The Arts

Stories - Songs and Music - Poetry - Plays - Painting - Sculpture

Stories

Stories are a common way people in Arascon teach others about their morals, laws and life lessons. They are also used to pas on history. But, the most common stories are those used to entertain. In Arascon, people love exaggerated stories. Folk Tales often contain an element of truth, but are grossely expanded upon giving people outrageous abilities or features. These tales are used for Satire- a style Arasconians adore.

Folk tales are often passed on by word of mouth, but there are those who write them down. Since most Arasconians can read and write, local Folk Tales have found their way into common literature. Story telling is a common way many people entertain each other in the home and around camp fires.

Because stories are usually told in one sitting, most people prefer the short story or the parable. This has translated into books of short stories being compiled by writers, scribes and historians. Some writers have started composing novels, but they are not as popular as the compilations of short stories. Novels as seen as books that only the wealthy, the lazy and the intellectual elite have the time to read. However, many people read in general.

In some cities, local flyers are put together with the story of the month. These stories are passed around and sold on cheap paper for a few tin pieces. Sometimes, the stories are satire on local gossip, sometimes they are stories about the recent festival, and sometimes, they are just stories about nothing in particular. These local flyers raise the profile of local writers and storytellers and provide a steady income for them. Larger cities have several companies that produce these flyers.

The City of Amberlin-Pastine is a mecca for writers. Many of the most famous writers have hailed from there, though well known writers come from all over Arascon. One of the most famous writers was the Hermit of Boruch. No one kows his name, but everyone knows his stories. Other famous writers include: Pastin Jemima Gail, Stonewall Regan Fishtail, Banner Ovin Turi and Machen Selia Yufa. Well known contemporary writers include Pastin Wilbur Quilliam, Blackwell Marcia Gerta, and Lassur Wolfe Rebbur.

Folk Tales

Dame Regina's Prancing Steed - The Giant Squash - Blanket of Stars - The Stolen Tail - The Midnight Crier

Romantic Stories

Grettel and Percival - The Dream Fly - The Lover of Robin

Tragic Stories

Death in Whitefall - The Last Sunrise

Contemporary Stories

Twelve Days, Twelve Nights - Fly Away Kite - The Insane Jester

Above links coming soon....

Songs and Music

Singing is a very popular pastime in Arascon. Nearly everyone sings. Albeit, not everyone sings well. But as a whole, you'll find less tone deaf people in Arascon than other countries. From the time they are young until the time they are old, Arasconians sing with each other. Song is considered a holy art and to sing is to being you closer to the Gods- Sosen in particular. Song is also said to form bonds between people, bringing them closer together. Many people believe that those who sing well together can do anything well with each other.

Ballads are a common form of song used to tell a story. Most ballads are melodic and sung in the major keys with a transition to a minor, then back to a major key. Not all follow that formula, but all ballads tell a story.

Folk songs vary from place to place. Around Keth and Kach, the songs are upbeat, rhythmic and a bit bawdy. These songs are often accompanied by clapping, foot stomping and other things to simulate drumming should no drums be available. In the Northern plains of Arascon, Around Facil, the folk songs are slow and melodic- often telling a tale of woe. They are highly harmonized songs with many parts. Near Abernathy, in the Fertile Valley, the songs are often syncopated with heavy clapping and drumming, repeated phrases and rhythmic, melodic chanting.

Music is everywhere in Arascon. It is common for people to sing, clap and play instruments no matter what their profession is. Only the very best musicians get paid for being musicians. Because Arascon is such a musical country, people have very discerning taste about those who perform.

Many people compose short songs on a whim. It is a common pastime for children to create songs about what they are doing, lessons they are memorizing and tasks they have to learn. There are many songs about the Gods, many about heroes and many about farming and working.

Aside from Ballads and Folk Songs, another common song form in Arascon is called the Sartan. A Sartan is a song for two people who sing the same lines at different times, often end capping a verse together with a matching. Most Sartans are in 6/8 meter, but not all. Sartans are very popular at pubs and inn and often performed by a pair of singers along with a group of musicians.

Poetry

Arascon has several kind of poetry that are unique to the country. Each form has a specific structure. There are other forms of course, but the most common forms of Arasconian poetry are the Tarian, the Divine Duo and the Restring. Most Arasconian poetry contemplates both the soul and nature. It is common for Arasconian poetry to reflect upon the spirit's tie to the world.

Of course, romantic poetry is common as well. Because of the literacy rate in Arascon (about 70% of all Arasconians can read at least in Aras), words are often used to woo people. Usually poets use Divine Duos and Restrings as odes to a particular person.

Famous poets include Pastin Eloise Rowen, Pastin Gail Lily, Pastin Gabriel Luke, Blackwell Monty River, Grafton Lindel Travis, Fen Mason Vin Benji (commonly known as Sonvinji), Hadria Davin Garan and Millson Brandon Rone (commonly known as Donne). Well known contemporary poets include Pastin Delany Pen, Smither Jessi Mona Malca (goes by the name Inalca) and Tangood Soshen Don.

The Tarian

The Tarian is a poem that has eight in which each line has eight words. These poems are traditionally used to explore the soul and the spirit by comparing it to something in nature: a season, a plant, an animal, etc. However, in recent years, Tarians have fallen out of that habit and just kept to the structure.

This form of poetry first appeared around the rise of the Age of Spirit under the rule of Tama Toril. It is said that the High Queen enjoyed this form so much, that she paid people to teach it in the schools and would have readings of Tarians in her sitting room by local poets.

Example

Blooming Lytes

by Pastin Gabriel Luke

The field of blooming lytes opened my heart.

Small, yellow buds opened and showed me truth.

The bitter petals collected the early morning dew.

Each bead of water sparkled in the sun.

The beads reflect the color of the flower

The water reflects the color of the sky

The field of flowers sparkles with infinite color-

Reflecting the color, the feeling of my heart.

Divine Duos

The Divine Duo is the oldest poetry form in Arascon. It dates back to before the forming of the country. It is unclear where the form originated, but myth has it that Sosen was the one who taught this form of poetry to the first people of Arascon.

A Divine Duo consists of two lines with twelve syllables divided between the two lines. It doesn't matter how the twelve syllables are split between the two lines. The Divine Duo often contemplates nature or the gods with simple phrases. There a several subcategories of Divine Duos: Symmetrical, Rhyming, First Sound and Last Sound.

In a Symmetrical Divine Duo each line has six syllables – splitting the poem evenly. A Rhyming Divine Duo has two lines where the last word in each rhymes. A First Sound Divine Duo has one syllable in the first line and the remaining eleven are all in the second line. Conversely, a Last Sound Divine Duo has a single syllable in the second line and eleven syllables in the first line.

Example Standard

For Emily

by Handria Davin Garan

Golden hair, inner sunlight,

my heart shines for you.

Example Symmetrical

Torrent

by Inalca

Purple leaves, whistler song

Both carried on the wind.

Example Rhyming

Short Goodbye

by Grafton Lindel Travis

Though we try

Whitefall comes and the spirit will fly.

Example First Sound

For Minol

by Pastin Eloise Rowen

Bright

Evening sunset on the last hour of life

Example Last Sound

Bread of Life

by Underwood Malca Shanna

Blue river, cut wheat, the sound of mills turning

Life

Restrings

Restrings are probably the hardest form of Arasconian poetry to master. They originated as the House of Magen's way to show off to the House of Pastin. The Restring is considered the intellects poetry because of this.

The Restring is six lines long. The lines are split into two three line stanzas. The length of the lines doesn't matter, nor does the number of words. However, what makes this form of poetry so difficult is that the second stanza is a "restring" of the first stanza. Every word in the first stanza must be used in the second stanza. No extra words can be added, nor any word dropped between stanzas. For example:

The blooms and leaves dance on a tree.

can be "restrung" into

The tree leaves on a dance and blooms.

The words from the first stanza can be arranged into any of the three lines of the second stanza. This is a popular form of poetry in Keth and Amberlin-Pastine. Many students use it to show off their wit and intellect.

Example

Family of Thought

by Price Freya Gene Henna

Children Dance around my heart

And I float away, as if on water

This is my moment of ocmpletion.

And if my heart is on water

My children float away

As I dance around completion of this moment.

Plays

Plays are fairly common in large cities. In general, the larger the city is, the grander the production of the play. As you get away from the larger cities, the plays become simpler, involving less stage devices. Most cities have at least one theater or stadium where plays are performed. Large cities, like Whitegrove, Lilurline and Amberlin-Pastine, have countless theaters- most smaller, seating under a hundred people.

A purely Arasconian type of stage is called a Cella. A cella is a building with four walls, but no roof, leaving it open to the air. Instead of the audience sitting in front of the stage, the stage is around the outside of the audience. The audience sits on a rotating platform in the middle of the cella. Along each wall of the cella is a different scene of the play. This means that there are no stage crews changing props or sets between acts and instead, one act of the play moves seamlessly into the next, the audience moving in motion with the play. Some cellas are set up as an entire "city" and the audience literally rotates as the characters of the play walk through town, giving the impression of real movement.

There are common theaters as well, with a single stage in front of the audience as well as stadiums with a stage in the middle of staircase seating. Many plays written for cellas have been adapted for the common single stage. Stadiums, on the other hand, don't lend themselves to that sort of adaptation. In general, stadiums usually have long, single act plays.

Most Arasconian plays have singing and music on top of acting as Arasconians love music and song. Bellatiers are plays that the words are entirely in song and the actions entirely in dance. These plays are rare as people who are good enough to both sing and dance for an entire play (and be good enough to appease Arasconians in both areas) are rare. Currently, there are only two troops in all of Arascon that perform Bellatiers. The Actors are extremely skilled dancers and excellent singers- on top of being amazing atheletes. The most skilled Bellas (people who perform in Bellatiers) can complete a four act (usually 4 hours or so) play of constant song and dance without sounding out of breath by the end of the show. Bellas are usually trained from a very young age. One of the most famous Bellas of all time was Pastin Bella Lucianna Aqualina. It is from her that the play form takes its name and the actors take their title. She was famous in a time when women were still treated as inferior to men, making her triumph in the theater something unheard of.

For those who do not sing and dance at the same time, there are many other popular forms of plays. Satirical plays are very popular. Often those acting in satirical plays wear exaggerated masks of those they are emulating. If the satire has someone with a large nose, small eyes or big ears, these features are characterized by the masks. This means, that the actors must portray emotions without their face. While this is not as physically diminishing as Bellatier, it takes a skill that not many can pull off.

A current Satire that is rather popular in Amberlin-Pastine is called Ira and her Kite. For the first showing of this play, the two Black Dove Knights showed up much to the dismay of the theater troop, but they both approved of it, laughing at themselves along with the rest of the audience. Since then, they have been well regarded for their sense of humor and ability to laugh take a joke. The pair also make large donations to acting troops around the city, especially those who put on satires and other comical plays. People who are well known are often the source of material for these plays. This includes nobles, knights, other famous actors, the rich and legends. Most people take the Satires about themselves well, considering it an honor (though not all of them can laugh or show up to them).

A popular play can run for years in a city and then travel to other cities and play for several more years. The best plays are performed by many different troops. If a troop leader is skilled, they adapt the play for the style of their troop. This makes for interesting and fun shows. No two troops perform the same play in the same way, thus making the art evolving and ever-changing.

Painting

There are four major styles of painting in Arascon. The two most popular styles are highly stylized and involve bold black lines. The four schools of Painting are Bedoin, Kalied, Realist, and Heroic. The first two styles are the most prevalent in Arascon because they were developed there.

The Realistic style is the oldest style in Arascon, dating back to before the founding of the country. This style of painting shows things for how they are. This movement of painting tries to only show truth- down to every last mar or pimple on the skin of the subject. By conveying reality, Realist painter think that they are capturing the true beauty of the world.

From the realist movement, sprung the Heroic movement of painting. These paintings portray the subject not as the truth, but rather as a more polished, perfect version of themselves. This style developed probably out of consciousness for the pocket book. Not every ageing noble matron wants to see themselves in truth, so, they ask the artist to cover a wrinkle or an age spot here or there. Some people consider the heroic form a form of vanity. Other say that it captures the soul of a person rather than their face.

The Kalied style is also incredibly old. It is a free form art style with bold black lines. The images portray nothing in particular, but instead try to convey a feeling. This form takes a geometric shape, and then fills it with black lines and occasionally sparse color. The lines are bold and flowing, forming shapes within the larger shape. What is important to this art form is the flow. Things must portray an emotion without using known objects to do so.

A famous Kalied artist once said, "This form of art can be even harder than painting a truly realistic face because you must capture truth without the use of that face." This art form grew out of the Isle of Amero and spread over the entire country. This piece, called The Single Moon by Arsin Bijou Gabriel, is typical of Kalied artwork.

The final form, Bedoin is a combination of heroic, Realist and Kalied. It combines elements of reality with heroic features and bold black lines to convey a flow. It uses elements of nature and of emotion to portray its subjects. It was developed by Pastin Bedoin Tertek and is currently the most popular form of art in Arascon. Because it is so much younger than the other art styles, it is sometimes called "New Art". This piece, by Bedoin is called the Stork and the Eagle.

Sculpture

Sculpture is very common in Arascon. Since Arasconian pottery is the finest in the world, it would only stand to reason that clay sculpture is just as good. Many potters don't actually make pots, instead, they make sculpture, busts and decorative plates.

Since glass is exceedingly rare in Arascon (and thus very expensive), most things are made from ceramic, including painted windows, wine glasses and even mirrors. Ceramic windows are a very popular art form for sculptures. Sculptures have made ceramics strong enough to withstand the elements and able to open and close regularly without breaking. The Sculptured windows are often made with images of the gods imposed upon them, or other things, like trees, vines, animals etc. These windows are then glazed and fired to produce vibrant color.

It is a sign of status and taste to have these ceramic windows on your house. So, there are many sculptures that do nothing but make them. It is common for people to have matching windows, but, it is said that no two things may be exactly alike, to there is always some difference in the 'matching' windows. It is a child's game to look at the windows and pick out what doesn't match in them.

Making statues of the Gods is also very common, especially around All Gods Day. How each artist portrays the God changes, but usually, each one has the symbol of the God somewhere on the statue to it is clear which God is which. Most families have a set of these statues used for All Gods day, but also set up in a small family altar for the rest of the year. These statues can be very detailed and are usually glazed and painted quite intricately.

Another common thing sculptures do is make fountainheads. Instead of stone, most of the fountainheads you see are made of ceramic. The same goes for large statues. To make these large pieces is very difficult because clay dries out and cracks and making the large statues without using a cast is truly an masterful thing to do. There are few artists who have mastered the true art of this. More commonly, artists make pieces individually, and then 'build' the statues from them. This however does tend to leave the tell-tale lines at the joints.

In Arascon, sculptures are plentiful. Arascon is known for it ceramics and pottery. Because of this, even unskilled sculptures in Arascon are still quite good and would be considered masters anywhere else in the world. So, even mediocre Arascon sculptures can make quite a lot of money selling their art work outside of the country.