Role

Chapter 5

A requirement of the Bardic Guildhall is that apprentice minstrels
must appear at a certain number of public venues monthly to practice
their performances. Unfortunately, none of the NICE establishments
tended to want student performers since they didn't tend to draw large
crowds.

Many of these bars and pubs had cramped, poorly lit stages. What was
the worst, though, was the types of audiences that tended to show up.
Some were simply too poor to afford better drinks in finer bars. Most,
however, were the sort who enjoyed heckling unsuspecting performers.
They would bring ammunition in the form of rotten fruits and vegetables,
and some of the seedier establishments would even PROVIDE these things
to their patrons, hoping to draw a bigger crowd and earn a few more
coppers in drink sales.

Whildur, being a gnome, was prone to bruising easily. To others, an apple
to the head would be shocking, yes, and perhaps painful. To Whildur,
potatos and apples became deadly objects. He could tolerate this poor
treatment, but he soon grew tired of performing for an audience that
was more sadistic than appreciative of satire. One evening, after a
difficult performance for a rough crowd in the Ghetto of Ayr'Trinil,
Whildur stumbled out into the night to make his way down the long road
to where he was staying in Tir Talath. He didn't make it three steps
before he was jostled and felt a sharp pain in his side. He had been
STABBED!

"That's for calling my mother a she-orc, singer!." a voice mumbled
before the dark form slipped off into the night. The sleepy, drunk
looking bouncer standing a few feet away near the door never moved a
muscle.

Whildur groaned under his breath. "Never...said...MOTHER...said..
...a she-orc lived under a BOULDER." Then he passed out.


After this experience, Whildur decided what he'd really like is a place
to perform where the bouncers actually do their jobs, and where the
patrons appreciate an artist's effort because they are there for more
than to throw vegetables and take out their anger on strangers. He
is going to seek a permanent place at the Inn of the Eternal Star.