Angel's Calling

A Prelude to Madness

Art by the talented Angela Taratuta

As the stars disappear
And the darkness grows near
Children come closer so that they can hear...


Never forget that we are blessed
The angel's song can put us to rest
Just listen now and hope for the best...


As the long night grows with no end
Our most faithful we must send
To kneel and hold up the hand they will lend...


Angels above who have given us light
Angels above who now stand and fight
Know that we love and hope you can make it right...


So long as the last star hangs in the sky
We will keep our faith and hold our heads high
Without your love our ending is nigh...

Summary

The Angel's Calling is a dark song about the final days of light in Drömir, as Sva'lia the Divine descended into madness. The song is less about Sva'lia herself, as she was never seen by humans, but a plea to her celestial servants who walked among man. In Drömir, angels were beloved and gentle spirits that could perform feats of incredible magic. Their power was based entirely around how much the humans loved them, and so their relationship was a symbiotic one. The humans of Drömir poured their love and faith into the angels during those final days, waiting and watching the stars dwindle into single digits.
Sadly the final stars did perish, and with it the faith that the humans had. It is believed that all the angels died trying to sway Sva'lia from her madness. Others have a much darker theory...

Historical Basis

As the last lights in Drömir faded into darkness, humans lost the ability to use writing as a means of communication. Some developed a form of braille, however these documents are imprecise and vary too greatly from area to area to be properly decyphered. Thus, no proper account of what happened after the darkness came is known, and only songs survived. This song, Angel's Calling, is believed to have stayed the most true to its original, while other versions and other songs are harder to understand or just plain insane.
This song seems to hold the closest to the pre-darkness texts leading up to the God's madness. There is great debate on the accuracy, though, as the humans of Drömir lost their sentience and the Dwen sealed themselves away.

Spread

It is unknown how this song spread, though some Dwen claim to have heard it from their great grandparents. With no humans to confirm, Historians can only go by the haunting melody that some of the Dwen hum, and the mysterious tune that survivors of Drömir lands will hear in the depths of the mists.

Variations & Mutation

There are dozens of variations and renditions of the original Angel's Calling (which may itself be a variant). However one version of the song takes a different approach to what happened to the angels in those final days.
Our hearts filled with fear O angels don't come near Your faces your faces can you not hear?
Fallen from the starless skies on high Eyes hollow and empty as the sky Without your love our ending is nigh...
These are the only two stanzas that translate into any sense, the rest falling into mindless babble.

Cultural Reception

While Drömir culture is all but dead and gone, with only Historians to puzzle over the rare finding, there is one culture in Erastur who have taken a special interest. The Fae of the Eternal Forest have traded great treasures for Drömir artifacts and texts. Some have even claimed that the Fae have erected carved wooden statues of the Glutton and her fallen angels within the villages.
This eagerness to learn the secrets of the darkened realm have earned the Fae a tense relationship with Æ'ur. The Prince feels that nothing good can come from unearthing the secrets of the Mad Goddess...

In Art

In the heart of the Eternal Forst, in a Fae village called Isranther, are said to be a collection of statues. These statues are supposed to represent Sva'lia, the Glutton of Stars and her fallen angels turned into warped creatures of madness. These statues are made from carved wood, and depict gruesome figures and transformations of the angels.