the music of kandarua'an.

(glossary word: SUNJI - all humanoid beings of the planet kandarua'an)1

music is one of the most influential and important factors of society for the sunji. they worship music and define it as a means to truly feel the glory of existence. throughout the planet's history, music has had a very big impact on the way the sunji evolved and progressed. the first signs of this influence appeared in tugomaiian society, in the earliest years of kandarua'an history. wise minds would unite to write lyrics that told stories of enlightenment and true understanding, and these stories inspired many to come together and sing the stories loudly in groups. it was a mix of theater performance and rhythmic chant. this style of audiovisual art originated in the lands of tugomaia, where whole tribes would come together and chant to each other, to make each other laugh or to demonstrate peace and good vibrations. with these story/songs, tribes could come to understand each other's way of thinking. they would dress in very bright colors, with intricate, psychedelic designs meant to hypnotize the audience and put them in a sort of trance, as they were told stories of secret wisdom. they called this ceremony of singing tribes "mu ileiya", which meant "life as one". it was mu ileiya that brought all these tribes together to form the order known as tugomai. this convergence would later bring life to the erom children after ulu'tima. 2

music became intimately wrapped around the whole of tugomaiian society. the wise words of the stories reflected the ideals and beliefs of their leaders, who sought not to opress and herd the people, but to deliver happiness and allow each person to exist with an open mind. the tugomai knew nothing of hatred or discrimination, and wanted nothing to do with such negativity. it was the other sunji beings that would later force this upon them.3

where the tugomai excelled in the composition of rhythm and melody, the setujin did so in theology. this was due to a number of factors. from the beginning of the existence of life on megaera, the setujin kind were always known to be among the most intelligent. some said they had hidden energy in their mind that, if activated, could make them wiser than beings even beyond kandarua'an's realm. it was this high quantity of energy that somehow brought them closer to understanding the lifeforms that had created them. they would consider these higher beings deities, and constructed temples of worship in their honor. i will explain about the setujin religion, ivlu, in a future inscription.4

in the halls of their magnificently built temples, a new and enchanting style of music was born, by ivlu monks who were completely unaware of the musical revolution breaking loose among tugomaiian society. "ivulara" was a huge symphony of beautifully-sounding instruments, from glass to strings and woodwind. they wanted to make a sound so beautiful that it could only have come from beyond the reaches of their planet (although, at this point in time, they were still many centuries away from realizing what exactly they lived on). ivulara is something so beautiful and celestial that it cannot be described in words. it is a gentle fusion of space-age noises, mesmerizing melodies, epic build-ups and tranquil aftermaths. even if one did not choose to agree with the beliefs of the ivlu faith one still became mystified by the utter brilliance of this music. when first i heard these reverberations i wept in fascination for what was gliding through soundwaves and gently tickling my eardrums. how i wish i could explain this music to you, but alas, it is impossible. perhaps someday i will find a means to record and broadcast it.5

ivulara was extremely famous. many orchestras from across decfonia toured to every continent to play in esteemed music halls, and all sunji creatures adored it. there were other styles, however, that were meant to drive others away, or instill fear into their enemies. one of these was an akyran style called tojiras, which, like mu ileiya, was a combination of theater, dance, and rhythm.6

tojiras was loud, aggressive, and extremely powerful music. the akyrans fashioned deep drums called darskala, of all different widths, heights, lengths and profundities, and they would gather together and pound on them with sticks they carved smooth from treebranches. while they beat these drums with all their might at high speeds, they would scream together, in an attempt to hold their scream for as long as they could. for them it was a powerful sensation of freedom and unified power to play tojiras together. at first there was no melody in tojiras, only screaming and very intense percussion. the musicians would form a circle around the audience, and the audience would run with each other in a circle, screaming as well, on their way around a large bonfire. the point of the ceremony wasn't to worship a god or to make sacrifice, it was simply a way for them to release their anger and tension and come together by performing an activity that united them. 7

time went on, and tojiras evolved very little. it wasn't until the darskala drum was adopted by the erom that the style would seem to be altogether reborn.8

erom people came from the islands to the south, which were wet and tropical paradises. they were inspired by the vivid colors and warm, cheerful weather that embraced them. when travellers returned from dalguran, where the akyrans resided, they would tell stories of tojiras music and the incredible rush it gave to be a part of such an empowering tradition. they would begin bringing darskala drums back home with them, and a few generations later, new instruments had been fashioned and a new style of music was formed. this was called surtula. 9

surtula music came out at the perfect time in kandarua'an history, for it was a time when the wisest minds of the planet had gone corrupt by the growing influence of sheyuri life. they became malicious and greedy, constantly hungering to fill a hole that was insatiable. surtula music sparked a revolution of positivity in the younger generations of sunji beings, and it was a revolution that would lead to the demise of sheyuri power over kandarua'an. this eventual victory over the negative opression gave surtula music even more of an enlightening and envigorating aura.10

one of the biggest influences in the development of erom culture and society was due to psychoactive intoxicants, including forms of venom. in the southernmost of the two islands, there was a species of kaluban that was venomous, named liknane. this creature was small and easy to kill, so it was a favorite among predatorial animals. but it had a defense mechanism that was among the most potent in the world. when it was afraid, a gland would be activated that would cause the liknane to perspire a low-level venom that was packed with hundreds of different psychoactive chemicals. when an animal of any size bit into the body of a liknane that was frightened, they would go into a fit of hysteria that would eventually cause their hearts to explode, if they ate enough of the liknane's flesh. but erom shamans discovered that smaller doses of this liquid would intoxicate them in a beautiful and inspiring way. i'll inscribe my experiences with liknane venom in a later entry.11

the influence of this venom would spread all across sunhava and later into eromallan as well. the users created an artistic and musical revolution that would change the world forever. 12

surtula was not as fast or intense as tojiras, it was more laid back and melodic, meant more for dancing and having fun, and feeling free. erom shamans inhabiting the early luhassan areas would carve huge, long woodwind instruments from the gelabi trees on the beaches. they had obese bases that thinned out closer to the top in a curved conical fashion, and smooth and shiny bark that was easy to carve through. it was a tree that seemed to have been brought to existence so that it could be modified into a musical instrument. the erom shamans would carve holes through the bark in different widths, to create different pitches. these acted as trumpets with a powerful bassy undertone. 13

while the shamans experimented with gelabi horns, erom to the east created the third and final ingredient to the surtula style. it was a string instrument called a kilpo, which was carved from a different kind of tree that was just as obese as a gelabi but much shorter. they cut the tree in half and hollowed out parts of it, and attached vines found in the jungles that had strong, thin tendrils growing by the hundreds all over them for the strings. the result was a very primitive form of the bass, one they played upright while sitting cross-legged on a pillow. it provided a light melodic and rhythmic touch to the music that made it more danceable and appealing. kilpos had a sort of pulley on the back of the neck, so that while a note reverberated from a string, you could bend the pitch of the note. the overall result was a sound very similar to earth's drumnbass music, only played with live instruments. it was a craze that swept all across the planet and inspired happiness and free thought in everyone who enjoyed it.14

other forms of music were created in later years, but these were the most fundamental roots of music on the planet kandarua'an. it makes me content to see this form of expression used by creatures everywhere. i believe that the existence of music on this planet has allowed me to feel more comfortable here.15

i must tend to my crops. i set sail for eromallan tomorrow. i shall be doccumenting my travels through kulyri, "the astral garden", while i am there. farewell, for now...16