"Lord British's Magic Coin", written by Holt, narrated by Sharm, Kailef & Baldrith

Discussion in 'The Library' started by Holt, Oct 30, 2014.

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Whose version did you find most interesting?

  1. Lord Baldrith

    38.9%
  2. Grand Duke Kailef

    16.7%
  3. Master Songstress Sharm

    44.4%
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  1. Holt

    Holt Avatar

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    Poets' Circle presents:

    "Lord British's Magic Coin" as written by Sir Holt Ironfell.

    A short parable concerning the ancient dilemma of art and money. Narrated by 3 Bards of Poets' Circle: Sharm, Lord Baldrith and Grand Duke Kailef.

    Presented as a gift to his Majesty Lord British.

    Master Songstress Sharm:


    Grand Duke-Master Bard Kailef:


    Lord Baldrith:


    I'd forgotten to post this anywhere, but it was a little in-guild experiment. By having different voice overs of the same story, we were able to compare techniques, pace and timing, and a whole lot of other interesting and useful narration secrets. Not to mention having a rip at the whole compensation thing in our own tongue in cheek way. Cause why not? We're bards!

    If you feel like narrating this story and posting YOUR version up, go ahead! Have fun :)

    "Lord British's Magic Coin"
    as written by Sir Holt Ironfell.



    There came a day in New Britannia where Lord British summoned to court a particular bard, a champion of the arts. Holt Ironfell arrived at the court of the King anxiously, for the Kings he had known in the past were sorcerous, crazed by lust of magic and power.

    Lord British spoke of Virtues long lost to the memory of the people -- of Truth, Love and Courage. As Holt listened, he realized that Virtue was the foundation stone of this King's power and that he had at long last found a man he could serve faithfully.

    As Holt spun his tales in court and composed the greatest music of his long career, he was showered with honours. He became a Grandmaster Bard, and was given Royal Warrant to form a far-reaching Guild of creative souls called Poets' Circle. He was knighted. His wit and wisdom were welcomed; his performances gained applause.

    But Holt had a weakness. He came to the King one day and said: "I have tried to pride myself on titles and praise, but I must ask. Do I not deserve any coin?"

    The wise Lord British pondered this request with a sly smile. "Why yes, Sir Holt, I do have a little something I had planned to give you, when the time came that you should ask. Never was a man more deserving!"

    Whereupon the King took out a single golden coin from his personal stash, and tossed it for the Bard to snatch from the air.

    "One coin?" The Grandmaster said, confused and wary, for he knew the King to be very wealthy -- and very clever.

    "Not just any coin, Sir Holt -- a magic coin."

    Holt bowed low, backed away a few steps, and turned to leave. He was fearful of the magic of the powerful, and spurned by receiving only a single coin for a whole year at court, so he hired a carriage to take him far away. He paid the coachman the so-called 'magic' coin without a second thought. The sum would have paid for dozens of rides.

    Holt arrived in a small town with a bustling inn, where he could ply his story and song, away from the politics of Lord British's court. His travels had made him thirsty, but as he searched his pockets, he realized he had nothing -- all his needs in court had been taken care of.

    Suddenly, elated, he found a coin in his breast pocket -- but discovered it to be the very gold coin Lord British had given him! Had he forgotten to pay the poor coachman? A terrible oversight for a man of virtue, but his memory had failed him before. Nevertheless, he used it to pay for room and board, making sure this time to hand the coin over. The innkeeper handed him the change in silver.

    When he awoke in the morning, the fated coin was on his bedside table, along with the silver. He went downstairs.

    "It is generous to have given the coin back, good innkeep, but I truly intended you to keep it." To which he got a narrow stare. The innkeeper snatched the coin back. Holt must have insulted him.

    Feeling it unwise to overstay his welcome, Holt decided to walk to the next village over.

    On the road, he spied a shiny gold coin in the dirt. Suspicious now, he bent to look. Aye, it was the King's coin. Holt was was sick to death of magic. He left the coin where it lay. Let it be the next traveler's luck.

    His old feet were slower than he remembered. Sunset came, and with that, some bandits set upon him.

    "Your money or your life old man!"

    Holt knew he could best these ragtags, but blood before bed made for bad sleep. He coughed up his remaining monies. The leader of the gang snatched a coin out of the handful, eyeing it greedily while the others got the silver.

    Lord British's coin!

    They let him pass, but before he was out of earshot, he could hear their squabbles. Let them fight! He'd be away from it for good this time.

    The local inn was booked when he arrived. But behold, in Holt's breast pocket was... the coin. Doubtless, he imagined, the robbers had each thought the others had stolen it, and things probably didn't go well after that. He hated this magic coin, but its artful way of playing fate was beginning to impress him.

    Inevitably, the Grandmaster arrived back at court on a swift steed for which he'd paid: yes, a certain, single coin. He came into the throne room of Lord British, bowed deeply, then he presented, lo and behold, the magic coin to his Majesty.

    "I beseech you, my Lord, take back this coin -- it has made me a suspect, conman, killer and thief, and no matter the ways I try to part with it, it always returns."

    Lord British smiled: wise and clever.

    "Not a chance, Grandmaster. I've finally got rid of it once and for all!"

    From that day forth, Holt served faithfully in the court of Lord British, knowing that one cannot escape the fond favour of a Virtuous King. He also re-learned a lesson he should never have forgotten: that art must be its own reward first and foremost; for sometimes, even a single coin is more trouble than it is worth.



    [​IMG]
     
  2. Gabriel Nightshadow

    Gabriel Nightshadow Avatar

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    A wonderful story, Holt, and a brilliant reading by Lord Baldrith :D
     
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  3. Holt

    Holt Avatar

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    Tall praise from you Gabriel! Thanks. Make sure to listen to the other two readings though, they are also very strong. :) My favourite is Sharm's!
     
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  4. Kailef

    Kailef Master Bard

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    I'm not so sure about that Kailef guy, though. He should take the marbles out of his mouth before he tries to narrate.
     
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  5. Gabriel Nightshadow

    Gabriel Nightshadow Avatar

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    Both Sharm and Kailef did a fine job as well :D I would rate Sharm's version as a close second ;)

    Kailef, don't be so hard on yourself o_O By the way, I really love your musical compositions :D
     
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  6. Sir Frank

    Sir Frank Master of the Mint

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    I love coin stories!
     
  7. Holt

    Holt Avatar

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    I suspected you might. And Sir Frank, this one is loosely based on the coin Richard Garriott mailed me after the R3 hangout, from his personal stash. It sits right on my piano. :)

    I would kill for one of the new darkstar ones. ;)
     
  8. Sir Frank

    Sir Frank Master of the Mint

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    At this point, I don't even have a Darkstarr/LB coin for myself.

    However, they exist, and sooner or later Portalarium will allow them to be released into the wild.
     
  9. Holt

    Holt Avatar

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    I'll only accept them if blood is shed during their acquisition.
     
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  10. Sir Frank

    Sir Frank Master of the Mint

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    That would seem appropriate!
     
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  11. Ronan

    Ronan Avatar

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    Sharm's reading worked best for me. Sort of reminded me of a wise woman telling the story to a group of children.
    Kailef yes, marbles :) I understand that. Sort of seemed you and Baldrith were in a hurry to get the story done.

    Maybe when you purchase a book in game some of them could have the magical ability to vocalize their story. That would be cool.
     
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  12. Holt

    Holt Avatar

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    Perfect, Ronan. You noticed, and that was part of our experiment. We were trying to put a 900 word story into under 5 minutes. Baldrith got closest with cuts. Kailef got closest with a straight reading, and Sharm took her dramatic time.

    We determined that 5 minutes needs to be under 750 to sound natural.
     
  13. Kailef

    Kailef Master Bard

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    Yep, it's true. I was rushing a lot. Do me a favor? Take a listen to this one - This is the one I liked the best, which was read at my "normal" narration speed, rather than racing to reach the 5 minute mark.

     
  14. Gabriel Nightshadow

    Gabriel Nightshadow Avatar

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    Kailef, this definitely sounds much better at your normal narration speed :D
     
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  15. Holt

    Holt Avatar

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    We were really testing this out, I believe it began because Lord British desired some in-game narrated stories, as if bards were telling them. Just an idea of course, but the limit was 5 minutes. We were trying to figure out :

    On my end, if a sensible story could be written in around 750 words (which is a natural 5 minutes).

    On the narrators end:

    If they could somehow figure out how to make 900 fit into 5 minutes. We failed, all of us, horribly. Hide our heads in shame.

    At any rate, we learned a lot, and quick.
     
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  16. Holt

    Holt Avatar

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    BTW, I know for a fact parables and fables and such can be written -- and well -- and historically have been, in quite a small amount of words.

    I just don't think my personal style of storytelling is that concise, although apparently my forum posts are.
     
  17. Lord Baldrith

    Lord Baldrith Avatar

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    Wow! I forgot about this! I notice my sound is a bit lousy...Glad I got the new mic and much more familiar with Audacity now :)

    Thanks for the kind words Gabriel :)

    Thanks Grandmaster Holt for remembering me in this evaluation!

    Sharm: Great job, I hadn't heard your version yet. It was very awesome as portrayed a story telling.

    Kailef: I loved your reading as well. You have a great voice for story telling!
     
  18. Tartness

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    I remember this story, it is a great one Holt :) I wanted to go back and listen, but FYI everyone, SoundCloud is not playing ball! They are under maint for a short period so come back soon and have a listen to all this great work!
     
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  19. Ronan

    Ronan Avatar

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    Kailef the long version is much better. (Did I detect laughter in your voice as Holt caught the coin?)

    Holt and the rest...yeah, with a time limit trying to balance narration and speed can be rough.
     
  20. Karrolanth

    Karrolanth Avatar

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    Sharm's version was my favourite, I enjoyed the expression she put into her reading of the story. :)

    Trying to hit the 5-minute mark unfortunately made the others sound rushed, as Ronan mentioned. While both Lord Baldrith and Kailef have voices that are very pleasant to listen to, I felt that their pacing was a bit off and some of the pauses weren't quite right - probably as a result of aiming for a set time. Kailef's original, longer recording seemed much better.

    Absolutely not. It was a learning experience and perhaps it didn't turn out as good as you'd hoped, but I wouldn't call it a horrible failure. :) None of the versions were terrible, just a little rushed. Cutting down the number of words in future efforts will no doubt help with that!
     
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