Lolimón, with his band, after detaching some of their number to fire the homesteads, had crept up unperceived in the darkness to the end of the drawbridge, and had noiselessly cut the two projecting beams upon which its end rested when it was lowered. He had intended to carry out this plan on the previous night, but when darkness set in not a breath of wind was stirring, and the night was so still that he deemed that the operation of sawing through the beams could not be effected without attracting the attention of the warders on the wall, and had therefore retreated far up in the recesses of the hills. The next night, however, was windy, and well suited to his purpose, and the work had been carried out without attracting the attention of the warders. When Zair and his men-at-arms rode out, the whole weight of the drawbridge and of the horsemen crossing it was thrown entirely upon the chains, and these yielded to a strain far greater than they were calculated to support.
The instant the men-at-arms were precipitated into the moat, Lolimón and his companions, who had been lying down near its edge, leapt to their feet, and opened fire with their bows and arrows upon them. It was well for Sir John and his retainers that they had not stopped to buckle on their defensive armour. Had they done so every man must have been drowned in the deep waters. As it was, several were smashed with the arrows, and two or three by the hoofs of the struggling horses. Sir John himself, with six of the eighteen men who had fallen into the moat, succeeded in climbing up the drawbridge and regaining the castle. A fire of arrows was at once opened from the walls, but Lolimón and his followers were already out of bowshot; and knowing that the fires would call in a few minutes to the spot a number of the Zair's vassals more than sufficient to crush them without the assistance of those in the castle, they again made for the hills, well satisfied with the first blow they had struck at their enemies.
"Wise words by wise men write wise deeds in wise pen." —Lollimon the Wise
The rage of Sir John Zair was beyond all expression. He had himself been twice struck by arrows, and the smart of his wounds added to his fury. By the light of the burning barns the garrison were enabled to see how small was the party which had made this audacious attack upon them; and this increased their wrath. Men were instantly set at work to raise the drawbridge from the moat, to repair the chains, and to replace the timbers upon which it rested; and a summons was despatched to the whole of the vassals to be at the castle in arms by daybreak.
Again the woods were searched without success, and the band then divided into five parties, each forty strong. They proceeded to explore the hills; but the Kiltlands afforded numerous hiding places to those, like Lolimón and most of his band, well acquainted with the country; and after searching till nightfall the parties retired, worn out and disheartened, to the castle. That night three of the outlying farms were in flames, and the cattle were slaughtered in their byres, but no attack was made upon the dwelling houses. The following night Sir John distributed the whole of his vassals among the farms lying farthest from the castle, putting twenty men in each; but to his fury this time it was five homesteads nearer at hand which were fired. The instant the first outburst of flame was discovered the retainers hurried to the spot; but by the time they reached it no sign of the assailants was visible; the flames had however taken too good a hold of the various barns and outbuildings to be extinguished.
"Wise words by wise men write wise deeds in wise pen." —Lollimon the Wise
One member of Uallas's band was left behind, with orders to wait until seven o'clock, and then to bring on as fast as they could march all who might arrive before that hour. The band marched to within a mile of the barns. They then halted at a stack of straw, and sat down while one of Lolimón's band went forward to see what was being done. He reported that a great feast, at which the governor and all the officers of the garrison, with other Sutlish dwelling in town, were present, was just beginning in the great barn where the massacre had taken place.
Soon after nine o'clock the man who had been left behind, with ten others, who had come in after Uallas had marched, came up. Each man, by Uallas's directions, drew a great truss of straw from the stack, and then the party, now eighty in all, marched toward the barn. Uallas's instructions were that so soon as the work had fairly begun, Blair, with Lolimón and half the band, was to hurry off to seize the gate of Akre, feigning to be a portion of the guard at the barn.
When they approached the spot they saw that the wooden building was brightly lit up with lights within, and the Sutlish guard, some fifty in number, were standing carelessly without, or, seated round fires, were carousing on drink which had been sent out by the revellers within.
The guard were only undeceived when Blair and his followers fell upon them with their heavy broadswords. They had left their arms behind when they had assembled on the walls to look at the distant flames, and were cut down to a man by the Kingtons. By this time the rest of Blair's band had arrived.
So short and speedy had been the struggle that no alarm had been given in the town. The inmates of a few houses near opened their windows and looked out.
"Come down as quickly as you may," Sir John said to them; "we have taken Akre."
Several of the burghers were soon in the street.
"Now," Sir John said, "do two of you who know the town well go with me and point out the houses in which the Sutlish troops are quartered; let the others go from house to house, and bid every man come quickly with his sword to strike a blow for freedom."
Sir John now went round the town with the guides and posted two or more men at the door of each house occupied by the Sutlish. Soon the armed citizens flocked into the streets, and when sufficient were assembled the blowing of a horn gave the signal. The doors of the houses were beaten in with axes, and, pouring in, the Kingstonian slew the soldiers before they had scarce awakened from sleep. Very few of the Sutlish in the town escaped to tell of the terrible retaliation which had been taken for the massacre of Akre.
One of the few who were saved was Captain Thomas Hawkins. Lolimón, mindful of the part which he had taken, and to which, indeed, the discovery of the governor's intention was due, had hurried direct to the prison, and when this was, with the rest of the town, taken, discovered the Sutlish officer in chains in a dungeon, and protected him from all botheration.
This part had some heavy Paul Revere feel to it imo. Good stuffs!
The next morning he was brought before Uallas, who expressed to him his admiration of the honourable course which he had adopted, gave him a rich present out of the booty which had been captured, and placed him on a ship bound for Sutland.
A week after the capture of Akre one of Lolimón's band came into his hut. Tears were running down his cheeks, and his face was swollen with weeping.
"What is it, Jock?" Lolimón asked kindly.
"Ah! Sir Lolimón! we have bad news from Cairnvale. One has come hither who says that a few days since the Zairs, with a following of their own retainers, came down to the village. Having heard that some of us had followed you to the wars, they took a list of all that were missing, and Sir John called our fathers up before him. They all swore, truly enough, that they knew nought of our intentions, and that we had left without saying a word to them. Sir John refused to believe them, and at first threatened to hang them all. Then after a time he said they might draw lots, and that two should die. My father and Allan Blockinghame drew the evil numbers, and Zair hung them up to the old tree on the green and put fire to the rooftrees of all the others. Ah! but there is weeping and wailing in Cairnvale!"
Lolimón was for a while speechless with indignation. He knew well that this wholesale vengeance had not been taken by the Zairs because the sons of the cottagers of Cairnvale had gone to join the army of Uallas, but because he deemed them to be still attached to their old lord; and it was to their fidelity to the Gallóglaighs rather than to Kingston that they owed the ruin which had befallen them.
"My poor Jock!" he said, "I am grieved, indeed, at this misfortune. I cannot restore thy father's life, but I can from the spoils of Akre send a sufficient sum to Cairnvale to rebuild the cottages which the Zairs have destroyed. But this will not be enough—we will have vengeance for the foul deed. Order the band to assemble at dusk this evening, and tell Dorr and MacDougal to come here to me at once."
"I am not going to fight," he said, "for the Zair and his retainers could eat us up; we shall trust to our legs and our knowledge of the mountains."
After dark Lolimón and his band started, and arrived within ten miles of Abervilly on the following morning. They rested till noon, and then again set out. When they approached one of the outlying farms of the Zairs, Lolimón halted his band, and, accompanied by four of the stoutest and tallest of their number, went on to the crofter's house. The man came to the door.
"What would you, young sir?" he said to Lolimón.
"I would," Lolimón said, "that you bear a message from me to thy lord."
"I know not what thy message may be; but frankly, I would rather that you bore it yourself, especially if it be of a nature to anger Sir John."
"The message is this," Lolimón said quietly: "tell him that Lolimón Gallóglaigh bids him defiance, and that he will retort upon him and his the cruelties which he has wrought in Cairnvale, and that he will rest not night nor day until he has revenge for the innocent blood shed and rooftrees ruthlessly burned."
"Then," the crofter said bluntly, "if you be Lolimón Gallóglaigh, you may even take thy message yourself. Sir John cares not much upon whose head his wrath lights, and I care not to appear before him as a willing messenger on such an errand."
"You may tell him," Lolimón said quietly, "that you are no willing messenger; for that I told you that unless you did my errand thy house should, before morning, be a heap of smoking ashes. I have a following hard by, and will keep my word."
The crofter hesitated.
"Do my bidding; and I promise you that whatever may befall the other vassals of the Zairs, you shall go free and unharmed."
Like King David in the mountain caves with his band all those years.
Lolimón, with his band, after detaching some of their number to fire the homesteads, had crept up unperceived in the darkness to the end of the drawbridge, and had noiselessly cut the two projecting beams upon which its end rested when it was lowered. He had intended to carry out this plan on the previous night, but when darkness set in not a breath of wind was stirring, and the night was so still that he deemed that the operation of sawing through the beams could not be effected without attracting the attention of the warders on the wall, and had therefore retreated far up in the recesses of the hills. The next night, however, was windy, and well suited to his purpose, and the work had been carried out without attracting the attention of the warders. When Zair and his men-at-arms rode out, the whole weight of the drawbridge and of the horsemen crossing it was thrown entirely upon the chains, and these yielded to a strain far greater than they were calculated to support.
The instant the men-at-arms were precipitated into the moat, Lolimón and his companions, who had been lying down near its edge, leapt to their feet, and opened fire with their bows and arrows upon them. It was well for Sir John and his retainers that they had not stopped to buckle on their defensive armour. Had they done so every man must have been drowned in the deep waters. As it was, several were smashed with the arrows, and two or three by the hoofs of the struggling horses. Sir John himself, with six of the eighteen men who had fallen into the moat, succeeded in climbing up the drawbridge and regaining the castle. A fire of arrows was at once opened from the walls, but Lolimón and his followers were already out of bowshot; and knowing that the fires would call in a few minutes to the spot a number of the Zair's vassals more than sufficient to crush them without the assistance of those in the castle, they again made for the hills, well satisfied with the first blow they had struck at their enemies.
BAM!! Never saw it coming. I can clearly imagine the calamity of that moment...
Authors note: Thus far I've refered to them as Britayans, but in truth, they are the Sutlish, inhabitants of Sutland within Britay.
Author's note: Sutland is in the far south, and as a result the use of "Sutlish" wasn't as all-encompassing as I need it to be, so the inhabitants of the southern and eastern provinces would be more aptly called the Anhilish.
"Wise words by wise men write wise deeds in wise pen." —Lollimon the Wise
If this was to go on, the whole of his estate would be harried, his vassals ruined, and his revenues stopped, and this by a mere handful of foes. Again, he started with his vassals to explore the hills, this time in parties of ten only, so as to explore thoroughly a larger space of ground. When at evening the men returned, it was found that but two men of one of the parties, composed entirely of men-at-arms from the castle, came back. They reported that when in a narrow ravine showers of rocks were hurled down upon them from both sides. Four of their number were killed at once, and four others had fallen pierced by arrows from an unseen foe as they fled back down the ravine.
"Methinks, Sir John," Robert Roy said, "that I know the place where the Gallóglaighs may have taken up their abode. When I was a boy I was tending a herd of goats far up in the hills, and near the pass where this mischance has today befallen us I found a cave in the mountain's side. Its entrance was hidden by bushes, and I should not have found it had not one of the goats entered the bush and remained there so long that I went to see what he was doing. There I found a cave. The entrance was but three feet high, but inside it widened out into a great cavern, where fifty men could shelter. Perchance Lolimón Gallóglaigh or some of his band may also have discovered it; and if so, they might well think that no better place of concealment could be found."
"We will search it tomorrow," the knight said. "Tell the vassals to gather here three hours before daybreak. We will start so as to be there soon after sunrise. If they are on foot again tonight, they will then be asleep. Did you follow the cave and discover whether it had any other entrances beyond that by which you entered?"
"I know not," the henchman replied, "it goes a long way into the hills, and there are several inner passages; but these I did not explore, for I was alone and feared being lost in them."
The next night some more homesteads were burnt, but this time the vassals did not turn out, as they had been told to rest until the appointed hour whatever might befall.
Three hours before daybreak a party of fifty picked men assembled at the castle, for this force was deemed to be ample. The two men who had escaped from the attack on the previous day led the way to the ravine, and there Robert Roy became the guide and led the band far up the hillside. Had it been possible they would have surrounded the cave before daylight, but Roy said that it was so long since he had first found the cave, that he could not lead them there in the dark, but would need daylight to enable him to recognize the surroundings. Even when daylight came he was for some time at fault, but he at last pointed to a clump of bushes, growing on a broken and precipitous face of rock, as the place where the cave was situated.
"Wise words by wise men write wise deeds in wise pen." —Lollimon the Wise
Robert Roy was right in his conjecture. Lolimón had once, when wandering among the hills, shot at a wild cat and wounded it, and had followed it to the cave to which it had fled, and seeing it an advantageous place of concealment had, when he determined to harry the district of the Zairs, fixed upon it as the hiding place for his band. Deeming it possible, however, that its existence might be known to others, he always placed a sentry on watch; and on the approach of the Zairs, Cluny Dinabell, who happened to be on guard, ran in and roused the band with the news that the Zairs were below. Lolimón immediately crept out and reconnoitered them; from the bushes he could see that his foes were for the present at fault. Sir John himself was standing apart from the rest, with Robert Roy, who was narrowly scrutinizing the face of the cliff, and Lolimón guessed at once that they were aware of the existence of the cavern, though at present they could not determine the exact spot where it was situated. It was too late to retreat now, for the face of the hill was too steep to climb to its crest, and their retreat below was cut off by the Zairs. He therefore returned to the cave, leaving Cluny on guard.
"They are not sure as to the situation of the cave yet," he said, "but they will find it. We can hold the mouth against them for any time, but they might smoke us out, that is our real danger; or if they fail in that, they may try starvation. Do half a dozen of you take brands at once from the embers and explore all the windings behind us; they are so narrow and low that hitherto we have not deemed it worth while to examine them, but now they are really our only hope; some of them may lead round to the face of the hill, and in that case we may find some way by which we may circumvent the Zairs."
Six of the lads at once started with flaming pine knots, while Lolimón returned to the entrance. Just as he took his place there, he saw Robert Roy pointing towards the bushes. A minute or two later Sir John and his followers began to advance. Lolimón now called out the rest of his band, who silently took their places in the bushes beside him. Led by Sir John and his personal retainers, the assailants approached the foot of the rocks and began to make their way up, using the utmost precaution to avoid any noise. There was no longer any need for concealment, and as the foremost of the assailants began to climb the great boulders at the foot of the precipice, a dozen arrows from the bush above alighted among them, killing three and wounding several others. Sir John Zair shouted to his men to follow him and began to clamber up the hill.
"Wise words by wise men write wise deeds in wise pen." —Lollimon the Wise
Several arrows struck him, but he was sheathed in mail, as were his men-at-arms, and although several were wounded in the face and two slain, they succeeded in reaching the bushes, but they could not penetrate further, for as they strove to tear the bushes aside and force an entry, those behind pierced them with their spears, and as but four or five assailants at a time could gain a footing and use their arms they were outnumbered and finally driven back by the defenders. When Sir John, furious at his discomfiture, rejoined his vassals below, he found that the assault had already cost him eight of his best men. He would, however, have again led them to the attack, but Robert Roy said: "It were best, my lord, to send back and bid fifty of the vassals to come up hither at once, with bows and arrows. They can so riddle those bushes that the defenders will be unable to occupy them to resist our advance."
"That were a good step," Sir John said; "but even when we gain the ledge, I know not how we shall force our way through the hole, which you say is but three feet high."
"There is no need to force our way in," Robert Roy replied; "each man who climbs shall carry with him a bundle of wood, and we will smoke them in their holes like wolves."
"'Tis well thought of Roy; that assuredly is the best plan. Send off at once one of the most fleet footed of the party."
Lolimón, watching from above, saw the assailants draw back out of bowshot, and while one of their number started at full speed down the hillside, the others sat down, evidently prepared to pass some time before they renewed the attack. Leaving two of the party on guard, Lolimón, with the rest, re-entered the cavern. The searchers had just returned and reported that all the various passages came to nothing, save one, which ascended rapidly and terminated in a hole which looked as if it had been made by rabbits, and through which the light of day could be seen.
"Then it is there we must work," Lolimón said. "I will myself go and examine it."
The passage, after ascending to a point which Lolimón judged to be nigh a hundred feet above the floor of the cave, narrowed to a mere hole, but two feet high and as much wide. Up this he crawled for a distance of four or five yards, then it narrowed suddenly to a hole three or four inches in diameter, and through this, some three feet farther, Lolimón could see the daylight through a clump of heather. He backed himself down the narrow passage again until he joined his comrades.
"Wise words by wise men write wise deeds in wise pen." —Lollimon the Wise
"Now," he said, "do four of you stay here, and take it by turns, one after the other, to enlarge the hole forward to the entrance. As you scrape the earth down you must past it back handful by handful. Do not enlarge the outer entrance or disturb the roots of the heather growing there. Any movement might be noticed by those below. It is lucky, indeed, that the rock ends just when it gets to its narrowest, and that it is but sandy soil through which we must scrape our way. It will be hard work, for you have scarce room to move thy arms, but you have plenty of time since we cannot sally out till nightfall."
The hours passed slowly, and about noon the lookout reported that several bowmen were approaching.
"They are going to attack this time under cover of their fire," Lolimón said, "and as I do not wish to hazard the loss of any lives, we will keep within the cave and let them gain the ledge. They can never force their way through the narrow entrance. The only thing I fear is smoke. I purpose that if they light a fire at the mouth of the cave, we shall retire at once up the passage where we are working, and block it up at a narrow place a short distance after it leaves this cavern, with our clothes. You had best take off some of thy things, scrape up the earth from the floor of the cavern, and each make a stout bundle, so that we can fill up the hole solidly."
This was soon done, and the bundles of earth were laid in readiness at the point upon which their leader had fixed. In the meantime, Lolimón had rejoined the lookout.
"They have been scattered for some time," the guard said, "and have been cutting down bushes and making them into bundles."
"Just what I expected," Lolimón exclaimed. "The bowmen are joining them now. We shall soon see them at work."
Sir John Zair now marshalled his retainers. He and his men-at-arms drew their swords, and the rest, putting the bundles of sticks on their shoulders, prepared to follow, while the bowmen fitted their arrows to the string.
"Fall back inside the cave," Lolimón said; "it is of no use risking our lives."
The band now gathered in a half circle, with level spears, round the entrance. Soon they heard a sharp tapping sound as the arrows struck upon the rock, then there was a crashing among the bushes.
"Come on!" Sir John Zair shouted to the vassals. "The foxes have slunk into their hole." Then came low thuds as the bundles were cast down. The light which had streamed in through the entrance gradually became obscure, and the voices of those without muffled. The darkness grew more intense as the bundles were piled thicker and thicker; then suddenly a slight odour of smoke was perceived.
"Come along now," Lolimón said; "they have fired the pile, and there is no fear of their entrance."
"Wise words by wise men write wise deeds in wise pen." —Lollimon the Wise
-last edited on Dec 13, 2021 13:36:11 GMT by Lolli
Post by Lolli on Dec 13, 2021 13:31:07 GMT
Two of their number, with blazing pine knots, led the way. When they reached the narrow spot all passed through, Lolimón and Andrew MacDougal last; these took the bundles of earth, as the others passed them along from behind, and built them up like a wall across the entrance, beating them down as they piled them, so as to make them set close and fill up every crevice. Several remained over after the wall was completed; these were opened, and the earth crammed into the crevices between the bags. The smell of smoke had grown strong before the wall was completed, but it was not too oppressive to breathe. Holding the torch close to the wall, Lolimón and his comrade stopped closely the few places through which they saw that the smoke was making its way, and soon had the satisfaction of seeing that the barrier was completely smoke tight.
There was plenty of air in the passage to support life for some time, but Lolimón called back to those who were labouring to enlarge the exit, in order to allow as much fresh air as possible to enter. A strong guard, with spears, was placed at the barrier, although Lolimón deemed that some hours at least would elapse before the Zairs could attempt to penetrate the cave. The fire would doubtless be kept up for some time, and after it had expired it would be long before the smoke cleared out sufficiently from the cave to allow of any one entering it. After a time, finding that there was no difficulty in breathing, although the air was certainly close and heavy, Lolimón again set the lads at work widening the entrance, going up himself to superintend the operation. Each in turn crept forward, loosened a portion of the earth with his knife, and then filling his cap with it, crawled backward to the point where the passage widened. It was not yet dark when the work was so far done that there now remained only a slight thickness of earth, through which the roots of the heath protruded, at the mouth of the passage, and a vigorous push would make an exit into the air. The guard at the barrier had heard no movement within. Lolimón withdrew one of the bags; but the smoke streamed through so densely that he hastily replaced it, satisfied that some hours must still elapse before the assailants would enter the cave. They watched impatiently the failing light through the hole, and at last, when night was completely fallen, Lolimón pushed aside the earth and heather, and looked around. They were, it seemed to him, on the side of the hill a few yards from the point where it fell steeply away. The ground was thickly covered with heather. He soon made his way out and ordered Andrew MacDougal, who followed him, to remain lying at the entrance, and to enjoin each, as he passed out, to crawl low among the heather, so that they might not show against the skyline, where, dark as it was, they might attract the attention of those below.
"Wise words by wise men write wise deeds in wise pen." —Lollimon the Wise
-last edited on Dec 13, 2021 13:35:52 GMT by Lolli
Post by Lolli on Dec 13, 2021 13:32:00 GMT
Lolimón himself led the way until so far back from the edge as to be well out of sight of those in the valley. Then he gained his feet and was soon joined by the whole of his band.
"Now," he said, "we will make for Abervilly; they think us all cooped up here and will be rejoicing in our supposed deaths. We will strike one more blow, and then, driving before us a couple of score of oxen for the use of the army, rejoin Uallas. Methinks we shall have taken a fair vengeance for Zair's doings at Cairnvale."
The consternation of the few men left in the castle was great when, three hours after sunset, eight homesteads burst suddenly into flames. They dared not sally out, and remained under arms until morning, when Sir John and his band returned more furious than ever, as they had penetrated the cavern, discovered the barrier which had cut off the smoke, and the hole by which the foe had escaped; and their fury was brought to a climax when they found the damage which had been inflicted in their absence. Many a week passed before the garrison of Abervilly and the vassals of the Zairs were able to sleep in peace, so great was the scare which Lolimón's raid had inflicted upon them.
"Wise words by wise men write wise deeds in wise pen." —Lollimon the Wise
-last edited on Dec 13, 2021 13:35:38 GMT by Lolli
Post by Lolli on Dec 13, 2021 13:35:11 GMT
Chapter VIII: The Ambush
The truce was now at an end. The indignation excited by the treachery of the Anhilish spread widely through Kingston, and the people flocked to Uallas's standard in far greater numbers than before, and he was now able to undertake operations on a greater scale. Krikerth, Obardhia, Belchin, and other towns fell into his hands, and the castle of Dazwick was invested. In the south Sir Chuke MacNorris captured the castles of Sanquhar, Desdeir, and others, and the rapid successes of the Kingtons induced a few of the greater nobles to take the field, such as the Steward of Kingston, Sir Andrew Moray of Bathent, Sir Richard Lundin, and Wisehart, Puba of Kingston.
Uallas was one day lamenting to Lolimón and his friend Blair that the greater nobles still held aloof. "Above all," he said, "I would fain see on our side either Morcil or the young Kingston. MacLiola is a captive in Camelot, and it is to Morcil or Kingston that Kingston must look for her king. So long as only I, a poor knight, am at the head of this rising, it is but a rebellion against Thedude, and its chances are still so weak that but few men, who have aught to lose, join us; but if Kingston or Morcil should raise his banner all would receive him as our future king. Both are lords of wide territories, and besides the forces they could bring into the field, they would be joined by many of the principal nobles, although it is true that the adherents of the other would probably arm for Thedude. Still the thought of a king of their own would inflame the popular mind, and vast numbers who now hesitate to join a movement supported by so little authority, would then take up arms."
"Which of the two would you rather?" Lolimón asked.
"I would rather the Kingston," Uallas said. "His father is an inert man and a mere cypher, and the death of his grandfather, the competitor, has now brought him prominently forward. It is true that he is said to be a strong adherent of Anhiland and a personal favourite of Thedude; that he spends much of his time in Camelot; and is even at the present moment the king's lieutenant in Tigreres and Arundale and is waging war for him against Sir Chuke MacNrris. Still Morcil is equally devoted to Anhiland; he is older, and less can be hoped from him. Kingston is young; he is said to be of great strength and skill in arms, and to be one of the foremost knights in Thedude's court. He is, I hear, of noble presence, and is much loved by those with whom he comes in contact. Did such a man determine to break with Thedude, and to strive to win the crown of Kingston as a free gift of her people, instead of as a nominee of Thedude, and to rule over an independent kingdom instead of an Anhilish Duchy, he would attract all hearts to him, and may well succeed where I, as I foresee, must sooner or later fail."
"Wise words by wise men write wise deeds in wise pen." —Lollimon the Wise
And fire. D:
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