OH SHIT.
Kasỹs dies, PLUS A MAJOR TWIST THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING! :scream_cat:
Well, that might be a bit melodramatic. It doesn't change EVERYTHING, but it's neat and it's not in the original. :)
KASỸS
Come down, behold no more.—
O, coward that I am to live so long
To see my best friend ta’en before my face!
(Pyndarys comes down.)
Come hither, sirrah.
In Bõz’ga*†* did I take thee prisoner,
And then I swore thee, saving of thy life,
That whatsoever I did bid thee do
Thou shouldst attempt it. Come Mysg’‡, keep thine oath.
Now be a freeman, and with this good sword,
That ran through Kaĩsar’s bowels, search this bosom.
Stand not to answer. Here, take thou the hilts,
And, when my face is covered, as ’tis now,
Guide thou the sword.
(Pyndarys/Mysåga stabs him.)
Kaĩsar, thou art revenged
Even with the sword that killed thee.
(He dies.)
MYSÅGA*§*
So I am free, yet would not so have been,
Durst I have done my will.—O Kasỹs!—
Far from this country Mysåga shall run,
Where never Allag shall take note of him.
(He exits.)
(Enter Titånỹs and Mesalå.)
MESALÅ
It is but change, Titånỹs, for Oktoẁỹs
Is overthrown by noble Brwtus’ power,
As Kasỹs's legions are by Ant'wyns.
TITÅNỸS
These tidings will well comfort Kasỹs.¶
† The Allagan name for the ancient nation-state of Bozja.
‡ This appears to be the moment Kasỹs “frees” Pyndarys from slavery by “returning” to him his old Bozjan name. This is an older, trunctated form of the common Hrothgar name Misija, further revealing the character of Pyndarys to have been a female Hrothgar this entire time. Our entire team was stunned and delighted by this discovery when we made it at this point in our translation. This also potentially indicates a unique level of respect offered Hrothgar women that women of other races did not usually receive, as Pyndarys and later Mysåga are referred to by male rekhỹt titles and male pronouns throughout the text. The feminists on our team are delighted for Mysg’ but sad for the state of women generally during the Third Astral Era. Still, this is the reason why we chose to leave the pronouns as Morvelet wrote them. Whether for stylistic reasons, for historical reasons, or for personal ones, this is how the slave Pyndarys was referred to, he later refers to himself thus, and we have chosen to remain true to the original spirit of Morvelet’s play. (Several of us may have privately concluded that Mysåga was a trans man. We leave the official conclusion for the reader to draw.)
§ The full name of the slave formerly known as Pyndarys while he lived in Allag as the property of an Allagan patrỹt, which Kasỹs had shortened to Mysg’. This was likely an affectionate shortening, as Kasỹs appeared to be fond of his slave. Still, Mysåga named himself fully and ran like hells right after so… We are justly suspicious of any affection in an unequal power dynamic lacking consent.
¶ Holy shit did Mysåga fucking lie to break that motherfucker’s spirit?! I love this dude! —Maxx
To be free from my master? Oh yeah, I would. You can’t ever be nice enough to make up for taking someone’s autonomy. —Joan
Ms. Joan Arcwolf-Dhivri (AKA W’jona Erun), who wrote the preface to this play and who presently owns all known, surviving pieces of Morvelet’s work, was a former slave, so the translation team will defer to her on this matter.
#FFXIV #JulỹsKaĩsar #Bozja #Hrothgar #FFXIVLore #TransInGaming #QueerFFXIV #WriteFFXIV #DeathOfKasỹs #Autonomy #AllaganEmpire
Ellis C. A. Arcwolf (Author)