Grimoire Umbrio
The Book of Shadows
◀ Dirge 8 · Dirge 9 · Dirge 10 ▶

¹Once, the Hall was bright with voices, and the banners of HÆVAN and HÆL hung side by side.
²Its stones were set by both hands, its light drawn from both flames, and its roof crowned by the will of the Thirty.
³Therein were questions weighed and realms shaped, and the breath of peace passed from one to another like wine poured.
⁴The Seraphim entered without pride, and the Dæmons without shame, for no dominion ruled the Hall but wisdom.
⁵Now the doors hang crooked, and the wind walks there alone, speaking in echoes none answer.
⁶The tables remain, but no hands reach across them; the seats stand, but no names are spoken.
⁷And the dust gathers not only on stone, but upon memory, for the hall is forgotten even by those who built it.
⁸When last the Brothers stood beneath its dome, Their eyes met not; Their words were measured, and the silence afterward, longer than speech.
⁹From that day, no Council was called, and the Hall knew only stillness.
¹⁰We ask not for fire or feast — only for voice. Yet none returns.
¹¹What place upon Oærth remains so sacred, so empty, so loud in its stillness?
¹²The Council chambers remain whole, but the breath that once filled them has fled.
¹³Bezaliel does not walk there. Michæl does not sit. The flame is low, and no wind rises to feed it.
¹⁴Shall we light torches in the corners, and wait for shadows to return?
¹⁵Or shall we heap stones at the doors, and declare it a tomb, not a temple?
¹⁶O Hall of the Considered Things, thy wisdom sleeps, thy banners rot, thy names fade.
¹⁷We, who remember, weep not for thy stones, but for the song that once stirred between them.
¹⁸Until thy floor is trod again in equal step, we mourn — for the Hall is empty, and peace echoes unanswered.


Copyright ©2025 Adam Alexander T. Croke. All rights reserved.