Story [Multifandom] Tilting at Windmills (50 Sentences) / Braveheart - Updated 05/22!

I know what you mean there - I was sketching out ideas of fandoms I'd like to hit during the year (because I am soooo taking on your challenge. wink ) and realized that not one of them was 'real', for lack of a better term - minus the ones placed back in time.

Funny how that works, eh? But I can kind of see why - the less 'real' the fandom, the more fun it is, in a way, I suppose. Though really, I have fun with just about anything.

And I am super glad that you're taking on my challenge!

This final February entry has a bit of a story behind it. Kind of. Anyway, a few months back I swore off writing stories about Hamlet mostly so I could concentrate on my own vision of the play for my production next year, which is set in a contemporary, really skewed up world of the social elite and has several of the male characters turned to female. Mainly the protagonist. So, you can see how finishing my Hamlet trilogy was kind of a bad idea when my mind currently considers Hamlet to be a woman. However, I was working on truncating the text this week (an awful lot of work - you try condensing a four hour play into something that can run an hour and forty-five minutes! My editing skills got a work out!) and all I could seem to write afterward was stuff to do with... well... Hamlet. Mostly because after dealing with that script for six days straight has imprinted it in my mind and it refuses to go away.

---

[blockquote][b]VIII. ?Providence?
[i]? Hamlet ?[/i][/b][/blockquote]

[b]1. Measure[/b]
Only once he was crowned did Claudius? mind wander to the question his impulses had denied in the days before the bloody deed was enacted ? was there ever a faultless reason to kill a king?


[b]2. Midnight[/b]
They met in the dead of night, stealing moments otherwise denied to them, treading the well-worn footsteps of a hundred lovers whose romances were forbidden.


[b]3. Mild[/b]
Horatio was keen to step aside and observe rather than enter a fray himself ? there was much more to be learned from listening than acting on impulse.


[b]4. Message[/b]
Ophelia folded the letter in half and pressed it between the covers of a dusty volume where no one but he would think to look.


[b]5. Mock[/b]
Polonius was a fool, an old fool with a mind bent to the disease of time; however, he was still an incredibly amusing and easy target for the pointed articulations of glibly-worded fire.


[b]6. Mischief[/b]
There was once a time when he caused an infinite amount of trouble by running through the city unwatched and unchecked; now he was a grown man and caused trouble of a much more dire sort ? evidence that some traits remained the same, but intensified in their colouring over time.


[b]7. Murder[/b]
Though Gertrude did not hold the knife herself, she may as well have performed the deed that took her husband?s life ? her honey-soaked words to her lover, her husband?s brother, lay at the beginning of a cycle of bloody actions that refused to come to a halt.


[b]8. Mull[/b]
The question of the after-life had long entranced him ? the idea of a peaceful destination at the end of this highway of sorrows would be calming if not for the uncertainty surrounding its existence.


[b]9. Minion[/b]
As the axe fell, Rosencrantz wondered whether death would have veered away had they run from the king?s summons ? then, there were no more thoughts.


[b]10. Malevolence[/b]
He began to see his father?s spirit appear ghostly, like mist, in the castle halls, red with the fires of purgatory, and he wondered whether he had truly gone mad.


[b]11. Melancholy[/b]
Elsinore bred despair ? it was ingrained in the stone, in the land, in the sea ? why else did he so strongly desire to return to Wittenberg?


[b]12. Moniker[/b]
His brother had barely breathed his last when the thought came upon him ? he was no longer prince? he was [i]king. [/i]


[b]13. Maintain[/b]
Every time Ophelia swore to her father that the prince?s affections meant nothing, she was surprised at her black-faced ability to live and breathe a lie to her

 

I love them!! I'm glad you were inspired to write them

The last one was my favorite

Great job!!

 

Excellent!

 

Wow, way for me to take forever to reply. Thanks, guys!

Anyways - I?m back! Sort of, somewhat. Class is done, but I still have audition/jury/essay stuff to do. However, I have discovered it?s very difficult to do such things when you?re sick, so I took the time to do a little writing. I?m trying to tackle all of April this month (instead of letting it go, like I did March), and I have a feeling I am going to end up with a historical epic theme. I?ve been re-watching a lot of my guilty pleasure movies that happen to be historical epics (Troy, King Arthur, Gladiator and the like) and what do you know? My muse took it and ran with it. Especially Troy. I think it has something to do with the soundtrack? Despite my issues with the bloody murder of The Illiad, I still greatly enjoy that film.

---

[color=darkgreen][b]APRIL[/b]

?We are made to be immortal, and yet we die. It?s horrible, it can?t be taken seriously.? Eugène Ionesco[/color]

[hr]

[blockquote][b]IX. ?Empyrean?
[i]? Troy ?[/i][/b][/blockquote]

[b]1. Arise[/b]
All men were born and all men died, but heroes were remembered for eternity.


[b]2. Cradle[/b]
Helen pressed the shimmering pearls between her fingers, luxuriating in their soft, cool touch ? they were a precious gift she could not bear while she was Queen of Sparta.


[b]3. Twine[/b]
Thetis did not weep when her son departed; despite her own wishes and desire, it was impossible to avoid the twisted hand of fate.


[b]4. Ardour[/b]
Agamemnon was not a good king, but his people loved him ? with a charismatic smile and the looming threat of simple annihilation, he could bend the world to his whims.


[b]5. Cascade[/b]
The rain of Trojan arrows flew down the great banks of the beach, felling lesser men whose time had come.


[b]6. Turbulence[/b]
When the Greeks came, Briseis reacted on instinct, abandoning her training ? she left Apollo?s altar to be desecrated by madmen and hid in a dark place, praying the Sun God would not take vengeance on her for her dereliction of duty.


[b]7. Blossom[/b]
The flowering trees gently welcomed Helen as she walked in the palace garden, the only place where one could pretend there was no war.


[b]8. Leaf[/b]
As the war raged on, Odysseys began to wonder ow many times the leaves would change colour before he saw his home again.


[b]9. Stem[/b]
When Priam reflected on what had past, he thought history would remember Helen and Paris as the ill-fated lovers who began the war ? but their actions were merely a romantic façade shielding the needs and desires of petty kings.


[b]10. Branch[/b]
Once when he was young, Paris fell from a tree and broke a leg, and once it had healed, he climbed back up and fell again ? Hector doubted it was in his nature to learn from his mistakes.


[b]11. Nature[/b]
Briseis looked at the sleeping face of her abductor, knowing that though he had saved her from the hands of a few slimy, malicious Greeks, killing was embedded in his character and that would not change.


[b]12. Fever[/b]
Patroclus stormed across the beach, kicking up sand ? was he undeserving of the same glory and immortality his famous cousin sought?


[b]13. Soil[/b]
The land before the great gates of Troy were soaked with the blood of thousands of men, and still the war raged on.


[b]14. Chrysalis[/b]
As he received the girl?s fiery glare, part of him wondered whether he could truly be anything other than a slayer of men.


[b]15. Gust[/b]
A wind blew across the silenced battlefield, carrying sand and the stench of dead bodies.


[b]16. Breeze[/b]
Odysseys felt the burning heat on his face as he ran through the destroyed streets of Troy, knowing the deaths of thousands of innocents were on his hands.


[b]17. Breakaway[/b]
These days she went through the motions of prayer, but her heart was not in it ? if Apollo truly cared or listened, why had he not answered her pleas?


[b]18. Elysian[/b]
Troy burned around him as he succumbed to his wounds, but he was at peace ? he would soon join the men he had killed in the afterlife.


[

 

I still fume that the movie transformed a ten-year siege into a ten-month venture, and I didn't like some shortcuts they made in the scenario, but... Oh, well, any movie that introduces a girl to Eric Bana can't be a total failure, can it? And Sean Bean as Odysseus sort of made my day, as well. Put the man in any kind of uniform or armour, and he's home.


Anyway, on to the comments:

Cradle: Heartbreaking in its own way. Not all women can be as stoic as Queen Gorgo...

Leaf: Ten long years. Though it's still considerably less than the Hundred-Year War that ravaged Europe during the Middle-Ages.

Branch: Hugs Hector tight.

Breeze: Oh! Odysseus! I do think that in all the war-mongering going around you, you're the only one reflecting on war's costs...

Warble: And life will go on.

Zest: And Priam is one very wise king.

Seed: A great burden, true, but also the start of a great adventure. If Virgil is to be believed, that is.

Balm: Poor dears. But really, what did they expect? It's not as though Menelaus would actually let them go without retribution. Just sayin'.

Hatch: Good thing to have a cool head in the midst of mindless fury, I say.

Whisk: Ah, so the lad has brains after all...

Anew: And an awesome way to finish, with a loop back to the first sentence.


Great set!

Cheers,

Lauré

 

1. Arise
All men were born and all men died, but heroes were remembered for eternity.

50. Anew
The legends would spread, told and re-told throughout the centuries ? and perhaps then they had all achieved immortality.


These are great ways to bookend the sentences!! Troy is a great guilty pleasure movie I particularly liked the sentences about Briseis and Priam--you captured them both very well

 

Mira
You know, it's sometimes scary how similar we are. Loving epic movies for all their gaudiness and awesome soundtracks must be a part of being blonde, wearing glasses and being artsy. Oh, and mythological mauling? I LOVE THAT TERM, CAN I MAKE IT REAL?

I had a feeling you'd enjoy the Briseis/Achilles lines. I am glad that they didn't focus too much on Paris and Helen; that story has been done, and it tends to drive me nuts in any incarnation, just because they are usually lovestruck idiots of some kind that I want to hit on the head. Rose Byrne's Briseis was one of the stronger roles in the film, I think, even with the limited about of material she had to work with; something about her portrayal makes me want to investigate her character and her scenes a little more. Though my feminist theory-overrun mind still gets a little freaked out at the way they approached her relationship with Achilles.

(This is what theatre school does to you!)


Lauré
No kidding, that had me fuming, too! I kind of ignored that "little" fact in the film for this set and wrote it as if the war had been portrayed as it's ten-year venture - well, if you stretch your imagination far enough, it sort of works. Sean Bean makes my day any day (I've oddly been watching a lot of films and shows with him in them lately - completely coincidental, but he keeps popping up in stuff). I adore his version of Odysseus, but I have a feeling it has more to do with Sean Bean than the way they wrote his role.

Good thing to have a cool head in the midst of mindless fury, I say.

I got that idea from an expression Sean Bean had in one of his later scenes in the film. Every time he speaks to Agamemnon, he has this look on his face that says, "You're going to kill all our men if you keep this up!" I get the feeling that his Odysseus chose to make the Trojan Horse in order to finish the war as quickly as possible to save the lives of the Greek soldiers - otherwise, Troy would have just kept picking them off and Agamemnon wouldn't budge until he had no soldiers left. It's either the Greeks or the Trojans, and obviously Odysseus would side with his own people - though from the footage of the sacking of Troy, he doesn't particularly enjoy murdering the innocents, unlike Ajax and the others.


Nat
I love bookend sentences! They give a nice arch to the story. Troy is such an awesome guilty pleasure movie! I could pick it apart mercilessly, but I choose not to for my own enjoyment.


Thanks for reading, all!

---

I am interrupting my April tables to do something completely out of the ordinary and against the rules. Well, rules were made to be broken and I had a blast writing the following, so there ? I win!

I missed March?s tables due to school and the insane amount of work I was involved with; however, I felt the drive to make up for it by completing March and April?s tables together. I?ve been playing around with the idea for different ways of stylistically tackling the challenge, and I found one that I particularly like for the purposes of doing ?make-up? tables. Hence, I hereby introduce my [b]Book of the Fallen[/b] series (and no, it has nothing to do with [i]Malazan Book of the Fallen[/i]) ? every time I miss a month, I will make up for it in subsequent months by compiling all of the missed month?s tables into one ?book? to create a story (or the impressions of a particular story) from a single fandom. Trust me, I?m probably going to miss more months throughout the year and then want to make them up. :p

Feel free to skip the next part. I?m feeling talkative right now.

This first book?s inspiration happened on a whim. It?s a blast from my childhood amusements. I have been playing the computer game series [i]Heroes of Might and Magic[/i] since it first came out, which was way back in 1995. The sixth entry of the series is currently set for release in September, but since I?m home, I thought I would play a bit of the fifth one. And then I starte

 

BOOK OF THE FALLEN
? Oblivion?s Edge ?

Chronicles of Palaedra, Axeoth, 1267 AS. I have taken upon myself the duties of chronicling the legends and folklore of the world once known as Enroth, the land from which our ancestors fled during the Reckoning. Of particular note and interest are the heroes ? the kings and queens, the soldiers and the warriors who did performed great deeds and were far greater than the sum of their parts, in the eyes of their people.

Where shall we begin? Is it possible to chronicle the entire history of a world, a world now destroyed and forgotten in the twisting paths of history? These heroes, these men and women, had once lived, breathed the same air as our ancestors, walked the same mountains and forests.

My own interests lie in the legendary Gryphonheart family of Erathia. The conquerors of that particular land on the continent Antagarich, they became known as wise and kind rulers. The downfall of King Gryphonheart is a myth still told today to those who are wary of the cleverness of necromancers. But it is Gryphonheart?s daughter, Catherine Ironfist ? once a Captain of Erathia, then Queen of the neighbouring Enroth ? who interests me. Flame-haired and spirited, she single-handedly restored her father?s kingdom from her enemies.

It is with Catherine and the Restoration of Erathia that we shall begin our tale.

?Song of the Queen?

1. Firefly
Nicolai set a lamp in his window and watched the flickering flame, his practical side telling him it did no use, but his heart hoping his mother would see it when she sailed home.


2. Grit
When Catherine stepped foot on the blood-soaked, barren land of her country, she knew she would not live the pampered life of a royal for the many long months ahead.


3. Crew
The Commander bowed as he took his instructions from the queen herself ? his role as the army?s scout was an honoured one, but would likely get him and his men killed.


4. Lure
Sandro rolled the die with a skeletal hand and let it drop to the board: though he had been imprisoned by his own puppet-king, the plan had been set in motion and the alliance between Deyja, Nighon and Eeoful had been struck ? Erathia would suffer greatly and he would watch gleefully from his prison as the humans were ensnared into the trap that would destroy them.


5. Tenacity
The servant ducked as General Kendal flung his goblet across the room ? the most recent report of armies from Eeoful and Nighon steadily eating up Steadwick?s backyard did not improve his already taxed mood.


6. Affinity
Duke Winston Boragus licked his fingers free of his dinner while studying the map ? taking advantage of Erathia?s dire situation was far, far too tempting.


7. Heist
Haart considered himself a crafty man ? he had, after all, hidden his necromantic allegiances from the greatest king in Antagarich ? but even he had to bow to the skill which Sandro played the long game.


8. Renegade
I should be grateful, Nimbus thought as King Vilmar placed the Spirit of Oppression above Gryphonheart?s corpse, but this act is sacrilege to our kind ? the Erathian King banished us in life, he should not deserve this honour in death.


9. Stable
The Commander could not say where his Queen?s inner strength came from ? she had already lost her husband to the Eeoful hordes two years previous, and now the very life of her country was threatened, but she continued to fight with a steady hand and a clear mind.


10. Poise
The druid?s graceful smile never left her face as she surveyed the remnants of the two armies; raising her arms aloft, she twisted her wrist and ice exploded in the centre of the battlefield, impaling her remaining enemies.


11. Shepherd
Even with hordes of Nighon and Eeoful monsters snapping at their heels, stranger helped stranger as refugees of all classes fled Steadwick.


12. Haven
Catherine longed for sleep ? her unconscious mind was her only es

 

Are you obsessed with the word "shiny" now?

Rules? What rules? Your rules, maybe, but Idri knows no rules. Yeah... don't know where I was going with that... but sure! It's definitely fun to experiment with style. My HoMM set isn't quite 200 prompts for one story, it's more 50 prompts per character with an overarching story (kind of), but I may tackle a seamless 200 prompts some month.

You should check out the game, Mira, if you're inclined that way at all. Best turn-based strategy adventure quest ever. Though I do warn you - I've taken the game's material and run out the door with it. The game gives you facts most of the time; I'm pumping as much reasonable emotion into them as much as I can, and sometimes my imagination leads me to conclusions that are entirely my own and not the game's.

Catherine is a decent character - plus, she completely kicks ass in Armageddon's Blade, if you build her character stats correctly. Not quite as much as Gelu, who is the best hero in the entire game (but that's partially because I have a lot of strategy built up for Rangers, and they are my preferred hero genre to control). But it is nice to see a female character in a relatively male-dominated game that doesn't completely fall apart (unlike the lead female from Heroes V... ugh, don't get me started on Isabel's hopelessness!).

... I'm a tad bit excited to share, aren't I?

---

[i]There was a warrior among Catherine?s armies who did not come to prominence until several years after the Restoration War. A decorated leader and commander of the Forest Guard, he was a skilled archer and renown trainer of sharpshooters. But he was destined for a fate far less ordinary than that of a simple soldier. Whether it was the will of providence or by his own path of action, his life is one we have good reason never to forget as he is the one who destroyed us.

The name of Gelu has become a curse for many decades since the Reckoning. I have strived to find the layers within the mystery, for certainly no man would willingly cause an apocalypse so dire an entire world was obliterated. But power is a cunning force ? who can say that a man filled with good intentions would not willingly cause destruction if he found it within his own interests?

Perhaps fate singles out those of impossible parentage as the heroes of great and terrible deeds, for Gelu was a man born of two races and of a contradictory existence.[/i]

[blockquote][b]?Avatar for Armageddon?[/b][/blockquote]

[b]1. Search[/b]
A child of two worlds without blood-parents or heritage, Gelu never felt like he truly belonged and was forever searching for a home.


[b]2. Brother[/b]
Though not his blood-kin, many of the men he personally trained felt like family ? or how he imagined family would be.


[b]3. Effluent[/b]
Many considered him an oddity, and it wasn?t just his bright red hair or his black eyes or his brown-streaked white skin ? he moved with a grace and fluidity that was neither human nor elf, but his own.


[b]4. Road[/b]
For as long as he could remember, he had the overwhelming need to prove himself ? he swore never to take the easy path, but he never realised how prophetic that oath would become.


[b]5. Auspice[/b]
Morgan Kendal had done his best ? more than his best ? and Gelu had to be thankful for the military education his foster father had given him? otherwise, he would not have survived.


[b]6. Stale[/b]
He saw Gem many years later ? long after the Angelic Alliance, long after the Restoration War, long after the Demon Wars ? but she was not the light-hearted sorceress he had once known; but she claimed it was he who had changed, scarred by the tumultuous events in Eeoful, and it wasn?t for the better.


[b]7. Fetter[/b]
?You are only chained to this destiny if you so choose,? Ciele had once told him, appearing and disappearing in a cloud of silvery mist, as if she had not been there at all.


[b]8. Trite[/b]
?Come now, half-breed boy,? Xeron called from the centre of the brazen battlefield, ?don?t you think your guerrilla attacks are

 

The great and honourable moddess has revealed a secret! She likes shiny things!



The rules are more like 'guidelines', anyway.

Wheee! Necessary Pirates quote. I should do a Pirates table... OR you can do a Pirates prompt table and I'll find a good fandom to insert into it.

... or, y'know, both could happen.

It is interesting to see a story twined through so many character arches.

I could see it being a strategy for larger epics - like A Song of Ice and Fire (if I had read it) and the like. Anything that has a massive story to cover.

Your conclusions and emotional impact is coming across nicely from having no prior basis for comparison - it certainly is interesting to build on such a foundation, I must imagine.

I have plot bunnies to build on the entire game in full, as a novelisation. Though I'm not sure if I can handle an epic right now - but it would be awesome! Not sure if anyone would read it, though. 1999 fantasy turn-based computer games are even more obscure of a fandom than Shakespeare.

My kind of character already.

Gelu's background is just pumped for the "lone kickass hero" trope.

This character is really fascinating - he doesn't seem to be an 'evil' character, merely a path trying to prove himself that went too far? I believe that that's the lesson here.

Probably something that can pursued further. I like "good" characters who aren't really all that "good" - the heroes, the leaders who find their positions to be a lot more difficult than they thought.

Eeck, well, he does the villain thing well when it comes to him.

It's funny. There's a "plot twist" (in the form of scripted messages that pop up throughout the course of a scenario) of sorts that occurs during the second-to-last scenario of Armageddon's Blade, when Catherine, Roland and Gelu are on their way to attack Xeron (well... depending on how you play it. When I played it last, Gelu just bombarded the Eeoful troops and Catherine and Roland ran around the map picking up resources and flagging mines ). Anyway, Catherine has a strange dream and she discusses it with a Conflux Elementalist, who tells her that while she has chosen the side of Light, there is someone on their team who is straying towards the Dark. Catherine automatically thinks it's Roland, after what he's been through, and she panics and tries to sort things out with him.

But it's definitely foreshadowing for Gelu. It was quite a surprise at the beginning of Heroes IV when he blew up the world.

---

[i]Gelu?s greatest enemy prior to the Krewlod King Kilgore was Lucifer Kreegan?s own Lord High Commander, Xeron. The two shared more similarities than they would admit; posed at dire opposites of the same field, they came from impossible beginnings, trained to be masters of might, searched for the same magic, reached for the same object, became infused with the power of Armageddon. They were brothers in fate, if not brothers in blood ? two half-breeds, sharing a human ancestry mixed with the blood of a ?superior? race.

It was the human blood who made them who they were.

The half-demon son of a succubus, Xeron was Lucifer?s Champion, just as Gelu was Catherine?s. Without him, the Blade would not have existed. Xeron challenged the powers of the Confluxes, outstripped Gelu?s own guerrilla forces, and completed the glorified quest to forge the sword. One could place the blame on Xeron for the destruction of the world, as without him, without his legacy, Gelu would not have had the means to unleash the apocalypse.

Would Xeron have applauded his brother?s ultimate fate? Perhaps his demon side would have celebrated the oblivion, but his human side was what made him unpredictable ? and stronger than the rest.[/i]

[blockquote][b]?Maker of Sorrows?[/b][/blockquote]

[b]1. Ancient[/b]
The Kreegans were newcomers to Antagarich and few understood their ways ? how, then, could the simple-minded humans ever understand their illustrious and ancient culture?


[b]2. Dictator[/b]

 

Pretty plot! See, wouldn't it make a fantastic fantasy mini-series or TV show?

I'll admit to being slightly overwhelmed with reading these - but you have a great and epic cast and scope going within these, and its obvious that you've put a lot of work into filling in gaps and creating character tugs and pulls.

I tried my best to make it easier for people unfamiliar with the fandom to read, but as with any fandom, it's not going to be perfect. Thank you! I'm glad that my overly excited imagination showed its work.

It was by far the character relationship that has intrigued me the most of these.

It was a link that I had never thought of before; I don't think it comes up in the game at all, but when I was doing some digging and some research before writing, I found quite a few similarities between the characters and decided to expand (to an insane extent) on them.

Now, for the finale!

---

[i]Xeron?s legacy may have begun the Reckoning, and many perished that day. One of the greats was lost, alongside his wife, Catherine. Roland Ironfist had a celebrated history of victorious campaigns in his homeland of Enroth, beginning with the Succession Wars. He fought his own brother, the corrupted Necromancer Archibald, for control of their father?s kingdom, eventually sealing his brother away in cursed stone. Ironfist was known as a benevolent and compassionate ruler and a brilliant tactician, though he abandoned his son and his country for a great span of time.

Tales of horror still spread from the mouths of the descendants of Enroth here in Axeoth. They are tales concerning the disappearance of their king, when the Kreegans arrived on earth in a shower of shooting stars. Their invasion was well-planned, and Ironfist sought to protect the world they sought to destroy. He was captured and held prisoner, subject to torture for years until rescued.

There was no rest ? he returned to Catherine, then in Erathia, but the royal couple could not leave Enroth, for Lucifer Kreegan had begun his quest for Armageddon?s Blade. Perhaps Ironfist?s actions and life has become legendary here in Axeoth, held aloft as one of the greatest kings who ever lived, but there are those who believe he was something much simpler ? a man willing to do anything to protect the world he loved.[/i]

[blockquote][b]?Iron King?[/b][/blockquote]

[b]1. Passing[/b]
Sometimes Roland?s life seemed like a series of nightmares ? first, his murdering brother Archibald had haunted him, then the Kreegans had haunted him, then the destruction of Eeoful had haunted him ? would there ever be a time when he was without the pain and sorrow of the past?


[b]2. Piercing[/b]
The Kreegans had tortured him for years in their cells ? at first, they had burned and cut him, his skin sparkling with tiny red lacerations, stretching his physical limits; then, they had tempted him with alluring women who looked like Catherine but were truly only succubi; then, they had entered his mind, worked their obscene magics, forced him to see horrors that were not there, feel pain that was not real? and never once did he break and speak a word of Enroth or those dearest to him.


[b]3. Peel[/b]
Outwardly, he was a king and a warrior, but on the inside ? a side his subjects could never see ? he was screaming.


[b]4. Pair[/b]
Catherine had been a suggestion, an arranged marriage made by her father not long after he ascended the Enrothian throne ? Roland could not refuse the tactical advantage, but he had never realised how much he would come to love the brazen, proud woman who was his other half.


[b]5. Practical[/b]
?If you want a griffin, Catherine, you can have a bloody griffin ? I just don?t think they are particularly suitable mounts, that?s all!?


[b]6. Practice[/b]
He had become king of Enroth solely to protect his father?s people from Archibald?s malevolence ? when he ascended the throne, he knew everything about being a good commander, but found that his skills did not automatically translate to being a good king.


[b]7. Path[/b]
Archibald had

 

Yay, epicness! I'm glad you enjoyed, Mira, despite not knowing anything about the game or the story. As a bit of an update, I'm playing my way through the Armageddon's Blade campaign right now and I'm actually stuck on Roland's scenario. He's on one side of the Great Lake and the enemy is on the other - they start with more armies and more castles than I do, which is not fair! <-- complaining gamer

*

Anyway, continuing along here with my ?historical film indulgence? month (hi April, sorry I didn?t finish you in time!), my next set is devoted to Braveheart. I love this film, despite the many historical accuracy issues I have with it. But hey, it?s a film, not a documentary, so there. Ha ha. Enjoy!

---

[blockquote][b]X. ?Not Every Man Really Lives?
[i]? Braveheart ?[/i][/b][/blockquote]

[b]1. Quest[/b]
Children heard stories of brave heroes who traversed dangerous lands and waged wars to achieve their quests ? but the greatest task lay at home in the hands of farmers and peasants: a country of their own.


[b]2. Forgotten[/b]
On the misty shores of history, truth was seldom remembered in the stead of myths that favoured the victor.


[b]3. Found[/b]
When he was a child, William thought little about the land around him ? it was not until he returned from his travels that Scotland became the home he swore never to relinquish.


[b]4. Influence[/b]
As the stories of his conquests spread from village to village, a hero arose worthy of the grand myths of old.


[b]5. Stand[/b]
Angus was no more than fifteen and still looked more like a boy than a man when he faced the armies of the English king and wondered what he was fighting for.


[b]6. Friendship[/b]
Hamish had thrown the first rock, hitting William on the forehead and knocking him over; the boy struggled to his feet, leapt on his attacker?s back and together they tumbled into the stream ? they became fast friends as soon as the blood stopped flowing.


[b]7. Onus[/b]
When Isabelle stood before the altar, she swore an oath aloud to the son of her father?s enemy, but a curse within for the husband she could never love.


[b]8. Steel[/b]
He received the claymore not long after Stirling; it was not a grand sword, but something made with purpose, force and strength imminent in its very blade.


[b]9. Sight[/b]
Murron felt the hungry eyes of the soldiers on her whenever they passed through the village, always watching her, no matter how much dirt she rubbed on her face or how many weeds she tangled in her hair.


[b]10. Heirloom[/b]
Robert kept the blood-stained, dirty embroidered cloth on him at all times as a tribute ? it was the last memento of Wallace?s life on this earth.


[b]11. Levity[/b]
In deference to tradition ? even as the English army bore down on them ? they turned as one, shouting and hollering, and raised their kilts.


[b]12. Fellowship[/b]
She was thankful for Nicolette ? in this barren land of drafty stone and enclosed walls, at least she had the small blessing of a single friend.


[b]13. Archer[/b]
To her enemies, England was nothing more than a tyrant standing behind the battle line, taking what she pleased with deadly accuracy.


[b]14. Ranger[/b]
Stephen never said what exactly had caused him to leave ?his? island ? perhaps his fellows had thrown him into the sea for his bad mouth and claims to speak to God and he had miraculously swum to Scotland?s shores ? but whatever the reason, the Irishman had proven himself one of them more than even the Scottish lords could say.


[b]15. Pursuit[/b]
When Murron saw him standing on the hills outside her house, she clambered through the window and ran after him, gleefully fleeing from her mother?s shouts of disapproval.


[b]16. Stature[/b]
?I thought he was taller than that,? Angus whispered to his fellow as Wallace rode past, hawk-like blue eyes piercing the opposing army with the ferocity of a man born from vengeance.


[b]17. Middle[/b]
Her husband was useless, but she knew how to play him and his damned father ? the key was to stay in the middle ground: quiet