Wherefore the darkness, and yet wherefore the sun;

When I fall will I sleep, When I sleep will I dream?

Of battles I fought in life, of deeds I have done;

Is it better a soldiers death, or to die an old man?

These desolate wastelands, are the last lands he’ll see;

Wardush’s final wish, is for honour reprieved.

The bloody helm of an enemy, to rouse his company;

‘I smell the Ashen Forge’, were the last words he breathed.

Mazrahil the Sly Scarab, has but one final fling;

Before sands swallow his legacy, and bury his name.

For all but the few of us, no songs are there sung;

For old soldiers die lonely, heroes of none.

The Old Tower’s shadow, veils o’er their fates;

Tis scorn of providence, mocks their shared doom. 

Nowt awaits but nightfall, their adventures done;

What use now honour, to the dead and forgotten?

Wherefore the darkness, and yet wherefore the sun;

When I fall will I sleep, when I sleep will I dream?

Of battles I fought in life, of deeds I have done?

Is it better a soldiers death, or to die an old man?

S.K

From the southern gates of the Bangkorai Garrison, High King Emeric looks out across the Fallen Wastes. Still the lust of battle bestirs his blood and he is eager to push forward into the desert to find Septima Tharn and liberate the rest of Southern Bangkorai from her Seventh Legion’s choking grasp. Emeric’s forces however need time to regroup, so I am sent to scout the road ahead to Hallin’s Stand.

It is not long before I see the first devastating consequences of the Seventh Legion’s occupation. The Damar Farmstead has been burnt almost to the ground and nowt but daedra now roam the fields about.

Scorched Lands; a military tactic all the Legions know, but rarely talk about.

In the event of retreat we were taught to destroy anything that might be of use to the enemy. To burn the fields, supplies, and bridges. To tear down the buildings and scatter their stones so not even rubble remained. It is a shameful policy, but seen as a necessary one.

Emeric must muster quickly, lest all that will be left for him to liberate will be sand and corpses.

S.K