How A Fruit Became A Harp

Notes: This is taken from the TFC Forums, and is a bardic performance by Shelar.

---

You say (in common), 'This is the story of how a fruit became a harp.'.
Shelar waits for any snickers to subside.

Tokugawa chuckles, evidently amused.
Cayleb raises an eyebrow.

story1
You say (in common), 'Many generations ago lived a young aarakocran boy named Podin.'.
You say (in common), 'One day a traveling merchant came into town, and his parents'.
You say (in common), 'took the child to the market to see his wares.'.
You say (in common), 'Podin was too small to see over the side of the merchant's'.
You say (in common), 'wagon, so his mind wandered a great deal as he stood by his'.
You say (in common), 'parents' side while they shopped. In fact, very little could'.
You say (in common), 'have been done to make the trip more boring, until a single'.
You say (in common), 'phrase made the youngsters crest rise in curiosity.'.

story2
You say (in common), '"...throw in some musical fruit," the merchant had offered.'.
You say (in common), 'Musical fruit? Podin pondered. What's that? I hope we get'.
You say (in common), 'some!'.
You say (in common), 'But alas, it was not to be. His mother quickly and firmly'.
You say (in common), 'announced that they did not want any musical fruit in their'.
You say (in common), 'home, and the fascinating fruits were not brought up again.'.

story3
You say (in common), 'Disappointed, Podin was soon taken home again, and as quickly'.
You say (in common), 'as he could, he went over to visit his friend, Tena. Tena was'.
You say (in common), 'much wiser than Podin, for she was two whole years older than'.
You say (in common), 'he. Podin figured she'd know what the musical fruit was. Even'.
You say (in common), 'If she didn't, at least she'd be able to see it on the wagon'.
You say (in common), 'when her parents brought her. Which of course would happen;'.
You say (in common), 'strangers almost never came through the backwater areas in'.
You say (in common), 'which Podin lived, so _everybody_ was sure to go at least to'.
You say (in common), 'see what this one had for sale.'.

story4
You say (in common), 'Sure enough, Tena had been to see the merchant, and she had'.
You say (in common), 'been able to see over the wagon's side (although she'd had to'.
You say (in common), 'stand on tip-talons to do it). Tena hadn't heard anything'.
You say (in common), 'about musical fruits, but she'd remembered a lot of things on'.
You say (in common), 'the merchants wagons: seeds, beans, cloth, jewelery, and one'.
You say (in common), 'kind of fruit.'.

story5
You say (in common), 'That had to be the musical fruits! Podin thought to himself, so'.
You say (in common), 'he pressed Tena for as many details as she could remember.'.
You say (in common), 'The fruit was light green, Tena said, like the colour when you'.
You say (in common), 'have a sliver in your skin too long. And it was big, with just'.
You can't do that here.
-->this was supposed to be the line: 'a little bit of a sweet smell coming from it.'

story6
You say (in common), 'Years passed, and the musical fruit had captured young'.
You say (in common), 'Podin's imagination so much that he couldn't get it out'.
You say (in common), 'of his head. His parents had been so disapproving of the'.
You say (in common), 'musical fruits when the merchant had brought them up that'.
You say (in common), 'he couldn't bring them up with them, but he took every'.
You say (in common), 'chance he could to go out into the woods and try to find the'.
You say (in common), 'mysterious large green fruits.'.

story7
You say (in common), 'Eventually he decided that the musical fruits would not be'.
You say (in common), 'found in the wilds around his tiny hamlet, so he set out to'.
You say (in common), 'explore the world and find out where this fruit might grow'.
You say (in common), 'By this time, Podin was a young adult in his prime and he'.
You say (in common), 'struck a striking figure as he flew across the treetops or'.
You say (in common), 'along the great Tiber river.'.

story8
You say (in common), 'As he wandered, the determined aarakocran nearly gave in on'.
You say (in common), 'several occasions, for he was by this time half convinced'.
You say (in common), 'that there was no musical fruit. Yet this same conviction'.
You say (in common), 'made him even more determined that if a musical fruit did'.
You say (in common), 'exist, he would find it.'.
You say (in common), 'As he nearly despaired of finding his fruit one day, he'.
You say (in common), 'overflew a large patch of odd-looking vines with pale green'.
You say (in common), 'fruits on them, about the size of his head.'.

story9
You say (in common), 'They weren't quite what Podin had envisioned, for in his'.
You say (in common), 'imagination the fruit were bloated and sickly looking, the'.
You say (in common), 'colour of an infected wound. These were smooth, and looked'.
You say (in common), 'almost like they had a grass stain that someone had almost'.
You say (in common), 'been able to wash out, but a trace of the colour stubbornly'.
You say (in common), 'clung to the hard skin of the melons.'.

story10
You say (in common), 'It was the only thing he had ever seen that came close to his'.
You say (in common), 'childhood friend's description of the musical fruits, so it'.
You say (in common), 'had to be the right one. Podin did an immediate wingover and'.
You say (in common), 'dove into the vines, immediately grabbing two of the fruits'.
You say (in common), 'and breaking them off their vines. Convinced, but still'.
You say (in common), 'wanting to be sure, he smelled the air carefully.'.

story11
You say (in common), 'Sure enough, he could catch a a fairly faint yet sweet odor'.
You say (in common), 'in the air. Excited, Podin wanted to start trying to figure'.
You say (in common), 'out why the fruits were magical, but the smell in the air'.
You say (in common), 'reminded him of how hungry he was, so he broke one of them'.
You say (in common), 'open and began to eat. Once he learned to scoop the white'.
You say (in common), 'seeds out first, the darker green flesh of the musical fruits'.
You say (in common), 'was delicious, and in short order he'd eaten both.'.

Zimmiz stands up.
story12
You say (in common), 'Once he was satiated, Podin's curiosity kicked in full force'.
You say (in common), 'He tried singing, warbling, drumming, and anything else that'.
You say (in common), 'he could think of that might be musical, but he found his'.
You say (in common), 'substantial ability hadn't improved in the slightest. He'.
You say (in common), 'picked another fruit and tried singing to it, which yielded'.
You say (in common), 'no results. He tried drumming on the fruit, but that didn't'.
You say (in common), 'produce any spectacular sounds and his talons soon pierced'.
You say (in common), 'the fruit's tough skin.'.

Tokugawa says, 'oh no...'.
Tokugawa says, 'I think I see where this is going'.
Tokugawa snickers softly.

Cayleb grins mischievously.
story13
You say (in common), 'It hadn't made any kind of music when he'd broken it open,'.
You say (in common), 'could it make a difference if it was cut?'.
You say (in common), 'Podin took out his spear and sliced through the fruit.'.
You say (in common), 'Nothing'.
You say (in common), 'He cut through it the other way'.
You say (in common), 'Still nothing'.
You say (in common), 'He spend the entire day trying to prompt the melons to show'.
You say (in common), 'their musicality, and went to bed his search fruitless and'.
You say (in common), 'his inspiration gone.'.

story14
You say (in common), 'The next morning he took a couple of the biggest, ripest of'.
You say (in common), 'the musical fruits and flew across the nearby loch to the'.
You say (in common), 'town he had heard on his way up the river. Nydia was a very'.
You say (in common), 'small town compared to what it is today, but it seemed huge'.
You say (in common), 'to the inexperienced Podin. He brought his fruits to the'.
You say (in common), 'village square and proceeded to ask anyone he came across'.
You say (in common), 'what made the melons musical'.

story15
You say (in common), 'Everyone he asked either laughed uproariously or patted him'.
You say (in common), 'on the head and told him he was a silly bird. Not one person'.
You say (in common), 'took him seriously. Incensed, Podin took his melons and'.
You say (in common), 'headed back to the patch of musical fruit vines. He was more'.
You say (in common), 'determined than ever that he would unlock the secret of the'.
You say (in common), 'fruits, and the Nydians wouldn't help them, then that was'.
You say (in common), 'just fine by him!'.

story16
You say (in common), 'Months he camped by the vines and months he tried to find'.
You say (in common), 'the secret of the musical fruits, but always it eluded him.'.
You say (in common), 'Until one day a gnome came by his camp and asked what he was'.
You say (in common), 'doing. Expecting to be ridiculed once more, Podin answered'.
You say (in common), 'tersely, but honestly. When the gnome didn't laught or'.
You say (in common), 'patronize him, but asked a few more questions, Podin opened'.
You say (in common), 'up to him and explained the whole story.'.

story17
You say (in common), '"You have indeed found musical fruits" the gnome said when'.
You say (in common), 'Podin had finished his story, but only a very special song'.
You say (in common), 'will open the musicality of these Honeydew.'.
You say (in common), 'With that the gnome picked one of the largest, ripest fruits'.
You say (in common), 'off the vines, and began to sing an odd but soothing song the'.
You say (in common), 'likes of which Podin had never heard before.'.

-->at this point I did not have the rest of the story alias'd, so I typed the end manually
You say (in common), 'The fruit began to change in the effect of the gnomes song'.
You say (in common), 'it split in half, and one half began to change'.
You say (in common), 'it slowly became thinner, the strings between the seeds darkenening'.
You say (in common), 'and the seeds itself moving up into the flesh'.
You say (in common), 'as Podin watched, the fruit began to take the form of a harp, but tiny'.
You say (in common), 'small enough to fit into ones hands or a small backpack'.
You say (in common), 'the flesh and skin of the fruit became shiny, and the seeds almost as white gems, linked to'.
You say (in common), 'the strings of the harp, tuning keys'.
You say (in common), 'then the gnome handed Podin the other half of the fruit and told him to eat it.'.
You say (in common), 'thereby linking himself to the travel harp'.
You say (in common), 'so that he could never lose it'.
You say (in common), 'and it is said that if any of his bloodline ever sought out the fruit again,'.
You say (in common), 'that they could find the song, and that the harp would reform for them'.
You say (in common), 'the same harp, worn and well-loved, '.

Cayleb disappears into the void.

g fruit hawk
You get a cloven fruit from bag made from redtailed hunting hawk hide.
You say (in common), 'and so I have sought out the honeydew, and have cloven it as the song required'.

Cayleb has returned from the void.

Cayleb tells you (in common), 'reproducing harps!'.

Tokugawa grins happily.

Cayleb claps at your performance.

Tokugawa shows his approval by clapping his hands together.

Tokugawa says, 'nice story'.

Zimmiz smiles at you.

Cayleb nods in recognition to you.

Cayleb nods in recognition to Tokugawa.

Tokugawa says, 'afk a minute'.

Cayleb says (in common), 'a very fascinating story'.

You say (in common), 'It took some time to research the tale, so I had to scour the Aran and aracity libraries for

it'.

Cayleb snickers softly.

Tokugawa says, 'back'.

Cayleb says (in common), 'wb'.

You cheer enthusiastically at the way things are going.

Tokugawa says, 'do you know what you want it to be called?'.

Cayleb raises an eyebrow.

You say (in common), 'Called 'a well-worn travel harp''.

Cayleb gets a Magic Mushroom.
Cayleb eats a Magic Mushroom.

Tokugawa says, 'let me see the item to be restrung?'.

You say (in common), 'looks like 'this tiny harp looks decidedly fruity' when sitting on the ground'.

You give a cloven fruit to Tokugawa.

Zimmiz utters the words, 'hfjz gzzuio'.

Tokugawa gives you a well-worn travel harp.

Zimmiz utters the words, 'fido'.

Tokugawa says, 'that look right?'.

Zimmiz waves happily.

Zimmiz leaves west.

l harp
This tiny harp looks decidedly fruity.

You say (in common), 'that looks excellent, thanks!'.

bow tokugawa
You bow before him.

Tokugawa says, 'grin'.

hug tokugawa
You hug him.

Shelar chirps happily.

Tokugawa says, 'enjoy!'.

You say (in common), 'I will!'.

hold fruit
You do not have that item.

hold harp
You hold a well-worn travel harp in your hands.

exam harp
This tiny harp looks decidedly fruity.
You see the following faint symbols: [|AC 1 chr:2 2#]

Tokugawa grins happily.
Tokugawa waves happily.

Shelar tunes her new travel harp happily.

You wave.

Tokugawa snickers softly.
Tokugawa vanishes.
Shelar playes a tuneful melody on her new travel harp.

who
3 players.
Hel [ Ra:10 Ma:10 ] Cayleb is trying to wear out his soles *Water*
Aar [ Bard: 16 10 9 ] Shelar Fyshyr, Crested Bard
Hum [ Cl:23 ] Zimmiz Morgenstern 

You tell Zimmiz (in common), 'thanks for attending'.
You tell Cayleb (in common), '*grin* thanks'.
Fare thee well!