Hymn 101

From Edgewar
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Document


Ordin Zarn inspired this song while trapped in Mr. Smith's phylactery and sent it out into the world. Ordin says he was aided by a "divine presence." Given Ordin's past, we extrapolate that this was a trickster god.

((This excellent song was actually created by Joe Pug. See http://joepugmusic.com/lyrics/hymn-101/))

Stanza Notes
1

1 And I’ve come to know the wishlist of my father
2 I’ve come to know the shipwrecks where he wished
3 I’ve come to wish aloud, among the overdressed crowd
4 Come to witness now the sinking of the ship
5 Throwing pennies from the seatop next to it

1: Ordin's father is Tundin Zarn. Tundin was passionate about exploring the multiverse and kept a list of locations he wanted to visit.

2: Tundin grew up in Icewatch, so he would have participated in the rare ceremony when a ship broke up on the rocks.
3: The people of Icewatch are fishers and crafters, so they rarely dress in fancy attire.
4: When lighthouse at Icewatch was refitted with a bloodstone light, it became unreliable. Shipwrecks became more common.
5: A Tesseran custom: the pennies are for the dead to pay the ferryman in the afterlife.

2

1 And I’ve come to roam the forest past the village
2 With a dozen lazy horses in my cart
3 I’ve come here to get high, to do more than just get by
4 I’ve come to test the timbre of my heart
5 I‘ve come to test the timbre of my heart

2: According to Ordin, a "lazy horse" is a useless public official.

3: Tundin spent time in Sigil, including playing and relaxing at several establishments run by the Society of Sensation.
4-5: Tundin fell in love with someone in Sigil, but rather than settle down, he continued his search.
(Brother Iron was singing this verse when Lyndi and Jane met him at Granny Bones' Bookshop.)

3

1 And I have come to be untroubled in my seeking
2 And I have come to see that nothing is for naught
3 I’ve come to reach out blind, to reach forward and behind
4 For the more I seek, the more I’m sought
5 The more I seek the more I’m sought

1-2: As Ordin learned more about the Adintech Conspiracy, he may have seen the larger stakes.

2: Bloodstones seem like easy power for an arcanist like Ordin, but they come with a cost.
3:Ordin searched both forward and backward in time, trying to find out what happened to his father.
4-5: As Ordin investigated the Adintech Conspiracy, the Conspiracy likely took notice and moved to stop him.
(Lyndi overheard Logan Pearson singing this verse while he was cleaning a gun.)

4

1 And I’ve come to meet the sheriff and his posse
2 To offer him the broadside of my jaw
3 I have come here to get broke and then maybe bum a smoke
4 We’ll go drinking two towns over after all
5 We’ll go drinking two towns over after all

(A homeless man named Edgar sang this to verse to Cyrus at the edge of the Night Market.)
5

1 I’ve come to meet the legendary takers
2 I’ve only come to ask them for a lot
3 They say I’ve come with less than I should rightfully possess
4 I say the more I buy the more I’m bought
5 And the more I’m bought the less I cost

1: Devils? The League of the Rusted Crown? Illithids?

2-3: Ordin discovered that changing Tundin into a living archive was only one experiment in the much larger Conspiracy, so the League would likely refuse to give the book up.
4: Bloodstones corrupt their users (see Bloodstone Prophecy, Stanza 5).
5: Bloodstone corruption may make an individual more susceptible to other kinds of temptation and corruption.
5: The League offered to give Ordin what he wanted, in exchange for completing some quests on their behalf. We don't know if Ordin accepted. But see 6.4 below.

6

1 And I have come to take their servants and their surplus
2 And I have come to take their raincoats and their speed
3 I’ve come to get my fill, to ransack and spill
4 I’ve come to trade the harvest for the seed
5 I’ve come to trade the harvest for the seed

1: The League of the Rusted Crown teaches adintech on different worlds in exchange for some of the bloodstones their students produce

2: Reaver cloakers can be mistaken for men in raincoats and move very fast.
4-5: Some evidence suggests that Ordin was willing to trade adintech products (like bloodstones) back to the League in exchange for the secret of Tundinzarn's creation, in order to free his father. The "seed" is some secrets of adintech.

7

1 And I’ve come to know the manger that you sleep in
2 I have come to be the stranger that you keep
3 I’ve come from down the road and my footsteps never slowed
4 Before we met I knew we’d meet
5 Before we met I knew we’d meet

3: On Tessera, the Unraveler is someone who comes from "down the road" with an unrelenting stride. Ordin seems to compare his approach to the inevitability of death. This could mean that he expects to kill others, that he expects to die, or both.

4: In his investigation, Ordin consulted with at least several diviners. This may be because he's an arcanist himself and knows the potential power of divination. However, this is at least partly why the Brotherhood and League started targeting diviners: to thwart investigators like Ordin.
(Alpine Autumn Sky, a diviner, said this to Proud Flame after he rescued her from Gelganag.)

8

1 And I’ve come here to ignore your cries and heartaches
2 I’ve come to closely listen to you sing
3 I’ve come here to insist, that I leave here with a kiss
4 I’ve come to say exactly what I mean
5 And I mean so many things

1: Ordin is obsessed with saving his father. He has ignored requests for his aid (e.g., from the Unbroken Tide).
9

1 And you’ve come to know me stubborn as a butcher
2 And you’ve come to know me thankless as a guest
3 But will you recognize my face when god’s awful grace
4 Strips me of my jacket and my vest
5 And reveals all the treasure in my chest

1: Residents of Icewatch remember Ordin as a stubborn boy.

2: When Ordin returned to Icewatch while looking for his father, he was even more abrupt and rude.
3: On Tessera, "awful grace" refers to divine judgment or reckoning. For example, the Blood Debt is seen as an awful reckoning for creating graven hulks. (Joe Pug didn't capitalize "god" so presumably Ordin didn't.)
5: Tundin hid something in Ordin's body, possibly a portal key. When Mr. Smith imprisoned Ordin in his phylactery, he destroyed Ordin's body. But the treasure may still be hidden in Ordin's ghost.