(12:23:55) Me: he's an aging prodigy. as a child he was compared to the Mozarts of Athak music.

(12:24:12) Banjo Joe: nice. was he from the underground or the moons?

(12:24:17) Me: the underground

(12:24:32) Banjo Joe: why did he leave?

(12:28:38) Me: his popularity had waned in his teenage years. the technical aspect of his composition and performance is spectacular, but upon reading an old piece of revel sheet music in the conservatory library, he realized that there was a world of emotion in music which had was beyond the rigid, mathematical musical tradition which his family had brought him up in. he feels stifled, and resolved that in order to grow as a musician, he must explore the traditions of the surface lands.

(12:29:19) Banjo Joe: how appropriate. do you know much about classical music as opposed to romantic music?

(12:29:40) Me: not really.

(12:29:53) Me: was romantic the response to classical, or vice versa?

(12:30:09) Banjo Joe: classicla music was stately, emotionless music. romantic came after, full of emotion.

(12:30:15) Banjo Joe: mozart was classical, beethoven was romantic

(12:30:55) Banjo Joe: so sue left for the upper world. how old is he now?

(12:31:08) Me: let's say 17 as Athaks age

(12:31:37) Me: he's horribly naive, and a tiny bit angry at nothing in particular.

(12:32:24) Banjo Joe: so on the surface world, he's completely unknown in most parts. the dwarves have heard of him a little, but only because they delve beneath the surface.

(12:32:44) Me: right. he has yet to make his splash.

(12:33:00) Me: though he has some idea of what to expect when he does

(12:33:49) Banjo Joe: he's kinda an oddity, which is why some folk have taken notice. because of this, you got invited around to join this band being started by this rich ex-star

(12:34:15) Banjo Joe: does that sound a good way to have gotten you into the band?

(12:34:18) Me: yes

(12:34:58) Banjo Joe: you've been with the band a year or so (about the length of time the band has existed). when you came up to the surface world, you prolly found it in turmoil, but it has since calmed a bit.

(12:37:30) Me: what kind of turmoil?

(12:37:58) Banjo Joe: one thing he'd notice on the surface world is that the music that is most respected by the intellecutals & the elite is like athak music in that it is stately, emotionaless, for the most part, but not nearly as rigidly mathematical. recently, though, a few compositions have come out that are downright full fledged emotional masterpieces, by a harpling named dionysus

(12:38:12) Banjo Joe: the turmoil is what's going on right now in the game

(12:38:19) Me: ok dionysius is sue's hero then

(12:38:26) Banjo Joe: nice

(12:39:03) Banjo Joe: popular songs, on the other hand, from the folk traditions, are widespread & beloved & full of emotion, something that doesn't exist at all in the athak world

(12:39:35) Banjo Joe: but not very respected by the elites, though it is said dionysus has "stooped" to popular forms often.

(12:40:23) Banjo Joe: & there's whole worlds of odd regional musics & racial musics.

(12:42:11) Banjo Joe: your antivox, how does it work?

(12:42:21) Banjo Joe: like a theremin, but responding to changes in the void field?

(12:42:27) Banjo Joe: instead of the elctromagnetic field?

(12:42:34) Me: that sounds perfect.

(12:42:59) Banjo Joe: basiclaly, only an athak can work it without using a machine--you're the only one whose body can cause the void field to react

(12:43:12) Banjo Joe: the power of the void field is determined by the source of void used for the machine

(12:43:37) Banjo Joe: you can use your own ability to generate void energy as the source, but it makes you really hungry afterward.

(12:43:42) Me: void elves, etc?

(12:43:49) Banjo Joe: yeah, other void races can use it.

(12:44:01) Banjo Joe: i meant in the party, you're the only one

(12:44:46) Me: right

(12:45:21) Banjo Joe: if you use an outside source of void to power the machine, it doesn't tire you as much & you can get sometimes stronger sources than your own abilities.

(12:45:26) Me: so since Athaks have innate void powers, does that mean he can activate it without moving visibly?

(12:45:49) Banjo Joe: if he's close enough

(12:46:39) Me: ok. now, my original concept was that it works by selectively cancelling out noise, so it also has to be played in the presence of another source of sound

(12:46:58) Banjo Joe: that's fine

(12:47:23) Banjo Joe: the machine converts void energy to react to sound, not magic

(12:47:51) Banjo Joe: so you play something while it is on, & the way the void field reacts to your movements causes the sounds to react differently

(12:48:12) Banjo Joe: because of this, if the machine is operating, magic can be used in the presence of it.

(12:48:28) Banjo Joe: but you can also cause the machine to make normal void fields & blot out magic

(12:48:36) Banjo Joe: depending on the strength of the magic

(12:48:56) Me: excellent. i imagine it being an object of roughly violin shape with three onyx-black crystals attached to strings

(12:49:14) Me: it is played by directing the void energy into the crystals

(12:50:10) Banjo Joe: cool. so, since it is violin shaped: you have also invented a bow that works the same as an athak's body does--it allows non-void creatures to use the instrument.

(12:50:38) Me: as a normal stringed instrument?

(12:50:51) Banjo Joe: no, the bow you made directs the void

(12:51:22) Me: ok

(12:51:28) Banjo Joe: (this is, of course, if you wish it so. if you don't want this detail, or any detail i come up with, feel free to veto it)

(12:52:25) Me: ok, i think i see. the external void source isn't controlled, so the bow provides a control mechanism

(12:53:19) Banjo Joe: yes. like a theremin, the field needs to be fucked with to make different sounds. non-void creatures can't fuck with the field without some sort of tool. they can't direct the void into the crystals without a tool.

(12:54:24) Banjo Joe: the instrument both generates & converts the void. part of it emits a field, another part converts it to sound-affecting void. once generated, it will affect sound in only one way (destroying it), unless you affect the field, then it will cause different distortions & changes, allowi9ng some sounds & not others, etc.

(12:54:32) Banjo Joe: thus, you create music.

(12:55:31) Me: ok

(12:56:20) Banjo Joe: sources for void energy other than your body are rare & expensive on the surface, but notimpossible to find.

(12:57:33) Banjo Joe: it's up to you whether you have any or not. they come in all sorts of forms: crystals, rocks, metals, oil, gases (in the form of formless ones, which are types of athaks--very rare, very powerful, probably unethical to use one), & plants & animals & some rare fungi.

(12:58:48) Banjo Joe: void oil is crudely referred to as "athak blood" in shops on the surface. it's up to you whether that offends you or not.

(12:58:48) Me: i think if he brought any with him, he has used them up by now. needing to go back to Athakheim to find some would be the object of a quest.

(12:59:23) Banjo Joe: you can find them in other places on the surface, but athakheim might be a good place to go in this campaign.

(12:59:56) Me: i think he just finds it inaccurate. real outrage is a bit too advanced for him.