On the west side of the chasm by a prominent bridge, there exists the city of Neramicos. Quite a lot of trade goes on here, and there is a staggering variety of goods, services, lodging and entertainment venues available, so much so that it is quite common in that city for business to hire bards to sing songs about them as advertisement. And these bards are often paid not per performance or by the hour, but by how much extra business they can drum up.
So the Bards of Neramicos are always outdoing each other trying to come up with the catchiest tune to extol the virtues of whatever pub, eatery, dealer shop, or what have you employs them. And these songs often travel far beyond the city walls of Neramicos, so that even as far as the Midnight Jungles you might catch someone humming the tune to "Marvelous Mikkel's Amazing Apothecary", though only the most popular songs travel so far and usually it takes a bit for it to get there (the eponymous Mikkel had actually been dead for quite some time before it was first heard in the taverns of Jhaundir, the city where the Fire Panther Company Headquarters is located).
There is such competition to create songs that are memorable, that rumor has it some bards occasionally acquire the aid of malevolent spirits to spread their message along. One of the stories that makes people most suspicious is that of the Sparking Jay Tavern which gives its name to the still popular "Ballad of the Sparking Jay". It is widely believed by many that the writer of this song contacted some dark spirit to make his song magically catchy, or maybe it gave him inspiration or just the song wholesale; accounts vary and are most likely just hearsay. What is known for certain is that, after the song became popular, the owner of the tavern soon died of a mysterious illness. His daughter then took on the business and was apparently killed one night about a month later by a robber in the tavern. His other daughter took over who then snapped her neck falling down the stairs. With no living heirs left, the deed to the tavern went into the possession of the city of Neramicos and auctioned off. It was briefly opened for business before the new owner seemingly poisoned himself to death. Then the next owner was found having hanged himself in the bar, though many allege there where signs signs he struggled against the rope.
After a few more mysterious deaths, people simply refused to buy the tavern at any price when it went up for auction, despite the business being quite successful in the past, for fear of whatever curse lingers in it. And so it has sat unoccupied for quite some time. Parents tell their children to stay away from it, and any traveler who comes to the city and asks for directions to the Sparking Jay Tavern gets the cold shoulder.
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Topic: Let's create a setting: Lighter and Happier (Read 11651 times)