The Devil's Violinist

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Antonio

Identity V

alias: The Violinist	age: 30's-40's (appearance)
species: Undead?	gender: Male
faction: Hunter	voice: Link

"He can see the rhythms of the whole world, which are controlled by the ubiquitous strings.”

personality

Traits
 |
Antonio takes pride in his mastery of the violin, to the point where he's convinced no one else can play quite as well as he can... So he tends to hold himself up to higher standards of music than anyone else.

 Unfortunately, the stress of fame and meeting everyone's expectations wore him down both physically and mentally. He turned to hedonistic vices to cope. Alcohol, gambling, sleeping around... He's still got those terrible habits, even though they've gotten him in trouble before. Especially his gambling addiction. He's been known to rack up a huge debt from that alone.

 When he was a court musician for the royal family, he enjoyed the fame and fortune that came with it. However, he quickly came to resent how the royal family viewed him as nothing more as a plaything, a mere status symbol to be kept in a gilded cage. He still has a lingering distrust for the upper class, seeing them as greedy snobs who don't respect his music at all.

 On the other hand, he is grateful for people who value his music… Or better, himself as a person. He will tell them they have a talent for listening, a talent he believes is essential to being a musician. He even claims one should be good at listening to their own heart… But alas, he doesn’t think he can hear it clearly anymore.

 Ever since he forsook his own heart, he’s so in love with his music he gets intoxicated with it. He’s happy to play music on his own terms, to the point where his hands get worn out and his hair takes over. And yet, when he’s so enchanted that he loses control of himself, he has to wonder exactly who is playing the devil’s melody… A curiosity at best. He doesn’t really care who or what is pulling the strings as long as he gets his music.

 In spite of his own remarkable talent and employment history, he is not above performing on the street for tips. That way, he gets up close and personal with his audience, and perhaps he might hear their stories if they stick around long enough.

appearance

hair: Black
eyes: Completely black
height: 6'3"?
build: Lanky
features: Stitched up body, constantly grinning

Description
 |
Antonio is a horrible sight to see. Here is an exceedingly lank man in a tattered suit, with a sickly color to his skin and stitches all over his body. His arms in particular are heavily scarred, like they're barely clinging onto his torso. His empty black eyes and prominent nose sit above a mouth almost constantly twisted into a nightmarish grin.

His long, sleek hair seems to have a mind of its own. It can split itself into tendrils to carry objects. It also seems to betray his emotions when his face cannot. Perhaps this, like the rest of his body, is what becomes a man who sells his soul for his music?

First Impressions
 |
Is this man a walking corpse, or a giant marionette wandering about? He lurches forwards, arms usually hanging limp at his sides as his wild hair curls and twists in the air. He seems to be in some sort of blissful trance, stumbling about to the sound of his sweet violin he usually has on him. If the instrument's not in his hair, it's in his hands. He's absolutely consumed by his own preformance, and won't hesitate to share the Devil's Melody with anyone in earshot...

history

Initial Description

Even at the height of his fame and skill the Violinist Antonio did not abandon his unrestrained desire for music. His skill on the violin exceeded its peak when he was able to play on stage on a single string, and this greatly shocked the audience! In addition to the unheard-of melodies, his appearance and almost inhuman figure caused many legends: the audience claimed that during Antonio's performance, the devil himself appeared behind his shoulders, who manipulated his hands to perform an amazing technique. Moreover, some saw the violinist in a trance, when his entire body was connected to the bow and strings, and his hair could play a rhythmic melody. 

But what is the truth, and who cares? 

As long as Antonio can play the melody of the whole world, he does not care who controls his body - he is a puppet of music.

Known History

Antonio never seemed to be in control of his own life. Even though he possessed extraordinary talent with the violin, his frail body, poor health, and high expectations never allowed him to feel truly happy. He turned to hedonistic tendencies to alleviate the emptiness, squandering his earnings on whores and gambling. Unfortunately, Antonio lost a good deal of money and nearly had to forfeit his instrument thanks to his gambling habit. To clear his debts, he wound up joining the royal orchestra for what was supposed to be three years. The court had their doubts, but once the royal family heard him play they couldn't get enough of him. For a while, Antonio enjoyed fame and fortune in the role of a royal musician.

It's such a shame that fame was a double edged sword. The royal family wanted his music to remain a symbol of their power and tried to keep him in the palace for as long as possible. Antonio complained this sort of restriction was a waste of his time and abilities, so they eventually allowed him to leave on one condition: He must play an entire song on a single string to prove his worth.

It was a ludicrous challenge meant to keep him restrained, but he somehow managed to write a song to be played with only a G string. Yet, it's unclear how he managed to do so, or if he actually played it. All we know is he left a note to remind himself never to play it again.

The artist reached his peak. Antonio was exiled from the palace and lost all the fame and success he had within. People would vandalize posters announcing his concert at the national theater... Perhaps less proud ears would better appreciate his talent? Who knows what might have happened if his performance went as planned, but there were those who wished to hear him play that one note song and went as far as to sabotage his violin to make him do so.

That may have been a fatal mistake.

The concert was a resounding success, no doubt about it. The audience was entranced by his music as he proceeded to play on that single string. With his hair holding the violin! Such strange sounds played in such strange ways... They began to spark rumors. Some who attended claimed to have seen the devil over his shoulder, guiding his hand. Others swore the violinist fell into some sort of trance as the melody overtook him.

Perhaps it didn't really matter what happened to Antonio after that. After all, he's already lost himself to the devil's music.

Headcanons; Filling in blanks

In desperation, Antonio sold his soul to be able to play a song with one string. He might have been visited by the devil in a dream, and maybe he wrote down a song he heard in his sleep. However, it seems the devil wasn't able to claim Antonio's soul unless he actually played the song, hence the violinist's refusal to do so.

Antonio might have tried to play another song on that one string and failed, purposefully or otherwise. Whatever he did, he was finally free of the court at the cost of his reputation.

deductions

1. Prodigy
 |
"I grew up with my musical talent, yet it never made me happy."

A young man's medical report: Malnourished, catalepsy... Over-Stressed... Neurasthenia... Scarlet Fever... Pneumonia... Spasticity...

2. Seductive Tune
 |
"How much of the joy that was missing can be reclaimed with this talent?"

A music score stashed under a windowsill: "I want you to know I had a wonderful night. This is something to remember me by."

3. Gambling Debt
 |
"How much is a musician's dignity worth?"

A collateral receipt from a casino: The violinist Antonio's musical instrument is hereby pledged, with an outstanding amount...

4. Invitation
 |
"Three years of freedom to clear off your debts and sorrows."

An exhortation letter: "... I am of the opinion, given Master Antonio's gambling addiction, your highness should consider the effect on the royal family's reputation before recruiting him as a member of the royal orchestra."

5. Fame
 |
"They treated me with courtesy and respect. They looked up to my talent and music."

A confidential letter: "Antonio's music must remain exclusive to the royal family. Ordinary people don't deserve it. We must do everything we can to make him stay so he can serve as a symbol of the royal family's superiority."

6. Toy
 |
"They put me in a tower and kept me in a cage. They tricked me and took away my violin."

A torn letter: "... If you insist on leaving, please play a song on a single string. You can only prove that it's 'a waste of your time and abilities' to stay in the palace if you possess such extraordinary skill.

7. Apprehension
 |
"Turns out my talent is a prison. Outside this prison, however, I'll have to give up materialism and fame... And lose myself...

A messed up music score for a single string song with a note: "Don't play it!"

8. Revisit
 |
"The high and mighty ears can't detect the musical notes which should be revered."

A poster of a violin concert in the national theater covered in red graffiti: A failure who's been exiled by the palace at his peak.

9. Trap
 |
"So long as I don't touch it, there won't be an echo."

A confidential letter: "He's proud as he's always been and refuses to preform that music score on stage. But I have an idea. We just have to make his strings..."

10. Finale
 |
"If the peak is the end of the road, who's playing the world's melody on the way down?"

A newsletter: "The renowned violinist, Antonio, has returned! His extraordinary performance in G took over the concert hall like a demon's descent. The entire audience was deeply entranced by his enchanting music!"

abilties

Terrifying Melody
 |
Thanks to his infernal pact, Antonio can weaponize his music. Anyone who gets hit by his Demon Notes will be unable to escape the tunes ringing in their ears, which will slow them down and make them lose focus. The more demon notes affecting them, the worse it gets. Their only hope of finding peace from this cursed music is to find a quiet spot at least 24m away from everyone else and meditate for a few seconds.

Sonata
 |
By carefully placing two notes in a line, he can create a strand of Terrifying String Music that lasts for about 13 seconds. Not only does it inflict one instance of Demon Notes when someone passes through it, but anyone caught in the string when it's made will be physically wounded.

That's right. His music actually does damage.

A more powerful version of this attack is known as Infinite Movement. Once the string is formed, he can send a wave of String Music in ten parallel bars. This also causes physical damage, but one can avoid it if they stay between the bars. He can only create Perpetual Motion once per string, and it takes quite a bit of energy to cast.

Rhapsody
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Antonio goes into a musical frenzy and starts flinging Terrifying Music Notes at his targets. These visible notes of glowing red music do a minor amount of damage as well as inflict one instance of Demon Notes when they hit any being capable of hearing. If nothing is hit, the note just keeps sailing on through terrain until it fades into silence. Antonio's only able to keep up this mad preformance for about 9 seconds before he wears himself out.

Antonio's Hair
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Antonio's hair can function as extra limbs, but even it has its limits. For starters, the strength and grip of a tendril is dependent on how thick of a lock he's using. That means he can't use a single strand of hair to pick up anything, let alone an entire violin. The strength and grip also cannot exceed his own human strength, and it's actually rather uncomfortable for anyone to pull heavy things with their hair. Plus, although it's dexterious enough to manipulate a violin's strings, his hair isn't exactly dexterious enough to do things like type on a keyboard or open a pickle jar.

Look, the point is sometimes he's just gotta use his hands like everyone else.

music

Puppet Loosely Strung - The Correspondents

Let me put myself in your shoes as a puppet loosely strung.

Did you feel the weight of other's views, or was their ignorance a source of fun?

I hated the whispers in the street

Do you oppose a greeting, pulling the rug beneath their feet?

I'm tied to so many things I don't need to do.

I'll loosen my strings to feel more like you.

I'm tied to so many things I don't need to do.

I'll loosen my strings to feel more like you.

In the past you would have been seen as a family's disgrace,

Now they think you're putting on a brave face

They might fear that one day they'll wear your shoes

But you're the one who's laughing, you had nothing to lose

They just couldn't see, that it was me needing you, and not you needing me

They just couldn't see, that a puppet loosely strung is not who I wanna be

Le Veau D’or - Gounod

The calf of gold is still standing!

One adulates his power,

From one end of the world to the other end!

To celebrate the infamous idol,

Kings and the people mixed together,

To the somber sound of golden coins,

They dance a wild round

Around his pedestal

And Satan leads the dance...

The calf of gold is the victor over the gods!

In its derisory (absurd) glory,

The abject monster insults heaven!

It contemplates, oh weird frenzy!

At his feet the human race,

Hurling itself about, iron in hand,

In blood and in the mire,

Where gleams the burning metal,

And Satan leads the dance...

I'm a Marionette - ABBA (Cover by Ghost)

"You're so free, " that's what everybody's telling me

Yet I feel I'm like an outward-bound, pushed around, refugee

Something's wrong, got a feeling that I don't belong

As if I had come from outer space, out of place, like King Kong

I'm a marionette, just a marionette, pull the string

I'm a marionette, everybody's pet, just as long as I sing

I'm a marionette, see my pirouette, round and round

I'm a marionette, I'm a marionette, just a silly old clown

Like a doll, like a puppet with no will at all

And somebody told me how to talk, how to walk, how to fall

Can't complain, I've got no-one but myself to blame

Something's happening I can't control, lost my hold, is it safe?

Devil's Trill Sonata - Giuseppe Tartini

(instrumental)

Mephistopheles - Trans-Siberian Orchestra

All of your life now you have denied

There'd be a time when you'd ever die

Still it's been rumored this thing must be

Why is it then that you act surprised

When I appear now to be your guide?

Why do you hesitate to follow me?

See it rising, stare and wonder

Hear it beckon you to dance

Feel it hold you, take you under

I'm your god of second chance

Under Your Spell - The Birthday Massacre

You're a story that I hoped I'd never have to tell

You're a lesson that I wish I'd never learned so well

After all my years of giving up and letting go

All I wanted was to give you what you've never known

I know now

You can only hurt me cuz I let you get to know me so well

I know now

I love you cuz only you can turn my heaven to hell

I know now

I want out from under your spell

Under your spell

I'm under your spell

Under your spell

I'm under your spell

You're the promise that degraded every hope and dream

You're the whisper at the end of every hopeless scream

After all the years of turning love to empty rage

All you wanted was for me to help you turn the page

I know now

I didn't see the bruises that I should have seen the first 
time I fell

I know now

No one will listen to the story that I have to tell

Caprice No. 24 - Nicolo Paganini

(instrumental)

Limelight - Rush

Living in a fish eye lens, caught in the camera eye

I have no heart to lie

I can't pretend a stranger is a long-awaited friend

All the world's indeed a stage and we are merely players

Performers and portrayers

Each anothers audience outside the gilded cage

Living in the limelight, the universal dream

For those who wish to see

Those who wish to be

Must put aside the alienation

Get on with the fascination

The real relation, the underlying theme

Moon Trance - Lindsey Sterling

(instrumental)

My Dark Disquiet - Poets of the Fall

So white, so still, so bright

It's almost too painful now

I'm ready to fight

To run from the light

And here now comes the sweet

Corrupting reality

While now I'm free

Will I once cease to be

Will I awake

Will I get a ride with you

In this race of two

We are momentary masters

We're false kings and bastards

Without names we're fantasising

Dancing like flames, mesmerising

My dark disquiet playing such eerie harmonies

Making waves and diving under

Lightning to the sound of thunder

My dark disquiet singing such haunting melodies

We are marionettes by strings animated

Yet like lovers of strings liberated

Shatter Me - Lindsey Sterling ft. Lzzy Hale

If only the clockworks could speak

I wouldn't be so alone

We burn every magnet and spring

And spiral into the unknown

Somebody shine a light

I'm frozen by the fear in me

Somebody make me feel alive

And shatter me

So cut me from the line

Dizzy, spinning endlessly

Somebody make me feel alive

And shatter me!

Shatter me!

Somebody make me feel alive

And shatter me!

If I break the glass, then I'll have to fly

There's no one to catch me if I take a dive

I'm scared of changing, the days stay the same

The world is spinning but only in gray

House of the Rising Sun - The Animals (Cover by Five Finger Death Punch)

And the only thing a gambler needs

Is a suitcase in the trunk

And the only time he's satisfied

Is when he's on a drunk

Oh mother, tell your children

Not to do what I have done

Don't spend your life in sin and misery

In the House of the Rising Sun

I got one foot on the platform

And another on the train

And I'm goin' back to sin city

To wear that ball and chain

Mephistopheles' Return - Trans-Siberian Orchestra

All these things are now before me

Endless death or timeless glory

On this night of ghosts returning

To the light of bridges burning

Now it is too late

This path to take

Don't want to see my life be...( trayed )

Tell me what you think

Tell me what you know

Did you really think

That there would be an ever after

Do you think I'm scared

Tell me does it show

When inside this deafness

I can always hear his laughter

I don't know what I'm thinking

Because all that I see

Is his face grinning

Mephistopheles

I need to find an answer

For this one cannot be

Within the words of Mephistopheles

The cost of patience

When there's no time before me

Of hesitation

All for this twisted glory

And my salvation

The cost of how it's gotten

The cost of what's gained

All forgotten

All forgotten

The Devil's Violinist

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Mar. 20th, 2024

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