Ab Antiquo

I’ve been watching the War Games with keen interest over the last five days, and you know, I noticed something. A theme that keeps coming up.

Names.

I wonder why The Shroud named themselves ‘The Shroud.’ Foreshadowing? (Ha!) Something to do, maybe, with Brom and his house shadows. Either way, it's a cool fucking name. I like it. Two thumbs up.

I wonder why Invictus chose their name. If I know anything about my co-sire, that insufferable nerd, it might have something to do with that old poem. You know the one.

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

At the Pride Prom organised by the Nightwatch—great party, ladies, I especially loved seeing those grenades and vials flying, and the fact that my boy Rhet finally got the prom regent crown he more than deserves. Real recognise real—I noticed this theme swimming to the surface again.

Names.

Names, names, names.

A year ago, I changed my name. I used to go by the name Magwayen. In case you didn’t know, and you’re just catching up, good morning!

The name ‘Magwayen,’ while it will always be part of me, has become… insufficient.

And before any of you get any ideas: no. I won’t be angry if you call me Magwayen. That was and is, after all, still part of who I am.

Call me Mag. Call me Magwayen. Call me Yawa. Call me Ishmael. I contain multitudes.

One thing about names, though: they have power. They have as much power as you give them. Names are a sort of spell. A calling. A summoning. There is so much story behind a name.

Here’s another name you can call someone: TRAITOR.

What’s a traitor, Yawa, you ask?

I’m glad you did.

A traitor, or traitors, are people who go and sell out their kin to save their own skins. See also: chickenshit parasites.

A traitor is someone who betrays the trust of someone who loves them, who feels safe with them, who depends on them to be their bastion of safety in this rancid, bloody world. A traitor is someone who throws their own young to the wolves to be systematically humiliated and harangued and put under constant attack because they don’t have the testicular fortitude or the two brain cells to rub together to try and fix problems instead of running away from them.

A traitor is someone who betrays their own ideals. And worst of all, a traitor is someone who betrays themself.

You know, at one point, I was a traitor too. Never again. (Note to self: Watch this come back. Never say never, cross your fingers and hope to die.) I will forever be atoning for my sins, so I've had some practice.

And if you or anyone you know seems to fit the description of a TRAITOR and you or that person want my full-hearted help with redemption, offered here with all the love in my black little heart…

I’m right here. I want to help you.

Reach out and touch faith.

Because the worst thing you can be in my eyes, RavenBlack City, you city of monsters and warmongers and harlots and liars and thieves…

The worst thing you can be, in my not-so-humble opinion, is a traitor.

You earned that name. Wear it forever.

And remember: the wages of sin is death. Or more specifically for us, RavenBlack City, blood. And the blood running on these streets—really putting me in the mood for more.

In case I wasn’t clear, I’m offering you a service.

You know who you are. I know who you are.

And you know where I am.

Yawa wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 22, 2024 3:17 am

Because the worst thing you can be in my eyes, RavenBlack City, you city of monsters and warmongers and harlots and liars and thieves…

The worst thing you can be, in my not-so-humble opinion, is a traitor.

Quite this.
I've always been of the thought that our role in the City is based on two things: the role we choose for ourselves and the bonds we form—which shape that role.

Connection. Connection is the strongest currency in this City—: beyond coin, beyond weapons, beyond bloodspilling. Monsters and warmongers though we are, loneliness remains the true vampire epidemic. Its an inescapable ailment. True balms for it are precious and few. Memory is treasure.

Who will remember you when you're gone? And most importantly: how. Who lives, who dies, who tells your story.

As such, it is you who is responsible for your seat by the fire and what you do with it. What you are trusted to do with it.

Betrayal is forfeiting your seat by the fire. Reclaiming it is not a matter of declaration of intention—or even a name. It's work. It's blood.

And if you're not willing to do the work or spill the blood, then maybe you never deserved it in the first place.

Fantastic piece, darling.

Oh, P.S.: You don't know who I am?



Come find out.

Makes me think of this quote:

“In all revolutions the vanquished are the ones who are guilty of treason, even by the historians, for history is written by the victors and framed according to the prejudices and bias existing on their side.”

The man who said it was probably not the best of men, but the sentiment seems accurate.

Oberon wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 22, 2024 4:16 am

Yawa wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 22, 2024 3:17 am

Because the worst thing you can be in my eyes, RavenBlack City, you city of monsters and warmongers and harlots and liars and thieves…

The worst thing you can be, in my not-so-humble opinion, is a traitor.

Connection. Connection is the strongest currency in this City—: beyond coin, beyond weapons, beyond bloodspilling. Monsters and warmongers though we are, loneliness remains the true vampire epidemic. Its an inescapable ailment. True balms for it are precious and few. Memory is treasure.

Fantastic piece, darling.

Beautifully put.

Alex Ayres wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 22, 2024 7:09 pm

Makes me think of this quote:

“In all revolutions the vanquished are the ones who are guilty of treason, even by the historians, for history is written by the victors and framed according to the prejudices and bias existing on their side.”

The man who said it was probably not the best of men, but the sentiment seems accurate.

Solid quote, Ayres.

I am Orgasmerilla D'dary-Amandine

I am Amandine by virtue of my siring.

I earned the name D'dary.

I earned the D'dary name through dedication and commitment to family.
We were taught that once you earned the name you were in. You didn't have to like one another but you did have to have each other's backs when push came to shove.

Because family meant everything.

I am here to call out an egregious sin committed by some members against another of our number.

In 2018 when Ezra and Liander sought to raise hitters to defend Ezra for being harrassed by outside forces, something that D'Dary leadership should have done anyway as Ezra was a named member of the family, they were subsequently ousted by leadership and their names stripped.

At the same time a vote was taken by active members of the family at the time. Despite being largely absent at the time and having deferred the matter of Ezra and Liander to leadership when it was brought to his attention, Vex de Draak was also stripped of the D'dary name and sent packing along with his entire lineage.

This was against everything that Sartori and Tifereth had taught us.

This vote was passed by the following:
Drella
Andre
Tarin
Jaenelle
Ephiny
Dahlia-

Therefore, I put forward that those listed are Traitors to the D'dary and no longer deserving of calling themselves such.

When you turn your back on family, bad things happen. You didn’t just abandon those who stood by you, you betrayed the very heart of what D'dary represented. In turning your back on family, you turned your back on everything D'dary stood for. You stripped a name and a family from me without giving me the chance to defend myself. In the same stroke, you stripped yourselves of honour.

But unlike you, I will not take. Instead, to you, Dahlia, and those who stood beside you, I offer a gift: a title befitting your deeds. BLOOD TRAITOR. Wear it with all the pride you wielded in trying to break me, and the pride you summoned to double down on your cowardice. It is a name well deserved.

Enjoy your gift, Dahlia the Nameless, Blood Traitor to D'dary.

Orgasmerilla wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 30, 2024 1:26 am

This vote was passed by the following:
Drella
Andre
Tarin
Jaenelle
Ephiny
Dahlia-

Therefore, I put forward that those listed are Traitors to the D'dary and no longer deserving of calling themselves such.

You forgot some names, including one that is particularly important. Sheyrena.

viewtopic.php?p=10385#p10385

Does that make Rena a traitor, as well?

People who were not present should really do well to not make assumptions. There is more to this story than Vexian would have you believe.

If I remember correctly, and I do, because I read about this as it happened and I just went back and looked, Sheyrena was also part of this decision. So why is she not listed as a blood traitor?

She also stated, via Jaenelle, at the time:

Jaenelle wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 12, 2018 5:44 pm

On behalf of Sheyrena D’dary

"There is healthy disagreement with your leadership, and then there is treason. We've learned the hard way never to put up with the latter. The three of you do not deserve to bear our name."

So that would make 7 people who were active at the time deciding that 3 people were traitors...and now you're saying that actually, those three people were not the traitors, it was the majority who made the decision?

And where were you in 2018 when this happened, Orgasmerilla?

Also:

Orgasmerilla wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 30, 2024 1:26 am

Despite being largely absent at the time and having deferred the matter of Ezra and Liander to leadership when it was brought to his attention, Vex de Draak was also stripped of the D'dary name and sent packing along with his entire lineage.

This event took place on or about April 12, 2018 according to Drella's post.

Between March 12th and April 12th, 2018, Vex made 22 posts in Ab Antiquo. He didn't seem "largely absent" to me. He seemed rather "present".

This sounds a lot like a man who was harboring a grudge for six years and now is making people pay for something, maybe to stir up some excitement in the city? maybe because he just doesn't like those seven people six years later?

Lastly:

Orgasmerilla wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 30, 2024 1:26 am

I earned the D'dary name through dedication and commitment to family.
We were taught that once you earned the name you were in. You didn't have to like one another but you did have to have each other's backs when push came to shove.

This seems rather hypocritical. You're zeroing someone and calling them a blood traitor because you don't like them.

You're calling 6 to 7 people blood traitors for something they did six years ago, under the belief that the three people in question were the traitors.

Sounds like you need to stand by your statement and talk it out with these people who "earned the name and are now in" and find common ground.

Or you could go down the route of resurrecting a grudge and "punishing" people for something that happened six years ago.

The former, in my opinion, is you keeping to your word and your statement that you have your family's back, and once you're in, you're in.

The latter is you doing exactly what these "blood traitors" did, which you're so boldly claiming is not the D'Dary way.


TL;DR: I don't think your "facts" are completely accurate, and you claiming that "once you've earned the name D'Dary, you're in, and your family always has your back" and then stripping people of the name and calling them traitors, because they stripped people of the name and called them traitors, six years after the fact, is not a good look.