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    Canonfire :: View topic - Minstrel Tales
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    Minstrel Tales
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    Encyclopedia Greyhawkaniac

    Joined: May 29, 2018
    Posts: 1470


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    Sun May 17, 2020 8:33 am  
    Minstrel Tales



    Minstrel Tales - Song of the Sea Princes

    O young Sea Princes
    You from the Holdings
    From mainland and island
    You that are sailing
    The Azure waters
    With eyes of wonder
    Sail to adventure
    Sail to the Sunrise
    Sail to adventure
    Who follow the waves

    Sail safely in sunlight
    Sail safely in moonlight
    Sail safely in starlight
    O young Sea Princes
    Down to the holdings
    Call your companions
    Launch your vessel
    And crowd your canvas
    And ere the sunset
    Over the margin
    After it, Follow it
    Follow the waves!

    ( Loosely altered from Tennyson's Merlin and the Gleam)
    Encyclopedia Greyhawkaniac

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    Posts: 1470


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    Thu Jun 25, 2020 9:08 am  



    This is mournful song about the many Shield Landers who have fallen fighting against the forces of the Horned Society.

    Shield Lander's Lament

    I知 just an old loyal Shield Lander
    I知 fighten' through this world of woe.
    There is no sickness, toil, nor danger,
    That will keep me from my mortal foe.

    I知 going home to see my father,
    I知 going home no more to roam;
    It's just across that Ritensa River,
    I'm gonna cross to get to home.

    I see dark clouds have gathered o弾r me,
    I see my pathway痴 rough and steep;
    But no Horned Fiend is gonna stop me,
    My weary eyes no more shall weep.

    I知 going there to see my mother,
    She said she壇 meet me when I come;
    It's just across the Ritensa River,
    I'm gonna cross to get to home.

    I'm gonna tell the Shield Lands story,
    Together with my blood-soaked band;
    I'm gonna wear that shield of glory ,
    When I get home to that good land.

    I知 going there to see my brothers,
    They passed before me one by one;
    It's just across that Ritensa River,
    I'm gonna cross to get to home.

    I値l soon be free from every trial,
    This form will rest beneath the sod;
    I've fought every step and every mile
    Now the path of death my feet do trod.

    I知 going home to see my sisters,
    Who shed for me their precious blood;
    It's just across that Ritensa River,
    I'm gonna cross to get to home.

    (Altered from the song 'Wayfaring Stranger')
    Encyclopedia Greyhawkaniac

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    Posts: 1470


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    Sat Jun 27, 2020 9:26 am  




    In my campaign Leprechauns are legendary creatures popular in Geoff featured in songs, tales and ballads told to children. None, at least no one sober enough to be believed, has actually encountered one, but in a world with Dragons and Brownies, the Little Green Men are not a far stretch of the imagination.

    The Geoff Rangers who serve the Duke refer to their new recruits as 'leprechauns'.

    Here is a ditty sung to children

    While crossing Midwood, one moonlit night, a leprechaun I spied
    With a scarlet cap and coat of green, a crossbow by his side
    Twas "snik, snak, snik" went his knife, carving a tiny bolt
    I laughed to see him at his work, but the Green Man was laughing not
    With a quiet step but hard beating heart I softly drew away.
    But the leprechaun heard my steps and slyly looked my way.
    There was mischief in his little face and a twinkle in his eye.
    He raised a cup that had been at his side and drank his mountain dew
    Then quick as thought he raised his bow, "Your money purse!" he cried.
    I laughed to think what a fool I'd been and the Green Man was laughing too.
    I tossed him my pouch full of tobacco leaves so that it landed by his side
    As he turned to look I ran away which was the only think to do
    If you are crossing Midwood one moonless night and leprechaun you do spy
    Just leave him be and run full speed and keep your money purse by your side.

    (Altered from The Leprechaun Song)
    Encyclopedia Greyhawkaniac

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    Posts: 1470


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    Mon Jun 29, 2020 9:38 am  



    Minstrel Tales Black-Eyed Dwarf Rye
    A small ditty from the streets of Greyhawk. It is considered rather rude and disrespectful of the Watch, but is sung throughout most of the city's inns and taverns.

    Black-Eyed Dwarf Rye

    Now Jak was a watchman whose post was Old Town
    And she was a damsel, the street she skipped down
    Said the damsel to Jak as she passed him by
    Would you care for to purchase some Black-Eyed Dwarf Rye?

    Thought Jak to himself now what can this be
    But the finest dwarf whiskey from the Barrier Peaks
    Smuggled down in a basket and sold on the sly
    And the name that it goes by is Black-Eyed Dwarf Rye.

    Jak gave her a gold piece and he thought nothing strange
    She said, hold on to the basket till I run for your change
    Jak looked in the basket and a child he did spy
    I'm a goblin says Jak, if this be Black-Eyed Dwarf Rye.

    Now to get the child fostered was Jak's next intent
    For to get the child fostered to the priestess he went
    Said the priestess to Jak, what will he go by?
    Your worship says Jak, call him Black-Eyed Dwarf Rye.

    Says the priestess to Jak, there's a very strange name
    Your worship says Jak, 'twas the strange way he came
    Smuggled down in a basket and sold on the sly
    And the name that he'll go by is Black-Eyed Dwarf Rye'

    Now all you bold watchmen who roam on the town
    Beware of the damsels who skip up and down
    Take a peep in their baskets as they pass you by
    Or else they may sell you some Black-Eyed Dwarf Rye.


    (Very lightly adapted from Quare Bungle Rye a popular song from Limerick)[/img]
    Encyclopedia Greyhawkaniac

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    Posts: 1470


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    Fri Jul 24, 2020 2:45 pm  

    Minstrel Tales Riddles Storm on Land
    Riddles

    These are a collection of Anglo-Saxon riddles. The authors are unknown and the prose can be a bit obscure but they fit so well into my Greyhawk campaign that I have used them often.

    Storm on Land

    Who of men is ready-witted and wise enough to say
    Who drives me forth on my journey,
    When I arise in my strength, exceeding furious,
    When I resound in my might?

    Sometimes I move with malice through the land,
    Shatter the people's halls, spoil the houses;
    The sky rises up, grey over the roofs;
    There is noise on oerth, the death-pang of men.

    When I stir the wood and the druid's groves,
    When covered with water, felling trees
    Bearing upon my back, the dwellings of men,
    The coverings of the oerth, the beasts of the land.

    Say who it is who covers me,
    Or what I, who bear those burdens, am called.
    Encyclopedia Greyhawkaniac

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    Posts: 1470


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    Tue Nov 24, 2020 4:17 pm  



    Minstrel Tales - The Bold Hommlet Farmer
    The Bold Hommlet Farmer

    Here is a ditty that is about a small village on the road north to Verbobonc. In the inns and taverns of the area a quick gulp of ale is normally taken at the end of each chorus.

    One evening of late into Hommlet I strayed
    and bound for Verbobonc I was making me way
    At the Welcome Wench some time I delayed
    For to wet me auld whistle with Keoish

    To Hommlet, To Hommlet,
    To Hommlet I strayed
    To Hommlet, To Hommlet
    To Hommlet I strayed
    The road to Verbobonc was dry as a bone
    The road to Verbobonc
    Was dry as a bone

    I scarcely had travelled a mile of the road
    When I heard a dispute in a farmer's abode
    There stood a bandit, an ill looking toad
    And the wife of a bold Hommlet farmer

    Chorus

    "You're a robber" the bold farmer's wife she replied
    "You're as bad as a goblin with whom you abide
    But the men of Burne's Badgers will put down your pride
    They'll be here like lightning in front of a storm

    Chorus

    I spaded me fist and I picked up me stick
    and behind that foul bandit like a mouse I did trip
    Then with all my strength I gave him a lick
    and the bold farmer's wife was adoring
    (Loosely adapted from 'The Bold Tenant Farmer')
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