HORAE - The Book of Hours

[Ioannes]

HORAE - THE BOOK OF HOURS

The Book of Hours is a tome kept and maintained by the paladin Denain le Jonquille. The manuscript is a varied collection of Twindari prayers, chivalric poetry, and funerary elegies for the departed of Ephia's Well in the Twindari mode. It is kept in his personal possession, however hand-copied excerpts are occasionally circulated among the libraries of the city.

[Ioannes]

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let death fall upon us only at the requisite hour
In days of yore ere ringwalls fell,
there strode a knight of deeds to tell.

By oath he swore, to guard with care.
A maiden pure, beyond compare.

Jonquille, the brave, in armor bright,
laid many low, in fearless fight.
preserve us

A noble soul, both strong and rare,
with sword in hand, and heart so fair.

Yet lay the king in silence slain,
as crumbling walls could not remain.
why has thy wrath befallen us
The choking ash consumed the sky,
And with the world, the maid did die.

are we displeasing to thine eyes
But in her final, fleeting breath,

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[Ioannes]

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She bade him swear in life or death.
kalim judge me gamil preserve me
"Oh noble knight, heed now my plea,
Go and seek the wisest maid for me.
desire I fair and righteous judgment
To her, thy hand in honour give,
And serve her well as long as you live."

breathe into me life after death that I may pray for the living
She faded soft in deathly embrace,
And left her knight to shame's disgrace.
I seek in you a worthy death
I shall make of myself a martyr

Ivsti mortvi
Ora pro nobis
Martyres
Ora pro nobis
Yet swore he then, by honours plight,
To keep his vow and serve with might.
Holy are the martyrs
Holy are the dead
Through barren wastes he wandered far,
In search of wisdom's guiding star.
For years he roamed through trials grim,
til found he there the Well's bright brim.
Holy are those righteous in faith

Beneath the shade of towering walls,
He sought to heed his noble call.
There found he one both wise and true,
And swore to her his Purpose new.
Where go you now,
fair Jonquille?

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[Ioannes]

The first of nine poems (with margin notes) detailing Jonquille's encounters with aspects of each spoke of the Wheel on his journey to Ephia's Well.

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The Mother, Baara

(you poured out your mercy upon the world)

The demon's eye burn
ed high above, and scorched
the sands with heat unloved.
beneath its gaze I fought to
stand, yet struggled oer the
searing land.

(thy boundless fount slakes our thirsts)

I raised my head in humb
le plea, grant forth thy mer
cy unto me. O mother, wea
ve thy shadow deep, and lull
 the burning beast to sleep.

(have mercy on us o goddess pure have mercy on us)

She drew her cloak across
the skies, and shrouded ea

(we beseech you mother now and at the hour of our death take away
our thirsting pain and cloak us in sable, relieve us our suffering
so that we may venture onto the reeds in your serene peace)

(cast aside the demons gaze. thy sacrifice born of love
 we magnify thee greatly for thy suffering on our behalf)

(hear our pleas)

rth in midnight guise.
the moon shone down with
silver glow, I breathed reli
ef in  cool repose.

(we beg thy kindness)

Where go you now,
fair Jonquille, Ephia is no
where to be seen, and the ro
ads abound with danger.

(Holy mother overgod
you are above all the spokes
let us glorify you as do all the gods
let us embody thy mercy
and act in temperance that our works
are well pleasing to thy sorrowful eyes)

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[Ioannes]

Jonquille is assailed by a company of bandits, but a miracle of the Axe drives them from his path.

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gloria. bellum. proelia. decora. ferrum. sanguis.

most high is the
lord of battle

agasius arrowsnap

Agaslakku, Warrior.

A band of thieves upo
n me closed, my fate see
med grim, my death foreposed.

(the axe the claxon the clarion)

(I beseech you in victory against my foes who are unrighteous)
(defend us in battle, be our protector and guardian)

Should I submit to dooms fell
breath or fight against the grasp
of death.

(grant protection in righteousness and truth
to these Thy servants against the enemy
rising against them)

I held my vow with iron will,
my blade rose high, my heart st
ood still. With hungry eyes they ru
shed to slay, but thunder roared t
o bar their way.

A claxon blared across the sands,
a clarion cry with bold demands.
The bandits turned, their courage dr
owned, for Axe struck fear where
cowards bound.

Where go you now fair Jonquille.
an oasis ahead, yet all is not as it se
ems. Wisdom become ye noble knight.

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[Ioannes]

Jonquille arrives at an oasis for rest, yet a djinn dwelling within the waters there seeks to deceive him, only to be revealed by lamplight shed.

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sacer. sophia. eruditio. veritas. revelatio. praescientia.

we beseech thy
guiding hand

Idris Thrice-Great

The Magi, Izdu.

(we magnify thy truth)

This voice so sweet then called to me
the mother came with grace to

(make steady my illumining hand as I pen these works)

see. beside the calm oasis bright,
stood she in robes of liquid night.

(shed upon me the lamp of thy truth that all wisdoms
 might befall me and verily I might know
 the knowledge which manifests in thy light)

She laid her hands upon m
y chest, and spoke in tones of
 silken rest. Cast off thy oath,
 let sorrow fade, embrace me
 now, be unafraid.

(holy wisdom holy father holy wisdom)
(truth and purpose everlasting)

Then rose a star with blaz
ing light, and stripped away the
 djinn from sight. It shrank,
 its veil in tatters torn,
 and fled beneath the depths
 forlorn.

(Idris thrice great among all the gods
grant me master thy discerning eye
guard me from the treachery of that which
comes not from this world but enters through the next)

Where go you now, fair J
onquille. Ash beats heavy anon.

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[Ioannes]

An ashstorm threatens to sweep over Jonquille, but the intervention of Kula saves him from certain death.

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Fecunditas. Abundantia. Paucitas. Viridis. Caries.

Ishûn Araaei

The Wyld, Kula.

The storm of ash loom
ed far and wide, it swallow
ed life in rolling tide. its fle
nsing dust scoured land and

(holy is the shepherd)

(vouchsafe our protection from wretched ash)

stone, and drowned the dreams that
men had known.

(give to us splendor and plenty)

(holy is the lifegiver)

I fell upon my knees, undone,
no shelter found, no place to run.
yet as my gaze to night was cast,
the clouds arose and gathered fast.

(keep us from the hands of tyrants)

Not clouds of ash and deaths decay,
but storm and rain in fierce array.
it tore the ashen veil apart,
and saved me from dooms cruel heart.

(and preserve our souls against the malignance of
innovation)

Where go you now, fair Jonquille
rest is upon ye now and the nightmares
draw swift.

(Holy is the bloom and the flowering)

(come there the pilgrim and the graal. beseech you thy servan
ts that when life spill forth from blessed cup thy manifold
blessings shall too spring forth and cover the world in glorio
us viridian, your garden renewed for all the ages)

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[Ioannes]

Jonquille takes to rest, yet dreams of the garden are blighted by ash, and it is the Sabotage's sweet song which steals him from those terrors.

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mystes. fraudator. nyctelius. auxites. liber. lenaeus. protrygaeus. eleuthereus. soterius.

Antiphasis.

(hear our misdeeds that we may speak plainly what burdens)

The Sabotage, Gellema

(forgive that we fall into our desires and deliver us from them)

Upon my bed I lay to rest, oer twili(ght)
mantle did I crest.

(grant us fortune in all things)

a verdant sea before m
y eyes, reborn again in
deaths demise.

(keep our dreams restive)

Then swept the ash
consuming all, and bo
und me up in sorrows
thrall. I thrashed against
my captive chains, yet
slumbers shackles still
remained.

(stave away terror and misfortune)

Thus did the world
decay and die, til beat
soft wings o cadyssfl
y. their winestaind lip
s sang sweet to me ,
from torment was I
awoken free.

Where go you now,
Jonquille, kula has tu
rned from you and th
e ash grows heavy.

(we ask you this that you turn your sight
from us and spare us misfortune
libations we pour in thy name, o grant us this)

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[Ioannes]

 

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      viator
 hospitium      alacritas
nuntius curatoria salvator

we pray to you in our struggles
we who are lost
in hope of being found
deliver us

z          e s
e          u a
p          x b
h          i a
y          n a
r          e h

                      blessed is the guardian of the meek
                                              the thirsty
                                            the anguished
The Wanderer, Warad
I woke to wind and whipping ash;
what wretched sting of ashen lash;

to you we pray for safe passage, celerity, and the wind at our back

come heed my prayer, hear it fast;
or else I surely cannot last.

lodesman show us the right path and deliver us from iniquity

Within the haze of ashen dust;
a wand'rer tread on zephyr's gust;
Come unto me, so thus he poured;
our mother's tears, my soul restored.

cast aloft thy mighty star, let it be a beacon to the lost and weary

My soul forbade to walk the reeds;
that fleeting shade thus heard my plea;
swift praise I spoke, swift he to fade;
and into biting wind he stray'd.

by thy beating wings banish the evils which assail us in our travels

Where go you now, fair Jonquille.
a wand'rer has saved thee, now thou shalt
profer the mother's mercy unto another.

and grant us the mercy of kindness in this wretched age of age

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