The Remembrance of the Clans: Clan Widowmaker
Passage 1
Hark children of the Clans,
To the wisdom of Kerensky and your forebears,
Know what has come before;
Remember it as you strive toward the future.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 1, Verse 1, Lines 1-4[3]
Passage 2
Where nature's laws threatened the weary;
When food, water, even air itself ran low,
It took just a command, a word, a smile,
From the General to light the way.
He was comfort, stem courage, compassion,
To our sires as he led them from the fires
That grew and fed on those they left behind.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 2, Verse 14, Lines 18-24
Passage 3
The just deaths of the traitors frightened some
There among the darkness and alien stars.
A few lost heart and began with a quavering resolve
To question the Great Father's plan.
With stern compassion he spoke and all was revealed;
How their destiny was the Hidden Hope
Of all mankind and how their sons' sons
Would one day return to the Inner Spheres
Bringing back the enlightenment to the Star League
To those unfortunates they had left behind.
Such was their right; such is our legacy of blood.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 3, Verse 22, Lines 1-11
There will be a time when our descendants
Return to reclaim what is our right.
With honor swelling their hearts, they will crusade
Against the dark emotions that have dimmed.
The Inner Sphere for so long.
But with the glory comes responsibility;
Without a pure soul we cannot give sight
To their blind lives, but will only blind ourselves.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 3, Verse 41, Lines 1-8
Passage 8
The rebels, heeding neither strength nor sense,
Cowardly ambushed noble DeChavilier.
Although he fought like a lion, he died
And with his death came the clouds, and reason fled
Like a winter sun's feeble evening light
Above hopeless Eden and wicked Babylon.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 8, Verse 36, Lines 51-56
Passage 22
Two score as one mount, four steeds of the Great Father
Descended to return light to paradise, to bring peace to Hell,
But faced the gauntlet that would test them all
-- The Remembrance, Passage 22, Verse 1, Lines 1-3
Passage 23
Babylon, bright jewel in the dark,
The Heart of the Cobra,
The Skill of the Coyote,
The Courage of the Hellion,
The Rage of the Fox.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 23, Verse 2, Lines 8–12
Passage 24
Liberation and justice was their goal,
To purge the corruption and to make the land whole,
But through stone and sky and sand and sea,
Bitter Tear's would be Circe's legacy.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 24, Verse 1, Lines 4-7
Passage 25
Like shining stars the warrior's descended,
A fiery rain to purify and punish,
Yet even angels can be corrupted,
Brought low by base desires.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 25, Verse 3, Lines 9-11
Passage 26
Bloody vengeance would be Eden's fate,
The heart of darkness,
Doomed to wait,
For the Sons of Kerensky,
Grim and merciless.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 26, Verse 2, Lines 4-8
Passage 67
Five, Nicholas proclaimed, was the foundation
Upon which our true society was to be built.
Laborers to till the land, to do the tasks:
They shall have our undying gratitude,
For they are the muscle behind us all.
Merchants to buy and sell with fairness:
They shall have our commerce and respect,
For they are the bones upon which we are built.
Technicians to build and fix the machines:
They shall have our admiration,
For they are the fingers with which we grasp life.
Scientists to create and discover:
They shall have our awe and our attention,
For they are the mind of our society.
And above all, the Warriors who protect.
They shall have our cooperation and worship,
For they are the blood and soul of us all.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 67, Verse 26, Lines 21-37
Passage 72
For the day will come and our kin will stand
On Terra's firm soil, ready to rebuild
The Star League with their hearts and hands.
But who shall lead? Upon whose shoulders
Will the burden lie? The answer is the test;
The test is the journey. Whichever Clan
Carves its way through the barbarians
To reach that fabled cradle of us all
Shall be the vehicle of the League's rebirth. Upon
The Star League throne shall sit that Clan's
Wisest Khan. So should it be - So shall it be.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 72, Verse 22, Lines 14-24
Passage 74
Let all warriors bear their mark proudly,
Taking what pride they can in their accomplishments;
For our lives should be full of glory, but short.
On the battlefield, we are alone.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 74, Verse 26, Lines 1-4
Passage 98
From Kerensky's Stars came the Eight Hundred
Beneath a banner of Truth and Righteous Light
To lift up those who had suffered and to smite down
With fearful vengeance those who had ruled
In the name of Vanity or Greed.
The thunder of their BattleMech's feet, the lightning
From their weapons, and the blood spilled in their name
Created the Clan Spirit, the forge upon which
We have fashioned ourselves to be the weapon
Of the resurrected Star League,
Honed to a razor's edge by the Trials,
By the Remembrance, and by the Words
Of the Great Kerensky’s, our sires, our savior.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 98, Verse 24, Lines 8-20
Passage 118
All praise the art of batchall and bidding
For it proves our love of peace and tradition.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 118, Verse 3, Lines 11-12
Passage 149
Like a poisonous weed, the Not-Named fostered
Thoughts and actions against the Clans, calling them
"Independence" and "Freedom", not realizing
Their every act chained them to the corruptions
That brought down the noble Star League
And set the Inner Sphere aflame.
But the Clans survived by condemning
Them to a bitter annihilation.
Led by Clans Wolf and Widowmaker,
The Grand Council wiped clean the records,
Obliterating with the warm blood
Of its tragically doomed warriors
Every mention of the Not-Named Clan.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 149, Verse 55, Lines 21-33
Passage 154
About the fallen hero they gathered,
None able to give voice to his shock.
Khan Jerome Winson knelt, tears streaming,
To cradle Nicholas Kerensky's head.
To wipe the blood from the cold brow,
To close the lightless eyes. Peace great Hero.
Choked with sadness and anger
Khan Jerome Winson spoke. "Khan Cal Jorgensson,
I cry, not for myself, nor for others.
I weep for your Clan Widowmaker. There is a price for such a crime
As you have committed. A price you
And your Clan will pay."
-- The Remembrance, Passage 154, Verse 34, Lines 16-28
Passage 167
And Minaka Widowmaker spoke,
"I claim the Bloodname Vordermark;
It was my mother's and my mother's fathers,
It is mine by association and blood pride."
The Council was stunned and outraged
By her lack of respect for the Clan ways.
Then the ilKhan rose and spoke wise words.
"Such a claim is not freely granted, Minaka.
Although your blood may cry out Vordermark,
It is your muscle and mind that will make it so.
Remember the Rede of our past, Widowmaker,
And do not ask words to win what the trial decides.
If strong, you will win the right.
But do justice to our future
By remembering our past, young one.
Those are my words, that is my judgment"
-- The Remembrance, Passage 167, Verse 34, Lines 33-48
Passage 222
And never forget that help may come
From the most unlikely of quarters
And success rest upon the shoulders
Of those kept shadowed until the time of need.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 222, Verse 6, Lines 11-14
Passage 272
Then the order came, "Furl the sails.
Ready for jump, mighty warriors.
We journey back, we journey home,
Carrying the flame of the Star League
Back to the heart. We face the ignorant
Who believe themselves civilized and strong,
But they will soon discover otherwise.
We are the Clans, the Star League incarnate.
None can stand against us and survive."
-- The Remembrance, Passage 272, Verse 8, Lines 11-19
Passage 285
No natural calamities cost you.
There was no great disease, no famines;
No interstellar catastrophe to blame.
You have no excuse to explain
How this, out rightful palace, has been fouled
With the dust of countless innocent dead.
The truth is that you are the descendants
Of traitors who scurry about like rats
In the dark, fighting over petty kingdoms
At the foot of the empty throne.
Never recognizing that you have given up
The one true prize.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 285, Verse 15, Lines 21-32
Passage 294
Tyra of the Rasalhague led,
Forth her fiery fighting Drakons,
Gallant in bronze. A warrior woman whose hands
Were unskilled in the ways of hearth and home,
In skills of war she was hard and trained
To leave behind the airy winds and fight
Where the void is eternal and life fleeting.
Tyra and her warriors fought
Like crazed demons above Radstadt.
When her fighter crippled by ours,
And her life leaked away into the endless night,
She chose to die
And sent her fighter like a spear
Through the Dire Wolf, claiming as isorla
Our mighty ilKhan's life. Sing of our loss, warriors!
Sing, but of Tyra also
For though an enemy, her courage none can deny.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 294, Verse 8, Lines 17-33
Passage 327
And so the Khans met in kurultai
To discuss the carving of Tukayyid.
As if it was some feast dish cooked
And tender, begging for the server's knife.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 327, Verse 3, Lines 5-8
Passage 328
Sons and daughters of the blood legacy
Inspire me as I sing,
Of the deaths dealt out on Tukayyid
And of what our warriors faced and bravely fought:
Help me paint a portrait of an apocalypse.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 328, Verse 1, Lines 1-5
Passage 411
And the ilKhan give us his final words,
Charging us to protect those
With whom we found refuge in our time of need.
In this, our final duty, we shall not fail.
-- The Remembrance, Passage 411, Verse 16, Lines 1-4
Passage 500
A new beginning, birthed from within
The belly of the Wolf, comes forth the spawn of the Widow
Consumed, absorbed, reforged, reborn. In stealthy silence did the acarine wait and grow
Until in due time Khan Kerensky unleashed her pedigree
Once again the Blackwidows were set forth
To subjugate the stravag Inner Sphere
With Wolves in Exile the Widowmakers did disentangle
To spread the web of glory and victory anew Behold our visage, fierce and rampant,
Descending upon our prey to devour those unworthy
Until at last we stand triumphant alone upon the jewel of Terra Let our warriors harken to their destiny
From the chrysalis of the Wolf we emerge in strength
To reclaim our glory of old
To surge forth unto new glories
As yet untold and undiscovered In strength we stand united
With purpose we pursue our prey
Our Glory is our venom
Paralyzing them with the truth of our power and prowess
Striking fear into the hearts of our adversaries
Upon hearing of our inevitable return
And our inexorable victory But with honor we show compassion
In humility we shall rule
And fear shall be transformed into respect
When as ilClan we shall restore justice and prosperity
As the Star league is reborn in the clutch of the Widowmakers
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