The Shantygavel
The Shantygavel is an important Artifact in Drusseodias Bardic Tradition, specifically to Bards.
It has the form of a simple eating implement with five prongs, of which one is broken in half.
Just Tradition?
For outsiders, the importance and mechanics of acquiring the Shantygavel seem strange or even foolish, with nothing gained than the possession of an beaten old fork.
Bards however see it as a Badge of Honor, having bested each other worthy Bard on the Island in the only thing that counts to them: Being steadfast and having callused fingers.
Rule of the Gavel
Despite having at least no detectable Magic Power in itself, the Shantygavel still is a worthy posession for a Bard as its existence is tightly interwoven with countless myths and superstitions as well as a sizeable array of, if not laws, then at least guidelines.
Many of the more specific ones are just known to Bards and others following the Bardic Tradition but some have, over the years, been made public or were observed by the non-initiated.
As many will know, no Bard will enter an Establishment that has already received one at the moment. The current owner of the Shantygavel can, by holding it in front of herself while entering, cause the other Bard to cease his performance, and relinquish the House to the newly arrived.
Similarly, while every Human is worthy enough of being fought over by more than just one Bard (some even saying that having competition increases the level of interest), revealing the Shantygavel is akin to Marriage, and any Bard worth their Salt will kindly ask to allow their leaving.
An advantage perhaps most potent in Brossal is the Ability of the Shantygavel to procure 200 Emporikes from, and a Room at any Brothel the Carrier of the Shantygavel. Why this specific Amount, or why at all, is a Secret never explained and usually hidden behind a knowing and amused smile.
Significance
Each three years and three months, all Bards who think themselves worthy, congregate towards a premediated location, usually the hometown of the current holder of the Shantygavel.
During the course of a three day long contest, the Bards try to outplay each other in an explosion of sound and music.
The last one standing after three days without sleep, food, or drink, takes with him the Shantygavel.
Content
Ship of Theseus
Throughout History, many styles and even other types of eating implements have been recorded under the same name. To speak of a Shantygavel in normal context, is to describe an Item which Influence, Power, or History, is not intricately linked to the Object itself.
The public consensus on this topic is usually that, as long as the majority agrees what the new item is, and if the old item is irrecoverable destroyed, there is nothing wrong with reusing a perfectly good name and story.
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