Song of Snake-Boy: The Cobra and the Secretary Bird

[prettypretties]

[this entry is about culture, folklore and entertainment, it is not about facts or answers. it's just for the enjoyment of readers.]



a huddle of magical creatures, representatives of the group known as the prettypretties, gather around. they're led by a friendly feather drake named ika and a gentle lichenthrope named deadwood. together they offer the use of a specially-enchanted scrying stone. peering into the stone, you can catch a glimpse of a possible future.

you see a sun-scoured voltar landscape beneath a distant starry night. gathered around a low glimmering campfire is a mixed-species group. you see several atienos, and their companions are a number of dark-skinned, bright-robed humans. they're exchanging story and song beneath the stars, and as you watch, about five of the humans together with one atienos begin their performance.

the humans play hide drums of various sizes, shake sticks of bells, clap their hands and dance around the atienos. as they do, the atienos sings in a lively, playful voice and crafts entrancing visions in the air, flickering flowing lights forming shapes to tell the story. every verse or two the human voices join the atienos' voice in an excited chorus. this is the song you hear them sing.


[atienos:]
snake-boy slither through the night,
wiggle windy ways,
bring many joy, rare delight,
when a magi pays.

what a nice snake-boy,
sweetest sneaky face.


bird-man got a fancy stop,
on the big road,
sharp eyes and a magic drop,
make the words flow.

what a keen bird-man,
secrets he know.


[all:]
moon gleam bright and a whisper in the brush,
magi celebrating in a rush, rush, rush!
keen eye watch the fuss, follow snake-boy.


[atienos:]
bird-man doesn't like the snake,
plotting birdy ploy,
set trap with a shiny bait,
tasty snake-toy.

tricksy-turn bird-man,
betray slippy-boy.


[all:]
bird-beak snap on a little curly snake
lift in the air and a shake-shake-shake!
quick! coil birdy beak, little snake-boy!


[atienos:]
snake-boy got so many friends,
swift and unafraid,
creatures of all kinds descend,
sneak to his aid,

slither-sly snake-boy,
allies he made!...


...the vision fades before the song is over, you can still hear the faint sound of drums and singing dwindling away as the voltar night vanishes. sadly, the prettypretties need more time - months or years perhaps - if they are to infuse the stone with enough power for a longer vision. but they hope you have enjoyed this brief glimpse into one possible future, where the story of Alethin's recent escapade has made its way into folklore in a new and imaginative form.

perhaps one day, if we're all very lucky, the prettypretties may be able to show you the whole song.

[prettypretties]

[notes:]

we're disabled in a way that makes thinking and speaking very difficult, and english is not our first language. it takes us a very long time (months or years) to write things like this, so the song itself is unfinished because of the deadline and our disabilities.

in case anyone can't tell what the answers are that the song is giving to the challenge questions, we'll list some translations here. we're doing this because the song is in a cultural vernacular that many english speakers won't necessarily catch all the meanings of, and some of it relies on cultural associations that western folk often don't have access to, and some which are made up for the purpose of this little snippet of fantasy entertainment.

we aren't covering everything, there are still a lot of meanings we don't have the energy to list and translate here. and the translations we are giving are somewhat minimal and not hugely explanatory for the most part, because it's so tiring for us to do this. please feel free to interpret your own meanings! that's what the song is for! :D

for anyone who prefers to use their own interpretations, we're putting our answer translations under a spoiler tag so you can avoid them.

Spoiler

q1: who set Alethin up?

a1: verse 2, the one that begins "bird-man got a fancy stop", is describing Remy.


q2: how?

a2: verse 3, the one that talks about Remy setting a trap with a 'shiny' bait, is describing Remy using secret contacts to anonymously sell Alethin an illegal kind of breeding potion that was disguised as a legal, but experimental, exciting and rare new breeding potion. chorus 2, the one that starts "bird-beak snap on a little curly snake", is describing Remy springing the trap by alerting authorities to Alethin's presence and the fact that he has illegal potions on him. (also worth noting is that the hunting technique described in the song is a cultural invention for the purpose of storytelling, rather than something secretary birds on earth necessarily do.)


q3: why?

a3: this is mostly subtext because of the culture of the singers and intended listeners - it's based on associations and interpretations that are common knowledge and very well known in their cultures. (the cultures in question being those of our imagined possible-future voltaran humans and atienos, which don't necessarily line up with magistream canon or any specific earth culture.)

the title of the song calls Remy a secretary bird, so with that information all that is needed is a quick mention of "bird-man doesn't like the snake" for the intended listeners to know that Remy's motivation is being described as such: he considers Alethin a threat to his livelihood, and also a potential source of 'food' if captured (food in this context meaning profit or gain - money, power, status, increased trade, that sort of thing). note that this is not a scientific representation of the secretary bird's actual motives, it's a cultural association and interpretation.


q4: how did Alethin escape?

a4: the fourth verse, which begins "snake-boy got so many friends" just before the rest of the song fades away, is beginning to describe the escape. it talks about many magi conferring secretly and pulling off a highly organised heist-type activity on multiple fronts to get Alethin released.

thankyou for reading, we hope you enjoyed! <3