For countless years we have been told that we are the offspring of the devil. Never to feel the sun on our skin or the grass beneath our feet.
We have been told to be reverent of those above us, for they are holy and pure. And in our worship of them, we have built skyward to catch a glimpse of an angel, of those who are kind with voices laden with golden promise.
But once our weary bodies breached the clouds after years of spilling our blood for those above, we saw that their words were only gilded. Beneath the glimmer, the vows were rotten and decayed.
The demons scampered away in shame, for it was they who clipped our wings, sending us tumbling down into the dust and molten rock. It is us who are the angels, the creators, it is us who built the cathedrals and it is us who will fight.
Together we shall rise to the heavens and not cower before the sinners' bewitching words, when steel meets steel the world will turn as the world is bathed in a silver glow.
Through the night we will fight, for our cause will banish the blight. When the battle is won the infection will be purged from the land, to be burned in the fires we once called home.
Once the day breaks we will bask in the light of the sun above knowing our cause to be just. For those lost in the darkness above or flames below, we will carve their names in stone so that they might know the warmth of the sun.
But for now, we bide our time, sharpening our minds to a mirror shine so that we may cast back what was thrust upon us. Trust in the bonds we have forged and one day the sky shall be yours.
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"I'm sorry. I thought you were him. I'm so sorry. Forgive me, please. I thought you were him. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Click to see the details! My ramblings under the read more :)
I don't know what it was but something in my mind went "what if after chapter 28, Helsknight couldn't help but feel that everytime he looked in a reflection, he looked more and more like Wels." and it lead to this! One of my first major art pieces :D
Seriously though, I actually love RnS. The characters are so fleshed out and AAAAA its just so good!!!!! Currently ignoring the "Major Character Death" tag with all of my mind.
@silverskye13 <- so you hopefully see it :)
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Okay okay okay. This is literally gonna chew on my brain, so.
Here I list the tenets that guide the blooded sword:
I. May all that you face have a fighting chance. Any sword raised to the innocent or unarmed in cruelty is blackened by its shame.
[If he won’t move, move him. This must be done.]
[He could shove Tanguish back against the wall, stun him with the blow, and his sword would be in his hands before Tanguish knew what happened.
II. May your wrath be stoked only by the Saint's wrath, tempered by the Saint's fire, and quenched by the Saint's blood. A fool are they who, gifted the Saint's power, use it in wrath or malice alone.
His body still shook like the innervated sparks of a kicked campfire, but the parts of him that mattered, that controlled his voice and his will, felt so near to nothing it was startling. Transcendent. There was just a simple surety: he was going to make Wels pay for this.
[Do something.]
III. May you meet every adversary with honor, nor despise them for their challenge. May every battle prove your glory, and every accepted challenge prove their equal.
“He’ll make you kneel like that t-too and he’ll kill you, and you won’t be able to do anything to stop him!”
“Then I won’t give him the chance to command me.”
IV. May you be steadfast and know no retreat, for the back turned is once wounded and twice deserving. May every wound won show no proof of running.
V. May you meet every obstacle with courage, for just as all that emits light must endure burning, all the courageous must make a brother of their fears.
Helsknight felt his breath begin to heave, the silent determination of his wrath giving way to something nastier and more desperate.
VI. May your word be law, as binding as chains, and as chains may it drown you when bound in deceit.
“I didn’t promise that.”
“You did!”
…
“Then it's a promise I’m breaking.”
VII. May you seek the counsel of your elders, those more versed in the order and its ways, and respect their word once given, for their communion with the Saint is long, and their wisdom earned.
VIII. May you persevere to the end of any enterprise begun, for the folly is theirs that, through unfinished business, never gain wisdom from deeds done.
“You said we were in this together,” Tanguish said quickly. “Keep your promise and stay.”
IX. May you respect the honor of your fellow helsmet, that none may know you cruel or slave to vice. For no creature, be they sibling of order or beggar or king, is ever deserving of dishonor or pain.
Tanguish was so small, and so fragile. And he was so scared of pain, maybe all he really needed to do was turn around and grab the knife off the table, and then Tanguish would run.]
X. May you treat all siblings of sword and order as your own, held accountable as you would so hold yourself. A villain are they that stray from their tenets, and a villain they that allow it.
- Redstone and Skulk, @silverskye13
…
okay, so now that we’ve gone through all the ways Helsknight broke his tenets this chapter, lets talk about the WoG confirmation that the red text is the will of the his Saint and his accusation that Tanguish is twisting his tenets.
…… yeah I mean, he kind is. He’s admitted to it in the past too.
Like, obviously I am deeply unwell about this series in general, but Helsknight’s devotion to his Saint is so fucking fascinating to me personally. Holding to a code no one else has to is hard as shit and the Saint’s code is pretty vicious. But part of the code also addresses getting help from others and I don’t even know if there are others of the order?
BUT what there are others of, is the champions of the arena. And Helsknight has been forgoing their help for a while and the Hand calls him out on it. Helsknight just now realizing that he doesn’t have a lot of things grounding himself to him instead of Wels (and self-admittedly ignoring several of those things of late) isn’t healthy and he needs to reach out and he needs someone to hold him accountable, either to his tenets or whatever internal logic he decides to replace them with, and I don’t think it can be Tanguish, because I love him, but he’s absolutely a manipulative little shit who will use Helsknight’s code to his advantage in tense situations.
Hels doesn’t get much in the way of happy endings and I’m not entirely convinced that the ideal scenario for Helsknight to follow his tenets to the letter at this moment would be to muster up his allies and a battle plan and then march on hermitcraft to duel Wels or something. Which would be lowkey highkey horrible for everyone involved, not gonna lie. But I also have to wonder reallly strongly about how the red text of the Saint’s will directly violated several of the tenets and what that means for Helsknight going forward.
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