Day 265, Year 537 of the Ascendancy
Ever since the Bard’s Guild arrived on our isle of
Puddleby, I had been excited at the prospect of becomming a bard.
Though I was not the most skilled of musicians, I had learned to play
the flute quite well among the Loth’airen, and I would have very much
liked to see how my skills compared to those of my fellow exiles.
However, it seemed that I always missed the audition days, for the
duties of a mystic are long and arduous. So, you can imagine my
surprise and delight when I heard today that there were going to be
bard auditions. I requested Perkusi to add me to the list of
auditioners, and waited patiently for my turn to come.
The first auditioner was Harg, followed by Solace
and Ishamael. Solace’s music blew me away, and dealt a powerful blow to
my self confidence. I began to doubt whether I should audition, or not.
Ishamael’s performance following Solace was just as good, if not
better. By the time my turn arrived, I was nervous as heck, but with
some words of encouragement from Perkusi, I managed to step onto the
podium. I was breathing so hard that I doubted I could play any
instrument, but I borrowed a Reed Flute from Trep, and played away. My
first song was “Spiderweb” followed by “To Sing a Song” and
“Boogieman”. I grew more confident with each tune, and before I knew
it, it was all over. I went back to my seat on the grass, and collapsed
in a nervous heap. The final player was Polygon, who was vying for the
position of full bard. His songs were simply marvelous, and after he
was done, all the bards went to their tower to judge the contestants.
After what seemed like hours, each of the
contestants were called to Hendrux’s hut, one by one. When my name was
called, I rushed to the hut, and stood nervously before the judges. The
all smiled warmly at me, and welcomed me as a new bard questor! I was
overjoyed, and jumped around in excitement. Afterwards, Polygon was
promoted to full bard, and showed off his new, golden sash. The only
one of us who did not make it, unfortunately, was Harg, whose short
melodies proved to be a bit too short for the judges. Now I am a bard
questor, scouring the lands for instrument parts that I may make my
first instrument. I am also working on some new pieces of music, and I
have just now finished an awesome piece of music that I like to call
“Romp”. It blows all my other music away. If any of yi see any bones or
reeds out there, let me know!
