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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 6357127" data-attributes="member: 20323">9: The SonghearthThe Songhearth[sblock=art inspiration]<img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CdutAfD_MUc/TE3WEnFrjfI/AAAAAAAAAgE/e386PV48DPY/s1600/Ironforge+Hall+of+Explorers.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><img src="http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130824171216/dragonage/images/7/7b/Ruins_Upper_Level_-_entrance_hall.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><img src="http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/918/dwarfdruid.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />[/sblock]Three grand arches engraved with names of revered dwarven bards and scenes of their daring exploits lead to the Songhearth, a large circular plaza with a depressed amphitheater cut from the stone itself.  At the center of the amphitheater is an ornate fire pit with bright red coals burning with eternal fire, casting a warm ruddy glow on the space. A large golden statue of a laughing Vergadain overlooks the amphitheater and offerings of instruments, scented oils, fine scarves, and songs composed on gold leaf paper are left in the golden dish in the statue's lap. At any time of day, dwarven bards, chanters, and poets can be found in the Songhearth practicing their craft in the hopes of winning Vergadain's favor. So long as a song is sung before the hearth every day the fire will not go out...and a transcendent song that pleases Vergadain may earn a song from the god himself, echoing thru the Songhearth...at least, so say the bards. These same bards, while prone to hyperbole, speak the truth when they say that any song a dwarf has written can be found inscribed in the walls of the Songhearth. More so than any other place in the hall, the Songhearth is warm and a bit more humid thanks to the numerous underground plants - mosses, lichens, mushrooms - that grow from the walls, cascading like a vertical garden. Among these plants are a rare type of singing mushroom, called the campestri, which have an innate memory for songs of any language. Because of their low intelligence, however, the campestri only mimic sound and have no understanding of the meaning of the words they sing; moreover, they cannot access their large repertoire of songs without guidance from a musically inclined character starting the refrain for them, or beginning with a bit of lute playing, in which case the campestri then boisterously join in. Their nasal discordant voices make them good at singing drinking songs but rather obnoxious when it comes to songs with more gravitas. Thankfully, they can be induced to hibernate with the application of anything cold or dark (such as a bucket with ice water placed over them), thus giving dwarven bards peace to practice their serious songs. Strangely, killing the campestri is considered taboo by the Hurndor and surely a way to earn ill luck.Of the bards who frequent the Songhearth, there is one who stands above the rest: Hangroth Stonesinger (Pe/ male dwarf/ 2 HD/ CN), a grey bearded dwarf with bushy eyebrows and forlorn eyes, who has a slightly wispy appearance and seems to cast no shadow. While Hangroth can play a cheery tune with the best of them, his true forte is in more somber hymns and fugues that are said to make the stones themselves weep. The story goes that Hangroth lost his wife to a medusa's gaze. Realizing he was no match for a medusa in combat, Hangroth challenged the medusa to a duel of songs for his wife, with the medusa agreeing on the condition that her lover be the judge. Hangroth sang a song so haunting, so heart-wrenching, that the medusa's lover grudgingly declared him the winner; in outrage, the medusa turned her lover into a gemstone (a glyptar) and slew Hangroth where he stood. Unlike most petitioners, Hangroth remembers only this single detail from his life, and he seeks to perfect a song which will turn his wife from stone to flesh. Unbeknownst to Hangroth, the medusa pined away to death at the loss of her lover, who (as a glyptar) blamed Hangroth for the misfortune that befell him and over many years has made his way to the planes as a gemstone inset in the pommel of planewalker's sword. The medusa's lover seeks revenge on Hangroth by luring him away from the Outlands and killing him so he cannot merge with the Mountain, and to this end he can influence weak-willed being coming into contact with the gem or animating any object the gem is set into.</blockquote>

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