Nobody Left But the Dead

Kenning wrote :-

It was a song about the past, like all songs. It was the sort of song that is sung to remember, to keep the past alive. The age passed, like all ages, and eventually only the old bards knew it, and the drunks, and then soon it was sung only by children at play. And the children grew and they stopped dancing, and singing, and grew old, and they remembered the song that they sang as tots, and the melody may still be clear as the dew, but they've long since forgotten the words.

My lord is resplendent in adamant arms,
And fully possessed of his soldierly charms.
He says we must dig out a glorious tomb
To house all the heroes we've sent to their doom.

"There's no greater shame," Minty says with a sigh,
"Than to leave behind those we have ordered to die.
"So dig ye, and tunnel, and train ye at war,
"No dwarf shall be slain and forgot heretofore."

But who will remember us, Minty my lord,
When the last brother falls to the bite of the sword?
When the beardlings are silenced and no longer cry,
And the smoke of the forges is gone from the sky?
When the riches are lost and the barrels are dry,
And there's nobody left but the dead?

He tells us to arm and to train and to spar,
And remember the foul ones that come from afar
To siege us and slay us and wipe us away,
And the heroes who perish to keep them at bay.

"O Council," cries Minty, "We ne'er shall relent
"Til the enemy's steel all is shattered and bent,
"Til the blood of our brothers is fully repaid
And the future of Gemclod made safe by the blade."

But who will remember us, Minty my lord,
When the last brother falls to the bite of the sword?
When the beardlings are silenced and no longer cry,
And the smoke of the forges is gone from the sky?
When the riches are lost and the barrels are dry,
And there's nobody left but the dead?

My lord has long fallen to slavering jaws,
And no one now to follows his order or laws.
The Dying has come and it's said he's been seen
Surveying the fortress, unkempt and unclean.

"My friends," cries his specter, "Engrave ye the tale
"Of the showers of blood and the rivers of ale,
"And the glory of Gemclod, the Recently Great
"Quick hurry, quick hurry, before it's too late."

Now none will remember us, Minty my lord,
Since the last brother fell to the bite of the sword;
Now the beardlings are silent and no longer cry,
And the smoke of the forges long gone from the sky;
Now the riches are lost and the barrels are dry,
And there's nobody left but the dead.

There's nobody left but the dead, my lord,
There's nobody left but the dead.

Sirocco wrote :-

Nobody Left But The Dead

Key: A Minor
Metre: 3/4
Overseer: Minty

The only thing I've written for Gemclod in triple time. Also the only one with no keyboard accompaniment that isn't choral.

Anyway, I'd never written for, or so much as touched a lute before this, so this is the only theme I can't guarantee is actually playable in real life. I'm pretty sure there's a chord or two in there that's impossible, but oh well. Also, if you think the lute sounds suspiciously like a guitar you'd be right - I couldn't find any free samples of lutes to use on the internet. Traditional lute notation holds that the letters be above the lines rather than on them but I couldn't find a way to fix that.

This song was written to be like the aptly named 'lute songs' of the renaissance period. If you've never heard any, listen to some Dowland on YouTube or look up some of the stuff Andreas Scholl has done. In my head this was sung by a counter-tenor (the highest adult male voice range). I can only imagine the serious damage I would have caused to Krysmphoenix's vocal chords had I mentioned it.

Some great lyrics by Kenning again, rescuing me from my irregular success with writing them. Very bard-like, hence the scene and instrumentation.

Kenning wrote :-

Nobody Left But The Dead

I was driving around one day and the line, "But who will remember us, Minty my lord?" came to me, and I realized that I had my genesis for this piece. Of course, the final "When there's nobody left but the dead" line was super satisfying, especially since I was writing this as the fortress was going through its death throes.

As I mentioned earlier, I drew a lot of inspiration from Minty's necrologues. This also in a sense stands in counterpoint to the Anthem of Gemclod, which is about beginnings and hope. I feel like the despair here, especially of Minty's ghost, lends this more pathos than the other pieces. For me personally the following verse is basically why I loved Gemclod so much: