The Lasting Arts of Avlis

Southern Avlis harbours many different kinds of art. Some of those are easily recognized: Bards that travel our cities are one very prominent part of this. They spread stories in the form of ballads, they create and perform music. But, there are also sculpting, the creating of stories, known as writing, people who craft wonderful poems, the dwarven art of metalworking, wood working and several other art forms.

I will now review a few of those art forms. Let me start with the more obvious ones. One which made it to quite some fame in Mikona over the last century is the creation of paints and sketches. This comes in again very diverse forms: One can use a myriad of different techniques and paints, ranging from charcoal to watercolors. There are murals and friezes, which are worked directly onto the walls of houses, charcoal sketches, pencil sketches, oil paintings.

For ease of reference, I will give all those forms the group name of "painting", although it's an inaccurate term. Of course, one will by now find many different works of this category in Mikona and it's outskirts, but it is in essence a foreign art form.

The Romini, who are by nature a nomadic folk, never expressed much in the way of fixing pictures onto permanent surfaces. There were of course the occasional sketches and works, but a big gilded frame with an expensive oil painting doesn't travel well. So the art of painting as we know it by now has evolved mostly in the Kurathene Empire. Of course, over the recent years, Mikona has brought forth a variety of artists in this field. But the main influences and styles came from the Kurathene.

Looking around the city one finds the works of Manuel de Barrke, Otto Hortenk or Selene Notara. A few of these are on display in the Great Library, and some noble houses have them too, and will show them if asked nicely. Even if one looks at contemporary artists, one can see that the most active painters and sketchers are of kurathene descent: Samuel de Barrke, the son of Manuel, the often very undeservedly unnoticed Ayren Milen, and of course my humble self.

Nonetheless, M'Chek is indeed growing a quite distinct style, which is very apart from the Kurathene one. This is mostly based on the different earths and plants found here: The very ingredients found here create much different paints.

Painting is what I consider one of the "lasting art forms". It is very separate of the art of performing music. A musician can only reach the audience that lives at the same time and place as himself. As soon as he stops playing, it is gone. The art of music is in it's performance, it lives in the moment it is created.

Parts of the art of music can of course be captured on paper, and performed later. But there are nuances, which cannot be recorded yet.

So "Lasting arts" are those that, once created have the possibility of staying around, as opposes as with this example The music of the great bard Bal Dorass, who lived in the times when Andrinor still walked on Avlis is reported to be the most wondrous thing ever. We have tales of how wonderfully Bal performed on his flutes, but we cannot witness it anymore.

On the other hand: Watching or listening a painter creating a new mural might be interesting, but isn't the same as watching the finished work. Thus the necessity of distinguishing of "lasting" or "creating" arts and the "performing" ones.

Interestingly enough, art exhibitions aren't very common yet. Painting is thought to be in a very "utilitarian" state. People order paintings to fulfil a certain function: Glorify their god, simply hide some spot on the wall. Which explains some part of why the styles are different between the Kurathene and in M'Chek.

In the cities of the Kurathene you will often find great frescoes and murals, to give the buildings a "wider" feel. Those often depict landscapes or great events. Whereas in Mikona portraits and smaller scale works prevail.

Now to leave the field of "lasting" arts for a moment and turn to the field of music. Music can be made a "lasting" art. But mostly we appreciate and note the performing part. Music is often divided into composing, singing and the playing of a specific instrument. Of course, in the actual performance, these skills act together. Thus we see bards that sing their own works, accompanying themselves on lutes or small harps. But then there are of course the favourite songs and ditties, beloved by the audience and thus a staple of most performers. Here the line between "lasting" and "performing" blurs.

For the composer it can be equally satisfying and frustrating to hear other people play ones own composition with their own twists. Or watching the apprentice bard stumble through the favourites. On the other hand, master bards are known to bring magic to the most boring ballads, simply by performing them exceptionally well.

Now, we know that music and songs aren't the only fields of bardic expertise. Often, like Hargas Steelhead for example, bards recite and write tales, poems or limericks. In many ways, they are the unofficial keepers of knowledge. So we have another art form, which not always is recognized as such: Writing. This intermingles with music often: It is not that uncommon that a poem or story later gets turned into a musical ballad or song. Often writing is considered one of the pure art forms.

Works of words, once fixed into a book are very lasting. Even if copied and handed out to others, even if just recited... the spirit of what the author wrote is still there. This is the ultimate "lasting" art. You can transform the results into many different other forms, and always recreate the original. Please, keep in mind that again I have chosen a broad term, "writing", to cover a great field.

The oral traditions of the Romini, where the exact rendition of an old story is important can be included here too. While some scholars express doubt that the Romini could precisely preserve a tale in this way as well as the written word, it works surprisingly well. Their oldest tales are actually over a thousand years old. When compared to what was written down in this period, they are surprisingly accurate.

But not every writing is art: Although it is tempting to view the gorgeously calligraphed legal documents of the T'Nanshi as art, their creators don't share this viewpoint. Still, although it is writing, it is more related to painting. But there is a very close relation to appearance and wording, so I consider it a mixed form. It is a very rare art, which is, if at all, only practiced in some elven communities.

Now, as you have seen, the written word is an important art as well as the spoken. The border is complicated even further by the fact it is heavily used in religious works,And even more in magical ones. Which leads me to "the art", as it is often named: Magic.

Here I must apologise in advance: Although I am occasionally dabbling in this field, I am not very proficient. There is a fine distinction in the day-to-day magic, as used by combat mages or those who simply utilise it, and the art of research and refinement. Of course, a simple light spell is known to most magic users - even I can produce it. But it turns to art if the mage in question tries to leave the boundaries of the utilitarian nature of this, but to rework it. Fellow mages call his works "art", if the spell or incantation expresses a certain style and elegance.

One of the leading figures in this field was the Sorcerer Darleonmune. Although clearly a bit mentally unstable, he managed to further the boundaries of what is possible, and how to express oneself with the use of magic. I suggest interested students should research the "Rainbow Order" and their archmage Prenzelum Darleonmune. But there are still other, more mundane arts.

One very traditional M'Chekian art form is sculpting. You will note that most houses that can afford it sport at least a few statues. The public places of Mikona are abundant with reliefs, statues and their like. Of course, the ready source of rock around us helps here quite a bit and the early inhabitants of M'Chek were all too eager to mould it to their liking. Where the Romini couldn't take art with them, they left it in the landscape. Where they settled they surrounded themselves with these. Most probably they learned the skills for this from the dwarves who used to reside here. So, today famous sculptors can always make a good living in Mikona, as their works are still in high demand. For those interested: Do visit the workplaces of Vol Arten at the docks, they are a must if you want to learn more.

Closely related to stone sculpting is wood crafting. The best works come of course out of T'Nanshi and, not surprisingly, Jechran. Although at first glance the techniques seem similar, there are very distinct differences. The tools needed are vastly different, as wood has a very unique structure. Also the results have often a much more organic shape and feel, not only because the material they are made of. Wood is a very emotional material, and there are tales of wooden artifacts that have "soaked up" the emotions of what happened around them. Again, wood working ranges a lot from the simple utility work to outright art. Not every table is a simple utility, but may be viewed as a piece of art if one learns to appreciate the works.

The art of woodworking is often considered to be a "live" one. It is not unusual that a later artist takes up the work of a predecessor to refine it. Especially the T'Nanshi bowyers have a very long tradition in this: Often bows are family heirlooms which get reworked after great battles or when handed down to the descendants. Thus, one can learn a lot of history when studying one bow.

Interestingly enough, the Jechran style of wood carving was very "in fashion" with Mikonas nobility, probably due to the very fine works of the Iron Mantis Monk Zachar Mordecai.

An often debated question is this of course: How to draw the line between "art" and virtually any skill? I would say that in the instant that someone does the extra effort to do something better or with more thought than actually necessary to get the purpose done.

Certainly, this is what art is actually about. If one looks hard enough, there is art and beauty in most things. And sometimes there is art in ugly or dark things too. As an example I can advise you to have a look into the temple of The'ton, where the mortal part of the life of The'ton is displayed in pictures and texts. Although the topic is often quite gruesome, it is done in a very distinct style and with great art. The trick about art is that one often has to separate the container with the content.

Although one should always take into consideration that it is precisely this that makes some things art, or that one might have reason to be wary of each and every content nonetheless. But this is something that everyone should decide for himself.