The Arts

With so many clans and cultures rubbing shoulders, artistic expression is as varied as you can imagine. From lissa songs and water dances, to kipsang puppetry and written word, shared crafts and traded techniques, the full breadth of the arts can hardly be covered in its entirety. This page will detail broad strokes and points of interest.

Performance, Dance, Storytelling, and Acting

Flowing from generation to generation, nested in hearts and held waiting to spring forth, stories are the lifeblood of any people. There are many ways in which stories are told across Arra.

Foundational is the art of spoken words. Simple, convincing language is enough to evoke thoughts of brave heroes and grave misfortunes. With just one's tongue, an audience can be taken on an adventure that breathes, flutters, and even quickens the blood.
Further this with visual embellishments, or music, and you have a performance that will catch attention by the scruff. Additions such as makeup or props, or actors playing out a rendition of scenes, serve to elevate a tale from interesting to captivating. Though, many still prefer the simplicity of telling a story plainly.

Lissa have been using their voices to chronicle history and myth for thousands of years. Oral storytelling has been a vital key to preserving and communicating what has come before. Kipsang, conversely, have made use of pictures to convey meaning alongside, or even in place of speech, for equally as long.
It is no surprise then, that throughout the many points of cultural contact and exchange, clans of all kinds have found ways to bridge the two ancient throughlines of storytelling.
Take for example a pair of storytellers, one a lissa, orating, the other a kipsang, playing the protagonist of the tale. Let's say the lissa comes from a cultural background wherein stories keep to a beat, and thus has a drum handy to pound out a steady rhythm to. The kipsang, meanwhile, hailing from a clan that embellishes costume with bells and clacking ornaments, adds to the soundscape with each movement. Together they tell the story of a warrior challenging many dangerous beasts, and their joined efforts paint a thrilling atmosphere!

One's own body is a wonderful tool in any performer's arsenal. To dance is to show off the dedication to train and coordinate movements in a meaningful way. To punctuate music, to express memories and ideas in a physically engaging practice.
Costumes, accessories, worn instruments, rods... dancers utilize many things to color their performances and draw the eye. Some elements are more visual, such as streamers, tassels, flags, cloth, masks, paint, and feathers, while others produce all manner of sounds when jostled or struck in order to tickle the senses of the audience.
While dances and all related ornamentations are used frequently in storytelling, as explained above, dance is a strong artform in its own right.

A kipsang performer playing the role of a two-headed hero, and a lissa storyteller reocounting an underwater epic. (By Winn)

Music

Music is a beast of many forms. Depending on the performer, it could range anywhere from strictly vocal to a highly complex percussive rhythm. It might be best to start with instruments themselves. They are categorized thusly:

Vocal: Nearly everyone possesses the first: a voice, which makes this the most common instrument of all. Through shouts, guttural chuffs, yips and yowls, barks, whoops, humming, etc., songs can be performed entirely with one's throat, regardless of species. Though, lissa possess an extraordinary vocal stamina and powerful volume due to their anatomy.
Additionally there are forms of instrument that amplify or distort vocal expression, typically "tubes" one can vocalize into.

Percussive: Anything that required being knocked, struck, stroked, beat, shaken, rattled, or thumped to produce its intended sound is a percussive instrument. Wooden chimes are an example of a pitched percussive instrument, producing various tones, while drums are an example of a pitchless instrument.
Drums are composed of animal skins stretched over hollow "shells", often dried gourds or tuga shells. They can be struck with the forepaws, the tail, sticks...etc. to produce a resonant sound.
Rattles are handheld (or tailheld) shaker instruments with various forms. Sand filled nutshells and hollowed pits, sticks strung with seashells and stones, and more. Some rattles are even crafted from the skulls of animals.
Chimes are any pitched percussive instrument that carries a different sound depending on where they are struck. Windchimes knock against each other when blown by the wind to passively create pleasant tones, while a drumchime must be actively played by striking specific points of the instrument with sticks or, for those who can manage it, claws.

Stringed: Stringed instruments are played by strumming lengths of cord strung against a frame. String material may include woven cord, sinew, hair...etc.

Blown: Blown instruments are defined as being played via blowing into the body of the instrument

Generally instruments are simple in make and play, making them fairly accessible and therefore often iterated upon through various cultural channels.

A hollow gourd rattle strung with shells and a roc shaped croaker. (By Winn)

Markmaking, Drawing, and Painting

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Chicory, a kipsang artist perched atop a romantic drawing of his own creation. (By Searrach)

Carving and Sculpture

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