Lyrics - The Splendour Of A Thousand Swords by Bal Sagoth

ALTARUS:
Gaze deep into the mists with your spirit-eyes,
Xerxes... look far, and tell mewhat you see.
XERXES:
I see a land far to the north... a vast empire of dark endless moors and snow-crowned mountains... a land of brooding citadels and warrior-kings who hail to grim gods.
ALTARUS:
Look well,
Xerxes, for enlightenment hides within the fog-swathed vales of
Hyperborea...
The
King's
Dream:
By the onyx sceptre of my forefathers, the air is churning with auguries of dethronement...
Impending dread thus prophesized!
In a dream
I was bade ride the argent-eyed unicorn to the
Ring of
Stones...
There a torrent of viscid slime assailed me, as pipes and horns sang the clarion of mydissolution...
And the usurpation of my ancient azure throne.
Assassins stalk the nighted halls of my palace... poisoned blades and chalices surroundme.
I thirsted for a balm, but my thirst was slaked by an envenomed draught.
My swordarm shackled by tendrils of sloth... enthralled by the chasmed gloom...
Borne upon wings of labyrinthine dread...
I awaken!
I shall seek the counsel of the sorcerer, keeper of the ancient scrolls of wisdom, and the
Crystals of
Power...
The
Words of the
Sorcerer:
My liege, great and regal king... the mists disclose their secrets... you are destined towield a great dark power.
Drink deep of the potions of the apothecary, for upon thee now
Ibestow a shard of the mystic
Crystal of
Mera... sacred artefact of the
Atlantean mages,won in battle by our legions.
My liege, the
Crystal of
Mera shall unveil the truth lurkinghidden in thy most fever-haunted dreams...
The
Voice of the
Harbinger:
The land awash with spilled blood, and viscera torn forth from the sundered dead...
Gorge the earth with flesh darkened with the claw and fang of war... rent open theravenous maws of worms...
The
King:
The
Crystal illumines dark secrets, the truth is known... a dire and ancient threat is rangedagainst me.
Hearken, the clarion is upon the winds, now the call to arms is upon us all,
Grim warriors, take up thy spears and hone thy gleaming swords.
Archers, string thy bows, brave knights, saddle the steeds of war,
The glory of battle is nigh at last, our banner shall fly this day in victory!
My warriors, a legacy shall this day be wrought by our blades, decreed by the gods,
Blessed by the blood of vanquished foes.
Our destiny beckons...
Lord
Angsaar,
Dark
Liege of
Chaos:
Come, great king of
Hyperboria, march against me with your splendid legions andshimmering swords.
I, the
Bane of the
Atlantean
Kings, the
Scourge of
Lemuria,
Archfoeof the
Immortals of
Ultima
Thule, shall
Crush you!
I shall visit a thousand plagues uponyour realm, and wreak untold havoc and bloody carnage until
I have your throne... andyour soul!
ALTARUS:
And thus, flanked by the splendour of azure banners, a vast army marchedforth from the great walls of the
Imperial
City of
Hyperborea, and at the forefront of themighty legions, astride an ebon war-stallion, rode the king, sunlight glinting upon hissplendid armour... compelled by dreams, and guided by the
Crystal of
Mera...
XERXES:
Where?
Where did the king's path take him?
ALTARUS:
The king was compelled to lead his forces to the shadow-haunted
Mountainsof the
Dead, a grim and brooding place steeped in dark and ancient legendry.
Alone herode into the gaping maw of a huge cave hewn into the side of the tallest mountaincountless ages past by unknown hands.
For three full days and nights he did not emergefrom the cave... until, at last, he rode forth from the eldritch mountain once more, a terribleknowledge shadowed in his icy eyes, and bearing in his gauntleted fist a huge blacksword, a magnificent ebon blade which no human blacksmith ever forged.
Fearsomesorcerous power crackled within the yard of black steel, dancing upon its searingly honed,glyph-scored blade... and its bejewelled, dragon-carved hilt did whisper arcane secrets tothe king in a strange, elder tongue.
XERXES:
But master, what powers did this blade possess?
What secrets did it hold?
ALTARUS:
Many centuries ago, before even were waged the
Great
Wars between theancient kingdoms of
Atlantis and
Hyperborea,
Lord
Angsaar did rise from his charnel-tomband do battle with a powerful immortal warrior-shaman over the possession of the elder
Crystals of
Mera, mystic gems of unparalleled magical potency.
Angsaar, his powerswelled by forces from the vast
Outer
Darkness, did smite his foe to the brink ofdestruction... but, with his fading sorceries, the immortal mystically transferred his life-essence into his great black sword, and scattered the magic crystals across the galaxy,leaving
Angsaar with a hollow victory and forcing him to return once more to his dark
Chamber of
Slumber.
The sword was lost for centuries, as were the crystals, until the onegem to remain on this world was discovered deep beneath the northern seas by anancient
Atlantean wizard.
And the sword... legends spoke of how its final resting placewould be made known by the sorceries of the last crystal only when the blade's powerwould once again ne needed to battle the
Chaos-liege.
This was the immortal's final, mostpowerful spell... upon the reawakening of
Angsaar, the sorcerous energies and undyinglifeforce encased within the blade would be transferred to its wielder... aye, the one whodiscovered the
Shadow-
Sword would be imbued with the power of the immortal, and bythe art of elder spellcraft, he would do battle with his ancient nemesis once more...
XERXES:
Then there looms such a cataclysmic battle!
ALTARUS:
And so, from his
Black
Citadel, the
Chaos-liege did send forth his
Horde of
Wraiths to engage the army of the king...
THE
KING:
Behold, a legion of undead fiends meets us upon the field of war.
Face me,
Scourge of
Lemuria,
I wield thy bane, the
Shadow-
Sword... (and darksomesorceries now empower me with thunderous might!)
Hearken, the clarion is upon the winds, now the call to arms is upon us all,
The glory of battle is nigh at last, into the fray we ride!
XERXES:
The outcome, master... who left the field victorious?
Did the king prevail?
ALTARUS:
The mists begin to disperse... for now, the images fade.
That tale shall have towait 'til another day...
Lyrics:
Byron
Music:
Jonny
Maudling

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