The "Kneel On Your Sword" Mural

In the wake of the Iglesia War, Jonatan Bartolo, the famous painter from Turodelaval was given a task. Create a monument to those who were lost. Bartolo, like many, had been on the losing side in the war. This was his chance to prove to the regime that he was still loyal to crown, country, and god. With this wieght on his mind, he began his first drafts.
At first glance, it's an abstract piece. Random slashes of sun burnt grass brown, fresh drawn blood red, cold forged iron gray. These three colors are thrown together in a chaotic swirl, barely resembling human shapes. The chaos of battle, captured in as few strokes of the brush as possible. Bartolo leaves much of the work to the viewer, letting them draw form their own memories to form the battle field, the faces on the soldiers. To the generation that lived through the carnage of the civil war, it was already striking reminder. And then they reach the center.
There you will find a man, dressed in the armor of a companero, alone atop a hill. The hilt of his sword is planted into the rise, holding it in place as the man does exactly what the title implies. His eyes are hidden from view by his helmet, but the tears have carved stark tracks of clarity through the mud that cakes his face. Week old stubble clings to his jaw, failing to conceal yellow-green bruises, half healed underneath. His mouth is open in a silent, eternal scream. Teeth are missing. Scarlet pours down his sword, his hands clutching at the merciless iron. But his a face is turned towards the sky. He's looking directly towards The Almighty. Calling his name.
Anyone would recognize it as the moment that the Queen's former lover, Thiago de Cazalla, a sworn apostle of what would become the wrong faith, killed himself. It's widely considered the moment the war turned in La Casa's favor, the opposition losing it's most charismatic leader. When Bartolo revealed the design to Queen Estrella, she was silent for a long time. When she finally asked why, why this scene, why de Cazalla, Bartolo respond, "My only memory of the war is watching the only man I will ever love die."
The silence reigned long in the room before the queen approved the design.

Mechanics & Inner Workings

Plaster over solid stone.

Significance

Cultural

Item type

Unique Artifact

Current Location

The Brazos Islands

Related ethnicities

• Brazoso

Owning Organization

La Casa Del Todopoderoso

Rarity

One of a kind.

Dimensions

164x98.5 ft.