#cryptid!valen

Arlecchino - The "Mad Hatter"/Knave (Berial/Pirin)

I talked about Berial having a banana-ish scent, but since Arlecchino seems much more serious, I don't think he has that. Instead, I could see his wood-scent being more burnt, combined with ash, blood, and smoke.

Florent - The Fair Gentleman (Ludovic/Pirin)

I'm feeling a mix of florals and fire, and possibly even carrion flowers that can smell like decaying flesh.

The Balladeer - The "Missing"/Kuker (Valen/Pirin)

While still having the wood-y scent I think Valen would have, its much more natural and primitive than cologne. Add a bit of hair, dirt, and sweat, and you know you've come across this cryptid.

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The only thing that went bye-bye, was the lipstick.

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Lore of the Knave - "Arlecchino"

|> Intro (origins?) story |> Resonance hall idle "animations" & "voice lines" |> "Voicelines" -Main theme- In-depth dive - Voice headcannons

====Resonance hall idles, affinity lines & "voicelines"=========

The Knave's ''animations''

1) One of Arlecchino's idles in res hall is him summoning little warblers (see "Secret, can you keep it?") and look at them perched on his finger/in his palm with this expressionless look. Maybe tiny hint of mournful/fond/pensive for a split second--Then curls his hand into a fist, the bird turning to magic dust that scatters out through his fingers upward and fades. As he turns back to the screen with his idle full-body pose. 2) Standing in that pose as in the picture above, but his eyes glance at the fire phantoms (similar to those in Arlecchino's boss fight trailer, fire-shadows with their hands over their chest and holding scythe?) that slowly emerge behind his back from him (like some dementors in a way) and he dispels/dismisses them with a wing, eyes closing as if in pain/agitated and looks back at the screen with his resting face.

What his summons kind of look like/idea-

The Knave's voice-lines

Deploy: "Noted." (Emotionless cold)

Upgrade: "Hm." (Contemplative but not ungrateful. Just not huge reaction/enthusiasm)

Ultimate: "Witness my rise." (Like how Arlecchino says it. It's almost a rough growl in a low voice, that tapers to how Berial sounds in his ult)

Defeated: "Another...cycle.." Previous defeated line "I will..come...back.." Victory: "What's our next objective?" (clinical again.)

First Recruitment: "Name your contract."

-Resonating Hall Idles-

1 "You have something to say? Go on. You have my full, undivided attention." (With his back to you, arms folded behind his back and tail on the ground and curled around his feet a bit. Then glances at the Player slightly over his shoulder as he crosses his arms, expectant and still waiting for you to speak up. Then his tail-tip gives a single tap on the ground as he sighs through his nose -suppressed sigh- and turns around to face the screen to assume his idle pose.)

2 "....." (The first idle I described with the birds)

3 "...." (The second with the shadows)

4 "Is this everything..?" (Emotionless, asking you if he's dismissed.)

---Affinity Gift---

General line: "......thanks."

When gifted fav item -Either a demon's eye or flower bouquet: "....Home......I can hear them sing..." (Closes his eyes with a wistful tint to his expression, as if recalling fond memories...and being hurt but smiles ever so subtly, a sad tired smile of longing.)

The far outskirts of Ryeham gaze on in their silence as the fields of wheat sway in Autumn's breeze.. The clattering of cow and sheep bells a distant yet clear echo, and with them, a ghostly tune.

"When you hear the rattle of heavy copper bells, the soft ringing of wistful longing, and the tapping of wood on ground rhythmic– Know, beware,

of the Demon dancer roaming nearby.

For the Boogieman, will lead you astray."

Two hands move- one clawed and one not, gestures shifting in a flow of muted language only the urban legend knows.

'But that's just hearsay, right?' A weary sigh from under the Tired mask. 'People really do tend to accuse of evil what they don't understand. Don't worry though– I don't bite at all.' A strained smile wan and slightly wry, face shifted to Happy once more. 'The most I can do is smack you with my staff, honestly– If you give me a reason to.'

The Missing lifts his stick– Tap-Tap. -And leans on it casually, moving his free hand to gesture.

So has anyone visited you these days at all? And why do you wear this mask? Do you take it off... ever?

– curious anon

Leaned on his staff, the masked figure stays still. The clatter of cattle bells softens after the first chime for 'hello!' Then the jolly mask shifts to blues and grays slightly from its yellow and orange colors, laughing grin wavering.

'Can't say, pretty much no one dares to set foot here. You've probably heard of the stories circling around Holistone and Ryeham.. But I guess a brave fellow or two stumble on this neck of the woods sometimes - always on a serendipitous adventure or another. Maybe a lumberjack, once in a blue moon - but keeps distance to not wander off too far. In case I happen to be wandering nearby.. not like it's hard to know either, honestly, I'm not the stealthiest person.' (The figure's mask turns deeper blue in color scheme, smile gone. It looks bereft, tired... a very faint voice softly drifting - It's hard to hear it from the bells' swaying, albeit lighter now. Little less loud compared to moments ago. I - We - used to be, though... I miss those good days, lounging at Traveler's Light, weaseling away from paperwork and living a laid-back life with sparks of duty or adventure here and there... A sigh comes from under the mask. ..Or from the mask itself...?)

'I rarely take my-our- mask off. It just feels wrong, strangely, and... I don't want to hurt the people who still remember me, seeing what I-" Was twisted into. Used to be. Am now. The cow and sheep bells clang, once. The masked person lifts his staff... and taps it on the ground twice, closing his eyes. 'Tap-tap....'

Lore of the Balladeer- "Kuker (Mummer)"

|> Intro (origins?) story |> Resonance hall idle "animations" & "voice lines" |> "Voicelines" -Main theme- In-depth dive - Voice headcannons |> Secondary theme (Battle/Intro theme)

====Resonance hall idles, affinity lines & "voicelines"=========

=-Resonance hall "animations" of the Mummer-=

0 | The Balladeer comes over to the screen/player from the distance, a small 'hop' or 'skip' to his steady strides. The bells on his thick leather belt make mild, friendly 'Clanng!' -'Clang!' -'Clanng!' sound with each movement as he does, punctuating his every unhurried step, along the stead light 'Tap!' -'Tap!' -'Tap!' of his staff. Has his Happy mask on, and then assumes his idle pose-- Holding the sturdy old wood stick with both hands and leaning on it. Like this-

1 | The Missing lets out a carefree, happy laugh as he leaps into a wild dance-- Hops from foot to foot, doing a sort of small 'hop' when lifting a leg where he holds that pose for a second before switching legs/feet; gives 'pauses' in-between where he does a jump in place with both feet together; And has his Happy mask on as he dances, letting out short, sharp cheery whistles and "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!", while the cow and sheep bells on belt clang and rattle with his rapid movements. Also grips onto his belt and scarlet sash at his waist with his left hand (not clawed), while his staff in the other (clawed), bringing the stick down as he does his foot from his 'hop' to strike the ground 'Tap-Tap!' as if to emphasize a 'pause' is coming. And then lets out a loud jovial, drawn out yell of "Heeee-E!" and another of those short, sharp whistles, very briefly lifting his mask up to reveal his face for a second at the last 'E!' of his call, revealing he's grinning. (Amused, in good, high-spirits, tiny hint of wistful fondness in his bright grin on that boyishly handsome face of his).

After that Valen heaves a small, quieter and calmer laugh in a chuckle, easing off from his dance to resume his idle pose of leaning on his ash or hickory stick--Like in this image:

2 | The Dancer is leaning on his stick, relaxed with Happy mask on as he leisurely looks around himself, his bells making soft ringing as he shifts his weight from foot to foot subtly, slightly.

Then he seems to look over his shoulder as if having heard something/someone, and his Happy mask turns to his 'default' Angry one; The Mummer lifts his right hand, the fur of his long sleeve falling back to reveal his clawed hand a little-- And Valen sternly wags his finger to whatever/whoever he's looking at as if to say "Watch it.", or "Behave yourself." then slowly turns his head back to the player/screen, mask shifting back to Happy as he once again is gripping his staff with both hands.

-The Balladeer's voice-lines -

Deploy: Cheerful racket of mildly clattering cow and sheep bells, plus a small short, sharp whistle - Before Happy mask switches to Angry, staff turning to spear like in his story, held like the lowered horns of a bull. Aggressively in intimidation, threatening.

Defeated: "I'm...sorry I..failed...(Rest. We'll try again..)" The quiet, soothingly tender and mournful faint echo to say this (The player has to seriously strain to hear it under Val's strained voice and final 'Clang!' of his bells.) As the Kuker crumbles to his knees, holding onto his staff- a regular sturdy stick again- hunched over, mask going from Angry to sad to Tired, eyes closed.

Ultimate (Applies "Frighten" and makes both front & backline units scatter in terror. Three small red lightning bolts hover over Valen's head to indicate his skill is still active as he chases around the enemies, and the debuff is up. Similar to Sinbad's attack skill. The player can sometimes hear a small furious 'Raaargh!' yell from him, sort of like Grannie Dahnie and her taunts.):

Makes a cacophonous sound that's an amalgamation on furious yell, Grief-filled wailing and cheerful, carefree laughter all at once; This is in conjunction with the loud, aggressive clanging and rattling of the cow and sheep bells on his belt, as the Kuker charges swiftly straight at the enemies, spear lowered.

(Also I think it'd be kinda funny to watch him hop from foot to foot quickly while making this ruckus, like some cartoon nonsense, as he chases after a unit. The enemy hero in question, however, won't be having fun being charged/rushed/chased around by a 'bull'.) Upgrade: Does a small happy dance. (Thanks.)

Victory: "Hey! Hey! Hey! Heeee-E! (heheh.)" Assumes that pose as in his happy dance/first recruitment. The voice echoing underneath his and the bells' 'Clanng!' is mildly amused.

First recruitment: 'Clanng-Clanng-Clanng!'

(*sighh.* Be serious.) "Heh." :D Then switches into his angry pose with a slow flourish for dramatic effect-

---Affinity Gift---

Favorite item (Teacup and or flower bouquet): Does a small lively dance then signs 'Thanks! I really like it- Much appreciated!' quickly, then pauses for a second as if suddenly realizing/remembering something and gives a big thumbs up to the player.

General item: Has his happy mask on, gives a small solemn nod while leaning on his staff that he holds with both hands. Then does a small 'Tap-Tap!' with it kind of idly, but a softer tap.

Despised item (Graveborn lantern, Celestial sword and Demon eye): "....." The Happy mask slowly morphs to mildly Angry, as in displeased and disapproving, leaning on his staff as he does like in his idle. But gives a more firm 'Tap-Tap.' with it. His mask is kind of a mix of Angry and Tired in terms of expression.

The Missing is, perhaps, the only Lightbearer unit to have a despised item(s) at all to begin with. Let alone be unhappy with the sword of the Celestials as much as the Hypogeans' amulet.

Official tags for The Balladeer cryptid: The "Balladeer", "Missing", The "Dancer" , project "harbringer" , "Kuker", Demon-Dancer, Demon warden, The Mummer

The other Cryptids' ask blogs |> The Damoiseau - "The Blind prophet" |> The Knave - Arlecchino / The "Mad-Hatter" |> The Marionet - Executioner/ The "Debt-collector" |> The Fair Gentleman / Unbound Will- of wisp

Again, most if not all is from my chat with @bunnybird-afk. It all started with me writing the "Damoiseau" and his story, then I chose to keep the 'trend'. So it's mostly lore(?), nerding out about this cryptid.

"Also here's clips of Mummers and their games + dances-- To help add to how Valen- The Balladeer looks and sounds like when dancing/chasing off/after evils:

-This is also a documentary on them. At 4:24 starts the dance part

5:15 starts a different part

6:50 starts another dance part

7:24 part ends.

It's pretty much those/ the moves aren't very different. Clanging/rattling of bells -Jumping, ''wild-dancing''

just focus on the dances/Mummers. Not the text

...Simply imagine: You're in Ryeham or Holistone's turf/Remnant Peak, and hear this 'hellish'/'ungodly' racket or also see this masked fur-figure dancing 'wildly' while making THAT sound on top of his ruckus while tapping the stick on the ground. " -Finch

And here Bunnybird opened my eyes with something I overlooked-

"Also the idea that it originally was for young boys to represent them maturing into adults, and now Val dons the outfit while 'maturing' from a man to a cryptid." -Bunnybird (I really didn't clock this in at first. But I love this concept so much, it fits right in!)

And I'll just spoil my responses to asks as him with this tid-bit but eh.

"The Balladeer's responses would likely involve him communicating through dance/movement or signing ...in a lingo he knows/made up. Tho he CAN talk.

If asked why he mostly doesn't, he'd probably say something about his voice being.. "....I don't want to scare others with Death speaking.."

And always will have the ghostly song play/linked in his posts." -Finch "And these guys are.. not sure what kind of ballpark outside of their shtick being cryptids/SCP-sort of things."

Merlinverse lore/ ideas/ possibilities for the Balladeer=

Starting with his relation to Sena.

"If Sena is still Val's dad in this au, then he is firstly horrified at what his boy had to go through to get to this point. But afterwards, when Val has accepted his role as a guardian of Holistone/Ryeham? He's weirdly proud. Like Sena tends to minimize his divinity and his 'old habits' (*cough* being unapologetically Desi *cough*) but seeing Val as the Balladeer?? It would probably awaken that old latent spark of his again. Especially the bells since I headcanon Sena as knowing how to dance Kathakali.

Just Sena playing more into the fact that he's a god of the old faiths and now that his son has embraced a role that fits into an old faith (not his but still), it'd probably let Sena feel more comfortable slipping into his old self too." -Bunny

"And given he sees Pirin as his son too.. "The Balladeer- Two sons for the price of one!" :D (Morbid joke but..I mean.)

And since i'm subverting who could be who-- Valen was originally supposed to be Damoiseau while Soren's Arlecchino.. Berial was initially going to be the mummer and by extension, the Balladeer.

So why not make Berial, this gleeful mischief-maker clown, as the coldly-calm and stern/stoic Arlecchino? And by proxy home-in on Pirin's fire/rebirth/death themes plus combat? (Besides cold-bloodedness.)" -Finch. Yup. Val was originally supposed to be the Damoiseau (Inspired heavily from Collumbina, the Damsellette. Except somehow it didn't sit well/too cliché or obviously on the nose.)

"This whole project gives me heavy uhh.. scientist fuses his daughter with their dog in the name of science FMA episode vibes... Sans the close relations part."

"Next on the block for this is Valen-- Kuker. The fusion could happen sort of Majora's mask way or like in ... Occarina of time I think? Where you collect the masks of various dead people, and when you put it on, you become that person."