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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Barendd Nobeard" data-source="post: 1087525" data-attributes="member: 960">My dead bard - Vatzlav DobroushkanIn the (mostly) human land of <a href="http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/5835/index.html" target="_blank">Bohavia</a>, a powerful wizard eventually turned into a lich named Boscobelous.  Unfortunately for the residents of the small village Dobroushka, the lich's lair was not too far away.  So the local priests of Smurt (a death god) engineered a deal with this devil.  In turn for the first-born of every family, the priest and his followers held the forces of darkness at bay.  The deal was evil, yes, but many more lived.  Some went mad at the price paid, but most dealt with the horror of their situation in less drastic ways.For five hundred years, the village lived in isolation.  Unbeknownst to them, the wild land around them grew in a mighty kingdom eventually called Bohavia.  The villages knew none of this; they just lived fearful lives in the shadow of the lich.  Fortunately, they had the priests of Smurt to protect them.  A rallying cry of the village was "Better death than undeath!"  Anything to avoid the evil the lich could force upon one.  The kingdom of Bohavia had its own troubles to deal with; for recently the land was taken over by the vile Nyemetz (orcs).One day, a band of freedom fighters, looking to overthrow the Nyemetz and restore the rightful king to the throne of Bohavia, stumbled on the village.  Despite dire warnings from priests, the hearty band ventured to the lich's lair.  Though some fell to the powerful evil there, eventually the group marched victoriously back to the village--the lich was no more!The town was free, but a greater evil was soon discovered.  The elf Jihan, searching the Smurt temple, found a <a href="http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/5835/chap090.html" target="_blank">secret door</a> which revealed the priests' deception.  There was no sacrifice of the first-born children.  Instead, they were chained up in a room and eventually sold into slavery.  In retaliation, the villagers chained the priests into the room and bricked it up permanently.This was the background created by the DM and players in the game.  Eventually the game ended, and the DM decided to start a new group in the same world.  So, I created a character from this village: Vatzlav Dobroushkan.Into the forgotten village, Vatzlav was born.  He never knew his older sister, for she had been sacrificed as all first-born were.Once Vatzlav realized what these revelations meant, he planned to set out and look for his sister.  She was not dead, but somwhere still lived as a slave.  Over his mother's objections, he left home the next spring, hoping to track down leads regarding the whereabouts of his sister.  If he could not find her, perhaps he could find some of those adventurers and they could help him.  (He did not know that several of those adventurers were dead by this time.)Caught in a downpour, stuck in a remote inn with about 20 other stranded travellers, he gave his first public performance.  This is the song he sang (this was a play-by-email game):The village sleptfive hundred yearsThe parents weptfive million tearsThe meager harvestpulled from dirtWent most of allto priests of SmurtBaltzarek ledthe way was clearto sacrificethat held most dearAll first born childWould die by knifeevil but need-ed sacrificeIn the shadowof tower blackthe first-born dieto stay attack"Better death thanUndeath!" they criedBut twas ueslessIt was a lieThere is a sudden change in mood of the tune, from oppressive solemnity to bright, quick hopefulness:Until the dayoutsiders cameAnd stopped thepriests' evil gamesA pointy earfound the doorthat led them downsuch shock in store!The humble priestsLived like three kingsFirst-borns chained upUnder evil's wingThose villagersfooled by the knavesfirst-born stolenand sold as slaves!No need for judgeNor a trial Our only thoughtescape's denialHere, the tune again changes back to its pondering toe of the first verses, though a bit quicker as if compromising between the two previous moods of the piece:They bricked them upIn the foul gloomWhere slaves once weptnow slaver's tomb.Remains rot therecover'd with moldLength life lasted?We'll never knowThe tune finished, Vatzlav can not help but smile.  He looks at the crowd expectantly and then notes their faces.  "Uh, I've got to work on that last verse," he says a bit sheepishly.  "I call it 'The Tale of Dobroushka' - not a very exciting name, I know, but at least it's accurate."Eventually, the bard hooked up with some other adventurers.  In combat, his inspirational singing was used quite often, and with low level characters that +1 to hit is very nice.  His social skills were useful in negotiations and urban settings. And this was a play-by-email game, and it was more about "role playing" than "combat" although the game (like most) did both.Unfortunately, I went AWOL for a while (personal problems), and the DM killed him off.  He returned as a zombie (how ironic!) and his companions were forced to kill him.  He was about 3rd level when he died, so I never got to the higher level bard abilities.</blockquote>

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