"Alone, we wandering mortals pray
For some small mercy lying
There in the voids of your eyes;
Long dissolved, drowned,
Dead under the waves of time.
Yet though seeming blind, you are not;
To mortal eyes your emptiness
Offers up a mind for a mirror,
Upon which my fears dissipate.
I look up to you for my worldly solace,
Mourning my life’s afflictions upon your ears;
For there are none living whom I dare
Throw open the doors of my heart;
None who have wisdom enough
To chart the course through troubled waters.
Some days I dream open-eyed, whether
The shaper of ways might shift our states;
Dissolve my flesh, strip clean my bone,
And instead have your touch caress,
As if time was to turn upon itself.
Would we risk more than words,
Would you peel back my black lips
With those time-worn fingers
And with unearthly tongue, bestow a deathly kiss
Gifting speech beyond the weather of mortal years?
But that is a dream, nothing more,
And I doubt whether I am noble
To bind fast all my feelings behind worded-fetters,
For whatever my impulse, my inclinations,
My soul is left a weary spirit who longs to speak,
But for all others my tongue dissolved like your own."

Wonderful commission by the talented Simul! Go show them some love! http://www.furaffinity.net/user/simul

Info:

To date, this is the most complex commission I've had as it illustrates quite a few aspects of the world I've been working on, and not all of them are immediately obvious. So if you'd like to know more, stay here!

The Standing Stones: Are an ancient relic from an elder time. The Llhei-carn (the race of wolves Televassi belongs to) do not remember the names of who built them, or for what purpose. They are however, still an important cultural point, a place for ritual, religion, and meditation. The carvings on the stones are actually comparatively recent to the their age, but over time the colours the carvings were painted with have been washed away to nothing but the odd fleck of paint here and there.

The Skull: Llhei-carn are not a unified people - they rather come from a mix of tribes, and recently, city-states with noble houses. One of the consistent cultural practices across the people is the practice of ancestor worship. In some tribes this does not just mean family members or great heroes. In battle, Llhei-carn are head-hunters. It is considered a sign of respect to take the head of a defeated worthy foe. It is preserved - sometimes in lime, and sometimes stripped of its flesh, depending on the practice of the tribe. Regardless, living warriors often carry the skulls of their dead foes with them, but not as a trophy. They keep the skulls in the belief that the dead will guide them, and they often beseech them for advice, particular in places of significance. This spiritual dialogue between the living in the dead is another manifestation of the Llhei-carn warrior culture - in which the living seek to accept their fate "wyrda" or literally, what happens.

Speaking generally, this is a piece that I absolutely love because Simul really perfectly rendered the details here. I'm certainly looking forward to having work from them in the future.

"In darkness;
I shall be light.

In times of doubt;
I keep my nerve.

When I see my fate;
I do not shy.

In the midst of battle
I have no fear.

When hope is lost;
I do not run.

With my battle-rage;
I sow my craft.

In vengeance;
I know no mercy.

In the face of death;
I smile."