Leslac was the Bard whose existence was a torment to Tarma and Kethry. He based his career on songs about their exploits, which he mostly got wrong. Unfortunately, they were catchy tunes that became very popular. While the pair wouldn't have minded Bardic enhancement of their reputation, Leslac was leaving the impression that they "were less interested in money than in Just Causes."[1] This caused them no end of trouble (and empty pockets).
Tarma hit her last straw when he came out with the song "The Swordlady," in which he implied that he could be the right man to rescue Tarma from her sad life without romance. Had it not been for Bardic Immunity, Tarma would have cheerfully killed him. As it was, singing that song in a tavern in Hawksnest did earn him a month in the town jail. Tarma's celibacy is part of her Kal'enedral bond to her goddess, the Star-Eyed, and the Sunhawks have a law about disrespecting someone's beliefs. Tresti, a priestess herself, threw a fit and had Leslac arrested for violating the town's religious tolerance laws. This kept him occupied while Tarma and Kethry traveled to Rethwellan in search of the missing Captain Idra.
Leslac didn't catch up with them again until after the Rethwellan coup. At that point, Tarma begged Prince Roald and King Stefansen to intervene. In exchange for four Shin'a'in mares, one guaranteed to be in foal, they forced Leslac to marry the Countess Reine, and relocate permanently to Valdemar. If his song "Leslac's Last Lament" is to be believed, the Bard came to appreciate his new life.
Songbook[]
A number of songs can be attributed to Leslac, as well as a few that are only suspected.
- "The Leslac Version"
- "The Swordlady"
- "Leslac's Last Lament"
- "Threes"
- "Dark and Stormy Night" (possibly, though Leslac wasn't known for writing humorous pieces)
In the series[]
Leslac appears in the following works:
- "The Making of a Legend," Oathblood, Vows and Honor, volume 3
- Oathbreakers, Vows and Honor, volume 2
In real life[]
1. Leslac's name is a combination of names: Leslie Fish, a filksinger who provides Tarma's voice in the songs, and Lackey.
2. Lackey created the Bard "who gets things wrong" as a comical way to address an error. The song "Threes" and the story "Turnabout" are the same fictional incident, when Tarma and Kethry catch a bandit raiding pack trains. However, Lackey says that one was at the publisher when she wrote the other, so she got a detail wrong: reversing the disguises worn by the swordswoman and sorceress.