Idea dump for things we’ve played with for our villain, “Piper” (for now)
Motivation:
The Piper was once a Narrator, a special Character that helps other Characters figure out their Stories. He traveled in the form of a bard, and would meet Characters at critical points in their lives to tell stories, sing songs, and otherwise provide them with clues. Like a prophet, he knows the will of God (the Author) without actually BEING God. However, he drastically misunderstood the nature of the Author and the Stories and wanted to “break out” and control his own destiny, and help others to do the same. He has seen so many “stories” “go wrong” that he thinks he ought to make them better. To do so, his plan is to make a perfect world by drawing out some things that he likes from the various canons, and causing the bad to fold in on itself and be destroyed.
Powers:
He can move freely between canons, and he can move characters and objects between canons as well. Because he doesn’t use his powers the way he’s supposed to (to help characters fulfill some destiny predetermined by the Author) his dabbling in the canons causes corruption, which can “infect” characters, turn them into corruption monsters, and ultimately kill them.
He can use music to “write” his own reality, which he can exert onto other people in a hypnotic mind control simply by singing or playing an instrument.
Supporters and Underlings:
I see the Piper’s underlings coming in two flavors: a motley crew of sentient supporters (ala Organization XIII), and corruption monsters.
The crew is comprised of characters the Piper led from their own canons, perhaps when they were children. They vary in loyalty and devotion to the Piper’s cause. To some of them he’s probably like a father figure, but others are suspicious of just how much control he has over them with his music. He has probably led most to believe he saved them (and maybe he did) but others he may have abducted and brainwashed (like the children of Hamlin). Since they are from many different canons, they will seem like a dark version of the Lorewalkers. They vary in race, background, powers, etc. They handle the finer details of the Piper’s plan that the corruption monsters aren’t capable of, but not so important that the Piper attends to them personally.
The corruption monsters are non-sentient beings formed by the chaos of the Piper’s ill-used power. They do not think, they only destroy. They may have once been living creatures, but they aren’t alive in any meaningful way anymore. As a visual reinforcement of the Piper legend, they tend to resemble rats, but their bodies are made of “corruption”: paper, ink, smoke, stone, any media used to record stories. They are disgusting and will “eat” anything, but in the presence of the Piper they act like loyal pets.
Appearance:
Fabulous hat. Very important. I imagine he’s tall and quite thin, and in keeping with the icon of the Pied Piper, he wears two-toned clothes. I think he has the look of a bard from a fantasy game. I liked the idea of associating him visually with magpies, which are highly intelligent birds and the name magpie comes from the same root that “Pied” comes from (meaning two colors). Magpies are also associated with bad luck, a group is called a murder, and there’s a really cool rhyme called “One for Sorrow” that would be cool to incorporate into our design for him somehow. He probably has instruments, at least a flute/pipe.
Dynamics:
He probably has a connection to the Merchant of Lost Things, another Narrator. However, I want the Merchant to be a pretty peripheral characters so we may never explore this much.
Unlike Spark and Vahaadi, he is calm, mature, and methodical. He has a special connection/appeal to children, which he exploits. He does not consider Spark and Vahaadi a threat. In fact, they are almost entirely off his radar for a long while–a sign of his confidence in his plan. When Spark does finally get his attention, he proves to be far more formidable than she thought. Spark experiences a devastating defeat, while the Piper merely enjoys a mildly amusing game and kindly suggests she not get in his way again. Because she is so childlike, the Piper is able to use his hypnotic influence to confuse her and get into her head. He takes advantage of her love of fun, destructive tendencies, and shaky standing with the Lorewalkers. As a particularly alarming show of his power, and to really mess with her head, he uses his music to lure her into committing an evil, destructive, but thrilling and fun act. When she tries to be outraged, he tells her he wasn’t controlling her. He merely planted the idea and she acted on it of her own accord.
Either way, this incident is bad news. Either the Piper has a terrible capacity to control her, or she has a terrible capacity for evil on her own. Ultimately, the Piper doesn’t see her as a threat because she’s practically on his side anyway, since she causes so much trouble for the Lorewalkers. This will cause a serious struggle for Spark, who wants to believe that she is a good, strong, fun, powerful hero, while owning up to the fact that it’s all too easy to make her go berserk.
(additional elements of the story to underscore this struggle is Vahaadi’s experience as a reforming villain, and the existence of Ignite, who provides a glimpse of what Spark would be like if she went off the rails on the crazy train)