A little support

To all of Barad'dun

It is I King Ymir(Surt's Brother) from the Northern Guard. I was just checking in to see how things were going. Im sure with Surt being gone, there are still some people feeling torn.

Hopefully you all are staying strong, and staying together. Surt wouldnt want us to fail. i can tell you from experience....when he originally started my chapter, he left for vegas after about a year of us being together. we stayed strong for about 1 month, and then we fell apart. we stopped playing until about 4 months before he died. Surt had a way of holding things and people together. its unexplainable. I am so glad to see that almost a year after he has been gone, you are still here.

i am still broken, and havent fully recovered from this. but i hope i can help you all a little with a few words. i know its hard to agree on where the chapter is going, and who is doing what, or arguing with who about whatever. Just remember what Surt would do. It might be hard to see sometimes, but i know he would want you guys to stay strong. living the dream he had for the chapter.

I guess im kind of rambling on... but i just wanting to let you all know, we are here for you. and if you guys ever have any questions about what Josh might have though about something, i will try my best to answer it.

keep your shields up, and keep moving forward.

Ymir
King of the Northern Guard
Brother To Surt

We've had a few absentees and hiatuses since he passed, but in good ol' Barad'Dun fashion we pull it together for that home stretch and keep pushing toward that one year mark, where hopefully we can honor him at an event hosted and collaborated by the realm in his honor, it would be great if you could make it down, if not we'll be sure to send a token your way .

The realm is growing again, things are starting to get rolling as lots of newbies have started flowing into the group and we are training and making new friends. We'll see how the coming months go, but the group is almost as big and as glorious as it was before. I think he'd be proud of everyone.

It's nice hearing from you Ymir! Stay strong.


-Tooka

thats good to hear.... i would love to come and play, but thats quite the distance lol.

Hail, Ymir of the Northern Wastes!

I appreciate your words of support for our Realm, and your advice. It is true that membership in the Black Lions is strong. It is also true that membership in the War Wolves is steady.

But the RA is a shadow of what it once was, as described to me by the RA veterans I have spoken to.

Before he left, my sponsor, Leggo, in a moment of hurt, compared the Royal Army to Atlantis; a legend, a dream, a good story - but also non-existent.

The Royal Army is the heart of the Realm. It was founded, led and trained by King Surt. It was his creation, his brain-child, and his legacy.

I do not mean any disrespect to either the War Wolves or the Black Lions. Both are strong units, honorable and proud; I am a Blood Brother to the War Wolves, and the ferocity of the Black Lions is well known.

But those were not the units Surt created. Rather, they came into being because of him. He, and those early members that followed his vision, created Barad'dun.

I never met Joshua Defort (aka King Surt). Not once. I never even knew he existed until a month ago.

But his actions reached out and touched both my heart and my life. Because of Joshua Defort, ripples caused by the impact of his actions reached from his world to mine, and gave my life fresh meaning.

I have failed at everything I have done in my life. I am (or was) a career convenience store clerk. I dropped out of school at 16, and have been an extreme introvert for most of my life.

All because I didn't care. I didn't care about anyone else, and certainly didn't care about myself. I had no goals because nothing was important to me - I was just floating on the sea of life, going wherever. I never succeeded because I never found the motivation, and I didn't care about that either.

But then I discovered Joshua Defort. I was researching the RA history (after finding out Prysm was signing up) while weighing the benefits of joining vs. remaining a mercenary; and I met King Surt.

I searched through the forum posts, read what he said. Read what others said about him. I googled his name online, and found out the tragic truth about how his life came to a sudden end. It broke my heart.

Here I was, an epic failure because I honestly didn't give a crap. My best friend Rob said I was dealt a bad hand in life; and that is true - but damn it, I played my cards badly, also. I made my bed, and was content to wallow in it.

Then there was Joshua Defort. A man that did care, and cared passionately. A man that didn't seem to know how to stop - he was building a legend. He innovated the tactics (at least locally, if not nationally) in Dagohir, and I never once read a post about him belittling or being arrogant to anyone.

He had a vision, a dream, a goal. I don't know what it was, but I do know this; he was doing it for us, not just himself. He wasn't a saint, and he wasn't self-sacrificing to the point of foolishness. But he loved his friends, he loved the Royal Army, and he loved Barad'dun.

And that was the reason why I joined up. My eyes teared up when I dove to deeply into his life. Here was a man that cared, that strove to better himself, and strove to better those around him. He died, an important part of Barad'dun died with him.

Less than a year later, and only 3-4 RA members showed up to general practice, and that was (from what I am told) only after Combat Con. Prior to that...

Nevermind RA Practice. I've read the posts, I know.

I decided I couldn't let it happen like that. I could not let a dream so deeply cherished decay and fade into nothing. I wanted, for the first time since high school, to belong to something. I wanted to help finish what Joshua Defort started. I wanted to be a part of his dream, I wanted to help it succeed.

He deserves it. I can't guarantee that I will succeed, but I can promise that I will try.

Because of Surt's example I have quit smoking, and I exercise, and I take vitamins, I got a job with a future, and I am enjoying life.

I am also going to help rebuild the RA. That is what Surt would have wanted, and that is what is gonna happen.

-Hollister
Royal Army Trainee
War Wolf Blood Brother
Foolish Peasant
A Dreamer

P.S. I guess this might belong on the "obsessed" thread, but what the hell.

Nice Hollister, very nice. I believe in you. I think Surt would have loved to have led you on the field and to have welcomed you into the Royal Army.

Do me a favour, if you haven't already, read the Royal Army codex through and through, then strive to rank up and be the first Adunabar of the Royal Army! Yeah, I said it. I put that challenge out to you, but in the face of all those who came before you. Just do it.

Konradr

i would love to see the royal army stay active.

this reminds me of the Musketeers! HAHA! and your like D'artanion! rounding up whats left of the loyal warriors of the king, turning the bad back to good again!

ALL FOR ONE...ONE FOR ALL!!! HA-ZAH HA-ZAH HA-ZAH!!!!!

or as we cheer Northern Guard style..... AH-oo AH-oo AH-oo!!!

ya everything is going well. it could be better. the Northern Guard is having trouble staying together. we have a lot of younger kids, and they all are doing sports and going back to school. so there are fewer and fewer people showing up. but i just got a new job at my college, and will have more free time. and i will have more area to put up flyers and recruit new people. i really want to make my chapter bigger. the way surt was making yours.