A Tale Once Told

In our whimsical fairy tale world, travelling bards who spin fantastic tales throughout the land are rock stars. And no one knows this more than the pithy Scharzo, a bard on his way to audition for a position in the King's court. Reaching an Inn ahead of Scharzo, new King's Guardsman Kluge and Glommen give the Inn's owners little time to prepare for his arrival. Ottar, Fretha and their daughters Dora and Daphne swiftly polish the inn to a shine, with the help of Peter – a lute playing farm boy who is a fixture at the inn. Peter is sent to lead Scharzo from the road and botches their first meeting miserably. Though Scharzo accepts Ottar's invitation to perform, he arrogantly spurns his offer to read from the king's book of favorite tales. The Elder and the Merchant – two older fixtures in the tap room who observe the goings-on over a perpetual game of chess, hear this knowing the Bard is in for a bumpy ride. After nightfall, Scharzo comes down from his room to find the tap room packed to the walls with eager listeners. Much to their satisfaction, he begins the tale of Althanon – a renowned tale of heroism, valor and dragons! We see that tale unfold – a story within our story. Just as we are in the thick of the tale, we hear a critical voice from the tap room, mocking Scharzo to “Tell it right!”. Appalled at the rude interruption, and at the scorn of the rabble of the tap room, Scharzo retreats to his room. That night Scharzo has a fling with Daphne, much to the disappointment of Dora, who sought to aid Scharzo and to the amazement of Glommen, who thought he, a king's soldier, stood a better chance. The next night Scharzo comes down to a near empty tap room, and though he tries in add elements shouted at him from the raucous audience – changing Althanon from a farm boy to a skittish prince – he can't win them over, and is booed out of the tap room. Angered by their rudeness, The Elder quiets the rowdy crowd with a single disdainful look. In his room, having lost his audience and his confidence, Scharzo holds the last three cooper coins from his empty purse and sobs. Scharzo mounts his horse the next morning, determined to perform for the king regardless of his failure the nights before. Peter admonishes him and asks him to come back, pointing out the hard road ahead to the castle. Scharzo returns, hands his copper coins over to Ottar during a private chat and receives the king's book of tales from a weary Dora, who is unsure what good it will do him now. In the golden light of the afternoon, as Peter runs door to door in the village, Scharzo reads the book, summoning boisterous inspiration, much to the thrill of others at the inn. That night, in a tap room filled with the patrons Peter had invited, Scharzo takes the stage. He offers everyone a drink from the three-copper barrel he purchased from Ottar, and promises to incorporate the elements they found lacking, if only they'd close their eyes and picture the heroes as they have always seen them as he spins the tale. And then we hit the ground running -Scharzo relates a stirring rendition of the action-packed climax of the dragon hunt! And this time, the cannon-fodder characters are replaced with heroes from our worldwide mythologies – Nordic hero Sigurd, Chinese hero Nehza the third prince and Japanese hero Kintaro. Together with the heroes from the previous telling - even those killed in previous iterations - they chase and do battle with the dragon until Althanon destroys it in a thunderous explosion! The taproom explodes with happy cheers! The next morning, as Scharzo readies to leave, with Peter in tow and unspoken promises between he and Dora, we learn a surprising secret – The Elder is in fact the King, and he indeed plans to give Scharzo the job of palace bard. When his guards Kluge and Glommen ask him if he told the tale right in the end, the king states that there was no right truly – what mattered was he told it well.