*The Loresong of The Stone Teardrop by Nofret Hrist [#v23f45f5]

Nofret sings:~

"Stone teardrop born of priestess' grief~
Of sorrow and pain beyond belief..."~

As you sing, you feel your melody surround and caress the teardrop. The~
resonant tones spread lacy tendrils of magic out, seeking knowledge of the~
stone teardrop like a gentle lover. The initial impressions are faint, merely~
a whisper of a past veiled in time and dust. While you sense no magical~
abilities in it now, you are aware of an imprint within it, left by magic's~
association at some point in its journeys.~

As your song ends, the curtain of its influence fades gracefully away.~

Nofret sings:~

"Loresing Stone teardrop born of priestess' grief~
Of sorrow and pain beyond belief~
Tell of secrets that you hide..."~

As you begin to serenade the teardrop once again, your song takes on a more~
somber pitch, in keeping with the initial impressions the stone teardrop~
immediately sends back in response to your melody. You know instantly that it~
is definitely not magical in nature. It is a curious thing, this small~
teardrop. While it is a simple stone, you sense the teardrop is more... a~
frozen moment, or perhaps a memory, stolen from the clutches of time's~
relentless passing. It holds within its heart a synthesis of emotion,~
rendered into a form that is pure and liquid in nature.~

Just as that realization blooms in your mind, it becomes a flower of~
understanding. The beautiful outer form of the teardrop is a mere shell~
encasing a single drop of a complex mix of emotions! You sense sorrow~
certainly, but combined with that is mercy and hope as well. Your song leaves~
you with a sense of wonderment at the stone teardrop.~

Nofret sings:~

"Loresing Stone teardrop born of priestess' grief~
Of sorrow and pain beyond belief~
Tell of secrets that you hide~
Of hope and mercy deep inside..."~

The timbre of your song now seems familiar with the teardrop. Once your~
melody begins, the hum of its magic unites with the stone surface as~
seamlessly as two halves of a whole. You quickly delve into that intriguing~
heart of the stone teardrop you glimpsed before.~

Images respond to your query with a gentle touch. In your mind's eye, you see~
an image of a dark cavern. A small group of stone giants sit in a circle~
around a ring of stones. You sense they are broken in body and near to~
despair. Yet as they sit, you hear a strange resonance rise from the group, a~
song so foreign in sound, you inhale inadvertently in both surprise and~
delight. As the huge figures sing, you realize the giants are lifting a song~
in praise of joy and all the good things in life that so obviously have been~
stripped away from them.~

The song is haunting as well as beautiful. Despite its lack of almost~
everything conventionally associated with a musical composition, it surpasses~
normal boundaries of desirable quality and approaches the sublime.~

The image fades quickly. You realize with a start that you have been so~
transfixed by the giants' serenade that you completely forgot to continue~
your own melody.~

Nofret Sings:~

"Loresing Stone teardrop born of priestess' grief~
Of sorrow and pain beyond belief~
Tell of secrets that you hide~
Of hope and mercy deep inside,~
Tell of love strong beyond reason~
Of joy preserved beyond its season."~

You weave a final verse around the stone teardrop, by now looking forward to~
its communication with anticipation. It offers little resistance to the touch~
of your song's spell.~

Bringing its darkness and gloom close to your consciousness, the image of the~
circle of giants returns. The scene seems so real, you can feel the damp air~
against your skin and hear the hush of the underground shadows. The strange~
sound of the giants' combined voices rises and softens in a dramatic,~
sonorous flow. Finally the harmony ends, its final note a hollow drone that~
evokes a startling range of emotions from you.~

As the tone fades away, you realize one of the huge figures has slumped over~
in death. The others rise and begin to tend the body. As they do, you notice~
one of their number touch her wide, stone face as if capturing a tear from~
her eye. She extends the cupped hand and slowly opens it, palm up. There, in~
place of a tear, you see a small flicker, a pinpoint of light! The giant~
slowly extends the cradled glow toward one of the stone pillars in the ring.~
As she presses her hand against the rock, the wisp of light is absorbed into~
it.~

The vision fades with your song's last echo. It leaves you sad as well as~
amazed at the experience of glimpsing into the mysterious folds of the~
distant past.~


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Originally posted: http://web.archive.org/web/20021105210751/http://www.angelfire.com/rpg/beaconhall/stone_teardrop.html ~
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