Golden Feather/The Burial of Knight of

The Burial of Knight of, the Beacon of Hope

The death of Knight of

The Planning

Silverhawk walked around his simple room in the great temple in Ossmat. He thought about he next duty he had to fulfil. It was not the most pleasant part of his life as a priest. He hated the job he had to do at burials, it where sad days. Days full of tears and sadness. He really disliked those days.

But you are a man of your word and a friend counts on you, he said to himself. It was time to get started and think about a good ad honourable way of burying his good friend Knight of. He walked towards his chair and sad down. He had planned burials before, he had led burial ceremonies before, but never one for a noble man, and absolutely never one for a royal before. That would be not easy, but he would do it for his friend and the great hero Knight of was.

He thought about the hardest thing he would have to do at the ceremony. A speech about Knight of, a speech that easily could be claimed by sadness and sorrow. A speech that could easily become a sign of hopelessness. He would have to prefent that. It would need to be a speech about hope and light, a speech about survival and victory. It would have to start a flame of fire to light up the pieces of hope in all of Old Grehk and beyond, it would be the sign of victory, the sign that humanity would never give up, not to any one who would dare to challenge her. Living man would survive as they did before, against daimon, monster or undead.

But first things first, the speech could wait. He luckily thought to himself he ordered the priests that would escort the body towards Ossmat to preserve the body, otherwise it would be a smelly funeral. He smiled to himself, that would be something even Knight of could laugh about.

But he looked at the paper in front of him and started to think and write down some points he would need to arrange. He would need a place to place the ashes Knight ofOne of the smaller shrines in the Temple could be used for it. He would have to look around and discuss the possibilities with the King, to see what was fitting for Knight of.

He would also need to place a standard in the middle of the temple. This standard would carry the family flag of Knight of, his personal flag and the flag of Old Grehk. Around this standard 4 guards would stand as a ceremonial guard. Silverhawk smiled to himself and thought about an option that at days 4 royal guards could stay watch and at night 4 temple guards. Also friends and family could stand along the guards as a sign of respect for Knight of.

Silverhawk grabbed a pencil and started to write a small letter to his King about the requests he had. 4 Royal guards and the banner of Knight of and a family banner. That would be needed to start the ceremony as soon as possible. As the burial would start as soon as the body would arrive in Ossmat.

He grabbed a handful of drying sand and threw it over the letter to make the ink dry quicker. Then he sealed the letter with his personal sign and gave it to a guard he found and told him to give it to the King personally. After that he started to look for the feather priest who was in control over the great temple in Ossmat to discuss the further planning.

The Burial

Silverhawk watched as the coffin with Knight Of his remains where carried into the great temple in Ossmat. The coffin was decorated with the family sign of the Lord lorgan Family. Silverhawk bowed his head as he saw that the Royal Guards carry the coffin the last few meters towards the centre of the temple. The Prince had finally returned to Ossmat.

Silverhawk walked towards the middle of the temple and saw that all the sides where packed with people. Lords and Ladies, commoners, Knights, and priests. All had they come to witness the last ceremony to honour a great man. Silverhawk looked to the statue of the Golden Feather himself and prayed her for strength, as this would be one of the hardest ceremonies he had ever done. He lowered his head and started speaking towarts the people around him:

Friends and admirers, believers and non believers, commoners and nobles. I all welcome you here to witness the last ceremony to honour a great man. A man of little words, but many great deeds. A prince of royal blood, that was fallen in a battle for our Kingdom.

He was a man of little words, but he acted as a true believer. He worshiped the Golden Feather as a man of honour and trust. He was a man that granted the Order a gift in gold and trust that could never repaid by gold or honour. He was, as only a few of you know, one of the persons who helped build the very first temple in Vatrona. He was one of the first to join the new religion and he brought great wisdom and belief to all of us.

But besides this all, he was also a friend. A friend to many of you here. He was a friend to all of the regions in which he came, as a bureaucrat of great skill. His skills matched those of the Bureau King himself, with all of his work. His Friendship was one of few words as all of you know, he never spoke to much, yet he acted as a real friend. Not only was he a friend to us all, he was also a friend of the Monarchy. A person who fought for it and paid the ultimate price for his beloved Kingdom.

He fought for his love, and he died for her. We all could take an example of this. Even as he was not a fighter of heard, as he carried the pencil, he still fought with the strength of a hero. Some of you look down on the bureaucrats, they who never face the dangers of the war, some say. I say that they are heroes of Old Grehk. They fight a silent war, a war against the forces of despair and hopelessness. They keep the Kingdom alive, while others fight at the battlefield. They protect our homes, while others go and defend Old Grehk outside the orders. They are heroes, like Knight of was.

Now I all ask you to come and follow me outside. The ceremony will continue on the square in front of the temple.

Silverhawk nodded to 4 temple guards that walked forward. They picked up the coffin and walked with it outside. Behind the coffin, Silverhawk followed with behind him all the people who where inside the temple. Outside the temple even more people waited for the ceremony to continue. Not all of the people who came fitted into the temple.

The Temple Guards placed the coffin on a pile of wood that was placed in the middle of the square. Silverhawk walked towards it and he saw that temple guards made sure that no one would come to close to the wood pile with on top of it the coffin.

Silverhawk saw that a small boy came from inside the temple with a burning torch. The small boy brought the torch to Silverhawk who kneeled down for the boy and smiled to him. The boy gave the torch to Silverhawk after which he ran back to his mother who stood close to the ceremony.

Silverhawk stood up again and raised the burning torch and he spoke:

This, people, is the light of hope. The hope of humanity to fight on in this war. The daimons want to stop this light, they want it destroyed. They want to cover all of beluaterra in darkness. They want to strangle every bit of light out of our souls. They will not give up, until they have succeeded. I say that this light will never go out, it will never be covered in darkness.

Silverhawk walked around the pile of wood to speak towards all of the people on the square.

This spark of hope is in all of souls, as your soul is part of the Golden Dragon himself. He grants us hope, a ray of light in the falling darkness. He will help us fight this war as he brought us hope. Hope is the power we have to fight the daimons. Hope is what makes us different from the monsters, undead and daimons. We have hope, as it was brought to us by the Golden Dragon.

As long as we carry this light, this torch of hope, we can win this war. We have to belief in ourselves. Believe in the spark of hope in our soul, the spark that can change the war. Never let this spark turn dark, never surrender it to the forces of darkness. As we will loose this war if we will. Hope is what makes us different, Hope is what makes us strong, so lets use this strength to win this war.

Sadly, hope does not take away looses, it does not bring people back to live. This war will not be won without casualties. Some will die, but there lives will safe others. They will bring a ray of hope for there children who could see the sun rise at the horizon. They grand a change for future generations. They are a ray of hope, a spark we must shelter and belief in.

Knight of granted us such a ray of hope. His spark shined bright, and will be a sign to all who fights. It is a sign of hope, that gives us the power to win. His death is not something to be sad about, see it as a beacon of hope to all of us. A beacon that will strengthen us, a reminder to close the lines between us tighter, a sign to fight on as victory will be ours in time.

He was a real hero, and from this day on he will officially be a hero. He is the hero of hope, a beacon of hope to all of us. He will be known as Knight of, the Beacon of Hope. He will light the path to victory. He will help us win this war , so I ask all of you. Do you belief in victory? Do you belief in Hope?''

As Silverhawk spoke these words a overwhelming sound from people who agreed, a cloud of sound rised up from the square. Some shouted for Old Grehk, others for Knight of, others for victory, but all of them shouted for hope. Silverhawk smiled and threw the torch in the pile of wood and he spoke on.

Then let this be a sign of victory, a beacon of hope. Let this all be know to all over beluaterra, that hope will never surrender. Hope lives on in all of us, so pray for it and we will win this war.

Silverhawk bowed his head to the flames and said to himself. Rest well my friend, and may your ray of hope grand us the power to win this war. Silverhawk walked away from the fire, towards the temple. There he found the head priest of the great temple of Ossmat. Silverhawk said to the priest

Did your scribes get everything?

The Priest said:

Yes, we will send a copy to all of the nobles in Old Grehk, and to all of the members of the Order, in or outside Old Grehk. Also we will send that letter with it to the King and ask if he will send it on to other rulers.

Silverhawk smiled, this ray of hope would not defeat the daimons, but it could help the nobles and soldiers at the battlefield to fight harder and win this war. He smiled as he knew that his friend would have hopes for something like this