No one knows where the Songmaker came from.
Some claim that he is older than the Ten Realms themselves. Others tell of how he walked the ancient paths long before the first kings ever wore their crowns. Yet those who claim to have truly seen him always tell a different tale.
Sometimes he appears as a simple wanderer, carrying an old lute upon his back. Sometimes he listens to the stories of strangers beside a campfire and gifts them a song filled with hope. Sometimes he sings in a worn-down tavern a song that no one has ever heard before – and yet everyone seems to know.
He seeks neither fame nor fortune. He commands no armies and wears no crown. His purpose is something else.
He preserves the memories of the world.
From the smallest villages to the mightiest kingdoms, he listens to the people, gathering their joy, their sorrow, their hope, and their despair. From their stories, songs are born – songs that endure for generations.
It is said that the Songmaker does not create songs. He finds them where hope and despair collide.
For thousands of years, the peoples of the realms have told the same legend:
When the darkness is at its deepest and hope is about to fade, a man carrying an old lute appears. He sings a single song. Afterwards, he disappears again, as if he had never been there at all.
It is said that every song of the Songmaker carries a piece of the soul of those whose story it tells.
Whether the Songmaker is a man, a spirit, or something far older, no one can say.
When asked for his name, he only smiles.
"Some call me a wanderer. Some call me a fool. Some call me a Songmaker."
And before another question can be asked, he has already moved on – to wherever the next story awaits, ready to be transformed into a song.
For every legend begins as a song. And every song begins with a story.