Candlenights Eve

Adapted from a popular holiday song played in the north, this Lockhinge-specific version is further tailored by the family and friend who sing it together. This particular version was heard sung by a bard in the countryside around Kestramore who had traveled up from Greymantle. There is speculation that he is also the author of a few more heard to the north near Solette, but the counterargument to this claim is the likelihood of there being quite a few versions of the song that start with "bards a-strumming," and that those would be the ones to travel far from the original source, for obvious reasons.

On the eve of Candlenights In the Lockhinge streets...


fancy bards a-strumming
crocodiles snapping
lazy lords a-sleeping
fine marsh deer prancing
mindflayers dating
many rogues a-sneaking
six boys a-smoochin'
five chicken wings
four sidekicks
three best friends
two creeps in love
and a darkling in a fey tree

The accompanying illustration mostly centers on a tree that is off to one side of the poem text, with various creatures and characters filling the rest of the space. Sitting on the tree's lowest branch is a darkling, with a shrub dangling down from said branch. Nearby, a small antlered creature with crab claws for some reason and a teenage tiefling girl are building a bad snowman, which is wearing a large, flamboyant hat. A paladin and a shirtless tiefling is helping them, and a person with half a dragon face watches while holding an intellect devourer wearing a scarf. In the background, a bugbear is bringing a tray of hot chocolates to the group. Under the tree, a tiefling lord naps while a bard strums a mandolin to him. On the other side, in the near background, a wizard is making a crocodile jump for chicken wings. In the far background, marsh deer graze in the snow, while two mindflayers (one a little shorter and more slender than the other) hover hand-in-hand.