“Music is a universal language, and I feel that it should be one of the benchmarks we use to decide whether some people are worth dealing with or not. Those who cannot appreciate or understand music are just savage barbarians.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden, veracity unconfirmed.

Satrapi Hawwa El-Ilauni carefully strummed the strings of the instrument – itself a priceless masterwork handmade by a master artisan – one after another, occasionally adjusting the tension of the string in question with the glass knobs on one side of the instrument. She did so for all seventy-five strings before she nodded in satisfaction and moved both hands over the strings of the instrument.

A melodious symphony sounded within the room, the sound made by the various strings combined into one concordant melody that chased after one another without clashing against each other.

The dwarven bard smiled widely and looked touched as she glanced towards her clearly satisfied-looking old friend. “This… this is too precious, Shadi,” she started stammeringly. “How could I accept something this wondrous-”

“Shush, now, old friend,” replied Shadi Balezouf with a smirk on her face. “I made this piece especially for you, and for no other. It has always been my intent to make you something like this for your three hundredth birthday present, but at that time, my skill was still lacking. It’s almost half a century late, but you know what they say. Better late than never!”

“This is… You’re too much, Shadi… Thank you, sincerely…” said the dwarven bard while she nearly choked up with happiness from the gift. The dwarven woman soon collected herself, though, and looked at the priceless instrument on her lap once more, before she turned to face the house’s patriarch and spoke to him solemnly. “Patriarch zem Nasril, with your permission, I would like to perform in your house tonight, to inaugurate this wonderful masterpiece’s existence.”

“Certainly, Satrapi, I will have the main hall prepared for your perusal. Would you prefer to do the performance before or after the evening repast?” asked the patriarch with a widening smile on his face. For a renowned bard to perform at his house was nothing short of an enviable honor for him as the host. “Do you have anything we could prepare for you?”

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“I would not need much, though… Pardon me, Miladies, but from the way you looked at this instrument, am I correct in guessing that the two of you are also familiar with the way of melodies?” asked Hawwa El-Ilauni as she shifted her attention to Aideen and Kino. It was probably something in the way they looked at the instrument as a musical instrument first and a masterpiece later that caught the dwarven bard’s eye.

Something she guessed would likely mean that there were fellow musicians present.

“You would be correct, Satrapi,” replied Aideen politely. “We’re just a couple of wandering bards of no fame, though, especially compared to you.”

“Heh, no fame as a bard perhaps, Milady deVreys,” commented Shadi Balezouf from the side with a chuckle. “Instead you’re the sort that bards like Hawwa here would sing of, I’d say that makes you a good bit more famous than she could ever expect to be remembered as, haha!”

“Ah right, Miladies, both Shadi and Hawwa here are in the know,” added the patriarch in explanation a moment later. “Satrapi El-Ilauni’s frequent travel and fame has helped our information network in this region by quite a bit, and although Mistress Balezouf did not take an active role in the ancestral mission, she frequently provided us with support in other ways. There were many places we easily gained access to just because we happened to be delivering one of her handmade creations there.”

“I see,” noted Aideen with a nod. “That simplifies a lot of things, I guess,” she added with a smile. “And certainly, Satrapi, we’d be happy to help if you would have our amateurish skills in the field of music.”

“The honor would be mine, Milady deVreys,” replied the dwarven bard with a melodious chuckle. “If it behooves you, I would like to ask for the two of you to play accompaniments to my tune. It is a tune best enjoyed when accompanied by others, so your help would enhance the experience for everyone involved,” she said with a smile.

“It would be our pleasure, and honor,” replied Aideen. Melodies were most commonly passed down from parents to their children, or from masters to apprentices in those days. For a bard to ask another to play a tune together with them was tantamount to an invitation to exchange the melodies they know with one another, which was a rare thing all considered. Far more people jealously guarded their songs and melodies than those who shared them freely. “Would you have any specific tune you would like us to play?”

“Oh, no, just play whatever comes to mind while listening to mine. That is how this tune is supposed to be accompanied,” replied the Satrapi as she made another melodious strum resound from the instrument on her lap. “This way, no two performances would be the same, and it would truly be an experience the listener could cherish, one that they could boast that only they had ever experienced.”

“Quite an interesting approach. I believe we would be very amenable to accompany you indeed, Satrapi El-Ilauni,” noted Aideen with a nod. “Is it a problem if we both also use string instruments?” she then asked as she brought out her lyre. Kino also brought out her lute when she noticed Aideen bring out her instrument.

“Not at all. In fact, that would even be ideal for this purpose,” replied the dwarven bard with a wide grin on her face. The woman was clearly giddy and excited for the performance they would put up later that evening. “To have the chance to inaugurate a masterpiece of an instrument like this with a living legend playing the accompaniment… I believe I might well have died and went to heaven without realizing it!”