#{ oratorios sing of truth 🎶 verse 🎶 }

[macuilsung]

@sakuradreamerz​:

Claire was busy sketching to relax when she hears..'Music?'

It didn't take long to find Forwin practicing his music near the fish pond. 'How...lovely...wait, I should leave him be...'

As quiet as she could the former Royal Messenger started to return to her sketching spot. But no sooner did she walk 10 steps away...

"ACK!"

THUD!

...that she face planted into the grass. Curse you random sticks!

Okay, that didn’t sound like nothing. With both that cry and the audible thump into the ground catching his ear, further strumming ceased and his lute settled once more against his back as Forwin rose to his feet to inspect their source. He knew there was someone close by before, but he didn’t think his mystery audience would wind up injuring themselves!

Still, at least this beat letting his thoughts spiral deeper into dark and unanswerable questions. Time to reel in his runaway mind by giving it something else to focus on...

...and that something else was sprawling out face down in the grass. More specifically, it was someone else who left King Garon’s side and abandoned Castle Krakenburg, same as he did. Did she trip on something? It was hard to see in the night and discern whether she had, but still he asked his fellow traitor to the throne: “Are... you alive down there, Claire?”

[macuilsung]

@afrdrk​​ sent via Winter Ball Starters (open!):

“Even covered in snow the gardens are beautiful!” from kaden !

Sure, it was beautiful. The slow snowfall, glittering white blanketing the earth, winter season decor popping up around the astral fort... All of it was truly a marvel to behold to the human eye. There, Forwin would not find it in himself to argue with company.

But it was a shame it couldn’t only be just beautiful, it simply had to be freezing today in the Deeprealms too.

“I... can’t really play like this, though,” lamented the court musician, lute tucked behind his back as he wandered about with the kitsune... and he found himself envying how Kaden can walk about with his chest exposed and supposedly not feel a thing. “How are you not shivering like that, Kaden?”

[macuilsung]

@gallant-gained​ said via SEND ❓+ A QUESTION AND MY MUSE HAS NO CHOICE BUT TO ANSWER TRUTHFULLY (open!):

❓+ "What is a song that you hate but everyone else seems to love?"

“You know, Little Prince, before I was found on the streets of Windmire... I actually lived in a monastery for a couple of years.” The court musician began, taking the time to inspect his lute’s strings and tune them accordingly as he opened up about his past. To hear Forwin speak of his past was a rarity in and of itself! Perhaps Siegbert simply caught him in a nostalgic mood?

“For a portion of my life, I was taken in by men and women of the clergy. I was alone, and had nowhere else to turn to at that point, so I was offered sanctuary. The shelter I’ve been given wasn’t... the most ideal one, granted, but I managed. I was alive, and I had my lute to keep me company. Let me tell you one thing about my time with the Church though, Your Highness...”

“...you get a little sick and tired of hearing the same old liturgical music over and over and over, surrounded by people who hardly went out of their way for variety to begin with, if it didn’t fit the dogma. After a while, it all started to blur together—hardly a new composition despite its long history!—and got so stale and homogenous so quickly.” As simple as that, memories sharply upended the lutist��s mood from wistful and melancholic, to worn down and annoyed.

“Not to say I wasn’t devout or anything, but as someone who grew up on a variety of folk songs and stage productions... it all got so boring, Siegbert! The only upside I wound up appreciating was the cathedral’s acoustics. Same lyrics, same songs, same melodies, all echoing through the walls and committed to memory, whether you like it or not by nonstop repetition... I wouldn't call it fun.”

At least the songs sung at the Wilting Rose afterwards served as a well-appreciated palate cleanser... even though the food wasn’t.