The Benacian Beast
A Rykerist song of the mid-17th Century after Norton, popular in Humanist circles and subsequently taken up as the anthem of the Benacian Union.
(to the tune of The Grey Infantry)
Overview
The "Benacian Beast" was briefly the national anthem of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth. It celebrated Shireroth's hegemony on the Benacian continent and the Imperial Republic's role as a force against the evils of Micras. It was first played at the coronation of Kaiser Ayreon IV in 1661 AN. Ten years after the piece was first played, the Imperial Republic fell into anarchy and dissolution with the Kalirion Fracture. However the Imperial Forces, lauded in the song, had survived by turning their coats and taking on the mantle of the Black Legions. Thus, by this reading, the Benacian Beast had indeed been birthed into the world.
A modified version of the composition was played in Chryse on 20.I.1703 AN as at part of the ceremonies which formed the civic prelude to the Cedrozurvanite rites of consecration for the chosen temple site of the Order of the Red Hand. Thereafter the piece was considered to have been officially dedicated as the hymn of the Benacian Union.
Critics, many of whom were subsequently exiled, have claimed that the Istvanistani lyrics do not scan especially well, however defenders aver that in the original Praeta the effect is to be considered sublime.
Lyrics (1703 AN)
O can you see the great Benacian beast,
It wards off our enemies always,
It cares deeply for us and our sacrifice,
That beast, we shall love it always, Benacia,
We shall overcome the monsters in the west,
And undo the evil which they have wrought;
We are always reborn ever greater,
We are without peer to match our strength,
Never will our homes be overtaken,
For we are the ones who overtake;
Armaments protect us in land, sea and sky,
The daemons beneath us do cower,
The only Balgurd spawn which lives with us all,
Is Malarbor from whom we draw our power,
We shall overcome the monsters in the south,
And undo the evil which they have wrought;
We are always reborn ever greater,
We are without peer to match our strength,
Never will our homes be overtaken,
For we are the ones who overtake;
The states and governorates serve only the cause,
Always keeping each other loyal,
When one might begin to step out of its place,
The whole of this beast shall fall upon it;
We shall overcome the monsters in this world,
And undo the evil which they have wrought;
We are always reborn ever greater,
We are without peer to match our strength,
Never will our homes be overtaken,
For we are the ones who overtake.
Lyrics (1661 AN)
O can you see the great Benacian beast,
It wards off our enemies always,
It cares deeply for us and our sacrifice,
That beast, we shall love it always, Shireroth,
We shall overcome the monsters in the east,
And undo the evil which they have wrought;
We are always reborn ever greater,
We are without peer to match our strength,
Never will our homes be overtaken,
For we are the ones who overtake;
Gravtanks protect us in land sea and sky,
The daemons beneath us do cower,
The only Balgurd spawn which lives with us all,
Is Malarbor from whom we draw our power,
We shall overcome the monsters in the west,
And undo the evil which they have wrought;
We are always reborn ever greater,
We are without peer to match our strength,
Never will our homes be overtaken,
For we are the ones who overtake;
The states and dominions serve only the throne,
Always keeping each other loyal,
When one might begin to step out of its place,
The whole of this beast shall fall upon it;
We shall overcome the monsters in this world,
And undo the evil which they have wrought;
We are always reborn ever greater,
We are without peer to match our strength,
Never will our homes be overtaken,
For we are the ones who overtake.
