Kipess The Bard

(that's Kites with a P and lots of SSS)

A HIDEY-HIDEY HERO

The Hidey-Hidey Nisslings battled against the Blackstone branch of the Krimsons. Each successful fight spawned a great war dance at the lair. As the tribe danced, the victorious warriors would roast and eat the livers of the enemy, a show of superiority to prevent enemy spirits from haunting Hidey-Hidey. These warriors were proclaimed Eaters of Krimsons.

Krimsons

by Dazzlinkat

Kipess

By the end of the war, one nissling proved himeself very good at killing the Krimsons. He also proved very good at sabatoging their plans.
His name was Kipess and, because he had killed the most Krimsons, he was proclaimed Fang of MoorDoon.

Nissling

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AFTER THE WAR

With the war over, Kipess felt the weight of Fang of MoorDoon on his wings.

Unlike the rest of his tribe, he was not content in having defeated the local branch of the Krimsons.

He believed it was his duty as the Fang to keep hunting them.

by Dazzlinkat

To do that, though, he needed to find them and ruin their tricky ways.
Playing his bonewhistle for pocket jingles, he learned that people said things around him they would never otherwise say when speaking to him.
It was as though playing music made him invisible.

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SAVING THE JINGLES

This revelation got him thinking that music was magic.
And, if it was magic, he must learn it better! He began talking to other bards.
Most would not bother to answer his questions or help in any way,

by Dazzlinkat

but some would.
They told him of a place, Opal Magpie's Bardic College, that would teach him to be a true bard, if he had the coins.
So Kipess began to save his pocket jingles to go to college.

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TO COLLEGE

by Dazzlinkat

Eventually, Kipess made his way to Miribex City, the crown city of the Kingdom of Miribex.
Getting in took more than having enough jingles.
He had to prove he was worthy of being taught.
There, at the outdoor stage of the Opal Magpie Bardic College, he performed his very best bonewhistling before the masters.
He was accepted as a student, the first ever nissling to study as a true bard!

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by Tama66

Opal Magpie Bardic College was a bluestone building Kipess considered very beautiful. Stonework fascinated him as nisslings loved to dig but rarely shape stones.
Inside, it almost felt like a lair with the cool stone walls and floors. It did not take him long to learn all its twists and turns, especially the places he was not allowed in.
His favorites were the rarely visited storerooms in the cellar. Often he would go down there in the dark to practice and study away from the brightness that bothered his eyes but his fellow students needed.

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ALCHEMY

The first lessons he learned was that there was a difference between a musician or troubadour and a true bard. That difference was magic.
Bardic magic was the power of words, something a bard truly mastered.
This meant Kipess had to learn how to read and write, and to understand written directions.
This last was practiced in Alchemy Class.
Not many students excelled in this class, especially Kipess, who found the mixing of things too hoopla-like for him.
As a hatchling, he had been tested with the delicate pourings and stirrings and failed miserably.
Alchemy revealed he had not improved with growing up.

by Dazzlinkat

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SPELLS

by Dazzlinkat

Other students laughed as he hissed the words.
It was not until Chet-Ra-Nal, a master's assistant, explained things to him that he realized what to do.
It was not the precise pronunciation of the words but the rhythm of the syllables in each word paired with the vowel sounds that made a word magical.
Hidey-Hidey nisslings grew up with the rhythm of beating rocks and master drums.
He understood rhythm to the very tips of his wings.
With this realization, Kipess began to make progress.
Soon after, he cast his first spell.

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THE MASTERPIECE

Once he had mastered the rhythm of word speaking, Kipess soon caught up to the other students in his class. He did this just in time to learn that, in order to graduate, every student must write their masterpiece ... with words! Those who did not use words in their performances were encouraged to find another student to read or sing their masterpiece words while they performed their art. It was terrible news for Kipess.
He was a bonewhistler, no need of words except for magic! Chet suggested Kipess write about something from his life before college, something that was pure nissling. It was a struggle to find human words. Not until he went deep into the garden and found a rock just right for a nissling to ponder on that they came to him.

by Dazzlinkat

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THE LUTE

The string boxes were troubling. Strings snagged on my claws, broke with a loud snap to slap for my eyes, and tangled my feets until I fell to the dirt.

— A terrible memory from Kipess' hatchling-hood

by Dazzlinkat

Having found the words, Kipess was crushed that none of his fellow students wished to perform with him.
Chet told him that if he could write the music for a lute to go with the music for his bonewhistle, he would perform it.
This started Kipess studying the music of his most feared instrument, the lute.
Bravely, the nissling tried but, once again, his claws snagged on the strings.
They broke and slashed about, barely missing his face.
The Master of Lutes declared lutes were never to be touched by a nissling, but he allowed Kipess to remain in class to learn how to write lute music.

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GRADUATION

As he worked hard to improve his masterpiece, Kipess attended classes for other instruments where he asked to study as a composer rather than a performer.
And so he learned about harps, accordions, organ grinders, and drums. He studied hard and, eventually, he had his masterpiece.
Chet would come to the cellars to practice with Kipess late in the night until it was time for the Graduation Concert.
Theirs was a grand performance, that had people tapping their toes as they were astounded by the words.
At the end of the concert, the Masters announced those who had graduated. Kipess was one of them!

by Dazzlinkat

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THE LEGEND

HUNTER OF THE KRIMSONS

by Dazzlinkat

After college, Kipess traveled all about the kingdom, playing his bonewhistle for pocket jingles. When he happened upon other bards, especially those who sang, he often asked them to sing his song, Home In The Swamp. After a few drinks, most of the bards would agree. It was a nice catchy tune and folks laughed at the words. In the more rustic parts of the kingdom, it has become a crowd favorite.
On the nights he did not perform, Kipess was busy looking for the Krimsons and trying to figure out their secrets and big plans. With his learned magics, he became a little ghost who sabatoged things when he could and murdered a Krimson out alone when he could not. He made sure to take their livers and eat them over a fire while he dried a strip into hardened jerky so he could take it back to Hidey-Hidey in honor.

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HOME AT HIDEY-HIDEY

Back in Hidey-Hidey, his exploits against the Krimsons were celebrated with the beating of rocks, drums, and dances over the dried cuts of liver. Home In The Swamp was howled during every celebration whether Kipess was there or not. Harmony was not important to the nisslings but howling the words together was.
During his home visits, their atrocious singing did not bother Kipess, as his tribe understood the words far more than any other. He would make bonewhistles and teach any willing hatchling how to play. Though he loved his times at home, Kipess could never stay. He was the Fang of MoorDoon with the power of music and an enemy he had to hunt.

by Dazzlinkat

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TANGORRAY

by blende12

Over the years, Kipess has found his way to many places beyond the Kingdom of Miribex. One such place is Tangorray, a town in the middle of the sea where pirates can relax and sell their booty without any worries of being found out.
Kipess can often be found in Tangorray, where he watches and listens for any word on Krimson dealings. While he waits, he often leads ragtag bands of musical sailors in merry jigs. Pirates can often be found singing Home In The Swamp aboard their ships and most will raise a bottle of rum in his honor.

HOME IN THE SWAMP

sung to 'Home On The Range'

Ooo give me a sswamp where meatss likess to chompss
Where ssqueeze vines and poison froggiess play
Where no one can helpss when you sscream and you yelpss
Cause they are busy running awaay!
Home, home in the sswamp.
Where the meatss will eatss you sso don't play.
Ssno-oze if you will, the meatss findss you and kill,
And your sscaless won't ssave you, no waaaay!
Where the ssnakess grow so big, tasty, and yummy
And will ssqueeze you so painfully tight
I misss the moonlight romps of dodging the chomps
As we hunts and hisss through the night.
Home, home in the sswamp.
Where the meatss will eatss you sso don't play.
Ssno-oze if you will, the meatss findss you and kill,
And your sscaless won't ssave you, no waaaay!
Every nissling ownss ssome runed knuckle bones
And we snarls to play for jingless to winss.
MooDoo rollss runed sstoness and will tell your fate with moanss
Now thiss nissling proudly learned to ssing
Home, home in the sswamp.
Where the meatss will eatss you sso don't play.
Ssno-oze if you will, the meatss findss you and kill,
And your sscaless won't ssave you, no waaaay!