musicians in Scarterra
Scarterran musicians have one major advantage going for them. In a world without the internet, television, radio, film, or any other modern media we take for granted in the 21st century, the only way to listen to music is if someone plays it within earshot. Most Scarterrans are very eager to welcome musicians into midst just for a bit of diversion.
Scarterran musicians have one major disadvantage impeding them. In a world where survival is hardly guaranteed and waste is taboo, entertainment is a luxury that many people literally can't afford. Very few musicians get rich pursuing their art, and they have to travel on the road lot, rarely able to put roots down somewhere.
Career
Payment & Reimbursement
Routine Musical Performances
Most Scarterran musicians rely primarily on small tips, usually copper quarters or "ha'pieces" dropped into a hat or bowl while they play.
The normal routine for a traveling musician is to sweet talk an inn keeper into letting him or her stay for free. Inn keepers normally like music, so they will say along the lines of "You can play as long it's not too late and too loud. You can collect tips from the other inn patrons, but don't be too pushy about it. And you can have a mat on the floor to sleep on, and a basic meal tonight and for breakfast tomorrow. Anything more costs extra."
by me with Midjourney
Special Performance
Frieze of a Medieval Wedding by Thomas Stothard
Religious Performances
Religious performances generally pay less than performances for high ranking nobles, but it's generally a lot easier for a musician to find temporary jobs like this. Scarterra has over a hundred special religious holidays every year. A lot of temples will hire secular musicians or other entertainers to improve the music of their special services, or sometimes even their routine services. Not every Scarterran musician is especially pious, but Scarterran musicians that are pious (or can fake being pious) will generally find more paying work than musicians that can't. Zarthus is the god of music, and music is a major component of nearly every Zarthus veneration ritual, but theLanterns rarely hire outside musicians. Since the Lanterns have no shortage of musically inclined priests and priestesses, and their temple coffers aren't exactly flush with coins, they rarely hire outside musicians. Since the Lanterns can't afford to give aspiring musicians much money, they try to provide nonmonetary assistance. The Lanterns commonly provide free music lessons to local children. The Lanterns help with networking so solo musicians can form bands with compatible musicians. They regularly sponsor public music contests which is great for exposure, since music talent scouts and/or lords and ladies dressed incognito are often hiding among the cheering crowds.Other Benefits
Musicians enjoy more freedom of movement than most other Scarterrans enjoy.
Like most Medieval Earth humans, many Scarterrans have a love/hate hate relationship with strangers. Many don't trust foreigners and anyone from more than a day's journey away is a "foreigner", so travelers often get frosty welcomes. Conversely, rural folk (and most urban folk) are thirsty for news, and welcoming strangers from afar is often the only way to get news.
Many times these the "spying" is relatively benign. Musicians are often asked to discretely pass on messages and letters. Medieval kings and queens don't have access to anything resembling a modern Gallup Poll, so often their best is to ask traveling musicians what the people are really saying about their rule. People who are obviously agents of the crown or agents of the Nonagon are not likely to get unvarnished information from the population, but musicians are good at getting people to open up, and they have a front row seat to most local rumor mills.
Traveling musicians generally are welcomed more freely than other travelers though they are expected to not just share music, but they are expected to share news.
Since traveling musicians can cross borders relatively unimpeded, it is fairly common for landed lords and ladies to hire musicians as spies. There are some musicians infamous for engaging in assassination, theft or other acts of violent espionage, and some adventuring parties that routinely skirt the law learn to play musical instruments, simply so they can have a plausible story for being in the area.
by me with Midjourney
Perception
Social Status
Most Scarterran musicians are fairly poor, but a few musicians become famous and are able to routinely attract large crowds and wealthy patrons. These luminaries loom large in the public imagination and many aspiring musicians take up the trade hoping to make it to the top.
On Earth, a lot of stereotypes applied to modern music stars also applied to famous musicians in Mozart's era and even earlier, dating back to at least Ancient Rome. A lot of this applies to Scarterra.
Musicians on Scarterra and Earth have a reputation for being promiscuous that is not entirely undeserved. When a highborn lord or lady gets in a steamy affair with a commoner it is disproportionately likely to be with a musician. A lot of apocryphal stories and plays are about just that. It's not just lords and ladies that have to worry about this. A lot of protective peasants will try to keep their adolescent sons and daughter away from dangerous musicians.
Musicians on Scarterra and Earth have a reputation for being involved in illicit drug use. In every era of history, many musicians are known to be heavy drinkers and often dabble in other things. A lot of debauchery-loving individuals like to invite musicians to serenade their debauchery and it's hard for musicians to not get physically or metaphorically drawn in. It's not always about hedonism. Even the best musicians can face performance anxiety, even in the 21st century, this pops up in the supposedly dignified and classy modern symphonies and ballets. Now imagine you are playing before a temperamental king that can make or break your career forever, you might want something to take the edge off mentally.
The 20th century of Earth has seen various Satanic Panics accusing rock stars of worshiping the Devil. This even happened in the eighteenth century with some famous musicians. Scarterra has it's equivalent. Very few musicians end up in the ranks of the Infernalists that cavort with Void demons, but a lot of Scarterran musicians are involved in various religious groups with fairly extremist ideas about worshiping the Nine. Groups such as the Decadents, the Bacchites. and the Mask Breakers to name a few. A lot of musicians are also involved with secular criminals like street gangs, pirate ships, or brigand bands.
by me with Midjourney
Demographics
Almost every culture in Scarterra likes music. Different races and cultures like different music, and some Scarterrans are very particular and dislike certain types of music out of their comfort zone, but Scarterrans who are opposed to all forms of music.
That means humans, gnomes, kalazotz, goblins, orcs, kobolds, and every other mortal species has some form of musician among them.
Both poor people and rich people like music and often want to perform their own music (or make their children take music lessons that may or may not stick). Professional musicians are disproportionally likely to arise from Scarterra's middle classes.
Magical Bards
Like a river flowing downhill, magic seeks the path of least resistance. My theurgy manifested musically because that was a core aspect of my being. If I was a farmer or a warrior instead of a musician, my theurgy would manifest through that instead. In the minds of the average commoner, a lot more than one in twenty of us are casters. A lot of non-casting musicians I know are tired of people asking if they can do magic. There are some musicians that are unscrupulous sorts, but many suffer an ill reputation undeservedly, On a more sinister level, some magical miscreants will sometimes pull off their crimes in the vicinity of a musician's performance in the hopes that the first person suspected of wrongdoing is the musician and not them. Musicians are charming by nature, and most of us are handsome sorts. Talented musicians seldom lack paramours. Some musicians are said to be literally charming. After a tryst with a musician, some regret their actions and will then claim that the musician was caster who magically befuddled them which is a serious crime."-Aheneus Estalar of the Dawn, musical clericby Eron12 with Hero Forge"It's hard to take an accurate census for this, but the scroll heads estimate that roughly one in a hundred Scarterrans have some form of arcane or theurgist ability, give or take. Supposedly roughly one in twenty musicians are spell-casters of some sort. I happen to be a musical theurgist, though not a particularly powerful one. Some specifically try to become musicians specifically hoping it will unlock magical power, but this almost never works. Faith unlocks theurgy, not music.
Operations
Tools
Some musicians focus purely on singing and dancing, tengku are famous for acapella performances, but most Scarterran musicians will learn to play a musical instrument. Most professional musicians can play several different instruments.
Among solo traveling musicians, stringed instruments are especially popular since they can be played simultaneously while talking or singing, and they can be played while walking.
Materials
-Alexy, Poseidonus satyr musicianComissioned Male Poseidonous Satyr by Zeta GardnerA musician can dress modestly, but a musician should never dress shabbily. Most musicians should maintain a level of clothing and hygiene above his/her actual social status, and it's not uncommon for musicians who sleep on wooden floors and barely have enough food to get by wearing clothes that would not be out of place at a noble's banquet. Even if a musician happens to be poor, he or she cannot look poor. The difference between a haggard beggar and a respectable traveling musician is often the state of their clothes. Appearance has a significant impact on tips received and an even larger impact on whether a musicians will be offered gigs or not.
Workplace
No matter how good a musician is, eventually his/her material is going to go stale and the locals are going to get tired his act. Novelty is a precious treasure in Scarterra.
This means that in order to not overstay his/her welcome, a musician is going to have to keep moving unless they can get a performance location in a port city or crossroads hub that routinely sees influxes of new people. In that case, a musician often needs to make an arrangement with whoever the owner of their performance spot is.
A large festival or a royal wedding might call for a group of ten to twenty musicians to work together for a grand perfomrance, but these events are rare. Small groups or solo performances are the norm.
Relative to modern Earth musicians, Scarterran musicians tend to be more flexible with whom they work with and what they play. It's common for temporary performance troupes to form out of random musicians that just happen to congregate randomly in an area before dispersing to go their separate ways only to form a new ad hoc group in a different location.
Dangers & Hazards
Four skilled musicians will certainly get more tips than one skilled musician, but they will not receive four times more tips. This means a performance troupe is going to have pursue special performance gigs more aggressively and be very careful with their money. Any musician should be willing to do so called 'real work' when paid music work is not available, but this should always be on the table for groups of musicians. A lot of performance troupes double as day-laborers, mercenaries, or less than legal activities on the side. Solo musicians tend to be looser with their purse strings and enjoy more luxuries. Effectively a solo musician is trading safety away in order to make more money. A solo musician can still find safety in numbers by ingratiating himself with other groups. It's not unusual for groups of strangers staying in the same inn and traveling the same direction to band together for safety and companionship. Most traveling groups are happy to have a musician in tow, at least for a while. You commonly often see musicians accompanying traveling merchants, circuit priests, mercenary bands, religious pilgrims, or even unsavory groups such as brigands and pirates. Respectable sorts and ne'er-do-wells folk alike akk tend to appreciate music."-Saad the traveling minstrelby me with Midjourney"The two biggest hazards of a professional musician are running out of paid work and starving quietly starving in a ditch, or facing a terrible mishap on the road and ending killed and thrown in a ditch. The best way for a musician to protect himself or herself from a horrible mishap on the road is to travel with a group. Strength and numbers and all that. That's the main reason for forming a joining a performance troupe, that and companionship, but a lot of troupes have dissolved on poor terms due to internal disputes between members. A lot of these disputes are over money.
That sounds bad at first, but Father Time is indiscriminate in who he bestows his dark gifts on. Farmers, warriors, homemakers, blacksmiths, and almost any other profession you can name all come with their accumulated share of aches and pains."-Wenkler, inn keeper and Sedentary Roverby me with Hero ForgeYou don't see a lot of old traveling musicians. Some musicians burn bright and die young. But others transition into a quieter and less glamorous...such as tending an inn. I haven't forgotten any songs, but I no longer have the stamina to play for hours on end like I used to. Despite the occasional accusation that musicians are lazy and avoid doing "real work", most musicians either work hard on their craft. Practicing difficult music for hours every day takes it's toll. This can lead to repetitive motion injuries for string and percussion players, bleeding lips for wind players, or throat and voice issues for singers. Constant travel and sleeping on the hard ground takes it's toll too.
Alternative Names
troubadors, bards, minstrels
Type
Entertainment
Demand
high
Famous in the Field
Other Associated professions
Related Locations
Used By
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