Marcel is, as many would discover, an odd sort of person. His years in domestic services has given him an tendency to the subtle, acting only when asked to, or when it is required of him. Trained into him are all the characteristics of a good servant, except that he is one to get his way. Unable to act overtly in his years under Harding, his social skills grew covert. His years as a performer, however, has given him a great love of attention, a trait that counter-balances his training. But the two qualities do not always act anithetically, often his patience and subtly allows him to set a situation up in which he can entertain an audience far greater thatn if he were to act impulsively. Taking the opportunity suddenly, and from the perspective of most people, almost spontaneously. But until the blatant, subtlety is his way. His music reflects his personality, in that it often works slowly and delicately, soothing harmonies that unfold into something striking. His magic too, are both able to be showy and hardly noticable at all. He is a person simultaneously easy going, and spontaneous, though the truth is closer to the former than the latter.
Beyond his outward personality, he highly values music, the understanding of it, the practice of it, the perfection of it. Many qualities of his love for his art can be easily compared to a mage and his magic. Marcel would regard such a comparison as accurate, as according to him, all is a song. Music being as important to the fabric of reality as some sorcerors would claim their own art to be. --to be continued--
The musician of Trinsic, Marcel White is the fourth child of the roustabout Gaspard White and barmaid Mireille Swordhold. The timing of his birth was unfortunate. His birth occured the day of his brother Victor’s death. Mirielle's side of the family found this fact ominous, a warning of a dark future. They believed the child would become destructive or evil. From his birth on, the Swordholds saw a dark cloud hovered over the son, because of this they would have nothing to do with Marcel. His mother did not share their fears, or at least did not let on that she did. She was more protective and attentive with her son than she ever was with her daughters. The favoritism inspired a great deal of sibling rivalry between the three. It was widely believed that her actions were influenced by her family’s superstitions trying to prove them wrong, others, such as Gaspard believed that she was so protective of Marcel as a sort of grieving for the death of Marcel's brother Victor.
After a time, Gaspard became worried about the effects of such attention. Mireille’s disinterest in Jeanette and Alexandrine, also weighed on him. In an attempt to balance, he focused all the hours he was not working on Jeanette and Alexandrine. Out of this, he began to appreciate their potential and with the help of Swordhold side of the family, he had Jeanette apprenticed within the Society of Sacrifice, and Alexandrine went into training as a paladin.
By the time Marcel was of the same age, he had grown demanding and spoiled by his mother. Gaspard having been watching his son grow so since he was born, decided that to make him a better man than himself, he must learn humility and discipline. There were many ways to go about this, but perhaps due to his sympathy for his daughters he decided that Marcel become a trained servant. There was much protest, after all, his sisters were being trained by the great institutions. At the age of twelve, Marcel began training as a hall boy in the house of Lord Adelmar Vipond. Lord Vipond’s housekeeper was a family friend of aunt Ora, who at the time helped for Mirielle’s sake. However, Ora would later claim that it was actually her recommendation. “What better occupation is there for a child of such ominous birth than be a servant of someone so noble as Lord Vipond?”
Marcel was apprenticed under an exceptional strict housekeeper named Harding. The man had an appreciation for discipline and a canine attitude regarding life and loyalty. Harding acted as a foil to Marcel’s attempts of cunning and deceit. Lies proving ineffective with Harding, his more deceitful attempts eventually gave way to honest charm and persuasive arguments. The relationship had the ironic effect of being practice for his persuasive skills, an asset he would use later in life to great effect. Manipulations aside, the relationship between the two, though antagonistic at times, would later bloom into something similar to a mentorship. The first two years of his training were relatively uneventful. In fact, it was quite boring. The frequent letter received from the family, speaking of what a great deed Alexandrine has accomplished, or what Jeanette is said to be working on, only underlined the fact that his training had so far been very dull. This didn’t seem to sit right for Marcel. His master was an owner of an airship, and was spoken of as if he were some “adventuring noble.” He would later find out that that Vipond was no adventurer, he simply owned an airship and enjoyed touring about. But, at the time, he thought he was on the outside of a fantastic life, cleaning the dishes of an adventurer who just wouldn’t invite him. According to young Marcel, he was being cheated out of an adventure filled childhood, like those in the stories.
It was late in the second year that Lord Vipond purchased a harpsichord. It was nothing out of the ordinary for Lord Vipond to buy whatever strikes his fancy, or bring back something from his travels. The house was full of artifacts, paintings and the like from all around Britannia. But this was the first time that one of the purchases actually interested Marcel, as it was the first musical instrument Lord Vipond had gotten. Marcel felt an instant connect with the instrument, and immediately went ahead to strike a few keys. Harding stopping him, had to explain that it was not his position to play with Lord Vipond’s “toys.” Marcel nearly begged, and tried to explain how he bring no harm to it. Harding, as he had grown quite fond of Marcel, went to speak with his master. Lord Vipond concluded that Marcel could play it. But there were two rules, both he must never break or else he is to never play the instrument again: guests must not know he plays it, and the master of the house must not hear it. Marcel and Harding, gave their word.
It was during the summer of the seventh year of his employment when the rules were finally broken. The master had promised Lord Kazic of Avalon lodging for the summer while Lord Vipond himself would be in Westport. Lord Kazic was one that strived to never be called tardy, so he arrived a week earlier than planned. Arriving as he did, he ended up catching the sound of Marcel playing music. Though it was not long before Harding had someone sent to silence Marcel, Lord Kazic still heard enough to become curious. As would anyone who would hear a delightful melody abruptly stop and a door slam shortly thereafter. For the next few weeks of his stay, he did grow uncertain if he had heard it at all. He would commonly ask the staff about it during the day, but they would protect Marcel’s privilege and avoid his questions. Lord Kazic was not one to let a mystery stay unsolved and devised a plan. He decided to tell the staff that he would be out of the house for the weekend, only to return the same night under a spell of invisibility. That night, as all had gone precisely as he intended, he heard the music once more. He followed the sounds as quietly as he could. Up the stairs, down two halls, he found the door wide open, and a white haired servant playing to an audience composed of the entire staff. The music stopped abruptly to gasps, and Marcel nearly fell over when Lord Kazic suddenly appeared in the room. Not allowing the silence to linger, Lord Kazic began to offer the young musician employment in his house. The offer included free room and board, and the position of house musician. He would be required to entertain both guests and those living on the grounds. Payment included a weekly stipend ten times the amount he had made in the last month, and he would be thought of as a senior servant. The silence that followed the offer froze the room still, and it was almost half an hour before Marcel asked, “Lord, may you allow me the night to sleep on it?”
Marcel moved to Avalon the following autumn. Harding and the staff were greatly displeased, but Harding thought it was best for him to pursue his talents. On the day that he left, Harding began to practice on the harpsichord to fill the silence. The two have since kept correspondence, sending each other music they’ve composed as well as letters. In general, Harding took Marcel’s move to Avalon far less harshly than the Swordholds. Swordhold side of the family found the fact that he was being disloyal to his master distasteful. However, his mother used the news as evidence of her son’s good qualities. This became an irritation to of Marcel’s sisters who quickly got tired of their mother boasting about Marcel. The move and his musical talent did not do much for mending the family.
--to be continued--