Ligeia
An artist with a luring voice
Ligeia - Daughter of the Sea
Introduction
Ligeia is a performing artist regularly often seen on stage in the Last Drop ale house, where she either sings, reads poems or tells stories, depending on the audience and the general atmosphere of the evening. Using the stage name Daughter of the Sea, although everybody knows her by Ligeia too.
She lives alone just outside of town, about ten minutes south of Oranjestad-St. Eustatius, in a small cottage close to the beach of Buccaneers Bay. Ligeia doesn't share much about her background, but if people are overly curious and ask where she came from, she says she washed up ashore there.
Skills
She plays several musical instruments, and has been seen performing with guitar, violin or flute, but mostly Ligeia uses the piano to accompany herself when she is on stage in the Last Drop.
If people are asked to describe Ligeia they don’t get any further than that she is a young woman of moderate height with long dark hair and a pale skin. They will spend way more words describing her voice, magical, otherworldly, catching, mesmerising, luring, seductive, irresistible, fascinating, tempting.
Practise
Ligeia often practises new songs, some well-known covers of others and some she composes herself, on the rocky shores in front of her house, having caused passing boats distraction a number of times. At one occasion, she even dragged an electronic keyboard out onto the beach for a practice session.
Distracted
The weather was fair that Saturday in October. The morning mist had just burned away and there was a gentle south westerly breeze when Brenda, and the brothers Clive and Phillip decided to race their sailing dingies from Oranjestad south to Fort de Windt near Buccaneer Bay and back.
Brenda was soon a bit behind the other two boats, as expected, as both Clive and Phillip were better sailors than she was. But around the turning point, something odd happened. Both brothers slowed down and started drifting towards the rocky beach. Where they would easily smash their small fiberglass boats to pieces with the onshore wind.
Brenda noticed there was a person on the shore, and she heard some faint singing, but she couldn't understand why Clive and Phillip were sitting in their boats doing nothing.
When Brenda caught up to the other two, she shouted at them several times before getting a response. It looked to her she woke them up, and the brothers continued sailing their boats.
Once safe back in Oranjestad Harbour Brenda asked what that was all about down at the fort, but both brothers claim they never stopped sailing, didn't hear singing, and where questioning her how she caught up so fast.
A night out
Chiara was enjoying a relaxing night ashore, away from the ship a moment. Things hadn't been going very well, as Chiara messed up a manoeuvre the other day and parked the ship into the wind. Together with Marshmallow and Heinrich they were enjoying a drink or two in the Last Drop, which had become a regular place for their pirate crew to visit when they were in the neighbourhood.
Tonight some local singer was performing, and Chiara thought they had a lovely voice, and the sea shanties were enjoyable. But what had become of Marsh and Heinrich was a bit odd. They hardly touched their drinks during the singing, staring at the singer as if enchanted.
Hobbies
As a pastime event Ligeia likes to swim in the sea in front of her cottage, which she is exceptionally good at.
An old fisherman claims he had once seen a mermaid in Buccaneer Bay, but nobody believes the stories of the old drunk.
Reception
Victoria Lily Brewer the owner and innkeeper of the Last Drop, is always very happy when Ligeia comes and performs. It fills up her common room nicely. People stick around longer, buy an extra drink or two. And the atmosphere is always very pleasant. Sometimes men behave a bit, odd, but hey they are men and Ligeia is a pretty girl with a pleasant voice.
-"Hands where up where I can see them!" A rough voice snarled behind Ligeia.
Startled, she turned around, hands forward, but not up.
"Hands where up?" She asked.
-"Shut up! Give me your money wrench. I know you earned loads last night in the Drop!"
"You don't want to be doing this." Ligeia responded with a tune in her voice.
The would be burglar stopped dead in his tracks. "What?" He shook his head and stepped towards Ligeia again.
In the shine of the nearby streetlight Ligeia noticed his pupils, his irises were gone, there was only black. Fuck, she thought. A druggie.
Mouse
Ligeia is good friends with Mouse, a petty criminal residing in Oranjestad. Mouse is a small man, whom everyone somehow neglects to see. This skill he has honed to perfection, where he can move through crowds without being noticed.
Ligeia caught Mouse one time pick pocketing among the people who were enjoying her show. After confronting him, Mouse spilled the contents of his earnings. And Ligeia was surprised to see it was easy five times more than she got in tips and payment from the innkeeper combined that night.
Being a performer didn't pay well, and Mouse in exchange for her silence agreed to a lucrative deal. Ligeia would notify him about her shows, and make sure he got into the establishments with a tighter door policy, and Mouse would lighten the purses of the onlookers a bit, inflating the tips they gave.
Treasure
Eventhough Ligeia didn't have a high income, even with the help of Mouse, she earned more than she spent and managed to save up quite a sum over the years.
Mouse had once asked what she planned to do with the stash. Ligeia didn't really have an answer, other than safe for later.
Uneasy with the questions from Mouse, not that she didn't trust him, but he sometimes spoke to easy to his criminal friends. Ligeia moved the stash, which was mostly coin, to the sea floor. Hiding among the waves that would splash up and roll when she sang, they'd sit safe from any burglar, thief or pirate.
Nice! Does she only sings on the shores or is she able to somehow wheeled her piano there? XD You could also add something about the weather and land conditions ont he shores that could allow the sound to travel exceptionally well in this area to increase the eeriness. Also, what genre of music is she doing and singing? Is it something she composes herself?
Thank you, I changed the piano to a keyboard, :D a waterproof keyboard. I don't think the weather has much effect, but I added some morning fog for eery effect.