A Bard's Tale (Open)

[Stella Harmonia]

“Half mine own life is books, writ pages,
Liveth and learneth from daws and from sages,
Thou knoweth t's true,
Oh all these feelings cometh back to thee!

Yea, sing with me, sing f'r the year,
Sing f'r the laughter, sing f'r the drop of sorrow
Sing with me, just f'r the present day
Haply tomorrow, the valorous gods shall taketh thee hence!”

As Stella strummed the last set of chords on her lute, she gave a showy flourish and struck a pose, which won her a muted round of applause from the three or so people who had stopped to watch her sing. She curtsied to her adoring audience and announced, “Thank you, thank you! I have been Stella Harmonia, traveling bard extraordinaire! If you liked what you heard, drop a coin in my bowl and let me know!” The crowd dispersed almost immediately, with only one young man coming forward to deposit a single coin in the bowl, before shuffling awkwardly away. Stella flipped her lute around to her back and knelt down to examine her earnings for the day. The bowl was almost empty and a pout quickly grew on her face. “Aww, man!” she complained aloud, “That’s barely enough for a bowl of soup!” The young bard flopped onto the ground and picked the coins out, depositing them in her just as empty coin purse. Picking herself back up, she dusted off her clothes and looked around at the crowded streets of Ryerde. “Maaaaybe performing in the middle of the trade district wasn’t my best idea. Ah well, nothing can get the great bard Stella Harmonia down!”

Determined not to let a momentary failure bother her, Stella happily skipped down the street, looking for a tavern to get a meal. A colorful sign caught her eye, loudly displaying a steaming bowl of fish soup. Ryerde, sitting on the mouth of a large river, was known for its fish and Stella’s stomach let out a loud rumble to let her know it had made its decision. She made her way inside, pushing past crowded tables to an open stool at the bar. The owner cocked an eyebrow at her, both expressing his curiosity at what such a young girl was doing here alone and silently asking for her order. “A bowl of hot fish stew, please!” she requested, spilling her coins onto the table.

“There’s not enough there,” the owner replied, after taking a moment to count.

“B-but, that’s all I’ve got! Could… could I pay the rest with some music? Please? Pretty pleeeeease? I promise I’m good!”

The owner met her gaze for several moments, his face a stony visage. Finally, he sighed and rolled his eyes. “Fine, but if the crowd don’t like you, I’m puttin’ you out on the street.”

The young bard cheered and clapped her hands excitedly. “Yay! The music will be good, I promise! The great bard Stella Harmonia never disappoints! Y’know, as long as she has a full stomach,” she added with a nervous chuckle.

[Qarrad]

A fourth wooden bowl clanged down on the a table top in the tavern, and it was the fourth one licked clean. There were four men seated about the table, but three of them had empty stomachs. The three with empty stomachs also sported bruised faces, and the fourth was a smiling young man with frosty hair and a beard around his jaw to match. At his waist was a pouch heavy with coins, an object that was unfamiliar to him, but now he knew they were important and he had a bunch of them! He'd won them from the men who'd now given him his delicious fish stew.

They were street performers, former 'gladiators' from the arena in Badon. They said that anyone who could knock them backwards with a punch could get ten coins, but if you didn't, you had to give them five! Qarrad hadn't had any coins, but he'd been happy to take the chance after watching a few fishermen make a pass. His first punch made the man take a step back. They doubled their offer, he'd get twenty, or give them ten. The next punch sent the second man take three steps. Forty for him, twenty for them. He knocked the third man on his back. Laughing, the drake had taken the forty coins, and been ready to go and explore more of this "city" thing. However, the men had not wanted to lose a whole days haul. They told him that if he could eat five full bowls of fish stew, they'd double his winnings again, and if he couldn't they'd only take what he'd won. They'd even pay for the stew.

"WOW! Back home I didn't know food could taste so good, my papa was a lousy cook! I'll have that fifth bowl now."

[Stella Harmonia]

The owner of the tavern groaned, but retrieved a bowl of stew nonetheless. “I'm beginnin’ to think I might regret this. You’re lucky I had a big batch made for that group down there,” he explained, gesturing to a gathering of angry looking bruised men surrounding another cheerfully eccentric man. From where she was sitting, it seemed as if he had eaten several grown men’s portions of the soup and showed no sign of slowing. When the owner returned with a steamy bowl of the stew, Stella took it as a personal challenge to match the man’s fervor.

Grabbing her spoon and thrusting it above her head, she loudly declared, “I accept your challenge, stew, and shall not stop until you are defeated!” The carnage that followed was unprecedented and in less than a minute, the empty wooden bowl clattered back down to the counter, flecks of stew marking the final resting place of the meal. She released a resounding belch, warning any further bowls of stew to beware, or meet a similar fate. Stella leaned against the bar, the warmth of the broth leaving her in a happy state of contentedness. She would have stayed there too, in her blissful food coma, had it not been for the owner of the tavern clearing his throat loudly above her.

“I believe you still owe me a portion of your payment,” he reminded her.

“Yes, of course!” she answered, springing to her feet, lute in hand. “The harmonious Stella Harmonia never disappoints an adoring crowd!” Stella pushed her way back through the crowd, stopping in front of the smoldering fireplace. She strummed a couple of chords to check if her instrument was in tune, which drew the attention of the tavern patrons. Satisfied with the sound, Stella inhaled a deep breath and launched into song.

“We can dance if 't be true we wanteth to,
We can leaveth thy cater-cousins behind,
'cause thy cater-cousins dance not and if 't be true they dance not,
Well, they're nay cater-cousins of mine.

Sayeth, we can wend whither we wanteth to,
A lodging whither they shall nev'r findeth,
And we can act like we cometh from out of this ordinary,
Leaveth the real one far behind!”

The song continued on for several more verses in a similar fashion, ending in some fancy footwork from the young bard. The patrons responded with a fervent round of applause which, surprisingly included a begrudging tavern owner. A customer near the back shouted for another and Stella was more than happy to oblige. “If my adoring public demands it, I shall deliver! This next song is about an ill-fated couple who end up murdering a man whilst robbing his castle, and the unfortunate constable who must chase them down!”

[Qarrad]

As the fifth bowl was set down in front of the drake, a short haired girl seemed to be starting in on her own bowl a few feet away. She finished it remarkably quickly, and then began to sing a song! Qarrad loved songs! It wasn't the type of song that Qarrad was familiar with, it wasn't a story or a dancing song although it did mention dancing. Still, it was a nice song, and the little woman had a lovely voice. Perfect for downing another bowl of stew.

Qarrad used his spoon with a fierceness the people of the little town hadn't been able to even fathom before the frosty haired drake had taken up a seat in their local tavern. Before the song was done he had destroyed the bowl, and set it down, winning an even heavier sack of coins. He grinned at the men as they all stared at him through furrowed brows. As the tiny woman finished her song, the men rose and grumbled away as the young dragon threw his hands together in applause. His prodigious strength created a clap like thunder. Loud.

She offered up the next song as Qarrad waved his hands again in a call for one more bowl of soup. This one would include a story! That was even better than one that brought up dancing. The young man rammed his fists against the table top, sending a bit of stew slopping over the sides of the bowl that was set before him a moment too soon. He called out, "SING IT!"

[Stella Harmonia]

“William Mack is a constable down in Badon,
Thee knoweth he knoweth just jump what the facts is,
He won't alloweth those two escape justice,
He maketh his livin' off of the people's taxes.

Robert Sue, heigh-ho, heigh-ho, the lady did slip hence
William Joe hath caught up to that lady the very next day,
They did get the wage, ho,
Thee knoweth they did get hence,
They head'd down south and they're still running to the present day,
singin' wend on taketh the wage and runneth,
wend on taketh the wage and runneth!”

Stella’s song of ill-gotten wealth ended on a long sustained note and as she neared the end of her breath, she cut off the sound with a sharply accented consonant and launched into a theatrical bow. The tavern erupted with applause. The common people of Ryerde weren’t the fondest of the rich traders they shared their province with and a tale of one of their kind getting an edge up on the aristocracy was well received in their establishments. The owner had made his way over to her during the song and pulled her aside as the applause began to die. “Alright, lass, I think you’ve proved this old man wrong. Come grab a seat at the bar and I’ll get you another bowl of soup.”

Stella let out a cheer and bowed several more times to the crowd, thanking them for their support. It was nice to know that her music was appreciated, especially after the tough crowd she had faced out in the trade district. The owner’s praise, however, was what made her truly smile. Melting people’s hearts was one of Stella’s greatest pleasures in life. With the group of men gone from the bar, there was now a seat open next to the weird blue-haired man and the young bard rushed to take the spot at the bar. “Hey big fella! Thanks for all the applause!” she greeted him, beaming a toothy grin. “You sure can eat a lot, huh? You must have practiced a whole lot to get that good!

The owner returned with another steaming bowl of soup, which Stella dug into greedily. No longer answering to some unspoken challenge, she took her time with this serving, savoring the complex flavors. “You know,” the owner intoned, leaning over the bar, “I’ve got a cousin who runs an inn not too far out of Araphen. He’s always looking for some good talent to entertain his patrons. If you tell him I sent you, I’m sure he’d give you room and board in exchange for a bit of music. Something to think about,” he added as moved away to tend to the other customers.

“I’ve never been to Araphen, but I hear it’s a beautiful city,” Stella chimed in between spoonfuls of soup. “What about you, big guy? You do a lot of traveling?”

[Qarrad]

As the melodious tones trickled out of the tiny woman's mouth like the song of a bird, Qarrad scarfed down his last free bowl of soup. Each drop of the frothy mixture was more and more delicious than the last, and the young drake was happy to have it all sloshing together in his stomach, which now almost bulged out of his baggy shirt. He tried his hardest to understand the words to the girls song, but many of them confused him, as many things about the world did. A lot of words and stories, concepts even, were utterly new to him. He longed to understand them, especially if they were going to be thrown into songs that sounded so nice, but at the moment he couldn't.

Still, when the young woman finished, he threw his hands together and clapped even harder than he could before, slightly annoying those around him. He couldn't understand what she was talking about, but it sure sounded good! These cities were so funny, all the buildings so close to each other, and all the people yelling amongst themselves. They didn't seem to notice him either, which was so odd! He was a dragon! Not that they knew that, how would they? He was under strict instruction to never show that to anybody, unless he had to. It could get him or somebody else very hurt. Of course he couldn't turn back into his massive lizard form even if he tried, he had no clue how he'd done it the first time.

To his surprise, the singer came and sat next to him. She asked him a question about his eating habits, and with a grin so strong it forced his eyes shut he said, "No, I don't practice, I just eat food that tastes this good until it makes me sick when I can! To be honest, most food tastes good, my favorite is steak, but fish is good too. Do you eat a lot?" However, their conversation was interrupted by the man who seemed to be in charge of the food, and he said some things that were definitely words but Qarrad failed to understand them.

Then the woman asked him about travelling. "Travelling? I don't know what that means but I like cities a whole lot! I'm Qarrad, it is nice to meet you Harm-mon... hambone... Stella Harmonious!"

[Stella Harmonia]

Stella couldn’t help but giggle every time the big guy opened his mouth. Something about his wide toothy grin and clueless nature tickled her and set her to tittering. He wasn’t like most of the adults she had met in her lifetime. They had always been stuffy and boring. Always “Stellaris, practice this,” and “Stellaris, don’t ignore your studies.” Even her parents and Sebastian, who she had loved with all her heart, had their trying moments. But Qarrad seemed so full of life. Everything was full of wonder to him. Even a simple act like eating was an event, and travel, a mystery. Stella could already tell he would make for an excellent traveling companion. The two were, without a doubt, birds of a feather.

“Eating is the best!” Stella chirped, accenting her opinion with another mouthful of soup. “I’d eat all the time if I could! Food costs money, though, and sometimes I just don’t have enough, so I don’t eat.” The bard trailed off, recalling several of the nights she had gone hungry since leaving home. Sometimes, people were generous and gave her a bit of bread to eat. But, more often than not, they had nothing to spare. Times were hard after all. “Someday, I’m gonna be the most famous bard in all the land! Then I can eat all the food I want! I can even eat until I burst!” Stella fell into a fit of laughter at the thought. She pictured a large man filling his face with food, finishing off a large meat on a bone. Then, with a concerned look on his face, he exploded in a huge fireball. I should write a song about that, she realized. People always love the silly songs!.

“You don’t know what traveling is?” Stella observed, lapsing back into a giggle. “But you’re already doing it, silly! Traveling is when you go from one place to the next! Like when I left home in Tana to go to Santaruz, or when you left wherever you were before to come here.” She wasn’t sure is Qarrad was just playing with her, but she found it kinda fun explaining things to him. Other people had always taught her all her life. It was nice to teach someone else for a change.