Aely's Longest Night Speech

[Aelflaed]

Aelflaed hops up on the cannon, levering herself off the corner

Oi folk?

Aelflaed raises her voice a little, to catch the crowd.

Oi!

Anyroad - wanted t' thank ye all f'r comin t'night - 'specially oan short notice f'r some. Some ay ye ken why we’re here, others ‘re jus’ here f’r th’ party – an’ I’m glad f’r all ay ye.

Year ago t'night we saw th' near destruction ay this city - ay th' home wha' we've come t' know - whether by choice air by birth. Streets littered wi' corpses, only t' have 'em rise again.
Started 'bout a week earlier - wi' plagued grain. All oe'r th' kingdoms, unmarked crates ay tainted grain showed up - frae ships wha' nobody could find. An' like wildfire, it spread - inflictin' folk wha' lived e'en throw th' last plague.

An' so we set up th' Pig an' Whistle f'r a safe house - f'r a place t' stay wha' dinnae have th' ever growin' horde ay zombies. Nae food wha' wisnae already procured - nae water wha' wisnae boiled, an' a watch w's set. All hours ay th' day an' night folk stood ay th' pig. Some sleepin in' bunks - some oan th' floor, an' all th' time th' city fell.

Muir an' muir th' plague spread - 'till only th' Pig stood left, th' last ay th' safe houses, an' e'en th' Cathedral w's overrun wi’ walkin’ dead.

Aelflaed points at the water in the harbor behind her.

Th' water ay th' harbor an' th' cana's choked wi' bodies - stench risin' ay disease until ye could /smell/ th' dead flyin' in.

Stormwin' w's a city doomed.

Th' las' night w's th' Longest Night.

I was there, an' Jolly, an' Beltar. Tiforis, Ulthanon, Varenna. Folk we ken an' folk we dinnae ken stood t' fight here oan th' Docks, an' back in Old Town.

We littered th' streets wi' dead, burnin 'em t' keep frae walkin again - an' 'round 'bout th' third watch, up came a cry. Delion comes flyin' 'round th' corner, Banner ay th' Dawn flyin' o'er his head an a whole horde ay dead chasin' after 'im.

We held.

An' they fell.

An he made it, untouched, t' th' stairs ay th' pig, an' we put th' lot ay them t' rest, burnin’ in the streets wi’ th’ rest ay their murderous, shufflin’ band.

Aelflaed points at the tattered Argent Dawn banner, now scribbled in Common and Darnassian.

Th' banner made it too.

An somehow, as th' dawn broke oe'r a half ruined, scorched, stinkin', disease infested Stormwind... it all stopped. Rays ay sunlight - th' first' in weeks - fell oan th' exhausted faces oan those steps. Exhausted – but ALIVE.

Tha' mornin' we swore. We swore oan th' banner, oan th' black an' red, oan our very lives an' what'er we had t' swear oan - Never Again.

We swore it then.

A huge chorus of whoops and yells, of “Never Again” in every tongue of the Alliance interrupts the speech. Aely keeps momentum raising her voice over the din.

An' we swore it oan th' docks headin' north. We swore it oan th' snows ay wintergarde, an' th gates ay Ulduar, an th' frozen rocky outcrops ay th Dragonblight - Facin' down th' army ay him who we've bound our lives t' hunt. We swore it then - we swear it now. In remembrance, an' th' memory ay wha is behind - an hope f'r wha' is before us.

'cause th' hounds ay death follow in th' footsteps ay th' Bloody Prince - an dog th' heels ay any wha' dare t' stand against 'im. Good folk, strong - an' fair hearted. Human an' Elf, Dwarf, and Gnome, an Draenei alike. In th' onslaught t' fight back Fightin' t' secure th' folk ay home. F'r th future. F'r wee ones an old ones, an' lands ay our fathers an' our kin.

Aelflaed gestures at Naiara Bittertongue, sleeping in the arms of her mother.

So we remember 'em. We grieve, an' we fight oan. W's a year ago we fir's faced 'im again - an' it bloody well willnae be annither year 'fore we clear 'im out.

Remember tha', t'night. Remember them – by their names an’ their deaths.

An' remember - Never again.

Aelflaed hops off the canon.

[Lansiron]

((It was really awesome. The speech itself was followed by lots of others giving their own piece, some of which were also pretty damn memorable (the night elf who's first time out of Ashenvale consisted of him sailing up to Stormwind to come face-to-face with that battle I found particularly nice, just for the off-kilter perspective), but Aelflaed's set the tone. I gotta wonder--did you write that in advance?

Also D&D officionados take note: This is why Paladins get high Charisma scores.))

[Aelflaed]

((I did write it in advance?

And then my laptop battery died about 3 minutes before the actual speech and I had to wing the whole thing.

So it was... /mostly/ prepared, as I'd had a chance to think about it in advance, but I wasn't copypasting))