Epitaph of the Twilight

[Dark Officer Ippi]

Does the Epitaph of the Twilight mean anything to you? Do you believe that there is something more to that than the games tell? Do you think that the Epitaph is real?  

[Dark Officer Ippi]

my poll didnt go through!  

[Hanasuzu]

When you wish...

"The Epitaph of Twilight is a poem from the .hack franchise that encompasses several video games, anime and manga. Written by Emma Wielant and distributed on the net, the original version has been lost over time. There are rumors amongst players that The World was based off the poem.

There are several versions of the epitaph floating around The World, and the internet for that matter, but these are heavily altered and untrustworthy. Purportedly only Hoerwick and Wielant knew what the original epitaph contained.

Although the official Epitaph has been based on .hack and the series itself, much speculation as to the validity of the game and the story simply being a normal game and a story has reigned everywhere. Blogs and forums debate constantly the facts and data involved. One such example is that one of the men responsible for its creation also added to the infamous Evangelion series, which itself is its own bundle of mystery."

"Emma Wielant had studied medical science before experiencing a "psychic phenomenon". After which, she developed an interest in the metaphysical, and started writing poetry. Later, she died in a car crash. Her epic poem, "Epitaph of Twilight", although unfinished, was used by Harald Hoerwick as the basis of his computer game "Fragment". Harald sold "Fragment" to the Altimit company (makers of the only surviving operating system). Several of the Altimit programmers left the company to form CyberConnect Corp., and released the game under the name "The World". Unfortunately, there's been a high turnover at both Altimit and CC Corp., and none of the original programmers are at either company. Further, Emma and Harald were the only two people that knew what the original Epitaph contained; current versions of the poem have been highly altered through the fan-fic process."

... Upon a star.

 

[Miyong-Yi]

Wait, I think you have it backwards.
The Epitaph, was made, before The World, and rumors around The World say,
that The World was based off of The Epitaph.
And in that, Helba, the hacker, based her character, off Helba, Queen of Darkness, from the Epitaph, and
Lios, the NPC:Mod, based his off of, King of Light.
If I'm not mistaken.
:3

 

[Dark Officer Ippi]

you both are correct. Miyong in the sence of the actual game itself, Hanasuzu in the sence of the real world, but what i was asking, is do you believe it holds real world significance?  

[Hanasuzu]

Dark Officer Ippi

you both are correct. Miyong in the sence of the actual game itself, Hanasuzu in the sence of the real world, but what i was asking, is do you believe it holds real world significance?

When you wish...

I have no idea.
It'd be awesome if a full version really existed.

... Upon a star.

 

[hirai]

Just figured I'd put up the piece I have for reference:

Der Mann des Schattens, auf der Suche nach dem Abenddrachen, ist noch nicht zurückgekommen.
Der Herd der Finsternis grollt.
Helba, Königin der Finsternis, stellt schließlich ein Heer auf.
Apeiron, König des Lichts grüßt sie
Und sie treffen sich am Fuße des Regenbogens.
Die verfluchte Welle muss gemeinsam bekämpft werden,
der See von Alba brodelt,
der große Baum des Lichts fällt.
Alle macht zerfällt zu Tropfen im Tempel von Arche Köln.
Wesen ohne Schatten ihre Welt zerfällt zu Nichts.
Der Mann des Schattens auf der Suche nach dem Abenddrachen kehrt niemals mehr zurück."
Epitaph der Dämmerung - Emma Wieland


(Yet to return, the shadowed one
who hunts for the Twilight Dragon
Rumbles the Dark Hearth,
And Helba, Queen of the Dark, has raised finally her army.
Aperion, King of Light, greets her…
At the base of the rainbow they meet
Against the abominable "Wave," they fight together.
Alba's lake boils
Light's great tree falls
All now disintigrates to droplets in the temple of Arche Köln
this world of shadowless ones crumbles to nothing.
Never to return, the shadowed one who hunts the Twilight Dragon.

Epitaph of Twilight - Emma Wieland)  

[Zeal3000]

you know now that i read that it sounds more like a telling of the future as in the .hack worlds because that is exactly what happens word for word.  

[Mariko Ivanov]

I just thought I'd throw this at you, I'm not sure it will do any foor for you though ^_^;

Yet to return, the shadowed one.
Who quests for the Twilight Dragon
Rumbles the Dark Hearth,
And Helba, Queen of the Dark,
has finally raised her army.
Apeiron, King of Light beckons.
At the base of the rainbow they meet
Against the abominable Wave,
together they fight.
Alba's lake boils.
Light's great tree doth fall.
Power- now all to droplets turned
in the temple of Arche Koeln.
Returns to nothing,
this world of shadowless ones.
Never to return, the shadowless one,
Who quests for the Twilight Dragon.
"Welle"
Unknown where the Cursed Wave was born…
After the stars doth cross the heavens,
The sky in the East doth darken and air doth fill with mourning.
From the chosen land beyond the forest, a sign of the wave comes
Riding the Wave is Skeith, the Shadow of Death, to drown all that stands.
Mirage of Deceit, Innis, Betray all with the flawed image, and did aid the Wave.
And by the Power of Magus, a drop from the Wave doth reach the heavens, and creates a new Wave.
With the Wave, Fidchell, the power to tell the dark future, hope darkens, sadness and despair rule.
Gorre schemes when swallowed by the Cursed Wave.
Macha seduces with the sweet trap.
Wave reaches the Pinnacle, and escape none can. Tarvos still remains with more cruelty to punish and destroy.
And with the turbulent destruction after the Wave. Only a void remains. From deep within the void arrives Corbenik.
Fragment 0
Shunning the field broken by Wave.
The shadowed girl whispers,
"Surely, I will return."
Alas, the truth unbeknownst.
Awaiting her at journey's end;
Eternal mourning for her land.
Fragment 1
When the finger points to the
yonder moon,
The fool will not look at the fingertip.
Fragment 2
The whole cannot be changed.
We have already lost that chance.
Because the time left to us was short,
We were mistaken in our path.
But now do we realize,
We should change not the whole,
But the parts.
Fragment 3
Wave soars and shrouds the eyes.
No means to fight an omnipresent force,
The shadowless ones just grieve.
Why must it be a Wave?
Divide, if it would just...
Then retaliate, we may.
Fragment 4
Over the Keel Mountains,
Meets an ape with human speech.
The ape asks,
"What clings to you?
Bear it - you cannot.
Accept it - you cannot.
But hidden - it is from you.
Recite its name."
*Note: The answer is "your shadow--your own darkside." But since the riddle is to "recite its name", you are supposed to say your own name.  

[Lazuras Lefure -Krim-]

Let me find my copy of it. It has two different parts to it...


Unkown where the Cursed Wave was born...
After the stars doth cross the heavens...
The sky in the East doth darken.
And air doth fills with mourning.
From the chosen land beyond the forest,
A sign of the Wave comes.
Riding the Wave is: Skeith, the Shadow of Death,
to drown all that stands.
Mirage of Deceit, Innis,
Betray all with the flawed image,
and did aid the Wave.
And by the Power of Magus,
a drop from the Wave doth reach the heavens,
and creates a new Wave.

With the Wave, Fidchell,
the power to tell the dark future,
hope darkens, sadness and despair rule.
Gorre schemes when swallowed by the Cursed Wave.
Macha seduces with the sweet trap.
Wave reaches the Pinnacle, and escape none can.
Tarvos still remains with more cruelty to punish and destroy.
And with the turbulent destruction after the Wave.
Only a void remains.
From deep within the void arrives Corbenik.

Yet to return, the shadowed one.
Who quests for the Twilight Dragon
Rumbles the Dark Hearth,
And Helba, Queen of the Dark, has raised finally her army.
Apeiron, King of Light, beckons...
At the base of the rainbow they meet.
Against the abominable "Wave," together they fight.
Alba's lake boils.
Light's great tree doth fall.
Power - all now to droplets turned in the temple of Arche Koeln.
Returns to nothing, this world of shadowless ones.
Never to return, the shadowless one.
Who quests for the Twilight Dragon.

The wife buffeted by "waves" turns her back on the field.
The daughter that waited for the shadows repeated,
"For sure... For sure I can go home."
But the girl did not know...
The truth that waited at the end of the journey
The eternal mourning of her land.

In the place of the calamitous, only life was known.
After the circling stars
When the eastern dark void, the air full of despair
In the depths of the divided forest, in the land of Karma,

Riding fast on the path is Skeith
Bearing death's shadow, it eliminates all that seek to thwart it.
The Confusing Mirage, Innis
Deceives those that see it with illusions, rescues the waves

The wave soaring high, when its head is smashed,
A new wave will emerge
To become Magus's power.
When questioning the wave,
Hope's light will be lost when he speaks of the dark future of where
sorrow and resignation reign.
Using Fiddlehiem's Technique

When engulfed by the Waves of Calamity, Gorre will plan
The sweet snare of conciliation is Macha
The Waves, an exceeding maelstrom
Nothing can escape

When you think you have escaped, Tarvos exists
To destroy those with his exceeding cruelty
Upon violent requital, only to remain is the void, the vacant darkness
is the harbinger that Corbenik is to appear.

----Emma Wielant





Untouched by fear or pain they lived Each minute with the utmost joy, Till the cursed Wave did rise Tearing through the dusky skies; Consuming light and dark in kind And leaving none to mourn behind.

So to the East the sprites did flee Though burdened by the tragedy, The truth was all too plain to see: One by one their kind would fall Beneath the torrent of the Wave If none could stand before its gaze And somehow fill that endless void.

King of light and queen of dark, Apeiron and Helba knew of one Who might defeat the Wave: A mythic beast long said to sleep ?Neath the edge of the world?s end Sheathed by the Wavering Peninsula, A creature of the greatest might, The sacred dragon of twilight.

Thus Queen Helba chose Bith the Black, Her strongest sprite, to join the quest; While Apeiron sent Fili the White To journey with them in his stead, For Bith and Helba thought it best That the king remain behind to rule And calm the ever-spreading dread Ere the dragon might appear.

So as the three prepared to ride Through the aqua gate of Mac Anu A fourth did come by fate?s command: One part human, one part sprite, Alone for all his nameless might, He fell in stride with Helba?s steed As she wordlessly agreed, His will was worthy of their cause.

Through the Fatel Bog they sped As onyx dust cloaked each in turn From which arose a blinding pall, A living shadow born to crawl Betwixt reality and mind, Till death, within them, was enshrined: Each was shown their comrades slain; Illusions of Skeith?s mortal game.

Fili wept and knelt to pray, While Bith did halt in stunned dismay Ere turning back upon the path, Desires crushed by failure?s wrath. The halfling tore about the swamp Searching for the fount of death Whose noxious fog had claimed the lives Of those who?d stand against the Wave.

Alone the dark queen Helba rode Remorseless through the baneful mire, Cursing the Wave as she progressed Bent solely on her noble quest, And as she went the darkness lifted Till she found her friends still living, Mounted on their stagnant steeds As if enchanted by some dream.

Calling forth an ancient rune, The queen dispelled the evil bind; Thus Skeith?s hold was undermined And as he slowly evanesced Each realized they?d been possessed While Helba foretold a prophecy Of eight heralds with demons blood, Eight phases of the Cursed Wave.


As the boggy mud grew dry Gyle Mountain rose before them, A deadly oft avoided peak; The swiftest route to Dun Loireag; For eons standing as a god O?er looking men with its fa?e While hiding at its center true, A molten pit of which none knew.

As they neared the summit?s height Something waited midst their course: A Chimera of the greatest size With sleight blue malefic eyes Exuding lust for their demise; Then two, then four, then all around The aberrations capped the ground, Till hundreds stood in perfect stillness.

Charging forth as one they came With rumbling fury at the four, Who held a circle back to back, Slaying beasts as they attacked; Though as the horrors met their deaths, Each vanished with its dying breath, Unfleshly as a wayward thought But for the bloody wounds they wrought.

Thus the ceaseless battle waged: As each fiend fell another came Till Bith cried out in dire need, A lone chimera must be real; The others conjured effigies; Doppelgangers born to please Their lord and master as slaves, Incarnations of the Wave.

Deeming true the dark knight?s words, Fili beseeched her allies three For time to let her mind?s eye see; Hence minutes passed as Fili prayed Ere she raised her longbow high And let a single arrow fly Piercing clouds upon the sky As though the shaft were blessed by god.


Falling with a feather?s grace The missile knew whom to embrace, And like a tear from heaven shed Smote its wrath on the demon?s head, Laying to waste the vile horde; As Innis? power left the peak Six words of spite he cruelly gave: You shall never stop the Wave.

Past the mount they traveled far Through Dun Loireag the highland town Till they reached the woods of Breade Where lay a mark for all to heed: A sphere enclosed by myriad lines, One of many travelers? signs Known by the halfling doubtlessly: A labyrinth confronts beyond.

Foraging down countless paths, Each branch producing two alike; They hastened forth without event Till Helba sensed a foul intent, And turning, to her wonder found A creature posing as a man, Exquisite in his nakedness; A mold no human could possess.

With arms spread wide the demon smiled And Helba watched as though beguiled While fallen twigs grew into trees, Forming fast a wooden shield Unyielding to the fiercest blow; Then shrieks about the forest rang As any beast with claw or fang Descended on the narrow trail.

Besieged by creatures of the wood They battled ?gainst undying foes: Each pair slain would recompose, Birthing four at instant pace As Magus watched with grinning glee, Entombed within his wall of trees Which faster grew then could be hewn; A trait which spelled the heroes? doom.


Thus the exalting onslaught went Till Nameless conceived a final hope, And drawing out a flask of spirits Hurled it at the barricade, Then blazed a spark with blade on blade Setting to light a rampant fire; A majestic funeral pyre Felling the wall atop its maker.

Soon Breade was but a memory O?ershadowed by the floral city: Carmina Gadelica by name, Of gentile and aesthetic fame; Though swiftly too it fell behind As Moyra Canyon darkly loomed, Foreboding in its desolation Ere the crossing had begun.

Hours aft the presaged end Of that bleak and lengthy trek, Moyra?s cliffs still stood aside, Mocking each benumbing stride; Till Bith remarked in somber phrase They?d passed the same formations thrice, Spun by some malign device So deftly one might never know.

Having spake his solemn fear A haunting voice then prophesied: Your graveyard shall this chasm be For here you will remain with me; Helpless as the Wave consumes Everything you?ve ever known, Leaving naught behind but bone And fading whispers on the wind.

Searching for escape in vain They rode the passage once again; But Fidchell?s brazen promise held: Nowhere could the cliffs be scaled, And though their course did never veer While racing through the corridor, They came to camp just as before; Overcome by nauseous dread.


Dispel charms proved fruitless too; Till Bith called for womanly aid, Requesting they enchant his blade; Then slowly marching down the path For hours when he sensed at last The entrapping portal?s edge; Driving hard his sword to earth, Razing Fidchell?s sorcery.

Long past the crucible of Moyra, They sheltered in a citadel: Fort Ouph, so said its denizens Where mind and body could be cleansed Of any hardships one endured Ere disembarking further north Over the barren Veishus Plain, Where most who crossed it would remain.

The horses thrived on unmarked land, Rejoicing in those countless miles Till suddenly in concert halting As ebon vapours coalesced At Gorre?s inhuman behest, Forging whole his grotesque form: A tetra-legged mass of hate Obscured midst a foul haze.

With putrid limbs the demon lashed; Immense weight thrown behind each strike: Through both guard and shield alike The blows did wound unless evaded; While each assault the heroes launched Was somehow violently repelled: Sheathed in armour craft of malice The creature stood immune to challenge.

Battling with their utmost might Each soon grew weary from the fight, When Fili grazed the demon?s hide And felt its overwhelming sadness; No longer could abhorrence lie Within her for the wretched fiend: T?was but a puppet of the Wave Devised to delve for each a grave.


As pity laced her heavy heart, Fili strode towards the beast Whose crushing limbs were now repulsed Ere they touched her ivory skin; When came she nigh with rapier drawn A single thrust did slay its brawn, For mercy guided Fili?s blade Where scorn could never penetrate.

In time they reached Lia Fail, Exhausted to the breaking point Where healers did their wounds anoint While speaking of the land beyond: Knemisys was the desert?s name; Devoid of life?s too fragile flame, Though offering hope ever so slight: The journey?s end was now in sight.

Once their strength had been regained A woman of unmatched beauty came; And standing in the village square With naught to clothe but flowing hair, She beckoned with an outstretched hand As her siren song did ring Throughout the quiet frontier town, Calling both the knight and halfling.

Doused by some seducing force Helba charged to find the source, But like Fili arrived too late: Bith and Nameless stood entranced By Macha?s all-enticing spell With which she did their blades compel To set upon the women with Whom they?d journeyed for so long.

Knowing well the quest would fail If any were to perish here, They could but dodge each fierce attack, Unwilling to counter back; Neither could Macha be harmed: Protected by her servants two No assault could carry through; Such was the witchcraft?s passion.


In desperation Helba cast A seldom sober sorcery: The banshee?s cry for moments wailed, Annulling the demon?s hymn And sealing Macha?s fate therein; For that lone unhindered instant Was all the dark queen needed To cut the bare seductress down.

So bidding to the town farewell They forged ahead through Knemisys; Uncrossed by any to return: The arid distance was too great, Yet they went without debate To find whatever might await, Knowing one predestined fact: They?d not last the journey back.

Past untold dunes the horses ran Till any sense of time was gone And each grew jadedly withdrawn, When, rising from the sands ahead A small oasis lay outspread; Water sparkling through the heat Beneath a single godsent tree Worth tenfold its weight in gold.

First they drank as ne?er before Upon the tiny desert shore, But found in frantic disarray Just two fruits about the tree; Soon both Queen and Halfling claimed Their sex deserved the greater share, While Fili spoke with fixed glare: Equal parts were truly fair.

Bith alone did not take part For something gnawed upon his heart; Coming clear as swords were drawn When words alone would not suffice; Plunging through bark and wood his axe, A shriek of fury tamed the fight As the haven left their eyes; Thus Tarvos met his swift demise


Presently the thirst awoke As the demon?s magic broke, But soon their spirits soared anew: Sand gave way to fluid ground, A joyous omen that they?d found The Wavering Peninsula; Awash with instability Such as none had ever seen.

Colours shimmered ?round the cape, Blending aimlessly together While hoof-beats danced about the land Like echoes of a mindless band; But all too soon this chaos paled In contrast to the final phase: Before the Stone of Destiny Corbenik stood in mockery.

Titanic was his human form; Eyes alight with vicious scorn As he advanced with roaring strides And spoke in truly humbling voice: You?ve journeyed far and suffered much To perish by my flawless touch; For as you now shall plainly see, No sprite exists to stand against me.

Ere the final word had died A pulse erupted from his hand Which all but one could not withstand: Nameless stood in disbelief As Helba, Bith, and Fili fell Unconscious to the shifting earth; Saved by halfling blood alone, He?d fight this demon on his own.

Enraged that any dared resist, Corbenik charged into the duel With staggering ferocity Bent towards his enemy Who spun ever-elusively Away from each leaden blow, Requiting with his lustrous blades Like some pernicious serenade.


Despite the halfling?s surest strike Corbenik offered no respite, For even as his steel drew blood The lesion seamlessly would heal, Till a voice in him confided: Your weapons cannot harm this fiend; Fight with those attached to life To break his immortality.

Unequalled was the dark queen?s verve, So taking up her royal sword And yearning for true faith?s reward; Nameless vaulted o?er his foe, Driving the blade through flesh below And landing on the other side As the demon fell beside, Both motionless for a time.

Soon burning with hellish fire The fiend rose in satanic form As the Halfling heard once more: A weapon in accord with death Will cleave this monster?s dying breath; Thus endowed with Bith?s great axe He snuffed Corbenik?s second life; Though doubt within him now grew rife.

From ash the demon rose again, Empowered by the pure heart And soaring high with angel?s wings As Nameless brandished Fili?s bow, Firing volleys at each chance Till the fiend could fly no more, And beaten to its very core, Fell to earth one final time.

Once the sprites had reawakened The voice resounded in their minds: You have my sincerest praises For vanquishing the Wave?s eight phases, Each imbued with twisted souls Collected by their maker; Each a brutal incarnation Embodying the psyche.


Skeith, The Terror of Death; Composed of deepest mortal fear His morbid whispers silence cheer; Innis, The Mirage of Deceit; Cloaked within a deadly guise, One must see truth amidst his lies; Magus, The Propagator, In his presence species? thrive, Ever able to survive; Fidchell, The Prophet; Predicating hopeless fate To crush your will beneath its weight; Gorre, The Machination; Enrobed by vicious cruelty, Immune to all but sympathy; Macha, The Temptress; Manifesting love and lust To charm even the most robust; Tarvos, The Avenger; Envy and vengeance are the tools With which he transforms men to fools; And Corbenik, The Rebirth; First compelled by all life?s riches Then drawn towards the reaper?s scythe Before ascending to the skies On gusts of immaculate intent.

When this world was barely born The Wave and I did battle here For eons at same frontier, Clashing once with utmost strength: Our bodies spread across the land Seeding all that now exists; Substance did my form provide, And he the spirit held inside.

I?ve waited for your coming since; A specter sealed beneath this stone Without a shape to call my own; Thus I must entreat you all To pay this last, most grievous cost: Return to me what I have lost That I might give my life to save Those remaining from the Wave.


Each laid their hands upon the stone,
Vanishing as the dragon rose
In magnificent repose;
Feeding off his former tomb
Now serving as a holy womb;
The peninsula soon faded too:
Among the saddest kinds of loss,
Gone ere it could be forgotten.

In a breath the dragon flew
Back to besieged Mac Anu,
Where all the mages of the land
Had trenched their only stand
At the battered aqua gate
To stay the Wave in fervent hope
That the quest would yet succeed,
As Apeiron had once decreed.

Streaming forth in sheer delight,
The Twilight Dragon met the Wave;
Twirling 'round his adversary
Till inextricably entwined
They momently shone as one,
Like a swiftly dying sun Whose embers flare with glory bright
Before it's taken by the night.

When the aura dissipated,
Wave and Dragon both were gone,
Though joy came not to Apeiron;
He knew this victory's true price;
The last and greatest sacrifice
Which Helba and her friends had made At land's end so far away
For every voice that now did cheer.

Sprites have long since lost their wings
As they did their innocence,
The timeless dusk in which they lived,
And perhaps of all the saddest;
Of Helba and her servant Bith,
Of Fili and the Halfling too,
No memories remain but this: The Epitaph of Twilight.

For Emma Wielant


You can tell the differences. The end of the second is different because I felt like it should be in poem form, but I got bored and just decided to write this instead. The ?s are really ' so don't confuse that. Word pad is a b***h....  

[Mariko Ivanov]

rockin ^_^; well i fail at life when it comes to finding things >.<  

[hirai]

Excellent compilation 3nodding  

[Lazuras Lefure -Krim-]

The first time I read it, I thought it was better than Dante's Inferno.  

[Gintsuki Chi]

My gosh!! The poem is long and yet it so beautiful at the same time!!  

[Xenoku]

I doubt that's the complete version of the Epitaph of Twilight. Also, I never saw the normal writing part of the epitaph before, where did you find it? The original Epitaph of Twilight is in the form of a book, the book that installs the bracelet onto Kite. Apparently, all the notes and such about the Epitaph of Twilight are stored in "The Creator's Room".