Renew the Old

The theater district is quiet today, the weather driving most to their homes. The promise of rain practically hangs in the air. In spite of this, or perhaps because of it, there is a song in the air. Something slow and sad, heavy with the promise of sadder things to come. The notes linger in the air as if weighted down and unable to escape. They hover in the mist and slip through the cracks of the gray. It's not just the lingering notes of an instrument that for a few seconds is impossible to identify, or the gentle tip-tapping of something that sounds like raindrops though none have fallen from the sky yet. It's a voice slipping into that song. A haunting tune.

“If I could make time wait

Slow down the world I see

Until I see things straight

The way they used to be

But the world’s no longer real

I can watch those layers peel

As colors fade from view.”

Ga'Elian comes walking out of the Bardic College campus with a Llyranesi lad. The lad is carrying three scroll cases and wearing the tights and slippers of a ballet dancer under a heavy wool cloak. They arrive in time to hear Shizin's enchanting song, and stop to listen.

Sevanon stops in his tracks to listen. He has a bottle of mint schnapps in his hand, likely in violation of more than one city ordinance, but he forgets about it entirely. Art is afoot! He looks around and begins to walk towards the source.

"Leaving just these two." The song continues full of that quiet sadness and Shizin looks up as Sevanon draws close. The dawn elf is sitting beside the stage, not on it as a performer such as Shizin would certainly be allowed to do; beside it. Shizin smiles and nods politely to Sevanon, and lifts a briefly free hand to wave at Ga'Elian through the mist. Then that same hand falls back down to the strings of the harp being played to make more light rain-like noises.

Ga'Elian waves back to Sevanon, then raises a hand to indicate Shizin before applauding. He turns to the lad beside him and says, "Wonderfully tragic, isn't it. Anyway, Halenil, the one over there is the one I was telling you about. His name is Sevanon. I think you should show him some of what you brought." The lad looks at Ga'Elian then the pair walk over to the stage.

Sevanon doesn't say a word. First, he kills the bottle of schnapps, finishing off the last third or so, then chunking it into a nearby bin, the tinkle of glass as it shatters on other rubbish somehow musical. Then, he turns his harp case around, pulls out his beautiful silvered harp, and sounds a flowing tune to match the pace of Shizin's raindrops. The musical affect is now reminiscent of water flowing in a stream as rain falls around it.

Shizin smiles broadly as the music is added to. They play together until Shizin is laughing in a sound that is as musical as the sound of their harps twined about one another. Though the instruments are the same they sound totally different. It is not simply that one is metal and the other wood, it is a matter of their make and the playing which makes them different. Eventually, particularly with Ga'Elian wishing to speak to Sevanon, Shizin politely ends the song and rises upwards with a low bow to the one that played so artfully.

Ga'Elian and Halenil both applaud again. Halenil says, "Reminds me of home."

Ga'Elian says, "Pardon us. We do have a matter to share, but you needn't have stopped yet on our account. Anyway, friends, this is Halenil. He and I have been studying ballet together, but I also mentioned to him about your new project, Sevanon. He got excited and pulled together these documents and maps."

Halenil continues, "Yes. You are trying to reopen the Museum of Reflections? Looking for more artifacts to display?" He removes his cloak and lays it out flat upon the stage so as to provide a dampness barrier to protect the papers he withdraws from the scroll cases. He says, "It's a sort of hobby of mine, studying legends of old mysteries, but the home of an ancient glass sculptor was rumored to have been buried about here in a landslide occasioned by an earthquake some 1400 years ago." He points to the map.

Sevanon finishes off the song with a flourish, and smiles back to Shizin. He seems to appreciate it all without words. Of course, when Halenil lays out those papers and tells him about the home of the glass sculptor, he is immediately absorbed. "I shall begin my search forthwith," he says. "I shall gather those who wish to follow. We will find this artist's lost works." He sounds completely serious, and a little drunk. But completely serious.

Shizin moves a little bit to make more room for Halenil, nodding again to the young elf. "I am Shizin Hinota." The introduction is brief but polite. As much of Shizin's words seem to be. When the papers are laid out Shizin looks at them curiously, unfamiliar with the subject that they are speaking about. The dawn elf is clearly loathe to interrupt however so remains silently to the side.

Halenil offers a bow with charming smile to Shizin and says, "I am honored, Master Shizin."

Ga'Elian supplies, "Just last night, Sevanon here found me at the ruined Museum of Reflections over near the Castellum. Perceiving that the place had been wrecked and largely abandoned, he fell called upon to restore the place and to that end declared his intention to both encourage the contribution of new artworks and the discovery of old ones for display, and to reopen the Museum in Grandeur and restore or even improve upon its former glory."

Halenil enthusiastically shakes his head in the affirmative, adding, "When Master Ga'Elian told me about his plans, I showed him this, and he encouraged me to show it to Master Sevanon."

The dawn elf looks embarrassed for a long moment, shaking blue hair back and forth. "Just Shizin, please." A pale hand is lifted, blue wrapping tattoo's revealed by the motion. That same hand is then pressed to Shizin's chest. "I am no Master." Shizin ducks into a low nod, hiding all features of the face behind a fall of blue hair. After a moment the dawn elf rises back up, but it is with red on either cheek. "It sounds a noble endeavor."

Halenil says, "If I were an adventurer, I'd undertake it myself, but I'll just be happy to see what becomes of this. In the meantime, if you'll consent to play again, your ballad was inspiring me to dance." He looks at Ga'Elian. Ga'Elian blushes and smiles, "Yes. I'm always happy to dance with you, Halenil." He removes the excess things carried about him, laying them next to Halenil's cloak and scroll cases, leaving him in essentially his hose, and not much else. He turns to Shizin and asks, "Will you honor us by playing some more... Maestro?" This last word is spoken with a flirtatious wink.

Instantly Shizin flushes at the complement, face turning a bright pink color that turns Shizin's tattoo's purple in color. Ga'Elian's playful phrasing clearly struck a chord in Shizin, causing the sildanyar to duck behind blue hair once again but with a smile and a nod. Wordlessly Shizin picks up the harp again, lavender eyes flickering toward Halenil and then beginning to play a song.

To the elves listening it is instantly recognizable as one of the songs played for the fall. It is a song of the rain falling down and the harvest coming in. And the revelries of the fae. For in the between-times do the most adventurous of the people come out to play. It is a song meant for being danced to. For the fog, for the shadows, for the near-rain that is not quite falling. It is for all those things that bring the Wild ones out into the open.

And as Ga'Elian and Halenil dance to it, they both interpret the music wonderfully, yet enough differently to reflect the difference between wild elf and dawn elf, while each still complements the other. Ga'Elian's interpretation reflects a calming theme of autumn offsetting the growing excitement of Spring, reflecting nature's preparation for the sleepy blanket of winter's snows when nature rests before the reawakening of spring. Halenil's interpretation reflects more the gentle, life-sustaining refreshment of mist and rain, the magical wonder of life and breath.

GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Perform/Dance: (4)+20: 24

-End-