It had taken some time, to find a copy of the text.
"The Lay of Leofric" was indeed banned, as Lady Anstarra had said, but what was banned in Ishgard, was good business in Ul'dah. It had been just as dour as Anstarra described.
Leofric, the Ishgardian Knight, had fallen in love with a heretic, a grave sin. Yet despite his love,he still condemned her at her trial, sending the woman to be executed. At the end of the play he faces the dragons, wracked with sorrow, and is slain.
The no eyed man had edited his copy of the piece, and Evangeline did the same with hers, altering the story and characters for a more romantic outcome. In her version Leofric did not denounce his love, and upon the eve of her execution, absconded with her. The two travelled far away, and lived the rest of their lives in love and peace, away from the spectre of war.
A little sappy, but just the kind of ending she liked. Reading through it one last time, she nods, closes it, and tosses it into the shallow grave. It had not been fun, the trek out to the burning wall, finding the site of their battle, and digging the pit. However something inside her screamed it must be done.
In front of her towered the crumbling pile of rock which interred their recent enemy. The great drake, whole wailed for Leofric as they pierced it with cannon and lance. Certainly they owned the beast no favors, it nor the One Eyed Man, yet at some point the cycle must be broken. Perhaps just once, a pair of souls might escape this struggle between Ishgard and Dravania.
On top of the book she tosses the calcified heart of the No Eyed Man, dug from his corpse, at rest in Verad's house. She had not seen the end of the man, nor seen much of him at all. His heart was perhaps the final mystery about him, half human, half stone wyrmtear. She watches the softly glowing organ at the bottom of the pit, wondering once more what the connection was between the man who called himself Leofric, and the tale of the same name.
Shrugging she begins shoveling dirt into the pit, the dull glow of the heart fading beneath the soil. Eventually she finishes, and stamps the dirt flat. In the stillness of the night, she moves to her knees, and gives an awkward prayer for the souls of both who are buried there.
"The Lay of Leofric" was indeed banned, as Lady Anstarra had said, but what was banned in Ishgard, was good business in Ul'dah. It had been just as dour as Anstarra described.
Leofric, the Ishgardian Knight, had fallen in love with a heretic, a grave sin. Yet despite his love,he still condemned her at her trial, sending the woman to be executed. At the end of the play he faces the dragons, wracked with sorrow, and is slain.
The no eyed man had edited his copy of the piece, and Evangeline did the same with hers, altering the story and characters for a more romantic outcome. In her version Leofric did not denounce his love, and upon the eve of her execution, absconded with her. The two travelled far away, and lived the rest of their lives in love and peace, away from the spectre of war.
A little sappy, but just the kind of ending she liked. Reading through it one last time, she nods, closes it, and tosses it into the shallow grave. It had not been fun, the trek out to the burning wall, finding the site of their battle, and digging the pit. However something inside her screamed it must be done.
In front of her towered the crumbling pile of rock which interred their recent enemy. The great drake, whole wailed for Leofric as they pierced it with cannon and lance. Certainly they owned the beast no favors, it nor the One Eyed Man, yet at some point the cycle must be broken. Perhaps just once, a pair of souls might escape this struggle between Ishgard and Dravania.
On top of the book she tosses the calcified heart of the No Eyed Man, dug from his corpse, at rest in Verad's house. She had not seen the end of the man, nor seen much of him at all. His heart was perhaps the final mystery about him, half human, half stone wyrmtear. She watches the softly glowing organ at the bottom of the pit, wondering once more what the connection was between the man who called himself Leofric, and the tale of the same name.
Shrugging she begins shoveling dirt into the pit, the dull glow of the heart fading beneath the soil. Eventually she finishes, and stamps the dirt flat. In the stillness of the night, she moves to her knees, and gives an awkward prayer for the souls of both who are buried there.
