Sen of the Silver String

Royal musician that became Gray

Born with a silver spoon

Sen was born as a third of four children of a small noble family in The Kingdom of Fimra, back when it still existed. Since his two older brothers would inherit most of the family fortune and businesses, his future was a little less clear. Luckily, his passion for music was discovered fairly quickly and his parents decided to hire various tutors that would help him turn this passion into something more tangible. And while he never had any talent for improvising, his great memory let him learn an enormous library of pieces.
Back when he was a teenager, his parents would often show his musical abilities to their guests during parties. It was at one of such parties that Sen was spotted by someone who had contacts in the royal court. A few musical trials later, a few more conversations and checks of his background to see if he's not a spy or that he doesn't work against the kingdom and Sen became a newly-hired royal musician.

A royal musician

Queen Rhoana loved to throw parties for all of her children (she adopted more than 50 of them over her 200 years of rule), so there was always some work for Sen and his coworkers. As long as he had to play with the rest of the musicians, he didn't have to worry about his inability to improvise. The few times he was ordered to play something new, he mostly mixed parts of pieces he knew, hoping the result would be different enough that no one would notice. Of course, there were some who did, but the negative comments showed up very rarely.
8 years later, he somehow was chosen as the next royal master conductor. He only managed to perform twice before something happened. After that second show, when some of the fans approached him to talk about the concert, Sen suddenly fainted.

Fading

When he woke up, he was in his bed. His body felt weak, but he could still move. A doctor came in. According to his records, Sen was Fading. The ends of his fingers, toes, and hair already turned Gray. He had at most a month or two before he'd die. He tried to contact anyone for help. Sadly, back then the price of Honey Savior (flower), the only cure for Fading, was at its highest, having so many in need of it and so few willing to risk their lives to go get them. And so, the Grayness stole more and more of his body, until it covered all of it.
But Sen didn't die. Instead, he became a Gray. He left his bed, the castle, the city. He was a shell of a man, not knowing his own name, even though the ones close to him called him as he left.

An unnamed Gray

For the next 3 years, he almost completely disappeared. During that time, he managed to track down and kill two Witchkiller beasts and survive. His weapons changed often but all of them were something he had previous contact with as a noble, either during the hunts or fencing lessons.

The final concert

Not long after succeeding on his second hunt, Sen felt his end coming. All of the Grays live for only a limited time and his limit was at most a day from now. Still, he continued his journey, knowing he won't reach his next target. While in a city he wanted to use to restock his supplies, he noticed a shop selling musical instruments. During those last 3 years, he would never pay attention to a place like that, and yet, something woke up inside of him. A memory of who he was before he became a Gray.
He entered the shop. Its owner, surprised by him, asked if he wants to know where the closest blacksmith can be found. Sen ignored him, looking around at the merchandise. His eyes stopped at a violin. It was a simple instrument, but looking at it, brought another wave of memories. He asked for its price. The shopkeeper answered, and a pouch full of coins fell on his counter. Not wanting to anger a Gray and telling himself that the violin will probably be used somehow to kill a beast, he gave it to Sen. Sen thanked him, and left.
As soon as he stepped out of the shop, Sen started playing the instrument. The song started familiar. It was one of the pieces that were always requested at the royal court. His music started turning heads of the passerby towards him. But as they were getting accustomed to the song and as it reached its slower part, he changed it. The new piece was something one of his tutors taught him back when he was a child. And this piece too didn't stay for long, passing the stick to another one. And another one.
During the sixth piece, Sen noticed something wrong. One of the strings started going out of tune and with a quick glance, he knew why. There was a slight discoloration on it, where his fingers would touch the most. It was turning Gray. Still, he played using it until the hollow sound would be more noticeable to others listening. And then he started playing another piece without using it. But soon, the second string would meet the same fate. To work around it, Sen started straying from the memorized notes of the piece. For the first time in his life, he truly improvised.
Becoming Gray, and experiencing the Silver sheen, was what truly let him shine for the first time. When he reached the finale, there were only two strings still working, and the last notes were played on only one. And as the piece ended, he stopped where he stood. He was dead, his body crumbling into ash. A listener closest to him managed to catch the violin before it fell to the ground.

Sen's last concert by Revyera

Current Status

Dead

Species

Beteclaw

Conditions

• Fading

Ethnicity

Gray

Gender

Male

Eyes

Before fading: Amber, almost golden
After fading: Gray

Hair

Before fading: Waist-long, curly auburn mane
After fading: The length didn't change, the mane is way messier and lost all of its color, turning Gray

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Before fading: Tan, close to the color of a biscuit
After fading: Gray

Height

1,9m

Belief/Deity

Green Bard of Six Monochromes

Personality

Even though he was shy, Sen used to be very talkative, so anyone who managed to break his outer shell had to be prepared for a waterfall of stories, rumors, and facts that seemed curious to him. He had a great memory, not only for the music but for anything people told him. There were a few times were higher-ups considered him for a role of a spy, but in the end, both his shy nature and tendency to talk a lot (even though he was smart enough not to babble out anything he shouldn't) were what ultimately decided against that idea.

Gray Sen by Revyera

A violin with one non-Gray string

After his death, the violin he played during his last performance was sent back to the royal palace of Fimra and was displayed in its gallery. There were some that tried to recreate Sen's last performance from the description of its witnesses and the shop owner, but no one ever managed to do that and even if they did, no one would really know.
Four years before the fall of Fimra, the violin was moved, apparently into someone's private collection, though its current location and state are unknown.