Music of the Northern Arm

The cultures of the Northern Arm engage with a variety of musical styles and customs. To some, music may be mere pastime, while to other it carries important religious or societal overtones. Some cultures celebrate especially gifted musicians and visit them as audiences, while for other groups making music is mostly a collective affair. Here you find an overview of the important musical traditions, categorized by cultures and nations.

Kingdom of Laeryll

This ancient kingdom of the elves has developed musical traditions steeped in their love of elaborate religious poetry and epic tales. Overall, it can be said that elves take their time when producing or enjoying music -- it is not uncommon to see exquisite performances last for multiple tendays. There is a stark difference between the traditions of the wood elves and the high elves.

Dathyll and Pothael

While high elf music draws on ancient traditions, such as religious poetry and mystical hymns that date back to before The Shimmering, it has had its own particular development. High elves are appreciative of long, complex compositions that should be mastered by performers, after which they can add their own nuances -- nuances that are imperceivable without having taken centuries to study the music. As for the form of rendition, there are several distinct styles that are popular:

• Story music is performed by string orchestras in theaters. These orchestras contain of violins, cello, bass and harp, with optional inclusion of piano. Story music is long, sometimes lasting multiple days and is often tied to literature that is well-known to the audience. While the music in principle stands by itself, especially lavish performances employ costumed dancers and magical illusions to add immersion to display. If pieces last multiple days, they contain special trance portions, drone-like parts that last between 3 and 5 hours, during which the audience phases out consciousness
• Dancing music is a genre that has much less narrative structure than story music and is performed using a wide diversity of instruments, from flute to hurdy-gurdy, but also with the instruments seen in story music. It is played during festivities and celebrations and its appreciation is not considered to require intellectual prowess. The performers of dancing music are often traveling bards.
• Word music is spoken poetry, orated with or without accompaniment by musical instruments. If instruments are used, it is done so sparingly and subtly. Word music hearkens back to religious rites from Qosid, but there have always been new additions to canon. In some cases, popular word music has also been turned into (wordless) story music.

Story music is performed mostly, but not exclusively, in the Dathyllian capital Prydisyrr, where a theatre has been built for the specific purpose. In Pothael, dancing music is especially popular. Self-respecting Lords do occassionally organize more sophisticated chamber sessions, but even so they have a way ending in debauchery under the influence of Pothaellian barleywine and whisky. Word music and dancing music are greatly appreciated through the high elf provinces, and even small town inns and village fairs regularly feature performers.

Shyfayll

This province, home to wood elf mystics and ancient cults, has a musical tradition that is almost completely entwined with religious practice. Droning incantations, guttural song, didgeridoos, tambourines and gongs feature heavily in this music. During rituals, song can be collective or led by specific priests and instrument use is prescribed according to tradition.
This does not mean Shyfayll has no room for expressive music. During so-called mooncackling, feather-clothed druids use their voices, tambourines and an assortment of flutes to make bird-like noises and rhythms. When doing so, they are encircled by an audience that joins in by stomping and clapping, often to celebrate a special occassion.

Barael

Barael, being an enclave of the Kingdom of Laeryll that lies just south of The Porcupine, has a music culture that has been strongly influenced by the music of the Dwarves. While the stout elves did not absorb the choral tradition of the dwarves, they did develop their own form of bakaden, the dwarven ballad that evolved from cavern whistling systems. The stout elf version of this style is instrumentally richer than the dwarven one: where dwarves focus on guitar, cajon and single vocals, the stout elves often add flute and group vocals to the ballad.
It is common for stout elves to be in a band and there are few professional performers. Instead, during local celebrations or when taking a rest from work, the stout elves alternate to give shows, displaying self-written songs or performing standards. Of course, some bands are better than others and sometimes especially proficient musicians travel to The Porcupine or even further north to perform, but in general in music is not considered to be a source of livelihood.

Qosid and Northern Silimanis

The wood elves of Qosid (and by extension, the culturally related groups in Northern Silimanis) have their own form of word music, which differs from that of the high elves by the means of accompaniment. Where the high elves use a subtle, precomposed accompaniment, the wood elves rely more on communal improvisation. A word musician can be joined in by audience members who brought their own instruments and sometimes this may even bridge word music into dancing music.
Dancing music in Qosid is similarly communal. Its rhythms and styles are built in a modular way - it is always possible to add another instrument or melody line. However, there are also occassions where a group is specifically invited to play for an audience and it is common courtesy to 'leave them the music'. This is especially relevant when musicians from other communes come to offer their art, such as when the poets and musicians of Yhaur visit.
One musical genre that is very specific to the wood elves is ukuyessed (sound of meals). It is played during certain feasts and consists of soundscapes that are aligned with the meal being served. Besides adding sensation to the communal eating, ukuyessed also serves to help eaters pace their intake -- something that can carry great moral weight. The respective compositions are made by highly proficient musicians, sometimes in collaboration with the chefs designing the feast.

Laedor Thilis

Laedor Thilis is technically a high elf province and traditionally followed the same musical culture. However, in the days of Bothandal the Crafter, the region was also home to many miners from the Kingdom of Labar and The Porcupine. They brought (and developed) a particular, jumpy, up-beat a cappella music style known as swampsong. Swampsong artists use clicks and other tricks to emulate percussion or even instrument sounds that accompanies one or more group members singing. The themes of swampsong lyrics are often about being down on your luck in a darkly comedic way, with each singer piling on more misfortune after the other.
After the War of the Sisters, miners returned to either Labar or the Porcupine and they took swampsong with them, creating a cultural bridge between the Labarean Empire and the dwarves that lasts to this very day. Laedor Thilis, in contrast, was left abandoned and lost its traditions. In 745 LC, its capital Pellvyr was repopulated by humans from Silimanis who brought their culture to the region, including their music. More recently, refugees from Zhai also landed in the area, bringing their own customs, as did Hedgehog Mining Corporation. Thus far, however, this has not led to the return of swampsong.

Coastal lands

The coastal lands were once the territories of the elves and later became mostly inhabited by humans. These human lands were then slowly but surely absorbed into the Labarean Empire. This has led to a syncretism of cultural and musical traditions, in addition to new styles that emerged as a consequence of Labarean oppression.

Silimanis

Prior to the Invasion of Silimanis, humans in the territory had created their own musical traditions, based partially on their own ancient customs and partially on the instruments that were used by the few wood elves who remained after the Treaty of Guharr was signed. These instruments included flutes, rebecs and tambourins. To these, the humans added drums and horns.
For Silimani humans, the instruments were a way to capture the attention of gods when placing hidden offerings. Lyrically, they would describe themselves and their desires, while both musical cues and cryptical hints showed the gods their way to the foodstuff or other goods they offered. This coded messaging was important, because the humans believed demons and devils were also always listening in and would steal the offerings is possible.
Besides this, the humans developed folk dances and songs that symbolically tied into their agricultural labor. During harvest celebrations, the religious and mundane coincided and humans would put the instruments with they communicated with the gods to more festive uses. Still, the songs of even such celebrations carried the history of them as a people, as well as their most deeply felt desires.
In this way, human Siimani music became an institution that connected their short-lived generations. It became a space in which they reflected on their condition. Indeed, the musical styles that initially evolved from this were all characterized by melancholic themes of loss (in a style called saltwaltz), desire and fruitless searches for love, rest or peace (most pronounced in the musical styles pine and simmie) .
In the sixth century, the Kingdom of Labar brought new instruments to Silimanis, including brass horns that were quickly adopted by the humans. As Silimanis became more industrious and developed, so did its musical variety and cultural liveliness. Yet nothing would change the music of Silimani humans as did the invasion of the Empire in 724 LC.
Once Silimanis was occupied, a sizable portion of the human population was enslaved and either brought to the Labarean peninsula or put to work in Silimanis. The rest was placed under the Independence Tax. None were allowed to leave the former Laeryllian province (although plenty tried) and gnomes installed a harsh regime.
The songs of the humans quickly adapted to this new fate. Saltwaltz started to look back at the old days, pines sang about slaves regaining autonomy and the simmies longed for escape to the Arkos Plains or better, the Free Cities. The old structure was still there - the new songs sang about who the humans had become and what they desired.
Using the musical encryption that their forefathers invented, human musicians would also place small coded messages in their songs. These coded messages could refer to escape routes, exceptionally cruel slave owners, places you could trust and the dates and times of when to stand up or sabotage the work that the Labareans had in mind. Music, in other words, had become a tool for resistance.

The Porcupine

The dwarves of The Porcupine emphasize hard work and making money. However, this has not come at the cost of a rich musical heritage, which is deeply connected to their life inside the mountain complex. For example, they have a choral tradition in which slow, deep songs are sung to the mountain itself. Each clam also has its own ancestor songs -- long, epic accounts of the history of their clan, which are often revised as new alliances and feuds form through the drift of history.
The existence of swampsong has popularized the idea that dwarven miners also sing during their work, but this is hardly the case. There are songs about mining, just as there are songs about blacksmithing and sailing, but these are folk songs that are performed or collectively sung during holidays. Bakaden is the closest one gets to songs that emerged during work in the mines: these are ballads that build on the melodic whistles and cries that dwarves use to signal each other over long distances. The themes of bakaden music often connect to life in cavern systems, and refer -- metaphorically or not -- to work that doesn't pay off, hitting dead ends and getting lost when going solo.

Zhai

Zhai is a chaotic land, filled with creatures from around (and beyond) the world. Its musical culture is diverse and ever-changing and driven solely by a continuous need for novelty. Experimental music and instruments go hand in hand with magically induced sensations. For example, the Zhai musician Algavarden has given performances in which he weaves magical strings that resonate with crystals, which he then plays to mesmerize audiences. He punctuates vocals by briefly conjuring monsters with specific scream pitches, presenting the audience blinking confrontations with horrific creatures. In one of his more controversial concerts, he turned the audience itself into a choir, enchanting them to sing about their deep desires and shameful secrets.