Meylany Bellgar

Meylany Jozadryn Bellgar (a.k.a. Mey

Relie Dyffoner, Shelley Brath, Pascatte Billings, Milada Vitova, Rima Raik, Pathma Suttirat, Carys Quinn, etc

)

Meylany Bellgar and the air of mystery she has cultivated intrigues many. Her enigmatic smile, the subtle tones of her instrument, her quiet reserve; all paint an intriguing picture. When she dashes out of each concert, it only fuels the need for fans to find out who she is.

— From an article about the Solemika Seven, early in their rise to fame

"That girl certainly is something. What, exactly, I'm not even sure she knows."

— Gwenlenda, band manager

When the Solemika Seven rose to fame, most of the band members relished the attention. Meylany Bellgar defied tradition by avoiding the spotlight to the best of her ability. She gives out few autographs, fewer interviews, and indeed rarely interacts with the public outside of performances. Strange, when considering how central her role is.
Her instrument is a particular horn of what many assume to be a magical variety. She can use this horn to play almost any kind of sound, and fills in the pieces of music that the others can't play. It is a remarkable instrument and was nearly stolen from her at one point, but she was able to keep hold of it.
But Meylany is more than just an instrumentalist, and her tale is a fascinating one.

The Beginnings of a Bard

Even a charming face has to put in the work in a world full of princesses.

— Professor Shamrock, music department, Hall of Light University

I just don't understand why she ran off.

— Meylany's father

Meylany started as a poor orphan in Maraphel. Music was her escape. Busking earned her enough money to feed herself and allow her to travel.

As she grew, she became more and more determined to explore the music that had saved her. She narrowly managed to get a small scholarship to study magical music at the Hall of Light, primarily a magic academy. Apparently the scholarship was a fairly common one that's easy to get.
Hard work and a lot of practice saw her to graduation, but her singular focus left her without many friends. She was unable to find a patron for her music, and was forced to wander again.
Eventually, she found her way to Solemika.
And of course, this is the absolute truth, but if it wasn't, the story might go a bit differently.

Meylany's parents are still alive. Decent people, but with fifteen children it's easy to see how they lost track of #5. Their finances were a bit strained even before a low-talent scammer persuaded her mother to accidentally give away their money. Meylany's response was "I bet I could do that but better." Possibly coming from her own intellect and pride, and possibly from the idea that if she conned others, they couldn't con her.
By her early teens she had run away from home and hopped from scheme to scheme, reaching for grander and grander targets with each attempt. As testament to her growing skill, she became harder and harder to track as her career continued. At one point she joined a larger group of criminals but broke from that group and then refused to work with anyone else.
She did continue to escalate the level of crimes she attempted, culminating in stealing the Horn of Mezkeni from the cult that guarded it. She got away cleanly, and it is unclear as to whether the cult even realizes that the Horn is missing.

Tales of Adventure

"Everyone has their moment to shine. Ours is when I can find a support musician and backup singer."

— Glowrandel, about a half hour before meeting Meylany.

A thief steals and runs, but a grifter can rob someone blind, shake their hand, and walk away with smiles all around. It's an art, rated with the greats of sculpture, poetry, music, all of it. All of the great artists are liars in the end.

— Unknown source, attributed to Michael the Hero

This is the moment when the Solemika Seven enter the picture. Formed by Glowrandel the elf, he had the name in mind from the very start. The problem was, he only found five other musicians willing to work with him, which was only six and while still alliterative was apparently not good enough for him. So he held auditions.
For Meylany's audition, it is said that the entire lounge fell quiet when they heard her rendition of The Stabman's Lament.
Their first gig, a month later, was larger than they'd anticipated. Glowrandel had inadvertently booked them at a music festival instead of a much lower pressure tavern setting. The band rose to the occasion, and their star rose.

And of course that's all there is to it, because despite how private she is, her personal history is an open book, and there's nothing that she deliberately left out or altered at all.

Meylany was literally walking away from her heist of the Horn of Mezkeni. She'd so thoroughly fooled the cult that they actually helped her leave the building.
And then a crazy elf grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into a tavern. Glowrandel did get punched, but he was suitably apologetic about the whole thing and begged her to audition. He'd seen the confidence in her walk, the instrument case at her side, and he desperately needed the seventh member of the band to be competent.
Meylany never backed down from a challenge, especially when it would help her theft, so she performed despite never having played an instrument before. Thanks to the Horn and its particular qualities, she excelled, and before she realized what was happening she signed on as the seventh band member.
Then, of course, came their spectacular inaugural performance. With her fame set and her face known, she was now firmly trapped as Meylany Bellgar, musician.

Legends Yet to be Told

"We'll be legends!"

— The band members, after their first performance

"Do you want to die in a ditch somewhere?"
"At least then I'll have some privacy!"

— Conversation between Traffne Snevus and Meylany

Meylany is young, and there are many songs yet to be sung. There have been a few peculiarities about her that may lead to future adventures. The band, like most, often gets involved in local adventures and end up fighting their way out of things and causing wars and invading ancient dungeons.
There are, on occasion, past incidents that Meylany will refer to, places she has been and people she has met, that have no particular explanation. This only adds to the air of mystery around her, since it's entirely possible that she is making it up in the grand tradition of the bard, but her storytelling is as rich as her music.
When her bandmate Alshia was kidnapped by a stalker, Meylany quietly retrieved her, with such subtlety that the kidnapper came to a concert the next day and didn't realize she'd been freed. Alshia remembered little other than a blue wig and a half bottle of vodka. Meylany was also possibly involved in the ousting of the band's manager. One day he was stealing from the band and the next he had sworn himself to The Cult of Terb and had donated all his worldly possessions to a business that dealt in ghost elimination.
Rumors surround her. Some of the odder ones include theories that she is some kind of supernatural force who either joined the band to protect them or else to steal the music from their souls
Are there any other rumors about Meylany? Of course not. She has an impeccable reputation. People like her, and are exceedingly quick to dismiss the more tawdry rumors.

This portion of the narrative is actually fairly accurate, albeit missing several key details that could only be provided by a highly uncooperative subject. Meylany is well and truly trapped in this identity, unable to find a way to gracefully leave the band in such a way that will regain her anonymity and not disappoint the people she's grown increasingly close to (even if not quite close enough to tell them the truth about herself).
There's also suspicion from her bandmates. Dag Mention, in particular, is prone to asking awkward questions. After Meylany saved his older sister, he was grateful, but he wanted to know more. The burgeoning romantic interest he has in her isn't helping to deter him, either.
Meylany is trying to find a way out of her predicament, preferably without harming the band or drawing attention to herself. She's starting out behind, however, because the Horn of Mezkeni is more than she was led to believe. Her sources told her that it was rare and valuable but ultimately harmless.
It isn't.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Meylany is fully capable of running away from anyone, whether crazed fans or law enforcement. She maintains a slim figure that draws admiring glances and makes her look too delicate to manage threats on her own, but she's also capable of pulling herself up the side of a mountain freehand.

Body Features

Deliberately indeterminate. No tattoos, no visible birthmarks or moles, no physical abnormalities. Meylany goes out of her way to avoid marks, including scars. At one point she paid a mad scientist a lot of money to eliminate the result of a small mark on her finger from an ironing mistake.

Identifying Characteristics

Well, she's very pretty. Hard to describe, but pretty.

Meylany has changed her appearance a number of times. Nothing as extreme as surgery, but her hair color changes with every new persona, and she's well accustomed to color-change contacts for her eyes. Freckles, the odd mole, an occasional temporary tattoo have all been part of various looks. She's adept at using makeup to further influence her appearance, even taking courses in different styles to let it flow easily.
Currently, as Meylany, her hair is rather unruly thanks to hair product. Her skin is clear of any marks, and her makeup is designed to make her look delicate and pale and fresh. Or something like that. The closest thing she has to an identifying feature is the necklace she wears: a triangular gold pendant set with an agate gemstone. It's how she keeps track of the Horn.

Mental characteristics

Education

Meylany attended the Hall of Light in Maraphel, majoring in musical magic, or magical music depending on who is asked. She apparently achieved grades on the low to average side of things. Not someone who would be terribly well remembered by any of the instructors as either a joy to have in class or as a horrific failure.
But actually...

She had no formal education and can't technically play an instrument. Meylany has a good ear for music, but she can barely read music. Her education was extensive but spotty, and consisted of things like lock picking and burglary and how to read a mark. She is very well read, at least, and her study of language while informal is to be envied.

Employment

Meylany has been the backing musician for the Solemika Seven for two years now. Before that, she barded in assorted towns across Chemnos, Maraphel, and Ankhenstrom.
[spoiler/She's a con artist and a thief, but not a guild member. She started young, and by the time she found out that there were qualifications and certifications and unions to register with, she had already defrauded some very powerful people, and informing the world with official documentation would lead to very bad things happening to her, even if Evil is an official political party. She's not even a musician.|She is, in fact, a member of the band. Really. That part of her life is very true.[/spoiler]

Accomplishments & Achievements

She was a rather unknown musician before joining the Solemika Seven, which was probably why she was willing to give the band a chance. Now she's a notable figure.

Meylany's primary achievement is going unnoticed in most of her schemes. There's an elderly couple out there who still think sweet young Milada Vitova was a child who didn't know the value of the immense diamond she walked off with. And that she wasn't aware of how the couple had received it as payment for sacrificing their servants in a ritual.
However, Pascatte Billings achieved a significant bounty on her head before disappearing into thin air outside of Berniton with the prize for the Tri-Annual Berniton Cannibal Hunt. Carys Quinn caught the eye of an unfortunate princeling and is still known for breaking his heart. And Pathma Suttirat is still infamous for the way she humiliated a prominent professor of engineering as the eminent university of Ember Hollow.
Meylany has achieved a great deal. It's simply that most of it is on the infamous side of things.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Meylany is motivated purely by her love of music. She didn't join the band for fame, keeping herself as far out of the spotlight as possible. She didn't do it for fortune, usually giving away the majority share of her earnings and keeping a small living. She has made it quite clear on several occasions that she wants to fully explore the nature of music and the unique energy therein.
But if she did have other motivations, or perhaps a secret past, they might look something like this.

Meylany wants to stay alive, and ahead of the people who might figure out her connections to suspicious activity in the past. At present she is heavily motivated to figure out what is going on with her instrument, as it has recently begun causing random magical effects at the concert venues, and it's bringing a lot of attention.

Savvies & Ineptitudes

Excellent linguist, very adaptable, and very good at helping other people to adapt even in a crisis.

Virtues & Personality perks

Meyleny puts great value on secrets and privacy and will keep another's secret to her grave unless they give her leave to speak about it. She's a gracious conversationalist, easy to talk to. Afraid of very little, but kind to those who are afraid of more than she is. Her charm, when she chooses to use it, is sensational and usually leaves people utterly relaxed.

Vices & Personality flaws

Lying is her default. She's clever about it, mixing in enough truth that she can usually back it up even when she's spouting off in the moment, but she has to think very carefully before she tells the truth about something. She also doesn't think things through nearly enough. Just enough effort to consider a plan, get the layout, and then jump right in.
So far, she's been intelligent enough that she's avoided most scrapes, but there have been some very narrow escapes, and most of those could have been avoided if she just took a breath.
Meylany panics easily, which probably contributes to the above two points. She's careful not to show it so one might be tricked into assuming that she is entirely calm, but she does get herself worked up very easily.

Personality Quirks

When introduced to someone, she has a tendency to look down, left or right, then up, before making eye contact. She's quick enough about it that not many people notice.

Social

Family Ties

Meylany is an orphan, with no remaining family to her name. She is alone in the world, save for her friends and bandmates, who have become family to her.
But if she did have a family, it might look something like this.

She's the fifth child of fifteen. They could have had a moderate middle class living, but that many children put a strain on finances. Beyond that, Meylany's parents trusted the wrong people, who stole what money they had. Meylany saw that, and at a young age decided that was the best way to get the safety and security she desired. She hasn't seen her family in years now, preferring to keep what she has for herself in case her parents' naivete costs them everything. If it comes to emergencies, she'll always send what they need.

Speech

Meylany's voice is soft and quiet, difficult to hear in chaotic situations. Her accent places her from Andorat City in Maraphel, which is consistent with her education there. Her voice has a musical, lilting quality to it, and although she is not a vocalist, interviewers frequently remark that they expect her to burst into song at any moment.
The voice is a tool of the bard, and Meylany has a lot of practice using hers.

Her voice is whatever she wants it to be. Meylany has significant practice in shaping her tone and volume and style of speech to whatever personality her current mark would best respond to. Her knowledge of languages helps and allows her to adapt more fluidly to the personas that she crafts, and she's adept at keeping to the patterns of each one.

Her own natural accent has modulated so much that it would be nearly impossible for someone to tell where she was really from. When speaking directly, as herself, her voice is clear, a precise alto with neatly enunciated words and a large vocabulary. She has a way of speaking that makes it easy to hear her, despite not shouting.

Alignment

Neutral to Chaotic Good

Current Status

Defending herself from members of an ancient cult who want her for their ancient prophecy

Species

Human

Age

Probably about 24, maybe (or perhaps 27?)

Gender

female

Eyes

Dark gray

Hair

Dyed dark brown, curly, long

Aligned Organization

Solemika Seven

Known Languages

More than she lets on. It's a particular talent of hers, understanding languages, including body language and the more arcane languages that can only be spoken by sentient trees. Meylany makes a point of not telling anyone about most of her comprehension in this regard because it's a lot easier for her to eavesdrop if people have no reason to suspect that she understands them.

Ruled Locations

• Disember Inn