I was kinda waiting with this until the official end of this RPGC and until all the reviews were in, but since the new writing competition started, I'll post my response to the feedback now. [@Dark Wind] That’s a good point about the Liador. Most citizens will have heard stories about them and some might have actually seen them, but for the reader a bit more visualisation is needed. The moral is also something that should get a little more attention. I’ve made some changes to that part and posted it below if you’re interested. I’m glad you enjoyed the story, I like these kind of stories too. I want to try and use my bard more often. [@Blitz] Thanks for your review, and vote, I’m glad you enjoyed the story :) [@The Grey Dust] To answer your question, the bard was with the Lade of the Forgotten Songs when the warrior went back in time and that is why he wasn’t influenced by the effects. He stood out of time at that moment, if that makes sense. At the moment I’m not sure what I can add to explain that in the story (I'd prefer not to use a narrator who can explain to the reader how everything works). The bard is not a person to understand how linear time works and the Lady only explained she could see the flow of time, nothing more, so the bard can't explain what happened in his story. It's something like this, the Lady of the Forgotten Songs lives outside the linear time. That’s why she can see the flow of time, show the events of what happened and even create a portal to it. That portal part is something I should add to the story, that the pond does in fact work as a portal too and not just to view past events. Is that something the reader must get explained or does it work to leave the reader wondering how she does things the way she does? A bard should be descriptive yes, but at the same time I wanted to give this the feeling of a folk tale, without the obvious moral a story like that should have. The bard isn’t at a castle where the noble or royal family wants to be entertained after a heavy meal, his listeners are people who also have other things to do, so he can’t tell an elaborate story. With this in mind I kept the events between X and Y a bit vague on purpose, but calling the journey long and treacherous is something I think a bard would say. In fairytales or folk tales you sometimes see that too, that the hero travelled far or ‘over icy planes and high mountains’ to get to where he or she needs to be. Or just ‘the hero traveled to this place’ and then did the things the story is about. But I agree the travel itself can be a little more detailed. I made some changes to these part and posted them below, I hope it’s better this way. [hider=changes made] Of course I kept the original story, but in version 2 the feedback I got was incorporated to hopefully improve the story. [i]“The sorcerer took his time conjuring up his methods of punishment and death, he didn’t care for eradicating everyone in a single blow, he wanted humankind to suffer. Two people managed to escape the city of the king when it was overrun with Liador, all summoned by the sorcerer.” Mikhal saw some people shudder at the mention of the carnivorous and highly vicious monkey-like creatures. “A bard knew a song that put them to sleep, a warrior fought his way through them. The cries of pain and death haunted them as the fled the city. They met just outside the walls and tried to come up with a plan to stop the sorcerer.”[/i] “The sorcerer took his time conjuring up his methods of punishment and death, he didn’t care for eradicating everyone in a single blow, he wanted humankind to suffer. Two people managed to escape the city of the king when it was overrun with Liador, all summoned by the sorcerer.” Mikhal saw some people shudder at the mention of the carnivorous and highly vicious monkey-like creatures. “The townsmen tried to flee the vicious creatures, but one after another fell victim to their sharp claws, their flesh was torn from their body as they feasted on their prey, until a movement caught their attention and they went after their new victim instead. It was the hunt they craved, not the food.” He saw how some listeners clutched each other, the creatures were well-known after all and they sympathised with the victims. “Some people were able to escape, a bard knew a song that put them to sleep, a warrior fought his way through them. The cries of pain and death haunted them as the fled the city, each with a handful of survivors. They met just outside the walls and while the devasted citizens continued to flee the horrors, the bard and the warrior tried to come up with a plan to stop the sorcerer.” *** [i]“Their journey was long and treacherous,” he continued, “danger seemed to wait behind every corner, but they managed to reach the place where the Lady of the Forgotten Songs could be summoned.[/i] “They travelled through the forest with a lone wolf on their trail,” he continued, “but when it attacked the warrior drew his sword and as the wolf jumped towards them he trust his blade forward and pierced the exposed chest. When they reached the fast-flowing river they saw the remnants of the bridge, so they had to swim across. They nearly drowned, but together they managed to get to the other side. Their path lead them through destroyed villages and straight to the mountains. In the mountains they followed a narrow path and finally they reached the place where the Lady of the Forgotten Songs could be summoned. *** [i]The Lady of the Forgotten Songs lead them to a pond and when she touched the water it showed the sorcerer reading a book in a dusty library.[/i] The Lady of the Forgotten Songs lead them to a pond and when she touched the water it showed the sorcerer reading a book in a dusty library, all by himself. *** [i]“ The bard, apprehensive about ending someone’s life, asked if there was a way to avoid the seed of hatred being planted in his heart, but the Lady explained it would disrupt the flow of time too much to stop that from happening and one way or another someone in the past would have to die. So it was decided. It was the warrior who stepped through time and killed the sorcerer. And when he returned to the bard the Lady disappeared.”[/i] “The bard, apprehensive about ending someone’s life, asked if there was a way to avoid the seed of hatred being planted in his heart, but the Lady explained it would disrupt the flow of time too much to stop that from happening and one way or another someone in the past would have to die. The warrior was adamant, it would only take one life to save the lives of all the people that had died so far and would die later on by his hands. And that made sense, so the choice was made. It was the warrior who walked into the pond and stepped through time, straight into the library, to kill the sorcerer. The bard and the Lady watched the events in the surface of the water, they saw how the warrior sneaked up to the reading man and without hesitation slit his throat. When the warrior returned and rejoined the bard, the Lady disappeared.” [/hider]