Elfsong - Elaine Cunningham [96]
"In my travels, I ran into Olive Ruskettle, a halfling bard and fellow Harper. Don't call her that to her face, though, as she has mixed feelings toward the Harpers. When Finder returned to Faerun, they became friends. Now that the sentence against him has been lifted, she is making a point of singing his music everywhere she goes."
"And the reference to Canaith?"
"The barding college, of course. The tune was quite popular and was often borrowed as the foundation for other music. I'm assuming that the spell is set to whatever version was popular at Canaith."
"And you're sure the halfling sang that particular version?" Wyn asked.
"Wouldn't that be nice! I'll be sure after I attempt to cast the spell," Danilo said with a grim smile. He studied the words of the ballad, humming as he read. He nodded slowly. "The meter fits the melody, that much we know. Apparently I'm to play the first line of the song on the harp, then start to sing in harmony with the harp's continuing melody."
"Hmmph. Sounds like yer trying to dig one tunnel east and another west, hopin' to meet in the middle."
"Indeed it does, lady dwarf. If I might borrow your lyre of changing, Wyn, I suppose I ought to start practicing,"
Danilo said with no discernible enthusiasm as he rose to leave the campfire.
"Hold on, bard. I'll walk with you a bit," Morgalla said, hopping down from her perch beside Wyn.
Danilo turned, ready to decline her offer. Something in the set of her face held him back, and he motioned for her to join him. They left the campfire and walked in silence for several minutes. A small path cut through a wooded area on its way toward the travel route, and here Morgalla paused.
"Got a story to tell you," the dwarf began, keeping her eyes averted. "I come from the Earthfast Mountains, far to the east o' here. Since my great-grandsire's time, orc wars have whittled my clan down to so much kindling. My mother was Thendara Spearsinger, a captain in the hearth guard and as fierce a fighter as ever you'd see. Soon as I was old enough to stand up on my own, she put a staff in my hand and teached me to use it. My clan is Chistlesmith, an' I learnt the clan trade of carving wood into useful stuff. That was my life: I fought an' I carved, like folks expected, but in me was a wantin' for more. Had me a taste for adventure, and for the learning of new tales and songs. Dwarves like these things well, but with troubles like ours, there wasn't much daylight to spare to 'em.
"Times was grim, but of a night folks gathered in the great clan hall for song and stories. I was knowed throughout Earthfast for my singing and stories-and my dancing." The dwarf cast a sidelong glance at Danilo as if daring him to smirk. The Harper nodded gravely, and she took a deep breath to continue.
"You may know that Princess Alusair-King Azoun's girl-tarried in the Earthfast, fighting orcs and just generally hiding out. She could spin a good tale, and after the war with the horselords, I took me to Cormyr to see with my own eyes the wonders of her father's kingdom. My craft apprenticeship was almost up, you see, and my fifty-year celebration right around the bend. When that passes, I gotta choose me a mate and set up my own hearth. My time for music and adventure was running short. So I thought to go to the cities of Cormyr, and there make me a name big enough to earn me a place alongside a bard who could learn me what I couldn't get in Earthfast.
"Full of myself, I was," Morgalla said with a grim smile, "and sure that all o' Cormyr would soon know my name. Didn't work out that way. Tall people can't picture a dwarf doing aught but swingin' a hammer or a weapon. Decided I was funny, they did, without takin' time to listen and watch."
The dwarf shrugged away the sting of the memory. "Humans got no patience. Tall folk won't sit still for a story, but they can look at a picture well enough. I took to drawin', and learnt I could hide