The GOLDEN SKALD of SOLAVIA
S A N D A M A R Snoppshenitsky
itinerant balladeer
Ht: 3'11 | Wt: 90 | Eyes: blue | Hair: blond | Age: ~50 | Creed: Halfling
His charm and musical versatility has made him a great favourite on the circuit. Sandamar is equally at home in noble courts or in rowdy peasant taverns, though he much prefers the latter... for although coin is always appreciated, he has a great passion for his art, and a rapport with the common folk. He loves traveling to new places, and also returning to old ones, but he rarely stays long in one place.
HISTORY
From Danya, Sandamar learned more than just performance styles or vocal techniques. He was also taught how to charm crowds and influence people through subtle modulations of his golden voice. She instructed him in the most esoteric forms of their art, including the ways to invoke spirits through words and incantations, or channel mystic power through music and song, in order to change minds or bolster the hearts of others.
APPEARANCE
ASSOCIATES
Early Life
Sandamar was born in a small Halfling community in Chekova, a pastoral area of Solavia. His father was country gentry with a large farm, but as the youngest of six siblings, he was less involved with the upkeep of the estate and was unlikely to ever inherit. This suited him fine, as simple country life and a humdrum practical existence never appealed to him.
Sandamar spent much of his youth around the nearby crossroads, socializing with the big folk, and taking in tales of travel from those merchants and pilgrims passing through. He picked up smatterings of various dialects and assembled an encyclopedic second-hand knowledge of various cultures, music, and storytelling traditions.
His life was forever changed when the traveling human balladeer and storyteller Oleg the Honeytongue heard the young Sandamar singing in the Chekova local tavern. Taken with the boy's charm, natural talent, and potential, he decided then and there to take him on as an apprentice. Feeling that Chekova had little more to offer him at this point in his life, Sandamar readily accepted.
His life was forever changed when the traveling human balladeer and storyteller Oleg the Honeytongue heard the young Sandamar singing in the Chekova local tavern. Taken with the boy's charm, natural talent, and potential, he decided then and there to take him on as an apprentice. Feeling that Chekova had little more to offer him at this point in his life, Sandamar readily accepted.
Bard Training
Sandamar traveled with Oleg the Storyteller for some time, and learned the basics of the minstrel's craft. When Oleg found he had nothing more to teach him, he brought Sandamar to his own mentor, the legendary Danya, the Songbird of Spring. Sandamar then continued his training with her, alongside fellow students Oleg and Perun Lubocek (instrumentalist par excellence). Soon they earned the name "the Dobreval Trio" - although it was rare to catch all three in one place for a reunion performance.
From Danya, Sandamar learned more than just performance styles or vocal techniques. He was also taught how to charm crowds and influence people through subtle modulations of his golden voice. She instructed him in the most esoteric forms of their art, including the ways to invoke spirits through words and incantations, or channel mystic power through music and song, in order to change minds or bolster the hearts of others.
As her most accomplished pupil, he was also entrusted with her full repertoire of songs, poetry, and stories, both ancient and contemporary, all committed to memory as per tradition. Among these were epic poems and songs in foreign tongues passed down from master to student, some so ancient and exotic that the civilizations that produced them have long ago vanished... leaving none to understand them, only just marvel at the beauty and complexity of the compositions.
Fame & Legacy
Fame & Legacy
Sandamar has spent over a decade traveling and building a name for himself across Mir, and generally living his best life. During this time, he has also taken it upon himself to to pass down his legacy to a new generation. Five years ago, he took on an apprentice of his own - a young orphan girl from the lands of Old Kosya named Vidalia of Medva.
Just as Oleg Honeytongue plucked him from obscurity, Sandamar sought to find a successor who could someday carry on the balladeer tradition, and he believes Vidalia has a talent that might someday eclipse that of the Dobreval Trio. On yearly visits to Medva, he has begun the process of sharing Danya's great repertoire of knowledge to a new generation.
Sandamar is a tallish halfling with a muscular barrel chest, a mop of golden hair and a short-cropped beard that he is quite proud of. He has a hardy, handsome face and smiles often, showing off his shiny white teeth. His voice is deep and resonant, and his singing voice is so bold and resounding that one could hardly imagine it coming from such a small frame.
Sandamar enjoys a good laugh and rarely has an unkind word for anyone. His manner is bombastic, melodramatic, and theatrical, but nonetheless so generous and seemingly heartfelt that one imagines that he must simply feel all emotions more deeply than other people. He can also be quite loud at times
He is dressed in a colourful embroidered tunic and baggy pants belted with a flamboyant sash. His lower legs are wrapped in decorated gaiters, but his feet, with their golden curles, are usually bare. He often wears a jaunty fur-lined cape and hat to guard against the elements.
He mostly travels light, with only a couple of shoulder bags. His songs are committed to memory and his primary instrument is his voice, but he can play just about anything, and carries a compact hand drum, a zhaleika (horn), and sometimes a small balalaika in his kit.
Danya the Songbird of Spring (110, human?)
One of the most famous singers in all of Mir, Danya is a skald and performer of immense talent. Rumoured to have the blood of the Elves running in her veins, her career has spanned almost a century. Although older now, her body and voice remain vital.
Today she holds a special honorary title in the court of Dobreval by the decree of King Nowazkiy, and does not range as far as she once did. Instead, people come from far and wide to attend her performances on festival days, and her students, the Dobreval Trio do the traveling.
Although he knows her as a stern and uncompromising teacher, Sandamar also knows Danya truly is every bit the divine lady of the arts that the stories say, a genius with vast knowledge, and likely touched by old magic.
Although he knows her as a stern and uncompromising teacher, Sandamar also knows Danya truly is every bit the divine lady of the arts that the stories say, a genius with vast knowledge, and likely touched by old magic.
Oleg the Honeytongue (55, human)
The Honeytongue was an incomparable storyteller, bard, and satirist, welcomed by the people, and perhaps slightly feared by the noble classes for his deft way with words and penchant for cutting humour.
Oleg has a weakness for women, and likes to drink - perhaps too much, even by Malocovian standards. However, even when in his cups, his mind is sharp and his poetry even sharper. It is believed by some that he sometimes served as a secret envoy for certain powerful lords, which helped to insulate him from the reprisals of those who might have suffered his barbs.
Although they are now peers, Sandamar still feels great gratitude and obligation to Oleg, his first teacher, who opened up a whole new world to him. Oleg
Perun Lubocek (40, human)
Danya's students are skilled in all of the bard's arts, but Lubocek is the instrumental master of the Dobreval Trio. It is said that he can play any instrument with such skill and heart as to make an abbess hike her skirts and dance, or a carnival fool cry tears of longing. He is much sought after in all the courts of Vosnia.
Sandamar knows that on the outside, while Lubocek may seem jovial in front of his audiences, his manner conceals a deeply serious man with a melancholy and philosophical streak, tormented by personal demons and regrets. Sandamar loves Perun like a brother, but wishes his colleague was able to escape his moods long enough to have a bit of fun.
Vidalia of Medva (25, human)
Sandamar encountered Vidalia singing on the streets of Medva, begging for food to support herself and fellow orphans. So impressed was he by her voice and spirit, that he decided to teach her some professional techniques and a few new songs.
By the time he next was in Medva, she had mastered everything he had taught her with such natural instinct that he knew the girl was a genius in the making. Resolving to teach her everything he knew, he began her training in earnest.
In a few short years, she has emerged as a brilliant talent, gaining no small acclaim in the lands of old Kosya. While at first she gained renown as the protege of Sandamar the Lion, she is now well on her way to being one of the great skalds in her own right.
Last year, Sandamar considered her training complete, feeling he had nothing more to teach her. He has passed on to her everything he learned from Danya, though he promised to return to following year to bring her to Dobreval to introduce his illustrious pupil to his beloved mentor.
In a few short years, she has emerged as a brilliant talent, gaining no small acclaim in the lands of old Kosya. While at first she gained renown as the protege of Sandamar the Lion, she is now well on her way to being one of the great skalds in her own right.
Last year, Sandamar considered her training complete, feeling he had nothing more to teach her. He has passed on to her everything he learned from Danya, though he promised to return to following year to bring her to Dobreval to introduce his illustrious pupil to his beloved mentor.
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