Music and Spirituality [Finn]

In which Finn is invited to Syren's temple.

The capital city of Ecith, known as the Three Cities in the common tongue, it is the jewel and pride of Ecith.

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Talisman
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Syren could understand. The things that one did for love. He loved Arvaelyn, and had transitioned to the place of his birth, where he had taken up a position of considerable power. Whether he realized it or not, he had also flourished there, even if there were many aspects of the place that bothered him.

"Time will tell. We shall see," the Demigoddess was amenable to that. He had hope, and for the sake of avoiding bloodshed and war on the continent to protect their home and territory from an expansionist Empire that was hungry for a return to its glory days, Syren hoped he was right. They would see what came, but prepare for it all the same. Considering Avaerys and Varvara had yet to formally announce Their return to the citizens of Solunarium, there was no knowing and no telling just what was going to happen. They might well treat in the Pantheon. They might not. There were bigger problems at play here, with the overall threat to their world. But the Commonwealth had survived a great deal.

It would survive this.

Like he had before the last time She had listened to him, he picked a song that suited himself, the audience, and the personal stage upon which he was now playing. He really was a talented musician, and the buxom Orkhan seemed to be enjoying his song if Her expression was any indication. She would let him play it out this time, rather, than interrupt, as she gave him a nod of encouragement to continue. One finger lightly tapped the side of Her instrument to the beat that Finn put forward with his lute, innately finding his rhythm. While She might have liked to have seen Her old instrument, what he did with this one was not small potatoes, and that was the hallmark of a good musician: they didn't need to rely on tricks, magical or otherwise, to wow the crowd.

And Finn the Fantastic knew well that any tricks he might have used would not pass muster against Syren - She wanted to see him, and hear him. Just his voice, his instrument, and his heart, with his soul laid bare.


word count: 383
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Finn
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"I could just pretend that you love me;
The night would lose all sense of fear.
But why do I need you to love me
When you can't hold what I hold dear?
"

Finn had no idea how much the Gods knew that mortals didn't outright share. Mortals had Mesmer and Semblance, and the Gods kept their senses shrouded in mystique. Perhaps she wondered whether he sang of his husband, which would be tragic. Perhaps he sang of some other lost love, which would be a more distant ache. Perhaps he sang of his God, for surely she knew better than he did what relationships might exist between God and mortal. Or perhaps he sang of Solunarium, whose values didn't quite jive with his own.

"I almost ran over an angel;
He had a nice big fat cigar.
'
In a sense,' he said, 'you're alone here,
So if you jump, you'd best jump far.'"

Someone who paid attention to the upper echelons of Solunarian society might wonder at this. There were a handful of winged citizens of the desert power, and a poet might call them after certain winged celestial spirits. The way he smiled around nice big fat cigar spoke of a secret, and likely a wicked one, but whether it was from experience, from imagination, or something else, again, it was subjective.

Had he meant innocence to be a double entendre for in a sense, or was that just a trick of the ear? And was he jumping forward and up, progressing along through Solunarium from peregrinus to dux and dominus empyreus, or was he jumped up and causing problems, or was he considering a different sort of a jump, down and down toward an inevitable end?

It might have been all of none of these things. An artist could empathize with the music without having experienced them otherwise.

"Oh God, could it be the weather?
Oh God, it's all very clear!
If love isn't forever
And it's not the weather,
Hand me my leather.
"

Aværys? Syren herself? Or perhaps now that he had spoken with little gods, his soul reached higher, for the Gods who knew more than all the moritasi.

Leather armor? Leather for other desires?

In any case, his soul sang with his voice. She of the Songs could sense that better than most. In one chorus, he traveled from a dark night of the soul to a steadfast determination. That was agility of a sort.

As the song came to an end, he rested, awaiting further instruction.
word count: 432
we keep on churning and the lights inside the house turn on
and in our native language, we are chanting ancient songs
and when we quiet down, the house chants on without us
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Talisman
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He always was such a delight to listen to. Orkhan and Moratallen alike watched him play, the way he expressed the music and left so many questions as to what could have been meant by this, what he may have meant by that. And that was something art did - it made you think and wonder, and left plenty open to interpretation. Both Syren and her Muse applauded for Finn's song, Chuck's large hands making resounding, rhythmic thuds as he clapped.

This one did. Syren had a feeling that perhaps it was meant for many - including one of the ones in his retinue. He came from Karnor, where multiple partners were not uncommon, and certainly not frowned upon when agreed by all in the relationship. The Commonwealth largely practised polygamy - some couples may have chosen to close themselves off from others but they were in the minority. In the smaller villages, all of the adults might help raise the children and be seen as honorary parents. Multiple partners were not uncommon. But Arvaelyn's possessive nature, considering his draconic blood, would have come as no surprise to the Lady of Lust as a roadblock. Finn was loyal, that was clear, and betraying his spouse wasn't likely going to be something he would ever willingly do.

Willingly.

She understood the Lusts of a person were not always flesh. And through life, a great many went unacted upon... but who was to know which one that was let go might have made them complete? "I had been looking forward to an encore since that night in the Rusty Trombone," Her lips quirked. "But it has changed quite a bit since then, your Song. Cast adrift in time. Loves lost and left behind.. and yet, some found," Her eyes looked past Finn briefly to Arkaenyn before returning to the man in front of her. "Some people never stop trying to improve upon things for others, and that is a gift in times like these."


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Finn
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Hand to heart, Finn bowed to accept the applause. Performing the role of legatus ecithialis was rewarding, but it did not hold a candle to performing a song and having that appreciation, that empathy turned back on him.

He plucked a quiet, wandering melody to underscore their conversation in the meantime.

"Were you there?" he asked, not surprised, exactly. "'Twas a strange encounter."

While he didn't need to in order to understand her reference, he followed her gaze back to Arkænyn. The man could still be a royal pain, but there was the context of a thousand lives in the background now. All of those experiences weren't as available as his own memories, as his merely mortal mind couldn't contain them all. Still, he knew the platinum knight.

The smile he returned to Syren was untroubled by her awareness. He hadn't been hiding it, but neither had they been flaunting what was, in the end, that Arkænyn had sworn himself under Aværys' eye to Finn's service. Thrall was the word they used in Solunarium for these contracts with a Radiant, but it didn't feel as though the prince was his slave.

"The elves of Sol'Valen have, from what I understand, a thousand names for Suion. Love, that great shape-shifter. Love is always a gift, even when it proves challenging."

And as for making things better, "When I was a village boy and we would go to the city to visit family, when I would see things that were scary, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' And it was true. Even when some people considered a life in pursuit of music to be self-serving, I was always looking to help, even if that help was just to lighten the burden of a long day with a song. Now I have more power than a village boy or a city minstrel, and all the more responsibility to help, to make things better."
word count: 344
we keep on churning and the lights inside the house turn on
and in our native language, we are chanting ancient songs
and when we quiet down, the house chants on without us
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Talisman
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"Many are those that find my Bards strange," Syren only smiled. "But when they approached you, they did for a reason: at my behest." Whether she had been there or not... who knew? She was a Demigoddess. Avaerys and Varvara sometimes turned up in surprising places. Talon did on the regular. Who all knew what magics Syren had mastered in Her very considerable lifetime? Traversion. Semblance. Masquerade. Surely enough to hide herself from even Solunarium's most potent assessors.... and that wasn't even counting the abilities of the Divine to change their form.

"Some might say that following one's passions is self-serving. Some might say that passion is what makes life worth living. Music and love are powerful forces that often intertwine, influencing emotions and connecting people. I've often said that music is love in search of a word." She was reflective, thoughtful. "But where words fail, music speaks. There's a great deal that philosophers will say about music and spirituality, and the way that they can bring people together... but it means different things to different people. But what music does is produce a kind of pleasure that living beings cannot do without. Even in the most depressed... those who are so deep in the darkness... music can spark a dream of light. A way out of the darkness, even if only for a short while... until they are ready to make their way out."

She watched him for a long moment as he spoke of the helpers, her face somehow more solemn. "Is that what you feel you are doing here? Helping? And if it turns out that the citizens of the Commonwealth say no to Solunarium's proposal, will you and your retinue return to Solunarium and let the matter drop?" Chuck, who had been watching their exchange, one hand resting on the body of the large lute that he carried, looked from Syren to Finn. As he did in the Senate, he was content to be largely quiet in the presence of his Goddess, and take his cues from her. There was no need for him to interject here - he, too, was curious to see what Finn would say.


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Finn
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"I have learned that there are opinions that matter to me," he replied after a measured moment of thought. "But I don't think that the pursuit of music is inherently selfish. Self-serving, perhaps, but in serving the self with music, one serves others, as well. Except perhaps a Bard playing for themselves in the desert, and even then, there might be spirits of wind and fire and sand that appreciate their efforts.

"If someone doesn't understand the value of music in particular and art in general, then I pity them. My career did not leave my parents in the lurch, and my work has come to encompass even more than music. But when I perform, I hope that I am holding a candle in the dark, encouraging other people to share their Fire."

He gave another measured moment of thought before responding to her more political question. The time wasn't taken in order to deceive, but to order his thoughts and better choose his words. While only a lower-case bard, he still understood the power of semantics. The right words at the right time were of dire importance.

"I believe that Solunarium can help the Commonwealth, yes. I believe that Solunarium can be a positive force in the world. As I have repeated... ad infinitum it sometimes seems..." He smiled ruefully. "...to the senators, if the Triumvirs and the green dragonflight and all the other people with power and influence here did not acknowledge the possibility that I am right, I wouldn't even be here speaking to you, Holiness. I'm only a middling student of history, but I can name several client states that were all but enslaved by an empire, as well as several client states that retained autonomy in all but limited situations when submitting to an empire. Mists, even though the Re'hyæan elves like to ignore their Hytori roots, the principalities of modern Sol'Valen could be considered a confederation of equal partners, their Phoenix King granted limited authority to exercise broader authority in circumscribed situations."

Finn paused. Then, "Aye. I believe that Solunarium can help here, and my hope is that, if the Commonwealth chooses to join us, the Commonwealth will help Solunarium, as well. I want Solunarium, my chosen home, to be better. It would be better with Foresight, Truth, and Song.

"Mists, they made me, common as river rocks, a duke. Clearly, they are changing, too. If the Senate declines the offer, I will remain a while, at least, in the hopes of cementing more permanent diplomatic relations, at least. But I am not here to undermine the Triumvirate or the Senate. I am here, I think, to show you how Solunarium is changing, and how you can be a part of that change while also availing yourselves to what Solunarium can offer."
word count: 478
we keep on churning and the lights inside the house turn on
and in our native language, we are chanting ancient songs
and when we quiet down, the house chants on without us
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Talisman
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"There are many good careers out there that are necessary to sustain life. All of them are important in their own way. You said before that you were the son of a blacksmith, and you worked there for a time. That work is valuable and absolutely necessary, as anyone who has ever benefited from a metal tool - and that is most everyone, really, at this point, no matter how small. The tools that farmers use and builders use and soldiers use and whatever else... but music and art gives people something to stay alive for. That passion can help inspire others... encourage them to 'share their Fire', as you so aptly put it. A steady trudge to Wraedan's embrace while denying passions for whatever reason is a sad state of affairs, I would think." But that was how they had shaped the Commonwealth. The arts were valued, and villages and families and cities pulled together to make sure everyone was able to thrive.

People could explore themselves, and figure out what they enjoyed and what they were good at. While military service and training was compulsory, short of a few rare exceptions, if they decided to leave after their time was up, they were free to follow other careers. It may have been something in their family's line, it may have been something else... but different places had different ways of doing things. Perhaps some had to do the work they may not have pictured for themselves out of necessity for their village or their family in these smaller settlements, and wished for other things but the population didn't allow it. Still, they did their best.

She was sure he was tired of the subject that She raised, but he had yet to find an Ecithian that believed that Solunarium was ready to change as a whole. They were aware of the fractured state of the place - the once-great capital split between two, dragons and elves. They were aware of the fact that Avaerys and Varvara had not publicly declared Their resurgence, and while the two of Them may have changed, until They were going to order their descendants about it, the Commonwealth would remain dubious. Finn had repeated that he was an outsider raised high through his relationship with the heir to the Umbrium, and that he had heard plenty from Avaerys Himself, but he was one person. And he was not a person that the majority of his adopted home listened to.

"I am sure that you are tired of repeating yourself. But you understand our reluctance to believe in this attitude of change in a place that is famous for holding fast to its traditions for millennia." Syren pointed out. "You are one change in millions that have not changed, Finn."

"Forgive me, Songstress, but I may have promised Finn an afternoon of music without needing to be dragged under by politics. He has to deal with that enough at the senate meetings," Chuck interjected, his large fingers finding the strings of his lute. "So do we all. We can examine his intentions there," the Moratallen offered Finn a wink.

"How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind...
"


Finn could join in, as Syren had found Chuck's melody - perhaps she had been the one to teach it to him, who knew? - and had joined in with her own instrument, complementing her Muse's play, or he could sit it out. Whatever felt best to him.

word count: 649
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Finn
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"Repetition is important in music," was his glib reply, though his smile was sincere.

"I did not think the work would be easy or quick, and while I would hate to fail in my mission, at the very least I might help ease the age-old tensions and help start the process of collaboration over conflict." If it sounded practiced, well, it had been repeated. Syren was not the first of her people to make these points to him, but he acknowledged them once more for her sake.

Perhaps an envoy from the Commonwealth would go to Solunarium in a similar capacity. Their own first-hand knowledge of Solunarium was outdated, and he could only explain so much of his experience, even were they to ask for him to share more holistically with his Rune.

The conservative autocrat had been shouldered aside by an ancient dragon, whose half-elven progeny had grown up in squalor halfway across the world and brought a human lover who became, not only his husband, but chosen of one of their newly released Gods. Instead of a Solar Sovereign, they had two regents. And even commoners like Hilana were allowed to see other realms, experience other realities, and return. Gods live, dragons afoot. This was not the same Solunarium even as had existed a few years prior.

But he was happy to change courses, as well.

Lute in hand, Finn accompanied Chuck. Sometimes it was just nice to be a part of something beautiful.
word count: 249
we keep on churning and the lights inside the house turn on
and in our native language, we are chanting ancient songs
and when we quiet down, the house chants on without us
User avatar
Talisman
Posts: 319
Joined: Thu May 11, 2023 9:39 am

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Review

Name: Finn

XP: 15 Points, no magic
Injuries/Ailments: None
Loot: One finely crafted Serpent Horn.

Notes: Well, he's met the first of the three Triumvirs of the Ecithian Pantheon, and lived to tell the tale... Enjoy the horn!

word count: 57
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