Pelfhe stands there confused. He hadn't really heard of Solitude before. His mother had mentioned it before, yes, but never connected it to anything. How did he get there? Wasn't he in Dawnstar a moment ago? This is all very confusing to Pelfhe, and he takes it in the only way that he knows how:
By walking somewhere.
He heads north and comes across a fellow sitting on some steps and playing a flute. The man is rather adept at his fluting and plays a fun little tune. Pelfhe stands before him entranced, enjoying the music. The song ends after a period, and Pelfhe claps enthusiastically to the man. The man stands and bows a deep bow before his lone audience member, placing his flute to his heart and removing his hat in the process with his other sweeping hand. Replacing his hat, he speaks.
"Thank you thank you! That was just a tune I made up on the fly. I'm glad you liked it." Pelfhe was confused again. He didn't see a fly anywhere around him or the man. Before he could look around for a fly, the man spoke again, cutting off his train of thought.
"Say, fellow, if you liked that, maybe you'd be interested in making some music yourself? And while you're at it, you can travel, make some coin, see the sights in all Skyrim." Pelfhe considered this. After a moment, he nodded happily. This would be a good way to get around and do what he set out to do. Which was… just to go see the world, Pelfhe remembered after a another moment of thought. The man waited for Pelfhe's thought process to finish before he continued speaking enthusiastically.
"Very good! Welcome to the Bard's College! Come on in, and we'll get you set up with some music and an instrument!" The man gestured at Pelfhe to come inside.
Once inside, the man gestured around the college and gave Pelfhe a small tour. There wasn't much to the tour, because there wasn't much to the college, but it was enough to keep Pelfhe entertained. After the tour finished, the man gave Pelfhe a small tutorial on how notes work in sheet music. Surprisingly, Pelfhe retained enough to be able to pass the tutorial and make the man confident enough to give him an instrument.
"Well, Pelfhe, you have two options, the flute-"
"Flute! Flute!" Pelfhe instantly called out his instrument of choice. The man nodded and handed him his own flute. Pelfhe was ecstatic. He could barely hold the instrument he was vibrating with happiness. The man tried to help him settle down a little because the flute does take a little composure in order to play. The man showed him how to blow across the hole in order to produce a sound, then bade Pelfhe to try and do the same. Pelfhe tried.
And blew a raspberry instead.
Chuckling, the man realized he needed to give Pelfhe a tutorial on proper blowing technique. He went into a small explanation on the mouth position and other relevant positioning information. He tried to help Pelfhe do the same thing but instead…
He blew another raspberry.
"Heh, well Pelfhe, maybe this isn't your instrument. How about we give the lute a try instead and see how that feels?" Pelfhe sighed and begrudgingly agreed. So the man got out a lute and handed it to Pelfhe. He got a lute out himself and showed Pelfhe how to pluck the lute.
Pelfhe plucked the lute and successfully produced sound.
Cheerfully, Pelfhe asked for more to do. So the man taught him a few things about fingering and frets and how to produce different notes on the fretboard. Pelfhe was able to understand the gist of what was going on, but the follow through was proving to be difficult. The man chalked this up to simple inexperience though and thought Pelfhe had enough information to go practice on his own. With this, he sent Pelfhe off to go practice and proclaimed him an official junior bard. Yay!
Pelfhe headed West until he found a door that people were going in and out of a lot. The sign above the door said "The Winking Skeever." Pelfhe took this as a possible place to practice, so he went inside. There he found a large room separated by columns with a fireplace in the middle to keep out the slight chill that hung around outside. A few people were already inside. A couple of guys were at the bar, one asking people for a drinking contest, the other polishing what looked like a hip bone. Pelfhe walks up to the bar with his lute.
"What can I get you?" asks the innkeeper.
"Mead?" Pelfhe requests.
The innkeeper fills a mug from a barrel of mead and sets it down on the bar. Pelfhe puts two Septims on the counter and takes the mead to a table near a window not far from the hearth. He plucks somewhat quietly to himself while taking an occasional sip from the mug. He is careful with both the mug and the instrument, caring for each gingerly to make sure that neither is upset lest something happen to the lute. Soon, two ladies come into the inn and request drinks of their own, loudly.
"I just don't understand these commoners, Taarie. Why don't they understand fashion?" One speaks.
"I don't either Endarie," the one named Taarie replies. "Why not look Radiant in some new clothes instead of rags that you've worn for weeks! Update your look, and let a new light shine on your life! Only the nobles seem to understand these ideas, but we need to get their attention."
"Or maybe we could get someone to show off our clothes other than just us," Endarie quips. "Maybe if one of them sees that there's a point to fashion, others will follow suit. Hehee, see the word play I did there?"
The two of them started discussing their plans at a table not far from the bar after getting their mugs from the innkeeper. Everyone goes back to what they were doing, and Pelfhe goes back to quietly plucking his lute. The man at the bar with the hip bone stares at it with longing and lets out a soft sigh. Suddenly, Pelfhe's pick breaks the string he plucked. The release of tension is so wild that it sends the tuning knob attached to it wildly into the air. It bounces off the curved ceiling and shoots off toward the bar. The hip bone is struck by the tuning knob and ricochets off towards the scheming ladies. The knob lands in the mug of Endarie and splashes her in the face. The splash also is enough to land on Taarie's chest, slightly discoloring her blue-colored dress.
"AGGHH!" both scream at the unpleasant occurrence. They run up to the bar asking for something to wipe themselves off, which the innkeeper hands them a fresh rag. The two ladies then storm out of the inn, too furious that their beloved fashion has been ruined to bother with their drinks any longer. The innkeeper chuckles along with others in the inn, and the man with the hip bone quickly surveys the bone to make sure it's still okay.
Pelfhe wonders how to get a new string and knob for his lute. Will the Bard College be okay that he somehow damaged his lute? He did not see where the knob went and so cannot retrieve it. In a panic, he finishes his mead and dashes out the door with this lute in hand.
