by Felix Flauta/malfred
The Highborn in Question is an army I put together for the 2008 Core Competency at the (not quite in) Chicago Battle Bunker on September 20, 2008. I didn't build anything specifically for the list, as it's just an assembly of my current painted models, but participants were also required to submit both a painted Slayer Pirate model and two paragraphs of background material.
The Highborn in Question
A night in the autumn, in the forest, in the wood
Where the fey folk dwell singing, and dancing and could
Do nothing wrong whatever, in the eyes of their Lord,
For he was not paying attention, he was sad...he was bored?
"But why am I here?" he pondered in thought,
He was lost in his head, his mind was a drought.
The Counsel of the Alter and Noble
"My Lord," said his friend, who was both Alter and Noble,
powerful in battle and wise in his counsel,
"My Lord," so he said, "Speak to us of this blight
of all the things you have and have not on this night."
An Inventory of Possessions
The Elf Lord considered the advice of his friend,
Who fought many battles and knew many things,
who could bury his blade and bury the arrows,
launched from his bow like rainclouds in autumn.
"I have a fine garden, of many fine plants
tended by weavers with spells and with chants,
but I am no gardener, no Elf of the earth,
to take credit for the trees growth or their girth."
"I have many dancers, there are none who could match
how they move through the air with their swords and their tatts,
but I am no choreographer, no dancing machine
able to arrange both a dance and a scene."
"I have many fine hunters, both mighty and meek,
who ghost through the forests on their black elven steeds,
but I cannot track the beasts through woods such as they
who spend all their lives on the backs of their bays."
"I have Elf archers, who find every target,
within reach from the woods and the enemies regret,
but I cannot lead their killing straight to the foe,
those are their arrows fired from their bows."
"I have a fine eagle, on my enemies it spies,
as she climbs through the heavens and into the skies,
but only my imagination can follow her in air,
my feet must remain near the ground and right here."
"And these are my friends, who follow with care,
hangers on who would go with their Lord everywhere,
but their loyalty is their own, in myself I cannot find,
a reason for them to stand beside me and behind."
The Revelation
"But my Lord isn't it obvious the goal that you seek?
It's written on every word that you speak,
for you are a poet, and here is a harp,
to frighten your enemies, brighten friends and your heart."
And to this Day
And to this day you can hear the song of the Lord,
who was once sick in his heart, in his mind and his sword,
now carries a song that carries his voice
across the battlefields for his troops to rejoice.
