Lost Notes

Youth

Sha 'Bel was born of a family infused with musical heritage. Each new born of many Abbatarian cultures are bestowed a 'Birth Song' by their parents and is sung to them as soon as they emerge from the womb. It is held that the song lures a spirit to its infant body, open its eyes and behold the world to which it has been born in this life.
Each night his parents would sing it to him - soothing the boy into a deep, restful slumber. It would also be used to comfort him when frightened or worried. Sha felt the love of his parents through this gift.
Sha's youth was spent as most that grow up in the forests of Abbataria. His people are attuned to nature, particularly revering certain forests as the places where spirits lay dormant before and after giving life to mortal flesh.
From a very early age he loved to write, sharing his stories with others about the things he saw around him. But he kept to himself those concerning the flights of his imagination about what lay beyond his surroundings.
Throughout his life he kept a journal and it is from this that his story can be told.
Sha was predestined to follow his mother as a Druid of the Greenwoods. As such, he was trained in many arts, including husbandry, music and song. He took to his teachings well and his parents were proud that their son would take an honoured place among his people. As a person of status he was also tutored in the magical arts. Through his music he was taught to manipulate the energy in which the World is immersed. This magic can be powerful: in the art of healing, but also directed to injure and kill when absolutely necessary.
By the age of fifteen, Sha's great talent was obvious to all. He was ready to construct his own instrument that would be the focus of his magic for the remainder of his life. He chose a simple lute and in his hands it was a powerful artifact. It was said he could charm a Siren or confuse a Daemon with a few flicks of its strings. His future was assured.
However, a regular trade visitor to his home had, over time, secretly seduced Sha to follow another life; "full of fame and riches my boy". The life of an Adventurer. A side business for the Trader was to spot potential adventuring talent for various sponsors. Sha's talents had flagged him up as a valuable profit to any scout and the eloquence and persuasiveness of this one had long convinced Sha that a life of adventure was for him - a chance to see how the real world matched up to his own stories. He was persuaded to leave with the Trader in secret one autumn night - he never saw his family again.

Time of Adventure

The promises he was made were not exaggerated - risk, reward, love, danger, excitement and material wealth. In those early adventuring years he lived life to its highest - no hesitation meant no regrets. Over time he experienced the sorrow of fallen friends and lost causes, but being now more matured he accepted this as part and parcel of the path he had chosen. Even if he knew he would die tomorrow, he would gladly carry on and do so. A single moment of his adventures was worth countless other whole lives he could have led.
He valued and became very close to his companions - these occasionally numbered as high as ten at any one time, but there was an underlying core of five and among them he found the love of his life. The group knew each other inside out and even in the most dire of situations could rely on each other to stand together against any foe. They could read and communicate with each other without the need for words. They were a force for good (mainly!) and became known from Panra in the South to the northern edge of the dark lands of Nim Daruhm.
Their lives were full and rich.
All good things are said to end and the camaradarie between the companions was ultimately no different. Sha had become somewhat forgetful of late which as others pointed out, had lost them some lucrative opportunities. And after many years of adventuring relations also become more tense as their skills and reflexes dimmed with age and mileage. Their previous mutual trust and reliability was not the same - the initial drop was marginal and barely noticeable. But it played unseen on their nerves and it grew.
As the effects became more apparent and luck became too much a part of their successes the inevitable happened - the companions disbanded, some to seek other adventuring groups and one or two spoke of retirement.

Lost Relationships and A Performers Life

Sha had picked up injuries in his more recent adventures the effects of which he could not shake off. When the companions split he recognised his life of adventuring was over and he must find another occupation.
He began to evaluate what he now truly wanted from his life and realised it was something very basic and yet it gnawed at him, pulled at his self doubts. He simply wanted to be remembered. He had told and sung tales of folk who undertook great deeds that would never be forgotten on this World. He had made a measure of stories himself but these, he knew, would fade in time. But that was ok for him - he did not need to be revered as a hero - just once in a while to be remembered by a friend or relative yet to be born. Perhaps a candle lit or recollection of something of his life. It was such a simple thing but the thought of it not being so depressed him more and more.
His depression became more acute as he lost any remaining fleeting contact with his former companions and other friends as many do over the passage of time when folk go their separate ways.
But one loss in particular hurt him deeply, especially as he knew it was his own fault.
After a further time of living on decreasing past rewards and feeling himself falling into another bout of depression, he finally decided to relocate to the New City of Churiss. He had travelled there once before and fell in love with the bustling city of many cultures. It was a place where he felt he might be able to settle and he had a business idea that should do well in such a place. Perhaps there he could bury the pain he felt.
Sha purchased a sizeable piece of land on the southern edge of the city and using most of the rest of his funds built an Inn and Theatre known as the Dancing Lights. The business started slowly but its growing reputation for good food, drink and an interesting variety of music, song and other performances swelled its general custom and grew an impressive list of private memberships for exclusive shows.
Sha starred in most performances and he employed locum players and actors. Over time he took on permanent staff as his business became more established and profitable.
The Inn was also known for its spectacular light shows from which it derived its name. Folk wondered at the magicians skills as through the use of magic, screens and other means they used light and shadow to tell stories of great heroes and, as only Sha knew, of his former companions.

Decline and Ridicule

Sha's forgetfulness remained with him. After a time it became clear to his staff that it was getting worse. Innocent banter was the usual consequence as he often was found aimlessly wandering around looking for a set of keys for some reason or other.
But this worsened and eventually began to affect his performances. At first the odd instance of forgetting his lines in a play he himself had written went largely unnoticed to all but the most observant in the audience. His fellow players could prompt him or cover for this lapse with some well played improv.
Sha had also become more irritable over time without anyone able to pin down why. As the boss, staff did not have much choice but to accept his growing grumpiness. But over time this turned into bouts of occasional verbal aggression or throwing objects. When he realised what he had said or done he was mortified and apologised profusely. But this began to wear too thin and he lost many staff members and found it more difficult to find new ones.
By this time, his fellow players were finding it impossible to cover for him during performances. His lapses were not restricted to the odd line but whole passages. And they could only stand by in horror when he forget complete verses from his solo performances of song or prose. They began to leave from embarrassment and the fear of damage to their own reputations.
Only with his lute in his hands did he seem in control of his faculties - almost as though the instrument itself was playing notes that had been imbued into it over many, many years of play. And one song in particular was still played with true beauty - a song that Sha had heard all his life, a gift from his parents.
But audience numbers declined. Even worse, some continued to attend simply to witness the farce.

"I see you have come to comedy night!" "Ah, but isn't every night comedy night at the Dancing Lights?"

But that novelty wore thin too and the dwindling numbers along with the complete loss of private memberships meant the business folded. For a while Sha continued to order food and drink as before and couldn't understand why he had so much left at the end of each day.

"Why we had a full house tonight and yet I have more food than I started with. Perhaps they simply weren't hungry after all!"

When cash ran out so did the deliveries. The Inn was home to only one person. Rapidly declining, Sha was absolutely alone.
He took to sitting virtually all day and night in his old armchair by the fire in the main room, barely eating a thing. There he would hum the same tune over and over, like a pacing caged animal, as his fingers gently plucked at familiar strings. The words had evaporated from his mind and he no longer even recalled where he had heard the song - frustration burned into his mind, hotter that dragon-fire and it drove him mad. Yet outwardly he sat silently in his chair lost in a reality for one.
There remained but one thing that had kept a semblance of his former self intact and in the present - an image of a face to which, infuriatingly, he could not put a name. But I know your name. The edges were dimmed from forgetfulness and the eyes were no longer clear - were they blue? - but singing clearly in his mind was an overpowering feeling of utter love and yet also a catastrophic sadness of loss. The visage grew clearer if he stared deeply into the dancing lights cast by the flames in the hearth - features and skin colour became more distinct - yes they were blue!. Inner magical energy drove his gaze deeper into the fire and the beginnings of a name were almost upon his lips. The fog was thinner; clearing. He reached, stretched his hand and being out towards the answer. The name is... But just as he thought he had it, it popped from existence and the fog deepened, enveloping him once again.
Who are you? Why cannot I remember?
One night, Sha started in his chair and bolted upright. Momentarily, his mind was clear. But it only had one thought, one predetermined intent. He wrote his final words in his journal. Their clarity was in stark contrast to the disjointed and angry thoughts he had recorded over recent times.
Whoever you are, I love you - I know that for certain. My heart burns for you but I am overwhelmed with regret for losing you. And yet I cannot remember your name and I cannot bear to forget the final images of your face, my final source of happiness in this world. It is time. Time to end this life and pray I find you in the next. Goodbye.
The disease that had taken hold decades ago had finally won.

Home

The rained teemed down so hard, the road out of the south of the city was flooded within minutes. So too was the old Inn as the water fueled by strong winds spewed through the damaged front door - the entrance to a building that had fallen somewhat derelict over past months.
A slender figure clothed in a protective thick, dark cloak approached the door. Hunched over from the strengthening, howling gusts, they inspected the still intact lock. It was no match for deft hands, even ones that now suffered from the aches and pains of age. It reluctantly clicked open. The door squeaked, seemingly annoyed at being disturbed this late.
Now inside, the figure made their way to the still comfortable looking chair by the old, damp smelling fireplace. The noise of the rain hammered on the roof like drums being beaten with a thousand mallets. Piercing cold eyes widened as they spied the journal resting on the arm of the chair. Gently picking up the fragile and precious book, the figure sat down, the noise of the rain pushed away by their concentration on the precious item in front of them.
It was very dark in the Inn until with a few whispered words and an elegant hand gesture, lights blinked into existence around the figure, momentarily dancing happily against the gloom. At command they coalesced obediently into a small brightly coloured ball and hovered above the book. The reading began.
As the final words of Sha were absorbed a few tears fell onto the page. Aged fingers lovingly stroked the worn leather of the journal cover and then rose to pull back the hood of the cloak. Long brown hair fell over slender shoulders. Blue eyes gazed intently into the fireplace.
My name is Lilian.



Cover art by: Clker-Free-Vector-Images https://pixabay.com/sv/users/clker-free-vector-images-3736/
Map of the Dancing Lights made in DungeonFog https://www.dungeonfog.com/

Sha 'Bel - pictured during his early adventuring years.

The Dancing Lights Inn

The Dancing Lights as originally built by Sha 'Bel.

The Dancing Lights

Open full size

The Dancing Lights is an Inn and Performing Art Centre first set up by Sha' Bel the Bard.