The Lay of Skathen Nord

Here’s the beginning of a new narrative poem I’ve been working on called The Lay of Skathen Nord. It’s about four adventurers, particularly their leader Skathen, and their quest to defeat the evil Witch King. Hopefully if I can keep up my momentum, I’ll write and post every day. Enjoy!
—
The Lay of Skathen Nord

Canto I

Attend and listen scuts and drunks
To hear the lay of Skathen Nord.
Lift your drinks besotted punks
To honor Skathen, the bravest lord.

For if you haven’t heard of he
Who fought the Witch King long ago
Allow me grace to sit and speak,
Unfold the tale of victory and woe.

A bar like this in Tartaria,
That cold and brutal winter land,
Was rocked by alehouse hysteria
And filled to burst with a villainous band.

Cutthroats and pirates sat and drank
And filled their hearts with treachery.
They gambled and fought with rusty shanks,
Then indulged with whores their lechery.

And in their midst a hero sat.
This hero’s name was Skathen Nord.
He’d not consort with vile rats
But here was all he could afford.

The rent for rooms was very cheap
In inns where sickly lepers had lain
And vicious criminals would reap
The gold of sleeping men they’d slain.

Yet also he sought a cunning lass
Whose infamy was known by all.
Her name was Raven Fairlies, an asp
With wiles Skathen wished to call.

He knew she stayed in taverns rough
Because she was wanted for piracy.
Amongst the treacherous and tough
She had a lawless amnesty.

In fact, he didn’t have to wait
For long for Raven to show her face.
She strode to the bar with a lazy gait
And ordered rum with casual grace.

Her tresses dark and body lithe,
But beauty hid her fatal side.
Woe to fools with amour blithe
Who thought a femme fatale a bride.

Soon Raven spotted Skathen watching,
A one-eyed, bald, and bearded man.
He wasn’t the usual callow plotter
Who sought a lover to lay and scam.

Intrigued, she took a seat by Nord
To ask if what he saw had pleased.
But he ignored her winsome form
To focus on a graver need.

Skathen Nord:
“I’m told your name is Raven Fairlies,
A wanted pirate, skilled with swords.
You’ve sailed the icy seas with daring
To plunder ships of golden hoards.

“Your ill renown is known by all
And none but fear the Corvus ship.
I need to sail the strait of Caul
With one who’s fearless of the risk.”

[…to be continued.]

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~ by vincentwolfram on March 6, 2013.