death is not an ending but simply a resuming of the journey everyone is undergoing, along the Long, Long Road.

Written approximately how it would sound when sung.[/ooc]

[ic="Red-tailed Lass"]My red-tailed lass's gone away (to-day)
Called home to her matron they say, (they-say)
And the tack-master's calling
For the kite's in disarray,

But I won't paint the black '˜til she comes back,
And the hairs on my ears turn grey.

There's a flash in the rainless sky (up-high)
But the lightning's no brighter than her eyes, (her-eyes)
And the watchman's calling
As the storm-wyrms cry,

But I won't paint the black '˜til she comes back,
'˜Til I hear of the fall of the Cat's Eye wall,
And they hoist up my bones when I die.

The four winds are all raging back (rough-tack)
But her sweet voice is all that I lack, (I-lack)
And the charter's calling
That we're far off the track,

But I won't paint the black '˜til she comes back,
'˜Til I hear of the fall of the Cat's Eye wall,
'˜Til they dance with glee on the Wine-Blood Sea,
And there's no '˜stones left in the black.

The white cliffs are quick coming 'round (steam-bound)
But not as bleak as when my lass can't be found (be-found)
I near hear her calling
And I weep at the sound,

But I won't paint the black '˜til she comes back,
'˜Til I hear of the fall of the Cat's Eye wall,
'˜Til they dance with glee on the Wine-Blood Sea,
'˜Til I dip my tail to a Grey-thorn scale,
And back to my red-tail I'm bound.

- Traditional Gheen flyer's song, heard in the Rookery[/ic]