Amends
"I do him no service by pretending something was when it absolutely wasn't. That's not what this is about. It's about showing the immensity of his sacrifice—how there were so many things that he could've been, but in the end, he was okay with the time he did have, short as it was. More people should be like that. I should be like that."
Amends: The Tale of a Living Sailor, usually shortened to Amends, is a musical written and produced by First and Prince Oric Fairfell, with songs by Creedo the Songsmith and Hamilton Randman. It tells the story of Rilios, Zatheravian sailor and companion of First.
Plot
Act One
The play opens with the death of the high elf Thervuldri, with his wife Vennaiah at his bedside. Vennaiah breaks the news to her five-year-old son Rilios, who assures her that they'll be okay because he will take care of her. Vennaiah solemnly gifts Rilios with an enchanted necklace and explains to him the beauty of grief and remembrance ("Okay to Feel").
Thirty-five years later, the crew of the Tradewind expresses their joy at sailing the seas, especially given their almost universal shared origin in the backwards kingdom of Zatheravi, which they were happy to leave behind ("The World Lies Before Us"). An adolescent Rilios, now an able seaman, is revealed in the midst of the song, and afterwards he begins speaking with a few crewmates about their dreams and the reason they sail. Rilios gives reserved answers, but reveals to the audience that he does it to feel close to his father, and is in no rush to do anything else, though his one dream for his future is to visit the Quellevorell homeland of his late mother ("As the Waves Rise and Fall"). As he finishes, the Tradewind pulls in to its next port on the shores of Kiritchati.
A montage sequence shows the assimilation of the tabaxi First of Storming Sky into the crew of the Tradewind, and the elves' shifting opinions on her ("Not a Cat"). Rilios regards her with mild curiosity and puzzlement. One music night on the boat, Rilios plays a solo on the flute, which First begins to dance and sing to, drawing all attention to her ("For All to See"). The following day, the Tradewind is captured by pirates, and both Rilios and First happen to fall from the boat in the chaos. As they bob in the water, lightning strikes the Tradewind, sending a cockboat into the water next to them, which they use to make their escape. They spend weeks in the boat, and at last have a real conversation, which is mostly dominated by First lamenting her lost dreams, though Rilios privately reveals his as well ("Things I'll Never Do"). Against all odds, they wash up on the shores of Jeltir, and begin to learn about this new environment ("The World Lies Before Us (Reprise)").
As they explore their friendship and what they might want to pursue in this new land, they encounter a variety of obstacles, not the least of which being their differing goals: First wants them to become a famous adventuring duo, while Rilios prefers a quiet, stable life ("Stuck to You"). One night while watching First tell a story to an inn full of eager listeners, Rilios reflects on her obsessive, thrill-seeking personality, and goes out to admire the night sky, concluding that he is happy to find beauty wherever she wants to go, but wishes she could stop to do the same ("I Don't Mind").
As First begins to despair of ever being remembered ("My Name is First"), Rilios goes out of his way to find an entry-level adventuring gig in the village of Canterfail Shallows on the shores of Paper Fern Lake. They meet with Decla Menfiri, the woman hiring them, to explore Canterfail Mine, which collapsed some years before, and, according to her, may contain some valuable trinkets. Though Rilios is apprehensive as they enter the mine, First waves away his concerns, and Decla subsequently summons a host of fiery fey which target the duo with blasts of flame. They narrowly escape, diving into a nearby stream which carries them out of the mine ("All For You").
Act Two
Rilios and First emerge into Paper Fern Lake and drag themselves onto shore. First, shaken badly, reflects on what her obsession almost cost them, and promises to follow Rilios's lead for a while, settling down and trying to build a home. He selects the coastal Jeltiri city of Nevérin ("Exactly What I've Wanted"). Over decades, he works a great many jobs on the sea, and First simply enjoys being the novelty of the city as she grows up, even as she feels something's missing. As she grows old, Rilios becomes a cleric of Brell and serves on many voyaging vessels, becoming famous among the sailors of western Jeltir. When she is very old, First thanks him for his friendship just before she dies ("Tell Your Mother").
Some years later, Rilios commissions a ship he calls the Lightning Strike and hires a crew with whom to sail at last to Thirilosia, homeland of his mother. On the way, the ship is attacked by sahuagin raiders, which Rilios fights off with his clerical powers ("Nothing to It"). When they reach Thirilosia, Rilios is awed by how beautiful the country is and how at home he feels ("Exactly What I've Wanted (Reprise)"). He spends many unplanned years there, eventually falling in love with and marrying a woman named Aeruil ("Sea-deep"). They have a son whom they name Rae, and as he grows up, he learns about sailing and the depth of elven emotion from his father ("Okay to Feel (Reprise)"). Eventually, Rae decides he wants to go off and see the wide world, and though Rilios resists at first, at last he gives him his blessing, bidding him to be very careful, and come back home when his wanderlust is satisfied ("Your Path").
All fades to black as Rae leaves, and a spotlight shines on First, standing alone at center stage, looking young again. She somberly reveals that the story after the fire in the mine was a fabrication, and that Rilios died in that fire, and she did not remember him at all for almost two decades afterwards, but she will never forget again. She reflects on his approach to life, and how, though she needed to adventure because she needed to help end the Eventide, all she really wanted was stability and loving friendships, like he always said, and his influence led her to her greatest joys in life, singing, "As horrible as it is / You paved the way for me / To become what I am / What, without your memory, I could never be" ("Looking for You"). As Rilios walks slowly across the stage, the background and his family fading away and a light shining in front of him, the rest of the cast of characters sings a requiem for him ("Things I'll Never Do (Reprise)").
Background
The play is based on First's real-life companion, and the title, according to her, "doesn't refer to making amends for getting him killed—that's not possible. It refers to making amends for forgetting him. He asked me to remember him. It was the last thing he ever said to me. This is me making sure everyone remembers him."
First had, immediately after seeing him die, been taken by fey creatures in the lake, who healed her but also removed her memories associated with her grief, leaving her blank of all her experiences involving Rilios, and ergo, of all her experiences ever since the capture of the Tradewind by pirates. It took her many years to recover these memories, which she did while she was a member of the Light Brigade during the Eventide.
She began working on the play in earnest in EL 1004, and the original production first premiered at Saleek Theatre in Hemejdd in October of 1006.
Premiere
4 October 1006
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