From all walks of life, in every classroom, in every band of travelling folk there is an entertainer or at least someone that believes that they are. Sometimes they strike out to make a name for themselves, not always as one would expect a singer or storyteller; some are jugglers, others are ventriloquists and others still are dancers and acrobats. Some have taken to the life to hear their name chanted by the crowd, others walk the road to pass on the stories and the skills that they have heard whilst a few travel to hear the word of the road, to pass message and to act in the name of their benefactors. Of course, the chink of coin in the purse is a given, everyone needs a full belly to walk on. A champion of Tale and Story joins a long and selective litany of individuals that have graced the streets and roads of Daer Akmir for centuries. They go under many names: Bards, Minstrels, Heralds, Skalds, Authors and Travellers are but a few and have had many famous names under their belts over the years such as Descallay Ferone, Lee Kane, Silvoro Nalkay and Niamh Grayal to name but a few.
Revered wherever they stop, be it by King or Bandit, the Champions are always welcomed so long as they entertain and assist where they can. However, travel is not without a price and unless they receive a wealthy sponsor, they find themselves at the hard end of taxation and persecution. The Champions hail in the main from the Academy although they are largely supplemented by the Oath and a small turnout from the Church of the Ten Travellers. Their home remains with the Academy of Bold Companions however but there is a great extension called The Green Lane: Over the years the Academy came into acquirement of a sequence of establishments that not only swell the coffers of the Guilds but also provide safe havens and a place where Champions and their allies can perform and train. Inns, Coach Houses, Theatres and even farmsteads all going into making up a network for them across The Royal Basin and even beyond. Thus, the Champions march on in the name of Tale and Story.
Holly Goodall
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