the Skyward Chorus

“We do not weep alone. The Root remembers. The sky sings louder than the wind.”
— Dream-Scribe Vel Iolthar, 9th Lamentation

Overview

The Skyward Chorus is a spiritual order of empaths, dream-scribes, vinebound seers, and memory mediums. They dwell within the towering canopies of Aqualar, where the Singing Root—a sentient, ancient vine that predates all written grief—grows suspended between floating isles and cloud-fed soils. The Chorus believes that all sorrow leaves a resonance, and it is their divine task to interpret, absorb, and give purpose to grief.

In contrast to scholars or priests, the Skyward Chorus does not seek answers—they seek resonance. Their paths are guided by shared sorrow, ancestral dreams, and an ethic of spiritual empathy that transcends race or factional boundary. The Chorus trains some of Aeternum's most spiritually attuned nonviolent agents, and are considered holy by some and dangerous mystics by others.

Core Tenets

Grief is the root of growth.
No sorrow is solitary.
The sky hears what the earth forgets.
Harmony must be woven, not demanded.
The Singing Root must never fall silent.

Known Roles within the Chorus

Vinebinders – Devotees who physically tend to the Singing Root, feeding it memory through ritual lamentation and trance.
Dream-Scribes – Chroniclers of grief-visions transcribed from the Singing Root’s tendrils. Their books are not read but felt through contact.
Root-Voiced – Empaths capable of syncing with the Root and channeling its ancestral echoes in song, often used in rites of passage or reconciliation.
Sky Speakers – Rare members who interpret the silent grief of the clouds and cast emotional weather across Aqualar’s floating isles.

Structure & Hierarchy

The Chorus is governed by the Triad of Weavers, each representing a principle of mourning:

The First Weaver of Lament – Preserver of old grief and keeper of the Sorrow Archives.
The Second Weaver of Mercy – Mediator of conflict, grief-reclaimer, and teacher of empathetic resolution.
The Third Weaver of Bloom – Gardener of new sorrow, guiding members to transform their pain into creation.

Below them are the Choral Threads, members ranked based on their ability to bear, transmute, and harmonize pain.

Associated Classes

Skycarver – Agile emotion-sculptors who bind grief into cloudform energy.
Wyrdchanter – Spiritual singers who bind echoes into song-magic.
Chorusbound – Ritualistic mediums who become vessels of shared sorrow for communal healing.
Veilrunner – Infiltrators and grief retrievers who rescue suppressed or stolen emotions.

Important Locations

The Rootwake Hall – A vast vine-temple woven entirely from Singing Root and grief-fed flora. It is said each knot is a memory.
The Loom of Breath – A suspended sanctuary where members meditate and weave their dreams into aerial glyphs using thread-spores.
Cloudtender’s Span – A training span where Skycarvers practice in near-freefall, guiding winds and emotions together.
The Violet Silence – A secret shrine where Root-Voiced weep for the forgotten sorrows of Aeternum. Access is forbidden without invitation.

Relations to Other Factions

Allied with:
- The Whispered Path (due to shared metaphysical respect for echoes and sorrow)
- The Altarbound (ritual crossovers and shared vision of memory sanctity)
Cautiously opposed to:
- The Ledger Guild, whose emotional detachment they see as unnatural.
- The Emberleaf Conclave, who they believe misuse grief as fuel rather than healing.

Secrets and Rumors

The Singing Root may have once been human, transformed by unprocessed grief left behind before a Convergence.
Some say the Chorus is trying to grow a second Root in secret—a dangerous act if true, for it could unbalance Aeternum’s memory weave.
A failed ritual during the last Bloom Cycle caused a floating isle to fall—its grief storm still drifts, mutating thoughts within miles.