To: Everyone

[leitstern]

𝒪𝓃𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝒾𝒻 𝐼 𝓂𝒶𝓎.

𝒲𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒽𝓊𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓈𝒽 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝑜𝓊𝓁𝓈 𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁𝓈𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝒻 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝒷𝑜𝓇𝓃. 𝐸𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒻𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓈 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑔𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝓉𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝒹𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽. 𝐸𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝒷𝓊𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓉𝓈 𝓊𝓅𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝓇𝒶𝓃𝒸𝒽 𝓂𝒾𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓇𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒾𝓇𝓉𝒽 𝑜𝒻 𝒶 𝓃𝑒𝓌 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒.

𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝒻𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓂 𝓌𝒽𝓎 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝒾𝓈𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒𝒹 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝒸𝓊𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒷𝑒𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒹𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽. 𝒯𝒽𝓊𝓈 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒻𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃:

𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒹𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒷𝑒𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓋𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓈𝑜𝓊𝓁𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝓊𝒻𝒻𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝑜𝒻𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒶𝓁 𝒸𝑜𝒾𝓁?

𝐸𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒷𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒷𝑜𝓇𝓃 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝑜𝓊𝓁: 𝒶𝓃 𝒾𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓋𝒾𝒹𝓊𝒶𝓁 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝑜𝓅𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝓊𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒. 𝒩𝑜𝓌 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓀𝒾𝓃 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓃 𝓋𝒾𝒸𝓉𝒾𝓂 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝓊𝓉𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓇𝑒𝒷𝒾𝓇𝓉𝒽 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑒.

𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒷𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓈𝑒𝒹.

𝐻𝓊𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑜𝓇𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓋𝒾𝑜𝓁𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒.

Comments

[northerndragon]

Nothing.

I was taught that the soul of any man goes to the trees and the rocks and the river — that they are everywhere around us. I don't believe that anymore. To be dead is to rest — that is all.

[leitstern]

𝒯𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃𝓈 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒷𝑒 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓇𝑒, 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒𝓁𝓎? 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈.

𝑅𝑒𝑔𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈, 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓈𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝓈𝒾𝓂𝒾𝓁𝒾𝒶𝓇 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑒𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝒷𝑜𝓎. 𝐻𝓂𝓅𝒽! 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝓈𝑜𝑜𝓃 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇.

[northerndragon]

There is rest in nothingness. Like a dreamless sleep.

If the words you heard fled soon after, what do you think death must be like now?

[leitstern]

𝐹𝑜𝓇𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁:

𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓇𝒾𝒻𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔.

[northerndragon]

Plenty of things are terrifying.

Why is it terrifying to you?

Some would rather die than live as a craven, or an exile, or a fool. Some would do any of those things if it meant keeping their life.

[leitstern]

𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓇𝒾𝒻𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝓇𝑒𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝑒𝓃 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓅𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈.

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓁𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝐼 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓈𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝒷𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝒟𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎?

[northerndragon]

Nor I you, but a weighty subject will call for heavy words.

I speak of what I was taught, and what I have learned. Have you commanded men in battle? When you do, you hold their lives. You try not to waste them like a fool, try to do nothing cruel. Some might be friends, but you do as well as you can even if they are not.

[leitstern]

𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝒹𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝑒𝓃𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓂𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓊𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓃𝓉𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝑒𝓃𝒹𝑒𝒶𝓋𝑜𝓊𝓇.

[Though none remain as friends: a weighty subject that demands more solemnity than he can share.]

𝑀𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓅𝒶𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝑒𝓁𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔𝒹𝑜𝓂 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓈. 𝐼 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓃𝑔𝑒𝒹 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝓅𝓅𝑜𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓇𝑒𝑔𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓈: 𝒶 𝒹𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝒸𝒶𝓃𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒹𝑒𝒻𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝑜𝓃𝑒.

[A lie: he understood it once.]

𝐼𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉. 𝐼𝓉 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓂𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝐼.

[northerndragon]

Different. One thing isn't always better than another.

Is it rash to be too brave?

[Sometimes it is, and sometimes it is.]

[leitstern]

𝒩𝑜 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝒶𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒷𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜𝑜 𝒻𝑜𝑜𝓁𝒾𝓈𝒽.