The Concert - Part 1
The door slams open and heavy smoke starts billowing into the room in thick waves, greatly reducing visibility within a few moments. It doesn’t really bring about much coughing, but there’s a sense of eeriness in the air, as if foreboding a significant event to come.
“What’s the meaning of this?!” cries the barkeep. “What’s the deal with all this smoke? Did another fire break out in Daunton?”
“Yes,” comes a mysterious tenor voice from beyond the doorstep, at once both gutter rusty and saintly pure, its source shrouded within the misty air. A lone silhouette can vaguely be perceived stepping in through the doorway, small of stature but with a sense of might surrounding it.
“Fear not, fair citizens of Daunton. This is not the sort of fire that will scorch your flesh, though it will fire you up! This is not the sort of fire that will raze your homes, though it will get the heat on!”
More movement can be detected past the figure, giving the impression that pieces of furniture is floating through the air and arranging itself neatly in the back. Nobody can be seen moving the objects, however. One of the items bumps into the speaker’s head while floating past, prompting a mumbled curse in an otherworldly tongue.
[sblock=For the language sages]The stranger cursed in the language of the gods – Supernal![/sblock]
“Fine folks, dazzling damsels, scalawags and scoundrels, knights and noblemen! I have come to stir up the fire in your souls!”
There’s a dramatic pause, and the silhouette-man eagerly awaits a reaction. He is met with only a few scattered coughs.
“Ahem!” The speaker looks over his shoulder, somewhat dissatisfied.
“I said, I have come to stir up the fire in your souls!!!”
There’s a high-pitched
“uh-oh” as if some tiny creature just woke up, and the smoke dissipates a moment later, in a feeble attempt at timing for the stranger to pose when he is revealed.
As a… Well… Probably a halfling with bizarre hair. Wild on his head, wackier sideburns, and… a rolled up beard? Except halflings don’t grow hair on their chin. Possibly a very small and extremely scrawny dwarf, then? No, far too frail and it appears to actually be some crazy goatee he’s got going, not a beard.
With the air clearing up, it turns out to be an exceptionally outlandish-looking brown-skinned gnome. He’s got intricate tiny cylinders in his black hair rolling his goatee and both of his sideburns into separate elongated “hairdos”.
The gnome’s attire is nothing like his fey ancestry would suggest, wearing the latest in fancy and flamboyant city fashion. Strange gadgets are strapped to his back and sides, giving no clue to their purpose… for now.
“Now, I know what some of you may be thinking: Fire up our souls? Is he going to curse us or banish us to the Nine Hells or what?”
Jumping atop a central table, the gnome peers about suspiciously at his own words, alert to any foul-play. With a sigh, he eases up and gives a reassuring smile to the audience.
“On the contrary, good people, on the contrary! I’ll be delivering you to the Heavens above!”
The gnome raises his arms to the sky and is met by the hymn of a choir of angels.
“Ah, but "How so?" I hear you speculate. "How could he possibly make us reach the heavens? Will he pray for us or bestow blessings? Will he cast a mighty spell and open up a grand portal to the celestial realms?"”
The gnome gives the audience a sly wink, as if letting them in on a juicy secret.
“No prayers or portals needed, fellows. I’ll be using a much more potent tool… Behold!”
The gnome reaches to his back and demonstrates a curvy box, made of light but reinforced wood with a small opening, some straps, and what looks like a comb on a hinge. In his other hand he brandishes some sort of rectangular shaft, with line markings at regular intervals, and a headstock at the end.
He combines the two parts over his head in a dramatic display, fitting them together with an audible click. When combined they form something akin to a lute. A string instrument with no strings to play on. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZUTleBwiiw"]Somewhere, a theme begins to play.[/ame]
“I present to you the Great Ultra-Intense Thundering Audio Ripper! A finer musical instrument has never been conceived! And I’ll be using it to raise the roof!”
“The roof? You’re not working any magic on my ceiling, are you?” asks the barkeep nervously. “Oh! And you’re supposed to announce your name in here!”
The gnome reaches to his goatee and unrolls it by using the imbedded cylinder, revealing the impossible length of hair on his chin. It is, in fact, the longest goatee. Ever.
He somehow traces it through the comb on the soundbox and rolls it up to be attached at the end of the shaft, thus forming six strings on the Great Ultra-Intense Thundering Audio Ripper. With a sweeping motion he strikes a chord on his hair-strings, sending surreal sounds into the room that are amplified far beyond what should be possible.
“Men and beasts, champions and chaplains, conquerors and cavalrists. My name is Rhole. And this…”
A miniscule stone-like devilish creature leaps out from the top of his hair with a high-pitched
“weee”, sliding in front of the audience on its knees. It looks more or less like a tiny gargoyle. A tiny gargoyle with a tiny four-stringed instrument.
“… this is Rock.”
The little stone-devil beats its little stone-strings in a steady pace, delivering very deep rumbling tones with the same inexplicable trace of amplification.
Rhole whips up a catchy rhytm with the Great Ultra-Intense Thundering Audio Ripper, building up the atmosphere progressively. While the duo plays on their instruments, a set of drums float in through the still open door to take their place on the stage, accompanied by drumsticks. The door closes by itself and the drumsticks start playing, complimenting the music with a solid beat.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNdH1ujHT2s"]Recommended background music[/ame]
The show goes on for some time and escalates in both passion and intensity. Rhole is frequently down on his knees, beating on his hair-strings in insanely over-the-top solo riffs. The audience feels an inexplicable urge to nod their heads to the rhythm and imitate playing on string-instruments themselves, as if invisible lutes were in their very hands.
The opening song is finished with a feverish finale, the drumsticks literally flying against their targets so hard that they bounce around the room. The Great Ultra-Intense Thundering Audio Ripper simply wails with might in the gnome’s hands, emitting tremors that can just barely be felt through the ground!
Rhole bows deeply and blows kisses to the crowd before jamming onwards into a new song. Meanwhile, Rock walks from table to table while playing, holding out a tiny stone-hat and pleading for coins to finance the show.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAylkWkd4VA"]Recommended background music[/ame]
[sblock=Mechanics]Unseen Servant ritual: Floating and playing drum set.
Ghost Sound power: Choir of angels and various sound effects.
Arcane Familiar: Rock.[/sblock]