Waste Land

[Byron Orpheus]

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

Winter kept us warm, covering

Earth in forgetful snow, feeding

A little life with dried tubers.

Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee

With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,

And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,

And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.

Bin gar keine Russin, stamm' aus Litauen, echt deutsch.

And when we were children, staying at the archduke's,

My cousin's, he took me out on a sled,

And I was frightened. He said, Marie,

Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.

In the mountains, there you feel free.

I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow

Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,

You cannot say, or guess, for you know only

A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,

And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,

And the dry stone no sound of water. Only

There is shadow under this red rock,

(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),

And I will show you something different from either

Your shadow at morning striding behind you

Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;

I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

Frisch weht der Wind

Der Heimat zu.

Mein Irisch Kind,

Wo weilest du?

'You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;

'They called me the hyacinth girl.'

—Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden,

Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not

Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither

Living nor dead, and I knew nothing,

Looking into the heart of light, the silence.

Od' und leer das Meer

The self-styled "Karma" forces expect to usher in a new utopia for all of our world (ignoring, of course, what "utopia" means in translation). However, this is a falsity, citizens of the world. All you can expect in the future is decay and destruction, ruin and waste. The cracked earth of Bob will be a faded red with the blood of its population, and the blackened nuclear skies will mock you with the failed promise of rain. There is no victory in this war, not in the sense that our foes expect; all will suffer and all will experience loss, and nothing will change. Those of you who fight with honor and for the preservation of civilization, I am proud to stand among you and call you my brothers-- and when the clouds of fallout fade and the burning craters cool, we will look back on these times and reminisce about how we looked into the screaming faces of the horde and calmly replied that we would not be moved. We will suffer alongside each other, to be sure, and there is no doubt that the enemy in its savage hive-mentality will inflict loss upon us, seething around us like so many ants, but we will stand resolute and, in the end, we will endure.

Our victory will be that of survival, of watching our enemies break against our defenses and lose heart, for we are not fighting with the faux-revolutionary zeal of the manipulated, led on by the egomaniacal and their sycophants. We fight for home, we fight for our way of life, we fight for all that we have strived to build. They will taunt us and attempt to break our spirits, but in the end all of their meaningless rhetoric and populist ideals will not be able to withstand the fury of our steel and fire.

And finally, as the cowards lose their resolve one by one, they will come to us with cries of mercy. Their wails will echo through the scorched air as they grovel before our armies, and we will remember the long war that they brought to our doorstep; we will remember the taunts and the curses hurled against us for so long; we will remember that they sought to topple our order and replace it with a tyrannical anarchy; we will remember all those lost along the way; we will remember the friends that stood beside us even when the night seemed blackest; and, with these memories in mind, we will silently level our guns and remove the last of the treacherous from our world, and the last question will be asked "Shall I at least set my lands in order?"

The reconstruction will begin, the world will begin the long process of renewal, and only we shall remain.

[Delta1212]

The self-styled "Karma" forces expect to usher in a new utopia for all of our world (ignoring, of course, what "utopia" means in translation).

No we don't. (OOC: I'd also point out that Planet Bob doesn't really exist and could be considered to be "nowhere" though I'm sure you'd point to the servers just to be contrary).

[Byron Orpheus]

No we don't. (OOC: I'd also point out that Planet Bob doesn't really exist and could be considered to be "nowhere" though I'm sure you'd point to the servers just to be contrary).

OOC: No, I would point to the "IC" heading to this forum to justify the existence of Planet Bob.

IC: A witty retort. It seems the rhetoric is waning already.

[Delta1212]

OOC: No, I would point to the "IC" heading to this forum to justify the existence of Planet Bob.

IC: A witty retort. It seems the rhetoric is waning already.

OOC: Yes, but it was such a good set up I had to find some way to take it.

IC: The time for rhetoric has past. The dice have been cast. We shall see where they land.

[Vilien]

Post.

How quickly it all comes crashing down.

[Jens of the desert]

All I can really say is:

"We shall see"

Whatever it is, it will be different, and for me, anything would be better than 2 years of stagnation.

[lebubu]

This was a nice read, have fun dying.

[R&R-Viking]

IC: The time for rhetoric has past. The dice have been cast. We shall see where they land.

Two threes.

[flygirafda3]

you are really calling karma a group of cowards?

you? from gga? the group who doesn't need WRCs because of NPO, then in their hour of need you desert them, only to come running back after being branded a coward by all of cn? also how exactly does doing that translate into standing by your allies during the blackest night?

i don't see how anyone will be able to take this essay seriously

[Frozenrpg]

So I hear you're in anarchy.

How is that?

[Byron Orpheus]

you are really calling karma a group of cowards?

you? from gga? the group who doesn't need WRCs because of NPO, then in their hour of need you desert them, only to come running back after being branded a coward by all of cn? also how exactly does doing that translate into standing by your allies during the blackest night?

i don't see how anyone will be able to take this essay seriously

I didn't abandon anyone, as I am not government-- had GGA not intervened, I would have left to join NPO in their struggle. As it happens, however, it has nothing to do with cowardice. The government's decision to cancel those treaties was intended as a wake-up call to NPO to remember their allies. Once the message had been sent, we of course fulfilled our obligations.

[Byron Orpheus]

So I hear you're in anarchy.

How is that?

Rather pleasant. How's evading the topic?

[Paradigm]

and only we shall remain.

Glad you figured out the paradigm of thought that has caused your ills.

[Rickyman1984]

And finally, as the cowards lose their resolve one by one, they will come to us with cries of mercy. Their wails will echo through the scorched air as they grovel before our armies, and we will remember the long war that they brought to our doorstep; we will remember the taunts and the curses hurled against us for so long; we will remember that they sought to topple our order and replace it with a tyrannical anarchy

I'm getting a little tired of this "the other side is a bunch of cowards" thing. The vast majority of rulers on both sides of this war will fight honorably for their alliance, taking and receiving massive damage without whining or complaining. If anyone is forced to "grovel" or beg for mercy at the end of this war I'll be very disappointed because it will mean one of two things.

1) NPO (and friends) haven't learned a thing and will still be acting like they can do anything they want simply because they're the biggest kids on the block.

2) Karma isn't conducting itself with the level of honor and respect that I had hoped they would.

As others have said, let the cards fall where they may. If the sides are fairly even, we'll all get to see who the best alliances are in due time. The victors will be those with the greater commitment to the cause.

[Byron Orpheus]

1) NPO (and friends) haven't learned a thing and will still be acting like they can do anything they want simply because they're the biggest kids on the block.

You mean the undeniable fact that might makes right?

2) Karma isn't conducting itself with the level of honor and respect that I had hoped they would.

You can go ahead and expect this.

The victors will be those with the greater commitment to the cause.

What commitment has Karma? A loose organization of alliances that all feel NPO is scary and evil.

[Rickyman1984]

You mean the undeniable fact that might makes right?

You can go ahead and expect this.

What commitment has Karma? A loose organization of alliances that all feel NPO is scary and evil.

1) Yes I will deny that. For instance, I'd never want to be part of an alliance that would put someone on EZI for lulz regardless of how powerful that alliance was.

2) I would sincerely hope that those that have suffered the pain of having their alliances ripped apart won't do the same to NPO or GGA simply to get revenge. And I've seen enough of the various Karma leaders to believe they won't do that. Time will tell though.

3) One could ask what commitment NPOs allies have to it, we've learned that either they have no loyalty to them (outside of using NPO's military strength to rescue them when things go bad) and wanted to bail on them or they have loyalty but simply were doing a truly ridiculous strategic move that no one fell for. Being allied to someone solely because their strong is called being a parasite, not being an ally.

EDIT: Misspelled a word.

Edited April 23, 2009 by Rickyman1984

[Byron Orpheus]

1) Yes I will deny that. For instance, I'd never want to be part of an alliance that would put someone on EZI for lulz regardless of how powerful that alliance was.

You denying that might makes right does not mean the concept is invalid, it just means you are too idealistic and foolish to embrace the reality of life.

2) I would sincerely hope that those that have suffered the pain of having their alliances ripped apart won't do the same to NPO or GGA simply to get revenge. And I've seen enough of the various Karma leaders to believe they won't do that. Time will tell though.

That is because you have bought into the false idealism that they have used to make fools of all of you.

3) One could ask what commitment NPOs allies have to it, we've learned that either they have no loyalty to them (outside of using NPO's military strength to rescue them when things go bad) and wanted to bail on them or they have loyalty but simply were doing a truly ridiculous strategic move that no one fell for.

None of the above, would be the correct answer. It was neither "bailing" on the NPO nor was it a strategic move.

[Vilien]

That is because you have bought into the false idealism that they have used to make fools of all of you.

Evil Moralist conspiracy, am I right?

[Diogenes]

Let's revise history after it's been made.

[Londo Mollari]

I fail to see how NPO's unwarranted bellicosity against Ordo Verde was supposed to be preservation of civilization. Civilized men abide by codes of honor, they don't launch suprise attacks without just cause in the middle of negotiations. That is the act of a barbarian and plunderer.

[Byron Orpheus]

I fail to see how NPO's unwarranted bellicosity against Ordo Verde was supposed to be preservation of civilization. Civilized men abide by codes of honor, they don't launch suprise attacks without just cause in the middle of negotiations. That is the act of a barbarian and plunderer.

You mean NPO standing by the belief that spying is unwarranted aggression?

[Qaianna]

No we don't. (OOC: I'd also point out that Planet Bob doesn't really exist and could be considered to be "nowhere" though I'm sure you'd point to the servers just to be contrary).

Then..what do you expect to usher in, if victorious?

[Bellisus]

You mean NPO standing by the belief that spying is unwarranted aggression?

But spying to catch a spy. That's a warranted aggression.

[Bellisus]

Then..what do you expect to usher in, if victorious?

Sorry, double post.

Not being a leader of a major Karma alliance, I can't say. However, I've seen how NPO treats this planet, and I'd like that to stop. That doesn't mean a utopia. We will see more wars, even if Karma prevails. I only hope for some decency and respect, and believe I can find that more readily with GR and NV than NPO and co.

[Lycurgus Rex]

The self-styled "Karma" forces expect to usher in a new utopia for all of our world

nope. Im sure they just want rid of you.