Ekho

The eastern of the two cliff-perched cities, Ekho and Verse, that overlook the Earthfall Vale. A home for the free-spirited artist, punk rocker, slam poet, or interpretive dancer, it is the location of the famed, and rival, Bardic College Sound and Form to that which is located in Verse, which favors the traditional and classical musical and artistic teachings.
The city was so named for the manner in which even their avant-garde expressions must carry with them literal echoes of the originals in order to carry any magic and power. Many believe this is not a literal meaning regarding content, but that the traces that exist in the inspiration, spirit, and intent behind the artistry. After all, it is not unheard of for a less classically trained entertainer to birth a never before known experience or enchantment. Those classically educated in the ways of magic may not want to admit that success can come from such blundering endeavors and write them off as anomalies, but in these cases it does in fact seem that magic does care about your feelings...
By no surprise, Yio, The Breath and Song, is the favored deity among those residents who carry faith, though not all do. Those that do, tend to do in non-traditional clerical manners, as temples to him are rare. Private studios, public festivals, music halls, inns, taverns, workshops, inns, taverns, and the like, are plentiful, and serve conduits for worship, praise, and invocation.
Architecture: Varied mediums, styles, colors, as many artists design and construct their own. The city backdrop is a hodgepodge of clashing and twisted shapes and colors, much akin to a piece of work from abstract expressionist.
Commerce: Art, Entertainment, Tourism, Bardic College
Population: Human, Half-Elf, Halfling, Gnome,
Society: Artisanal Republic, Commune/Commonwealth
Miscellany: Between Ekho and Verse, there are famed formal and informal music competitions where schools from rivaling cities have a battle of the bands that spans the chasm. Verse begins by choosing a piece of music and sending it across the Earthfall Vale. Ekho then responds by echoing back their remixed version of the same music.
As a city that incorporates art into its daily life, also incorporates it into their political structure. A city wide art festival is held bi-annually, and the winner of that festival, sits on the council for the next two years, to direct its artistic direction for the next term.
Post Fall: The all encompassing global changes have exerted their effects on the entertainment industry as well. The heavy presence of returned souls in the forms of deities has polarized both the practitioners and expression: Both dirges and hymns, as well as harbingers and choirs have become more prevalent, to herald either the end of days, or hope of salvation. Reports of invoking spirits of the dead, higher and lower planes, with music and art, have increased. Fortunately, none of these occurrences have ended in more than overly stimulated spectators who temporarily went weak in the knees.