Mendira/Performances

Mendira's Songs and Dances

3/26/2020 Worst Bard Contest Fiasco

[Shoan a Sidelkuloa, Stage] A row of lights illuminates the boards and those who take their place upon them. Dark curtains block sight of the wings. Obvious exits: none. Mendira wanders out from the wings, her hands clasped tightly before her. She stares fixedly at the wooden floor of the stage, avoiding looking up into the audience. Mendira comes to a stop at her mark at the center of the stage, her eyes still downcast. After a long pause, and complete silence in the theater outside of a few uncomfortable coughs scattered in the audience, a simple jig begins from somewhere backstage. Mendira unclasps her hands as the song unfolds, instead bringing them to her sides where they grip the skirts of her gown, her knuckles white. Mendira takes a deep breath. Mendira lips are clearly moving, but no audible sound seems to escape them. The music plays on. Mendira blushes slightly, the tips of her ears flushing with warmth. Mendira takes another deep breath and launches into another inaudible, mumbled verse. Mendira swings her arms slightly, her hands still clenched tight in the folds of her skirts. Mendira blush travels down her face and neck as her flush deepens. She grows redder and redder as the music progresses. Mendira lifts her gaze, slightly. Mendira eyes widen in a sudden panic as she catches sight of the audience. Mendira blushes and babble a few incoherent words, looking foolish but sincere. Mendira turns on her heel and without a moment's hesitation bolts off of the stage and into the wings. From the commotion that appears to ensue backstage, she seems to have continued running, possibly out of the theater entirely. Allye stares after her, stunned. The music crashes to a halt.

10/24/2020 ODS Spin-A-Tale Divyaush Umbrella Dance

Mendira gets an intense persimmon camlet umbrella with a carved dragonwood handle from inside her foraging basket. (Mendira moves up to the front of the room, holding her umbrella at her side.) Mendira nibbles her lip thoughtfully. Mendira clears her throat. Mendira recites: "Ancient golden fields and dales All scorched by sun to no avail The farmers and the townsfolk cry Into the hazy orange sky, For a single bit of mercy." (Mendira sways about the area, her feet slipping from side to side with a practised ease.) Mendira gives an intense persimmon camlet umbrella with a carved dragonwood handle a quick spin from its handle, twirling it through her fingers. Mendira recites: "Offerings of milk and bread Left on doorsteps, beneath beds Whispered prayers filled the night To end their awful plight. Would anyone hear them?" (Mendira pauses her movements, bringing one finger to her chin in exaggerated thought.) Mendira tilts her head with a curious expression. Mendira opens an intense persimmon camlet umbrella with a carved dragonwood handle with a snap. Mendira winks. Mendira recites: "The welkins came in deep of night Their presence cause for not a fright As milk and bread they each did take Dark clouds rolled in behind their wake And it began to rain." Mendira smiles brightly. Mendira twirls an intense persimmon camlet umbrella with a carved dragonwood handle over her head with a wink. (Mendira dips and spins, light on her feet as she gazes up, leaping between imagined raindrops.) Mendira recites: "And then with Divyaush's blessing All was well and green again!" Mendira slides an intense persimmon camlet umbrella with a carved dragonwood handle closed. Mendira taps an intense persimmon camlet umbrella with a carved dragonwood handle on the ground and it flips up under her arm neatly. Mendira grins. Mendira curtsies gracefully.

3/8/2021 Bardic Discussions Closing Song

Mendira clears her throat. Mendira fidgets nervously. Mendira says, "In the interest of full disclosure and your precious eardrums: Ahneya requested a more novice performer to close the meeting, and singing is not quite my forte. Please, brace yourselves." Irinia gazes at Mendira. Emyrose smiles at Mendira. Hoshii looks at Mendira and lets out a hearty cheer on her behalf! Andante praises Mendira. Unen smiles at Mendira. Nilme looks at Mendira, praising her and supporting her with her approval. Useff leans forward. Mendira awkwardly says, "I will attempt to sing a song called "Wonder" that was written by Joy Chanticleer." She hesitates, chewing nervously on her lip. "I fear I must apologize in advance, both to the Bardess Chanticleer and to all of you here." Mendira blushes slightly, the tips of her ears flushing with warmth. Tiarmo snickers. Andante gives Mendira a playful poke in the ribs. Mendira says, "You all may be familiar with it. At least I hope it will be that recognizable." Mendira grins sheepishly. Hoshii smiles encouragingly. Mendira says, "Please SING WITH me, if you would like. It might make the tune a little more, um... well, better." Tiarmo says, "Have faith, see. Blysse-bear believes in you." Natipohaka praises Mendira. Keldyn raises his tankard, drinking deeply from the mulled wine inside. Tiarmo holds up his mahogany bear, making it wave its paw at Mendira! How cute! Mendira giggles at Tiarmo. Natipohaka says, "I'm not great at singing either..." (Mendira shuts her eyes tight, taking a deep breath.) Mendira slowly and deliberately empties her filled lungs. (Mendira, after a few long moments, begins to sing. Unaccompanied, her voice flutters through the air haltingly and slightly off-key. Her face twists in a barely veiled grimace. She doesn't open her eyes.) Mendira shakily sings in a soprano voice: "A robin's egg, an oriole's nest - When I was small, these things were best. A butterfly's cocoon, stuff spun of brown, Was once discovered on the ground. A feather, blue, did wonder bring A little lass who found these things." Hoshii beams at Mendira! A chorus of voices join with Mendira's leading soprano as she sings: "For beauty and love and wondering surprise May always be found in a child's eyes." (Mendira's hands clutch desperately to the skirts of her kirtle, her knuckles nearly white.) Vixonia trills softly at Mendira. Irinia gazes at Mendira in admiration. Andante praises Mendira. Mendira awkwardly sings in a soprano voice: "A shriveled skin once held a snake, A snail shell found by garden rake, A piece of quartz that sparkled bright Was magic when held to the light. Or was the magic in the mind Of the lass who made these finds?" A chorus of voices join with Mendira leading's soprano as she sings: "For beauty and love and wondering surprise May always be found by a child's eyes." (Mendira releases another unsteady breath. Her eyes are still shut, but her features seem to relax just slightly as she continues, focused more on the music than her surroundings.) Irinia nods in agreement. Mendira hesitantly sings in a soprano voice: "The other day, I chanced to find A box that did these treasures bind. And smiling as I touched each one, I wondered where that lass had gone. The child's eye did wonders see That rarely now is there for me." A chorus of voices join with Mendira's leading soprano as she sings: "For beauty and love and wondering surprise May get overlooked by hurrying eyes." Andante smiles wistfully Mendira carefully sings in a soprano voice: "I wandered down, sat by the shore To think on this a little more, You came to sit alongside me And waited there so patiently While I did sit and ponder long Wondering where that lass had gone." A chorus of voices join with Mendira's leading soprano as she sings: "What beauty and love and wondering surprise Used to be seen when I had child's eyes." (Mendira relinquishes the death-grip she had on her dress, instead lifting her arms across her torso in a sort of hug as she leans forward.) Mendira quietly sings in a soprano voice: "Then looking up, I met your glance, And realized that quite by chance The answer was -- she'd gone nowhere The sense of wonder still was there. Now rarely found in wind and tree, But always in my love for thee." A chorus of voices join with Mendira's leading soprano as she sings: "For beauty and love and wondering surprise Are found by the heart, not by the eyes." Andante smiles. (Mendira slowly opens her eyes, chancing a glance at her surroundings.) Mendira curtsies gracefully.

3/11/2021 Tavern Troupe Song Circle Diya Dance

Mendira quietly says, "I apologize for bringing a dance to a song circle, but as those of you who may have heard me sing the other day can attest, I promise it's for the best." Mendira blushes slightly, the tips of her ears flushing with warmth. Mendira gets a brass lotus lamp from inside her foraging basket. Mendira gets a brass lotus lamp from inside her foraging basket. Mendira kneels down upon the ground. (Mendira leans forward and places both of her lotus lamps at her feet.) Mendira gets a piece of black flint from inside her foraging basket. Mendira gets a silversteel thin-bladed fan adorned with lotus blossoms from inside her war belt. With a practiced flick of her wrist, Mendira snaps open her thin-bladed fan to expose the sharpened edges at the end of the blades. Mendira strikes a piece of black flint with a silversteel thin-bladed fan adorned with lotus blossoms while holding it over a brass lotus lamp, causing sparks to fly. Some of the sparks land on the lotus lamp and with a few quick breaths in the right place you manage to get a flame going. A brass lotus lamp grows dimmer. Mendira strikes a piece of black flint with a silversteel thin-bladed fan adorned with lotus blossoms while holding it over a brass lotus lamp, causing sparks to fly. Some of the sparks land on the lotus lamp and with a few quick breaths in the right place you manage to get a flame going. A brass lotus lamp grows dimmer. With a practiced flick of her wrist, Mendira snaps her thin-bladed fan closed. Mendira puts her fan in her war belt. Mendira puts her flint in her foraging basket. Mendira gets a small ash music box from inside her foraging basket. (Mendira gently places her music box to one side upon the floor.) (Mendira winds a handle that protrudes from the side of her music box, listening intently to the mechanisms within until she is satisfied the box is ready.) A brass lotus lamp's flame flutters slightly. (Mendira picks up both of the lit lamps, placing them at the centers of her palms. Given their small size, the width of the lamps barely stretches to her fingertips. Glass petal-shaped panels set into the wrought brass glimmer in shades of white and pale pink with the light emanating from the central wicks.) Mendira stands back up. (Mendira brings her open hands to her chest, careful to hold them steady so as to not spill the lamps' oil. She gives a slight nod to the barmaid, who extinguishes the lights around the bar.) Mendira smiles slightly as the room dims. The area would now be cloaked in darkness but for the wan light of the lotus lamps. (Mendira tips the lid of the music box open with her toe, the movement eliciting only the barest jingle from her toe bells.) (Mendira's music box begins to play a delicately sweet melody, reminiscent of a soft breeze whispering through the leaves of starlit woods on a warm summer night. The opened lid reveals an intricately carved figure of a forest nymph clad in robes of layered oak leaves, spinning in time with the gentle tune.) (Mendira spreads her arms wide, her motions slow and deliberate. The flame of each lamp remains steady, illuminating her face as she keeps her eyes cast down.) Mendira smiles to herself as she begins to sway. Her movements begin gently, ever cognizant of the lamps upon her open palms. The music box on the floor continues to play its soft whispering melody. (Mendira's lotus lamps also cast flickering light over the tiny porcelain face of the nymph within her music box, whose features glow as if in response to the wordless joy of the dance. With arms stretched high the figurine turns and twirls, her eyes closed and head thrown back.) A brass lotus lamp's flame flutters slightly. Mendira kicks one foot out in a graceful arc, and with a dip of her shoulders and a tinkling of toe bells, she pirouettes in a dazzling spin! A brass lotus lamp's flame flutters slightly. (Mendira dips to one side and mimics the graceful rotation of the nymph, raising her face to the ceiling with a soft inhale. The lamps' flames sway and lift with her turns, bobbing to and fro like fireflies in the dark room.) Toe bells jingling in a staccato cadence and feet a blur of motion, Mendira throws her head back and lifts her arms high in the sheer joy of dance. (Mendira pitches forward and rises once more, smoothly raising her arms high over her head. The music box on the floor plays a few more soft notes before winding to a stop and falling silent.) A brass lotus lamp's flame flutters slightly. (Mendira brings her arms down and back to center at her chest, finally extinguishing the lamps with two sharp exhalations and plunging the bar into complete darkness.) Mendira carefully snuffs out the lotus lamp. Mendira carefully snuffs out the lotus lamp. (Mendira drops into a graceful curtsy as the lights of the bar come up once more.)

Mendira's Stories

The Tale of the First Ten'ra Agalith

Mendira says, "I would like to tell a tale I once read while exploring a library in the Great Tower of Shard." Mendira smiles. (Mendira takes a seat near the front of the room. She pauses to breathe quietly for a moment, seemingly settling her nerves before she begins.) Mendira says, "Once upon a time, a very long time ago indeed, there lived a young cleric named Serillyn." Mendira says, "Serillyn lived with her younger brother Davroc in the days when Shard had just been founded. They joined the people of the city, busily building their lives." She tucks a loose strand of hair behind a pointed ear before clasping her hands at her lap. She continues on with her tale. "There, in the sheltering shadow of the Dragon Spine Mountains and cradled by the Lake of Tears, the cityfolk prospered, bustling about their daily business." Mendira says, "Serillyn was a devout follower of the Goddess Eluned. As the city was still quite young, temples had not yet been built. She would often wander to the shore of the lake to commune with her deity. And all was well." Mendira ominously says, "Or at least all seemed well, for a time." Mendira says, "Strange things began to plague the city and the mountains." Mendira frowns to herself, her brow furrowing anxiously. Mendira says, "Hot rain pitted the young streets of Shard. Traders reported wild creatures that ravaged their caravans on their routes. Youngsters disappeared without a trace." Mendira emphatically says, "Something was very, very wrong." Mendira says, "The final child to vanish was Serillyn's dear brother. The cleric was beside herself with grief and worry. The boy could not be found." A pained expression crosses Mendira's face. Mendira says, "In desperation, Serillyn went once more to the Lake of Tears. She sat at the edge of the shore for three days." Mendira closes her eyes as if in penance, twining her palms together beseechingly and raising them to her chest. "She prayed, and prayed, and prayed. Rain fell upon her bowed head, and still she sat unmoved, unyielding in her meditation. She became weak with hunger." Mendira says, "At last, Eluned took pity upon the poor young cleric. A mist rose from the lake, gathering before the weary eyes of the devotee to take the form of an ethereal woman with flowing hair." (Mendira sits up straight, her arms outstretched and undulating to mimic the watery tresses of the diety.) Mendira says, "The vision spoke to Serillyn in cool whispers." Mendira recites: "Sweet child, your devotion is commendable, In this young city with but two small shrines for worship. We gods of the Light are forgiving and patient, However, other Immortals are not. They make their displeasure known to you. These are the answers you have sought." Mendira says, "With that, the mist dissipated. The beautiful figure vanished, as Serillyn looked on breathlessly. And then all was still. The rain had stopped, and the lake was placid." Mendira breathes in slightly. Mendira says, "Serillyn leapt to her feet and rushed to find the Elders of Shard. She relayed the words of her Goddess, chastising them for their shameful lack of respect for the gods. The Elders realized she was correct." Mendira judiciously says, "The gods had led the people to this place, had helped them prosper. It was only fitting that respect be paid." Mendira says, "The Elders called for a special tribute to be made, hoping to make amends with their patron gods. People came from all over the province to pay homage, begging for relief from the wrath of the Dark Immortals. Construction began on two lavish temples which still stand in the city today." Mendira says, "Prayers were whispered, incense was burned, hymns were sung, and gifts of mead and harvest were offered with elaborate ritual." Mendira says, "Finally, the efforts of the people appeased the gods, and the city prospered once more. And our dear young cleric Serillyn was reunited with her brother, to her great joy and relief." Mendira smiles. Korya exclaims, "Where was he!" Mendira quietly says to Korya, "I surely don't know. I hope none of us should ever find out." Mendira says, "To this day, the people of Shard still celebrate that reconciliation in a festival: Ten'ra Agalith, or Heaven Truce." (Mendira rises to her feet in a lithe, sweeping movement.) Mendira curtsies gracefully.

Mendira's Plays and Dance Dramas

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