Eddard is done living in the most of the way backwatery locale in all the Oathlands! DUSKSHIRE KEEP! The place took an entire year to dust the first time. Then he finally got boats running and commerce happening and things were working! Then boredom. Song writing and isolation.

He has returned to Arx and has every intention of playing the strings loudly and singing even louder. He has taken over the stage at the Golden Hart and is singing passionately about...logging.
"Welllllllll ellll ellll, I rode the ships, I rode the boats and the barges and the rafts. My favorite trip was aboard a tree! My back to a branch with bees, alll the way down the river! Duskshire's home of logs and wood, we took a trip down the old queen's stream. Lyon's Redoubt and the Lyceum's south. I drink the wine and poured the stouts! Except every day I would doth miss, the prettiest girls in Arx's dress. Lady Kaia makes the heart pound, Princess Valencia makes the knees quiver! But if I had a quid, and a shameful grin I'd spend all my money to get Old Gran's Kissssss!"

Ramona - A Guard in Ashford House Colours, Bigsby - A Thoughtful Looking Young Man in Nondescript Clothing, 2 Ashford Archer, 1 Ashford Scout arrive, following Lisebet.

Clowder of ten rowdy kittens arrives, following Zakhar.

(OOC)The scene set/room mood is now set to: Eddard is done living in the most of the way backwatery locale in all the Oathlands! DUSKSHIRE KEEP! The place took an entire year to dust the first time. Then he finally got boats running and commerce happening and things were working! Then boredom. Song writing and isolation.

Eddard is done living in the most of the way backwatery locale in all the Oathlands! DUSKSHIRE KEEP! The place took an entire year to dust the first time. Then he finally got boats running and commerce happening and things were working! Then boredom. Song writing and isolation.

He has returned to Arx and has every intention of playing the strings loudly and singing even louder. He has taken over the stage at the Golden Hart and is singing passionately about...logging.
"Welllllllll ellll ellll, I rode the ships, I rode the boats and the barges and the rafts. My favorite trip was aboard a tree! My back to a branch with bees, alll the way down the river! Duskshire's home of logs and wood, we took a trip down the old queen's stream. Lyon's Redoubt and the Lyceum's south. I drink the wine and poured the stouts! Except every day I would doth miss, the prettiest girls in Arx's dress. Lady Kaia makes the heart pound, Princess Valencia makes the knees quiver! But if I had a quid, and a shameful grin I'd spend all my money to get Old Gran's Kissssss!"

Eddard checks charm and performance at hard. Eddard fails.

Lisebet checks charm and performance at hard. Lisebet marginally fails.

A tall old man with snow-white hair and a long scar running the middle of his face hopping-limps into the Golden Hart. A black and white teenager-kitten tucks into his shoulder bouncing along as the man hops, favoring his right leg, trying ever so much to not have to put any weight on this left. He musters up to small table near the door and nearly collapses into the chair, then promptly throwing his left leg up onto a nearby chair.

A petite dark haired duchess arrives, wearing leather armour that looks nicely worn but probably never in combat. And to judge by Lisebet, that's likely the truth. She blinks as she hears the singing and a smile crosses her face as she moves to find a drink, and then a place to sit.

Gaming. It was not something the woman of many bland talents thought herself interested in, but Amalthea is drawn to any new experience, blissfully unaware of what was happening within the building. Letting herself through one side of the doors with a shove of her right arm, her left hand stuffed in a messily full pocket. Hit by the loudness of inspirations and an eyeful of comfortingly lit walls, she drags in a heavy breath that's expelled from a jumping gasp as the door slams shut behind her. Amalthea stands sheepishly as pools of nautical nature churn about, soaking in the atmosphere before orbiting around to an idle table. She refused to sit near anyone and digs out a journal from her pocket, shifting a bulging satchel from one shoulder to the other with ease, clearly, it wasn't weighted.

These songs aren't exactly epic ballads of monumental deeds, they're jigs and shanties that probably shouldn't be getting sung out from atop a stage in so prestigious a place. But nobody has stopped Eddard yet! "The south's wine and the north's ale. Each one pours me a headache for it's swill. The only drink for a Duskshire man like me, is the milk from a teat! Mama said I'd grow big and strong, mama said it all along. Look at me now, I'm a man all of three feet deep! I told my mama she must've lied to me!"

A barstaff has brought an odd drink with bits of cheese bobbing in it over to the old man, with a smile and shake of their head as if who would willingly drink that. He's busy staring at Eddard with a funny grin on his face, as the singing stops for a moment he's cheering as loudly as he can. Even the kitten is mewing along.

A messenger arrives, delivering a message to Zakhar before departing.

Jasper, a treasure hunting gyrfalcon, Renato, an overconfident attendant, Bastien, a strapping Malvici escort arrive, following Kaia.

Lisebet chuckles and claps as a song or a verse comes to an end, enjoying the enthusiasm of the performer if nothing else. She gets a drink, settles in, and relaxes, quietly content.

3 Thrax Guards, Freja the long suffering, Dame Cupcake, the most elegant, Behemo, a towering man with humble eyes arrive, following Coraline.

The woman whose hair looked stained by the blizzards remains a shadow in her corner, humming along when she noticed the rhythm. Amalthea's left hand snakes out from where she hid it, pulling a leather wrapping with her fingers that she peels several widths of charcoal from, fletched for sharpness, dullness, or differently sized lines. She remains quiet, not acknowledging Eddard's musical talent except for when she chose to sing along with closed lips, far too occupied with her new artistic adventure.

Glory, the Prestigious Warhorse, Doreen, the Red Squirrel arrive, following Klaus.

Some cheers, some outright boos, both get waves towards them like they were both praise. Eddard's ego is apparently resilient enough to deal with loud audacious feedback for his new songs being workshopped. Parchment is atop the music rack for holding notes and the like. "The Thraxian Twins are as strange as can be. One is pretty and the others mean! One will stab you and the other will smile, be cautious now for they're full of guile!" The Oathlander is absolutely blissfully unaware that one of the two might be in the audience.


At the very end of the verse comes in not eactly Thraxian twins, but a Thraxian couple as Princess Coraline of Thrax and her husband, Prince Klaus, enter into the Golden Heart. There seems to be some form of protest coming from a large sack at his side as Klaus escorts his wife through the teaming crowd to find a seat. The chittering from the sack does not let up.

Kaia having been here all along, by one of the tables, would be laughing almost non-stop at the bard's singing. In her hand she would be holding a glass of lenosian wine, from which she would take ocassional sips.

Kaia has joined the table by the fire.

Klaus has joined the comfy sofas.

Octavian, a silken spaniel, Ruslana Stormshead, an aide in Kennex livery, 2 Kennex corsairs arrive, following Zoey.

Coraline has joined the comfy sofas.

Lisebet is seated at a table by herself currently. She raises a hand to those she recognizes. Kaia. Klaus. Coraline. It may have been some time since she's seen some of them, but she knows them all. A gentle wave from the duchess is followed by a simple raise of her glass in a toast of sorts.

Following her husband, and his loud sack, to the sofa, Cora quirks a brow at Eddard with a smirk, nods to those who she doesn't know, and waves with a warm smile to those she does. Finally back in Arx after far too long, she wonders precisely what trouble they might get into.

Well there might as well be something for Sylvana to do on a cold night. Though she looks more like she's geared up for a night on the trail with protective light leathers bedecked all around her, she peers inside the hall with a curious gaze. It's the sack that Klaus is holding that catches her attention however and she frowns thoughtfully in his direction before crossing the room to the sofas. "Um, I do not mean to pry, but is everything quite all right over here with... that?"

The old man has several kittens now sitting on the table that he is at. He seems to be enjoying the music and what songs there are. Where the kittens came from, would be anyone's guess, though there are several items under his cloak. The drink is nearly empty and he is now picking pieces of very soggy cheese out of the glass.


Finding a place for the both of them, there is a mock scowl on Klaus's face, his voice carrying just a little before he is swallowed up by the comfy confines of the excellent piece of furnature. "You have been weeks as sea since I last saw you. Weekes which I am riding Glory, and days for my arse to recover, and you want to come here? You are wicked and cruel and every much the other Thrax Twin. It is too late to marry your sister instead?"

Word of some sort of impromptu music night at the Golden Hart has reached Kennex Kay, and so through the snow comes Zoey Kennex and her entourage. She brushes the snow from her shoulders before lowering her hood, then looks around for a convenient place to sit and get off her feet. As heavily with child as she is, the Kennex lady will probably want to find this seat quickly.

Ignoring Klaus, for the moment, Cora orders some sort of fruit juice for herself and rum, just to be evil for her husband. Finally she turns her attention to the man in her life, "A lovely woman is asking about your rather mobile sack darling. Tis rude to ignore her concern." To Sylvana she smiles a welcome, "He has a squirrel friend in there who doesn't appreciate being ignored, I think she would prefer my shoulder, and he calls me the cruel one." eyes go back to her husband, "You realize don't you that you could have stayed on board, not my fault you don't like ships."

"Oh no," Amalthea hushedly curses towards herself and holds the journal open with her trembling left hand, curving the pad of her thumb on the right hand to begin smudging a loose line into the paper. She glares up at Eddard with a fixated stare before grasping the pages and flattening them once more, blowing loose charcoal from the parchment then resumes drawing with a thicker charcoal stick.

Eddard finally dismounts the stage to let more ordinary musicians take the stage and play more ordinary music! Mostly because there is only so much luck divinely gifted to a man and he was beginning to use his up by singing about people. "Ale!" He'll call to a server without regard to complaining about it in lyrics.


Klaus looks to his wife and says. "You are responsible for her." He, with some reluctance, opens the sack, and a blur of red and brown darts out and does indeed make its way to Coraline's shoulder, and if a squirrel could look indignat and angry, this this one, Doreen, the self proclaimed Queen of Acorns. Klaus turns to Sylvana. "Klaus Thrax, m'lady, and though she is very wroth with me right now, this is my friend and companion, Doreen. She saved my life in battle, and thus I have an obligation to her. Coraline has corrupted her ever since we married and have both teamed up against me ever since."

"Duchess Ashford." greets Kaia from nearby, with a lift of her glass, as soon as she takes note of the woman's greeting. "Lovely you see you again.~" she would say, and then add. "We should meet soon. There are some things I would like to discuss."

Zoey spots her sister sitting by the fire and decides to head that way, her aide help her steady her walk as she goes. When she arrives at Kaia's table she smiles brightly. "Mind if I join you, Lady Malvici?" There is a playfulness in her tone as she addresses her.

Amalthea checks dexterity and artwork at normal. Amalthea is successful.

Amalthea has joined the shadowy alcove.

"I thought so!" Sylvana says with a bit of a frown as she looks at the sack and back at them both. "I do believe that she would like to be released," Sylvana says to Klaus just a moment before he obliges (though is more likely listening to his wife) and she absolutely beams as the squirrel darts out to perch on her shoulder. "Queen of Acorns? Well it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Do not mind him I think he means well but sometimes humans can forget about the needs of the littler creatures," Sylvana smiles at the squirrel, getting rather close as she speaks, perhaps uncomfortably so for Coraline whom she hadn't yet formally introduced herself!

Looking up at her sister, a grin would take over her face at the sound of that formal form of address. "Why, not at all, Lady Kennex! Please," she would gesture to her side. "Do, take a seat!~"

Lisebet smiles and nods to Kaia. "Certainly, we can do that," she replies easily enough. "I look forward to it, Lady Kaia." She glances to the stage, and then to the crowd, as it seems to grow. "There is room here at my table, should anyone wish."

Zoey has joined the table by the fire.

The addition of Doreen is a normal occurrence for Cora, indeed life would be very strange without having the little furry self-proclaimed monarch on her shoulder. Holding a few nuts to her little friend, and partner in crime, she just smirks at Klaus, about to harass him further when suddenly this new lady is in her space. Going a bit crosseyed she leans back, unintentionally taking the squirrel with her. "Er, hello?"

Eddard's gait slows as he moves away from the stage, then halts precisely in front of Zoey and Kaia's table by the fire. "My goodness, I but sing of her and the beauty of both the Lyceum and Crownlands appear. Lady Kaia, just how are you today? Smiting men wordless with your mere presence?"

Zoey eases into the seat beside her sister, which proves to be a bit of a feat for her, but she manages. "So, who is up next? Apparently I --" Eddard's arrival causes her to stop mid-sentence, so she sends Ruslana to fetch something for her instead of completing her thought."

Ellani, the palm sized spider arrives, delivering a message to Zakhar before departing.


Klaus does look a bit chigrinned. "I am sorry. We are new back to the city, and Doreen can get a bit exciteable. I thought it best to keep her contained till she settled. I know I do not like squirrel in my brown nut ale. Lady Sylvana, this is my wife, Princess Coraline Thra, and commander of the Order of East Light. A pleasure to meet you, and someone who understands Doreen."

And so the first page is flipped, onto the next one where she takes the thinnest charcoal stick and begins to chalk lines down. Amalthea's attention is garnered instead by Zakhar's roaming kittens, the up-nod of her head made when she needs new reference before continuing.

Amalthea checks dexterity and artwork at normal. Amalthea is successful.

"Wonderful!~" replies Kaia to Lisebet. "I shall send word in the morrow so we can choose a date." she announces, before shifting her attention back to her sister. "Oh, sister--Oh, you go." she says, allowing for the elder of the two to speak. Only, she was interrupted by Eddard! "Oh, Lord Clement! Such a flatterer.~ I am well. Good to see you performing! I was most amused. Shame you had to part from the stage so soon!"

"Have we met?" Sylvana wonders uncertainly to Klaus and Coraline both, squinting as she studies them and then apologetically steps back away from Coraline. "Sorry! Hi, I'm Sylvana. Lady Sylvana Leporidae nee Chatreuxe-DeVirre. I'm fairly new to the city myself, just a few months. I lived my whole life in Brindleberry Wood and living here in such a great city has been an adjustment to be sure," she smiles over at Klaus and dips her head. "She's easy to understand if you know how to listen. We all really want the same thing after all."

Eddard is boisterously interjecting himself into someone else's conversation, and promptly strums his lute in Kaia's direction. "You were mentioning proteges or something, weren't you my lady?" Except his gaze has shifted elsewhere...towards Amalthea's sketches. "Of the artistic sort...Pardon me, young lass." And Eddard scoots that folio of artwork from beneath Amalthea's charcoal to lift it up and look at it. "These are wondrous."

Breathing a quick sigh of relief at getting her bubble of space back, Cora's smile warms. "I always found Doreen exceedingly easy to understand, then again I don't think he speaks female personally. It is a pleasure to meet you Lady Sylvana." Her eye then turns to Klaus and her smile turns a bit wicked, "As for your Glory overworking your rump, perhaps you should be kinder to her."

Zoey smiles to Kaia and says something a little quieter before saying. "I thought about singing here as a warmup before tomorrow. I thought the crowd might be a friendly one."

Lisebet mutters, "I'd be ... to meet up ... tea or ... ... whatever we ... to ... certainly. Definitely, ... plan something."

If there's anything that'll bring Kalani out on a winter night, it's the promise of song. For one who couldn't carry a tune if it was welded to a bucket and then tied to her hand, the Seliki physician absolutely adores music and she steps into the main hall and begins dusting the snow off of her cloak and boots while glancing around.


Klaus cannot help but laugh, and orders drinks for the three of them, asking Sylvanna her pleasure before doing so, and a brown nut ale for him, and Thrax rum for Coraline. He then pats his wife and winks to her before standing for all to see, his rich voice resonating and with volume of one calling out orders on the field.

"The Order of the East Light has fought pirates these last few months, protecting the Compact, defending Arx. They were victorious, but not without cost. So, in honor of this impromtu event, I give an impromtu song and toast, to those still at sea eternal for us."

Klaus checks command and leadership at daunting. Klaus fails.


Wander my friends, wander with me

Like the mist on the green mountain, moving eternally
Despite our weariness
We'll follow the road
Over hill and valleys
To the end of the journey

Come on my friends and sing with me
Fill the night with joy and sport
Here's a toast to the friends who have gone from us
Like the mist of the green mountain,
Gone forever

"Ah- Oy! Hey! A-Ask be- Before taking!" Forth spills Amalthea's stuttering and she reaches up for the book, interrupted from a rather detailed sketch of a kitten pawing at some cheese with Zakhar sitting at a stool beside it. Flipping through the pages there are many horses, herbs with their purposes written beside them sloppily, various sceneries around Arx such as the port and the woods, a very particular sketch of a shadowy wolf with several heads of smoldering red eyes fighting a sword-wielding woman whose eyes were stars, where the woman's dress ended it was also lined with stars... and then... Eddard's face right before that playful feline she was working on before her precious journal was snatched away. Amalthea sheepishly hides her trembling hand under the table and between thighs, the firm right curling fingers inward beckoning it back to herself. "Ex- Excuse me?" The freckles on her cheek danced beneath red splatter. "Gi-Give it back!"

Zoey hears Klaus' toast just as her mug of hot cider arrives and echoes, "To those still at sea."

Kaia takes a glance at her sister as she murmurs something to her; and, after murmuring something in return, she smiles. A glance given to Eddard. "Oh, I met Lord Clement and Princess Liara's Ball." she explains, and then grins at the lord's words. "Oh, yes! I did mention such, didn't I?" she would confirm. "Yes. I happen to be in search for a second protege. My first being the lovely Lady Kalani Seliki. Oh, and..." she would pause, to wait for him to return his attention to her before continuing. "I was wondering if perhaps you would be interested."

Lisebet nods to Kaia and then quiets for Klaus' performance. She raises her own drink, also joining quietly in that toast. Then she listens to the performance and the interesting goings on all over the place. She does answer Kaia briefly, about that future discussion over a warm cuppa.

"It's especially easy when you practically grew up in the forest. I sometimes feel like I understand the animals better than I do people," Sylvana smiles and procures from a small pocket on her belt... an acorn and a bit of seed, she holds out her palm for Doreen to take a pick of whichever she wants. "I always carry snacks with me," she winks.

Her own drink is a red wine and she takes the glass as it's delivered and she gives a gracious dip of her head to Klaus. "Do you mind if I join you two? I still do not have many friends in the city I'm afraid."

"Oh, I see. Well my sweet sister," she would say to Zoey. "You should definitely give it a go! Do you need help getting to the stage? All you need is simply ask." she offers. "I'm sure your singing will be lovely!~" Her eyes then shift to the ones currently performing. There are times in between in which she seems to be directing a smile to somone, slightly far away, in the room. A murmur exchanged with some by the nerby tables.

"MYSELF?" Eddard says aloud towards Kaia as if he was paying all of his attention to her and not thumbing through that journal. "My my my, these are good. Come here young lass." Amalthea gets her elbow hooked in Eddard's grasp to tuggg her towards Zoey and Kaia's table. "How much would it cost for you to sketch something of this fine group, hm? MY MANNERS!" Eddard exclaims as if he truly had them. "I'm Lord Eddard Clement, the Ladies Zoey and Kaia both formerly of Bisland and now Kennex and Malvici respectively. Look, my ladies. Art!" That journal settles down atop the table to showcase -guess who- Eddard being an absolute ham singing about the Golden Hart stage with a wide smiley grin.

"MYSELF?" Eddard says aloud towards Kaia as if he was paying all of his attention to her and not thumbing through that journal. "My my my, these are good. Come here young lass." Amalthea gets her elbow hooked in Eddard's grasp to tuggg her towards Zoey and Kaia's table. "How much would it cost for you to sketch something of this fine group, hm? MY MANNERS!" Eddard exclaims as if he truly had them. "I'm Lord Eddard Clement, the Ladies Zoey and Kaia both formerly of Bisland and now Kennex and Malvici respectively. Look, my ladies. Art!" That journal settles down atop the table to showcase -guess who- Eddard being an absolute ham singing about the Golden Hart stage with a wide smiley grin.

Amalthea drags in another swollen breath that erupts with a chittering protest, "I- I- He-Hey- Where- Wh-Why did you-" She trails off into nonsense, the woman clearly uncomfortable to have been easily torn from the comfortable space she was in, the trembling of her left hand rooting within her core, making her stumble and shiver though the building was warm. Her peppered cheeks only deepen in color and she tries to snatch her arm away from him when he tosses down her sketchbook. White waves unfurl from behind her shoulders, bangs cusping around her azure eyes that flit about nervously.

Zoey purses her lips. "I think I need to choose a song first, and I am not sure how to follow the one his highness just did," she says, nodding toward Prince Klaus. She smiles and a good-natured laugh escapes her. "Lord Eddard, surely there is a gentler way to encourage an artist to share her work with the world," she says, glancing toward the journal. "An excellent likeness!"

Knowing what Klaus is about to do, Cora wishes she could put her face slowly into her hands, its safer there. But respecting the reason behind his actions she does her best not to wince at the missed notes instead. Once he finishes she smiles and raises her glass of juice, foregoing the rum since returning to land has left her with a dodgy stomach. "And to those left behind to wait and worry." Turning to Sylvana she smiles warmly, "Please do join us, there is always time for friends old and new, so long as you can stand being near a couple recently reunited after along trip." Her smile turns wicked for a moment, "Then again that last port wasn't too long ago."

Sylvana has joined the comfy sofas.

Kaia's face, naturally, would turn to the stage at the sound of such a great voice. That of Prince Klaus. She would listen in awe at the man's singing. A somewhat absentminded nod given to her sister's words. "Well, yes, that's probably true..." Of course soon enough comes Eddard who is insisting they both look at Amalthea's art of his persona. Those wintery eyes settle upon the pages and widen in surprise. "Very nice! An excellent likeness indeed." she says, in clear agreement with her sister Zoey. Although, it's not long before her attention returns to the performance. "Very nice, your highness!~" she would chime in the direction of Klaus.

Sylvana smiles and she dips her head to Coraline. "Thank you! I can imagine what that must be like. My wife is back in Tremorous and I feel like I've hardly seen her since our wedding, arranged so it was I am still quite fond of her," Sylvana says simply as she settles herself in the seat, crossing her legs comfortably while she tries to not make -too- rude of a face when Klaus sings, her head tilting back over towards him and grinning a bit. "That would not be so terrible, an adorable squirrel pestering me for the snacks I will always have!" she grins. "I'm always prepared. Well except for carnivores. I don't carry snacks for them."


At the compliment Klaus turns and raises his mug of brown nut ale to Kaia. "Thank you to you, Lady Kaia, and as my wife said, to those left behind, and many happy reunions and sympathies alike."