The Ruins of Kaops

Kaops was the hub of the great seaway hyperspans before the causeway collapsed, an island metroplex that acted as an anchoring point for many of the silvery spans that criss-crossed this region. During the last days of the Twilight War, raging seas anihilated most of the city, burying it beneath the waves. Only a small portion of the original island remains, the former city center, now overrun by jungle. Most of the ancient towers have crumbled away or toppled over the centuries, and what remains is dangerously unstable. Like many Creator cities, Kaops was built in tiers, though only the upper city remains above water. A rusting monorail track weaves among the ruins, with a station full of moldy skeletal Creators at both ends. Most were waiting inside the cars, and have remained relatively well preserved.

The czath decided not to occupy this island for a number of reasons. For one, there are strange sounds that echo out of the ruins, something like music, but unlike any composition known on Rym. This has led the reptillians to believe the ruins to be haunted. They do not understand that it is merely a recording of old Creator music, piped out of the moss-covered speaker towers found throughout the ruins. This music comes and goes at random intervals, with long periods of hissing white noise in between. The first czath who came to Kaops thought that the noise was an angry spirit, who would not let them sleep. If they really knew what was happening, they would have overrun this island just as they did the rest.

The Sound Vault

The ruins do have a single occupant, if one doesn't count the few stuttering, deranged Machines that haven't yet fallen apart. Her name is Laria, an escaped lutrai slave who dared to enter the singing ruins in order to avoid her persuers. What she found was the source of the music, a transmitting machine that played a looping cycle of recordings. During the war, it also broadcast emergency messages throughout the city; some dying Creator may have left it on, even after the radio traffic dwindled down to nothing. Laria remains to this day, listening to the endless variety of recording disks when she isn't out foraging for food. Having taught herself to change the music and move from recording to recording, she made Kaops her home, surrounding herself in the alien sound of a long-dead civilization. Within a year, she could speak and understand the Creator tongue, a truly rare language in the modern era. Years of isolation have made the lutrai girl rather peculiar, and she will promply try to flee any encounter that looks the least bit hostile.

There are literally thousands of golden disks stacked all over the small transmitter station, the interior of which has been decoratively painted by its single occupant. The machine which plays the disks is still in good working order - military transmitters were built to last. Like the interior casings of most machines, the inner workings sealed and filled with inert argon instead of air, a design which prevents any sort of oxidization and therefore degeneration. The array is powered by solar cells, and isn't likely to stop working any time soon. What's more, Laria has found a working Creator instrument, a relic in its own right, and has recently been teaching herself to play.

Liberator

Liberator is an artifact of the time before the Twilight War, an instrument which blends magic and technology in order to enhance and empower the user's performace. It appears to be a guitar of some kind, made of sleek black polymers and other ageless material. Its paired sets of mithral strings are amplified by some inner mechanism, projecting sound up to deafening levels when played. Each flawless note generates intense psychokinetic energy, and by blending a specific series of chords, powerful magical effects can be created. The most simple of these is the effect-generating module under the neck of the instrument. This spinning crystal drum translates the notes into illusions, projected all around the player as a sort of backdrop, further enhancing the performance.

Shattercharm: This powerful rhythm brings about a stirring of thoughts dulled by conformity and despair. Those who hear the music are spiritually awakened, dispelling all charm and mind-dominating effects. Those freed by Liberator's enchanted music are instilled with a sense of rebellion and a longing for freedom, no matter how deeply subverted. Its visual effects are shaped by the player's subconscious, images used to further portray a newfound sense of freedom.

Inspire: This music draws out the listener's confidence and courage, disrupting fear effects entirely. No matter how pitiful the odds or hopeless the fight, Liberator's powerful chords evoke a sense of tremendous purpose and defiance in even the most timid of hearts. Those inspired by this music are made temporarily immune to all fear and morale-reducing effects. The music generates illusions forged by the player's adrenaline, translating this internal energy into high-intensity effects that cause the same rush in all who hear it.

Disrupt: Perhaps the most powerful of the instrument's musical arrangements, this thundering ballad frees the souls of undead slaves. Corpses animated by magic are anihilated by the harmonics of the mithral chords, and all animating effects are dispelled. More powerful undead beings are merely repelled, filled with a sense of confusion and despair as the souls of their minions are freed. The player's sorrow evokes the accompanying visual effects, bringing forth the grim, colorless specters of the departed to stare down their former masters in silent rows.