“Hwell, Sargossa were hrreally trying there: After all, they obviously didn’t want to go home with no points at all, and they had already been favouring all-out offence during this tournament anyhows.”
“I know that, and it wasn’t as though our own team weren’t trying, neither... but maybeso Urra should have relied more on the usual ‘first team’ line-up instead of giving such a high share of the game-time to players who are usually substitutes — or even reserves — instead?”
“Maybeso, but that was her choice to make: Hokay, so maybe it might have cost us a couple of points, but she already knew that the Belles had definitely topped the group and so — even if our girls “only” managing a draw hrrather than a win yesterday influences our KPB Points hrrating slightly — it wouldn’t nor hasn’t hrreally harmed the Belles’ progress through this competition at all... and the fact that some of our ‘starters’ have had a bit of a rest before their next match might even help us some...”
“Hr’rmm, hwell maybeso...
“So, anyhows, with The Babbage Islands having beaten Chetkosk over in ‘Group G’ by a higher margin than Akbarabad did Taeshan, it’s the BumbleBees for the Belles to face next.”
“Ayyuh. Should be an interesting match to watch, that, bearing in mind hwhat our previous games against them have been like.”
“For true! And if it’s our girls who win that match, then not only will they go onwards into the quarter-finals but they will win the ’Golden Honeycomb’ trophy too!”
“Ayyuh... Although, bearing in mind that the inaugural contest for that prize last year was actually a drawn game, could you explain hwhy the Babbagees were given it back then?”
“Sure. They got it because that was hwhat the agreed rules said: On a tie, it went to the ‘away’ team...”
“Ah. Hokay, I hear.
“Ur’rmm, but hwhat happens if we ever draw with them in a game that’s being played on neutral soil?”
“Hwell, that can’t happen this time around of course, bearing in mind that we’re now in the Cup’s knockout rounds, but if that situation ever does occur then the deal is that hwhichever side was already holding the Honeycomb before that match took place would keep it.”
“Fair enough.”
“Hr’rmm, so our girls are to meet them at a stadium that’s called the ‘Stadion Nom-Nom’? I wonder whether the place is sponsored by a restaurant chain of some kind...”
“Maybeso the term 'Nom-nom' doesn’t actually mean the same in the local language — hwhatchamacallit, ‘Valhallan’ — as it does in Ursine?”
“Hwell, maybeso, but I’m still curious about the possibility...”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
(From the book 'Rhyme and Reason: The Origins of Cubhood Verses', by Dr Urrth'hra o MerryHeart_)
'Full Three-Eights of BlueBirds'
"Sing a song of sixpence, a bottle full of Rye;
Full threeEights of ‘Blue-Birds’, baked into a pie:
Hwhen the crust was ready, someone began to sing;
Wasn’t that a lovely dish to set before a king?
"The king was in his law-court, banning hwhat was funny;
The queen was in her still-room, poisoning some honey;
The prince was in the torment-house, questioning some foes;
When in there flew a big black bird, that pecked off his big nose.
"Sing a song of sixpence, a stronghold full of lies;
Trying to bake heroes, hrreally isn’t wise:
When the pie was opened, their blades began to swing;
Wasn’t that a proper dish to serve the tyrant king?”
This nursery-rhyme, which originated amongst Clan Artorran but has since become verry widely known, refers to an incident that occurred during the history of that clan's ancient beforebears and that is actually mentioned in The Holy Beeble: A short account is given in the book Sermharn III (chapter & verses: 17.4-17.6), whilst a fuller version is actually the main subject of the 'Book of Effrorronh' although the latter has traditionally been regarded as less authoritative than the more canonical works and is therefore placed in the section labelled 'Apocrafurh' hrrather than in the New Testament itself alongside the first of those two Books. The events in question date from the successful revolution that the prophet Sermharn Kattbarr led to overthrow King Harrod Antagonistes, and to expel the forces of the latter's Romaine overlords from the island of Bruttain, and the ‘BlueBirds involved were a band of warriors who are credited with actually slaying Harrod. That name comes from the sky-blue cloaks that they all wore, which had been a part of their livery as household troops to Queen Brigatta of the Iseenem tribe before she and many of their old colleagues were treacherously slain by Harrod’s men at a meeting that had been arranged as a peace conference: They themselves were absent from that occasion because she had assigned them as escorts for a large offering that she was sending to a major temple of Mother Nature, and seeking revenge for those murders was one of the main reasons why they had joined Sermharn’s rebels.
1) “Sing a song of sixpence, a bottle full of Rye”
According to the story Harrod had declared a bounty for killing or capturing the BlueBirds, and they were betrayed to his forces by a former associate in exchange for a mixture of coinage and material goods... although in fact not with any Rye Whiskey included in the deal, because that drink wasn’t actually invented until yonkhs later on.
2) “Full threeEights of ‘Blue-Birds’, baked into a pie”
According to not only this story but several other accounts too Harrod had already had at least two other batches of his captured opponents cooked and — although he apparently wasn’t quite so far descended in sin as to have turned non-consensual cannibals — served to the Hundish mercenaries upon whom he relied as bodyguards. They would presumably have been cleaned and de-furred, but were then sent for cooking while still alive!
3) “When the crust was ready, someone began to sing”
That was at least some of the BlueBirds, singing a hum in praise of the Great Bear.
4) “Wasn’t that a lovely dish to set before a king?
This line is presumably intended as sarcasm.
5) “The king was in his law-court, banning hwhat was funny”
Harrod tried to ban, or at least to restrict, most forms of public merrymaking... presumably in case the gatherings involved were used as a cover for plotting or even the start of uprisings against his authority. Presumably the verse says “funny” hrrather than the more appropriate “fun” simply because that scans better.
6) ”The queen was in her still-room, poisoning some honey;”
Harrod’s chief wife, Queen Grarrkh, is reputed to have beem a wicked witch, and to have disposed of several enemies by poisoning them in various ways.
7) “The prince was in the torment-house, questioning some foes”
This would probably have Larruck, Grarrkh’s son by a previous marriage, who was known for his interest in finding ways to make enemies reveal information (OOC: even though Bears aren’t verry susceptible to torture...) and who is therefore sometimes referred to in old stories and songs as ‘The Prince of Wails’.
10) “When in there flew a big black bird, that pecked off his big nose.”
Raven Himself manifested, as a messenger from The Great Bear, to end that interrogation.
11) “Sing a song of sixpence, a stronghold full of lies”
Self-obvious, hrright?
12-14) “Trying to bake heroes, hrreally isn’t wise:
When the pie was opened, their blades began to swing;
Wasn’t that a proper dish to serve the tyrant king?”
Miraculously, despite the cooking process all of the ‘BlueBirds’ were still alive and unhramed when the huge pie that contained them (Or maybeso a set of smaller pies that did so, maybeso even one per BlueBird? Admittedly not actually what the book says, but it does seem more likely on practical grounds...) was brought into Harrod’s main hall to be dished-up to the Hunds. Harrod had ordered that their weapons should be attached to the sides of the pie-dish as a trophy, and when the crust was removed the BlueBirds all leaped out, grabbed those arms, and attacked... Harrod himself and most of his Hunds perished in that onslaught, although Grarrkh and Lurrack both escaped, but all of the BlueBirds fell during that fight as well.
The threeEights of BlueBirds : Honour to their names!
OOC notes
Clan Artorran was founded by the Ursine group that brought the religion of 'Ursionity' to Bears Armed back in Medieval times.
(They also introduced feudalism, horse-riding, mail armour, castle-building, and some other concepts...)
The Holy Beeble is Ursionity's 'holy book', and its name comes from the same etymological source (although in a diffferent Reality) to that of the Christians' 'Bible'.
Sermharn Kattbarr was one of the main leaders of Ursionity in the generation following the life, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, of that religion's 'Christ' equivalent Artos Ursios... whose son he is generally accepted to have been.
King Harrod Antagonistes was the ruler of an Ursine people called the Bulgae, whose lands spread across large parts of southern Bruttain (i.e. that reality's version of Great Britain) but who was subject to the Romain empire that was based on — and controlled quite a bit of — mainland Europe.
(No, the ancient Romaines weren't sapient lettuces: The variety of lettuce is actually named after them, because they planted it across their domains as a staple foodstuff. What they actually were was sapient Rabbits, not quite as large as Ursines (on average) but very numerous and well-organised. Their main language was called 'Lapin'.
