As October 6th approaches, and my first Generative AI collection is about to go live as part of the first wave of projects on the new Emergent Properties platform ~ I reflect on the cinematic series which started it all.
There is a timeless quality to chess ~ the analogue battles the players act out between themselves and from within represents a spirit of independence, strength and free will. Challenging a person’s capacity for conquest or merely a dialogue in the language of options the board presents is a fascinating place to begin a story.
Each of my cinematic art pieces include thousands of frames ~ the “Take The Throne” series contains approximately 24,000 frames. Each one I stand by as a contained work of art in its composition and storytelling.
For my first Generative AI drop I have distilled those frames and their stories into two collections of portraits.
Sovereign Set ~ 166 portraits
Pawns ~ 666 portraits
Chess is a game, so let’s play;
Every Pawn & Sovereign Set portraits acquired will be accompanied by the poetic text (ink) corresponding to the character trait ~ airdropped from Elysium Guild account.
Hold ink for the love of poetics, or burn 10 ink from Elysium Guild account (including the Pawn ink airdrop) to claim one of the cinematic art pieces from the original “Take The Throne” series. The “Pawns” cinematic piece currently has a floor of 500xtz.
There are rarity traits throughout both Pawns & Sovereignty collections;
Chariots Of Paradise ~ 33 Edition
The only way to claim my first cinematic edition on tezos in 6 months is to play the Sovereign Set;
If you mint one of 30 possible portraits that contain a Throne or Chariot from the Sovereignty Set you will be airdropped an edition of “Chariots Of Paradise” from my main account ~ these rare characters include;
“Prince” ~ “Princess” ~ “Rook Ghost” ~ “Bishop Snake” ~ “Knights Templar” ~ “Chariots” ~ “Queen Throne” ~ “King Throne”
There is approximately a one in five chance of minting a Chariot.
En Passant ~ 6 Edition
The only way to claim this rare cinematic edition of 6 is to play the Pawn Set and mint an “En Passant”. There is approximately a one in a hundred chance of minting an “En Passant”.
The Original Take The Throne Cinematic Series
So you want the throne?
Take the throne.
Do you think it was a seat I asked to sit?
Take the throne.
That its steel was grown around me?
Like the rain and mud and silt?
Take the throne.
No. It was,
The rust, the dagger and the unholy ilk.
Take the throne.
My gift to you and all that we have known,
Part a legacy,
Part my blood and grit and bone.
Take the throne.
By the sword and the sickle,
I embrace your heresy,
If you’ve got what it takes,
Take the throne.
One man is frail on his own,
But together we can take the throne,
Pass on this message,
No time for letters.
Fish bones for the vermin,
The human fire warms those that are closest,
In the distance those elsewhere freeze out on their own,
With bread however dry and we break it together,
A promise of forever,
The streets are cold and wet puddles black with soot of the city,
Floating down gutters of sleet and mess.
The secrets of the streets,
What to eat,
Which meat to share,
Scurry rats, scatter bones, gather leavings.
And the wharf, a mess with the city's misgivings.
Ships bring us in the night,
Bounty from other shores before the rabid dogs bite.
There’s more of us in tow,
More of us below.
Whispers in the streets,
One man is frail on his own,
But together we can take the throne.
Grab your pitchforks,
We’ll take what we deserve,
The King’s on his throne doesn’t smell the armies of dirt outside his window,
Doesn’t feel that hurt that we feel in the shadows,
If the weakest of us fall we pick them up,
Protest at the gallows,
For our way of life we bleed.
Soldiers at the front,
Taste the grit of battle,
Power in the fist,
Bleed for this,
We will never concede,
Blade to knuckle,
The lesser ones buckle,
Under the will to power,
Under the crest of that burning flower,
Pawns rise from the rubble.
To outshine the master is our greatest desire.
Raise the gate!!
Trapped in the halls with no escape,
Trapped in the labyrinth of this castle,
It’s cobbled bricks and go back centuries to this date,
I hear it’s voices,
Chasing through endless corridors,
Another turn at the end of every hall,
Leads to the pathway I swear I’ve been before,
Whispers leaking out the walls,
Trapped within and without,
The rules of the game,
Chambers of sound,
I’m surrounded by pages and pages and pages,
Rocks steady my feet on the ground,
Don’t slip for a minute,
There’s ghosts all around,
If I can hear them at least there’s a chance,
Make way for the King’s advance!
There’s a patter of footsteps,
I swear it’s not mine,
If I can find him ~ his presence divine,
To stop the enemy and raise the gate.
Wet walls with stone pushed into place,
A thousand years before,
The sentinel of war,
Spiraled my lost soul,
In a labyrinth of endless corridors,
Staircase to a lost world.
If I find him breathing at my back,
I know that I’m one step closer,
To finding him in the black.
I feel the walls closing in,
The game and all it’s been.
There, there he is in the garden,
Staring up at the sky.
Staring up at the sacred light ripped from the skies,
Beaming perpetual divinity from the rocks of solid mankind.
Exploding from the caverns under coal-mines.
Staring up at the sacred light ripped from the skies,
Beaming perpetual divinity from the rocks of solid mankind.
Exploding from the caverns under coal-mines.
At last, I can ask him, to raise up the gate.
Upon the perfect check mate.
Empires crumble into a basin,
The gardens of Golgotha,
Birthplace of all creation,
Where doves take flight in sudden elation,
As the sun bleeds in the dusk,
I drop to my knees in the churchyard its spires in thrust,
Where were you this day?
Frozen in the Everglades,
Or rolling your fingers down the blessed blade,
The reflections of chivalry,
Rally the cavalry,
She left his hope like hoove marks in the mud,
Galloping hooves,
Pounding hooves,
Swords clamor,
Amor and steel,
The plunder of the oceans bounty before them,
The prophets words still in their memory,
Cups full of blood,
Reflections of love,
Dragonfly crest,
Green that matched her green dress,
Reflections of a stable,
Where they went each day,
His touch each day is full,
Danger in his hooves,
Though courage hides the truth,
Sacred sound of youth,
Pounding on the wood,
Cabinets stained by cups of blood,
Lovers on the cusp,
The cups of blood,
Stained with love.
She shivers by the window,
Silver shines in the moonlight,
Grips the handle of his sword,
That feeling of the forbidden Knight.
Courage hides the truth,
Gold to pursue,
Steeds in the rain,
I’ll find my way back to you,
To the lady I can’t bare to refrain.
Reflections where it’s sealed,
Reflections on the road,
Reflections concealed,
Reflections he had known.
Reflections of the order,
Rolling waves of knights on the Crusade,
Templars united until the end of days,
Reflections on the water,
Reflections of holy lands,
Reflections of a blessed blade.
“Empires crumble into a basin
The gardens of Golgotha
Birthplace of all creation
Where doves take flight in sudden elation
As the sun bleeds in the dusk
I drop to my knees in the churchyard, its spires in thrust.
She shivers by the window,
Silver shines in the moonlight,
Grips the handle of his sword,
That feeling of the forbidden Knight.
Daggers in the shadows,
Clink against the cobble stones,
Revenge is in the air and players of that board checkered the floor,
Splinters in my feet as I walk the boards,
Hissing in the corridors,
Snakes slither the floor,
Can’t promise the world if they can’t talk any more,
And can’t hardly whisper if they no longer walk,
Into the shadows I stalk,
A mystery in the miseries of humanity,
To turn one’s back on the almighty,
I’ll be waiting and oh what I sight to see,
The man himself without guard or armor,
In the unassuming grips of laughter,
Enjoy what the lord gave you,
For your last night on this earth,
Revenge on my lips,
Revenge of the bishop,
If you’re asleep when I visit, it cannot hurt.
In the citadels of halifax,
Dripping every wall with the thickest wax,
The regent’s poison in the goblets,
As they remove the blade that’s in their backs.
To see with more than eyes,
Read their moves like they’re written on their faces,
Across the board, across the sea of foreign places,
Poisoned cups are filled with lies,
Travel lands to different graces,
The end of eras filled the wax covered vases,
The glass cabinet which is her life,
To get through her, will take a sacrifice,”
Wax covered the walls,
Preservation in the palace halls,
To keep it safe within ourselves,
Our hope and sanctity,
Preservation above all else,
Preserve the covenant,
The armature
The chairs, the furniture,
Every detail, a mark to mature,
Ornaments to be sure,
Dispatch the holdings of the treasury,
What we said to put too readily,
Break the soul in two parts because it’s broken in the rectory,
Hopeless, lifeless for what she said to me,
Under the heal of endless revery
Broken on a lifeless life to be,
Preservation constrained and never free,
Wax covere, leads to a better me,
To see with more than eyes,
Read their moves like they’re written on their faces,
Across the board, across the sea of foreign places,
Poisoned cups are filled with lies,
Travel lands to different graces,
The end of eras filled the wax covered vases,
The glass cabinet which is my life,
To get through me, will take a sacrifice,
Preserve The Queen to save the monarchy,
Paint the walls with wax,
And then fall to the floor and paint me.
In the citadels of halifax,
Dripping every wall with the thickest wax,
The regent’s poison in the goblets,
As they remove the blade that’s in their backs.
He ruled with iron, stone and a consummate throne,
Disciples crawling out of Gardens of bliss,
Shucked shells and opulent riddles, cannot resist,
Here Babylons and banquets exist,
A ruler with grace,
Kingdom flourished in a golden age,
Overall all he pervade,
"I bid my time,
My wish, my desire to reign over all that’s mine,
My years in the shadows, behind castle walls,
The loyalty of assassins,
I cloaked them in golden shawls."
His paradise perished away,
His kingdom now lies in the mist,
It’s fate sealed with a sickly sweat kiss,
Loved by his people, friend of the many,
Amongst the rubble a legacy,
His jewels ransacked, and his throne now empty,
An army’s trophies in scraps,
My time has come,
Desolation in the dusts of war
Surround as I rise.
The remnants of a paradise that lies like rotten fruit on rusted platters, it’s raw,
It’s black in the skies.
Now it’s all that I pervade and the kingdom remains,
Ascension ~ a King at the coronation,
At the end of a blade,
For my kingdom will prosper,
And the throne ~ it’s mine.
A seat,
A board of black and white,
Players compete,
A game, the metaphor for life,
Pieces, move in the silence,
Kings and queens trust by the knife.
The board, a battlefield,
Where pawns are sacrificed,
Where bishops are slaughtered by knights,
Where castles stand and fight,
We find our marble in time,
Rooks march in a line,
Stings protect the queen’s hive,
The seat where the king must decide,
The fate of the game in his hands to abide.
A canvas of thought,
Brushes of war,
Fine metal jaws,
Clash with their armor,
Victory!
At the end of it all, just a simple wooden board.
