Darkness & Dust

Welcome to the ONLY fan site that understands the true meaning of Tenth Rune.

While the other sites (like that childish "Vukah Shrine") focus on the furry animals, and the "Archives" focus on boring dates... I focus on the PAIN. The lore of Embervale is not a happy story. It is a tragedy. It is a funeral dirge sung by a dying world.

Note to "Justin": Stop emailing me about Quake. I do not care about "frags." I care about the existential dread of the Shroud consuming my soul. Also, give me back my Cure CD.

Let us discuss Track 04: "The Last Oath".

This is a masterpiece of Progressive Doom Metal. When the Captain screams about the "Mist swirling in the chasm below", I feel that. It speaks to the emptiness inside us all. He stood on Braelyn Bridge and accepted his demise. That is true art.

Compare that to Track 07 ("Ballad of Braelyn Bridge"). Upbeat Bluegrass? Disgusting. How can you play a banjo when the capital city of Pikemead's Reach is rotting due to environmental collapse? It’s an insult to the dead.

I must speak about Track 05: "Quiet Now, Yolanda".

The "normies" on the message boards say this is a pretty acoustic song. They think it's a lullaby. FOOLS. You do not understand the darkness woven into the strings.

Who is Yolanda? The lore doesn't say. But I know. She represents the innocence we have all lost. When the singer whispers "Quiet Now," he isn't comforting her. He is telling her to accept the silence of the Void. He is telling her that hope is a lie and that the Shroud is the only blanket she needs now.

I listened to this track 47 times in a row last night in the dark with my candles lit. I wept until my black eyeliner ran down my face like the corruption of the Elixir. It is the most painful song ever written. It is my anthem.

Everyone is afraid of the Shroud. "Oh no, it's poisonous, it's a hive mind!".

Open your eyes, sheeple.

The Shroud is beautiful. It is the Cornflower Twilight. It covers the ugliness of human failure. King Gormander was vain and corrupt. The Shroud merely cleansed his failure. Maybe we deserve to be Enshrouded. Maybe I want to walk into the mist and never come back (especially when my step-dad tells me to clean my room).

WEB RINGS OF SORROW: