Balance Settled from Ledgerwake by Bartermarch

The last chimes of market day settle into dust as the sun dips below Oldmark's western hills. "Balance Settled" wasn't just composed—it was witnessed, the culmination of countless disputes brought before the Arbiter's bench at twilight.

When we first arranged this piece, Master Tolliver of the Fairweights Guild insisted we incorporate the authentic seven-tone sequence used when the market officially closes. The dulcimer arpeggios mirror the ritual balancing of final accounts—cyclical, patient, inevitable. Listen closely around the 2:14 mark for the Ledgerdrum's distinctive thrum; that's Leda Copperhand striking it with her grandfather's tarnished weight-marker, a family heirloom used for generations to signify fair trades.

The autumn recording sessions gave this track its particular warmth. Market days shorten as harvest wanes, creating a peculiar urgency in the final transactions. We captured that tension in the bridge, where the dulcimer patterns briefly invert—a musical representation of those moments when merchants must quickly reconcile their day's ledgers before darkness falls.

In Ashen Pike tradition, "balance settled" isn't merely an accounting term—it's a sacred social contract. When disputes are resolved and debts cleared, the community can breathe collectively. The gradually unwinding final passage echoes this exhale; the market's frenetic energy disperses into the calm of evening, and even the most stubborn hagglers must eventually accept what's fair.

This track stands as our tribute to those transient moments of perfect equilibrium—when coins and goods have changed hands, when grievances have been aired and judged, when nothing remains to be bargained for until dawn brings fresh opportunity.

Weathered lutes & market rhythms stir memories of forgotten trades. Our dulcimers echo merchant calls across time—barter songs woven between coin-percussion & hurdy-gurdy drones. Listen for the Arbiter's bell.