Canticle Of Thorns

* An ever-present fixture of MNR's 2v2 Division, despite never winning the title.
* In MNR, once counted Raelithen and Arrenduin among their members.

*"The Nightmare is where all your pathetic dreams go to die."*

The **Canticle Of Thorns** are an MNR/TPW tag team consisting of Noctaemis, Ramus Glacialis and Firion. One of the original sixteen teams that formed the promotion's Duo Division, they are also the first - and currently only - stable to field more than two members, allowing them a wider versatility of what they can bring to bear... even if what they bring to bear is varying flavours of sadistic brutality.

## Trivia

In *Monday Night Raid*, the Canticle - with Noctaemis and Firion remaining the sole constant members by promotion's end - were a perpetual fixture of the upper echelons of the promotion's 2v2 Division. Despite reaching the end of the promotion with one of the best winning records - at 12-6 - and being the adversaries of almost every team around them, they never actually won the belts, despite making it to the finals of at least one tournament.

## Career

As with all the teams, the Canticle began their reign of terror (and lengthy entrances) during the Saved State Premiere. In the first round, they were drawn up against fellow MNR transplants - and a team that once denied them a reign with the 2v2 belts - The Rough Riders.

As if exacting long-delayed revenge for the trouble  Sastri and  Tharg had caused, Noctaemis chose to have the  Baron of Damnation accompany him to the ring. Despite the best efforts of an experienced duo, the Canticle's leader decided to use Tharg for a demonstration; showing off his new signature move - the *Agony Imperative* - to win the match.

Meeting the newly-formed Shadowbreakers in the semi-finals, Noctaemis allowed the *Painless Thorn*, Ramus Glacialis to take his place in the hopes of countering  Zayne and  Firiten's relative agility with their own. Despite their well-practiced two-pronged offence, including managing to hit Zayne with *Target Practice*, a moment's distraction in which Firion hit Ramus in a fit of rage was all the stealthy mercenaries needed.

Without Ramus to help break the pin, Zayne had Firion at his mercy. After enduring a *Death Spike* from the crimson Sylvari, an uppercut dazed his opponent long enough to crack his jaw with a *Demon Spike*. One *Wisecracker* later, the deal was sealed, knocking the Canticle out of the tournament.

After some much-needed recuperation - and sending their tactics back to the drawing board - the Canticle resurfaced in Episode 007. Returning to the in-ring configuration that had actually resulted in victory, Noctaemis and Firion refused to take Chaotic Science lightly. With one half of the team being a Force-sensitive member of a race who see infighting as a matter of tradition and the other already being dead, the Sylvari knew they had work to do.

Nevertheless, Firion knew that a shiny purple hat was a woefully insufficient method of head protection and, after repeated *Death Spikes*, he managed to keep  Daemus down for three seconds.

However, as if their perennial aversion to tag-team belts had followed them, Episode 009 had them facing off against DragonForce for a shot at the Shadowbreakers' titles. While Arginin was someone they'd seen and fought before,  his partner definitely wasn't. While Daemus was someone who was already dead, Kyle was someone who, barring circumstances they couldn't reliably achieve, simply couldn't die.

And, with Arginin seemingly on a path of redemption, it seemed that nothing they threw DragonForce's way worked. By the end of the forty-six minute marathon, Noctaemis found himself on the wrong end of an *Execution* and, when faced with an unkillable man staring him down, Firion did the wise thing... and backed away, leaving his master to take the fall.