The Place
The Scream Spire is a sheer tower of bare stone, and the tower is 200 m high, and the tower keeps the scream and the song. The stone of the tower is grey where the wind has cut it, and the grey is the spire's way of saying the scream is kept. The summit of the tower is wide enough to hold a nest, and the nest is 20 m across, and the width is the spire's only floor, and the floor is what the stone keeps. The feathers that hang from the ledges are white where the light touches them, and the white is the spire's only fire, and the fire is what the feather keeps. The talon-marks that score the walls are black where the stone has broken, and the black is the spire's way of saying the raid is kept. The air around the spire is a constant shriek, and the shriek is the spire's only voice, and the voice is what the air keeps. The spire has no entrance below the summit, because the summit is the only door, and the door is what the wind keeps. This is the place where the song is kept, and the keeping is the spire's only harvest.
How They Live
The Harpies keep the spire in the wind, and the spire is not a house but a song, and the song is kept in the scream. The harpies do not build, because the spire was cut before the current clutch, and the clutch only keeps it, and the keeping is the clutch's only work. The spire was cut by the first clutch, and the cutting is the spire's only building, and the building is what the stone keeps. Light comes from the stone, which glows faintly in the dark, and the glow is the only fire the spire has, and the glow is the spire's way of keeping the night. Food is the spire itself: the small game that is kept in the wind, the scream that is kept in the air, the raid that is kept in the talon, and the song that keeps the weapon honest. The eating of the game is the spire's only eating, and the eating is the spire's way of keeping the hunger. Water is drawn from the springs below, and the water is carried up in vessels of bone, and the carrying is the spire's only trade. In the warm months the scream runs high, and the highness is the spire's way of keeping the year. In the cold months the scream runs low, and the lowness is the spire's way of keeping the song. The day is measured by the song, which is also the calendar, because the spire is the only clock the weapon needs.
People
Home of the Harpies, whose clutches are counted by scream. There are seven clutches on the spire, and the seven are the spire's only population, and the population is kept in the wind. Each clutch keeps a ledge of its own feathers, and the ledge is the clutch's only house, and the house is what the feather keeps. The oldest clutch keeps the summit nest, and the keeping is the clutch's only rank, and the rank is what the spire keeps. No ground-walker is welcome on the spire, and the not-being-welcome is the spire's only law, and the law is what the stone keeps. A visitor who stands in the spire is already in the raid's path, and the path is the spire's only welcome, and the welcome is what the wind keeps.
In Stories
The place where the song is the only honest weapon, and the weapon is the raid, and the raid is the scream, and the scream is the end. The Harpies keep the count of the broken talons, and the count is the spire's only word, and the word is what the feather keeps. The song of the spire is the song of the sky, and the sky is the only roof that ever screamed, and the screaming is what the wind remembers.