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<blockquote data-quote="Lylandra" data-source="post: 7559499" data-attributes="member: 6816692"><p><strong>Dirge of Vekesh</strong></p><p></p><p>We spend the next days writing reports and analyzing our information. One day, Auryn asks Carlyle to give her one of these old suits he's no longer wearing as she'd love to try out something new. When he asks her what she'd do to his clothing, she just winks and says that it'll be an experiment but doesn't go into more detail. </p><p></p><p>We also tell Isobel that we found her family and brought them all to a safe place. As this safe haven is quite far from Risur, we promise to bring her there whenever she wishes. Isobel is truly happy about this news but says that she still got much to learn in Flint and wants to stay with Auryn even if she'd visit them regularly. </p><p></p><p>Some days after, the premiere of the Dirge of Vekesh opera is finally on schedule in the Navras Opera house. As the performance team sent out invitations to almost everyone they knew, Auryn also invited King Aodhan and Principal Minister Lee who confirmed that they would come as they do not want to miss this spectacle. <span style="color: #008000">(Yay!)</span> She also invited Lya and Han Jierre, as well as other members of the danoran entourage (as the opera was originally set to be performed during the peace talk period), but they, unfortunately, had to decline. Honoring her pact with Fordren, she also sent the businessman an invitation, but he, too, has other plans as he's trying to expand to Ber. </p><p></p><p>So the colorful troupe of Dockers, opera performers and Auryn perform the fictional tales of Vekesh and a Crisillyiri soldier who gets reborn as deva after the Fall of Srasama:</p><p></p><p>The opera starts with a magnificent overture that combines traditional elfaivaran music with an ancient crisillyiri opera style and is interwoven with snippets of the original Dirge of Vekesh melody.</p><p></p><p>Then the first scene begins, set in Alais Primos just before the final march of the Eladrin. A group of crisillyiri soldiers is gathering their armor and weapons, getting ready for what might very well be their last stand. They discuss how things could have come this far and whether they'll see the next sunrise when one of them asks himself whether they've brought this situation upon themselves. He's rebuffed by his comrades however.</p><p></p><p>On the other side of the city wall, the Eladrin soldiers are performing ritual dances and traditional war prayers to prepare for the grand battle ahead. They swear to take revenge for the events and losses of the First War and the human raids on their territory. And they also swear to bring their grand elfaivaran empire back to its original glory. Vekesh, played by Auryn, is present at the sidelines of these preparations, looking contemplatively. </p><p></p><p>The scene switches to a peaceful setting, depicting a magic-weaver in her home and workshop. She sings of her hope that this war will end soon and that her family returns to her alive. At the end of her song, she warns her eldest daughter to not do so much mischief with her newly-learned spells as her baby daughter is sleeping and she needs her rest.</p><p></p><p>The battle for Alais Primos begins. Human and eladrin soldiers clash in massive combat. Still, the walls of the city withhold the ongoing assault. Then, a giant silhouette of a six-armed, fiery woman appears on the battlefield: Srasama has come to join the eladrin forces. </p><p></p><p>The human side falls to desperation as they fear that their final hour has come at last. One by one they throw themselves at the goddess in a heroic act of sacrifice, hoping to halt her advance. Then, the goddess dies a death of thousand cuts and she sings a heavy song of lamentation as she knows that her death means oblivion for her daughters. The whole stage is wrapped in flames and the scene ends. </p><p></p><p>One by one, all eladrin women fall to the ground, completely lifeless. The short lament of lost hope is interrupted by fanfares of victory as the human soldiers find their hope renewed. As they charge towards the eladrin, the mourn of the remaining men turns into an angry vow for revenge. Weapons clash again violently, but the eladrin are hopelessly outnumbered and their ranks get devastated.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #008000">(I guess this is where one could place a break. Either here, or after Srasama's death)</span></p><p></p><p>The wave of Srasama's death reaches the magic-weaver's home. Both the woman and her daughter die in its wake, falling to the ground without sound. But her baby daughter is nowhere to be seen. Only an ominous, hovering rope indicates that there might be more going on than the eye can see.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #008000">(Yep, I borrowed this shenanigan from the Book of the Eight Lands ploy of the Ragesians. Rope trick is such a cool spell)</span></p><p></p><p>The crisillyiri soldier awakes somewhere in the jungle, appearing completely naked and covered with markings. He's quite disoriented and walks through heavy undergrowth until he reaches the home of the magic-weaver. There, he finds the lifeless bodies of both the woman and her daughter and mourns their death while asking himself what tragedy might have happened here. </p><p>After his lament, he finds the mysterious rope and, curious as he is, decides to pull it. Coincidentally, the spell is ending this very same moment and an eladrin baby falls straight into the man's arms. He sings a short song where he asks himself whether this “heaven-sent” child is a sign of hope among all this tragedy and then takes the child with him. </p><p></p><p>In the next scene, a group of surviving eladrin swears revenge for their fallen female comrades, even if such an endeavor means certain death. Vekesh tries to calm them down and asks them to think before springing to action, but he's ignored by the zealous group. He leaves them with his head held low and wanders off to the jungle. </p><p></p><p>Vekesh almost bumps into the strangely marked Crisillyiri. They are both cautious in the presence of the other, circling each other as both expect an attack every moment. After a while of musical taxation, none of them shows any sign of aggression and both are about to relax. Then, all of a sudden, the child starts crying which alerts Vekesh to its presence. He asks the Crisillyiri how he came to carry an eladrin baby and the man tells him all about the strange scene he had witnessed. Both enter a short duet where they agree that this baby is indeed a sign of hope. </p><p></p><p>Vekesh understands that there is still more to this world than death, despair and mindless revenge. He talks about his hope that he might find more survivors of the calamity in time and that there may still be a shimmer of hope for Elfaivar. He then sings the titular Dirge of Vekesh.</p><p></p><p>The Crisilyiri is impressed by Vekesh's resolve and explains that his own memory is pretty fragmented. He sings a moving piece where he swears to abandon war and conflict as he can agree to Vekesh's statement. Both decide to take care for the baby girl on their journey, even if they don't know where it might lead them. </p><p></p><p>After a longer while, the unlikely trio encounters another guerrilla band of eladrin warriors. The eladrin see an enemy in the deva and are about to strike at him, but Vekesh intervenes and places himself in front of the Crisillyiri. He tells his people the tale of hope, his idea of renewing Elfaivar and the fortune of finding this baby girl. The eladrin listen to Vekesh, agreeing that this child is a symbol of hope indeed. They swear to protect her with their lives and to teach her the history and culture of Eladrin in her mother's stead. But they demand that their “ancient enemy” keeps distance from her. </p><p></p><p>The Crisillyiri appears struck with sadness and regret, but he understands that this child will be better off with her own kind. So he says goodbye to her and Vekesh without any sign of anger. After he retreats, he sings of his hope to eventually see her again one day.</p><p></p><p>Many years later, the deva (who now seems to have come to term with his new identity) comes across an eladrin hunting company. The eladrin are led by a mighty warrior <span style="color: #008000">(played by Auryn as well)</span> who recognizes the man as someone from her distant past. She orders her companions to lower their weapons and asks the man to come with her to her home. </p><p></p><p>She and the deva enter an eladrin enclave where she reveals that she knows what he had done for her when she was a child. She thanks him deeply and then leads him to her own baby daughter. The opera ends with the woman singing about life being always more powerful than death as long as there are people like him and Vekesh who keep an open mind and believe in the right values and who are not afraid to fight for their beliefs. </p><p></p><p>Before the curtain falls after this last scene, Auryn searches for Carlyle's seat and dedicates these last notes to him.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lylandra, post: 7559499, member: 6816692"] [b]Dirge of Vekesh[/b] We spend the next days writing reports and analyzing our information. One day, Auryn asks Carlyle to give her one of these old suits he's no longer wearing as she'd love to try out something new. When he asks her what she'd do to his clothing, she just winks and says that it'll be an experiment but doesn't go into more detail. We also tell Isobel that we found her family and brought them all to a safe place. As this safe haven is quite far from Risur, we promise to bring her there whenever she wishes. Isobel is truly happy about this news but says that she still got much to learn in Flint and wants to stay with Auryn even if she'd visit them regularly. Some days after, the premiere of the Dirge of Vekesh opera is finally on schedule in the Navras Opera house. As the performance team sent out invitations to almost everyone they knew, Auryn also invited King Aodhan and Principal Minister Lee who confirmed that they would come as they do not want to miss this spectacle. [COLOR="#008000"](Yay!)[/COLOR] She also invited Lya and Han Jierre, as well as other members of the danoran entourage (as the opera was originally set to be performed during the peace talk period), but they, unfortunately, had to decline. Honoring her pact with Fordren, she also sent the businessman an invitation, but he, too, has other plans as he's trying to expand to Ber. So the colorful troupe of Dockers, opera performers and Auryn perform the fictional tales of Vekesh and a Crisillyiri soldier who gets reborn as deva after the Fall of Srasama: The opera starts with a magnificent overture that combines traditional elfaivaran music with an ancient crisillyiri opera style and is interwoven with snippets of the original Dirge of Vekesh melody. Then the first scene begins, set in Alais Primos just before the final march of the Eladrin. A group of crisillyiri soldiers is gathering their armor and weapons, getting ready for what might very well be their last stand. They discuss how things could have come this far and whether they'll see the next sunrise when one of them asks himself whether they've brought this situation upon themselves. He's rebuffed by his comrades however. On the other side of the city wall, the Eladrin soldiers are performing ritual dances and traditional war prayers to prepare for the grand battle ahead. They swear to take revenge for the events and losses of the First War and the human raids on their territory. And they also swear to bring their grand elfaivaran empire back to its original glory. Vekesh, played by Auryn, is present at the sidelines of these preparations, looking contemplatively. The scene switches to a peaceful setting, depicting a magic-weaver in her home and workshop. She sings of her hope that this war will end soon and that her family returns to her alive. At the end of her song, she warns her eldest daughter to not do so much mischief with her newly-learned spells as her baby daughter is sleeping and she needs her rest. The battle for Alais Primos begins. Human and eladrin soldiers clash in massive combat. Still, the walls of the city withhold the ongoing assault. Then, a giant silhouette of a six-armed, fiery woman appears on the battlefield: Srasama has come to join the eladrin forces. The human side falls to desperation as they fear that their final hour has come at last. One by one they throw themselves at the goddess in a heroic act of sacrifice, hoping to halt her advance. Then, the goddess dies a death of thousand cuts and she sings a heavy song of lamentation as she knows that her death means oblivion for her daughters. The whole stage is wrapped in flames and the scene ends. One by one, all eladrin women fall to the ground, completely lifeless. The short lament of lost hope is interrupted by fanfares of victory as the human soldiers find their hope renewed. As they charge towards the eladrin, the mourn of the remaining men turns into an angry vow for revenge. Weapons clash again violently, but the eladrin are hopelessly outnumbered and their ranks get devastated. [COLOR="#008000"](I guess this is where one could place a break. Either here, or after Srasama's death)[/COLOR] The wave of Srasama's death reaches the magic-weaver's home. Both the woman and her daughter die in its wake, falling to the ground without sound. But her baby daughter is nowhere to be seen. Only an ominous, hovering rope indicates that there might be more going on than the eye can see. [COLOR="#008000"](Yep, I borrowed this shenanigan from the Book of the Eight Lands ploy of the Ragesians. Rope trick is such a cool spell)[/COLOR] The crisillyiri soldier awakes somewhere in the jungle, appearing completely naked and covered with markings. He's quite disoriented and walks through heavy undergrowth until he reaches the home of the magic-weaver. There, he finds the lifeless bodies of both the woman and her daughter and mourns their death while asking himself what tragedy might have happened here. After his lament, he finds the mysterious rope and, curious as he is, decides to pull it. Coincidentally, the spell is ending this very same moment and an eladrin baby falls straight into the man's arms. He sings a short song where he asks himself whether this “heaven-sent” child is a sign of hope among all this tragedy and then takes the child with him. In the next scene, a group of surviving eladrin swears revenge for their fallen female comrades, even if such an endeavor means certain death. Vekesh tries to calm them down and asks them to think before springing to action, but he's ignored by the zealous group. He leaves them with his head held low and wanders off to the jungle. Vekesh almost bumps into the strangely marked Crisillyiri. They are both cautious in the presence of the other, circling each other as both expect an attack every moment. After a while of musical taxation, none of them shows any sign of aggression and both are about to relax. Then, all of a sudden, the child starts crying which alerts Vekesh to its presence. He asks the Crisillyiri how he came to carry an eladrin baby and the man tells him all about the strange scene he had witnessed. Both enter a short duet where they agree that this baby is indeed a sign of hope. Vekesh understands that there is still more to this world than death, despair and mindless revenge. He talks about his hope that he might find more survivors of the calamity in time and that there may still be a shimmer of hope for Elfaivar. He then sings the titular Dirge of Vekesh. The Crisilyiri is impressed by Vekesh's resolve and explains that his own memory is pretty fragmented. He sings a moving piece where he swears to abandon war and conflict as he can agree to Vekesh's statement. Both decide to take care for the baby girl on their journey, even if they don't know where it might lead them. After a longer while, the unlikely trio encounters another guerrilla band of eladrin warriors. The eladrin see an enemy in the deva and are about to strike at him, but Vekesh intervenes and places himself in front of the Crisillyiri. He tells his people the tale of hope, his idea of renewing Elfaivar and the fortune of finding this baby girl. The eladrin listen to Vekesh, agreeing that this child is a symbol of hope indeed. They swear to protect her with their lives and to teach her the history and culture of Eladrin in her mother's stead. But they demand that their “ancient enemy” keeps distance from her. The Crisillyiri appears struck with sadness and regret, but he understands that this child will be better off with her own kind. So he says goodbye to her and Vekesh without any sign of anger. After he retreats, he sings of his hope to eventually see her again one day. Many years later, the deva (who now seems to have come to term with his new identity) comes across an eladrin hunting company. The eladrin are led by a mighty warrior [COLOR="#008000"](played by Auryn as well)[/COLOR] who recognizes the man as someone from her distant past. She orders her companions to lower their weapons and asks the man to come with her to her home. She and the deva enter an eladrin enclave where she reveals that she knows what he had done for her when she was a child. She thanks him deeply and then leads him to her own baby daughter. The opera ends with the woman singing about life being always more powerful than death as long as there are people like him and Vekesh who keep an open mind and believe in the right values and who are not afraid to fight for their beliefs. Before the curtain falls after this last scene, Auryn searches for Carlyle's seat and dedicates these last notes to him. [/QUOTE]
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