Timestamp: 12 Summer, 513
Of the things that Litani was beginning to love best about Riverfall, its acoustics were absolutely among the top few. On the second tier, every balcony and courtyard seemed to have its own view of the Suvan, its own garden, its own soaring and vaulted ceilings that were open-air and yet somehow seemed to echo sound as if created to broadcast music to serenade the sea below. Standing on the terrace of the Pearl House where she'd found temporary lodging, looking out over the water and hearing the way her voice played off the walls of the domed structure, Litani made a decision.
It had taken her several days to find exactly what she was looking for, but then, Riverfall was not the bustling metropolis that Syliras had been. And there had been no way conceivable that she could transport her instrument from the house of her mentor to her new home, across miles and miles of unforgiving wilderness and grassland. Not without an exorbitant expense. Instead, she had left the beautiful, masterwork pedal harp in safe keeping against the day when she might return to reclaim it and pick up where she'd left off. Until then... this would have to do. And it would do well.
The golden-haired Konti sat now in the gardens of the Pearl House, nestled before a slender, pale-wooded triple harp that was big enough to have to rest on the ground but not so large as to be immovable by her hand. For all that, however, it was still a formidable sight - this was not an instrument that one held in one's lap, or commanded without a thought. Rather, she used the strength of her right shoulder to balance it and its frame moved gently with her every time her reach extended across the strings. Its triangular shape was perfectly cut, allowing her long arms to reach every note but also settling into her body's frame without overly causing strain. Although this detail would probably be lost unless one knew what one was looking for, the instrument was indeed a triple harp, strung with 3 sets of strings and lacking levers or pedals, giving the instrument a kind of makeshift flexibility in pitch and tone that compromised range slightly in exchange for ease of transport and simplicity of operation.
Unfortunately, it also meant that the harper would have to learn her instrument all over again.
Be that as it may, Litani's nimble fingers picked their way over the trio of string sets and she sat with her eyes closed, just listening... feeling. The series of notes that tripped free of her hands was not a musical piece, not as such, but rather a musician introducing herself to an old friend. It was a private, yet public, undertaking, for she appeared as lost in concentration as was possible to be, yet there she sat on the terrace, able to be seen and heard by any who passed by. It did not seem to matter. Only the conversation between herself and the harp was in her mind now, and all else was, for once, and mercifully... quiet.
