"Believe you me, the price is clear; A child is born, the mother near. To death and life; as hand in hand - A failed life exposed the man. Who led her off into the flame? To cast her back to Hell again? But hear you me, the break of dawn Will wash away the sins thereof. Unto the lake, beyond the tree The child waits, alone is he.
The flame is gone, the fire remains,
The flame is gone, the fire remains,
The flame is gone, the fire remains,
The flame is gone, the fire remains..."
- Battesimo del Fuoco, The Dear Hunter
Nightmare of the Phoenix
One of my favorite chapters of Act II: The Scattered War is the Nightmare of the Phoenix. The chapter considers an updated look on D&D's Tomb of Annihilation's last boss (no spoilers). Without revealing the inner machinations of the chapter, I wanted to create a lasting impression on my characters (using the perspective of the blind knight) to confess their true sin. It is a deeply mental chapter that is dedicated to highlighting the mythical creature's nightmare which is its death and life cycle. Would years of eternity drive such a creature insane? And were it to exist in a prison for an eon, what would occur should it escape?
Aethol Sol - The Phoenix
The Phoenix is an entity that highlights my fascination with the implication fire has on the literary world. Much of its use details a destructive force, or one of evil intent. But throughout Act II, I wanted to search within my own understanding of the concepts, and apply it to different characters. Fire can be used for rebirth, desire, lust, passion, destruction, and life. Fire can be used for many things, and still be a search for the truth, as the meaning is lost in the embers.
Consider this passage of Act II: The Scattered War:
"The fire washed the bleak north in a warmth it had not seen for years. Still, it tried to swallow any heat – the biting wind from the looming mountains beside them whistling a tune of death and despair, gnawing deep at their cores. And Fang felt it. Every step their horses, covered in the soft plume of snow, took, seemed laborious. Their breath was a haunting visage against the bloated sky, roaring in thunder and lightning.
Fang wished he could get closer to the flame; to be swallowed by it. I don’t doubt many have had this thought, he considered as the flames licked upwards in a wild spiral that only it could conceive. The four of them had fought the north for the flame, longer than it should have taken any of them. But finally, they got it. Fang, Elias, Isa, and Kadroth all huddled close to keep the winds from smothering the fire." - pg. 150
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