Can someone please explain to me how bard song effects work? I just do not understand the fundamentals and it is a real hindrance to even basic combat.

You have 3 stanzas, and can imbue effects into each stanza. You can play up your song to get to higher stanzas or refrain to remain on a current stanza. There is something about how all effects are always on? I do not follow this bit here. I would like to be able to better time the effects in a system, such that I would know when it might be advantageous to refrain or not, but I am unclear as to how the effects land.

That is to say, do all effects run on the same global timer and all hit at once for allies and enemies? If I am in the low stanza, do medium and high stanza effects not happen; but then when I am in the medium stanza, I have medium and low effects all happening? I am so terribly confused...

Global timer. Every effect below (so for stanza 9, everything from stanzas 1 up to 9 would be happening) affecting allies and enemies as long as they can hear and are not captivated to another bard. You refrain once you hit stanza 9, since if you keep playing forwards the song ends and you have to restart from stanza 1.

We've got two right now and there was no fuss about it when we asked for the second one. So at least two!

Wow, thanks so much Raeri! So, if I prepare in a Wargames by playing up to stanza 9, and then go into combat, the effects will all be running on the timer, and I can go into combat full speed ahead, and time things as needed?

Pretty much. You can't time effects like in a demesne, so you should make it a habit to sustain your song instead of letting it run out. That way, you're almost always prepared! Just refrain and go as needed. You can probably also ask bardy people ingame too, or others of your guild for more detailed info.

A guild can have as many emotes as it wants to pay for. The first is free.

If I bought a manse dweller and got the mail delivery and general delivery add-ons for it, would anyone with access to the manse be able to use the dweller to deliver items, or only the owner of the manse?

Can you even get those for a manse dweller? I thought they were pet additions.

Wasn't there an ability in Dramatics that worked like Genderbend, but with races?

No, but Illusions has a race change illusion.

What is absolutely the best entry-level PvP class?

Probably monk. Most other classes require a LOT of credits, gold, or both.
I'm not an expert.

Monk if you can afford to trans a skill and still get the basics. Bard if you can't.

Other than on the isles of Light, where can you get sand? There is a design I want to make but it needs sand And I don't want Celest catching me there

Sands of the dreaming.

And the presidio quest. One of the viscanti servants will have it, though that's only one sand.

Is there a way to get into Duum that doesn't involve running around in the sewers?

A quest in the Balach followed by a maze.

In that case I meant Muud. The one that isn't a village but a maze filled with bad things.

There's a hidden room (lots) in Muud, behind a locked door, where you can sanctify something with corpses for a brief opening.

It's usually easier to just walk around in the sewers.