Lyricaen says, "Tis' a teardrop."

[Northern Caravansary, NE Corner]
A squat log building has been built into the northeast corner of the palisade.  
Split log steps lead down to the heavy, iron-banded door that is half below ground level.  
A pair of burly dwarves stand to either side of the steps, suspiciously eyeing each 
person as they come and go.  A brightly painted sign depicting a golden pouch bulging 
with coins hangs above the door. Also here: Lord Palooka

Lyricaen nods.

Palooka sits down.
Palooka nods.


Palooka says, "curious I am."
Palooka says "Never saw one before..."

Lyricaen nods.

Lyricaen says, "Me, too..."

Lyricaen smiles and begins to hum under his breath.  
The item in his hand seems to vibrate and become, 
somehow, an extension of his vocalizing.

Palooka says, "am told it is a repository of great knowledge"

Lyricaen sings:

    "'Teardrop, your soul is now mine, 
      Tell me all the secrets that are thine!'"


As you sing, you feel your melody surround and caress the teardrop.  
The resonant tones spread lacy tendrils of magic out, seeking knowledge 
of the stone teardrop like a gentle lover.  The initial impressions are 
faint, merely a whisper of a past veiled in time and dust.  
While you sense no magical abilities in it now, you are aware of an 
imprint within it, left by magic's association at some point in its journeys.

As your song ends, the curtain of its influence fades gracefully away.


Lyricaen blinks.

Lyricaen says, "oh my...."
Palooka asks, "didja see that?"
Palooka's jaw drops.

Palooka says, "As Lyricaen sings, a subtle undercurrent can be heard, 
a magical hum that centers around the stone teardrop he holds.  
The stanzas rise and fade, a questioning melody woven 
with obvious skill." Well, that's what I saw..."


Lyricaen shivers.
 
Palooka beams!


Lyricaen says, "Dis thingie gonna give me da heebie-jeebies...."
Lyricaen glances at a small stone teardrop.
Palooka exclaims, "is a lordly item of knowledge!  he was right!"

Lyricaen blinks.
Lyricaen asks, "Huh?"

Lyricaen peers quizzically at Palooka.

Lyricaen exclaims, "I'm bringin' out da' big-boy verses fer da' rest of this... 
Lyricaen raises his fist in a display of defiance.

Lyricaen sings:

    "'Teardrop, Yer purpose I shall bind,
     Upon this song, Power doth unwind!
     Rhythm, Cant, Bardic Chant... 
     Now I cast our Covenant!"


As you begin to serenade the teardrop once again, your song 
takes on a more somber pitch, in keeping with the initial impressions 
the stone teardrop immediately sends back in response to your melody.  
You know instantly that it is definitely not magical in nature.
It is a curious thing, this small teardrop.  While it is a simple stone, 
you sense the teardrop is more... a frozen moment, or perhaps a memory, 
stolen from the clutches of time's relentless passing.  It holds within 
its heart a synthesis of emotion, rendered into a form that is pure and 
liquid in nature.

Just as that realization blooms in your mind, it becomes a flower 
of understanding. The beautiful outer form of the teardrop is a mere 
shell encasing a single drop of a complex mix of emotions!  
You sense sorrow certainly, but combined with that is mercy and hope as well.  

Your song leaves you with a sense of wonderment at the stone teardrop.




Palooka says, "I was told that it is a unique item of great knowledge... 
only a master bard can hear it's story though"

Lyricaen says "Oh my.."

Palooka asks, "oh my?"


Palooka asks, "is that a good oh my or a bad oh my?"

Lyricaen says, "This is.... incredible."


Palooka nods.
Palooka's jaw drops.

Lyricaen swoons! My, my, aren't we dramatic today?

Lyricaen says, "Only the second sing, too..."
Lyricaen shivers.

Lyricaen slings a veniom-bound rolaren tower shield over his shoulder.
Lyricaen removes some pale amber Ardenai summer ale from in his instrument case.
Lyricaen takes a drink from your Ardenai summer ale.
Mmmmmm...that hit the spot.

Palooka stares at nothing in particular.

Palooka smirks.
Lyricaen slowly and deliberately empties his filled lungs.

Lyricaen sings:

    "'Teardrop, Heed my Call of Song.
     Tell me true, lies ye rue, Secrets of the Strong!
     Wraiths quake, Spectres shake, nae take it to ye grave,
     Share with me, the Lore of Great, No longer can ye stave!"

In his mind's eye, Lyricaen senses:

The timbre of your song now seems familiar with the teardrop.  
Once your melody begins, the hum of its magic unites with the 
stone surface as seamlessly as two halves of a whole.  
You quickly delve into that intriguing heart of the stone 
teardrop you glimpsed before.

Images respond to your query with a gentle touch.  In your mind's 
eye, you see an image of a dark cavern.  A small group of stone 
giants sit in a circle around a ring of stones.  You sense they are 
broken in body and near to despair.  Yet as they sit, you hear a strange
resonance rise from the group, a song so foreign in sound, you 
inhale inadvertently in both surprise and delight.  As the huge figures 
sing, you realize the giants are lifting a song in praise of joy and 
all the good things in life that so obviously have been 
stripped away from them.

The song is haunting as well as beautiful.  Despite its lack of 
almost everything conventionally associated with a musical composition, 
it surpasses normal boundaries of desirable quality and 
approaches the sublime.

The image fades quickly.  You realize with a start that 
you have been so transfixed by the giants' serenade that you 
completely forgot to continue your own melody.


Lyricaen says, "Dear Cholen..."


Palooka says, "Lyricaen effortlessly blends his lyrics and melody, 
concentrating on the stone teardrop with an intent expression.  
Though his performance is masterful, you notice he appears distracted.  
Soon, the song trails away with an unfinished finale, as though Lyricaen 
just lost interest in continuing to sing." Well, least that's what I saw...


Lyricaen begins to pant.
Lyricaen wheezes, trying to catch his breath.

Palooka says, "sing a "final" verse, perhaps?.."

Lyricaen nods.
Lyricaen gulps.

Lyricaen sings:

    "'Teardrop, Ye must but tell me more
     For now our Souls, like lovers soar, an' truer be our Lore!
     Give me all, or surely fall, upon the rocky shore
     Of failure deep, sorrow's weep, forever and a score"

In his mind's eye, Lyricaen senses:

You weave a final verse around the stone teardrop, by now looking forward 
to its communication with anticipation.  It offers little resistance to 
the touch of your song's spell.

Bringing its darkness and gloom close to your consciousness, 
the image of the circle of giants returns.  The scene seems so 
real, you can feel the damp air against your skin and hear the 
hush of the underground shadows.  The strange sound of the giants' 
combined voices rises and softens in a dramatic, sonorous flow.  
Finally the harmony ends, its final note a hollow drone that evokes 
a startling range of emotions from you.

As the tone fades away, you realize one of the huge figures has slumped over in 
death.  The others rise and begin to tend the body.  As they do, you notice 
one of their number touch her wide, stone face as if capturing a tear from her 
eye.  She extends the cupped hand and slowly opens it, palm up.  There, in place 
of a tear, you see a small flicker, a pinpoint of light!  The giant slowly 
extends the cradled glow toward one of the stone pillars in the ring.  
As she presses her hand against the rock, the wisp of light is absorbed into it.

The vision fades with your song's last echo.  It leaves you sad as well as 
amazed at the experience of glimpsing into the mysterious 
folds of the distant past.


Palooka asks, "oooh was it a good one?"
Lyricaen whispers quietly to Palooka.

Palooka gasps.

Lyricaen says, "This is... beyond incredible."
Palooka smirks.

Palooka asks, "a good find?"


Lyricaen nods.

Palooka says, "t'will be my new prize possession"
Lyricaen says, "It's so... sad."
sJ> * Artorius Hilmo joins the adventure.
 * Briannae Delphinne joins the adventure.
 * Sile Ravonwind joins the adventure.
 * Gahread Tempestas joins the adventure.
 * Lord Fauux Huumanis joins the adventure.
Palooka says, "a lordly item of knowledge.... the Stone god's own history in a stone tear"

Palooka's jaw drops.

Palooka whispers, "I've never seen an item "script" a bard loresinging before"

Palooka laughs!

Lyricaen sings:

    "'Teardrop, now our bond does soar, 
      Reveal to me the extent of your lore! 
     Sing to me of yer ages of yore, 
      An' now release to me yer Complete Inner Core!'"

You learn nothing new about the teardrop.

Lyricaen nods to Palooka.

Lyricaen says, "Jes wanted to check fer any last details..."

Palooka nods.

Lyricaen whispers to Palooka "There are a *few* rare items that have a fifth 
reponse to them..."
Lyricaen says, "but that was all..."

Lyricaen gazes in awe at the stone teardrop in his hand.
Palooka nods.

Lyricaen mutters something abouut the heebie jeebies.

Lyricaen offers his stone teardrop to Palooka.


Palooka has accepted lyricaen's offer and is now holding a small stone teardrop.
Palooka nods.

Lyricaen says, "So sad, tho'...."

Lyricaen shakes his head.

Palooka nods.
Lyricaen says, "Poor things..."

Palooka asks, "remember the invasion? the stone giants walkin the land in great stone steps?"

Lyricaen says, "Makes ya wonder wot' all da' stone giants lost..."
Palooka nods.

Lyricaen says, "I was away for the invasion of stone giants."
Lyricaen frowns.

Lyricaen asks, "Was dat' off one o' those behemoths?"

Lyricaen peers quizzically at Palooka.

Lyricaen looks over to see Lord Palooka Thumbles the Halfling Wizard.
He appears to be in his 70's, has short, wavy sandy blond hair, green eyes, 
and tanned skin.He has a tattooed symbol of Voln on his finger, 
and a tiny gecko tattoo on his neck. He is in good shape.

He is holding a small stone teardrop in his right hand.
He is wearing a crystal amulet, a large sack, an oddly-shaped glaes shield, 
a pumpkin seed necklace, a magically woven purple striped tunic embroidered 
with shining round runes, an opal-clasped magenta leather cloak, some mottled 
green horns, and a satin magenta ribbon.

Palooka says, "prolly just before you got here....  there were many strange things happening.  
Illoke shamen walkin into town like they paid the gate guard 10 silvers,,,, 
shrines cryin at the saddness of the stone god...  the face of the god Illoke's 
mother appearing to lords an ladies saying not to hurt her only son"

Lyricaen blinks.
Lyricaen shivers.
Lyricaen says, "Spooky stuff...."

Palooka nods.

Lyricaen says, "Sumthin' afoot, methinks...."

Palooka says, "an now I have the tear."
Lyricaen notices the blood drain from Palooka's face.
Lyricaen gazes in awe at Palooka.

Lyricaen asks, "Wunder if it's a piece of a puzzle of some sort?"

Palooka fidgets.

Palooka says "I dunno son,,, I jus dunno...."