hooks

― gridanians, conjurers, wood wailers, villagers, botanists, innkeepers, bartenders etc. of the black shroud may recognize him as a charming bard, the kind who always appears when there's extra food, who runs up tabs and usually vanishes by morning.

entrepreneurial or hardworking folks may dislike his thespian lifestyle. he's considered an eccentric because he tends to linger in the parts of the shroud where it's very foolish to do so.

― coerthans are likely to recognize him as as an eccentric bard from the boggling shroud, whose warmth is uncommon further north. he is looked upon fondly in coerthas for the traditional storytelling of knights and honor. religious folk may recognize that he is very well-versed in holy symbols, prayers, and psalms.

ishgardian nobles and smallfolk alike tend to enjoy his presence. more recently, there is a good chance he has performed at galas and sang at brume alleys alike. his brand of patience means he's very good at listening to ishgardian stuffed shirts crowing about glory days.

― you've probably heard stories of an archer's arrow finding its mark just in time, saving a sprouting adventurer for the price of a meal or a story. You may have heard that he knows his way around the shroud and he definitely does know which parts of the woods are dangerous and which just look dangerous, but anyone in the shroud will warn you against actually relying on him.

ask him once to help you and he might. ask him twice and you've already lost him, really... and if you want to hire him? well, it's more of a gamble, because he tends to dislike things like employment and obligations and actually doing work.

― oh, he's one of those bards. you can clock him instantly: "old school", if there ever was a bard school, the kind of bard who learned everything by ear, who doesn't write anything down, who holds the story in his forever memory. he thinks writing down stories is the equivilant of cramming them into little boxes for egghead scholars to pick apart later. no tone, no face, no experience, just a bunch of words to diagnose. oh wow symbolism. oh wow themes. oh wow author intent. to him what's important is the experience.

are you a bard that uses sheet music? writes their own compositions? jots down their rhymes? you get the impression he thinks of you less for it even if he doesn't say it outright... luckily if you don't talk music with him, he's actually quite fond of bow chatting and target practice in the shroud, so long as those targets are haystacks and not live game!