An audition

Having made yourself decent and ready for the day, you made your way through the streets of Paude. Not as large or prosperous as the capital city of Dobeth, or the other coastal city of Lougen, it was still a decently large and prosperous community. It was a notable crossroads of roads that traveled northwards and southwards, a minor highway of sorts that connected the Naztalan Empire with the Linthalian Monarchy, and traveled more east and west that was connecting the coastal cities to the western border of Barkhis. As would be expected from laying on such a trafficway, the streets were bustling with all sorts of people carrying on in their day to day, of the merchants or other travelers and the locals that made their living supporting them. Though there may have been some angry shouting here or there, the environment was largely peaceful, despite the noise and commotion. The calm quiet of nature was more pleasing to your eyes and ears, to see the world as it naturally was, in all of it’s stark contrasts to the world you grew up and so recently escaped. Still, it had it’s charm, particularly the people. It had taken some time for people to get used to a Drow in their town, and even the folks who still had hatred in their hearts had at least learned to hold their tongues, having gotten used to your presence, much as they would Orcs or Tieflings.

You wished your family could see sights like this or the other places you’ve been to in your short time on the surface. Most Drow never would, and even those that did would only emerge for wars of espionage, subterfuge, or other calculated strikes in their eternal war. If they could just pause and see T’sara with new eyes, most would realize the fault of their hostile behavior, or so you hoped. Right or wrong, changing how your fellow Drow viewed the rest of the world was someone else’s problem. You had a new life ahead of you, and you were going to walk towards it.

That walk brought you to the campus of the local Bard’s College. You’ve spent more time here than anywhere else, save your apartment. At first, it was just the towering and impressive architecture that impressed you and sparked your curiosity. When you heard the voices and sounds that came from it, you became utterly transfixed, the likes of which you hadn’t felt ever before. You could still remember clearly how it felt that day, exploring the grounds of the college, hearing a practiced choir of voices singing in unison, and how your soul had been transported out of your body in an instant. With some insistent pleading, you had found a kind soul there to be your mentor. Chesale, a grizzled human whose musicianship was second only to his accounts of war he had seen firsthand, taught there, and had been willing to help teach you privately. He’d even shared some of the secrets of bardic magic, using your voice to cast a couple of occult spells. With his help, you discovered your voice, through singing, and through a few instruments. You were indebted to him in a way that you could not describe, and could never repay. Now, some months later, you were to audition to become a fully admitted student within the College.

It was a difficult process to be sure, with several tests involved. You would not only be asked to show your abilities to perform, but your skills of oratory, your knowledge of poems and myth, and beyond. With so little time in the surface world, your knowledge of the history of nations and cultures of T’sara was limited, with the help you’d received, you felt hopeful and confident that you would be able to pass. Arriving on the campus, it was clear that you weren’t alone in your dream. There were a little more than two dozen others with you, roughly congregating together, waiting to begin. They were roughly even between the males and females of any given species. Among the races, humans were predictably the most common, though there were a two pairs of Elves, a few Dwarves or Halflings, and a singular Orc woman, who looked as out of place here as you did. Though you did not know her, somehow her presence here made you feel calmer.
“If she belongs here, so do I”, you thought. Orcs and Drow had been allied in the dreaded Triumvirate War against the nations of Elves, Humans, and Dwarves. If enough time could be passed for her to be forgiven and allowed to be here, so were you. There were still a few scowls glared in your direction, reminding you that even here, grudges and prejudice are not so easily removed; not everyone was going to greet and accept you welcomingly. If anything, being a bunch of opinionated creative musicians, poets, orators, their sharpened tongues would have been all the more cutting.

One of the elves approached you. She may have been maybe a decade and a half older than you. Still young by her standards, and yours, but enough time that she would have been expected to develop some maturity and self-sustainment. By first impressions, without even a word spoken, she already seemed to embody some of the worst opinions of Elves; overly proper in her appearance and haughty in her demeanor. You didn’t want to cause trouble, but felt your toes curl in your shoes, fearing trouble may be coming to you.
“What are you doing here?” She asked, seemingly neutral to begin with.
“I’m here to audition to be accepted into the Bard’s College, same as the rest of you, yes?”
Rather than answering the question, she continued on her own questions, speaking slightly louder, making a point to attract the attention of the others “and how long have you studied your art?”
“A little under a year” You replied earnestly “I prefer to sing, but I’ve also been learning the harp”
She chuckled, granting permission for the eavesdroppers to do the same “and you think that makes you good enough? That you’re the best of us?” Stepping forward, interjecting before you could answer your question “Everyone here has studied and practiced for years. I’ve been performing longer than most of them have been alive.” The scorn and animosity was palpable “So, no, you’re not the same as the rest of us, and you never will be.”
You pressed your lips firmly, feeling a little overwhelmed. Though she was the only one speaking, the looks of agreement on almost everyone else’s faces gave you the sense of being surrounded and outnumbered. Still, you held your ground, and your integrity.
“Colleges are a place of learning, and that’s why I’m here. I never said I was smarter or better than any of you, but I’m here to prove that I can learn.”
“The Goddess of Learning forsook your kind millenia ago, you’ll never learn to be a bard, and you Drow will never learn your lesson, so why don’t you go crawl back into the cave you crawled out of, and go back to kidnapping children or something?” You felt speechless and wounded. The Goddess of Learning was Varissa, the First of the Six Sisters, who was also Goddess of the Elves. It was a common myth, especially among certain groups of Elvish cultures, that Varissa cursed your ancestors into your current form and banished them from the earth. She merely loved her eldest child more than her adopted younger child, the first Drow twisted into being by the Fey.

Suddenly, a long black, highly polished walking stick was brandished between you, the top pointed directly at the elf. You’d both been so engrossed in the conversation that each of you developed tunnel vision and hadn’t seen this new face approach. Like her, he was an elf, but more middling in his years.
“Do not presume to speak for the Gods, or for the College. You are neither prophet nor a member of this college” His words were a stern warning. “Remember your own standing, or your ambitious dreams will be cut short.” He swiftly took his cane back, and with a decorative flourish, bounced it on the ground once, grabbing it both ends as it rose up, to reveal a hidden sword underneath.
“And who are you, exactly, that you owe her anything?”
He looked at you briefly “I don’t owe this radiant creature anything. Never seen her before in my life.” Looking back with a slight smirk “If I had, I’m sure I would remember it. She is correct though, and she has as much a right to be here as you. As for me, if we’re playing by your same rules, my name is Lyron Stranishka, and I have more experience than all of you put together.”
There were some growing murmurs in the faithless crowd, as eager to see her put in her place as they had been you not a moment prior. Defiant, the elf woman sneered “I’ve never heard of you.”
“That says more about you than it does me, madame. And if we’re speaking frankly, after today, I don’t imagine anyone will ever hear of you ever. Good day.” With an exaggerated twirl of his sword cane, the peculiar elf resumed his journey, walking into the college grounds himself. She desperately wanted to comment, having taken a few steps to begin following him, but gave up. There was a heavy silence in the group, none willing to comment on what all had just been seen. The dwarves had started speaking first, and from there, idle chitchat grew. Having been a silent observer through the whole event, the orc woman approached you, giving you a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

“You’re a brave woman. I would have struck her.” Clearly a person of few words, she wandered slightly off, the whole of her position encapsulated in that one short sentence. Though you were glad to have a sympathetic soul in the crowd, you were also glad that she did not do that. Harsh words alone certainly don’t deserve a fist or worse, and it would have certainly removed her chance of being able to audition and compete. That Lyron fellow also showed that it wasn’t necessary, a simple warning and the threat of violence worked just as effectively as the actual violence would have.

After a few more moments of waiting, the group of you were greeted by three individuals. Chesale, your mentor and friend from within the College, accompanied surprisingly by Lyron, and a Halfling woman who, in relative terms, was the oldest of three, hair fully grayed and her body weakened by the passage of time, hobbling along. Your first went to the Elvish woman who had accosted you. Where you had expected to see worry or fear in her eyes, you had instead seen scorn.
“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. Please, follow us” Chesale was being very to the point. He made no outward acknowledge of your presence, even as he made eye contact with you, or knowledge of who you were. You figured it was to dispel any appearances of favoritism, and in good conscious, followed suit, walking with the rest of the hopefuls. You felt to be in good company, with the minor exception; seeing the excited faces looking about the Campus at the impressive architecture told you that this was their first time on the grounds, and were just as awe struck as you had been.
Led to a small indoor theatre, you and the other applicants made your way to the stage as the small panel of judges sat front and center. There was a sense of nervousness among all of you; even though you had a rough sense of what this would cover, you had no real idea what you or anyone else would be asked to do.
The halfling lady spoke up, her voice in surprising shape considering her aging appearance and body “First, thank you all for coming. The Bard’s Colleges across the world would not be what they are without such skilled highly motivated individuals seeking to join. Seeing what the talent the youth of the world has to offer is one of the favorite parts of my position in this College. Now, before we begin anything further, my friend Chesale has an important announcement.”

“Yes, thank you Jilmelda” He turned to her for a moment before rising “Developments have come to my attention that someone among you does not belong here, and must be removed.” A sharp pang of fear ran through your spine, before he pointed directly at the elf woman who had given you trouble earlier. “You. Leave now.”
Horrified as she was confused, she looked around to ensure it was her he was speaking about. “What do you mean?” She asked
“I mean I need you to walk out the door you came in.” Chesale replied bluntly “You’re done here.”
“But, you haven’t heard me yet” She protested, to no affect

“We heard enough” Jimelda interjected “Your arrogance has no place here, neither does your bigotry.”

She scoffed at the accusation, turning to see if any of the others auditioning would rise to her defense, only to see them stone faced.
“I don’t believe this! After everything I’ve done to be here and earn this, you’re taking the side of this amateur? This Traitor?!”

Chesale rose from his seat immediately on that word. Though you haven’t known him long, you’ve already known him to be a serious, stern, to the point manner of human.
“Your name is Veribende, yes?” He asked, to which she nodded silently
“And you believe you’ve earned your place here? That you’ve done more than Margot here?” He asked.
“Beyond question” she affirmed, looking back at you.
“I’m afraid I do have a question, actually,” As he interlaced his fingers together “If what you said was correct, and Lorey here, one of our Adjuncts, heard you properly, than you’ve been studying music and performance longer than I’ve been alive. Do I have that right?”
“Yes, I’ve been practicing and learning for half a century now.”
“Interesting, so how is it that Margot has been on this campus more in the past nine months than you have in the past five decades?”

You could only help but watch as the color ran from Veribende’s face, embarrassed and furious. Caught without an answer, her silence allowed him to continue his scathing lecture.
“If that question is a little hard for you, let me ask you this instead. I know she wants to be here, I know she wants to do the work, because I’ve seen it. Do you, Veribende?” He asked as he stepped closer to the stage “do you wanna do the work? Or do you just want to have the title? If all you want is just to be able to call yourself a Bard, you don’t need to be here to do that. I honestly don’t care what you do, it just needs to be done somewhere else. Go”

He went back to his seat and waited. Veribende stood still, silent and stunned. Lyron slowly stood from his seat, grabbing his cane, giving a clear implicit signal. Understanding the threat of force, she moved in a storm out of the theatre.

“Now” Chesale finally spoke to the group as a whole “I want you all to try and relax after what just happened. We are all adults and professionals here. Don’t let my speech give you all the wrong impression. I’m as opposed to favoritism as I am to prejudice. We are not constrained by any limitations here. We will take as many of you as we believe are suitable to join our College. If you all show great promise, we all accept all of you. If all of you underperform, we will not take any of you. This means that if you didn’t make it, nobody else in this room stole it from you. It also means that there doesn’t need to be any treachery afoot in this room. Jimelda, would you like to elaborate?”
“Of course” She stood up, letting a low groan out as she moved “Many of you aspire to not only be trained performer’s, but to be adventurers facing dangers and perils most severe. On or off stage, your teammates have to be able to trust you. Simply put, if you cannot be trusted in an audition, you can’t be trusted when the stakes really matter. With that, do we have a volunteer to begin?”

There was a slight pause without an immediate reaction. You didn’t want to appear to be the favorite, but nobody else stepping forward made it seem necessary for you to start things off. You stepped forward, admittedly nervous, but committed.
“Well done, Margot” Lyron said from his seat, still leaning back “before we see your performance, we would like to ask you some questions. I overheard in your conversation that you hadn’t been performing long, can you explain why, and how that is?”
“Well, I’ve performed my whole life, it feels like. I’ve only just only been involved in music in the past year. I haven’t done music before arriving here because that wasn’t allowed.”
“Your culture prohibits music, you mean?” He followed up
“Yes,” you nodded once, your hands beginning to cling together “It’s seen as a useless and distracting frivolity. The only ones who engage in music or art are the ones who are safe enough that they don’t fear anyone trying to come after them, which is almost no one.”
“If we may,” Jimelda spoke up “I’m a little confused. If all of that’s true, than how can you say you’ve been a performer your whole life?”
“I had to perform as if I was like everyone else, when I wasn’t.” Your eyes wavered in anxiety for a moment. Having come to terms with things internally is one thing, expressing them outwards is another, especially to strangers “I had to do it to survive. Literally. I performed well enough that I even believed myself a few times. At some point, as children become adults, they have to stop pretending. When I did, that meant I had to run for my life. And that’s how I came here.”
The three looked at each other quietly, Chisele had known parts of this already, but even he was not fully aware of your past. Lyron spoke up again.
“You ran away, you said? I take it you don’t like fighting much. Do you think that makes you cowardly?” The question made your face flush and warm, fearing you were already done before you started.
“I hate the idea of combat” You paused to collect your thoughts in a clear manner “I know that there are times when it is necessary. It doesn’t make me like it any more, and I didn’t see anything necessary about what the people back home were doing. As for being a coward? No sir. I did what I needed to do to live. If I had fought instead of run, they wouldn’t stop coming after me until they stopped.”
“Margot” Chisele finally asked his own question. “We’ve known each other for a little while now, and I understand that you enjoy singing and playing. Why do you want to join the College so bad? Why do you want to be a Bard?”
“Because they’re the kind of people I wish I had at home. Since making Comchavet my home, I’ve come to fall in love with this world. I want to learn more of it’s stories, it’s legends, it’s culture. If I can than turn around and share it with others, that would make not only make me happy, but I think it would help mend some wounds.”
“You think you can sing the world into a land of peace and harmony, than?” Lyron asked, a slight smirk on his face, it was admittedly a pointed question, but you were beginning to see that was the point, to get at who you really were.
“It can’t make things any worse, sir” You said, causing a small laughter in the room, between both the judges and your fellow auditioners. “I don’t think there’s any simple answers in the world. If I can bring just a few people together that weren’t before, or just help one person replace hate in their heart with love, I’ll be satisfied, and I think the Bard’s College is the best way for me to do that.
“Thank you Margot” Jilmelda said with an earnest smile “It’s always great to hear so many different voices in these events, and yours certainly is unique. With that, I think we’re done with our questions, and we’re ready to hear your singing voice. Are you ready?”
“Yes ma’am,” You replied with a slight bow and a smile.
“Than begin on your time, show us who you are with your voice, please”

You closed your eyes, took a deep breath, and began to sing as you’d practiced countless times. “Do your best, and it’s a win no matter the outcome” you told yourself as you began your song of choice, Your Stories I’ll Remember.