Echoes of Arelith (Poem)
Composed by Helneka, 185AR
So you seek songs, old tales untold,
And found this book of verses bold.
Within these pages, clues reside,
To melodies hidden far and wide.
As a bard, you know a tune or two,
But many more await your view.
Through trials faced and stories spun,
This book reveals where songs begun.
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The chorus known to bards of old,
Lies where the daring must be bold.
A dwarven tavern, long decayed,
Or a manor's peak, where fiends have strayed.
Then rings a Selfish Solo near,
A song for none but one's own ear.
A voice alone, yet full of might,
Echoing deep in silent night.
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Behind locked doors where secrets sleep,
A Pilfering Poem dares to creep.
Gilded verses, hushed and slight,
Slip through keyholes into night.
The noble dreams, the rhyme takes flight,
A stolen whisper, lost from sight.
Silent hands and shadowed tune,
Vanishing `fore the rising moon.
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In Saltspar's heart, where waves do crash,
A Sea Shanty hums with rhythmic splash.
Inside the Oculus, high and grand,
It watches o'er the Undrenzee's strand.
All sailors know this tune by heart,
A melody that won't depart.
A song of tides, both fierce and free,
Sung by those who roam the sea.
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Deep in the wells where embers sleep,
A Draconic Dirge begins to weep.
Scorched in sorrow, scaled in woe,
A hymn where only ruins grow.
Through caverns vast and shadows tall,
The dragon's grief still shakes the hall.
A song of ash, a whispered flame,
That speaks of wrath - but leaves no name.
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Where waters weave through stone so old,
A Healing Hymn in whispers told.
The mist-born tune, so soft, so bright,
Mends the wounds of fading light.
Upon Jormundul's rugged crest,
The song drifts down in hush, in rest.
A melody that time suspends,
Where river sings and sorrow ends.
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In Skaljard's winds, where snowflakes fall,
A Frostbound Round beckons to all.
Frozen notes on icy breath,
A dance of life, a waltz with death.
All bards know the song of cold,
A tale of winter, silent, bold.
Through frozen lands, its echoes churn,
Where frost and flame may never return.
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In the dark, where silence thrives,
The Sentinel's Song quietly dives.
Amidst the stone where statues stare,
A melody drifts through the slaver's lair
Beneath the earth, where watchers stand,
In the Deep Wells, across the land,
The song is sung with ancient might,
A call to those who watches the night.
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In the murk of the Underdark, where shadows fall,
The Slime's Serenade is but a distant call.
Some speak of it, others dare not try,
A song that oozes but may never fly.
Where it lives, none can say for sure,
Is it lost forever, or just obscure?
A serenade of slime, perhaps never sung,
Fading into darkness, where none have sprung.
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In Minmir's halls, where shadows creep,
A Masking Melody begins to weep.
Through dance of ghosts, the echoes glide,
Where undead waltz and spirits hide.
The music sways with haunting grace,
Veiling death's eternal face.
In the dance hall, where whispers play,
The song holds all, but leads astray.
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Along the Old Mine Road it winds,
A Traveller's Tune with restless signs.
By Guldorand, where paths are worn,
The first bridge greets the breaking dawn.
The melody calls to feet that roam,
Through dust and stone, far from home.
A song that beckons, soft yet clear,
To journey onward, free of fear.
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In Cordor's market, whispers gleam,
A Purser's Piece where traders scheme.
Silver gleams beneath the light,
As deals are struck in quiet night.
From Dis' Infernal, heat and flame,
To Sibayad's bazaar, none are the same.
The song entwines with merchants' cries,
A melody where truth belies.
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Within Whidershin's towering spire,
An Arcane Anthem calls to fire.
Wizards, sorcerers, bound by lore,
Weave their spells from ancient core.
In Guldorand, the Thayan halls,
The portal hums, a power enthralls.
A song of magic, deep and wide,
Where knowledge and the realms collide.
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In the Fey Mound, where the dead are laid
A Deceptive Ditty softly played.
Satyrs prance with tricks and glee,
Dancing `round the graves so free.
West of Minmir, where the waters weep,
The feyfolk sing, and secrets keep.
A tune that calls with dulcet sound,
To bury hearts within the ground.
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In Wharftown's ruins, where shadows cling,
A Lunar Lullaby starts to sing.
Once a temple, now a grave,
The shades of Sel ne softly wave.
Beneath the moon, where spirits sigh,
The lullaby drifts, a mournful cry.
Echoes of light in shadows deep,
A song to soothe, a song to weep.
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Deep in the Underdark, where light dares not creep,
The Miner's Melody whispers, though it may never seep.
Veiled in the stone, lost to the years,
A song that trembles through forgotten fears.
Some say it echoes in the caverns wide,
Others claim it's lost, nowhere to hide.
Its rhythm soft, perhaps never to be found,
A tune buried beneath the earth's cold ground.
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In Hearthwood's caves, where shadows twine,
A Ranger's Round begins to shine.
Through druid's whisper, roots take hold,
As nature's song in silence unfolds.
Beneath the boughs of ancient trees,
The melody drifts on the breeze.
A tune that calls to those who roam,
Guiding their path through forest's dome.
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Upon the Skull Crags, cold and high,
The Blacksmith's Ballad echoes nigh.
In ruins old, where anvils rust,
A dwarven forge now draped in dust.
A crazed gnome hums with fractured mind,
Golems stir, in silence blind.
The song of iron, lost in time,
A rhythm wrought from stone and grime.
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Through forest deep and mountain tall,
In halls of stone and ruins small,
The songs endure, though time moves on,
Arelith hums - its endless song.
The bard may seek, yet not all find,
Some melodies lost, some left behind.
But in the dark, where echoes weave,
A tune still waits for those who believe.