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Events News Post #287

The Bards and the Lost Book

Written by: Anonymous
Date: Monday, March 25th, 2013
Addressed to: Everyone


Shouting over his jubilant discovery, Adalgiso Batyun drew the attention
of many from both communes and from all four cities. Upon arrival, they
heard tell of "Love of Story", an ancient book that had been written off
as pure myth. Having found the cover, Adalgiso believed he'd found proof
of its existence - and excitement was rife among the theatrical and
musical communities. However, unlike the common travellers and bards,
those bards who had studied the arts of the Great Voices of the Keepers
of Songs heard the call of their Voices - and they were nearly frenetic
with energy.

For the first time in untold aeons the Flock of Miracles came to be once
more, the Voice of Rhapsody taking on the form of thousands of pristine
white doves. Twisting herself into a cool, meandering breeze, the Voice
of Trialante caressed the trees of the Southern Serenwilde, eager to
find that which drew her attention. Belching something about a document
with great power and knowledge - and a signature of powerful energy to
boot - the Voice of Gullagumbah settled inside a great keg and, kicking
out boots, the Effervescent Keg of Gullagumbah went gallumphing out into
the city of Gaudiguch, eager to begin its journey.

They were not alone, however - high in the crystalline city of Hallifax,
the Voice of Crys sought this document as well - drawing crystals about
himself, the Voice of Crys took on the form of Jilai Clarramore, the
spirit of a trill composer more than a millennia old which he kept about
for company and the beautiful treasure that is her voice. In Magnagora,
the Voice of Jagrerox swirled up the angry, tainted clouds of the city,
summoning a ferocious storm which struck the Bell-Tower with angry red
lightning. Upon exploring it, Magnagora found a blackened and charred
skeleton clasping a hellish and demonic guitar - the Darkening Scream of
Jagrerox given form.

Last but not least, the Voice of Mahalla moaned and wailed in the
Glomdoring Forest, forced into action lest the other Voices succeed
whilst she did not. Sinking into the dark and wyrden soil of the
Glomdoring, Mahalla emerged as a swarm of death watch beetles, thousands
upon thousands of the eerie and disconcerting insects wandering about
the forest before ultimately swarming the Master Ravenwood itself -
ticking away the moments in a frantic and insectoid cacophony of noise.

Kregarn lead the Voice of Gullagumbah forth into the Basin of Life, as
Faragan lead the Flock of Miracles and Nelras lead the crystalline form
of Jilai Clarramore. In Magnagora, Solange of the Cacophony lead forth
the dark and malevolent Darkening Scream of Jagrerox, while Serenwilde
and Glomdoring saw Lyethal lead the soft, whispery wind that was the
form Trialante took while Zhri and later Synkarin lead the ticking swarm
of death watch beetles forth. All across the Basin of Life the Great
Voices pursued thrumming pieces and chapters of the "Love of Story" -
and though they succeeded, a vortex would open and steal the document,
hiding it once more.

They would not be thwarted so easily, however - each Voice would press
on, able still to sense it. The common, wandering bards lending bits and
pieces of myth and legend and power to the Voices, the forms they took
would scour the Basin of Life with their students to seek out the
chapters no matter where this figure of shimmering light would hide
them.

Exhausted and tired of hiding them, the figure of light emerged from its
vortex briefly - destroying the chapter that the swarm of death watch
beetles pursued. However, it was a short victory for the figure, who
abandoned the scene before all was done - and, absorbing the motes of
energy into themselves, the swarm of death watch beetles fled into the
earth and soil, returning to the Glomdoring they know of as home.
Within, Synkarin - who had aided the Voice of Mahalla for much of her
pursuit - discovered what Mahalla had gleaned.

Though the text had been destroyed, Mahalla had gained from it an
implicit knowledge of a dead and forgotten art - that of Dramaturgy.
Sharing this knowledge with the Harbingers, the Voice of Mahalla
restored it to the modern era.

Soon Lyethal of the Spiritsingers would aid the Voice of Trialante in a
similar debacle, though she too would manage to save some memory of the
power the pages once contained. Faragan of the Cantors would see the
Miracle Flock return to New Celest with this knowledge - with no small
help from Lady Kelly McCloud - and Yatrius would aid the Voice of Crys
in bringing it to Hallifax. While Kregarn would finally bring it back to
the city of Gaudiguch, it was Solange who - after many brutal, agonizing
demises under the leadership under the Ur'Guard Marcalla n'Lochli and
much beratement and physical abuse by the manifestation of Jagrerox -
finally brought the art of Dramaturgy to the city of Magnagora.

And so, though "Love of Story" has been lost, the energy released upon
its destruction led to the discovery of the Art of Dramaturgy, living on
now in the guilds of artists in every city and commune in the Basin of
Life. The Voices believed that the energy released was almost divine in
nature, tapping into the source of the creative pulse.

Questions linger, however. Among them, how did the book contain such
power? And what was the presence that was so intent on destroying the
chapters of the lost book? Hopefully, that will be the last that is seen
of such a force.

Penned by My hand on the 3rd of Dioni, in the year 350 CE.


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