Barrow Eyes from Ledgerwake by Bartermarch

The sentinel merchants of Ashen Pike speak through their eyes long before coins change hands. "Barrow Eyes" captures that silent language—the watchful gaze of traders sizing up potential marks while wheeling their goods through narrow market lanes.

We recorded this piece at dawn when only the most determined peddlers push their carts across cobblestones still wet with dew. The staccato dulcimer mimics their furtive glances, darting between suspicion and opportunity, while our fretless bass traces the undulating path of a seasoned merchant navigating the awakening marketplace.

There's a story buried in the rhythmic breaks—one about old Magister Wren who lost his fortune on a single bad copper weight. His desperate scramble to recover his standing inspired the frantic copper tray percussion that intensifies midway through. When the market voices cut in during the bridge, listen closely. That's actual haggling we captured between a spice merchant and a Fairweight inspector locked in bitter dispute.

The dulcimer never fully resolves its phrases, much like deals left deliberately open-ended. Your pulse quickens with each rhythmic shift, caught between wariness and excitement—the very essence of that delicious moment before the bargain is struck. When everything hangs in perfect tension.

Some evenings we still debate whether the conclusion suggests victory or defeat. Perhaps that's the point. In Ashen Pike, today's loss becomes tomorrow's leverage, and the eyes always reveal what the mouth conceals.

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.