Kaeldrin stood over his creation, examining it for any imperfections before putting on a coat of the shellac, his uncle’s preferred wood finish. After passing his inspection he confirmed that he was indeed holding a flawless body of a lute and admired his craftsmanship. Before he could take it to the painting station something bright flashes in the corner of his vision, he looked and saw sunlight breaking through the gaps in the curtains. Setting his creation back down on the table, he strode over to the window, pulling the curtains to the side and pushing the two doors open with gusto. Sure enough, it was bright and early, and the streets below were already jostling with shoppers and passersby, looking through all the shops and stalls already haggling the day away. The smell of fresh coffee invaded Kendrin’s nostrils, the sweet aroma indicating the baristas across the street were hard at work.

He enjoyed the scenery for a few more moments before turning away back to the task at hand, looking at the unfinished lute on the table. He had spent all night finishing it and the sleep deprivation was starting to catch up to him. Time for a coffee! He made his way downstairs, turning around the corner to see his uncle assisting a customer with guitar strings, his back toward him. His uncle was on the older side, his long pointed ears sagged, his hair long gone, replaced with a silver mustache with two long strands on both sides of his upper lip, reminding Kaeldrin of old martial arts masters he’d seen on stage when he was younger. Not wanting to interrupt his sales pitch or to get back to work, he tried to slither out the door, careful to not ring the bell mounted in the doorframe. However, another customer picked that moment to come inside and, in a panic, Kael zipped behind him, slipping into the crowd before being spotted, making his way towards the sweet aroma of freshly roasted coffee.

He bobbed and weaved through the crowd with as much grace as he could muster, adding a few extra spins just to show off as he made it all the way to the entrance. ‘The Daily Grind’ was displayed on the glass door in white paint written in beautiful calligraphy with a hand crank coffee grinder as their logo. He let himself in and was not surprised when there was a huge line already taking up most of the lobby space. He also noticed that all the tables, booths, and stools were all filled but he didn’t plan on sticking around anyway. Letting out a deep sigh, he stood in line and decided it was a good time to reflect. He opened his character sheet and focused on it to drown out the ambient chatter.

Name: Kaeldrin Tasar

Age: 76

Race: Elf

Classes: Bard lvl 16 Illusionist lvl 9

Level Total: 25 progress to next level: 46%

Profession: Bard lvl 23

Statistics:

Health: 250

Stamina: 420

Mana: 400

Mana Regen: 4.75 per second

Attributes:

Strength: 32

Dexterity: 42

Constitution: 35

Intelligence: 40

Wisdom: 19

Charisma: 58

{Skills}

{Active Effects}

Kael was quite proud of the stats he accumulated over the years, especially the more physical ones like strength and dexterity from his military days, he worked hard for those! Although he had to lament slightly on his poor wisdom score as he knew his mana regeneration rate suffered for it. Thankfully being an Elf gave him plenty of time to improve on it, eventually. He opened his appearance menu and a window displaying himself in a “T” pose came into view, along with a complete list of his equipped clothing. He nearly gasped as he realized he was still wearing the same clothes he had three days ago! His green pants and shirt were covered in grime, wood dust and food stains.

He clicked on the Active Effects tab to check for any active debuffs and sure enough, one level on the sleep deprivation debuff that knocked his wisdom down five points accompanied by a ‘Stinky: level two’, with a hefty minus twenty-five charisma! How could he have been such a fool? And how could time just fly by so fast? His precious golden hair was essentially a squirrel nest and grime covered his face and hands. And thirdly, a weird one he had since getting his charisma to fifty called Hangin’ with the Wrong Crowd, which gave him a ten percent chance to attract the wrong kind of people or crowd. As if there is any such thing as “wrong” people! He sighed to himself and made a mental note to take care of himself later as his turn was approaching.

He looked behind the counter to see if there were any baristas he could recognize and was glad when none of the new girls were present. They just haven’t gotten his drinks down right. As soon as it was his turn, he recognized all three of some of his favorite humans. There was Morgan, an older blonde who made drinks as sweet as she was. He saw Destiny, a dark-haired mistress who was quite nimble for someone eight months pregnant. And lastly Lyissie who immediately brightened Kael’s day with her smile. Then she scowled.

“Ah geez, hey Kael, you need a bath, I can smell you through the coffee roast.” She said as politely as possible.

“Yes, I am aware that I have the debuff, two usuals and I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Two chocolate caramel shortbread mochas coming up, that’ll be ten silver.” She said, opening the register. Kael felt around his pant pockets and panic showed in his face. Lyissie sighed and the other gals giggled.

“I’ll put it on your tab, which is now thirty silver by the way! Are you going to put a show on tonight? It's Saturday in case you forgot, and it might put a dent in your ever-growing debt.”

“Oh, that’s right! I’ll have to ask Oskar.”

“You better show! Else I’ll have to give you decaf from now on.” Morgen threatened jokingly, handing him his cups.

“You girls are the best!” Kael said, beaming a bright smile.

“We know!” They replied simultaneously. They had done this song and dance with him many times before, but they know he’ll return the favor eventually. Two hot coffees in hand, he strode out the door back into the river of people going about their day.

He followed the crowd down the main street and veered right down an alley, his shortcut. The ally was long but wide which allowed a couple groups to pass through. As he walked, Kael had a strange feeling he was being watched, and he was about to look around but caught himself, some military instinct kicking in. Instead he merely picked up the pace. He sped through the ally turning left and merged with the foot traffic, trying to hide in the large crowd. Slowly but surely, he drifted to the right side of the street, trying to make as much distance as possible before veering down another alleyway.

Two stray cats were rummaging through some garbage cans in the corner of Kael’s eye. When they took notice of him, the orange one scurried off and the black fluffy one went to follow him. Kael finally passed through and saw the black smoke billowing in the distance, he knew his destination was close. He just needs to pass the river of people and around the bend in the street. He stepped in, a surge of dread creeping down his spine as he walked. He became conscious of each step as if one wrong move would be the end of him. The bend was so close now he dared not turn around. The feeling of dread increased tenfold as he felt something manifest directly behind him, reaching for him, but Kael was too quick and evaded its grasp as he broke to a dead sprint, fear finally getting the better of him.

He ran as fast as he could, catching a few passersby off guard. Narrowly avoiding a light post, turning the corner and there it was, the smithy, where his best friend worked. He sighed in relief, catching his breath and inspecting his cargo. The two coffees had a little spillage but thankfully the lids were able to contain most of it. With that, he casually made his way through the crowd and can hear the smiths hammering away as he drew closer. He saw a decent line of people needing to commission something, armor repaired, or just needed some kitchenware sharpened. Kael strode past them, nodding at the man taking care of the customers and filling out paperwork, who returned the nod, and made his way to the back.

For safety reasons, the back had no roof to allow smoke from the forge to escape without being a bother, the surrounding buildings much too close and tall to install a proper roof, showing that placing a smithy here was a total afterthought. And finally, the floor was stone to help prevent the spread of fires. Naturally, rainy days were off days, as the rain made it nearly impossible to get coals burning and the smooth stone was too slippery. Kael looked around, seeing several occupied workstations handling various tasks, when he spotted black haired dwarf with a receding hairline hunched over a workbench, rhythmically hammering away at some breastplate in the corner. Kael smiled to himself and walked over and put the coffee on the right side of the table, causing the dwarf to pause. He turned, raising his safety goggles and saw the tall elf beaming a smile at him. He beamed one right back.

“Aye Toby, covah faw me! Oy'm tykin an eahly taen!” He hollered in his thick, Hill Dwarf accent before the pair made their way downstairs in the breakroom slash storage room with ingots of various types lining the shelves and bags of extra coal for the forge piled in a corner. They sat at the table in the center and began catching up.

This was Oskar, Kael’s war buddy that he fought alongside during a land skirmish nine years ago. At the time, being a bard for Kael was more of a hobby and he was more focused on being an illusionist with some influence from his father, of whom he doesn’t talk to anymore. He was inspired by Oskar who at the time was a special bard class, a Scald, at level thirty by combining two of his current classes. He would wear heavy armor and beat on his war drums, giving health buffs to nearby allies while drawing enemy fire. His high constitution combined with his high wisdom made him a highly effective war totem. In a way, they played similar roles as Kael would create illusionary squads of war machines to do the same. They met after a massive bombardment of mortars from the enemy side. The aftermath was devastating, and left Oskar buried underneath piles of rubble left for dead, saved only by his high health and Kael being skinny enough to crawl under tight spaces and dragged him out. They’ve been best friends ever since.

“So where yah’ve been, mite? Yah know I haven’t seen yah in a few days naow? I was worried I’d have to file a missing person report again. Yah know how I fuckin’ hate paperwork!” Oskar chastised.

“I’m sorry my friend, I’ve been working on a new lute. This one is the best one I’ve made yet! I think it might get my Wood Working skill to Journeymen!” Kael said excitedly.

“Ah I see so; yah didn’t hear the news then?” Oskar said, peeking Kael’s interest. “The guild at Thunderstruck Keep are looking for new bards to entertain their townsfolk, wantin’ to share their tales of advenchah.”

“Ah, so basically propaganda?”

“Hehe, basically! But still, I’ve been thinking about applying and I want yah to join me! This isn’t some one time show at some inn at a farm town in the middle of nowhere! This is an ongoing gig with job security and me talents are wasted here. I only got my smithing profession up to novice three and I refuse to put any more points in it!”

“Hmm, I suppose it beats that mail carrier job you had.” Kael mocked, causing Oskar to wince. In hindsight, having short legs and climbing a lot of apartment buildings was not the best combination for the dwarf.

“Ye, by a lot. But what do yah say?”

“I don’t know, Oskar. I don’t think I feel comfortable leaving my uncle behind so suddenly.”

“Ye, auditions are at the end of the month, the twenty-filth! We don’t of alot time to talk it over and plan ahead.”

“Again, I’ll think about it. By the way, it’s Saturday isn’t it? Are you gonna do a show with me at The Daily Grind tonight?” Kael asked, trying to change the subject as smoothly as possible.

“Er sorry, mite, you’ll have to go solo tonigh’. We got a big order in and boss man is having us work overtime. I can’t say too much, it's all hush hush.”

Kael nodded, he knew how some clients prefer to remain private and respected his friend’s professionalism. They spent the remainder of their time chatting and joking until the man known as Toby came down to tell Oskar that break time was up. They went up the stairs and parted ways agreeing to meet up again overmorrow when they guessed both their respective projects would be complete and take the day off.

When Kael exited the smithy, noticing a fluffy black cat calmly sitting on the curb across the street with intelligent eyes peering directly at him. A passerby broke their line of sight and before he knew it, it was gone, sending shivers down his spine. He decided to take the long way home, hoping to get his mind off a few things. He went with the flow of foot traffic taking in all the sights before he entered the sketchy part of the shopping district. Stalls and stores lined the streets selling everything from shady food to bootleg magic items. Kael knew not to spend money here anymore after a botched ring of detect magic that only detects itself, causing a loud ringing noise when worn or the hat of underwater breathing that stopped working when it was wet. Those went in the trash.

After a while of sightseeing and killing time, Kael made it back to his uncle’s shop, The Loudest Lutes. He stepped in very carefully, grabbing the bell to keep it from ringing. Looking around the shop appeared to be void of any life. Thinking he was in the clear, he turned around to close the door as quietly as possible.

“Kael.” His uncle’s voice came from behind him, causing Kael to spin back around to see his uncle looming over him.

“Uncle!” Kael shouted in panic, already trying to think of an excuse. “I’ve… been looking for you everywhere! Do you know how worried I was? I was afraid I’d have to fill out a missing persons form!” he said with an over exaggerated tone, his Uncle wasn’t buying it but figured he could still have some fun. His lie did pay off somewhat when it got a good chuckle from his uncle.

“Hehe, you’re getting better at sneaking off. I'll give you that, but you need to work on sneaking back in. How is Oskar doing? Does he need his drums fixed?” Kael relaxed and wondered behind the service counter.

“He’s doing fine, Uncle. He’s been busy with work lately, so he won’t make it to the show tonight.” He said resting his head in his hands.

“Ah, so you are going solo then?”

“Guess I’ll have to, can’t be helped. Maybe I can use one of my new songs I’ve been working on.”

“Well I suppose you have time to think about it after you bathe.” His uncle said sternly. “I’m fairly certain your stink debuff is level three now. And when you finish, cover me while I have my tea.” Kael took a quick sniff of the inside of his shirt and winced. He checked his Active Effects and confirmed a mighty level three stink debuff.

“Perhaps that’s a good idea.” Kael agrees, his uncle smiled.

“Make it quick!”

*****

After a much-needed bath and a change of clothes, Kael successfully removed his Sink debuff as well as a Hunger one that he managed to accumulate. Starting his evening shift behind the counter, Kael got to work. He could hear his uncle tuning various instruments upstairs as well as playing whatever his heart wanted and it helped time fly as the day dragged on. The mourning rush had passed and the few customers that Kael had gotten were traveling bards with instruments that needed repairs or the occasional edgy younger crowd dreaming to make it big. Whenever the store was void of life and there was nothing to clean, Kael took out his lyric sheet and got to work. He decided to go with a gloomier song to start the night and finish with a happier tune but was having a hard time thinking of a subject. He wracked his brain, stroked his chin, then, in desperation, plopped his forehead on the table. That’s when inspiration struck him: The Starving Artist!

He grabbed the closest guitar from a display rack and tuned it. He tested a few strums and once satisfied, began writing the lyrics. He wanted to go all in and thought of various adjectives like “Broken” and wrote down a few words that he could rhyme it with. His uncle’s words came into mind: If you can’t make it rhyme, don’t make the time. After some scratching and re-wording, he finally got a steady flow.

My eyes are sunken

My words unspoken

I can’t keep going!

My eyes won't open

My words all drunken

I can’t stop shaking!

My quills all broken

My hands won’t function

My words aren’t flowing!

The sun started setting as the minutes turned into hours, creativity flowed through his fingertips, confident that he had a solid song. He was about to start another when he got a couple notifications.

Your skill has increased! Song writing: Apprentice 8!

It is now 7 P.M.! Your shift is now over; it is time to close!

Kael nearly squealed in delight, he ran over to the door and locked it while turning the sign in the display window to “Sorry we’re closed.”

“Did you get the message, Uncle!?” Kael asked, shouting up the second floor.

“Yes, go ahead and close down the shop if you haven’t already!” He shouted in reply. Kael was all smiles when he got up the stairs. He found his uncle lazily strumming a lute in his rocking chair. Kael went to his dresser, picking out what to wear.

“Are you coming to the show tonight, Uncle?”

“I plan on it. Your shows are always fun to watch and my girls are fun to gab with, plus its good advertising!” He finished with a wink. Kael chuckled, finally deciding what to wear. He went with his blue pants and bright green shirt, dawned his long black leather over coat with pointed shoulders and straightened the lapel on the front. Then he strapped on his brown cuffed boots. He pulled up the heads up display of his appearance and turned on the “Sync” option. Now the window of himself matched his every move while slowly rotating. He did a few exaggerated poses, mostly for uncle’s amusement as well as his own.

“How do I look?” Kael asked in a sultry voice.

“You look like a jackass.” He said bluntly. “But if that’s the look you’re going for then you did great!” He smiled, giving him a thumbs up. That got a good laugh out of Kael, who shook his head.

“Not my fault you don’t have style, shall we get going?” Kael asked, gesturing down the stairs.

“Oh please! You wouldn’t know style if it jumped up and bit you in the rear. But yes, we should get going before all the good seats get taken.”

When Kael scoffed and walked down the stairs his uncle couldn’t help but to look out the window, gauging how crowded the café across the street would be. He could easily tell it was a full house if not pretty close, so a bright idea came to mind. He strode over to his bed on the opposite end of the room, knelt and pulled out a large ornate black case. He expected it closely, swiping some of the dust on the corner off his thumb revealing a name etched in gold, a name that once belonged to his beloved sister and Kael’s mother; Nienna, a masterpiece to honor his sibling so that her name shall live on. Soon, he thought to himself, sliding it back under the bed and making his way downstairs. Kael was waiting patiently on the sales floor, tuning another display piece. When he finally made it downstairs, they stepped out, locked the door behind them and made it across the street.

The Daily Grind, while being a busy coffee shop by morning, was also a busy tavern by night. Every Saturday night was karaoke night, where bards, minstrels, and wannabes alike came to sing and play their local favorites or original pieces. Kael came here often enough to see that all hands were on deck as the waiting staff took orders, the bartenders constantly serving drinks and could see a couple of the girls from this morning that volunteered to pick an extra night shift. Kael and Oskar were some of the local favorites. Oskar’s drums could be felt reverberating through people’s bodies and Kael’s illusions made for an impressive display. Some of the older gals at a booth waved and beckoned his uncle over, apparently saving a seat for him.

“Ah, that’s my spot, I’ll see you on stage my boy. knock them dead!” Kael nodded and made his way backstage, a borrowed guitar case in tow. He spotted Moe, the owner, a large, well-built, bold, human man with tan skin, talking to one the cooking staff by the backstage entrance and he in turn noticed Kael’s arrival.

“Ah! Kael! Good to see ya, buddy! We got a full house tonight! Where’s Oskar?” he asked, looking around.

“He’s caught up with work I’m afraid. so, I’m going solo tonight.”

“Can’t be helped.” Moe shrugged. “I’d rather have at least one of ya then none. Go ahead and get cozy, I have you on last if you don’t mind, I wanna give these new guys a chance and it’s better to have a strong finish. I’ll have one of my girls bring you something to drink.”

“Sounds great. I appreciate it.”

“No problem, bud!” He said, giving him a pat on the shoulder and a thumbs up before heading off somewhere. Kael could swear his charisma score must be massive as any doubt or stage fright he might have had would vanish instantly by talking to this man. He shook his head; a newfound determination came over him and went backstage up the small staircase. There were at least six other groups or people rehearsing or warming up behind the curtain. Kael recognized a few regulars who greeted him, and a couple newer folk. A younger lad adjusting his flute and a lady nervously doing vocal warmups in the corner. Kale found a spot on the edge of the stage right where he could peek around the curtain.

He watched the lively crowd for a while knowing the show wouldn’t start for a few more minutes. He had a sense that his new song would kill the vibe and was thinking about playing something else when a voice came from directly behind him.

“How is it out there?” Kael held back a terrified shriek as he whirled around adopting a combat stance. Which happened to be his signature please don’t hurt me stance.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you! It’s just, I guess you can say I have stage fright.” Kael got a good look at her now that she grabbed his full attention. She was the new woman doing vocal exercises, a half-elf with red curly hair wearing a modest light blue dress. Kael eased, trying to shrug off his display of terror.

“Oh, it’s quite alright, dear. It is a full house and the people here are rather easy to please.” He said, trying to ease her. “Is this your first show? My name is Kaeldrin by the way, but everyone calls me Kael”

“Kendel and yes, my girlfriends say I have a nice singing voice so they convinced me that I should share it with a crowd. But now I’m having second thoughts…” Kael pondered a moment, looking past her, it looked like she was by herself, an idea occurring.

“Well, what if you weren’t by yourself? If you’d like I can play with you. What song do you plan on singing?”

“Really you would play with me?” She asked, followed by a new notification.

Quest received: Song of The Willow Maid

Description: You have offered to assist Kendel to play the song with her. How charming!

Perform the song with Kendel: 0/1

Rewards: +2 Charisma

1,000 XP

A quest? Haven’t gotten one of those in a while. Kael thought to himself. “Why not? My partner is caught at work and the song I was gonna play might sour the atmosphere.” Kael said, automatically accepting the quest.

“A song can do that? I was gonna sing a song about the Willow Maid. It does have a sadder tone, though.”

The two talked about the song for a few minutes with Kael jotting down the lyrics on the back of some sheet paper, already having a good feeling about what chords to play. By the time Kael had finished writing out his cords and notes Moe had announced the first band to the audience. Kael excused himself while Kendel watched him sneak his way to the owner talking about something. The owner chuckled, gave a thumbs up and jotted something down on a clipboard. Kendel was confused at first but then figured he was just letting him know that he was joining her. What was that word? A duet? She thought to herself.

Kael watched in amusement as a trio of human violinists and a dwarven cello player played Canon in D. It started with the cello with long slow notes followed by the violinist to his right matching the notes with a higher pitch. Then he was joined by the next one, matching his speed and playing in harmony. Then the third one joined in and let out a terrible shrieking as it was grossly out of tune, causing everyone to cringe. The crowd laughed when the second violinist stopped playing to reach over and tune it mid performance, carrying on like nothing happened.

The show went on like normal until the violinists swayed back and forth in unison and in rhythm, increasing their playing speed while the cello player stood still, playing his long deep notes. Then the center crouched down, then the other two crouched while the center man stood, repeating the process twice more showing off their mobility and earning a good laugh from the audience and even more so when they started skipping around the cello player and off stage, leaving the dwarf playing his long low notes by himself. The crowd cheered when the violinists came back and skipped circles around him while they finished. When their piece was over the crowd cheered again as they bowed and made their way off stage where they recognized Kael waiting at the bottom of the steps.

“Excuse gentleman that was a wonderful show! May I borrow a few moments of your time?”

*****

Time went on and after each performance Kendel only grew more anxious as her nerves surged while Kael seemed as calm as can be even talking to most of the other performers once they left the stage. She bit her nails as she was the last group before she was called, a group of a cappella dwarves, it was just her and Kael she watched them perform from the sides. “You excited?” Kael asked softly, startling her. She whirled and wanted to glare at him but only tears came. All the built-up emotion finally pouring freely. Not knowing what else to do she braced herself on his chest. Kael was taken aback by the sudden outburst, patting her head and rubbing her back, doing his best to counsel her, his charisma working overtime.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I know you’re scared; you have every right to be. But you shouldn’t quit now, you don’t have to be perfect, you just need to try, for regret is dust that cocoons you in an arid cloud of failed feelings and missed chances. Believe in the power of your song and let your heart be the anchor and the beat. You are not alone.” She lifted her head from his chest and said nothing as he dried her tears with his sleeve. An applause sounded from the audience and they knew their time had come. She wiped her face and nodded with newfound strength.

“Alright ladies and gentlemen!” Moe boomed. “That was a great show by the Beardie Boys, but we have one final show for you tonight. It may be the last but it's certainly not the least. She’s a first timer with us so let’s give a big round of applause for Kendel and Friends!”

Kendel looked at Kael quizzically and only got a wide shit eating grin in response. He took her hand and pulled her center stage as a few people from different bands got up and joined her. All eyes were on her as a drummer, the young man with the flute and Kael standing behind. The flutist began with low, slow notes then Kael played his guitar, playing in harmony. Suddenly there was a pose and the drummer picked up the pace along with Kael with a fast yet steady beat. Kendel closed her eyes, shutting the world around out and letting her song be heard. Kael began casting his Minor Illusion spell in between them and her so she would be the focus while also giving a nice visual effect. The crowd awed as she sang.

A young man walked through the forest

With his quiver and hunting bow.

He heard a young girl singing

And followed the sound below.

There he found the maiden,

who lives in the willow

Kendel poured her heart out while she sang. To everyone watching they could see what looked like a moving painting behind her. The group of human violinists joined as well as the cello player and together they told a tale of a huntsman who becomes infatuated with a dryad, trying to get her to marry him and bear his children. The dryad rejects, for she is bound to her tree, her home. Enraged, the huntsman chops down her willow, thinking it will free her, but she only meets her demise, destroying what he prized. In the end, he felt entitled to have her and only viewed her as a trophy to be won, but he could not take from the forest what was not meant to leave.

She followed him out the forest

and collapsed upon the earth.

Her feet had walked but a distance

from the green land of her birth.

She faded into a flower

that would bloom for one bright eve.

He could not take from the forest

what was never meant to leave.

When song and music ended the illusion dissipated, everyone stood and cheered, some whistling and others bawling, moved by what they witnessed. Kendel’s eyes shot wide open at the sudden cacophony of cheers, Kael stepped beside her left waving to the audience as the rest of the players followed suit. Together they all bowed, and as Kael stood back up he caught a glimpse of a figure of a large fluffy cat in the window in the far back of the building, just then a message appeared in his vision.

Quest Completed: Song of The Willow Maid

Description: You have offered to assist Kendel to play the song with her. How charming!

Perform the song with Kendel: 1/1

Rewards: For going above and beyond without being prompted to, your rewards have increased!

Charisma +5

+2,500 XP

Caution! You have crossed a threshold in Charisma and your body will now shut down in 10 seconds to begin the changes. Please lie down to avoid physical harm.

Caution! Your Charisma is several thresholds higher than your Wisdom and has gotten you an active debuff: Hangin’ with the Wrong Crowd lvl 2!

Effect: +20% chance to attract the wrong kind of people or crowd!

Yay! More Friends!

Shut down in 3…2…1