Art of Recall (book)
The Art of Recall
by True Bard Derilishi Aitilath
Greetings, my bardic kin. I am the most renowned True Bard
Derilishi Aitilath, singer of epic songs and entertainer of
kings and queens, and of course I am a great and brilliant
scholar to boot. But I am sure you are all well acquainted
with me and the exploits that have earned my fame and
esteem in all the lands, and especially the Bardic
community. And as you are all quite familiar with those
exploits, I shall feel no compunction to recount them here.
Even the accounts of my vaunted life can somewhat lose a
bit of their luster if told too much.
Instead, I shall get directly to the purpose of this book.
I have written this fine tome in order to expand upon the
young Bard's understanding of a special art we all possess
-- that of Recall. This is a book for beginners to
introduce you to this fine ability and teach you how best
to use it.
First, what is Recall, exactly? That is a question you may
be asking yourself, my little kumquats. I shall endeavor
to explain the nature of this ability.
In the fulfillment of our bardly duties, we tend to wander
around from city to city. We hear things in passing,
either local folktales or customs, or legends about some
great person or thing from the past. Local customs? Bards
must know the customs of various lands, that they may fit
in.
Most people would quickly disregard all the nuggets of
information like these, but we Bards store it away in our
heads.
Bards memorize old songs and stories for our entertaining
and lorekeeping roles. These old songs and stories also
contain legends and myths and accounts of heroes long since
dead. Once again, we store these nuggets of information in
our heads.
Bards are respected by peasants and craftsmen, the
villagers and townspeople occupying the many bastions of
civilization. And why wouldn't we be? When they go to
their inns and taverns, it's the Bards that keep them happy
creating beautiful music with instrument or voice, or
regaling them with awe-inspiring stories, or dancing or
juggling or somesuch. We're the ones who will sit down
with them at a bar and share a tankard of ale. So we're
respected and trusted, and these people open up to us, and
talk about all sorts of things from their day-to-day lives.
They'll talk about their villages, or local folklore they
have. Or myths, or secret things they've heard from the
travelers that pass through their towns. Most people would
ignore these people, but we Bards, we listen. Really
listen. And again, we store that information.
Recall is a mental ability, a method that allows us to scan
through our memory, through all the various things we've
heard and know. The ability allows us to, upon observing
some sort of trigger, access all our knowledge about
something. If you're more charismatic, or a better
scholar, or a more influential Bard, then in the course of
your Bardic journeys and studies, you'll have learned more
tidbits of fact; in that case, you'll be able to derive
more information when you attempt to recall something.
It's a very useful ability. With it, we Bards can learn
all sorts of things, which we can then use in the songs and
stories we write to entertain the masses. A good Bard
never passes up valuable material. But that's not the
extent of Recall, not at all. We can use it to remember
the times and details of various holidays -- all the better
to improve the celebrations. And we can use this ability
to learn information about our instruments, which can make
us better and more knowledgeable instrument players.
These days, Bards learn their ability to Recall from their
Guildleaders -- once, of course, the Guildleader is
satisfied the Bard is proficient enough in skill. But it
wasn't always that way. Time was when things weren't quite
so orderly as they are now.
The Recall ability was developed by a long-ago Bard by the
name of Norek Skorasvadh, a Dwarven Bard who was given a
plum job as an Imperial archivist. He was an excellent
Bard, you see, but his poor ale-sogged head could never
quite remember things. He was positively awful at that.
And so the young Dwarf was certain he was going to fail
miserably at this new job, and because of that, he set
himself to thinking and studying and desperately trying to
come up with some way to fix his besotted memory. He
eventually devised the first incarnation of Recall -- a
mental trick he used to help himself remember things. He
made for a fine archivist, then, and taught his little
trick to the bardly librarians that followed. Of course,
this skill has been improved and refined over the many
years, and it has come to serve a far more valuable role to
the Dwarves of today, and of yesterday.
During the reign of the Dragon Empire, when Bards were
forced to live in hiding, Recall took on a new life, and
served much more utilitarian purposes. The underground
resistance would often develop lengthy and complex codes,
each with subtle variations, in order to convey specific
messages. For instance, a unique style of dance might be
used to state "The Dragon Priests plan on raiding your
hideout two andu hence during the Anlas of Starwatch."
Alter it slightly in ever-so-subtle ways, and you could
deliver a wholly different message entirely. Thus, Bards
utilized the art of Recall to memorize these codes, to know
the in-depth meaning of every gesture and twirl, every dip
and nod, every movement and every word. The ability served
our people well in those days.
Now, by this point, you surely must be wondering how you
can best recall the history you've got stored in your head
now that you've learned the ability from your Guildleaders.
Right? Of course.
So where should one ply their skills at Recall? Well,
everywhere. You never know what spot might allow you to
trigger the memory of some piece of lost lore. But if it's
a more specific guide you're looking for, then look no
further, as I shall point you in the direction of some
particularly good places.
In the province of Zoluren, the intrepid Bard may want to
venture into the fascinating, if dangerous, Oshu'ehhrsk Manor, near Leth Deriel. All sorts of tales are to be
found in that haunted place, home of the hunted mage,
Lasarhhtha -- many stories about Lasarhhtha himself, and
his family manor. In the Crossing itself, be sure to stop
by the shop of the True Bard D'or, as well as the Bard
Guildhall -- Bard Guildhalls in general tend to be places
full of memories of one sort or another, and the Crossing's
hall is no exception. Be sure to stop by the Crossing's
docks, as well, for stories tend to gather and accumulate
there. And a Recalling Bard would never pass up a trip to
the Leth Deriel instrument shop.
The city of Riverhaven holds many stories to be recalled.
Remember, everyone has an interesting tale about his or her
life, and the city shopkeeps are no exception. Find out
the interesting things these people have experienced in
their lives by studiously picking up the gossip you
overhear from the citizenry.
In the Ilithi Province's city of Shard, one should not pass
up a chance to tour the shops and inns of the city,
particularly the shop of the S'Kra Mur clothier, Meek.
There are many rumors surrounding the Golden Phoenix Inn
and Liani's Tavern. What's more, the Silver Eye Inn is a
fine place to visit, and many tales about the famed Bard
Amaris Silvereye can be overheard there. Ahhh, Silvereye
-- one of our Guild's finest.
Tales of other legendary Bards, who helped to craft the
role our Guild plays in Elanthia, can be found in the jewel
of the desert, Muspar'i, especially around the Bard
Guildhall and the Street of Performers. For instance, one
can hear the stories of Urisaar the Gold, or the Maelstrom
Weaver, Kahishu. A studious Bard should also visit the
shops of the Street of Instrument Makers, and the Warrior
Mage Guildhall.
But all of this is simply meant to give you a good push in
the right direction. This is barely the tip of the iceberg
-- there is so much more you can learn by using your Recall
skills whenever you have the chance. I did not even touch
upon the Qi Islands, or the mountain lands of Forfedhdar.
Explore! That is a crucial part of our Bardic spirit.