Talisien’s Travel Guide - Part 5 - Townsville Inhabitants
Now that you know something of our fair land, it’s perhaps time to introduce you to some of the local faces. Being a small and rather quaint town, the people who live here are predominantly farmers, fishermen and of course, pie-makers. That said, there are a few people to keep an eye open for, people who are always willing to share a bit of gossip or direct a friendly traveller to somewhere of import.
I feel like we’re such good friends by now, dear reader, that I can tell you a little more about myself. You see, I was not always the Royal Bard of Townsville; oh no! In fact, when I was a youngster like yourself, I was considered a bit of a scoundrel. My father had his own farm, out on the outskirts of the town, and I despaired over the idea of taking over the family business, just as he despaired over my lack of interest in dairy farming.
As I neared the age of my majority, I did the only thing a young man with too much fluff in his head and dreams of grandeur could do; I ran away and joined a travelling circus! Ah, those were the days. We toured from east to west, from north to south, we braved storms and blizzards and heat, all in the name of entertainment. It was from the circus-folk that I learned the arts, for you’ll find nobody more well-travelled nor well-informed than circus-folk.
Then, as we were performing for the Sultan of Panzibar some ten years after my flight from home, I was struck by the most terrible of curses. Ah, I can see it in your eyes, you’re picturing me with fur and fangs, howling beneath the light of the full moon!
*Chuckle*
No, I was not cursed with lycanthropy. It is the other terrible curse of which I speak; the curse which leaves your mind unable to concentrate during the day and unable to sleep at night, which reaches into your chest with a burning, icy hand and attempts to rip your heart out through your ribs. I speak, of course, of love.
My beloved and I were betrothed and wed in the space of a month, but the travelling life was not for her, and she was adamant that our children (for she quickly became with child) be given a proper upbringing. And so it was that I cast my mind back to Townsville, to the rolling meadows and pleasant woods, and the herd of cows waiting patiently for me. The rest, you could say, is history.
Though my wife passed away almost twenty years ago, she gave me three beautiful children, and they in turn provided eight grandchildren, each possessed of my desire to travel and learn. All but one of my grandchildren have flown the nest as I once did, but I know that they will return, when they are ready. Until then I content myself with entertaining travellers like yourself, with playing ballads for the Queen during official events (or whenever she’s feeling particularly demanding…) and with inventing humourous limericks, which never fail to amuse the local townsfolk.
Please join me here tomorrow night, when I’ll introduce you to my generous benefactor and ruler of Townsville.
at the badger.
