Video/Action if you're by the lake

[bythewaves]

[ He's drawn to water, he always has been, and it's no different here. This world is strange, and although it is joyful to see again the dead, it is very strange, too, and he retreats, away from the bustle of his family, down to the water's edge with his harp, to try and get his balance back.

(He has to be well. Maedhros and Curufin will worry, if he's not. Elrond too. He can't let them see)

Anyone who walks past will hear it, although they might not realise that it is a harp, at first, but the song ripples, moonlight on the water, the stars clear above, the emotion carried through on clear notes that seem to blend into the sounds of the world around them despite there being no stars or moon, here. And then the voice, deep as the rolling sea, full of heartrending sorrow, but climbing to defiant hope.

Sometime during the performance the phone flips on, bumped, maybe, to reveal Maglor crouched over his harp, singing.

Pay attention, and the song will tell you a story, even if you don't know the language he sings in - war and blood and tears and light-against-the-dark. ]

Comments

text; oh god i'm sorry

[ghostlocked]

yo enya sorry to interrupt ur serene harp times but whered u get that?
the harp.
im in the market for a guitar.

looooooooool audio because he doesn't get text yet

[bythewaves]

My apologies, but I fear I do not know this Enya that you confuse me with. But this? This my father made for me, long ago.

[ghostlocked]

yeah dw abt it. she sings shit kinda like what uve got goin on.
so the harp came here w. u?
damn.
wish i had my guitar. as a fellow musician tho do u kno if theres like a music store around here or somethin?
havent quite got the lay of the land yet.

[bythewaves]

[ Maglor is squinting so hard at this text like ????????? ]

I... forgive me, but the text is not very clear, I fear I do not really understand most of what you said there.

And I am sadly very new here, so I do not know what there is around. I ... could ask if my brother and my nephew know how to make a guitar?

[ghostlocked]

[sorry my dude he uses proper english for no man.]

o yeah? same here. i came in w. all those steampunk crab things a few days back.
and whats there to not understand? wtb guitar.
hmm. do that and keep me in the loop but im gonna scope out my options before i resort to some homemade thing.
no offense.

[bythewaves]

[ English nothing, this is like... code? ]

What is wtb? [ He asks confusedly ]

[ghostlocked]

lol. want to buy.
dont tell me i have to literally spell everything out for u.
thats so much work.

[he's hip with the slang ok]

[bythewaves]

and lol? [ Yes. Yes he is ]

I fear I do not know this code.

[ghostlocked]

yikes dude.
the literal translation is laugh out loud but thats lame. it just means like. haha.
its not really code. its just slang. its faster when ur typin. esp on a phone.
look u caught me in a good mood and i respect ur harp bs so gimme a sec.
Okay. I turned on autocorrect.
This is an Enya exclusive my man. You're welcome.
God now I look like a ducking loser. Fucking.

[bythewaves]

[ Just all the confused starting. forever ]

Oh. I suppose that... makes sense? I have never had a phone before, so I would not know.

Is this Enya very important then?

[ghostlocked]

You have a phone now. Better learn to use it.
And no. Enya's not important. Never liked her music much if I'm being honest. I was referring to you as Enya.
Keep up.
What's your name?
I'm Harley.
Harley.
WTF you post phone. P O S. Piece of shit. Autocorrect fucking ducks. Sucks. Christ.
I'm h a r l a n.

[bythewaves]

So... you don't like my music? [ Confusion is the name of the game ] Is that what you meant?

[ He quirks a smile at the autocorrected name ]

Harlan. Well met. Maglor, at your service.

[ghostlocked]

Yikes. You really are old timey huh?
Your music's fine. It's just not my style. You're pretty good with that harp though.

[Not like he would know what harp skills look like, but still.]

What language was that?

[bythewaves]

I suppose? I am accounted fairly old even for one of my own folk. And thank you. I sang in my cradle-tongue, Quenya, we call it.

[ghostlocked]

That's not what I meant. Old timey as in like from the past.
My past anyway. Time is relative. Blah blah.
Never heard of queeny. Quenya.
Got a feeling we're from different places though. Seems to be the case pretty much across the board.

[bythewaves]

Ah, I see! But it is possible yes - although as you say, with the way things work here, we might not be from the same world at all. But I think my folk are - the world is very young still, comparatively, I think. It can be hard to tell.

[ghostlocked]

Hm.
Tell me about your world then. Well see if anything sounds familiar.

[bythewaves]

I scarce know where to start. But. Hm...

Let me see, it is now... about seven thousand and fifty two years since the rising of the Moon and Sun, give or take, and the Fourth Age of the world is beginning. In the First Age, my people came back to Middle-earth from across the Sea and there we joined with our long sundured kinsmen and fought against our Enemy. That Age ended with his overthrow and the sinking of Beleriand. The Second Age was largely one of peace, although in it Sauron rose to assail us, and that Age also, ended in war, with Numenor sunk, Eregion overrun and the dwarven strongholds broken. But Isildur cut the Ring from Sauron's hand, and so we had peace again, for a time. The Third Age that just passed saw the fall of many of the great kingdoms of old, saving only Gondor, and the rise of new ones. The One Ring is destroyed and Sauron overthrown, and so we enter the Fourth Age, and hopefully we will have peace.

[ghostlocked]

Wow. Ok.
Well we definitely have lord of the rings where I'm from.
But your saying this is legit history for you? Are you like a hobbit or something?

[bythewaves]

'Lord of the Rings'?

[ He sounds curious ]

You have hobbits in your world too then? But no - I am Quendi. An elf. And yes, that is my history I have just told you, for I am one of those who crossed the sea to return to Middle-earth, all those years ago.

[ghostlocked]

We don't have hobbits. They're from a movie series.

[Or a book series, technically, but books are lame.]

We do have elves though. Never heard of quendi but I'm not an expert on elf culture.

[bythewaves]

What's a movie?

[ He hums ] Quendi means The Speakers. It was our first name for ourselves, because... well. We do like to talk! But we were the first to speak in audible tongues.

[ghostlocked]

[Oh boy.]

Its a picture that movies and has sound and shit. Its another form of storytelling.
Hm. Yeah I don't think were from the same place. Never heard of that before. Our elves are like high elves night elves drow. You know. That sort of thing. I think there's wood elves too.
I'm not an expert on this stuff. My girlfriends explained it a little but she doesn't like to go into detail.
But no one really cares what kind of elf anyone is. Its like when white people talk about being like eighteen percent Irish or whatever. No one gives a shit. An elf is an elf.

[bythewaves]

Oh! How fascinating! It sounds very interesting. I know some folk refer to those of us from Aman as 'High Elves', but 'Drow' and 'Night Elves' I do not know - you must be right, I assume. And we are all one kindred, in the beginning, yes, so as you say - being Moriquendi or Laiquendi doesn't really matter, we are all Quendi, still.

[ghostlocked]

Oh wait. Quendi just means elf in general?
I was thinking you were from a specific. Tribe?
Is that racist? That might be racist. My bad.
Like I said I don't know shit about elves. Plus there's alt universes and shit at play here.
I'm at a disadvantage.