Lúorda

A Song to be remembered

Overview

The Lúorda Fest is a non-annual, non-planned, relatively spontaneous event, celebrated and executed by every elven ethnicity in a few variants. It is a tradition similar to a wedding between people, but in this time it is a song which shapes the future.
Or, in this case, something.
The Lúorda is a way to create, to make. Maybe a bit to show off what one can do. Its name means "to shape" or "to create". Here it depends if the thing in question is already partly there or it is about to be assembled, painted, crafted, sculpted.
The way one is creating or shaping is through a process which ultimately ends in a song, which is named Láurala.

History

The Fest is an older Fest, dates back only a few decades after the creation of the Elves. At first it was not called a Fest, because it sprang out of necessity. Over time it evolved into a more private, more confined, activity once the capital and the surrounding villages were sung into existence and shape.
Smaller or not, it is tradition and good manner that the one who is holding the Lúorda provides space, drinks, and food for the guests they invited. Now it is not only used by every Elf who wants to celebrate their craft, but to gather friends and family.
Originally after creating the capital and the villages, the Lúorda was used when an Elf, be it for themselves or for their family, wanted a home, so they either honed their own singing, or described the image in their head to an experienced singer.
Over time there was no need for additional living space, so the singers turned their mind to other things to sing. Songs, Rhymes, pots, shapes of unusal visuals, forming materials according to their will. They hosted Lúordas by themselves if they wanted to show off their creations or just their songs and talent.
And so it is to this day.

What is it about?

Lúorda is a Fest which celebrates creating, crafting, making, shaping. Not by hands, but by song and rhyme. You don't use your hands, you use your words, your mind, your imagination to force the resources at hand into the shape in your mind, in the shape described by the words on your tongue.
There are the two distinctions on the Lúorda Fest: creating and shaping. But where is the difference?

Creating

Creating is when someone starts from scratch. There is an idea, there are resources (if they are the right ones one has to find out), there is empty space somewhere or a space which wants to be re-decorated. Seldomly there is a resonance from one of the resources or from every resource. Some Elves tend to feel this resonance, but it is a rare gift, some consider it even a glitch from the original design of the Eternals.
So, when one creates, they pack together their resources, lay them on a table, into a burlap sack, do whatever it needs to prepare them. The song has to be written, your imagination turned into very, very precise words, it has to be refined and clear like glass; no double-meanings or ways to interpret the instructions in a different way other than intended. Some very experienced singers just freestyle it, but those are as rare as the Elves who can feel the resonance.
Once satisfied, the singer starts. Seldomly there are instruments involved. Depending on the project it takes only an hour, several hours, a day, or several days. During the creating phase the singer shapes the project into form, with the power of their mind, the force from within. Wood, metal, stone, plants, earth, bones... it is all clay under the sharp and precise words of a singer; only matter to form and bend to their will.

Shaping

Shaping has a similar process like creating; the difference here is the starting point. While creating starts with a bunch of resources, the shaping takes an already created object - say, a house, a kettle, a vase, a sword - and shapes it into a different form. While it does sound easier than creating, the shaping has a different problem: the object which is about to be shaped remembers its form and does not bend easily.
Here the singer has to be very precise as well, but also convincing through love, compassion, kindness. Houses for example do not react kindly to a disturbance or the outer will which wants to re-shape them; swords have a meaning and they tend to brood and get miffy if you shape them into a different thing, even when it is just a small change of the blade.
Some consider shaping the more difficult approach with a high skill-level. Some singers who mastered the shaping are so, so full of themselves.

How to celebrate?

The one who is creating or shaping invites friends and family to their place, providing space, food, drinks. Traditionally it is stated in the invitation what is going to be created or shaped, mostly in shrouded words to just indicate size and complexity, but not to give way what is to be created or shaped. Except for living space, then it is stated in a very clear way, because that tends to be a long process.
Celebrating runs it course always the same way: everyone gathers, gets food, drink, blankets, people to cuddle with, then the host explains what they are going to do. Traditionally it is the host who needs a new house or needs to renovate an existing one for their family.
Usually the houses of the Elves are a blend of stone, earth, and plants. Mostly trees, infused with stone inlays or trees as supports, the rest is created out of stone and other plants. Some Elves are just purists who want to have a literal tree house, so they sing their dedicated trees into shape. "Dedicated" means that the village leader - or council in case of the capital - makes an informed decision which trees are usable and willing to bend.
When everyone had their first bites and sips, either the host or the contracted singer starts to sing. They either recite from a paper or from their memory. The song adresses the parts of the object, then describes the way they should attune, fuse together, move, shape themselves, guided by words, mind, and will.
For a house it takes hours, sometimes days, even for the smaller ones. The song starts with the basement, then with the foundations. Roots, stone, earth are forming those, make it strong, durable, lasting. Slowly the ground floor starts to form, windows, doors, shapes of rooms. Other plants start to chime in, like roses, various grapevines, ferns, and so on. Floors, ceilings, at some point the roof forms. Sometimes it also creates a door.
Once the house is shaped, the host or the singer are praised, the Fest continues until to the point the host has stated in the invitation. For creating a house it is often the next morning from the finishing of said house. When they have bad luck, the house is finished after sunrise and they have to party for an entire additional day and night. Not that anyone would mind. Here it depends if it is part of the shaping or the creating. If the house was build from the resources at hand, it is part of the creating; if they took an existing house, it is part of the shaping.
For other objects it is basically the same process, but more condensed. In smaller crafts and objects like a vase or a very interesting looking statue it can take its time. For this activity the singers are the host themselves because they want to show off. There are also smaller Lúordas, like when an Elf sings a ring into shape for their beloved; those are held more private. Usually the singer/host is using the creation part from resources at hand to sing them into a form they want and imagine in their mind. That even goes for paintings with their liquid ingrediences.