Epitaph of Twilight

[Snare]

It would be nice to see the complete version of the Epitaph of Twilight, if just to read it, so I'm posting all the information I've gathered on it to help me orginize my theories out. There are many things that havn't been released in english, and seeing as how these games are getting older by the minute, it doesn't make my task anymore easier. If you'd like to help you can confirm anything that's listed unknown or true or post pieces of the epitaph that havn't been listed here. Most of the things you see here will be a retelling off of the dothack wiki page at first, mixed in with some of my own theories. Keep in mind I will be posting this in multiple places, so some ideas that have been stated in one place may not make it in another for a little. I will try and update all my posts as much as possible in any event.

To begin with, I do have to go off of some assumptions though.

1. The Epitaph of Twilight does exist in a complete or incomplete form somewhere.

2. Anything stated by Bandai, CC2, or in the dot hack games is true. This does not mean it was translated properly though.

3. Anything stated in the mangas or animes are not a confirmed truth, with the exception of .hack//analysis (which should be true) and .hack//another birth (which is just a retelling of the games themselves).

There are some basic things as well that I've found that not everyone may think of or know.

1. The original Epitaph of Twilight should be in German, so any rhyming in an english version should be considered a false fragment.

2. Emma Wielant is not an actual person, but could possibly be a pen name for the actual writer(s).

3. CyberConnect2 is indeed an actual company.

Outline

http://homepage.mac.com/murgatroyd314/Epitaph.html

The version on the dothack wiki is misleading, since it seems like the description is only for one section of the epitaph, when in reality it's summarizing mulitiple sections. Keep in mind Qubia is just a mistranslation of Cubia when mentioned.

Characters

Apeiron, King of Light - The preserver of order.

Bith the Black - An elderly sage. The black guide. A servant of Helba.

Bith the White - A half-sprite who accompanies Saya. His relation to Bith the Black is unknown.

Crimson Knights - Warriors of the Dark, said to oppose to the Cobalt Knights.

Cobalt Knights - Warriors of the Light, said to oppose to the Crimson Knights.

Corbenik - One of eight names found in an ancient text. The Rebirth.

Cubia - An ancient lifeform.

Culhwch - Watchman of the Crystal Forest.

Dorin - A qilin (or griffin) who sleeps under the "Light's Great Tree".

Fidchell - One of eight names found in an ancient text. The Prophet.

Fili the White - A young sage. The white guide.

Gorre - One of eight names found in an ancient text. The Machinator.

Gendor - A young man from a band of humans who settled in the Dividing Forest. One of the three travelers.

Helba, Queen of the Dark - The destroyer of order.

Innis - One of eight names found in an ancient text. The Mirage of Deceit.

Jinn of the Desert - A solitary sprite who lives at an oasis in the Desert of Dakk. He dreams of one day finding and planting the seed of the World Tree.

Lilith - A night sprite formerly loyal to the Dark. After a prank gone terribly wrong gave her a shadow, she was banished. One of the three travelers.

Macha - One of eight names found in an ancient text. The Temptress.

Magi the Black - A half-sprite who accompanies Saya.

Magus - One of eight names found in an ancient text. The Propagation.

Plaird is the youngest of a group of seven water sprite sisters. She gained a shadow from falling in love, and wanted to become human.

Saya - The "little witch" who lives in the golden field. The first shadowed one found by Bith and Fili, she is one of the three travelers.

Sconk - A cowardly monster, and owner of the Tear Jar. Seeks shelter with Dorin when the Wave approaches.

Sheradon - An ape who wears a fez and looks down on humans.

Sheraton - A dragon who interprets the Signs.

Skeith - One of eight names found in an ancient text. The Terror of Death.

Tartarga - A tortoise who lives in the True Underworld and possesses ancient knowledge.

Tarvos - One of eight names found in an ancient text. The Avenger.

The Flying Stag - A six-legged stag with golden horns. After Saya helped it when it was injured, it led her to Bith and Fili.

The Traveler of the Dividing Forest - A shadowed one, and eldest of the people of the Chosen Land.

Notes

-Pleiad and Plaird are the same people.

-Bith the Black and Magi the Black, as well as Fili the White and Bith the White, may be interchangable or not. One thing, though, is that Magi the Black and Bith the White seem to always be paired, as well as Fili the White and Bith the Black. I have found no mention of all four of these characters mentioned at the same time though.

Fragments from the Epitaph

Fragment

Yet to return, the shadowed one.

Who quests for the Twilight Dragon

Rumbles the Dark Hearth,

And Helba, Queen of the Dark,

has raised finally her army.

Apeiron, King of Light beckons.

At the base of the rainbow do they meet

Against the abominable Wave,

together they fight.

Alba's lake boils.

Light's great tree doth fall.

Power- now all to droplets turned

in the temple of Arche Koeln.

Returns to nothing,

this world of shadowless ones.

Never to return, the shadowed one,

Who quests for the Twilight Dragon.

Validitiy

True

Proof

Stated in both .hack//infection by W.B. Yeats and .hack//GU Vol. 3//Redemption by Aina

Mistranslations

Placement

It talks about the final battle at the base of the rainbow and the world of the sprites returning to nothing, so it must be towards the end. If this is the last stanza, it's definitly a morbid ending, but a definite possibility. Somewhere inside 5-1 or 5-2 is ideal.

Misc.

-The base of the rainbow is also known as the Naval of Alba's Lake, or Hulle Granz Cathedral. It's said that they made their last stand at the Cathedral because that was where the Twilight Dragon was suppose to come to when found. This comes from the dot hack wiki with no confirmed source though.

-The temple of Arche Koeln is the entrance to the End of Land and is where all power is suppose to return to. It's also known as the Land of the Beginning of Beginnings. The Arche of Koeln is indeed a different place than the Cathedral though.

Fragment

Unknown where the Cursed Wave was born?

After the stars doth cross the heavens,

The sky in the East doth darken and air doth fill with mourning.

From the chosen land beyond the forest, a sign of the wave comes.

Riding the wake is Skeith, the Shadow of Death, to drown all that stands.

Mirage of Deceit, Innis, Betray all with the flawed image, and did aid the Wave.

And by the Power of Magus, a drop from the Wave doth reach the heavens, and creates a new Wave.

With the Wave, Fidchell, the power to tell the dark future, hope darkens, sadness and despair rule.

Gorre schemes when swallowed by the Cursed Wave.

Macha seduces with the sweet trap.

Wave reaches the Pinnacle, and escape none can. Tarvos still remains with more cruelty to punish and destroy.

And with the turbulent destruction after the Wave. Only a void remains. From deep within the void arrives Corbenik.

Perhaps then the Wave is just a beginning as well.

Validity

True

Proof

In an email from Wiseman (Who wouldn't trust him?) in .hack//mutation and mentioned in .hack//epitaph of twilight (unconfirmed)

Mistranslations

Riding fast on the path is Skeith

Bearing death's shadow, it eliminates all that seek to thwart it.

The Confusing Mirage, Innis

Decieves those that see it with illusions, rescues the waves

The wave soaring high, when its head is smashed,

A new wave will emerge

To become Magus's power.

When questioning the wave,

Hope's light will be lost when he speaks of the dark future of where sorrow and resignation reign.

Using Fiddlehiem's Technique

When engulfed by the Waves of Calamity, Gorre will plan

The sweet snare of conciliation is Maha

The Waves, an exceeding maelstrom

Nothing can escape

When you think you have escaped, Talvos exists

To destroy those with his exceeding cruelty

Upon violent requital, only to remain is the void, the vacant darkness

is the harbringer that Corbenik is to appear.

Placement

Taking into account the last line, and the fact that it summarizes the whole Cursed Wave, this is probably the last section of the epitaph. If not, it's definitly in 5-1 or 5-2.

Misc.

-The mistranslation is usually placed with the correct translation in fake epitaphs to make it appear longer

-If you take into accout the part where Magus creates a new wave, then there should actually be two Cursed Waves. It's possible that Aperion and Helba defeated the first wave while Saya and the rest were off searching for the Twilight Dragon, though this is just a theory.

-The last line of the true translation is sometimes not added

Fragment

Shunning the field broken by Wave.

The shadowed girl whispers,

"Surely, I will return."

Alas, the truth unbeknownst.

Awaiting her at journey's end;

Eternal mourning for her land.

Validity

True

Proof

Found in .hack//infection

Mistranslations

The wife buffeted by "Waves" turns her back on the field.

The daughter that waited for the shadows repeated,

"For sure... For sure I can go home."

But the girl did not know...

The truth that waited her at the end of the journey

The eternal mourning of her land.

Placement

The shadowed girl could refer to either Plaird, Saya, or Lilith, and could be placed anywhere from when the Cursed Wave first attacked to the end of the epitaph. The shadowed girl could also just be a random human girl as well. If the shadowed girl is Lilith though, it's most likely placed somewhere between 1-3 and 1-6.

Misc.

-Listed as Epitaph 00 in the game

Fragment

When the finger points to the

yonder moon,

The fool will look at the fingertip.

Validity

True

Proof

Found in .hack//infection

Mistranslations

When the finger points to the

yonder moon,

The fool will not look at the fingertip.

Placement

Maybe said by someone when the Twilight Dragon didn't show for the final battle? The fragment is to short and vague to be placed in a definite spot. The best chance is to find other fragments that this would correspond to.

Misc.

-Listed as Epitaph 01 in the game

-The mistranslation is from the game itself

Fragment

The whole cannot be changed.

We have already lost that chance.

Because the time left to us was short,

We were mistaken in our path.

But now do we realize,

We should change not the whole,

But the parts.

Validity

True

Proof

Found in .hack//outbreak

Mistranslations

Placement

To vague to place. It could be something Helba is saying to Apeiron, or one of the travelers talking when they were confused, or a random sage not mentioned.

Misc.

-Listed as Epitaph 02 in the game

Fragment

Wave soars and shrouds the eyes.

No means to fight an omnipresent force,

The shadowless ones just grieve.

Why must it be a Wave?

Divide, if it would just...

Then retaliate, we may.

Validity

True

Proof

Found in .hack//outbreak

Mistranslations

Placement

Not the end, since the armies have already found a way to battle the wave, and not the very beggining, because how would they know the wave is unbeatable without first experiencing it? Most likely somewhere towards the beggining-middle. Maybe 1-4 to 3-6?

Misc.

-Listed as Epitaph 03 in the game

-Yes the end sounds like Yoda...

Fragment

Over the Keel Mountains,

Meets an ape with human speech.

The ape asks,

"What clings to you?

Bear it?you cannot.

Accept it?you cannot.

But hidden?it is from you.

Recite its name."

Validity

True

Proof

Found in .hack//quarantine

Mistranslations

Placement

4-3 or 4-4, since this is where they meet the monkey.

Misc.

Your own name?the name of your shadow, your dark side.

-Listed as Epitaph 04 in the games

Fragment

Like a frenzied horse that is driven.

An unseen wind of plague shrieks across the border.

Pandemonium, wailing, and stench of carnage fills the air.

There is no place to run. No hope of escape.

Those who are mourned will never return.

The hands of time cannot be turned back.

Validity

True

Proof

Spoken by Fidchell in .hack//outbreak

Mistranslations

Placement

Most likely towards the beggining when describing the Cursed Wave's first attacks.

Misc.

Fragment

The Keel Mountains traversed at last,

we met a dragon that spoke thus:

"Sheraton am I, who interprets the signs.

An answer to my question, give.

If you can, complete my role will be,

and I will leave this land.

Though equally it exists before everyone's eyes,

grasp it not one person can.

Tell me?what is it?"

Validity

True

Proof

From .hack//Another Birth Vol.2

Mistranslations

Placement

4-5 or 4-6, since this is when the travelers meet Sheraton (or so I'm assuming from the outline).

Misc.

The moment

Fragment

Plaird of the Seven Sisters,

falling in love with a human,

Became a Shadowed One and was exiled from the Dark.

Hence, her name came to be called Plaird the Fallen.

At her wanderings end,

she settled in seclusion in Arche Haokar.

However, those days may not last.

A reunion may come, or may not.

Plaird's form vanishes at the coming of the sign of the Wave.

Validity

True

Proof

From .hack//Another Birth Vol.3, spoken by Mia

Mistranslations

In .hack//epitaph of twilight, Plaird is exiled from the light, not the dark. Niether has another confirmed souce though, so either could be right.

Placement

2-1 is a good guess since it speaks of Plaird already having a shadow, so it probably is said with the idea of reciting Plaird's history.

Misc.

-Plaird is the youngest of 7 water sprites (unconfirmed)

-Even though Plaird has a shadow, and the group in search of the Twilight Dragon passes by her, she is not one of the three travelers. It's possible that all 3 of the prophesied were already in the group though (The group should contain 3 people with shadows).

Fragment

The heaven is disturbed, it covers "wave" sight and there is a ____ excessively.

In order that it resists the power which is unevenly distributed the shadow

it is not the thing, "the wave" it becomes in the ______ some reason which sighs simply without?

At least while the peak of the wave ________ also if it is, an arrow it is to reward the thing

Validity

Unknown

Misc

-Found this on a website that was discussing the epitaph, so I still need to confirm a source

Fragment

In the place of the calamitous, only life was known.

After the circling stars

When the eastern dark void, the air full of despair

In the depths of the divided forest, in the land of Karma,

Validity

Unknown

Misc.

-I first found this attached to the beggining of a mistranslation of the "Unknown where the Cursed Wave was born..." fragment, but it pops up from time to time in other places as well.

There's more but your double post override makes it so I can't go past 20,000 characters when it tries to merge my posts.

[Apeiron]

i don't know much of the epitath exept the first part, from which i have memorized. but this is my favorite version of the epitath, but i dont think its the real epitath. it can be found here http://www.rpgdreamersforum.com/index.php?showtopic=46519

[Snare]

Thank you Apeiron  ;D

Fragment

Once their magic land did glow

With vagrant, ever-present light:

When sprites would play in flowing fields,

The twilight shining in their wings

As they swam through silky seas of mist,

Before the coming of the Wave.

Untouched by fear or pain they lived

Each minute with the utmost joy,

Till the cursed Wave did rise

Tearing through the dusky skies;

Consuming light and dark in kind

And leaving none to mourn behind.

So to the East the sprites did flee

Though burdened by the tragedy,

The truth was all too plain to see:

One by one their kind would fall

Beneath the torrent of the Wave

If none could stand before its gaze

And somehow fill that endless void.

King of light and queen of dark,

Apeiron and Helba knew of one

Who might defeat the Wave:

A mythic beast long said to sleep

?Neath the edge of the world?s end

Sheathed by the Wavering Peninsula,

A creature of the greatest might,

The sacred dragon of twilight.

Thus Queen Helba chose Bith the Black,

Her strongest sprite, to join the quest;

While Apeiron sent Fili the White

To journey with them in his stead,

For Bith and Helba thought it best

That the king remain behind to rule

And calm the ever-spreading dread

Ere the dragon might appear.

So as the three prepared to ride

Through the aqua gate of Mac Anu

A fourth did come by fate?s command:

One part human, one part sprite,

Alone for all his nameless might,

He fell in stride with Helba?s steed

As she wordlessly agreed,

His will was worthy of their cause.

Through the Fatel Bog they sped

As onyx dust cloaked each in turn

From which arose a blinding pall,

A living shadow born to crawl

Betwixt reality and mind,

Till death, within them, was enshrined:

Each was shown their comrades slain;

Illusions of Skeith?s mortal game.

Fili wept and knelt to pray,

While Bith did halt in stunned dismay

Ere turning back upon the path,

Desires crushed by failure?s wrath.

The halfling tore about the swamp

Searching for the fount of death

Whose noxious fog had claimed the lives

Of those who?d stand against the Wave.

Alone the dark queen Helba rode

Remorseless through the baneful mire,

Cursing the Wave as she progressed

Bent solely on her noble quest,

And as she went the darkness lifted

Till she found her friends still living,

Mounted on their stagnant steeds

As if enchanted by some dream.

Calling forth an ancient rune,

The queen dispelled the evil bind;

Thus Skeith?s hold was undermined

And as he slowly evanesced

Each realized they?d been possessed

While Helba foretold a prophecy

Of eight heralds with demons blood,

Eight phases of the Cursed Wave.

As the boggy mud grew dry

Gyle Mountain rose before them,

A deadly oft avoided peak;

The swiftest route to Dun Loireag;

For eons standing as a god

O?er looking men with its facade

While hiding at its center true,

A molten pit of which none knew.

As they neared the summit?s height

Something waited midst their course:

A Chimera of the greatest size

With sleight blue malefic eyes

Exuding lust for their demise;

Then two, then four, then all around

The aberrations capped the ground,

Till hundreds stood in perfect stillness.

Charging forth as one they came

With rumbling fury at the four,

Who held a circle back to back,

Slaying beasts as they attacked;

Though as the horrors met their deaths,

Each vanished with its dying breath,

Unfleshly as a wayward thought

But for the bloody wounds they wrought.

Thus the ceaseless battle waged:

As each fiend fell another came

Till Bith cried out in dire need,

A lone chimera must be real;

The others conjured effigies;

Doppelgangers born to please

Their lord and master as slaves,

Incarnations of the Wave.

Deeming true the dark knight?s words,

Fili beseeched her allies three

For time to let her mind?s eye see;

Hence minutes passed as Fili prayed

Ere she raised her longbow high

And let a single arrow fly

Piercing clouds upon the sky

As though the shaft were blessed by god.

Falling with a feather?s grace

The missile knew whom to embrace,

And like a tear from heaven shed

Smote its wrath on the demon?s head,

Laying to waste the vile horde;

As Innis? power left the peak

Six words of spite he cruelly gave:

You shall never stop the Wave.

Past the mount they traveled far

Through Dun Loireag the highland town

Till they reached the woods of Breade

Where lay a mark for all to heed:

A sphere enclosed by myriad lines,

One of many travelers? signs

Known by the halfling doubtlessly:

A labyrinth confronts beyond.

Foraging down countless paths,

Each branch producing two alike;

They hastened forth without event

Till Helba sensed a foul intent,

And turning, to her wonder found

A creature posing as a man,

Exquisite in his nakedness;

A mold no human could possess.

With arms spread wide the demon smiled

And Helba watched as though beguiled

While fallen twigs grew into trees,

Forming fast a wooden shield

Unyielding to the fiercest blow;

Then shrieks about the forest rang

As any beast with claw or fang

Descended on the narrow trail.

Besieged by creatures of the wood

They battled ?gainst undying foes:

Each pair slain would recompose,

Birthing four at instant pace

As Magus watched with grinning glee,

Entombed within his wall of trees

Which faster grew then could be hewn;

A trait which spelled the heroes? doom.

Thus the exalting onslaught went

Till Nameless conceived a final hope,

And drawing out a flask of spirits

Hurled it at the barricade,

Then blazed a spark with blade on blade

Setting to light a rampant fire;

A majestic funeral pyre

Felling the wall atop its maker.

Soon Breade was but a memory

O?ershadowed by the floral city:

Carmina Gadelica by name,

Of gentile and aesthetic fame;

Though swiftly too it fell behind

As Moyra Canyon darkly loomed,

Foreboding in its desolation

Ere the crossing had begun.

Hours aft the presaged end

Of that bleak and lengthy trek,

Moyra?s cliffs still stood aside,

Mocking each benumbing stride;

Till Bith remarked in somber phrase

They?d passed the same formations thrice,

Spun by some malign device

So deftly one might never know.

Having spake his solemn fear

A haunting voice then prophesied:

Your graveyard shall this chasm be

For here you will remain with me;

Helpless as the Wave consumes

Everything you?ve ever known,

Leaving naught behind but bone

And fading whispers on the wind.

Searching for escape in vain

They rode the passage once again;

But Fidchell?s brazen promise held:

Nowhere could the cliffs be scaled,

And though their course did never veer

While racing through the corridor,

They came to camp just as before;

Overcome by nauseous dread.

Dispel charms proved fruitless too;

Till Bith called for womanly aid,

Requesting they enchant his blade;

Then slowly marching down the path

For hours when he sensed at last

The entrapping portal?s edge;

Driving hard his sword to earth,

Razing Fidchell?s sorcery.

Long past the crucible of Moyra,

They sheltered in a citadel:

Fort Ouph, so said its denizens

Where mind and body could be cleansed

Of any hardships one endured

Ere disembarking further north

Over the barren Veishus Plain,

Where most who crossed it would remain.

The horses thrived on unmarked land,

Rejoicing in those countless miles

Till suddenly in concert halting

As ebon vapours coalesced

At Gorre?s inhuman behest,

Forging whole his grotesque form:

A tetra-legged mass of hate

Obscured midst a foul haze.

With putrid limbs the demon lashed;

Immense weight thrown behind each strike:

Through both guard and shield alike

The blows did wound unless evaded;

While each assault the heroes launched

Was somehow violently repelled:

Sheathed in armour craft of malice

The creature stood immune to challenge.

Battling with their utmost might

Each soon grew weary from the fight,

When Fili grazed the demon?s hide

And felt its overwhelming sadness;

No longer could abhorrence lie

Within her for the wretched fiend:

T?was but a puppet of the Wave

Devised to delve for each a grave.

As pity laced her heavy heart,

Fili strode towards the beast

Whose crushing limbs were now repulsed

Ere they touched her ivory skin;

When came she nigh with rapier drawn

A single thrust did slay its brawn,

For mercy guided Fili?s blade

Where scorn could never penetrate.

In time they reached Lia Fail,

Exhausted to the breaking point

Where healers did their wounds anoint

While speaking of the land beyond:

Knemisys was the desert?s name;

Devoid of life?s too fragile flame,

Though offering hope ever so slight:

The journey?s end was now in sight.

Once their strength had been regained

A woman of unmatched beauty came;

And standing in the village square

With naught to clothe but flowing hair,

She beckoned with an outstretched hand

As her siren song did ring

Throughout the quiet frontier town,

Calling both the knight and halfling.

Doused by some seducing force

Helba charged to find the source,

But like Fili arrived too late:

Bith and Nameless stood entranced

By Macha?s all-enticing spell

With which she did their blades compel

To set upon the women with

Whom they?d journeyed for so long.

Knowing well the quest would fail

If any were to perish here,

They could but dodge each fierce attack,

Unwilling to counter back;

Neither could Macha be harmed:

Protected by her servants two

No assault could carry through;

Such was the witchcraft?s passion.

In desperation Helba cast

A seldom sober sorcery:

The banshee?s cry for moments wailed,

Annulling the demon?s hymn

And sealing Macha?s fate therein;

For that lone unhindered instant

Was all the dark queen needed

To cut the bare seductress down.

So bidding to the town farewell

They forged ahead through Knemisys;

Uncrossed by any to return:

The arid distance was too great,

Yet they went without debate

To find whatever might await,

Knowing one predestined fact:

They?d not last the journey back.

Past untold dunes the horses ran

Till any sense of time was gone

And each grew jadedly withdrawn,

When, rising from the sands ahead

A small oasis lay outspread;

Water sparkling through the heat

Beneath a single godsent tree

Worth tenfold its weight in gold.

First they drank as ne?er before

Upon the tiny desert shore,

But found in frantic disarray

Just two fruits about the tree;

Soon both Queen and Halfling claimed

Their sex deserved the greater share,

While Fili spoke with fixed glare:

Equal parts were truly fair.

Bith alone did not take part

For something gnawed upon his heart;

Coming clear as swords were drawn

When words alone would not suffice;

Plunging through bark and wood his axe,

A shriek of fury tamed the fight

As the haven left their eyes;

Thus Tarvos met his swift demise

Presently the thirst awoke

As the demon?s magic broke,

But soon their spirits soared anew:

Sand gave way to fluid ground,

A joyous omen that they?d found

The Wavering Peninsula;

Awash with instability

Such as none had ever seen.

Colours shimmered ?round the cape,

Blending aimlessly together

While hoof-beats danced about the land

Like echoes of a mindless band;

But all too soon this chaos paled

In contrast to the final phase:

Before the Stone of Destiny

Corbenik stood in mockery.

Titanic was his human form;

Eyes alight with vicious scorn

As he advanced with roaring strides

And spoke in truly humbling voice:

You?ve journeyed far and suffered much

To perish by my flawless touch;

For as you now shall plainly see,

No sprite exists to stand against me.

Ere the final word had died

A pulse erupted from his hand

Which all but one could not withstand:

Nameless stood in disbelief

As Helba, Bith, and Fili fell

Unconscious to the shifting earth;

Saved by halfling blood alone,

He?d fight this demon on his own.

Enraged that any dared resist,

Corbenik charged into the duel

With staggering ferocity

Bent towards his enemy

Who spun ever-elusively

Away from each leaden blow,

Requiting with his lustrous blades

Like some pernicious serenade.

Despite the halfling?s surest strike

Corbenik offered no respite,

For even as his steel drew blood

The lesion seamlessly would heal,

Till a voice in him confided:

Your weapons cannot harm this fiend;

Fight with those attached to life

To break his immortality.

Unequalled was the dark queen?s verve,

So taking up her royal sword

And yearning for true faith?s reward;

Nameless vaulted o?er his foe,

Driving the blade through flesh below

And landing on the other side

As the demon fell beside,

Both motionless for a time.

Soon burning with hellish fire

The fiend rose in satanic form

As the Halfling heard once more:

A weapon in accord with death

Will cleave this monster?s dying breath;

Thus endowed with Bith?s great axe

He snuffed Corbenik?s second life;

Though doubt within him now grew rife.

From ash the demon rose again,

Empowered by the pure heart

And soaring high with angel?s wings

As Nameless brandished Fili?s bow,

Firing volleys at each chance

Till the fiend could fly no more,

And beaten to its very core,

Fell to earth one final time.

Once the sprites had reawakened

The voice resounded in their minds:

You have my sincerest praises

For vanquishing the Wave?s eight phases,

Each imbued with twisted souls

Collected by their maker;

Each a brutal incarnation

Embodying the psyche.

Skeith, The Terror of Death;

Composed of deepest mortal fear

His morbid whispers silence cheer;

Innis, The Mirage of Deceit;

Cloaked within a deadly guise,

One must see truth amidst his lies;

Magus, The Propagator,

In his presence species? thrive,

Ever able to survive;

Fidchell, The Prophet;

Predicating hopeless fate

To crush your will beneath its weight;

Gorre, The Machination;

Enrobed by vicious cruelty,

Immune to all but sympathy;

Macha, The Temptress;

Manifesting love and lust

To charm even the most robust;

Tarvos, The Avenger;

Envy and vengeance are the tools

With which he transforms men to fools;

And Corbenik, The Rebirth;

First compelled by all life?s riches

Then drawn towards the reaper?s scythe

Before ascending to the skies

On gusts of immaculate intent.

When this world was barely born

The Wave and I did battle here

For eons at same frontier,

Clashing once with utmost strength:

Our bodies spread across the land

Seeding all that now exists;

Substance did my form provide,

And he the spirit held inside.

I?ve waited for your coming since;

A specter sealed beneath this stone

Without a shape to call my own;

Thus I must entreat you all

To pay this last, most grievous cost:

Return to me what I have lost

That I might give my life to save

Those remaining from the Wave.

Each laid their hands upon the stone,

Vanishing as the dragon rose

In magnificent repose;

Feeding off his former tomb

Now serving as a holy womb;

The peninsula soon faded too:

Among the saddest kinds of loss,

Gone ere it could be forgotten.

In a breath the dragon flew

Back to besieged Mac Anu,

Where all the mages of the land

Had trenched their only stand

At the battered aqua gate

To stay the Wave in fervent hope

That the quest would yet succeed,

As Apeiron had once decreed.

Streaming forth in sheer delight,

The Twilight Dragon met the Wave;

Twirling ?round his adversary

Till inextricably entwined

They momently shone as one,

Like a swiftly dying sun

Whose embers flare with glory bright

Before it?s taken by the night.

When the aura dissipated,

Wave and Dragon both were gone,

Though joy came not to Apeiron;

He knew this victory?s true price;

The last and greatest sacrifice

Which Helba and her friends had made

At land?s end so far away

For every voice that now did cheer.

Sprites have long since lost their wings

As they did their innocence,

The timeless dusk in which they lived,

And perhaps of all the saddest;

Of Helba and her servant Bith,

Of Fili and the Halfling too,

No memories remain but this:

Unknown where the Cursed Wave was born

After the stars doth cross the heavens

The sky in the East doth darken

And air doth fills with mourning.

From the chosen land beyond the forest,

A sign of the Wave is: Skeith, the Shadow of Death.

to drown all that stands.

Mirage of Deceit, Innis,

Betray all with the flawed image,

and did aid the Wave.

And by the Power of Magus,

a drop from the Wave doth reach the heavens,

and creates a new Wave.

With the Wave, Fidchell,

the power to tell the dark future,

hope darkens, sadness and dispair rule.

Gorre schemes the Pinnacle, and escape non can.

Tarvos still remains with more cruelty to punish and destroy.

And with the turbulent destruction after the Wave.

Only a void remains.

From deep within the void arrives Corbenik.

Yet to return, the shadowed one.

Who quests foe the Twilight Dragon

Rumbles the Dark Hearth,

And Helba, Queen of the Dark, has raised finally her army.

Apeiron, King of Light, beckins...

At the base of the rainbow they meet.

Against the abominable "Wave," together they fight.

Alba's lake boils.

Light's great tree doth fall.

Power- all now to droplets turned in the temple of Arche Koeln.

Returns to nothing, this world of shadowless ones.

Never to return, the shadowless one.

Who quests for the Twilight Dragon.

The wife buffeted by "Waves" turns her back on the field.

The daughter that waited for the shadows repeated,

"For sure... For sure I can go home."

But the girl did not know...

The truth that waited her at the end of the journey

The eternal mourning of her land.

In the place of the calamitous, only life was known.

After the circling stars

When the eastern dark void, the air full of dispair

In the depths of the divided forest, in the land of Karma,

Riding fast on the path is Skeith

Bearing death's shadow, it eliminates all that seek to thwart it.

The Confusing Mirage, Innis

Decevies those that see it with illusions, rescues the waves

The wave soaring high, when its head is smashed,

A new wave will emerge

To become Mangus's power.

When questioning the wave,

Hope's light will be lost when he speaks of the dark future of where

sorrow and resignation reign.

Using Fiddlehiem's Technique

When engulfed by the Waves of Calamity, Gorre will plan

The sweet snare of conciliation is Macha

The Waves, an exceeding maelstrom

Nothing can escape

When you think you have escaped, Tarvos exists

To destroy those with his exceeding cruelty

Upon violent requital, only to remain is the void, the vacant darkness

is the harbinger that Corbenik is to appear.

Validity

False

Misc

-This is the most common fake epitaph to be passed around. In truth, this is just a good fan-made epitaph, with fragments of the true epitaph attached to the end. There may or may not be parts of the true epitaph in this though.

-There are to many parts where it rhymes in english, even though the original should be in german.

-This version was most likely made before .hack//analysis's outline was released

[Haseo-dono]

The whole thing is based on Nibelungen (Ring of the Nibelung), so you might want to take a look at that.

[blootooby]

Well, actually, I was putting the fragments in order, and making the entire book (A.K.A. 27 chapters  >.<)

Here's the entire Table of Contents and Chapter 25 ;:D

|---------------------------|

|  Table of Contents  |

|_________________|

Chapter 1. Conversation

Chapter 2. Turning Away from the Fields

Chapter 3. Lilith

Chapter 4. The Travelers

Chapter 5. The Dividing Forest

Chapter 6. Shining Eyes

Chapter 7. Plaird the Sorrowful

Chapter 8. The Crystal Hill

Chapter 9. Light's Great Tree

Chapter 10. Sconk

Chapter 11. Reunion

Chapter 12. The Bewitching Spirit of the Desert

Chapter 13. The Dark Hearth

Chapter 14. <Unnamed>

Chapter 15. Tartarga

Chapter 16. The Dream of Lazeth

Chapter 17. The Great Waterfall

Chapter 19. Wandering in the Maze

Chapter 20. Gate at the End of Land

Chapter 21. The Wave Comes

Chapter 22. The Keel Mountains

Chapter 23. <Unnamed>

Chapter 24. The Dragon Sighted

Chapter 25. The Night Before

Chapter 26. Twilight Dragon

Chapter 27. An Ending

Kapitel 25. In der Nacht vor

Im Laufe der Keel in den Bergen, es war ein Affe, redet wie ein Mensch k?nnte.

Der Affe gebeten,

  "Was h?ngt an dir? Bear it - Sie k?nnen es nicht. Akzeptieren Sie es - Sie k?nnen es nicht. Aber verborgen - es ist von dir. Recite seinen Namen."

  Der Kiel Mountains durchzogen wir endlich ein Drache, der so sprach erf?llt sind:

  "Sheraton bin ich, wer die Zeichen interpretiert. Eine Antwort auf meine Frage geben.

Wenn Sie k?nnen, meine komplette Aufgabe wird es sein, und ich werde dieses Land verlassen.

Obwohl auch sie existiert vor aller Augen, fassen es nicht eine einzige Person kann.

Sag mir, was ist es? "

Btw, last time I checked, Ring of the Nibelung has absolutely nothing to do with the Epitaph of Twilight >_<.

[Snare]

The whole thing is based on Nibelungen (Ring of the Nibelung), so you might want to take a look at that.

Looked it up, didn't see much relavence. I'm sure they read up on plenty of old folklore to create the epitaph though.

Well, actually, I was putting the fragments in order, and making the entire book (A.K.A. 27 chapters  >.<)

Here's the entire Table of Contents and Chapter 25 ;:D

|---------------------------|

|  Table of Contents  |

|_________________|

Chapter 1. Conversation

Chapter 2. Turning Away from the Fields

Chapter 3. Lilith

Chapter 4. The Travelers

Chapter 5. The Dividing Forest

Chapter 6. Shining Eyes

Chapter 7. Plaird the Sorrowful

Chapter 8. The Crystal Hill

Chapter 9. Light's Great Tree

Chapter 10. Sconk

Chapter 11. Reunion

Chapter 12. The Bewitching Spirit of the Desert

Chapter 13. The Dark Hearth

Chapter 14. <Unnamed>

Chapter 15. Tartarga

Chapter 16. The Dream of Lazeth

Chapter 17. The Great Waterfall

Chapter 19. Wandering in the Maze

Chapter 20. Gate at the End of Land

Chapter 21. The Wave Comes

Chapter 22. The Keel Mountains

Chapter 23. <Unnamed>

Chapter 24. The Dragon Sighted

Chapter 25. The Night Before

Chapter 26. Twilight Dragon

Chapter 27. An Ending

Kapitel 25. In der Nacht vor

Im Laufe der Keel in den Bergen, es war ein Affe, redet wie ein Mensch k?nnte.

Der Affe gebeten,

  "Was h?ngt an dir? Bear it - Sie k?nnen es nicht. Akzeptieren Sie es - Sie k?nnen es nicht. Aber verborgen - es ist von dir. Recite seinen Namen."

  Der Kiel Mountains durchzogen wir endlich ein Drache, der so sprach erf?llt sind:

  "Sheraton bin ich, wer die Zeichen interpretiert. Eine Antwort auf meine Frage geben.

Wenn Sie k?nnen, meine komplette Aufgabe wird es sein, und ich werde dieses Land verlassen.

Obwohl auch sie existiert vor aller Augen, fassen es nicht eine einzige Person kann.

Sag mir, was ist es? "

http://homepage.mac.com/murgatroyd314/Epitaph.html

The epitaph is broken up more like an epic poem rather than novel. And the german section is fake. It's been translated from english (notice where it says "Bear it"). A generic translator can't interpret "bear" as "carry" so it leaves it as is.

The two true fragments are:

Over the Keel Mountains,

Meets an ape with human speech.

The ape asks,

"What clings to you?

Bear it?you cannot.

Accept it?you cannot.

But hidden?it is from you.

Recite its name."

The Keel Mountains traversed at last,

we met a dragon that spoke thus:

"Sheraton am I, who interprets the signs.

An answer to my question, give.

If you can, complete my role will be,

and I will leave this land.

Though equally it exists before everyone's eyes,

grasp it not one person can.

Tell me?what is it?"

Notice that one starts with "Over the Keel Mountains" and the other starts with "The Keel Mountains traversed at last". It's a common misconception that you can just place one fragment after the other since they are from the same general location, but it's probably a safe bet to assume that there is more inbetween these two.

Personally, I believe there is probably another riddle giver, since most obstacles come in 3s in stories.

[blootooby]

To be honest, I just roughly translated it with Google Translate.

Oh and btw, a poem doesn't have to rhyme.

[Snare]

To be honest, I just roughly translated it with Google Translate.

Probably not a good thing to do, it may get confused with actual fragments (if any ever show up).

I'm hoping someone will scan .hack//epitaph of twilight sooner or later then translate it, so far there haven't been any.

Oh and btw, a poem doesn't have to rhyme.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_poetry

[Haseo-dono]

1. The original Epitaph of Twilight should be in German, so any rhying in an english version should be considered a false fragment.

That isn't necessarily true though.  Sometimes an original, or unintended message may translate well.  Instead, use your eyes, ears, and brain.  What actually fits should be considered more than that.

[Snare]

1. The original Epitaph of Twilight should be in German, so any rhying in an english version should be considered a false fragment.

That isn't necessarily true though.  Sometimes an original, or unintended message may translate well.  Instead, use your eyes, ears, and brain.  What actually fits should be considered more than that.

It isn't true that you read words with your ears either. The probability that any two words that rhyme in German (or Japanese) will rhyme in English is close enough to zero that any rhyming in English can be considered false.