A mid-Themis innovation, Octave, the All Vowel Castle (the "basic miracle of musical fortification") evolved to serve a range of purposes throughout the continent, the most significant of which were military, administrative, and domestic. Although primarily a defensive structure, this eightfold fortification also featured offensive tools (such as half or double frequency towers and the harmonic keep) which could be used as a base for launching raids into enemy territory. In continental Eris, the All Vowel Castle begun to lose it’s military significance due to the emergence of the Echoes-in-Exile and the advent of permanent acoustic artillery, as a result, Octave became more important as a statement of power and a secure location for the outcast aristocracy to entertain their peers.
As the Echoes-in-Exile established their rule, the appearance and acoustics of Octave begun to reflect the prestige of its occupying parties, and a comfortable pitch (also referred to as the “just intonation” or “perfect interval“) was often fashioned with the walls. At it’s peak, the castle was an influential social center for articulatory members of the culture (those fluent in raised and nucleic speech, the self-professed “All Vowel Class”), as well as a resonating structure for pronounced demonstrations and phonetic displays. Although the structure still provided protection from low levels of violence and aided in control of important routes of acoustic exchange, it’s essential and symbolic purpose was to evoke the sense of open vocal harmony that was aspired to among the Echoes-in-Exile and other representatives of the expelled aristocracy.
To distinguish Octave from similar structures of the continent, it is important to emphasize not only the structure's rich cultural legacy, but its architectural accomplishments as well. Due to inharmonicity caused by contours of the surrounding landscape, the thickness and tension of Octave arrowslits and walls could be adjusted to widen or shrink interior intervals very slightly, a restorative constant which allowed for particularly strong acoustic towers. In addition, the conceptualization of pitch as having three dimensions and the concentric cardinal design were first introduced by the castle’s construction. The term “concentric” is somewhat misleading however, as it was not meant to imply that Octave was circular, rather that it was a cross-partition of circularity itself. This castle nested within castle architecture was an attempt to represent the true conviction of equivalences, and the Echoes-in-Exile would come to control it without visible hesitation or vulnerable horizon.
Never would pass with a voice like that. Not at that pitch, starting from scratch and dying on contact, a fortification of control needed to keep it in key.
We had to be careful, spent enough of our life listening for emergencies, could even hear the echoes of them in our sleep. What gets mistaken for paranoia can often become a recurring chorus.
It was a fortress coming down, every time we opened our mouth. Not a tell, an eternity of tells. Too many octaves thick, like a fortification built barely above ground, no way else around it.
Didn’t give them a name, didn’t even try to fake one. Whispered only to remind myself the castle had the highest turnover of any afterlife (excluding Heaven).
Exile was not a location, it was our only chance.
We made sure the rooms were clear of cratering sounds. Climbed up and down a crowd of stairs, listened for any kind of echolocation to force our way forward. Kept it one floor at a time, caved in what acoustics we could, imagined reconstructing ourselves from decaying corridors and dismantled harmony.
Just kept hoping, maybe by the next room, maybe by the next room.
Covered our throat in cut black cloth. It was almost easy to forget the way an afterlife finds its mark.
Architecture was broken down by amplitude of aftermath, altered pitch and octave correction.
On either side of speech, there were levels of hesitation to be cleared out, tossed from the closet, or rephrased entirely. We practiced alone, in asymmetrical scales, obtuse angles, and unequal temperament. We recited the same empty notes until we had control of what made them whole.
Respiration (power source). Phonation (sound source). Resonance (sound modifier). Articulation (speech modifier). Prosody (melodic aspects of speech).
Prisons beneath a new keep, often artificial or without origin and purpose. Locked there, alone and no one listening, I taught myself the phonetics of war.
If echoes darkened before we were ready, and they were, what else was there to do? Arrowslits, curtain walls, under construction could only hold on so long.
Spoke as soft as we could, still sounded like a construction site crashing down, tooth and nail clearly showing. Still left us unprotected, naked, vulnerable to attack. Mostly, we didn’t speak at all.
Wasn’t enough to form a new octave defense, we had to make it work through effect, deflections, edgework. We had to assemble material at an elevation we could hardly reach.
How do you attack a castle? Slowly. Carefully. Not all at once. A siege from inside, ongoing in silence, echoes of exile alive and on your side.
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