TRADE KIT SUBMITTED BY: Natalie W. as Aina Possum Riverhead.
TRADE: Bard
DESCRIPTION OF ITEMS: This kit features my bard trade book (includes rules of the trade, and song lyrics), a frame drum (logo covered with a Possum), a tambourine, and a small hand painted box for misc. tools of the trade (pencil and timer).
HOW ITEMS WERE PROCURED: The empty leather book was purchased from somewhere typical (Barnes and Noble maybe?) and I added the songs and illustrations over time. I researched and collected old traditional folk songs, and also included more modern songs that have a passably medieval/renaissance sound. I’ve also written songs for specific characters, and lightly modified existing songs to ensure that they’re “decorum.” Some of these songs are posted elsewhere on the website under Player Submissions (Snippets from Aina’s Bard Book). The wooden box was a plain box from Michaels craft store, painted with “milk paint.” The instruments are from typical music stores, with logos covered as needed.
CHARACTER RACE & CULTURAL INFLUENCE ON ITEMS (if applicable): Aina is Ulven, so many of the modified songs contain Ulven references or themes. Her clan, Riverhead (now fallen), is jokingly associated with a “hillbilly” aesthetic, so some of her songs lean into bluegrass music in addition to the standard “medieval fantasy bard” sound. The heart painted on the box comes from a Celtic art reference book, and this art style overlaps heavily with Nordic art.
