Covenant's Friends

[Fist and Faith]

"Thomas Covenant," the tall man sang, "I require from you everything and nothing. I have not brought you here this night to ask, but to give. Behold!" A sweeping gesture of his staff scattered the grass with music; and there, through the melody like incarnations of song, Covenant saw them. Pale silver as if they were made of moonshine, though the moon had no such light, they stood before him. Caer-Caveral's streaming argence illumined them as if they had been created out of Forestal-fire.

Covenant's friends.

High Lord Mhoram, with the wise serenity of his eyes, and the crookedness of his smile.

Elena daughter of Lena and rape, herself a former High Lord, beautiful and passionate. Covenant's child; almost his lover.

Bannor of the Bloodguard, wearing poise and capability and the power of judgment which could never be wrested from him.

Saltheart Foamfollower, who towered over the others as he towered over all mortals in size, and humor, and purity of spirit.

The Watch has been around for a long time. kevinswatch is the owner, and his profile says
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2002 10:46 am

If you wander into the right pub, in the middle of nowhere, well after midnight, you might hear a few people at a table in a dark corner talking in low, wistful voices about something called ezboard. They will say The Watch's true origin is in that mythical place, in a time before time. At any rate, before Sat Mar 02, 2002 10:46 am. The legend is usually attributed to the advanced age of those speaking, and the many empty bottles on the table.

The point, though, is that we've been here for some time. It is a sad truth of life that longevity means we lose some of those we love. Eventually, either we lose all of them, or they lose us.

The Watch has lost some dear friends. Some will say "dear friends" is a woefully inadequate phrase. Some losses are... Well, I can scarcely believe we were able to go on.

Who would have thought, when all this began, that we should have a place to honor those who leave us? Who knew the Watch would mean as much to us as it does, because of the souls that inhabit our Land? Who would have imagined any of us would still be here long enough to feel such loss? Now that we know these things we couldn't have known then, we need such a place. Here it is. We can come here to remember. We will grieve, for the glory of the world becomes less than it was. But we have beheld a marvelous story, and the laughter will prevail.

[Avatar]

Joy is in the ears that hear.

--A

[peter]

Who, as you say Fist, could have known.

I'd hear more of this legendary 'ezboard', if you've a mind to tell?

As to those we've lost; they come in many shapes and sizes.

There are those who've taken the biggest journey of all (and they continue to live in our memories, choose what you believe may or may not be to come).

Then there are those who've chosen to be lost to us - some in vexation, some in apathy or just because they feel that they've said all that they have to say.

And then there are those we loose, but who still post. Perhaps the most poignant group, these are perhaps the most lost of all, because, for whatever reason - faith, belief, ideology - there remains no path back to them (or none that we have the senses enough to see).

Little can Donaldson have thought, when he put first his pen to paper, exactly what fruit the ripples of his labours would bear. I'd like to believe that perhaps he occasionally - perhaps even still - puts his head surreptitiously round the door to see what we are up to. But that's as maybe.

But still, I absolutely resonate with the sentiment behind such a thread. And so in the words of Caroline Elizabeth Norton I raise a glass on this strange day between Christmas and New Year and say

For death and life, with ceaseless strife,
Beat wild on this world's shore;
And all our calm is in that balm -
Not lost, but gone before.....