Mahkemiken copies all the names onto her own everything. Alrighty! Looks like it's a little long, but I think they booked two just to give you some wiggle room - some people like to have an intermission, or wind up starting late - so no problem.

A little break after the fast drum one would be good. Ten minutes.

Okay, I'll let them know! Your time slot's not for a few hours, what do you want to do?

I could practice. Or wander around restaurants and wait for people to offer me things, that would be fun. Or maybe take a train out of the city somewhere I can fly without being scared to crash. Or relax in a park. Any of the four really.

Do you need an audience to practice on?

It'd help! You or someone could point out things that don't make sense to Amentans.

I'd be happy to listen!

Good! In a room, not the hallway?

Naturally. She comes over to River's.

She starts the first song and sings.

The story is slow, with frequent pauses for wordless sense-impressions, images and smells and sounds coming in over the music and her audible singing.

It starts with a smaller River waking up from hibernation and singing about how wonderful the world is, with so much to discover. From the stones and landscape to the plants and animals, everything from tiny fish to great trees has a lesson that can be learned from it.

In the next two songs she is determined to learn the ways of all the animals and plants, and tries to see things from various perspectives: A tiny minnow, a great tree, some insects, a deer-like pack herbivore, a slow and patient giant omnivore bigger than herself but much slower, among others. All these animals get a lot of attention to how they move and sound and smell, with commentary from River like 'the Giant Sloth did not fear its visitor, for its skin was thick and its body mighty'.

Mahkemiken is enthralled! This reminds me of some TV shows I liked as a kid.

I'm glad it's good!!

The fourth song is a bit faster with a drumbeat that makes things feel a little uncertain, she sees an Amentan from a distance, purple-haired. She invents lots of implausible explanations for the strange things the Amentan does, like wearing clothes to smell like plants to smiling and laughing to warn off predators. Small River decides she can't figure out the truth without talking to the Amentan, but when she goes to do that they are already leaving on a boat (???How did it not sink???), so she'll have to figure out some way to follow them.

The next few songs are dramatic and challenging, as Small River journeys to meet the Oldest Draak, all while trying to find enough to eat and gather treasure to pay for his wisdom. She faces harsh terrain, bad weather, and hostile Draak who deride her for her quest and challenge her to fights or riddle-games. She gets past all obstacles one way or another, though one of those ways is by fleeing, and the song talks about how it's sometimes better to just leave and find another path than to try and bully through.

Why do all those other people want to fight or do riddle games while you're busy with a quest?

Because I'm going through their territory and eating their animals. It's also just what you do to strangers traditionally. No fights to the death unless you have really angered someone, though.

Mahkemiken nods.

I'll try to mention that.

The next song has a moment of high tension. She's almost there, the Spineback Peak is in sight, when a large Draak from her earlier adventures called Burning Eye swoops down on her. They argue with River wanting to learn about the Amentan and Burning Eye wanting to avoid them. Burning Eye refuses to bend. He says that trying to meet the Tailless is foolish - that they are strange and dangerous and better left alone. He demands that Small River turn back and give up her ambition.

She refuses as fast drumbeats come in. Burning Eye says that he will imprison her until she learns better. She tries to flee, but isn't fast enough. She tries to hide and evade, but that fails as well. Burning Eye captures her in a great metal cage. No matter how she cries and rages, she can't get out of it. And so, without any other options, filled with despair at Burning Eye's refusal to listen, she curls up and tries to sleep...

And now is when I will have an intermission. I don't think I could finish the whole story without a break!

That seems like a good cliffhanger for the intermission!

Oh, that's an interesting word! Of course hanging from cliffs is worse for you. I really do have to take a break, though. 

Of course! I'll go order myself some breakfast.

Please get me a little bit as well! Nibbles of things, if you can. I don't have to eat for a week or two but everything's been delicious so far!

Of course!

She gets bacon and eggs and toast and hash and fruit oatmeal and sets aside bits of each for River to try.

Bacon is good, of course. Cooked eggs are... Strange. She's never had raw eggs because breaking eggs makes Draak instinctively cringe, even unfertilized. Cooked ones are just weird. They might be an acquired Draak taste. Everything else isn't, particularly, but she's glad to have tried it all.

Her story resumes with Small River complaining about her plight to the animals that come peer at her cage. They don't care. Then, she uses what she learned in the beginning and takes the perspective of these animals. Field mice get taught where to find nuts and berries and bring some of the extra to her. A small omnivore is bribed with the bounty of food to go get a Giant Sloth to come to the cage. And to the Giant Sloth she promises to collect a lot of fish for his baby from a nearby stream if he breaks open the cage bars. She is freed, and keeps her side of the deal, and then resumes the journey to the Spineback Mountain.

The mountain has the first sign of civilization, of structures, in this whole tale. Workshops and monuments dot the mountainside. Her way to the caldera at the peak is guarded by a series of magical guardians, Enkindled animals. They demand payment before she is allowed to approach further, which she provides with treasures gained earlier in the quest, kept in her mouth the whole time. Then they give her tests. She must melt a metal lock with her fire breath, navigate a rock maze that requires a lot of contortions, sprint across a long tunnel before a timer runs out, and endure the intense heat of crossing over an active lava channel from the volcano - these four things embody the four elements that a good Draak should have: Fire, Water, Air, and Earth.

(Mahkemiken thinks it's interesting that breaking eggs even of other species would be troubling, since there are plenty of egg-laying animals that will happily eat the eggs of other egg-laying animals.)

Is it unusual to be able to melt locks? I'd think that would come standard among Draak who can breathe fire at all.

Well, would the average Amentan enjoy killing a cute puppy or kitten?

The heat gets wicked away, since the metal is part of the door itself. And it was a big lock. Your fire has to be strong to melt something like that. If it seems clearer, I can make the guardians have frost magic.

Not... recreationally? But if they were tasty someone would have the job of butchering them to get them to grocery stores. Frost magic would probably make that seem less perfunctory.