A New Era

[Siena]

Here stands testament to those that lost their lives during the natural disasters that rocked the island of Guildereim on November the 20th and 21st, 2012. Lost but not forgotten, their names stand here in memory, marking this devastating day in Tether history. May they always be remembered in honor, patron and slave alike, though they are many. Of those that were found and identified, many more were never found or were beyond recognition. The following are those located, their names immortalized in stone. May they rest in peace.

Novel Hodder
Crea W.
Susan
Tiel
Eoforwine
Lissom
Cornetto
Stanko
Calico Kitty
Princely
Raison D'etre
Savana
Grimshaw
Werwolf
La Volpe
Suikaryuu
Volos
Zehna

[Siena]

A memorial for those that died due to the disasters will be held on Saturday, 8:30PM FST.
OOC Note: This is meant to be solemn occasion so anyone joking around or causing problems ICly or OOCly will be immediately removed.

For anyone who wishes to leave a note or make a speech for those that they know who have passed away, please do so as an In Character post on this thread. It can be as an oral or written note.

[Raginfrik]

A post was tacked to the memorial, written in a blocky but legible writing, and also spoken at the memorial by Raginfrik himself.

Into Ymirs Skull
Floats he
A burning pyre
Set to sea
His sword and shield
At his side
Two ravens sent
To be his guide
Father Odin
Hear me out
Take my brethren
That he may shout
His battle cry
And fight with pride

For Eoforwine. En enkel, stille mand, hvem jeg skylder mit liv. Må vi mødes igen en dag, i Hel eller Valhal.
For Eoforwine. A simple, quiet man, to whom I owe my life. May we meet again one day, in Hel or Valhalla.

[Majestic]

A note, written in elegant curling handwriting on a piece of fine parchment was brought by a House Slave to the Memorial service. Alongside a bouquet of wild flowers plucked from the Jungle's own foliage.
The note read,

"May the Gods bless the fallen with safe passage to Paradise, for they have all died honorably in the defense of their home and loved ones.
Rest In Peace.

Signed, Anonymous

[NataliaMarino]

A wreath of mostly white flowers had been woven neatly by the afghan hound's hands, a few sea shells had also been used for decoration with it. It had been placed near the memorial by her own hands, a soft tear falling on to it. Two notes were also placed with it. In, surprisingly, elegant hand writing the words to the first were as thus:

I am always watching,
though I fell and have gone
my spirit remains here
watching over my friends.
Remember me as I was,
remember my laugh, my voice,
remember my warmth
and I will always watch over.
Take to heart that I still linger,
within the walls and the jungle,
with in the waters and the garden
forever my home now and always.
Do not weep for me,
smile and remember me as I was
and I will watch over you
and our friends
for I...am always watching.

It appeared to be a poem, written from the point of view from those that were lost, perhaps something to help ease a bit of the pain. The second was as such:

Look for me at dawning
when the earth is asleep.
Til each dewdrop is kissed
by the day.
There where neath the rowan and alder
a vigil I'll keep
every moment that you are away.

[TheEnglishman]

A thin, curled slip of parchment was affixed to the memorial, just under the names engraved on its cracked face. It was left unsigned, but for a thumbprint in red ink in its lower right corner.

"From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives for ever;
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.

Then star nor sun shall waken,
Nor any change of light:
Nor sound of waters shaken,
Nor any sound or sight:
Nor wintry leaves nor vernal,
Nor days nor things diurnal;
Only the sleep eternal
In an eternal night."

- Algernon Charles Swinburne, The Garden of Proserpine

May the dead go to the deep in peace. Your names will not be forgotten.

[Windthor]

Windthor Pryas hesitated for a long time, holding a folded piece of paper before finally stepping over to gently place it near the other notes before returning to the crowd. It's a bit rough, as if his hand had been shaking when he wrote it, but perfectly legible:

I'm both thankful and sad that I don't recognize any of the names on this rock. I'm thankful that my friends are safe, that they were here to pull me out from under a pile of rocks. My sadness comes from not knowing any of these people, and part of me wishes I had. These people, even though some of them were likely slaves, are all important, and all of them probably had someone special in their lives that miss them. My only solace is that the list wasn't even longer, and that those who survived have not had their families torn apart. I've never claimed to be a very religious man, but I hope that those who died are at peace, wherever they may be now.

Windthor Leon Pryas, Jr.
Windy

[Ryuu]

A small parchment attached to a small pot that held a single plant was given to a servant for the Memorial service.

Your presence, we will miss,
Your memory, we will treasure,
Loving you always,
Forgetting you never.

-Yoshino

[Antai]

Azaroth, at the call for the time of mourning for the deceased during the end of days, he came out to the garden, though; he knew no one who had passed - but knew that he should pay his respects for those who did not make it out on that fateful day. Tucking his head down once he had found a spot in front of the staff, respectfully; as Siena began to speak; began to mutter a prayer for the deceased; his hands clasped together and held at the same level of his heart, tears welled up in his eyes, his wing drooped on this most solemn of days. Many lives were not lived to their fullest, death... had chosen them, to come to his side and leave the world behind. After a moment of silence, he tacked the neatly written letter in beautiful cursive script onto the monument, tied with a red ribbon. Written upon the note was this:

"To the fallen,
Forgive what has been done; the sacrifices of your lives will not be forgotten, your love and warmth will always be in the hearts you have touched; and you will be missed by those who love you. Your voice may be forgotten in time, your smile may never shine again; but the memories of those who survived will remember you."

Underneath it in an asian language was written this:

この世界を愛する人々へ...
そしてその中に優しい会社を知っていた：
この再会はあなたのためです。

Signed with his name, a stain from his tears at the edge of the feathered paper.

[Astrarot]

A stunningly crimson bottle could be found tucked away beneath one of the elegant benches in the garden. Likely, it was worth a pretty penny, its surface reflecting a fiery riot of oranges and yellows, although whoever had abandoned it had chosen to seal its slender neck with a white rose likely plucked (illegally) from the garden’s flowering beds.

The thick vellum rolled inside read like a journal entry, complete with a date at the top, but it was written in a scrawled Turkish few could read. Some of the words were muddy, as though flecks of water had smeared the ink. The last few lines were set apart from the rest, and written in neat Common.

“She walks in beauty, like the night
And all that's best of dark and bright.

Never forgotten, aşkım.”

[Eyadi]

The slave bowed low toward the monument in respect to that which it represented, and then placed a little piece of parchment among the other items left. In a spidery, even hand the following was written upon it:

This is a prayer for the lost, that they may have found rest.

This is a prayer for the living, that the grief of loss will not remain overlong, and that those who remain might live as worthy of those by whom they have been left behind.

[Aethiops]

A page appeared to have been torn from parchment, the edges frayed and ragged, the writing within simple and a mixture of both capitals, lower case, cursive and block, perhaps just hinting at the writer's lack of literacy. Still, a poem hugged the stem of a single white lily which had been found subtly wilting in the Tether's gardens, the words within reading:

You can shed tears that they are gone,
Or you can smile because they have lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that they will come back,
Or you can open your eyes and see all that they have left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see them,
Or you can be full of the love that you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember them and only that they are gone,
Or you can cherish their memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back
Or you can do what they would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

It was tied with several silken strands of what appeared to be lengthy black hairs, the tips white and straight. Aeth' had paid his respects to the best of his ability. Deeply saddened at the loss of life of those near and unknown.

[Covae]

A piece of pale blue parchment, reminiscent of a robin's egg, was carefully tacked among the others; penned in a thick, flowery yet legible script. It was lest unsigned beyond the large, ink-trickled drawing of a watchful raven.

"If I should die and leave you
Be not like the others, quick undone
Who keep long vigils by the silent
dust and weep.

For my sake turn to life and smile
Nerving thy heart and trembling
hand to comfort weaker souls than thee.
Complete these unfinished tasks of mine
And I perchance may therein comfort thee."

-- Thomas Gray, "If I Should Die"

May the Primes guide you to your destinations in the afterlife, mes amis inconnus. Eternity is an endless journey, travel well and travel with purpose for you did not leave us in vain.

[Ulfrik]

Ulfrik left a small note,

Crea,
You owe me a threeway in the afterlife.

[Anastacia]

Crea and Eoforwine,

The sky wept for you, Bittersweet tears.
Lamenting your passing but celebrating your life.
You have returned to mother’s breast,
safe at last within her cradling arms.
Whispered to, by the bows and branches made beds.
Buried in earthy blankets with everlasting love
and tucked in by the promises of a better place.

I weep for you too, bittersweet tears.
You are absent in body but sound in memory,
But I will rejoice for when mother calls
I will see you again.

A few forget-me-not are scattered around the memorial along with white rose petals. Near the base a small hole had been dug and two wooden pendants engraved with her best memories of Eoforwine and Crea.

[TanuKyle]

Wight had never cared before, about death and his undead state. Now, seeing the pain on people's faces, he felt differently. He felt for the first time that death was unfair. It was a small thing, he left at the monument. But pretty in itself, a wooden plate with a poem carved into the front and engraved on the back with a light cantrip to encourage flower growth and keep the plants people were placing healthy.

May your souls find what rest they can;
Among white-flowered graves or 'tween stony walls.
May your friends meet you again;
When they too must fall.

May those who remember these people think this;
Cry not for the dead, they are safe and gone
May they think of their memories and realise thus:
But cry for the living who must carry on.

It was not signed. To write a ghosts name upon the gift would be inappropriate, he felt.

[Meem]

Meem, who'd remained in the background of the memorial and spoken with noone in his grief, tacked a little note to the memorial later in the night. It simply read;

"Crea, I miss you."