Elven Hymn (crew of Wen Sul do not read)
Funny coincidence, an elven funeral hymn also sung before battles or other events in which it is expected many will die is both a bit of "fluff" and a recurring "flag" in my campaign (it's a flag on "this plotline is active again"). I like fluff that has in it some things that "matter" to plots, stories, dealing with NPC's etc.
"We will all meet again in a better place, a better place, a better place. Fear no parting or being alone, we carry in our hearts all we have known, all we have seen and all who have been. As long as we sing, the song survives, though voices change the song remains. We will all meet again in a better place, a better place, a better place."
The first line is adapted from a song in Babylon Five.
Uses:
- the elven redshirts who crew the ship on which the heroes (including a half elf) sail sometimes sing this song when one of their own falls - a reminder of NPC death mattering (and if they ever started singing it before a particularly dangerous mission it would be a signal to players, "Hey the crew thinks this is suicide").
- a character who got the memories of an ancient elven hero driven out by his own people (whose voyage the heroes are accidentally echoing) has dreams with it a couple of times showing it's a surviving creation of an ancient elven faith rival to that of the Larethian ~ Lifesinger ~ a faith that did not follow a personalized god and thus rather than "the singer" focused on "the song"
- it is a prophecy, yet to be fulfilled of the passing of the Singer (the Larethian) and dominance of the Song (this rival faith)
- it is 'song magic', a deep magic created by an ancient elven bard of epic skills whose name the Larethian's followers cannot now even hear and it is not only "a message", it is the vessel by which the rival faith survives (as long as that song is sung, the rival faith survives) ~ ultimately it is the source of power of its own prophecy's fulfillment.
Funny coincidence, an elven funeral hymn also sung before battles or other events in which it is expected many will die is both a bit of "fluff" and a recurring "flag" in my campaign (it's a flag on "this plotline is active again"). I like fluff that has in it some things that "matter" to plots, stories, dealing with NPC's etc.
"We will all meet again in a better place, a better place, a better place. Fear no parting or being alone, we carry in our hearts all we have known, all we have seen and all who have been. As long as we sing, the song survives, though voices change the song remains. We will all meet again in a better place, a better place, a better place."
The first line is adapted from a song in Babylon Five.
Uses:
- the elven redshirts who crew the ship on which the heroes (including a half elf) sail sometimes sing this song when one of their own falls - a reminder of NPC death mattering (and if they ever started singing it before a particularly dangerous mission it would be a signal to players, "Hey the crew thinks this is suicide").
- a character who got the memories of an ancient elven hero driven out by his own people (whose voyage the heroes are accidentally echoing) has dreams with it a couple of times showing it's a surviving creation of an ancient elven faith rival to that of the Larethian ~ Lifesinger ~ a faith that did not follow a personalized god and thus rather than "the singer" focused on "the song"
- it is a prophecy, yet to be fulfilled of the passing of the Singer (the Larethian) and dominance of the Song (this rival faith)
- it is 'song magic', a deep magic created by an ancient elven bard of epic skills whose name the Larethian's followers cannot now even hear and it is not only "a message", it is the vessel by which the rival faith survives (as long as that song is sung, the rival faith survives) ~ ultimately it is the source of power of its own prophecy's fulfillment.
