The Glass Armonium of Chantal DeFay
A Glass Armonium, or Glass Harmonium, is a peculiar musical instrument which uses an effect similar to that of a wet finger on the rim of a wine glass to create haunting music. It looks like a vaguely conical arrangement of concentric glass cups, suspended on its side on a hardwood frame.
Both Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Benjamin Franklin were said to have owned examples of the instrument (Mozart, in fact, wrote some music for his). Glass Armoniums were never popular. The word got around that you could go mad from hearing one, and the ringing sound a Glass Armonium created was at once as haunting and frightening as it was beautiful.
This Glass Armonium is a fairly typical example. Although well-crafted, its frame is plain and solid, the glass has no chips and the varnish has no scratches or dents.
Both Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Benjamin Franklin were said to have owned examples of the instrument (Mozart, in fact, wrote some music for his). Glass Armoniums were never popular. The word got around that you could go mad from hearing one, and the ringing sound a Glass Armonium created was at once as haunting and frightening as it was beautiful.
This Glass Armonium is a fairly typical example. Although well-crafted, its frame is plain and solid, the glass has no chips and the varnish has no scratches or dents.
Mechanics & Inner Workings
Anyone can play the Glass Armonium, but its effects only manifest when a vampire successfully plays it using one of the original pieces of music written for it by Chantal DeFay (successfully rolling Dexterity + Expression or Wits + Expression).
Anyone who hears a vampire (including vampires, mages, werewolves, changelings and Prometheans) successfully playing one of the songs below on the Glass Armonium must roll Resolve + Composure at a penalty equal to the Expression of the one playing it or suffer the effects of a derangement until the next sunset, unless the specific song indicates another effect. Each of the songs below has a different effect on the one playing the piece, as well.
• Prelude for Glass Armonium Op. 9 in C
This is the most powerful of the melodies. A Mekhet playing this tune gains the benefit of an extra dot in Auspex (maximum five) until the end of the night.
Whether Mekhet or not, the vampire playing this piece may re-live the experiences of any destroyed Mekhet vampire existing before Chantal DeFay; if others are listening, they may find themselves sharing the hallucination.
Frances experienced scenes in the life and death of Chantal DeFay, and then went further back. You may wish to prepare a game session set in the past, where each of the players takes on the role of a vampire in some historical setting, about to experience events not dissimilar to the difficulties the modern-day characters are facing. The vampire playing the Armonium becomes the Mekhet; listeners take on other vampire roles. If you own Requiem for Rome, you could use the Glass Armonium to play through a session set in the time of the Camarilla.
A Hollow Mekhet who plays the melody finds herself temporarily reunited with her Reflection for 24 hours after the hallucination has ended. The Reflection and the vampire make opposed rolls of Presence + Composure vs. Power + Resistance. The winner has complete control over the vampire’s body. If it’s a draw, the two sides must roll again until one side has gained more successes. While the Reflection is in the vampire’s body, the character has the traits and weaknesses of a Common Mekhet. At the end of the 24 hours, the Mekhet and her Reflection separate again. If the Reflection gained control, the character has no memory of what her Reflection did while in possession of her body.
• Sonata Op. 7 in G “Amoreuse”
This slow, romantic piece incites passion. A Daeva who plays it or hears this melody being played must roll Resolve + Composure or inadvertently spend a point of Vitae to take on the “blush of life” (see Vampire: The Requiem, p. 156).
The player of any Daeva vampire hearing the melody being played must not only resist gaining a derangement, but must also roll Composure + Stamina at a penalty equal to the Expression of the one playing the Armonium. If the roll fails, the character’s Vice changes to Lust until the following sunset. Meanwhile, the vampire playing the Armonium gains a +3 to all perception dice pools until the next sunset.
• Nocturne Op. 5 in A flat
This piece changes time signature twice within two minutes, and follows no appreciable structure. If the player of a Ventrue hearing the melody fails to make the roll to resist gaining a derangement, the character gains two derangements.
(Alternatively, if you have Lords Over the Damned, the Ventrue whose player makes a failed Resolve + Composure roll suffers from the effects of Malkavia, including the gaining of one dot of Dementation, until the next sunset and now counts as having been exposed to the disease. See p. 110 of that book.)
• Sonata Op. 6 in D Minor
This bleak, slow, mournful piece fills a listener with fear. Nosferatu who hear this melody aren’t in danger of gaining derangements, but must use the highest level of Nightmare they have, on themselves (that is, the player must both roll to use the power and to resist, and if the roll to use the power overcomes the character’s own resistance, the character suffers the effects of his own powers).
• Fantasie-Impromptu Op. 3 in A Minor
This melody is fast and discordant, at times angry. Gangrel who hear it aren’t in danger of gaining derangements, but players must roll to avoid anger frenzy (5 successes needed). A Gangrel who succeeds internalizes the fury. The player must make a further roll of Stamina + Resolve; if the roll fails, the character gains some sort of bestial feature (yellow eyes, a hairy back, pointed ears, or some other feature redolent of a beast) until the next sunset.
• Sonata Op. 4 in E Minor This melody is insistent and urgent, like waves. If a spirit or ghost is in hearing of the Glass Armonium while it is being played, the character playing the instrument may use it as a tool to exorcise that spirit or ghost. The exorcism is performed as per The World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 214, except that the character need not fulfill any of the usual requirements to perform it.
Anyone who hears a vampire (including vampires, mages, werewolves, changelings and Prometheans) successfully playing one of the songs below on the Glass Armonium must roll Resolve + Composure at a penalty equal to the Expression of the one playing it or suffer the effects of a derangement until the next sunset, unless the specific song indicates another effect. Each of the songs below has a different effect on the one playing the piece, as well.
• Prelude for Glass Armonium Op. 9 in C
This is the most powerful of the melodies. A Mekhet playing this tune gains the benefit of an extra dot in Auspex (maximum five) until the end of the night.
Whether Mekhet or not, the vampire playing this piece may re-live the experiences of any destroyed Mekhet vampire existing before Chantal DeFay; if others are listening, they may find themselves sharing the hallucination.
Frances experienced scenes in the life and death of Chantal DeFay, and then went further back. You may wish to prepare a game session set in the past, where each of the players takes on the role of a vampire in some historical setting, about to experience events not dissimilar to the difficulties the modern-day characters are facing. The vampire playing the Armonium becomes the Mekhet; listeners take on other vampire roles. If you own Requiem for Rome, you could use the Glass Armonium to play through a session set in the time of the Camarilla.
A Hollow Mekhet who plays the melody finds herself temporarily reunited with her Reflection for 24 hours after the hallucination has ended. The Reflection and the vampire make opposed rolls of Presence + Composure vs. Power + Resistance. The winner has complete control over the vampire’s body. If it’s a draw, the two sides must roll again until one side has gained more successes. While the Reflection is in the vampire’s body, the character has the traits and weaknesses of a Common Mekhet. At the end of the 24 hours, the Mekhet and her Reflection separate again. If the Reflection gained control, the character has no memory of what her Reflection did while in possession of her body.
• Sonata Op. 7 in G “Amoreuse”
This slow, romantic piece incites passion. A Daeva who plays it or hears this melody being played must roll Resolve + Composure or inadvertently spend a point of Vitae to take on the “blush of life” (see Vampire: The Requiem, p. 156).
The player of any Daeva vampire hearing the melody being played must not only resist gaining a derangement, but must also roll Composure + Stamina at a penalty equal to the Expression of the one playing the Armonium. If the roll fails, the character’s Vice changes to Lust until the following sunset. Meanwhile, the vampire playing the Armonium gains a +3 to all perception dice pools until the next sunset.
• Nocturne Op. 5 in A flat
This piece changes time signature twice within two minutes, and follows no appreciable structure. If the player of a Ventrue hearing the melody fails to make the roll to resist gaining a derangement, the character gains two derangements.
(Alternatively, if you have Lords Over the Damned, the Ventrue whose player makes a failed Resolve + Composure roll suffers from the effects of Malkavia, including the gaining of one dot of Dementation, until the next sunset and now counts as having been exposed to the disease. See p. 110 of that book.)
• Sonata Op. 6 in D Minor
This bleak, slow, mournful piece fills a listener with fear. Nosferatu who hear this melody aren’t in danger of gaining derangements, but must use the highest level of Nightmare they have, on themselves (that is, the player must both roll to use the power and to resist, and if the roll to use the power overcomes the character’s own resistance, the character suffers the effects of his own powers).
• Fantasie-Impromptu Op. 3 in A Minor
This melody is fast and discordant, at times angry. Gangrel who hear it aren’t in danger of gaining derangements, but players must roll to avoid anger frenzy (5 successes needed). A Gangrel who succeeds internalizes the fury. The player must make a further roll of Stamina + Resolve; if the roll fails, the character gains some sort of bestial feature (yellow eyes, a hairy back, pointed ears, or some other feature redolent of a beast) until the next sunset.
• Sonata Op. 4 in E Minor This melody is insistent and urgent, like waves. If a spirit or ghost is in hearing of the Glass Armonium while it is being played, the character playing the instrument may use it as a tool to exorcise that spirit or ghost. The exorcism is performed as per The World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 214, except that the character need not fulfill any of the usual requirements to perform it.
History
Frances Black explored the story of the Glass Armonium’s creation. What she couldn’t know is what happened after Chantal DeFay was destroyed, how Chantal’s two childer, aided by the mysterious Jean/Jeanne, transported the instrument to the Americas, and how it traveled the length and breadth of the USA before finally vanishing. It has resurfaced three times in the last two centuries. Before it appeared again in New Orleans, no one had seen it for 60 years.
Dimensions
Size: 3
Raw materials & Components
Durability: 2
Structure: 5
Structure: 5
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Comments
Author's Notes
Storytelling Hints: The Glass Armonium is essentially a McGuffin, an object that vampires want and the Storyteller can use any way she wants. The music matter, too. Different tunes might imbue the Glass Armonium with other powers than the ones described here.
Maybe other people with supernatural powers can play the Armonium. It might have an effect on mages (perhaps it teaches them magic, or temporarily allows access to the spirit world), werewolves (a werewolf might be able to drive away spirits, or it might reveal the state of the spirit world to the player in a depth not normally accessible to a werewolf), changelings (does it call the True Fae? Does it banish them?) Prometheans (perhaps it gives a Promethean a taste of what it is like to be human, or call on one of the enigmatic qashmallim?) or others.