New Year, New Me – Day 9

“Melody” – Tiefling Bard – Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition.

Melody’s story starts many years before she was born with a young hunter-gatherer on the plains. This young man styled himself a historian and story keeper for his people. At least he wished to be. But he could never keep the stories straight and his ability to perform was less than inspiring. Still he burned with the passion for the stories and the songs of his people.

Finally, distraught to the point of desperation he made a decision that would forever change his destiny. One fateful night, when the stars were right he performed an ancient ritual, calling on dark powers from below the earth. His pleas were heard, and a bargain was struck – a night with a demoness in exchange for the ability to be what he craved. He didn’t give it a second thought. What he didn’t count on was the succubus not giving him the full terms of the bargain. She gave him the abilities he craved, but she left him without the ability to walk. No longer able to perform the physical duties requires of him, his tribe moved on without him. He almost gave in to his despair, but decided that he must try to live. Fashioning a crude pair of crutches, he managed to make his way to a nearby fishing village where he used his new abilities to keep the locals entertained enough to keep himself fed and get him shelter. He made sure to learn everything he could about the village and the surrounding lands. He talked with every merchant, every traveler that stopped through the village to learn new pieces of history and new stories that he could add to his repertoire.

It was several years later that a young girl, thick with the scent and sight of infernal heritage showed up on his doorstep claiming to be his daughter. And in truth she was, conceived from his night with the succubus so many years ago. As she grew, she had begun to show an aptitude for the same arts that her father had so desired and so was sent away from her mother to the Material Plane to learn at his feet. At first he wanted nothing to do with her, and demanded that she leave him be. He found however, that he could not do that to the child. She was not to blame for her mother’s deceit. And she was just as much of an outsider in this community as he was when he first arrived, if not more. If he cast her out, he would be dishonoring the people that had taken him in. He took her in and he gave her a name.

Melody proved relentless in her desire to learn the histories and stories that he had learned. She reminded him of himself as a young man. And, as much as he hated to admit it, she reminded him of her mother. She was a tangible connection to his past and the choices he had made that had brought him to this point in his life. He taught her everything he knew. She soaked it up like a sponge, surpassing his skills in ways that amazed him. Maybe it was her bloodline, maybe it was natural skill, but there was a magic about the way she recited a story or sang a song. She restored him to life in a way that he had never expected Years later, he lay on his death bed, having taught the young woman everything he knew. He gave her his most prized possession – the drum he had made himself in his youth, when the same fire that burned within her first took hold of him. He finally expired, and Melody left to explore the rest of the world and learn everything she could about the stories and the histories of the realm.