The Bard’s Choice
Whoever is holding a green, magical rock becomes the main character of this story. Of course, the characters don't know that. All they know is that this stone makes them feel important, or lucky, and that exciting things happen to them. They think the stone will make their deepest wishes come true.
When Kaeya, a pawn shop master, sells the stone to Andros the Gilder, she wonders if she made a mistake. After all, the stone has the power to make even a villain the main character of a story.
Characters
Kaeya
(she / her)
Title: The Alchemist
Description: Tall and strong, dark skin tone, hair worn in braids down to her hips, often decorates her arms and eyes with gold body paint (but that’s mostly for the benefit of her clients. She rarely wears it when she’s alone.)
Occupation: A buyer and seller of expensive, sometimes magical, and usually stolen products.
What does she want? A lot of what she wants, she already has. Kaeya runs a very selective and high-end business when gives her both money and influence. She delights in being skilled at what she does, and takes pride in being able to read people and predict their actions.
Onrey
(he / him)
Title: None
Description: Young and quick, with bright eyes and disheveled hair. He has a nice smile, but rarely uses it because he’s guarded and careful around others.
Occupation: He is an orphan on the streets. Surviving is a full-time job.
What does he want? So many things… Obviously he would rattle off a list of basic needs first, but once those were met, he wants the ability to take care of his family and protect them. Freedom is also important to him. He doesn’t like to feel dependent on anyone else.
Andros
(he / him)
Title: The Gilder
Description: Average height, but he carries himself in a way that makes him seem taller. He has his hair and beard regularly bleached to blonde. It look unnatural, but he doesn’t mind because the shade communicates that he has enough wealth to spend on such things.
Occupation: Officially, he is the proprietor of a respectable gilding shop. His true business is using his unregistered magical abilities to create and sell rare and expensive potions.
What does he want? His goal has always been to serve the greater good through his magic (which also coincidentally benefits him financially.) He believes his magic is a gift and he is destined to change the world, even if that means sacrificing a few innocent people along the way.
Nallain
(she / her)
Title: The Nameless
Description: Easygoing, and a long-time business partner to Kaeya. She has long, blonde hair which she normally ties back so it doesn’t get in the way. She is more trusting than most people in her line of work, but also knows how to play it smart.
Occupation: Professional Thief
What does she want? She is constantly chasing the high of pulling off a difficult job, particular if the person she’s stealing from is a bit of a scumbag. She doesn’t have ambitions beyond what she is currently doing, and doesn’t particularly care that she is respected enough to have earned a title.
Quotes
The Bard’s Choice wasn’t a granter of wishes. It wasn’t even necessarily a force of good in the world. The stone was like an indifferent god; one who craved only entertainment. It didn’t have much regard for the people involved as long as they were interesting. The stone could create entertainment out of evil intentions as easily as good ones.
- Kaeya the Alchemist“No injuries,” Nallain assured her. “None on me, anyway. I may have rearranged The Gilder’s face a little.”
- NallainOnrey climbed into a chair where his feet didn’t come close to touching the floor. He swung them nervously as he waited for her to situate herself on the other side of the table.
“You said before that you stole something interesting?” she invited with a smile. Her teeth weren’t golden, as the rumors claimed. There were, however, all there, which Onrey found equally impressive.
- Onrey, Kaeya the AlchemistHe ran the blade along the exposed throat. It didn’t break the skin, so he tried again, and then a third time before he opened a convincing gash. Who knew slitting throats was so difficult?
- Andros the GilderThe Alchemist leaned forward over the table, and her voice changed just slightly. It became softer; more like a friend and less like one of the most powerful people in the city. “Onrey, think carefully about this. These stones show up maybe once in a generation. Are you very sure that you don’t want to keep it for yourself?”
- Kaeya the Alchemist“This isn’t adding up,” she said. Her voice has a gravelly timbre, which made Andros think that her title, ‘The Singer’ had been chosen in irony.
”Okay,” he said with an agreeable smile. “Shall we do the math again?” He couldn’t let her walk away from this deal. Sure, there were other assassins in the city, but now The Singer knew about his magic. He didn’t want to consider the complications of having an assassin silenced.
- The Singer, Andros the GilderHe’s going to kill me. The thought presented itself calmly and without emotion.
- Kaeya the Alchemist
Trivia
I chose green for the stone’s color as a nod to Hollins University, my alma mater. Other colors I considered were blue and gold, but I already have two books with blue covers, and gold didn’t leave me with a comparable gem stone (such as emeralds and sapphires.)
When I first mentioned the title to my writers group, they were expecting a bodice-ripping romance about Shakespeare.
Line-editing for the book was so frustrating that during one session in a Panera, I bit the corner of my the manuscript out of rage. I still have the marked-up book with the teeth imprints.
While I wrote and edited the book in under a year, the idea had been percolating for at least five years.
One of my arc readers elected to be credited in the acknowledgements as one of their own original characters: Lilith P. Duke, Pharmacist of Journalism.
Kett did not get his job back at the rock quarry. He eventually found work with a blacksmith, and enjoyed it very much despite never advancing beyond the rank of apprentice.
Bonus Content
Learn more about Kaeya, aka The Alchemist, main character of the Bard’s Choice.
8 bits of trivia about The Bard’s Choice. There’s always so much going on behind the scenes…
All books start with a single idea. Join me as I go back in time to see how The Bard’s Choice began.
I stuck a character from ‘The Bard’s Choice’ with someone from another book of mine, and added some whittling!
“The Alchemist” “The GIlder” “The Chronicler” - This book’s world has a lot of these weird titles. Read on to learn more about how these got started and what they mean culturally within the world
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