Towards the end of his life, classical composer Robert Schumann fell further into a world of hallucination, tormented by angels, ghosts, demons, and unearthly music. His own wife Clara, the famed pianist, had been locked out of visiting him in the institute where he'd face his death. And yet, strange forces would ensure they met one last time, in Robert Schumann's dying dream…
In your dreams, you swore for a moment you were seeing the exact same visions Robert was. Burning angels gathered in a choir, a demonic horde making an infernal racket, and the ghosts of composers gone from you, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Beethoven, circling around as you fell further down a swirling vortex of notes…
You then jolted awake, or so you assumed. Your husband's talk of visions from worlds beyond had been plaguing your own mind so much as of late, so it was natural they'd start showing up in your dreams.
Yet any promise that this'd be another day of piano, children, and not being allowed to see your husband was upended when you saw that you hadn't woken up in your bed, room, or anywhere familiar to you. At least this room looked normal enough, also having a desk, typewriter, clumps of books and notes scattered around, and… a corkboard with several daguerreotypes pinned on.
Turning your head to your left, you came face-to-face with a silver-haired young man clad in a light-blue jacket, who smiled and greeted you with, "Ah, good to see you're awake."
You shrieked and bolted upright, only to hear that the voice coming out of you didn't sound like your own, at least, didn't sound like how you sounded these days. Looking down at the stranger, you rasped at him, "Who are you? Where have you taken me?!"
"Ah, I do apologise," he said, extending a hand, "My name is-
[ ] Carmine
[ ] Cadence
[ ] Libero
[ ] Viertel
[ ] Write-in
-and I found you unconscious, washed up on the banks of the Flow. I brought you back home as quickly as I could, and I'm relieved to see you're recovering so soon."
You caught your breath and thought, Maybe I overreacted, this doesn't look like a kidnapping or anything of the sort. Not that this predicament was any less strange, for as you looked down at your hands, you gasped to see they were not the hands of a middle-aged woman, but those of a girl having just reached adulthood. The hands you had back then, as being a lifelong pianist, noting details like that was natural for you.
"You seem shocked, is something the matter?" he asked.
"Well, it's… hard to explain," you told him, "Could I request a mirror, I'm not, er, quite feeling myself?"
As you gasped for breath, you could only think, I'm still in a dream, still in a dream, still in a dream…
"Oh no, I haven't stumbled upon a vampire, have I?" the stranger joked, well, you hoped he joked.
"N-No, I saw my reflection, it's just…" you muttered, then breathed deep and said, "Sorry, I still haven't introduced myself in turn. Although, er, not to brag or anything, but someone like me probably doesn't need an introduction…"
The stranger then quirked an eyebrow at you and said, "Sorry, but I'm afraid I've never seen you before today. You see, I'm something of a talent scout, so it's my business to know who's who. Hmm, could that river have washed you so far along you ended up crossing countries?"
That… sounds unlikely, you thought. "I'm Clara Schumann, nee Wieck. I confess, maybe my star doesn't shine as brightly as it used to, but at my height I was one of Germany's most famed pianists. Eh, not meaning to boast or the like," you said, blushing a bit.
The stranger looked at you in silence for a second, before he tried to smile and said, "Perhaps I'm less in the know than I thought, but sorry, I've never heard your name. Or, er, that of Germany either. Oh, is it somewhere in the Ambitus Alps? There's lots of little provinces tucked in there."
Never heard of Germany? The Ambitus Alps? That settled it, this had to be a dream. You then dashed over to this room's sole window and looked over the town, but the ornate houses, cobblestone streets, and looming cathedral spire you instantly knew were that of Zwickau, your husband's hometown.
"Wait, if you've never heard of Germany, then how did you get to Zwickau?" you asked this man.
"Huh, 'Zwickau'? Er, last I checked this town was Sortita," he said. "I live here, so I should know after all."
You took a deep breath before you thought, I should just act natural till I find out more, else I risk looking out of my mind, if I don't already. I know I shouldn't think this, but I nearly envy Robert's visions now, something like this wouldn't be so out of the blue for him.
"…I see. Hmm, mind if I ask you to show me around, then? I guess you can tell I'm new in town," you chuckled and tugged you collar, trying to act as normally as you could.
"But of course," he smiled, "You may have, ah, 'arrived' just in time, for Sortita's town festival is tonight, held in honour of 'Chosen One'. Now I did have a few errands to run, more than a few preparations go into a festival naturally, but none of them wouldn't be on the way."
"Wait, 'Chosen One'?" you asked out loud, given this wasn't the first person you'd heard use the term.
"An angelic visionary, our star of the Festival. Er, well that's simplifying things, but the full extent of his role would take a while to explain. I'd say there'd be time for us to even meet him before the festival begins."
[ ] You'd like to meet with this 'Chosen One'
[ ] You'd like to see the riverbank where you were found
[ ] You could perform piano at this festival, as a way of introducing yourself to this place, though you'd need to practice first
[ ] Do you really know this town, no matter how much it looks like Zwickau? You'll just let him show you around for now
[ ] Write-in
"No joke, people have been speculating about a sequel to this since like '07. It's not gonna happen, but I kinda wish there was one now." - hbomberguy on Eternal Sonata
Virtuoso pianist and composer from 19th Century Germany, the wife of Robert Schumann who was denied seeing him in his asylum during his last years. She has somehow ended up in his dream, and been reverted to her 21 year-old self. At first she is confused and uncertain over this dreamworld she's in, but gradually begins to take charge. References 123456 (Real life)
Techniques Glissando Storm
Keysword | Two slashes diagonally up and down that also hit other nearby enemies. Virtuoso Vice
Keysword | A flurry of piercing notes hitting up to seven times.
Equipment
Instrument (Weapon): Detuned Piano (Strength +1, Sonic -1, 2 Accessory Slots) | Keysword & shield
Outfit (Armour): Festival Gown (1 Slot)
Accessories: Butterfly Mask (entry into masque events)
- Empty
- Empty
Known instruments: Piano, Violin, Vocals
Gabriel
The 'Chosen One' from the town of Sortita, kind and gentle but gets nervous around most people. The town kept him in a 'sacred' solitude until the age of 20, due to him having visions of angels as a child, limiting his people skills. Gets attached to Clara when she helps him escape Sortita's attempted sacrifice of him. He does question his 'angelic vision' these years later. References 123
Techniques Ricochet Spark
Cross-Violin | Fires a ricocheting bolt that builds power with each hit before its target. Exorcism
X-Violin | Heals a party member and removes status. Abandon Hope
X-Violin | Violin song stirs up a hellish portal that draws in and damages enemies. Equipment
Instrument: Antique Violin (1 Slot)
Outfit: Longcoat (2 Slots)
Accessories: Bow Resin (Mild heal after Techniques are used)
- Amulet (Extended Block time-window when attacked by demons)
- Empty
Known Instruments: Anything demon-themed, mostly stringed, such as violins, violas, and guitars
Techniques Brass Battalion
Conducting Baton | Summons three lines of brass instruments, trumpets then trombones the tubas, who blast a volley-fire sequence at enemy lines. Percussive Quake
Baton | Calls on a percussion section to deliver a single great shock to all enemies on field.
Equipment
Instrument: Rouge Baton (1 Accessory Slot)
Outfit: Blue Velvet (1 Slot)
Accessories: - Spectacles (boosts Accuracy)
- Rose Lapel (boosts Social among audiences)
Techniques Chaos Butterfly
Hat | Throws his hat which zig-zags around the arena, bouncing off enemies. Recurring Dream
Hat | Repeat the damage and effects from the previous technique used by an ally. Equipment
Weapon: Top Hat (2 Accessory Slots)
Outfit: Colour-Changing Coat (2 Accessory Slots)
Robert Schumann
19th-century composer and critic, and the dreamer who imagined this strange world of Demons, Angels, and Music. Clara's husband, he appears to have somehow summoned her into his dream, though he's currently reluctant to appear before her directly, having Florestan and Eusebius deliver messages for him. References 12 With Clara: 12
Menu Screen
Inventory
Practice Piano
Detuned Piano (Equipped)
Rusty Bugle (Equipped) Rouge Baton (Equipped)
Top Hat (Equipped)
Saxon Dress
Festival Gown (Equipped)
Sacrifice Robe (Equipped) Blue Velvet (Equipped)
Chromatic Coat (Equipped)
Butterfly Mask (Equipped)
Last Prayers Booklet (Equipped)
Nightcap (Equipped) Spectacles (Equipped)
Rose Lapel (Equipped)
Sortita, Town of Beginnings
A small and seemingly unassumingly town that resembles Zwickau in Germany.
Overture Mountains
South of Sortita, a long stretch of sandstone mountains where brass is mined, and source of the River Flow that washed up Clara.
Caesura Moor
East of Sortita, south of Hauptstimme. Moorland criss-crossed with sunken train tracks, as skytrains frequently soar over to avoid the tornadoes of the Pastorale Plains, which can be a risk to the birds that made their home here.
Spinning Crane: A corrupted crane that is a common Demon of the moors. Has black and red feathers with reeds for a beaks and woodwind instruments for legs. Delivers sound-enhanced spinning kicks and blocks wide with its wings. Drops Tail Feathers.
Murder Express: Monstrous demon train that prowls the moors. Can lay down its own tracks through magic and unleash coal eruptions.
Ghost Carriage: The Murder Express' 'henchmen', they carry doomed souls off to an unknown afterlife. Drop Phantom Tickets.
Feurigwald
North of Sortita, south of Hauptstimme. A petrified forest where unholy compositions goes to be burned.
Haupstimme
North of the Feurigwald and Caesura Moor, a larger city that serves as a skytrain hub, and where Florestan & Eusebius are based.
Robert Schumann - Classical composer likely best known for 'Traumerei' (from Kinderszenen), but with a much larger oeuvre. Was an equally prolific music journalist who brought greater attention to the likes of Chopin and Brahms. Also known for having bipolarity and mercury poisoning, and later in life claimed to see visions of angels, demons, and ghosts of past composers. Clara Schumann nee Wieck - Possibly the most accomplished female piano virtuoso of her day, compared to Liszt in talent as different as their styles were, and standardiser of the piano recital. Was also a composer, having written her Piano Concerto at age 14.
Sortita - Entrance song for the lead singer in an opera
Carmine - Name, usually Italian, meaning 'of Song'
Cadence - End or resolution of a melody
Libero - Italian word meaning 'free', in music it means play freely
Viertel - German for 'quarter', as in 'quarter-note'
Ambitus - The extant of a musical range from highest to lowest, usually of a certain voice or instrument
Sonata - Instrumental musical form in three or four parts, contrasted with the Cantata vocal form
Hauptstimme - The 'primary voice' in German, the main melody line
Feurig - 'Fiery' in German, to play passionately. See also the Italian 'Fuocoso'
Caesura - 'Cutting' in Latin, the end of one musical phrase. Their notation resembles railroad tracks
Ausdruck - 'Expression' in German, to play expressively Accordion - The folder I'm using
Omake rewards are a little hard here, as while I do plan to include jRPG touches like Equipment, Stats, Special Attacks, and so on, this is still gonna be a mechanics-lite Quest, with all of that mainly existing as reminder notes for me on the characters' limits. However, I'm thinking about the following:
[X] You could perform piano at this festival, as a way of introducing yourself to this place, though you'd need to practice first
[X] Cadence
(QM's Note: If you're wondering how I wrote this up so fast, I already started writing when I saw 'practice piano' was clearly in the lead, then filled in Cadence's name as I posted)
After giving it some thought, you then asked Cadence, "As long as I'm here, I could always play the piano for your festival, if you're not all booked that is." Which was weird for you to say, since a performer of your renown had never had to worry about bookings in quite some time.
"Why no, not in the slightest. A town like ours is far from the biggest hub of musicians, so we'd always appreciate more," Cadence said with a smile before he suddenly blushed. "You may not notice it under all this mess, eheh, but I don't have a piano in my own room, I… never learned to play the instrument, embarrassing as it is to admit."
"You're in luck then, I do give lessons," you told him with a modest chuckle, "Not for any longer than one and a half hours each day though, my daily schedule can get most intensive."
Being led out the door and downstairs, your eyes widened when you saw that you were in a concert hall. "Quite something, isn't it?" Cadence said, "It's not much, compared to the performance halls in Hauptstimme or Ausdruck, but it's ours. I am the Conductor here though, so accuse me of bias if you want to."
"Wait, you can't play piano yet you're a conductor?" you turned back to ask.
"I get by with my training in other instruments," Cadence said.
"Oh, not that it's peculiar or anything," you then told him, "I do know at least… one other conductor who can't play piano. But ah, that's another story entirely."
Making your way downstairs to the grand piano here, likely the town's if it wasn't Cadence's, you sat down and started to play. You were tempted to try your husband's Toccata to display your finger technique to its fullest but, worried that'd make you look too much the show-off, you instead went with an earlier composition of his: Papillons, his second ever piece.
For a second you found yourself stumbling, perhaps not used to your hands having gone back to that of your young adult self's. However, you were long familiar enough with the tune that muscle memory took over for you in no time. After the Intro you mostly played the Polonaises, being courteous enough to not make Cadence sit through the whole thirteen-minute opus, and maybe you were also subconsciously honouring the Polish Chopin. Even if his positive relations with Robert didn't last, I still remember him being one of the first great maestros to appreciate me…
[+1 to Melody and Rhythm]
Ending naturally with the Finale, you were about to stand when the strangest of sights appeared. A cloud of glittering butterflies, their wings resembling masks, flew up from out of the piano. You turned to Cadence, laughed and said, "This is some surprise you have, hiding these butterflies in here. My, is this how you greet other musicians?"
"But Clara, those butterflies were all yours," Cadence said with total seriousness, making you almost jolt back in your seat. He went on, "Hmm, I've never heard that piece of yours. Now I might be getting my hopes up, but tell me, you're not a composer, are you?"
You winced, edging back a little. "I have written compositions, yes, but really it's not my forte. I'm best at playing pieces, not writing them," you said, looking down.
Cadence then took your hand and asked, "Now really, why all the humility? Composers bestow unto us one of our most sacred gifts, for what would the world be without music?"
You couldn't help but smile at that, and then said, "That is… certainly one of the sweetest ways I've ever heard music put. Still, I could certainly recommend you much better composers, you don't have to settle for me."
Cadence then sighed, "I'm afraid with how few composers are left right now, your services may be needed. When stranded in the desert, you don't just turn down water, after all. But please, tell me all the composers you can, we need them more than ever."
You tensed up and asked, "W-what ever do you mean? Music may be my life, but from how you're talking, you make it sound like music's literally needed to survive."
"Clara, you didn't... lose your memories, did you?" Cadence cocked his head and asked, "Because right now, and I do mean no offence, you sound like you've never heard of concepts even children know. That, or Germany must be really isolated."
That settles it, this is a dream. What else would make this little sense? You thought, rubbing your temples. "Um, then you wouldn't mind explaining, right?"
"Hmm, I think it'd be easier to show you," he said, as he began walking you to the door, opening onto the paved streets. "The local cathedral ought to jog your memory."
As lovely as the view from Cadence's window had been, through walking the actual streets, it did grow clearer that you weren't in Zwickau anymore. For one, houses had black roofs but with white lines along the edges that made them look like pianos, or how you could see trumpets for chimneys or flutes for ventilation. A tree you passed by looked like it had music notes written on its leaves. The cathedral Cadence had led you to even had organ pipes for its spires, making the whole thing look like an instrument. Score Piece! x1
"The Chosen One should be getting ready within, but he's not why I brought you here," Cadence said, as he gestured up at several marble statuettes adorning the church…. Statuettes you recognised.
"Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn," you gasped, "What are they doing here? Did they all donate to this church, maybe?"
"Your memory still isn't back," Cadence nodded, before he told you, "These are among the Holy Ghosts of Music, the great maestros who reside in musical Heaven. It is because of spirits like them that us humans even have the gift of music."
"Ah, so, it's a church of music then?" you took it.
Cadence had to laugh. "Clara, all churches are churches of music," he said before he gestured to a scene carved into the entrance arch, of angels playing music God had written. "Hmm, surely you'd at least know how the world came to be?"
"You mean in Genesis? The Seven Days, 'Let there be Light'?" you went over.
"My, no mention of how the world was performed into being, how God's music was played and sung by His heavenly host? How the Laws gave structure and Music gave spirit?" Cadence got swept up in his words.
I'm… sure what you just said could be considered heresy, you had to think, well, there'd have to be one sect out there that'd agree with you. "Wait, my husband once said something like that, about his life being struggle between Music and Law. Sorry, that just came back to me."
"All of history has been a struggle between Music and Laws. Er, so historians say anyway, it's not quite my field," Cadence then said, before he looked straight into your eyes, "Clara, music is the lifeblood of our world, the essence of creation. Without composers divinely inspired to create new music, well, then what becomes of existence?"
"Is… Is that why those butterflies came out of the piano, that I was weaving the fabric of creation, ah, so to say?" you asked, the implications of that dawning on you.
"Ah, good to see you catching on," Cadence said, before he looked off into the distance. "Clara, so far I've just been going on about how our world is in peril and all that. But to repeat myself, it's one thing to tell you, and another to show you. We still have a few hours before the Festival at sunset, would you like a tour of the lands outside Sortita's gates?"
"...To show me how fallen the world is without composers, right?" you surmised. Well, I'm not sure what else I can do here, "I might as well, it'd be good to know the area."
"Ah, good to hear. Now, we've got quite the array of sights past our three gates-
[ ] The east gate leads to the Caesura Moor, where you can see skytrains criss-crossing up above, the moor being littered with their old tracks.
[ ] The north gate leads to the Feurigwald, the petrified forest where cursed compositions were burned, to save us from Inner Demons.
[ ] The southwest gate leads up to the arc of the Overture Mountains, where precious brass is mined. If you thought the view from my window was impressive…
[ ] Or you could just spend more time around Sortita, we're not completely out of stuff to do.
-Well, Clara, what'll it be?" Cadence smiled and asked.
Wait, skytrains, brass mines, petrified woods? Cadence was now raising more questions than he answered.
"Hmm, though first, we should properly arm ourselves. Not that we're going far, but it doesn't hurt to prepare, especially with the state of the world right now," Cadence then said.
You twitched. "Arm ourselves, you mean with weapons?"
"Of course, the local Armoury's not far from here," Cadence said like that was natural. Guiding you to what looked like a music store but with spikes and edges on the instruments and suits of armour, he pointed to a selection in the window.
"I already have my trusty Baton, so I'll be fine," he said again like that was natural. "Oh, don't worry about JP, you're new in town so it's only fair I pay."
"JP?" you had to ask.
Cadence somehow smiled and sighed at the same time. "Ah, you also don't know what our currency is. Jewel Pieces, JP for short."
[ ] Keysword (keyboard-sword) and piano lid shield.
[ ] Dual keyswords, one treble one bass.
[ ] Piano hammer and lid shield.
[ ] Dual piano hammers.
[ ] Piano hammer and keysword, mix it up.
[ ] Write-in weapon design (has to at least fit with Clara Schumann)
Edit: So to break the tie between Caesura and Feurig, I rolled 2d10, assigned each vote a die, and the highest (Caesura in this case) won.
Would've rerolled if they came up equal
[X] The east gate leads to the Caesura Moor, where you can see skytrains criss-crossing up above, the moor being littered with their old tracks.
[X] Keysword (keyboard-sword) and piano lid shield.
Heading to the moors gate also meant going back through town the way you'd come, which you didn't mind much since it was your first time here after all. Well, first time if this really wasn't Zwickau. Dream Zwickau might be the term.
You'd expect there to be a little unruliness the day leading up to a Festival, but you soon saw the residents of the town were quite neat and well-mannered. The pleasantness they exuded reminded you of some idealised painting of German villagers.
Passing through an idyllic riverside garden first, you came to a stone bridge lined with lampposts going over the River Flow, you presumed. While there, Cadence pointed out a pebble-strewn shore and said, "That's where I found you this morning, you would've been swept downstream from the Overture Mountains. I was gathering flowers for a festival float when I saw you all washed up".
Craning your head to look closer, it seemed like an ordinary enough riverbank, so you took it that whatever had summoned you there would've been further up those mountains. That is, if anything had summoned you at all beyond your own mind.
Approaching the gate, you were met by guards clad in full armour, if with a couple of C-holes for ventilation. They promptly asked "Halt! Who goes there! Do you know what lies beyond these walls?" and crossed their… Cellances? Lancellos? It didn't help you were already armed, if with a piano and baton.
"Gentleman, relax! It's me, Cadence the town Conductor. Don't worry about my new friend Miss Clara, she's new around here, so I was just helping her get her bearings," Cadence was quick to explain.
"Missus Clara, actually," you instinctively reminded him.
[Roll to persuade: 4d3=2,2,3,2]
[+1 to Legality for getting around the guards]
The guards slowly parted their lancellos, even if their faces were covered you could still feel them eyeing you. "Proceed," they stated in unison.
Though you were cleared, you still couldn't help but flinch. "High security for a country town, I have to say. I'd guess there's highway bandits around, right?" you figured.
Cadence had to grin at that. "Oh Clara, bandits would be a blessing," he said, not helping to ease your tension.
You walked out to a murky green expanse, kept in humid stillness by the grey clouds overhead, the occasional ray of sun shimmering like a mirage. The calling of birds and croaking of frogs gave these moors a music of their own and strewn throughout the swamp were the rusted train-tracks Cadence had told you about, with even some old, empty carriages around.
You only took a few steps before a sudden wind swept over you, caused by a whole train flying above you, headed south. "S-so that's the skytrain?" you mumbled, looking straight up.
"A skytrain," Cadence chimed in, "Heh, I'm guessing there are no stations in Germany."
"Well, w-we have stations of course, just… not for these," you remarked, nearly breathless.
Cadence cautioned you to stay on the stone road, if you didn't want your clothes to get all muddied before the Festival. As you walked along, he explained, "A lot of skytrain routes cross the moors, the logic is in case of a crash, it's better to have a soft, if sticky, landing. Plus, any route north of Hauptstimme would be… treacherous."
"Why, because of sky bandits?" it amused you to say, even if those may be a genuine threat in a world like this.
"No, because of witches and warlocks," Cadence said with a straight face, "They use their devil music to stir up whole tornadoes on the Pastorale Plains north of here. Guess they just don't like technology or something."
You just nodded at that, before Cadence had to suddenly grab and pull you back. Jolted to full attention, you saw what looked like a pile of metallic sludge covering the hills ahead of you, even seeping into the ponds nearby.
"We call that Liquid Noise," Cadence said, "Whole swathes of the land are covered in it. Long ago, we used it to fuel great machines called Instruments of War, and for our hubris, this waste that stains our world was what we got".
Per his words, you could spot several machine parts lying submerged in the Noise. "So, it's poisonous to the touch then?" you asked.
"Worse," Cadence said, and as if to prove his point, a crane that'd been hit by you guessed a skytrain, feel straight down into the Noise. What then emerged was a monster, a black-and-red bird with reeds for a beak and what looked like flutes or some other woodwind for legs.
The crane came right up and attacked you, delivering a spinning kick with each leg, the sound through the holes piping up at you. On instinct, you blocked the attack with your shield like the lid of an upright piano.
While you guarded yourself from the crane, Cadence had time to run and behind and strike with a four-hit combo from his baton. When you then slashed with your keysword from the front though, the noise-crane used its case-like wings to block your blows.
"I see, don't strike these… creatures from the front," you told yourself. Saying that against a human opponent would be giving your strategy away, but to a mutated monster, you took it there was little harm.
"Right, now allow me," Cadence said, as while you'd gotten the crane blocking from the front, he got it in a few more hits with his baton before suddenly pointing it straight up and saying, "Volley of horns, unleash your fire. Brass Battalion!"
Three waves of brass instruments materialised either side of him, first quick-firing trumpets, then spread-fire horns and sniping trombones, then lastly cannon-like tubas. With the crane monster recoiling and collapsing from the sonic barrage, the levitating brass then vanished as quickly as it had materialised.
[+1 to Rhythm for blocking]
[Roll for loot: 4d6=1,1,3,6]
[Found Tail Feathers]
"W-what was that?!" you exclaimed.
"We call those creatures Inner Demons," Cadence said, "Normally, when someone or something touches the Liquid Noise directly, it causes their sins and vices to manifest as a monstrous Inner Demons. But ingesting the Noise or being submerged it in as this poor crane was, will transform you outright into one of them. Ah, I suppose the harm to the local birds is the trade-off for all these trains flying overhead."
"…Good to know, but that isn't quite what I was asking," you told him, "I mean, those brass instruments, h-how did they appear, and where did they go?"
"Oh, those," Cadence had to laugh, before he explained, "we're told we all have a jewel in our hearts, and it creates a unique resonance we call a Signature, and I don't mean how you write your name. It was me calling that on my Signature that let those horns emerge forth from my soul."
"Er, that's a lot to take in," you muttered, hands on your temples. "Wait, so just anyone can do this? And are those 'Inner Demons' just Signatures called on by the Noise?"
"Ah, good as always to see you learn quickly," Cadence smiled, then said, "Actually Clara, you didn't handle yourself too badly for your first time against an Inner Demon."
"I… have experience," you told him, quickly adding, "Not against Demons, no, but I once had to navigate my way through a city-wide riot. It's, well, not dissimilar."
"Huh, Germany continues to sound more and more interesting," Cadence chuckled.
[Treasure found in the area: Floral Powder x2]
Heading further into the moor brought you to a whole railroad bridge sunken into the swamp. Cautiously making your way across it, you then came to a series of lakes, with what looked like city gates on the far shore.
"Huh, must've lost track of time, if we're this close to Hauptstimme," Cadence remarked and shook his head, "Best be heading back now, we want to be in Sortita before the Festival starts after all." Score Piece! x1
As you were about to turn around, a young man's voice suddenly called out to you, "My Chiarina, fancy seeing you here." The voice was somewhat familiar to you, almost sounding like, though not quite, your husband when he was young.
"D-Did you say 'Chiarina'?" you asked, approaching him, "T-that's the name Robert used for me in his pieces! How did you hear about that?"
"Hah, your husband named pieces from the same suite after us too!" the stranger laughed, which made you wonder who this 'us' was?
"Clara, you know this person?" Cadence asked.
The young man then glared at the conductor. "You stay out of this; we came forth only to speak with Chiarina!" he snapped.
He then put the top hat back on, and then started to melt away as his shadow rose, like he was trading places with said shadow in a way. "You do remember us, don't you Chiarina?" the 'young man' now said in a softer, less forceful voice, "It's me, Eusebius, and that was Florestan!"
Your legs began to shake, before you clutched your head and went, "No, no, that has to be a mistake! F-Florestan and Eusebius were fictional character Robert created, h-how can I be talking to fictional people?!"
Eusebius, Florestan, whoever, then beckoned out of Cadence's earshot, as he then said to you, tone of the voice still indicating Eusebius, "You see, Missus Chiarina, in a world that exists only in your husband's dream, wouldn't it make sense the characters he thought up would appear?"
You then said, "So, I was correct I saying this was a dream, but… not mine? This is all the creation of Robert's mind? T-then how did I get in here?!"
"Who knows," Eusebius said, as he took off his hat and reverted to Florestan, "We are but Mr. Schumann's representatives, not he himself, so even we only know so much.
Anyway, Chiarina, or Clara if you'd prefer, why not come visit us up in Leip- er, Haupstimme?" Florestan went on, "Actually the invite was Eusebius', but his nervousness got the better of him and asked me to extend it to you. We write for a music paper there, not the neatest of offices, but still."
"Right. Er, I'll get there when I can," you told them, but then looked back at Cadence, "Though right now I've already got a booking, and should be heading back to Sortita."
But before you could, the train tracks behind you began rattling, and the three (four?) of you had to duck out of the way as a steam engine suddenly sped your way.
Getting back up fast, you saw the engine had been splattered with that Liquid Noise, which made you wonder if it too was an 'Inner Demon'? It was then joined by two carriages that pulled up either side, ghostly faces pressed up against their windows.
You had to think of a plan fast:
[ ] Run around behind that train and attack.
[ ] Bait the train by blocking, and have the others attack.
[ ] Focus on the carriages, they seem like the weaker 'foes'.
[ ] Run over to the lake, then dodge to trick this train into falling in.
[ ] Write-in
You needed to remind yourself repeatedly that not only were you fighting a train, but that was okay or something because this was all a dream, and technically it was demon-ified train, wasn't it?
Since Cadence and Florestan- Eusebius- Florestan and Eusebius, seemed to have experience already in dealing with fiends such as these, your plan was you'd pick off the two smaller carriages while they focused on the more pressing threat.
[Roll for attack: 3,2,5,2, +10 Harmony]
Being train carriages though they moved fast, so fast that both swerved around to flank you from each side in no time, where you were nearly pressed together. However, both carriages being this close in vicinity to you gave you a head start in launching your own attack.
Remembering the 'incantation', you could call it, that Cadence had used on the demon before, you took a breath before calling out, "Swoop from on high, Glissando Storm!" You then delivered a sweeping run back and forth with your blade, its slash leaving an afterimage of a keyboard in its wake. The attack's range was wide enough that it struck both carriages, causing the pained souls within to shriek like banshees. The torment that may have been going through their souls right now was something you tried not to think about… though you had to briefly wonder whether banshees did exist in this world.
[Roll 4d3 for defence: 1,1,3,3, +6 Rhythm]
The two carriages revved up again, trying this time to run you over from their fronts. Before they did so, you were able to run to an especially marshy plot of ground, where one of the carriages got stuck as it tried to charge you. The other however wasn't so unlucky, as it sped in and struck you from behind, knocking you to the ground. Your collapsed self then felt the intense heat and rattling of pipes from under it, as it was parked over you and about to spin you into the swamp. Being cloaked in its shadow though, you gripped your sword and spoke out straight up at it, "Marvel at a true musician, Virtuoso Vice!" As the carriage sprang up to crush you, that gave you time to stand up and fire off seven shadowy strikes from your keysword, nearly juggling it in the air.
All the while, Eusebius was keeping the main Murder Express occupied from a distance, baiting it by… throwing his hat like a boomerang at it, which stranger still was dealing some actual dents to the locomotive. From what you'd seen, you took it that Eusebius briefly reverted To Florestan every time he took off his hat. The main train could pull off ranged attacks too though, from magically laying out tracks in front of it before charging, to spouting off red-hot coal from its trumpet funnel.
[Roll 4d3 for the attack on the engine: 2,1,2,3 +10 Conducting (Cadence)]
But Eusebius' distractions gave Cadence the opportunity to head around to the back of the engine and attack it at its weakest. Not only did you see him resummon the Brass Battalion between baton hits, but as the train's shadow fell on him, he then showed off another technique.
"Let the Earth tremble, Percussive Quake!" he said, and as he beat with his baton, a whole circle of mallets around the edge of the battlefield all beat down in unison, creating a shockwave that swept the whole plain, even finishing off that carriage stuck in the mud.
Both the carriage pierced in the sky and trapped in the ground vanished with one last series of wails, appearing to be pulled into the netherworld as they not merely broke down, but disintegrated. That still left the main train engine though, but Eusebius had… his own answer to that.
"Once more with feeling, Recurring Dream!" he stated, as his hat spun around him counterclockwise. For a few seconds the whole world rewound to Cadence's Percussive Quake, repeating the grand area-of-effect attack again, and pummelling the murderous engine till at last it broke apart, launching coal and cogs everywhere.
[+1 Harmony and Rhythm for group attacks and partial dodge]
[Found Detuned Piano and Phantom Ticket x2]
[+1 Terrain for traversing Caesura Moor]
[ ] Equip Detuned Piano (+2 Strength, -1 Sound, 2 Accessory Slots) on Clara?
[ ] Stick with Practice Piano as her Weapon
[ ] Look around for better weapon (Roll 4d3) Score Piece x1!
You sighed with relief now that train… thing that'd attacked you was finally no more. Though Cadence had talked a great deal about 'Signatures', Eusebius having no less than a Technique which made time repeat itself was something beyond even that. You thought to ask him about that, figuring whatever connection they had to Robert was to do with it, but he, or rather Florestan since he'd taken his hat off, had turned to go.
"Sorry I couldn't stay longer, Chiarina, much work to be done as member of a Musician's League, and you have your little Festival or whatever to get back to," he said, till his hat's shadow made him revert to Eusebius, who said, "B-but afterwards you're welcome to come to us in H-Haupstimme!"
"…Peculiar gentleman, is he not?" Cadence chuckled as you bid farewell to Eusebius. "Ah, just imagine what other sort we could've run into had we gone Feurigwald or Overture way."
"L-Let's just head back now, and quickly too. I don't know if it's what you'd call 'normal', but I am definitely not used to trains attacking me on their own," you said, glancing around out of caution.
You were fairly wounded after coming back from the moor, what with it being infested with those Inner Demons… Same is true for the rest of this world's landscape, I'm told, you thought.
Having harvested some Floral Powder from the marshes, you thought to use some of it to heal the damage done to you, since a good rest wasn't much of an option else you missed the Festival. However, passing by some strange floating, sparkling diary you saw upon re-entering Sortita, you found you didn't have to use that Floral Powder, as a magic quill attached to it somehow restored your injuries by… writing down the events that'd just transpired.
"Er, I suppose you can explain this too?" you asked.
"Oh, those? We call that a Dal Segno, it's basically a magical checkpoint that records what events have happened to you," Cadence said without missing a beat, "It is said that everyone sees them differently, depending on the object most precious to them, the object their heart returns to you could say. Diaries tend to be a common form they take."
Evening soon befell you, and all Sortita gathered in the Town Square for the Festival. This Festival appeared to be a Masquerade, with the townsfolk wearing everything from animal to musical to monster disguises. Therefore, you fit right in with a butterfly mask that'd appeared out of nowhere when you practiced Papillons here earlier.
One thing you took notice of were that the children of the town had been given little effigies on sticks to burn, uncomfortably human-shaped effigies at that. You tried to put your mind off it, telling yourself that plenty of small towns had strange customs dating far back like that.
Cadence in private handed you a special gown for your performance tonight, then once you were ready, led you out to an open-air stage where a grand piano had already been set up, with rows of other musicians taking their seats in the back. As you sat down and looked over the keys, a young boy only just of age, with sandy swept hair and clutching a trumpet, was led up and introduced to you.
"Clara Schumann, this is our Chosen One," Cadence said for him, "A promising young boy in town who has had the angels grace him with their presence, thus is fated to take the lead role in tonight's ceremony. Why don't you two say a few words, for our Chosen One has the right to get to know the musician who shall play his funeral hymn?"
You tensed as those words came out of nowhere. "H-Hold on, 'funeral hymn'?" you gasped.
"Ah, hello there, Miss," the young Chosen One mumbled as he greeted you, bowing his head low, as he took a shaking step towards you, "Er, e-everyone here says I'm the 'Chosen One', they keep telling me that, b-but my- my actual name is-
[ ] Harper
[ ] Gabriel
[ ] Apollo
[ ] Write-in
"Pleased to meet you," you said to him, if with some apprehension given what Cadence had just said.
"I-I mean, I am about to die, so…" the Chosen One said, his eyes glancing over to a group of townsfolk carrying over a stack of organ pipes with ropes around them, a bonfire being lit beneath, "So, I-I'm grateful to see that a nice lady like you will be performing for- for me being sacrificed…"
"Of course, dear Chosen One, all the best for your last night on Earth," Cadence smiled.
Wait, this boy- they were going to kill this boy? And Cadence knew all about this yet did nothing, said nothing? Worse, it sounded like they'd been raising this boy his whole life to be sacrificed… and somehow, it'd all gone over your head until it was too late.
Or was it too late? If what you'd been told was true, that this was your husband's dream, then you knew he wouldn't be anyone who'd want something as barbaric as this to happen. You had to do something, you wouldn't live with yourself if you just stood by and watched someone get killed like this. But first, you needed a distraction. Score Piece x1!
[ ] Slam down the piano to distract everyone.
[ ] Deal a sudden blow to Cadence, catch him off guard.
[ ] Delay Cadence with words, demand to know what the point behind all this is.
[ ] Run over and pre-emptively snuff out that bonfire.
[ ] Write-in
