Dolorous Gard once held in its thrall scores of knights defeated by the master of the keep under an evil spell. The mythic Lancelot, under the guidance and aid of a damosel of the Lake, assaulted the tower in the name of freedom. In a frenzy of valor, the chevalier penetrated the gates and defeated the garrison, breaking the dour enchantment and releasing the prisoners from their dungeon. Having accomplished this, Sir Lancelot du Lac occupied the castle as his own and bestowed upon it the hopeful title of Joyous Gard.
The war on sorrow is, like so many things, a cycle. The many small joys and agonies we face will always prove to be evanescent.
But we must not set down our arms.
To assail the thresholds of woe!
Credits
Art & Music by Malfet
Layout by Andrew Ross Fritts & Malfet
Mastered by Jori Apedaile
Track 9 adapted from Vashti Bunyan, “Just Another Diamond Day," MCMLXX.
Track 11 adapted from Morrowdim, "Wandering Songs," MMXIX, & Howard Shore, “A Far Green Country," MMIII.
Thanks: Sombre Arcane, Vælastrasz, Hasufel, Khand, Mortiis, Murk Rider, Mortwight, Etheria, Redhorn Gate, Acheulean Forests, Returning, Latona Odola, Dungeons Deep, Expansion Abyss, Gondolin, Jesse Moreno, Tirith, Greg Massi, Maya Bayhan, and many others too numerous to name.
Dedicated to Maria and to Nick.
To Molly and to Eliot.
Onward, to Valhalla!