Death

Weep and mourn! Our noble knights lie slain by the mightiest enemy of all - circumstance. The Gap Annihilation Project drifts unhelmed like the Mary Celeste, directionless and bereft of life. For those of you dedicated followers of gap annihilation, you may refer back to annihilategaps.blogspot.com where a necromancer works to raise Gomez from the dead...

French forests, trolls, etc

If you go down to the woods today you're sure to get a surprise.

Dark Days, Denouements and Departures.

Oh dreaded malignancy! The fould grasp of the succubus Auhsoj had ensnared the Noble Sir Paolo banisher of hatred, leaving Sir Gomez, formerly known as the Annihilator of Gaps but now simply known as Sir Gomez, to fight his battles alone in his wounded and reduced state all the while seeking a noble means by wish to liberate Paolo from what seemed impending doom.

Gomez fought on, briefly aided by the willing samurai and the african warlord, but eventually he was left alone on the banks of the Tarn, like a shipwreck survivor thrown by Neptune upon the beach to live a little more and with lions, dragons and witches all around! How could he survive? He spent his days attempting to solve the riddle of Paolo's decption, all the while dreaming of Pharisees and benign moments as he wearied of the battle.

Meanwhile Paolo raged gloriously upon his enemies, bringing a raucous demise to all that withstood him. But with each sun cycle he slipped a little further away from his kith Sir Gomez, formerly known as the Annihilator of Gaps but now known as simply Sir Gomez, and a little more under the dreaded enchantment of the foul sorceror who shadowed his every step.

After consulting with some passing gypsys, Gomez became aware that he may not be able to free Paolo without violence or without severely harming Paolo. As a noble knight, he was unable to jettison his honour and slay Auhsoj who, being a weak and lowly creature, was an unfit opponent for Sir Gomez. Furthermore, Paolo was entrapped to a degree that forcibly removing him from the parasitic grasp of the enchanter may kill him as the shock of freedom in the soul after many hours of slavery can overwhelm and smother it.

What was Gomez to do? He knew that his weakening swordarm could not protect him much longer, and that without his battle brother he would soon fall victim to a gap, dragon or perhaps some soupy miasma of the mind. He decided that he would travel to the spiritual homeland of Knights Errant, great England, here he could restore his strength and consult with sages on how to free Paolo. Paolo would be set free to face his darkest hour alone, this was not a decision easy to make for Gomez, but he knew that man's greatest battles are always fought with himself and ultimately must always be made alone, in the silence, and in the dark, with neither witness nor glory.

As Gomez prepared to leave he noticed that the darkness was spreading, the embattled sun, bastion of light, struggled each day to raise himself above the horizon and give the grace of his blessing to those upon the rocks. Also, nature showed the effects of declining magnificence, as trees came near to death, dropping all their beautiful leaves like so many letters from scorned lovers. Weary was the heart of Sir Gomez, formerly known as the Annihilator of Gaps but now known as simply Sir Gomez, and as he said his goodbyes he wondered what the fate of his heroic friend would be. They two who had travelled so far and stood fast against such great adversity were now speeding apart like two collided meteors.

What transpired? Well, in my capacity as historian, I, Cid Hamet Benengeli, can tell you that Gomez arrived in ye olde Englande where he met with and tamed a mighty Dragon, following in the footsteps of St. George, Knight of Knights. But what became of poor Sir Paolo, banisher of hatred? It is rumored he also escaped to England, somehow freeing himself of the devious grasp of Auhsoj. But how? Well that is not history so I'll have to transfer you to another department, please hold the line. Beeeeeeeeppppppp. [enter obnoxious hold music].

Four hours later.

Welcome to the present! Unfortunately our present system is currently out of order, please wait until the present becomes history and speak to our history department.

Alternatively, stay tuned for the exciting installment of the second sally of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem. Will they reunite and annihilate gaps in all forms and sizes? Will they seek other paths and sell vegetables in a small market somewhere in Hertfordshire? What did happen to Sir Paolo when he travelled to the blue waters and escaped his enchantment?

Merlin's Crystall Ball

Merlin's Crystall Ball is now online, and has revealed an amazing secret. You, yes YOU, the reader are enchanted! You may have recollections of reading some past adventures of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem. However, what you read was only dry snippets compared to the reality provided by I, your faithful historian Cid Hamet Benengeli. Luckily, with the aid of Merlin's Crystal Ball you may now return to the missed adventures in their full glory and free of enchantment. This way you may see great images and learn of amazing deeds of valour and honour otherwise lost to the world through the wicked trickery of necromancers and cyber cafe owners.

Update?!

What we have here is a failure to communicate...

The noble Sir Gomez, having travelled endlessly, fought many a mighty foe and vanquished all in his path, is now residing in that bastion of St George, knight of knights, glorious England. Here he hath befriended Merlin, that great and immortal enchanter, who hath, through his art of necromancy and enchantment, granted Sir Gomez the power of stealing the light of history, thereby enabling him to show us tasty snippets of deeds past and done. In this way our readers may be informed by the noted historian Cid Hamet Benengeli of details missed in recent times, but of such note that they cannot be ignored by that great and impartial judge of deed that we call history.

So, avid reader, fear not and let patience by thy guiding virtue, as the noble historian of the Moors, Cid Hamet Benegeli, will soon embark upon a full explication of recent times featuring our heroes the Knights of St John of Jerusalem. And, with the help of Merlin the Sorceror, you might even get some ghostly-time-travelling-doppelgangerish images of events you must fear your eyes had blinked and missed and would never see.

Chronique de la Haine Ordinaire

Sir Paolo battled long and hard against his chosen foe, and, despite being severely wounded in the middle finger, eventually prevailed. His victory was glorious and against all the myriad difficulties of circumstance. But what a boon for mankind! To banish hatred! Such heroes as Sir Paolo do not grace the earth so often as the downtrodden might wish.

See this image of Gomez acknowledging upon his arm in the blood of orcs his admiration for Paolo's achievement.

Paolo's strength gave Gomez renewed hope in his own struggle and he redoubled his efforts in overcoming the the massive slabs and myriad mazes of faces on the great beast known as the Gap of all gaps. Many times he sought to annihilate, but each time he failed and only a magical cord given him by an enchanter, which acted like an umbilical lifeline, saved him from an early handshake with destiny. Eventually, Gomez wounds became so great, and the darkness seemed to surround him amid bursts of bright light, he faltered and fell. To his good fortune he was rescued by a humble samurai and made his escape with the assistance of this samurai, defeated, but alive to fight again another day.



However, this important defeat weighed heaily upon Sir Gomez, who no longer felt he could lay claim to the title the Annihilator of Gaps. His sword hand became weary and his shield was riddled with holes. He needed the aid of a hospital and some heavy cheese. His will was battered like so many fish, and his hope chipped. He cried out "Take these hands, and throw them in the river!"


In this, the time of weakness, and the lowest ebb of the holy light of St John of Jerusalem, an evil presence entered the brotherhood. An evil succubus in a devious doppelgangerish form laid siege to the hate-free benevolence of Sir Paolo, and he was pulled away from his Knightly duty of aiding the forlorn Sir Gomez. Paolo travelled with the disgusting and enormous Auhsoj away from the company of Sir Gomez, who was left with the brave samurai and the insane African warlord Deon the Huge.

Gomez fled from the Gap and sought salvation in the blessed waters of the Holy Tarn, where his wounds might be repaired and his honour restored. He also hoped to rescue Sir Paolo from the danger of which he had no idea...

The largest gap in the world.

And so it was, that in the place marked on the map as Gap, Sir Gomez and Sir Paolo arrived to meet the challenge. Their journey was far and their bodies weary, in the dark rain and with no food in their bellies, they staggered under the weight of their armour. But then the bright light of providence shone upon them, and a local merchant gave them a ride in his cart to reach a safe haven. And what a haven->

Here they basked in the glory and beauty of pure existence, all the while battling to overcome the great perils that face Knight-Errants of such a nature as the Knights of St John of Jerusalem. Gomez in particular, continually battled his greatest demons, to occaisional success. Even in his darkest hour, Gomez was aware of the blessed light that shined on him from afar, and this gave him courage to continue his impossible battle.-> This light sometimes touched upon the surface of things, to remind Gomez of its presence.

Nevertheless, Gomez existed in great peril, and even the presence of so great a knight as Sir Paolo was of little assistance to him. Paolo had his own battles to fight, and every knight knows that his greatest battle must be fought alone and against his shadow who is an equal match. Thus, Gomez steeled himself each day to the coming struggle and fought on. This historian feels compelled to ask the obvious question: how can one man annihilate a gap so large it appears on a map, an evil so great it hurls lightning bolts from the sky and sends great floods to dilute your tears and deposit mud upon your hopes? This evil beast, the greatest gap known to humanity, like a tangible black hole, dogged Gomez who attempted to endure it like the stone surroundings he admired.

It was not Gomez alone who struggled. Many great warriors travelled to this mecca of magnificence to prove their worth to whatever maiden it was that had scorned them. Well known figures of martial strength such as Iker the Pou, the invincible and thus ironicly named 'Dai' Koyamada, famed samurai Yuji of the Flat Mountain, German cowboy Markus Bock, Duke Fabien of Christ, the Dwarven strongmen brothers Arnaud and Francois, Sir Lawrence of De Ladia (pictured), and local demi-god Silver Mullet. All came to fight, most left defeated.

Our heroes were particularly drawn to an unknown hero of Polish origin who battled mercilessly against a great foe. Like a reversed Sisyphus, each time he appeared on the verge of victory, the stone remained unmoved and it was he who was cast back down the hill to lie sprawled in defeat.->

It was at about this time that Sir Paolo made clear his intentions to undertake a great battle. he would seek to banish any story of ordinary hatred from the world. How would he fare?