In the midst of him making the dense air thicker with catchy chords and almost incidental melodies that felt effortless in the atmosphere created by the hall, Byron managed to catch a few bits of information. Mostly from the people surrounding the buffoon-like self-appointed king of fairies. While not exactly familiar, he was a known figure. A pseudo king, to some. As a travelling helper of the highest regard, the call of potential wealth was too much for Byron to just ignore.
Approaching the group, Mamafang, Relka, Parks and those surrounding him, Byron didn't attempt any form of pleasantry, no false bows or overdone introductions. Still plucking away the same near comical song with his guitar in front of him, the dark skinned half-alv boy gestured to Parks with his head and spoke in a cold tone.
"I heard you require assistance? I offer myself with no resistance."
Realizing that he may have interrupted some conversation, Byron awkwardly stood before the others. His hands were still playing his instrument as if they were moving unconsciously as he filled the air with sweet, memorable notes.
Background: Born to an African immigrant butcher and an educator, it was pretty obvious from an early age that Byron wasn't going to handle traditional education well. He was something of a prodigy, easily blowing through work that other children struggled through which lead to him becoming rowdy and disruptive. Not too long into his career in school, around the third grade, he had to officially be pulled and home-schooled by his mother. It wasn't exactly a positive situation as Byron's apathy lead him to slacking as he grew older and their lack of funding due to his mother's inability to work a full time job as she attempted to educate him lead to a significant strain on the relationships in the family as some not so subtle disdain boiled under the surface. Luckily, or unluckily, this all changed when one of Byron's relatives died.
A wealthy, but stingy man, he left the family a modest sum. Some of which went towards keeping them afloat and the rest which went to getting Byron a personal laptop. Now, the family wasn't the most tech savvy and his father was in many ways suspicious of technology, but it quickly proved useful as Byron was able to occupy himself and take his teaching at his own pace. Now, of course, everyone knows that a teenager with a laptop is going to occupy themselves with everything else but their work, but Byron was determined to keep the peace long enough that his family could reward him for his good behavior. While in the past, rewards systems never worked, the potential punishment of having the laptop taken from him was enough of a motivator to keep him from fucking up too hard.
Spending so much time on the internet, it only made sense that he'd eventually learn about and get into games, eventually finding out about Elder Tales and managing to get it.
In Game History: Initially mortified that he had been locked into the game as a Bard, one of his least favorite classes, Byron quickly found some utility in it as he effortlessly swapped into several different parties without having to dedicate himself to anyone. Picking up the Musician sub-class to keep himself occupied and his brain moving when he's by himself. Sustaining himself as a wandering support to anyone who needs it, he's managed to pick up some unique loot over his time moving across the server.
Guild/Position: None.
Personality: Byron's the quiet, cynical type. He does things because he feels obligated to but not often because he wants to, and when he does things he wants to he tends to keep them to himself. He's a genuinely bright kid, seemingly more mature than his age, and he picks up on things quickly. But despite that, he's incredibly poor at reading social cues and even worse at upholding societal norms. He's rude, blunt, and often sarcastic when the situation doesn't call for any of those things.
Often, he takes interest in small, simple things or very exact concepts which consume his attention and he'll utterly obsess about them until he can find a worthwhile outlet for it, which usually tends to be his musical skills. His music is his primary outlet for any form of emotion that isn't his usual blank-faced cynicism, often causing him to get far more into it by accident than he even realized. When performing in any occasion, whether it be for him or for others, he does it like he's the only person listening at any given moment. This sort of brash self-confidence translates into him naturally, where he often finds himself uncaring who he's talking to how.
There are some soft, mushy emotional bits of him somewhere that are hard to reach and even harder to actually interact with due to how hard he pushes people away. More often than not, any display of emotion is attributed to the heat of the moment and he refuses to actually engage with his feelings on a level further than a musical performance. A lot of Byron's identity has become attached to his newly found love of music and his self-perceived intelligence, and he feels that many people see these traits as marketable or use-able while disregarding him due to how difficult of a person he can be to talk to.
Skills:
Repeated Notes: Immediately repeats the same attack or skill on a target, but leaves the user momentarily paralyzed. Draws a lot of Hate when used in rapid succession. Often used by Byron to repeat attacks done by his shades.
Shifting Tact: For a small period of time, rapidly decreases the length of a cooldown. As one of Byron's most requested skills, he's quite good at using it and has increased the percentage above the base a significant amount.
Onslaught Prelude: Y'all know what the fuck it is, it's that song that reduces cooldown times. Get refreshed.
Venomoid Tarantella: Speeds up recovery.
Rainbow Arabesque: Applies one of 6 elemental colors to allies to attack enemy weaknesses, if not specified, then it's the rainbow itself.
Meditation Nocturne: MP slowly increases over time.
Ballad of the Gullible Snail: Slows and damages enemies over time, draws a lot of Hate.
Equipment:
Despite its name, the Lyre of Orpheus is a guitar with a basic amplification bonus that increases the AOE of all Bard or Music related skills. Simple, but it's carried Byron through several battles and the extra area can be just the edge one needs in a battle. Part of a two item set.
The Eye is an accessory, an amulet with a resplendent jewel that seems to catch the light in any setting and glitter beautifully. When paired with the Lyre of Orpheus, it allows for a unique skill that mimics summoning. Any enemy bested while in the area of effect of the Lyre of Orpheus' music becomes trapped inside of the Eye, allowing Byron to summon their shade for some kind of specific task decided by him as he summons. Triggered by a unique musical cue, these last for seconds at a time before disappearing again. The upper limit of how many can be held at once is the player's level divided by four. Can summon one summon at a time!
Chief, how else is he gonna hold all he instruments?
Other instruments he's picked up over his time gathering loot, none of which he uses in combat either for personal preference or simply because of a lack of quality. Almost all of these get used for his performances, though.
Featherfall Tunic Featherfall Bottoms Featherfall Sandals A lightweight armor set that offers little to no defense better than basic leather armor, but gives a bonus to speed as well as shortening cast times and cooldown. An armorset based almost entirely around risk and reward, it discourages Byron from making rash decisions in combat and emphasizes good planning.
Theme song:youtube.com/watch?v=twT1zz5GMfU Fun Facts: Has an odd habit of speaking in rhyme, and sometimes does it without noticing. Has developed several albums' worth of songs and will perform a set of them if asked.
The city didn't seem to offer much difference to Byron from being by himself as he effortlessly slid through crowds, as if in his own world separate from the others. Humming to himself as he trudged through the winter weather, Byron idly strummed on his guitar, his sandals and loose tunic not providing much actual resistance to the elements, causing him to shiver and shake uncontrollably. Still, despite his body positively chattering, he didn't seem much maligned to the bitter snap against his skin. In fact, he wore what could probably be a smile on any other person though on his face it looked like a twisted grimace. A few scratches, a new instrument, another quest conquered, it was time to head away and rest to the nearest area he could remember. A few days rest and some food couldn't kill, especially in an area that was so friendly.
The Fang Family. God, a month felt like forever when you moved around so much. The young bard remembered slightly faintly running with some of them for a little while when he was still uncomfortable and unlearned but it didn't take too long for his inner opportunist to spur him out of the protective hold of the warm guild. Still, he figured that no one would notice or hopefully care if he slipped back in and sort of blended in for a momentary respite from travelling. Maybe he could have some time to work on some new songs for once, playing the same ones for as long as he had wasn't conducive for a bard. Songs are like bread, the fresher the better and should only be saved if it'll be worth it. Or. Some stupid bullshit like that. Even Byron's internal monologue was becoming awkward and it was himself to himself, fucking magical.
"Mm. Yeah, that's it."
If sight wasn't to be an indicator, sound and smell definitely worked just as well. Now was the to enter discreet mode. Letting his guitar slide along his body to his side, he quietly entered the guild hall now free from the bustle surrounding the city.
Despite the larger density of people, it was somehow quieter in the hall. Sliding along as he had outside, he snagged some food randomly without looking at the place or people near it and slinked into a corner where he easily got cozy. Pressing his back to the wall, he gently slid himself down to the ground with his legs crossed, and stuffed the piece of food into his mouth where he messily chewed while slinging his guitar into his lap to gently pluck away a whimsical tune which befitted the almost comedic nature of most of the antics happening in the busy hall. While his shifting eyes definitely gathered what was happening, at least to a degree, none of it seemed especially pertinent to him. A few people squabbling and playing around, just merriment. Perhaps some could afford to look a bit less foolish, but who was he to judge? One of nipples was visible at almost all times.
Background: Born to an African immigrant butcher and an educator, it was pretty obvious from an early age that Byron wasn't going to handle traditional education well. He was something of a prodigy, easily blowing through work that other children struggled through which lead to him becoming rowdy and disruptive. Not too long into his career in school, around the third grade, he had to officially be pulled and home-schooled by his mother. It wasn't exactly a positive situation as Byron's apathy lead him to slacking as he grew older and their lack of funding due to his mother's inability to work a full time job as she attempted to educate him lead to a significant strain on the relationships in the family as some not so subtle disdain boiled under the surface. Luckily, or unluckily, this all changed when one of Byron's relatives died.
A wealthy, but stingy man, he left the family a modest sum. Some of which went towards keeping them afloat and the rest which went to getting Byron a personal laptop. Now, the family wasn't the most tech savvy and his father was in many ways suspicious of technology, but it quickly proved useful as Byron was able to occupy himself and take his teaching at his own pace. Now, of course, everyone knows that a teenager with a laptop is going to occupy themselves with everything else but their work, but Byron was determined to keep the peace long enough that his family could reward him for his good behavior. While in the past, rewards systems never worked, the potential punishment of having the laptop taken from him was enough of a motivator to keep him from fucking up too hard.
Spending so much time on the internet, it only made sense that he'd eventually learn about and get into games, eventually finding out about Elder Tales and managing to get it.
In Game History: Initially mortified that he had been locked into the game as a Bard, one of his least favorite classes, Byron quickly found some utility in it as he effortlessly swapped into several different parties without having to dedicate himself to anyone. Picking up the Musician sub-class to keep himself occupied and his brain moving when he's by himself. Sustaining himself as a wandering support to anyone who needs it, he's managed to pick up some unique loot over his time moving across the server.
Guild/Position: None.
Personality: Byron's the quiet, cynical type. He does things because he feels obligated to but not often because he wants to, and when he does things he wants to he tends to keep them to himself. He's a genuinely bright kid, seemingly more mature than his age, and he picks up on things quickly. But despite that, he's incredibly poor at reading social cues and even worse at upholding societal norms. He's rude, blunt, and often sarcastic when the situation doesn't call for any of those things.
Often, he takes interest in small, simple things or very exact concepts which consume his attention and he'll utterly obsess about them until he can find a worthwhile outlet for it, which usually tends to be his musical skills. His music is his primary outlet for any form of emotion that isn't his usual blank-faced cynicism, often causing him to get far more into it by accident than he even realized. When performing in any occasion, whether it be for him or for others, he does it like he's the only person listening at any given moment. This sort of brash self-confidence translates into him naturally, where he often finds himself uncaring who he's talking to how.
There are some soft, mushy emotional bits of him somewhere that are hard to reach and even harder to actually interact with due to how hard he pushes people away. More often than not, any display of emotion is attributed to the heat of the moment and he refuses to actually engage with his feelings on a level further than a musical performance. A lot of Byron's identity has become attached to his newly found love of music and his self-perceived intelligence, and he feels that many people see these traits as marketable or use-able while disregarding him due to how difficult of a person he can be to talk to.
Skills:
Repeated Notes: Immediately repeats the same attack or skill on a target, but leaves the user momentarily paralyzed. Draws a lot of Hate when used in rapid succession. Often used by Byron to repeat attacks done by his shades.
Shifting Tact: For a small period of time, rapidly decreases the length of a cooldown. As one of Byron's most requested skills, he's quite good at using it and has increased the percentage above the base a significant amount.
Onslaught Prelude: Y'all know what the fuck it is, it's that song that reduces cooldown times. Get refreshed.
Venomoid Tarantella: Speeds up recovery.
Rainbow Arabesque: Applies one of 6 elemental colors to allies to attack enemy weaknesses, if not specified, then it's the rainbow itself.
Meditation Nocturne: MP slowly increases over time.
Ballad of the Gullible Snail: Slows and damages enemies over time, draws a lot of Hate.
Equipment:
Despite its name, the Lyre of Orpheus is a guitar with a basic amplification bonus that increases the AOE of all Bard or Music related skills. Simple, but it's carried Byron through several battles and the extra area can be just the edge one needs in a battle. Part of a two item set.
The Eye is an accessory, an amulet with a resplendent jewel that seems to catch the light in any setting and glitter beautifully. When paired with the Lyre of Orpheus, it allows for a unique skill that mimics summoning. Any enemy bested while in the area of effect of the Lyre of Orpheus' music becomes trapped inside of the Eye, allowing Byron to summon their shade for some kind of specific task decided by him as he summons. Triggered by a unique musical cue, these last for seconds at a time before disappearing again. The upper limit of how many can be held at once is the player's level divided by four. Can summon one summon at a time!
Chief, how else is he gonna hold all he instruments?
Other instruments he's picked up over his time gathering loot, none of which he uses in combat either for personal preference or simply because of a lack of quality. Almost all of these get used for his performances, though.
Featherfall Tunic Featherfall Bottoms Featherfall Sandals A lightweight armor set that offers little to no defense better than basic leather armor, but gives a bonus to speed as well as shortening cast times and cooldown. An armorset based almost entirely around risk and reward, it discourages Byron from making rash decisions in combat and emphasizes good planning.
Theme song:youtube.com/watch?v=twT1zz5GMfU Fun Facts: Has an odd habit of speaking in rhyme, and sometimes does it without noticing. Has developed several albums' worth of songs and will perform a set of them if asked.
What's been claimed aside from Berserker(?) and Saber? I'd be interested to go for Caster or Archer, if possible. Rider being my follow up, if both of those are fail.
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