This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/KyleKKent on 2024-11-01 23:41:48+00:00.

First

(I swear the damn word count is shrinking whenever I blink.)

Weight of Dynasty

“A sudden change?”

“Princess Tryti’Margat has bought last second tickets and is bringing a guest. A noble guest from the Homeworld.”

“Oh…” Arden’Karm says before thinking and then nodding. “Duke Hart’Ghuran. He came here with Morg’Arqun who grew The Lush Forest here on Soben’Ryd.”

“… Those forest memories are getting cooler and cooler. What else? What’s The Duke like?”

“Very serious, very dedicated and very intense. Compared to him the other nobles are just playing dumb games all the time and he’s trying to win.” Arden’Karm says. “I don’t think a concert is going to be to his liking. Although I can probably ask Morg’Arqun to ask him, he’s still connected to The Lush Forest.”

“Right… so…”

“We need a new song.”

“I got this!” Shar’Uran says rushing over and passing Arden’Karm a data-pad. “Same as before, translate it to Ancient Cindertongue and let it out low and slow.”

“She placed herself in a shallow grave. Her dresses like a body bag every day. No matter how she tries she cannot run away. And she must keep her regrets at bay every day.” He reads out as he slowly translates it then writes it down in the proper Ancient Cindertongue. Or rather tries to after he messes with the settings to activate the right characters for it.

“It makes it sound much more ominous.”

“Ancient Cinder makes a lot more use of Kah and Sah sounds.” Arden’Karm says as he looks at his only lyrics. Again, the refrain just to be repeated a few times in a slow and deep tone. “Are you sure people like this?”

“They love it. You’re going to be one of the most popular men on Soben’Ryd in no time.”

“… Thank the ancestors I can woodwalk away. And potentially to other worlds too…”

“Ohh! Think we could go there? I’ve always wondered what Serbow is like!”

“… Maybe? I’ve never woodwalked that far. I’ve not been a sorcerer for long.”

“Well considering that most of them don’t do much for like, ten years before revealing themselves I’d say you’re way more active than most.”

Arden’Karm huffs in amusement.

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“You know this is going to be a complete mess right? None of us even understand the language they’re going to be singing in.” Observer Wu asks.

“Well, I assume that they’re going to have some idea of rhythm and at least somewhat well trained voices, so that will be the enjoyable part. Besides, it doesn’t get more alien than songs about alien things in an alien language and has nothing to do at all with humanity.” Harold replies in English. “You’re here to observe, so let us observe how Apuk celebrate when they think no human is watching.”

The older man tilts his head and surrenders the point.

“So what kind of music do you think this is going to be like?” Javra asks.

“Apparently this group does a mix of genres and will shift who’s leading the song when they change them. They have bouncy pop music, classical, techno and more.”

“And what does that mean?”

“Pop music is whatever is popular in the here and now, classical is what was popular a long time ago. Techno uses a lot of synthesized machine sounds. Which has been popular in the past, is popular now and likely to be popular later.”

“… So all of it can be a bunch of computer beeps and shrieks?” Javra asks in a confused tone.

“It can be, it’s not guaranteed to be, but it can be.” Harold says. “But I think the fact they have a band member dedicated to Techno means they’re holding off the electronic stuff in it’s own category whether it’s popular, classical or otherwise. Probably.”

“Probably?”

“Who knows right? We won’t until we get there.”

“Am I the only one that actually looked up what the band sounds like?” Dumiah asks in amusement. Only one of Observer Wu’s bodyguards raises their hand.

“By the goddess…”

“I don’t think my grandmother deals with this kind of thing.” Giria teases.

“Not that one.”

“What does Lady Yserizen have to do with this?” Giria asks.

“Keep going, you’ll run into an immortal snake that’s big into music eventually.”

“Twelve of them last I heard. The Muss Ayss.” Giria says and Harold pauses before sharing a look with Observer Wu. “What’s that about?”

“Did they used to be nine in number for a long time?” Observer Wu asks.

“Yes. Why are you asking?”

“The Muses?” Harold asks.

“Maybe…” Observer Wu contemplates.

“The who?”

“In an old, but not the oldest civilization there were nine goddesses of art, poetry and music called The Muses. The society fell out of prominence two thousand years ago roughly. Very roughly.”

“… It’s moments like this that things get uncanny again. Null needs to be studied more because clearly your homeworld isn’t anywhere near as isolated as it should be in that screaming pit of death.” Umah says and Harold nods.

“Not as much as you’d think. Null IS Axiom, just too dense to be used and actively agitating the rest of the nearby Axiom to uselessness as it decompresses.”

“There is more to it than that though. We are able to build Axiom Tech on Earth and while it doesn’t fully power up it’s not completely non-functional. But if we try to get it off world it spontaneously detonates as it passes the Ozone Layer. Something we were even warned about. But for some reason we could build the components in an inert state outside of our world and they worked just fine when they were introduced to the wider galaxy.”

“Unfortunately the warning did not come with an explanation.”

“Of course not. It’s a poorly understood study that requires the brightest minds to even begin to understand. Null is just… weird. And dangerous, very dangerous.” Giria says.

“Hmm… dangerous.” Harold says as he finds that he’s been holding onto the handle of his sword. But he doesn’t know why.

“Something up?”

“I think so. But I can’t tell where it is or what it is.”

“You think there’s danger?” Observer Wu asks.

“Some part of me does, but which part I cannot say.” Harold says and Observer Wu nods.

“… You’re the one with the supposedly divinely granted battle instinct. Weapons ready guards. I want to see if this is more than just refined paranoia.” Observer Wu orders and his guard begin reaching into their jackets to check a few things and then nod.

“Well then, this might be interesting.”

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“Thank you.” Hart’Ghuran says as the door is opened for him. Graciousness never hurts. He takes a small device and places it on the edge of the box. It starts broadcasting. Unlike the live broadcasting it will give a unique view, something that the Yals children had insisted on. It wasn’t that they didn’t like the live broadcast. It’s that they thought that a ‘bootleg’ version of it would be better. It was silly and stupid, but there it was.

“And what is that about?” A voice asks from behind him and he turns to see that for some reason Tryti’Margat had been standing in the shadows. Thankfully she’s more tasteful than most and has gone for high quality custom made clothing rather than ostentatious to the point of sheer madness.

“I’ve hired on some younger employees to be courtiers to my children. The little troublemakers prefer ‘criminal’ recordings over legal ones.”

“But this concert is being freely broadcasted.” She says and he shrugs. “Are you sure if children that prefer to be criminals are best for your children.”

“That behaviour can be taught out of them. And if not, then they could make good spies and saboteurs to fulfill that urge.” Hart’Ghuran says as he sits.

“So you see potential in them?”

“It’s more what I don’t see, I do not see the hands of my political rivals upon them. Which is fertile enough ground for me to grow what I need from them.”

“I see… It’s remarkable that you’ve risen to the occasion in the way you have.”

“Oh?”

“Lost alone, left behind by a slaughtered family with only the ruins of what was, the few servants and a couple of marriages made in a political balance that no longer exists. By all rights, you should have been swallowed up and lost by now. Instead you took on all the strength of your ancestors and showed them how and why the Ghuran became nobles.”

“Thank you, although why you’re not looking closer to home for some possible connections is a bit of a mystery.”

“Oh don’t play ignorant. Although I do appreciate the attempt to play it cute. You’re exotic, but from the old blood. Strong and almost criminally under-married. I mean really, only three wives at your age?”

“Hmm… I was a bit in the busy stage of keeping things together. To be fair I still am. My trip here is the closest I’ve had to a vacation in quite some time.” Hart’Ghuran says before some movement on the stage below lets them both know that the show is about to begin.

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“Hello beautiful people! How are we feeling tonight!?” Urani Flyz asks the crowd and they roar in response. She is resplendent in a skirt hanging off her hips but flaring out to twirl with each step and movement around the knees. Her stomach exposing jacket gives her a pair of tiny wings on the back and it’s dark colours topped with the image of a bat hanging off her left horn and a hat balanced on the right completes the image. “We have some of our best ready for you and even more, we’re trying something new wi…

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1ghjato/oocs_into_a_wider_galaxy_part_152/