#violince

Today's case comes in the form of a very old letter. The author of this letter, an illegitimate son of some English noble, a talented violinist, as a youth was summoned to audition for Royal Court Orchestra of the Palatinate (Germany).

That summer he left his home in Alnwick Abbey in company of his music teacher, Mr Bardwell, who appeared to be one of those miserable people who feel the need to lift themselves up by putting others down. Bardwell spent a chunk of their journey trying to convince the author that he didn't actually have talent, just a good teacher (himself). (Aside: considering that Author's whole career was carried by magic instrument, Bardwell might have been actually right about that, I'll give him that).

As autumn and their destination grew nearer, Bardwell grew more distant, occasionally muttering to himself or spacing out as if 'listening to distant music'. This culminated one night in a violent fit of uncontrolled movement and incoherent words, which ended with the Bardwell flinging himself from a moving carriage and bashing his head open on the rocks.

The coachman, convinced he just witnessed a murder, attacked the Author. The fight led to his death and spooked the horses, which run off into the night, taking the empty carriage with them. Left alone with two corpses, the Author set off on foot through the woods.

Eventually he came upon a campfire tended by what appeared to be a distinguished English gentleman - nice, generous fellow who offered to share a meal, and effortlessly coaxed out of the Author his entire life story. Then, among many mentions of 'luck' and 'fortune', offered him a gift - a beautiful violin, which he pulled out of an 'unusually shaped sack' filled with various knick-knacks. The Author was then sent on his way, and less than a day later he arrived at the Manheim School.

The rest is history. The violin was, of course, a cursed object, which played amazing, mesmerizing music, but demanded blood in return, and if denied, it took its toll anyway, by compelling the audience to mindless acts of violence (including oral eye removal - don't think I didn't notice that little detail).

And as is often the case, the Author was not completely satisfied with the magic that entered his life, because it 'only' brought him fame. It didn't give him the status he believe he deserved, as the 'upper crust' of society whom he played for never thought of him as 'one of us' and never noticed nor appreciated the blood sacrifice he made with each performance.

Honestly, the Author had no right to complain about that, as he himself started teaching music to those he considered below him specifically so that he could occasionally murder 'someone unimportant' to feed the violin and spare himself some pain.

And so he continued for the rest of his life (I presume), praying on the poor, playing for the rich. At some point one of his noble half-siblings sent their son to spend one summer with the Author, so yay family ties.

As he grew old, the Author decided to write a will, in which he left the hungry-hungry-violin to the aforementioned nephew, together with a letter explaining the nature of the thing (which was rather kind of him, really, most inherited cursed objects don't come with a warning, in my experience). And then, presumably, he died, and the violin changed hands, one way or another.

So that's the story of a nameless bastard [both meanings]. Let's forget all about him and focus on the important bits, in reverse order of interest:

4.) Who put the letter online and why? It's either some sinister figure doing it for sinister purposes, or just some poor history student innocently digitizing documents found in a tiny local museum somewhere for extra credit. There are no in-betweens.

3.) How did the murder-feeding work? Was it more 'kill a man and bleed him on the strings for 3 months' worth of recitals', or more 'chain them up in the attic and bleed them bit by bit before each performance till dead'? No theories from me, just something to ponder.

2.) What happened with Bardwell? He 100% heard the violin and was compelled by its music. Was it just because it was near, or was the Gentleman playing it, waiting in the woods? Was the intent there specifically to kill the man, or was he just driven to find the source of music, and it was just too bad for him that this included jumping from a moving vehicle? And finally, why did it affect him and not the other two men present? Possibilities:

Maybe he had, at some point in his life, come in contact with this or similar artefact and was marked by it.

Maybe he made a deal with some stranger, accruing a debt that he didn't quite pay off and it's now come due.

Maybe he sat in the audience once, as a child, listening to strange music played by red-stained fingers, which he was never able to forget.

Or maybe it was just something about him - like his love of music combined with ego and jealousy - that made him particularly susceptible to the lure.

My money is on option nr 3; I wonder if we'll ever know.

1.) last but no least: Who was the Gentleman?

I don't know, but I love this guy just on principle. He is so very 'magic salesman' 'devil in disguise' 'stranger danger' folklore staple!

I guarantee that no matter where you're from, he'd greet you in your own language, claim kinship and wear exactly the kind of clothes that made him seem trustworthy in your eyes. You'd sell your soul to this fucker before you could blink and wouldn't realize till it was way too late.

I'm getting very strong 'actual-supernatural-being, not human-turned-other' vibes from him, and I'm really stoked about it. (I have nothing to back it up, maybe it's just all the stories featuring various devils/spirits/similar that I read as a kid that make me biased).