It was after the second Arken’s death that the Regalian people’s hope began to swell. Parties erupted through the city, some big and some small, celebrating the death of pestilence, of disease, of fear which had terrorized the city for all too long. Crowds of people from all walks of life flocked to taverns and bars across the city, drinking and partying to their heart’s content. Although, many gatherings were interrupted by various bards, who played unfittingly haunting anthems which were far too foreboding for the merry gatherings who had settled in. Many drunken men merely kicked these musicians out, while other, more inquisitive, even paranoid folk quizzed these musicians intently on their dread-inducing ballads. However, not even the performers could recall why, or how they had learned such pieces. The only thing that they could describe was an intense feeling of sadness, and of fear of something that was to come, despite their incapability to describe how that was. This soon came to pass within the following days, and the occurrence washed away along with the drunken memories of that night. However, the bard’s warnings echoed throughout the minds of those who were able to recall this, soon coming to the horrifying realization that this was not a mere one-off incident. Lutes decorating Merchant Stalls and Opera Houses began to play themselves, as phantom fingers weaved hauntingly hypnotic melodies to entrance the nearby masses, which seemed to fall to a lifeless standstill any moment the instruments were then interacted with. Though it was initially dismissed as the mischievous trickery of mind magic, or perhaps the dwindling sanity of bards suffering some manner of Dragon possession or another, all to keep the City’s peace intact. After all, it was easier to write it off as something else than disturb the long-awaited peace that had washed over the Holy City. With the passing of time of a few days, a higher frequency of Silven and Arcane inclined individuals, namely mages of any skill level, reported a faint ringing in their ears, which changed from a simple ringing to a faint melody depending on the person - all seemingly at random, though this didn’t stop these societal outliers from attempting to pursue meaning. A week into the paranormal happenings, civilians began to report witnessing a Golden-eyed woman dressed in pure white robes, playing a translucent harp. Those daring enough to humor her traveling performance were able to pick out the figure’s mellifluous voice echoing throughout their minds, as opposed to throughout the air, whereas others who heard of it wrote it off as madness. Coupled with each report of this phantom musician, each observer described feeling emotions of intense, yet profound sadness, one that was almost inexplicable. It was as if they were crying tears that were not quite their own, yet not quite someone else’s. However, the ethereal figure only lasted for but a few minutes at a time. At the end of each song, each symphony, the woman disintegrated into a stunning silence when the last note was due to end. The audience, which ranged from one lone traveler to an entire group of Regalians, were left to their own thoughts, and theories as to who this new performer could be.
Merina paused in her duties of serving a drink to tilt her head and rub her hand over her ear. At the raised brow of the patron before her, she could only ask, "Don't you hear the music too?"
Benjamin Journey froze for a moment, pausing mid song, his words trailing into that of dreadful predictions overshadowing the coming events. Taverns which listened to him sing instantly motioned from cheerful drinking games, to dropped jaws and crowding. He himself didn't know what to think of all this. He just sang out his hearts desire, which in turn, got him kicked out of the Willow and left a hole in his musical heart. Spoiler: ~The Song Without a Name~ Rikkirra’s in the sky~ The Emperor’s reign is done! Who decides who lives and dies for what is yet to come? Fear along with fright- The spirits soon to fall! Prepare yourselves, here comes death to settle on us all. Chorus Now are the days~ of the possessed singing song! Now are the days~ we all learn we were wrong! Submit to the dragon! For Rikkirra has been right! Against the divine we shall kneel before her might. Horror in your eyes, The birds come forth to crow. Madness and chaos will strike those we had come to know. We all will meet our doom, Hold on to those you love. Soon the dragons flame and ashes will rain from above. Chorus
Imanshi blinked at the whispers of music that trailed her somber footsteps down the road, her lip curling in disgust as she turned to veer off onto another path. "Aish. Music wasn't good tu begin withu."
Camilla: Passed the board reading over the story pausing a moment before speaking. "More and more things pile on, when will we get back to peace?" Alec: Passed through the Tavern square for one of the lasts times for a while. "With all the tomf'ck'ry that's gone on with dragon and arken, this don't surprise me. Thank gods I'm leavin' this place."
Gark smiled at the news of, what he believed to be, the harp playing Arken. He had fled from, and survived the Bastion and he thought all hope had been lost for the other Dragon Followers that remained like himself, those who hadn't turned to worshipping the false leader Cedromar that is, especially with another Arken dead, but with the stories that the Arkens were still guarding and teaching the weak people of the city he was proud, and felt as if it was high time that he should return, and continue his search for the power of the Arken, which he had sought before the Bastion. It was time to prove himself. Lyl however was worried about this talk of Ghosts...but knew she had to be brave and face whatever happened, especially if she actually wanted to get into the Vigilant Shield. She needed that power to continue, so reaching down into herself she prepared for the coming events.
Porangi sat, listening to the strange womans songs, and balling profusely. he wiped a large glob of tears from his face with his forearm after she passed and then smiled mischievously. "The Boss is getting busy." he chuckled. "It would be nice if she didn't use her magic on her followers though....whats up with that?"
Reinhardt's face humored a look of worry rare for him. As a musician, this could give him a hard time finding a job and spreading joy. Could this be another Arken? The thought danced in his head many times a day, and he couldn't help but shudder at what the future may hold.
