Bard watched the ship dock, her whiskers twitching with curiosity. It was a small ship, faceted like a sapphire, but a deeper blue. It had the dust of a ship that had been in deep space, but other than that, it should have been unremarkable. Unremarkable to anyone other than Bard. She adjusted her hat and raised her arms, “Ladies and everybody, I will tell you a tale of tragic love.” The ladies were too busy being fashionable to heed Bard, but she did succeed in attracting the attention of some of the others. They gathered around her, a crowd of different species. “Tell us, Bard of felines,” called out an android. “Once upon a dying planet, a halfling adventurer set out. He left his promised hamlet, his love in a redoubt,” Bard watched the ship, her mind far away from the words springing from her furry lips. The door to the ship opened and a set of steps was brought to the door. “He thought to find his fortune, to make a nest for them.” A figure in a hooded jacket and tinted