Aurelia I don't imagine I got a horse.

Quothar To the north are the subarctic forests of the ice elves. To the west are the wood elven forests & the warzone. To the south is a large portion of the elven territories, as is the east.

Quothar I doubt you have the money for it, & in the city, you wouln't have had too much need for one.

Quothar South is actually mostly wilderness & the Ailan River

• Aurelia walks down the road, then, taking her time and simply enjoying the forest around her.

Quothar East is Thaenmeer, the lake city of the high elves.

Quothar You've come to a crossroads.

Quothar North, south, east, west?

Aurelia Which way did I come from?

Quothar Northeast.

Aurelia Hmmmm.

Aurelia I'm most inclined towards east, but in a way that's the way I came from.

Aurelia South has some appeal too.

Quothar Err, sorry, you came from northwest.

Quothar I got turned around in my head.

Aurelia East, then.

Quothar This forest is stunning. The trees look like silver & gold towers, robed in the greenest leaves you can imagine. Streams & brooks burble along every now & then, with small bridges or fords arranged to meet the roads.

Quothar There's few travellers right now, but you do meet a few now & then: rangers, tradesmen, & other wanderers.

Quothar There's the occassional village or inn along the way as well. This area is largely given over to high elven towns, but there's the occassional white elf or wild elf village.

Quothar Do you sleep at inns?

• Aurelia mostly ignores them as she travels, making slow progress due to frequently standing and staring enraptured at a brook or tree.

Aurelia Most nights, probably.

Quothar About two weeks out, then, you come to an inn built into the side of a tree-- a sure sign of a powerful high elf living nearby (either now or in the past).

• Aurelia decides that she has to spend the night there, regaurdless of what time of day it is now.

Quothar The sign of the inn proclaims it to be the Tree of the Ford Inn.

Quothar Inside, you see a thin, flighty high elf lightly wiping down the counter. To the right is the common room, to the left a stairwell to the rooms.

Quothar Within the common room, you hear a song being played softly on violin, a familiar tune, but one you can't quite place.

• Aurelia looks around curiously, takes a step towards the counter, tilts her head, and drifts towards the common room instead.

Quothar The innkeeper says, as you drift, "May I help you, miss?"

• Aurelia takes a moment to notice she's been spoken to and says quietly, "A room, please... what /is/ that song?"

Quothar "I don't know, I'm afraid. He'll announce it when he's done. Rooms are 2 gold a piece, 3 for the branch rooms." That's outrageous. "A spot in the common room is 5 silver." More reasonable, but still expensiv.e

Aurelia How much can I afford?

Quothar That depends on what you did before you left. How much you saved, if you got money from other sources, etc?

• Aurelia lived with her mother, was home schooled by her aunts. She went out with them fairly often, but never really had a job per se.

Quothar The nymph gave you a dress that fit you. The nightingale gave you a small song book with blank pages. The muse gave you the charm to change your eye color. The empath gave you a small first aide kit. The elf gave you a compass (mundane, but beautiful). The dwarf gave you a bag of money she had been saving to send you to school--300 gold pieces.

Quothar WHat do ya do?

• Aurelia reaches into her pouch and absently drops a handful of silvers into the elf's hand. Or possibly near it if he doesn't react fast enough, as she still doesn't quite look at him.

Quothar He's pretty quick to get money. Do you enter the common room?

Aurelia Yes

Quothar A man dressed like an extremely rich pirate sits on a small stage. He has an eyepatch over his left eye & he's playing the violin. The song sounds like an art piece, but whcih one you can't place. It's out of place here, though, as you would expect popular music to be played in an inn common room, even one as expensive as this one. As he plays, he does so with his one eye closed. A nightingale stands nex

Quothar t to him, apparently waiting.

Quothar Then, as he comes out of his solo, she start to sing in high elven.

Quothar He begins playing something that sounds more like a popular tune, & she's clearly singing popular music. The crowd gives light a patter of applause for the solo.

Aurelia The playing /is/ good, yes?

Quothar It's the best violin playing you ever heard

• Aurelia stands just inside the entryway. She closes her own eyes and simply listens, transfixed.

Quothar After another minute, the song ends. The crowd claps a little louder this time. You get the impression their lack of enthusiasm is due to their being reserved, polite society types, & not a lack of enjoyment of the music.

Quothar The man with the violin bows & says in high elven, "Thank you. That was 'Lament of the Patrons,' incorporating Buell's Third Symphony's violin solo from the fourth movement. We're going to take our break now, but we'll be back shortly for the second set."

• Aurelia doesn't clap, herself-it takes that minute or two for her to come down far enough to realize she might should.

Quothar He steps off the stage, as does the nightingale. She goes to a backroom, while he goes to the bar.

Quothar You recoginze the art piece he mentioned.

Aurelia Are there many patrons trying to talk to him?

Quothar One or two stop him on the way to the bar, & he smiles & nods at them. You can't hear hat is said. He eventually gets to the bar & leers with his good eye at a nearby elven woman, who turns her back on him. No one else is bothering him.

• Aurelia approaches slowly.

Quothar He notices, gives you a roguish grin, & leers openly. "Well, hello there, miss."

• Aurelia blushes and says quietly, "That was... transcendent. As if your bow had life. I have never heard Buell played that way."

Quothar He takes a drink of what looks like scotch. His voice is gravelly, "Buell was a boring, pretentious fart. I took his one decent bit & put it to better use. Want to hear what I can do with a Berrywight original?"

• Aurelia is briefly scandalized, quickly weighs that against the chance of hearing another piece, and says, "Yes."

Quothar He steps off the barstool, walks over & puts his arm around you. "Well, my girl, come along. I'm Bartleby. Bartleby the Rogue. Heard of me?" He starts guiding you out of the common room. You've heard of him, but up til now you thought he was just your average popular musician, just another tavern player.

• Aurelia goes willingly, being still a bit naive about how the real world works. "I have, but the tellers... they did not begin to do justice to the beauty you call from your instrument."

Quothar "I've never had such a pretty face in my crowd to inspire me to such beauty." He says, smiling at you & looking directly into your eyes.

• Aurelia lowers her eyes, blushing deeply.

Quothar He pauses to pick up his violin, then leads you up to a branch room.

• Aurelia follows.

Quothar Inside, he says, "Do you know Berrywight's 4th Symphony?" You do.

• Aurelia smiles. "I do."

Quothar He smiles, "Sit down, here. Would you like a drink?"

Quothar He gestures for you to sit on the bed.

• Aurelia sits down gracefully and murmurs, "Thank you."

Quothar "Let me get your cloak..." Etc. Basically, he's going to try to get you a little drunk, wearing less, & listening to amazing music.

Quothar Then he's gonna try to seduce you.

Quothar How much of the above do you allow?

• Aurelia doesn't drink very much, is enthralled by the music and asks to join him, and is flattered by the hints of seduction, but then resists.

Quothar After it becomes clear he can't seduce you, he mutters about having to get back to the stage. As for asking to join him, he explains he just works with Bree, the nightingale. Voice & violin. But he does ask what you play.

Aurelia Well, I'd meant in the more immediate term, like, while he was playing here in this room.

Quothar Oh. In that case, he doesn't give you the rejection, but he asks what you play.

• Aurelia opens her oboe's case. "I can play a few others, but this is all I have with me..."

Quothar He smiles. "I usually just work with Bree's voice, but as we're alone, I don't suppose it could hurt to see how this work sout."

Quothar Roll oboe

Quothar Eklem Quothar [violin: 22] 24 26 27

Aurelia What's my score?

Aurelia I recall there was a standard for our preferred instrument.

Quothar 17

Aurelia I'll buy that for a dollar.

Quothar He's impressed. "Well done, miss. What'd you say your name was?"

Quothar His demeanor changes, too. He's suddenly talking to you like an equal.

• Aurelia smiles, blushing again. "Aurelia. Aurelia Lucent."

Quothar "Lucent?" he frowns. "Name's familiar. Have you done work before?"

Aurelia Good question. Have I?

Aurelia That is, have I played in public?

Quothar If so, only in the Sisters. Up to you.

Aurelia "No... I've never played outside of my home before."

Quothar "Where's your home, then? I travel a lot."

Quothar "Maybe someone mentioned you. This would be years ago, though."

Aurelia "It's in the Three Sisters."

Quothar He frowns, "That doesn't narrow it down. No matter. Are you starting a tour?"

Aurelia "A tour?" She blinks at the idea, then shakes her head. "Only... seeing the world."

Quothar He smiles, "You're just traveling, then? Not working?"

• Aurelia smiles back and nods.

Quothar "Where'd you get the dough for that?"

Aurelia "My aunt. It was for schooling, but... I've heard so much talk of the beauty to be found outside my corner of the Sisters, and I want to experience it all."

Quothar "Well, if you ever want a job, I could put in a good word for you. Just mention my name. Anyone worth spit will take heed."

• Aurelia blushes and smiles. "Thank you."

Quothar "Sure thing. I gotta get back to the stage before Bree kills me, but feel free to catch me afterward." He grabs his violin.

• Aurelia would go to listen to the rest of the set.

Quothar He seems to be playing better now than he was before, like he's showing off, almost. At one point, he stops & says, "This tune is actually by my old friend Jack Crane, some of you might know of him." You do. he's another popular singer, very sensational, got into trouble with the darkness & light churches over something. "It's his most popular song, & I'm gonna do it straight tonight."

Quothar Eklem Quothar [violin: 22] 28 30 32

Quothar His rendition of the song, with Bree singing it, is incredible.

• Aurelia is awed.

Quothar It's "Dues for Deserel," of course. It's a popular song, but he makes it sound like the finest thing since sliced bread. When it's over, he launches into some of his originals, which are all phenomenal, then closes with a traditional elven tune mixed with a quiet popular tune.

Quothar He comes to you after the performance. "What'd you think?"

Aurelia "It was... as though the Mother of Music herself touched your strings."

Quothar He laughs, "Don't let any Music faithful hear that. They'll stone me to death."

• Aurelia blinks, then blushes and nods.

Quothar He buys you a drink & says, "You ever seen Crane play before? As crazy as that bastard is, he can write a helluva song when he puts his mind to it. "

Aurelia "I have heard of him, of course. But never heard him."

Quothar "He sticks to Maraddon, mostly, though that's getting worse than here, lately. New kid just put out a few songs over there--Albert Renkarr. Ever heard of him?" At this point, you prolly woulnd't have

• Aurelia shakes her head. "Him I have not."

Quothar "He's starting something incredible. I'm trying to get it going over here, but I can't get a hold--too much trouble that I don't wanna be in the center of. But he's got the whole country's ear with a few tavern songs h's converted, made them talk about the war over there. I'd do the same for the elves or the dwarves, but it's too risky if you're not already in the thick of it. So I'm sticking with taking

Quothar all these art pieces & making them tavern songs."

Quothar "What style do you play, usually?"

• Aurelia grins a bit. "I have not been able to keep myself to any. Each time I find love in one, a new jewel appears over the next hill..."

Quothar He smiles. "There's a good bit of money to be made in the popular vein. The art stuff is all right, but you gotta get a patron, you know? Much better to play taverns & halls than to suck up to some stuffy noble & write what they want."

Aurelia "A patron? Why?"

Quothar "Huh? That's just how the system works."

Quothar "There's no market for it outside the patrons."

• Aurelia frowns. "Ah."

Quothar He shurgs, "And no one listens to folk music. I try to put some of it in whenever I'm in a place where I know what the folk music is like, but most people don't tend to comment. Did you notice the elven bit I put into that last song?"

• Aurelia smiles. "Yes." She names the song.

Quothar "What'd you think?"

• Aurelia considers. "I had never thought of such a combination before tonight, but... I think that it may have been more evocative than either piece on its own."

Quothar He smiles, "I felt they worked well together, yeah. The violin is a good instrument for that sort of song. Winds work well in elven music, too, better than strings, usuaully. You should try it out."

• Aurelia smiles. "I will!"

Quothar At that point, Bree walks up, "Bartleby, look out the window."

Quothar He stands & goes to glance out, then suddenly turns, grabs his violin, & runs out the back.

Aurelia "Wait-!"

• Aurelia looks disappointed, then looks out the window herself.

Quothar An angry looking dwarven lawman stomps up to the inn.

Quothar He barges in, "Where's that bard?"

Quothar The innkeeper scowls, "Which one?"

Quothar "The one-eyed violin player! Bring him out!"

Quothar A sigh from the innkeeper, "He just left. Without paying his bill."

Quothar The lawman scowls, then stomps out back.