3. Open Classes in the Bardic College

Open Classes in the Bardic College


  • _Word spreads around the city that the Headmistress of the Bardic College, Val Kyrie, is going to be running open classes in the Bardic Classes shortly on a range of topics.

    Theories swirl about why she would do such a thing, but nonetheless, any who approach Christine at the Theatre reception desk would be advised that the classes will indeed be happening._

    // Will post the class lessons up in this thread shortly.


  • Lesson 2 - Modern History

    A week after the lessons on musical theory (ignore the Real Time difference) Val undertakes a new public lesson. The classroom is set up much as before, with some pictures of different parts of Narfell on the walls. Once the gnomish clock signifies 9am, she starts the lesson with the students all sitting in their seats with varying degrees of interest.

    Thankyou all, for being so prompt. This week we'll be covering some of the modern history of Narfell, to give you a better feel for things out there in the world. Narfell has been a very busy place over the last few decades, with all sorts of things happening. Most of those have somehow involved the College or its members, and so we’ve collected quite a volume of lore.

    Perhaps it would be best to start with Peltarch, seeing it is where we are now. By most accounts, the modern history of Peltarch would begin with its rebuilding after the N’jast war. The actions of the army led by Kara du’Monte left the city mostly in ruins, and what did remain was destroyed by a massive wave off the Icelace, created by the melting of the Great Glacier.

    Before these events, the streets of Peltarch were paved with beautiful flagstones, and the buildings were constructed of the finest stonework. The Defenders had an entire section of the city to themselves for their headquarters, and Town Hall was in the Residential District. Much of the stone used in the rebuilding of Peltarch came from the ruins of the old Defender HQ, the remainder being brought in from Norwick and Oscura.


    - The Temple of the Triad after the Rebuilding -

    Whilst this took years to complete, it was a welcome change from destruction and war. Eventually Peltarch was rebuilt, although perhaps not to the same splendour as it once had. Many businesses stayed within Peltarch and moved to new locations within the city, and some new ones came to town, like Droibo and his storage service, which was previously located in Jiyyd.

    Perhaps a decade after the rebuilding was complete, a new terror struck the city, in the form of a plague. It started out in the most odd of ways, that is, the theft of the Shroud of Ilmater from the Temple of the Triad. Whilst this action was heinous, none suspected what use it was to be put to. In a series of vile rituals, the magic of the Shroud was corrupted and used to spread disease throughout the city.

    Hundreds died as the Order of the Divine Shield, the Sisterhood, and many others did what they could for those suffering. At the same time, investigations were undertaken to attempt to find the source of the disease, and put a stop to it. This very College was taken over by the city and the Theatre used as a Plague Hospital


    - The Theatre during the Great Plague -

    After much work and hardship, a group of adventurers and goodly souls, led by Senator Mariston Thel, departed on a ship to a city across the Icelace, far to the east. There, they encountered a fell enemy who had taken the Shroud and used it for their vile purposes. The exact details of what happened that fateful day are unknown to all but those who took part in the trip, but one thing is known. The heroes were successful, the Shroud was cleansed, and the Plague was lifted from the city.

    After this, peace reigned for a time, asides from the odd bit of political unrest. Senate elections were held with the normal levels of interest from the public, but they were marred by actions from an as yet unknown quarter that saw Senator Snydders attacked by rogue Defenders in Town Hall itself. Most believe the attacks to be the brainchild of those in Highhold, a city held by traitors from the Peltarch Civil War. Some however, speak of cultists beneath the city itself, working towards a dark purpose.

    Riots became commonplace in those days, due to the actions of the Senate in the banning of trade with Oscura. Many in the Senate saw Oscura's continued support of slavery and the dark arts as a valid reason to break off economic ties with that place. The civil unrest was only put down by the eventual decision to resume trade, but with tariffs in place that would fund much needed works within Peltarch itself.


    - Rioters in the Docks District -

    Ah, some of you thought that I would speak only of the good things that had happened in Peltarch's history? Does it shock you to hear of the violence and tragedy that has happened? Truth be told, history is normally full of these things, with little being recorded of the good times. We did have many years of peace between these events, but peace is not exactly rivetting stuff to talk about.

    Anyway, to continue. We barely had a chance to get things in order after the Riots and the Elections were concluded, before ghosts started appearing in Peltarch and other parts of the realms. Most of the ghosts were related to the N'jast war… people that had long since passed from the living due to violence were walking and talking, although only in an ethereal form.

    I was fortunate, or unfortunate enough to find myself smack in the middle of this trouble, which we now know as the Calculabe trials. At one point, I was even transported to an alternate version of Peltarch, during the N'jast war, and took part in the defence of the city against Warmachines. At first we thought that this was caused by restless spirits, or perhaps time travel, but the truth of it was far more dire.

    During the N'jast war, a priestess of the goddess of ill luck, Beshaba, undertook a ritual that caused random chance to almost always turn bad. Thousands died on both sides due to this, but the priestess herself disappeared. This was done with the power of the Fate Calculabe, a device of the old Empire that was inexplicably tied to fate. After the war, the Calculabe fell into even darker hands, and was used to trawl through multiple realities to try and replace our version of Peltarch with the worst case scenario.

    A tournament was held, between the four Elemental Princes of Evil, with each choosing a champion. The Earth Prince's champion, Melanie Stern won, and thus he was preparing to destroy Peltarch with an almighty earthquake. Thankfully, his plans were discovered in time and a group of adventurers found and defeated him with the aid of an alternate version of Kara du'Monte who never fell into darkness.

    Since then, Peltarch has lived in relative peace and prosperity.

    Next, we will look at the history of Norwick...

    She turns to the board, smiling as she works. The class goes on for about an hour, before she puts down her chalk and signals that this lesson is over for the day, ushering the students out.


  • Lesson 1: Music Theory

    The weather out the window is raining, much like it always is in Narfell. The classroom itself is a light and airy affair, the walls painted a gentle blue colour with wooden desks set up in rows. A Blackboard is on the wall at the front of the room where Val stands, a desk and chair off to one side. She smiles as the students and those interested in the lesson filter in, and once a gnomish clock on the wall signifies 9am, she closes the door and returns to the front of the room.

    Welcome all, to our first lesson for this year on Music Theory. Some of you are students of our College, others are outsiders with an interest in the arts, or perhaps just an idly curiosity as to what really happens inside our walls. To me, it doesn't matter so much WHY you are here, just that you ARE here.

    Over the coming weeks, there will be a series of open classes. Next week will be a lesson on Modern History, which will be followed by a class on the development of the Common Tongue. After that, well, we'll have to wait and see.

    If, as an outsider, you find yourself intrigued by what you learn here, please, feel free to speak with myself or any of the other Masters about joining our college. Our fees are reasonable and our teachers understanding.

    There are a number of rules that all our students are to follow whilst in our classrooms, and these apply to everyone.

    She turns to the blackboard and begins to write

    Now, onto the subject matter.

    Music Theory, the beginning point for any aspiring bard or music lover. In a nutshell, Music Theory is the study of HOW music works. This covers such elements as rhythm, harmony or harmonic function, melody, structure, form, texture, and pitch, as well as many others.

    Music is its own language, one that is universal. It transcends cultural barriers and allows us to communicate universal truths without words. And yet, there are so many different styles of music that they seem to form their own dialects. In order to understand the differences between these, we'll start with the basic elements.

    She turns back to the blackboard again, rubs out the previous words and starts writing again

    Every single noise that you hear, has a pitch. And every single thing in this world has what is known as a harmonic resonance. That is, a specific note that will cause it to vibrate violently, perhaps even fatally. More on that later.

    Instruments like drums operate normally on the lower end of the pitch scale, where stringed instruments operate on the mid to high end of the pitch scale. This is all due to how these instruments work. A drum simply has to be tapped to make a sound, which causes a vibration of low intensity. Low intensity means that the pitch is low, and the sound that comes from it is also low. With a stringed instrument, each string is set to its own pitch, which can be altered by tightening or loosening the string… which then affects how fast or slow it will vibrate.

    Interesting fact:- you can actually tune your drums to different keys to produce different notes, or to make it sound better with other instruments. It's all about the tension of the skin of the drum.

    Now, the vibrations that we experience with sound, be it a high pitch or a low pitch, create sound waves. If we were to draw them, they'd look something like this...

    The higher the pitch, the closer together the waves will be, which means that the higher the note will sound. Lower pitches equal further apart waves, which means a lower note. All creatures are only equipped to hear certain note ranges though. For example, dogs can hear a far wider range than we humans can, and thus dog whistles were created. They're inaudible to humans, but they are so high pitched that they "hurt" the dogs ears.

    Another interesting point, is how different pitches carry and are processed by the ear. A good example of this would be if a Bass singer and a Soprano singer were standing side by side, and singing a note that was in the middle of their personal ranges, with the Bass singer singing a lower note, and the Soprano singer singing a higher note, and if they were both singing at the same volume, the Bass note would be audible further away.

    This occurs because of the way that sound waves interact with one another. A lower pitch means that each wave has more energy in it, and thus can overcome more "resistance" both from the air around it, and other sound waves. A higher pitch means that each wave has less energy in it, because there are more waves trying to carry the same sound. Of course, this leads to it fading away quicker, thanks to resistance in the air and from other sound waves.

    If all of this is going over your head, don't worry. This is, after all, the first lesson, and our textbooks do cover it in detail for you to go over at your leisure.

    Next, is rhythm… the bare bones of what takes something from being simply a series of noises, and turns it into music.

    She turns to the board, smiling as she works. The class goes on for about an hour, before she puts down her chalk and signals that this lesson is over for the day, ushering the students out.