so in our D&D campaign there's an NPC bard named Toblerone (yes, like the chocolate) who's been traveling with the party. last session, our friend Merry almost died. like, actually almost died. magical disease from an otyugh bite, failed cure, slipping into a coma, the whole thing.
a necromancer NPC, this 20-something emo kid the party had befriended earlier, offered to walk to the threshold between life and death and try to pull her back. the party carried Merry out of the infirmary at night, drew a salt circle by a pond in the moonlight, and the priest of Ares prayed, and the witch of Hecate prayed, and a bard sang a song of protection, and the necromancer reached across the veil and grabbed her.
his eyes started bleeding. the witch collapsed. Merry opened her eyes and saw stars.
anyway. Toblerone the bard was not at the ritual. he was at the tavern. but afterward, the party came back and told him the story over drinks, each person giving their own version, and he started writing.
this is the song he wrote. i made it real.
the line "one foot in the river, one foot on the ledge" is how the necromancer described what he did. "draw a ring in the salt and swear the dark won't be fed" is what the witch told Toblerone about the circle. the bridge where it goes quiet and lists "a priest knelt down / a witch knelt too" — that's exactly what happened. four people praying in the dark for their friend.
she's still sick, by the way. the necromancer pulled her back from the edge but didn't cure the disease. the dice haven't decided yet.
song: "Merry at the Water's Edge" written by: Toblerone of Quagmire (in-world NPC bard)
campaign: Barrowdark (Shadowdark RPG) style: medieval tavern ballad, because that's what a bard in a fantasy inn would actually play
