All songs written for the EMPIRE larp system. Collected here for convenience. Added to as I find them. 

Empire Larp collected tracks

This album is a collection of songs inspired by spending time in an imaginary world. And, it is an album inspired by some of the best people that the real world has to offer. For over twelve years, I have travelled all across Britain to live role-play in the magical lands of Mauritanja. In that time, I have seen great tales and legends play out before my eyes. I have fought in last stands. I have mourned the loss of comrades and I have sung songs to remember heroes and friends.

This is their music. This is the music of everyone who has shared my dreams. This is the music of a people who took the Unicorn as their standard and fought to be free...

Hit and Mist

On the Wall

This is a song for the Profound Decisions' live-roleplay system Empire.

It was a recorded, engineered and mixed at home on my somewhat rudimentary studio equipment. 

Lyrics:

Verse 1
How can you pretend to know of violence,
Sitting, reading fairy tales of war?
Tell me what's the worst that you can fear! A papercut?
My Dawnish friend, our wounds are deeper still.

Chorus
Ai! Ai-ee-eh! Ai-ee-eh!
Ai! Ai-ee-eh! Ai-ee-eh!

Verse 2
The borders of The Empire are too fragile,
To let an enemy get half-a-chance.
Kill them where you can,
Use everything you have to hand.
Noble grace will send you to your grave.

Chorus

Verse 3 with bridge.
The Striding walks the trod to save our homeland.
The Steading guards the wood 'till they return.
You would blindly wander in alone?
You cannot see.
You cannot hear.
There in the deep...
The Vallorn lie....
They never sleep...
They're waiting...

Chorus (x2)

Verse 4
On the road, the paths we tread are endless.
The weariness will wear you to the bone.
The enemy will wait for you to stumble.
With vigilance, your only coat of steel.

Chorus (x2)



Caution For The Dawnish Youth

This is a song for the Profound Decisions' live-roleplay system Empire.

This was recorded at my home.  The percussion and guitar were meant to be guide tracks only, but I liked the sound of the track with them included, so I left them in this version.

I also had a lot of fun with the backing vocals for this song and Navarr Running Song.  I even created characters in my head for the four singers  with very different voices, because... you know... roleplayer.  I think doing this helped to keep the sound ugly and brutal.

Call
As Thorn. As Thorn. Navarri fight as Thorn.

Response 1 (repeated after each line)
As Thorn. As Thorn. Navarri fight as Thorn.

Calls
As Thorn. As Thorn. Navarri fight as Thorn.

In the day or in the night we take our victory.
In the dark or in the light we're running through the trees.

Sure and swift, our arrows fly.
Upon our spears, all will die.

Know no mercy, heed no plea.
You cannot betray your enemy.

The blood will flow!

Response 2 (repeated after each line)
The blood will flow!

Calls
The blood will flow!

From the wounds of our foes!
From the wounds of our foes!

Their guts we'll spill!
With every kill!

KILL! KILL! KILL!
KILL! KILL! KILL!

As Thorn. As Thorn. Navarri fight as Thorn.

Response 1 (repeated after each line)
As Thorn. As Thorn. Navarri fight as Thorn.

Calls
As Thorn. As Thorn. Navarri fight as Thorn.

Know no mercy, heed no plea.
You cannot betray your enemy.

As Thorn. As Thorn. Navarri fight as Thorn.
As Thorn. As Thorn. Navarri fight as Thorn.

Thorn Battle Cadence

A track to commemorate the deeds of a nation unsung in its altruism and loyalty: the Imperial Orcs - so may their nation sing this song to remind their neighbours, allies and foes that they are always a force to be reckoned with.

LYRICS

Ancestors, oh hear my deeds,
This is what the orcs have done for thee,
Died in Zenith to provide retreat,
First into the fray and the last to leave,
Give our weight in resource and steel,
Ball of death on the battlefield,
Loyal to the throne as a promise made
Loyalty’s a chain that an orc can’t break

When the singing caves were tamed,
All of the resources the Marches claimed,
“Share the wealth” said those in Dawn,
Arguing until the point of civil war,
Then the orcs said “fight no more”,
We will share the wealth of the brilliant shore,
So the Empire gets resource,
Price been paid by Imperial Orcs

We’re the loyal steel of the Empire’s stone
And we’ll break the bones of the Empire’s foes
Died in war to protect the throne,
So we earn our place in the Empire’s home
Nations fight over land and greed
We will give our wealth for the Empire’s peace
Blood unbroken in loyalty
This what the orcs have done for thee

Empire nations hear my deeds:
This is what the orcs have done for thee!
Mustered armies, mustered fleets,
Saved poor souls from the Feroz sea,
Freeborn who were trapped ashore,
Told by orcs they could come aboard,
Circumventing the Grendel threat,
Saved by orcs from the Grendel net!

Once we struck a pale orc down,
Looted back a treasured crown.
Though the treasure earned was ours,
We gave it back to Wintermark,
When the time came to repay,
We turned and looked the other way,
But the Markers’ won’t say no,
So they gifted Skarsind as our home!

We’re the loyal steel of the Empire’s stone
And we’ll break the bones of the Empire’s foes
Died in war to protect the throne,
So we earn our place in the Empire’s home
Nations fight over land and greed
We will give our wealth for the Empire’s peace
Blood unbroken in loyalty
This what the orcs have done for thee

Ancestors, oh hear our call!
We are orcs Imperial!
Few in number we stand tall,
Fighting for the nations we call home.
First in, last out is our creed
Charging to the front for loyalty.
Stoic in our deeds are we,
This is what the orcs have done for thee!

We’re the loyal steel of the Empire’s stone
And we’ll break the bones of the Empire’s foes
Died in war to protect the throne,
So we earn our place in the Empire’s home
Nations fight over land and greed
We will give our wealth for the Empire’s peace
Blood unbroken in loyalty
This what the orcs have done for thee

Ancestors, oh hear our call!
We are orcs Imperial!

Journey On

Hear Our Call

A track dedicated to one man Love for a tribal chiefs daughter.....Inamorata.

Inamorata.

This is a song for the Profound Decisions' live-roleplay system Empire.

This was recorded at my home. I need to add bass drum and some more guitars, but I wanted to show the work in the progress.

Lyrics:

Wait, silent, and still.
Kneel, watching, ready for the kill.
Feel, the forest, beneath you.
Wait, we're holding, hidden from view.

It's time. There's a sign, from the left,
And we're moving.
Rise, from the ground, with no sound,
And we're making our way.
And we're picking up pace.
The touch, on your skin, of the leaves,
As they brush past your face
And we're picking up pace
Aware, the front lines, of both sides,
Have begun to engage,
But we're moving,
And we're sneaking,
And we're flanking.

The crunch, of a twig, on the floor,
It seems deafening.
The whip of the trees on our sides
But we've not been seen yet,
But we're picking up pace.
Catch, the first sight, on the right,
As their moving in place.
And we're picking up pace.
To stop, and disrupt, interrupt,
All their strategy and planning,
And we're moving,
And we're running,
And we're flanking.
Flanking.

Charge! We're running.
Whistling wind as the arrows are flying.
Charge! We're running.
Screaming out threats as the bloodlust is filling,
Our minds.
And we're picking up pace.
The fear, in their eyes, as their caught, by surprise, 
As we're running, 
And we're leaping
And we're bursting out the wood,
Spears colliding.

Duck, to the left, block the right.
Keep on moving.
Thrust, to the chest, and their lives,
You have taken away.
And they can't match our pace.
Weaving our way, through their lines,
Bringing death in our wake.
And we're picking up pace.
Sever, and break and dismember and take
Now we're leaving.
And we're running.
And we're breathing.
And returning to our wait...

...silent, and still.
Kneel, watching, ready for the kill.

Flank Attack From The Forest

A lament for the lost city of Terunael

Please forgive the dodgy mix, I'm still getting the hang of it all.

Terunael

A song to remind the Navarr that we have had great victories in Liathaven and we will one day again. Big thanks to The Norths for backing vocals/shouting ;) and backing vocals & drumming from Chris North.
IC names will be edited in when I know the spellings of them all...

7000 Thorns (original)

Recorded on my phone because my PC was being a dick. Very basic recordings which I hope to replace at some point soon. All lyrics and melodies are my own, but the chords, rhythm structure and rhythm for Rise Up was heavily inspired by 'Believer' by Imagine Dragons. It's not a direct filk, exactly, but I certainly can't claim it as completely original.  More songs will follow as I complete the songbook. 

From an RP perspective, there is a reasonable chance that you could have heard these performed as Tarik wanders the trods and performs in taverns to pay his way.

Nowhere I'd Rather Be (Loyalty)

A song about Idwyn Splitroot's Past Life Vision

Rise and Build

"Stop! Please!" 
The Cambion woman begged. She looked on as her daughter held a blade to her own skull and began sawing through one of her horns under the command of the brutish Thule orc standing over her. Gritting her teeth Narelle forced the rusted metal through the ivory. Trembling, she held out her hand. Still clutching her bloodied horn. His grey face peered down at her with a sickening joy painted across its features. He paused for a moment, and grinned. And without breaking eye contact he said, quietly,
"Take the mother away."
 Narelle felt her stomach drop. She watched helplessly as her mother was dragged kicking and screaming through the dust-choked hallway. Overwhelmed by rage, brought to a crescendo by the pain in her head, Narelle hurled her broken horn at her captor with an almighty cry striking him square in the back of his skull. The orc turned to face her once more, a terrible fury burning in his eyes... 

Ivory Daggers is a song set and written within the world of Empire, a festival larp in the UK.
It tells the tale of a Cambion woman and her family, living under the tyrannical rule of the Thule when they seized the Runeforges of Treji in 373YE.

Inspired and derived from "Age of Agression" From The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Intro and outro clips taken from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PTM9lQncKc&t=34s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBD0GjGP6Ew&t=19s

Ivory Daggers

A song written by Narelle as she yearns for her home, Hercynia. Having recently been reunited with her long lost friend, Artek, he and Narelle reminisce over the memories of their past and the home they once knew...

Narelle Brídín is an original character created for Empire, a festival larp in the UK. 
These are her songs, her tales...her legacy.

Call to the Mountains

A filk of the beautiful song "Wayward Wanderer" From Enderal Bards (An extensive mod revamping some of the bards songs in Skyrim)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns5syuFgbjo
Idea for Filk given by: Artek Emberune 

THE STORY:
This song tells a cautionary tale about a brash, young Navarri woman. Sick of her mundane life in her quiet Steading, she defies her guides and those close to her and decides instead to try and make it alone on the trods. Her freedom is short lived however when she is captured by a roving band of Jotun who exchange her life in return for her servitude. During her time in captivity she meets a fellow thrall, and falls for her completely. Yet again, her joy is short lived. For the woman who had stolen her heart chose instead to become a Jotun warrior to escape her enslavement, and left the navarri woman alone yet again, her heart in pieces.
Narrowly escaping with her life the Navarri woman returns to her Steading, pleading forgiveness from her people. They welcome her home with open arms. Not long after, she becomes a guide herself. She begins helping others along their way in the great dance and teaches the young members of the Steading that strength is found in those around you.

Wayward Wanderer

Wayward Wanderer (Filk)

"Wear your tattoos, your scars with pride; they're proof that you've come this far and survived."
Life as a Navarri is not always easy, dangerous moments can spiral quickly and leave us beaten and broken. But we are never ones to give up.

A song written for and dedicated to my bestest friend and the strongest person I know.

Flank Attack From The Forest

Jamie Wakefield

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Matthew Schmid

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