Narrative Perseveration

People travel through time like a cart across a dirt road. Sometimes, events will contrive such that the path people travel is similar to one that has been trodden before. Into this, a Bard can nudge events in such a way that they follow the prior path.

-Janus Turlough, in his final lecture at the Arcvoire University

Narrative Perseveration is the final extension of Janus Turlough's Dirt Road Metaphor to describe how Bardic magic functions. Like a wagon riding down an oft-trod road, ruts begin to form in history. Follow the same trail often enough, and the ruts become so deep that it becomes difficult or nearly impossible to take a path other than the one beaten into the ground by the hundreds of travelers who have come before.

Even the most well-practiced and careful Bards misunderstand the extent of Narrative Perseveration, and its influence on history, however. Narrative Perseveration can occur naturally, without the interference of a Bard to force events down the same path. A prime example (before the birth of Wayland Tolliver) was Tolliver House a family renowned for producing powerful sorcerers in their seventh child. The "rut," as it were, grew deeper with each generation of sorcerer more powerful than the last.

Tolliver House also provides an excellent example of another misunderstanding. Narrative Perseveration is not absolute. It can be subverted, avoided, and undone. Wayland Tolliver is not a sorcerer, despite six generations of Narrative Perseveration bearing down on him. This is where the Dirt Road Metaphor breaks down. Where it might take concerted effort to smooth the road, the narrative may conspire on its own to take a new path, despite how deep the ruts may be.

Type

Metaphysical