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Dremerie asks, "Hmmm...
Who shall be next?"
Dremerie smiles as she reaches into her hat and draws out a parchment.
She opens it carefully and a soft green glow shines from the ink!
Dremerie exclaims, "Cassieda! I love this ink! Now come show
me what you can do!"
>Dremerie winks.
>You see Cassieda Finbee the Half-Elf Bardess.
She appears to be in her 30's, has very long golden blond hair,
blue eyes, and fair skin.
She is wearing a delicate rose, some high leather boots, a hooded
emerald linen cloak, a delicate chain link belt, an emerald encrusted
circlet, a leaf-shaped emerald pendant, a glittering emerald bracelet,
an emerald green vest, a glaes spider charm, an emerald encrusted
armband, an emerald ring, a stunning pair of emerald earrings,
a burnished gold pin in the shape of a finely detailed harp, some
green leggings, a billowy white silk poet's shirt with a sparkling
emerald lyre-shaped clasp, a diamond-edged emerald velvet pouch,
and a veniom-plated Ilyan Cloud charm.
>Cassieda grins.
Cassieda stands up.
>Cassieda smiles shyly and makes her way to the front. She
turns and faces you and dips into a small curtsy before she begins
to speak.
>Cassieda says, "Thank you Dremerie. I like to write about
real things. Last time I competed, I wrote about a daring rescue
made by a young warrioress. "
Cassieda says, "She risked her life even after everyone in
the land said it couldn't be done. This time I'm afraid my story
is not quite so joyful. This was inspired by a ranger I once knew."
>Cassieda says, "To her, everything was an omen of impending
doom. Someone I knew loved her but she couldn't see it, so things
just didn't work out. "
Cassieda says, "I wrote this song inspired by her with the
hopes that we can all learn something from her sorrow."
>Cassieda clears her throat.
>(Cassieda begins her song softly and slowly, her voice ringing
melodically.)
>Cassieda sings:
"A Ranger,
drifting through the wild
As Rangers often will
Stumbled upon a perfect rose
Upon a sun-drenched hill."
>Cassieda sings:
""To pluck
this rose would be a crime!"
She cried with great dismay
"Such beauty should be left alive
To brighten more each day.""
>Cassieda sings:
"So each day
she came, without fail
To see the rose in bloom
Then one day, someone plucked the rose
And left her heart in gloom."
>Cassieda sighs
sadly.
>(Cassieda continues with her lilting hymn, her crystalline
voice flowing around the room like a trickling stream.)
>Cassieda sings:
"Then a perfect
orchid she spied
Along a dusty lane.
"I will take this one home!" she cried
"To ease my secret pain.""
>Cassieda sings:
"Though tended
with her heart and soul
Alas, the orchid died.
"Does nothing in life last?" she asked
And all night long she cried."
>Cassieda smiles
sadly, obviously feeling a powerful kinship with her lonesome
ranger. She brushes the rose softly against her cheek brushing
away a single tear.
>Cassieda sings:
"If you learn
nothing else tonight
Learn that nothing's what it seems
What may be flawed upon first sight
Just might fulfill your dreams."
>Cassieda sings:
"At last she
met a perfect man
At least that's what he seemed.
She said, "My heart is full at last
As I have always dreamed.""
>Cassieda sings:
"But the perfect
man would not stay
And left without a word.
"Is there nothing flawless?" she cried
But her cries went... unheard."
>(Cassieda allows
her voice to soften a little more, the tone slightly trilling.
She gazes off over the audience as her eyes seem fixed on something
not even in the room, but maybe into the future.)
>Cassieda sings:
"A year went
past, then two, then five
Each filled with gloom and strife.
Till at last, an imperfect man
Came into her sad life."
Cassieda sings:
"His love for
her was pure as rain
Perfect as bright noonday.
But she could only see his flaws
And so cast him away."
>Cassieda winces.
Cassieda sings:
"And so she
passed so many years
Alone in her despair.
As empty as a broken glass
Shattered beyond repair."
Cassieda sings:
"Then one night
as she was dreaming
A dark and lonely dream
Oleani came to her side
Riding a soft moonbeam."
>Cassieda smiles
as her voice begins to assume a deeper, more powerful tone, as
if to represent the Goddess's immense wisdom and power.
>Cassieda sings:
"Oleani chided
softly
"Lass search your heart and mind
And learn that he you cast away
Was what you tried to find.""
>Cassieda sings:
"If you learn
nothing else tonight
Learn that nothing's what it seems
What may be flawed upon first sight
Just might fulfill your dreams."
Cassieda sings:
"The Ranger
awoke with a start
And then began to weep.
For she knew that her foolish pride
Had put her heart to sleep."
>Cassieda sings:
"She searched
for that imperfect man
She'd cast aside that day
But alas, she awoke too late
He'd given his heart away."
>Cassieda sings:
"Now when you
see her in the wild
A Ranger, sad and wise
See the sad path she walks and learn
The lesson in her eyes."
Cassieda sings:
"If you learn
nothing else tonight
Learn that nothing's what it seems
What may be flawed upon first sight
Just might fulfill your dreams."
>(Cassieda gives a simple bow and curtsies slightly. Silvered notes ring in the air for moments after her piece, trailing away into the depths of the hall.)
Written by Cassieda Finbee assisted by Kruelheart