Inga Breaks A String
A character exercise while working on Adventures For Hire.
“Gods dammit!” Inga Firestorm exclaimed as one of the strings on her ukulele snapped with a loud “twang!” narrowly missing hitting her in the face. She had been practicing one of her new favorite songs when she got a little too into her solo.
Setting down her instrument she fished around in her bag for a few minutes looking for a replacement string but came up short. How did she manage to run out of strings again? Always at the worst times! She would try to remember to add checking for extra strings to one of her many checklists, but even she knew the odds of using the checklists were incredibly slim.
She flung her ukulele onto her back and gave the strap a tug to snug it up. Over her other shoulder she slung her satchel which was stuffed mostly with notebooks serving various purposes- one for song writing, one for note taking and list making, and one where she kept her super secret Zaon the Destroyer fan fiction. (She definitely shipped Zaon and Skyler but she would never admit it.)
As she made her way to the door she called out, “Mom, I’m heading to the music store! I’ll be back in a bit.” A coarse voice in another room responded with words of affection and a request that she be safe on her outing.
It was a cold day in the Upper City but fortunately living in a neighborhood filled with other music loving goblins meant it was never very far to a music store. The closest establishment, Harry’s Harmonies, just happened to be her favorite.
Inga nearly always wore her favorite cloak made of thin cotton. On the back her mother had embroidered a large image of a fireball as a birthday gift several years prior, its bold orange and red in striking contrast to the black cloak. It was not a very warm garment so as she stepped into the cold and shut the door to her family’s small home she muttered a quick warming song to magically heat the cloak ever so slightly. Even the frigid bay winds couldn’t chill her now.
Inga always enjoyed her trips to Harry’s Harmonies. Of course she would need to overcome the frustration of running out of ukulele strings first this time. No matter, the plethora of shiny instruments, piles upon piles of sheet music, bins full of strings, and boxes overflowing with reeds had not once yet failed to cure her of a grumpy mood.
The streets were not very busy on such a cold winter day and those who were out and about seemed incredibly focused on getting to their destinations as quickly as possible, eager to get out of the icy winds whipping inland from the bay. Inga pulled up the hood of her cloak and basked in the comfort of the magical warmth on her long, pointy ears. The added warmth almost made up for breaking a string- almost.
She walked along the streets of Crex with a song in her head, her footsteps feeling musical as she tread along to the beat. She needed to be careful not to lose her thoughts to the music, though. The source of Inga’s magic was her music, as it was for many bards. She specialized in fire magic which was great for her since her favorite genre of music was Goblin Fire Pop.
Unfortunately, when Inga wasn’t focusing on controlling the magic of the songs in her head, some would leak out. More than once she had set things on fire simply by losing herself in music nobody else could hear.
Big, fat snowflakes had just started to fall when Inga dashed across the last street on her journey and pulled open the door to Harry’s. Instead of a bell ringing to alert the staff to a customer’s arrival, someone had enchanted the door to loudly squeak like a clarinet being played by someone who had never held one before. The goblin behind the counter gave a wave while the sales clerk, Drumstick, waved from behind a large gong.
“Hey, Inga! What brings you in today?” the old goblin behind the counter asked. It was Harry the store’s owner. Inga frowned and looked down at her shoes which seemed very interesting at the moment. Harry nodded. “Ah, broke your last string again?”
“Yeah,” Inga sighed as she looked up at Harry, “I got a little carried away practicing. I was really in a groove.”
“Ha! I know the feeling!” Harry said showing his sharp, jagged teeth in a smile. His teeth had not always been as yellow as they were presently, but for a goblin approaching his 400th birthday he felt proud to even have any teeth left.
Knowing exactly which bin held her favorite ukulele strings, Inga walked over and grabbed three full sets. One for now, one for later, and one for when she forgot to get more. Since she was the only customer in the store thanks to the cold Drumstick offered to take her purchase up to the counter for her.
As Drumstick took the strings they suggested Inga check out a new instrument which had just arrived. “The amplified ukulele seems right up your alley,” they told her. “You should try it out!”
Drumstick pointed to a glittery purple ukulele hanging on the wall then headed up to the counter leaving Inga to explore. She approached the shiny instrument and marveled at its sparkling finish. It felt light but very sturdy when she picked it up and she loved how it felt in her hands.
Inga fingered one of her favorite power chords and gave the amplified ukulele a hearty strum.
“PLAAAAAMMMM!”
Inga’s teeth rattled as the sound of what seemed like 10 ukuleles burst forth from the tiny instrument. Well, a human or an elf would have found it small, but held by a goblin of Inga’s stature it looked like a full size guitar.
Her eyes widened with delight as both of the staff gave her a look that said they were eager to hear her opinion.
“This thing is amazing!” she told them excitedly.
Drumstick (which was a nickname earned by their love of chicken), gave a thumbs up. “It’s enchanted so it’s always exactly as loud as you want it to be!” they explained.
“Wow!” Inga gasped. Then she looked at the attached price tag and gasped again. “2,500 gold!?” she exclaimed. “Aw, farts. I’ll never be able to afford this! That’s more than a whole year’s tuition.”
Inga was a student at St Laoud’s Bard Academy, the largest and most prestigious goblin bard school in the Kingdom of Crex- or so they claimed. In fact, St Laoud’s was the only goblin bard school in Crex.
The occasional gigs that Inga took playing for over-meaded tavern customers covered only a portion of her St Laoud’s tuition but the bulk of it was generously paid for by her parents. The amplified ukulele would have to wait.
“Uh, maybe one day when I’m a rich and famous bard,” she said longingly as she placed the ukulele back on its hook. As difficult as it was to walk away from the shimmering beauty, Inga still managed to turn away and head to the front counter.
“I’ll be back for that thing one day,” she told Drumstick as she pulled a few silver pieces out of her coin purse to pay for the strings. They handed Inga a small paper package with her purchase as Harry laughed.
“I hope you are, young one. I had you in mind when I ordered it.”