Adonis Ronen

Name: Adonis Ronen

Age: 73 (looks mid-20s)

Race: Human/Undead

Sex: Male

Hair: Black, tied in a ponytail, and with dark purple bangs.

Eyes: Milky Green

Weight: 120 lbs.

Height: 5' 9"

Song: Promise - Silent Hill 2

Weapon: Naraka - Naraka is a small, one-handed harp that Adonis has with him all the time. The neck , which is U-shaped with each end curling into a soul-like design, appears to be made of a blood-red wood while the sixteen strings are silvery colored. It is about two feet tall and two feet wide. Alone, this weapon can’t be used to damage an opponent but only to play music. It is, however, resistant to any kind of damage or attempt to be destroyed and the notes played on it always sound melancholy regardless of the song. Though, when Adonis starts singing, drops of blood appear at the top of the strings and slid downwards; this doesn’t affect Adonis’ ability to play.

Armor: None

Strengths: Adonis’ greatest strength is his ability to sing. His various songs can cause different kinds of harm to an opponent and can cover a large range. Also, most people don’t believe singing can be dangerous which gives him a bit of an advantage. Because he is already dead, he doesn’t sleep or eat and can only feel the slightest hint of pain. Adonis can also not be killed.

Weaknesses: Singing is Adonis’ only form of defense and offense. He has hardly any physical skill and no weapon to fight with and could be easily overpowered if he tried anything. The bard is no faster than a normal human so he can’t really dodge attacks easily, either. Magic is also effective against him, especially holy or light magic. Because his body is already dead, it doesn’t heal when damaged Also, while he usually hides during battle, his singing can give away his position. Of course, he can only sing one song at a time.

Songs: The stronger a person’s will, the harder it is for Adonis’ songs to gain a hold over them. Association with light or holy also lessens the effect.

Nightmare Serenade - This song causes people to fall into a deep sleep and have horrible nightmares, usually about their worst fear or something awful that’s already happened in their life. They usually wake up about 6 hours later but can wake up sooner if they manage to ‘defeat’ their nightmare.

Aria of the Beast - This causes people to turn wild and fight ferociously amongst each other, usually resulting in death of most or all people affected.

Lamenting Requiem - Similar to Nightmare Serenade, this song causes a person to face their greatest fear or something horrible that’s already happened in their life. However, this affects people while they are still awake and causes them to hallucinate. It affects people more easily than Nightmare Serenade and has the highest success rate of all of Adonis’ songs.

Elegy for the Dead - This song allows Adonis to take control of human bodies that have no resident soul, usually dead. They only have basic motor functions and attack anyone that isn’t Adonis or an ally, not that the bard really has any. The controlled humans are rather hard to kill since they don’t feel pain and can’t be killed in conventional ways. Even chopping the head off won’t stop them. The best bet is to either find Adonis and stop him or incapacitate the controlled, mostly easily accomplished by damaging the legs.

Ballad of Illness - Unlike the rest of the songs, this one doesn’t affect a person’s thought but physical aliments. Most of the time, an opponent if afflicted with headaches, fever, weakness, or dizziness but more serious aliments can appear. What aliments do occur is completely random and depend on the person.

Nocturne of Shadows - This song is similar to Elegy for the Dead except, instead of controlling soulless bodies, this one calls shadowy creatures to assist Adonis. The creatures appear human-like in appearance but have long claws and glowing, purple eyes. They come out of the shadows themselves so this song won’t work if there aren’t any shadows around. Therefore, this song is least effective at noon or night and is most effective during dawn or dusk.

Thanatos’ Desire - Adonis’ most destructive song. It appeals to a being’s unconscious desire to return to a simple world of nothingness. If fully consumed by this song, the affected being will commit suicide. He has used it on a few villages with dreadful success as every man, woman, and child committed suicide in various ways. However, he hardly uses this song because of the horror it can create.

Familiar: Flauros - Familiars are creatures, mainly used by witches, that carry out their master’s bidding in several ways. Flauros was assigned to Adonis by the Mistress to protect the bard against enemy attacks if he is directly involved in a battle. The familiar carries this mission out happily and viciously. Flauros has limited intelligence, able to talk in short, incomplete sentences unless he is relaying a message to Adonis from the Mistress. While he follows the main direction giving to him by the Mistress, he will also listen to any order given to him by the bard. When Flauros isn’t in battle, he resides in Adonis’ shadow adorning it with a slight blood-red coloring. In battle, he does whatever necessary to protect his master and kill the opponent. He doesn’t have any magical talents but makes up for it with pure, brute strength. Flauros has torn houses down in seconds in an effort to get to an enemy. However, he is rather weak against light or holy based magic seeing as he is a demon. Also, the familiar doesn’t really use strategy and will haphazardly attack an opponent.

Appearance: Adonis’ clothing consists of a blood-red cloak that covers most of his person. The sleeves are a little long and almost completely cover his hands, leaving only the tips of his fingers showing. It has a cropped collar the covers his neck except for a little V-shaped section in the front. The buttons down the front are plain looking and also colored crimson; they go down to his waist. The cloak reaches down to the ground and has a slit in the front to allow movement for his legs. However, he usually doesn’t take large steps so the slit remains mostly closed and covers his legs as well. Below the cloak, he wears a plain set of black pants, a white shirt, and brown traveling boots. His shirt has a small tear in it over the heart where he tried to stab himself. The wound is also still there along with blood that dried on his shirt and skin. His cloak has several areas that have been patched back together by thick, black thread. He also has a few wounds on his arms that have been sown up as well. His hair is black and somewhat long, reaching down to his shoulders and is usually kept in a small ponytail. However, his bangs are dark purple in color and signify his allegiance to the Mistress. His skin is ash pale due to the fact that his body is no longer living. Usually, he walks with his head down so people do not see his eyes as they are the only aspect of him that easily give away his nature. His iris, once vibrant green, have turned a milky green color while his pupils almost completely blend in. Also, the white of his eyes have taken on a creamy color instead of the normal pure white. He carries Naraka in his right hand most of the time.

Personality: Due to his deceased nature and ‘job,’ Adonis is a melancholy and introverted person. He does enjoy the company of children most of all, though his eyes usually frighten them away. If they do chose to stay by him; however, he will entertain them with stories he acquired in his travels. Woman tend to make him rather nervous and tongue-tied mainly because he is still devoted to Lucia, the love of his life. He simply tried to ignore men and stay out of their way mostly because he has been jeered about his life as a minstrel. Adonis doesn’t talk much unless he his telling a story and, even then, he tends to talk in a meek voice. He cares for the lives of people quite a bit and hates killing. Unfortunately, killing could be called his job. He must carry out whatever orders he receives from the Mistress which usually involve massacring a village or anybody that Mistress has her eyes on. The bard receives her orders through Flauros and, thus, doesn’t have the ability to talk back to her.

When it comes to actual battle, the minstrel usually hides somewhere and allows his songs to do the work. If he has slaughtered a village before a battle, he mostly sings Elegy of the Dead to use the deceased to fight. While he doesn’t like to involve innocents needlessly in battle, he can’t choose who his songs affect for they affect everybody. However, he does sometimes use this to an advantage in a fight to deter a opponent from actually harming him. If a foe does find his hiding spot, Adonis doesn’t try to hide or run mainly because he knows it would be extremely difficult to do so. Rather, while Flauros fervently tries to protect him, he tries increases the potency of his songs so they will have a higher chance of greatly affecting the opponent. The bard can be rather cruel in a fight even though it goes against his personality.

Biography: Adonis was born to a pair of gypsies, Mathias and Emily Ronen. They were part of a gypsy troupe that traveled and performed throughout the countryside. Mathias was a fire-eater while Emily was an accomplished dancer. While they were mainly poor, the parents managed to care for Adonis and make sure he was healthy and well-fed. Growing up was rather exciting for the bard. He was able to see many different places, some huge castle cities while others were simple villages that wouldn’t appear on a map. Adonis learned several different skills from his parents and other people in troupe. While he really didn’t have the skill of either of his parents, he did have an amazing talent when it came to singing. Under the guidance of Helen, another performer who was a songstress, he learned all the tricks and trades to singing well before an audience. Once he turned 14, he was allowed to perform with the troupe. Before then, he had mainly taken care of household duties such as cooking and washing. While he wasn’t quite as successful as Helen, Adonis did managed to make a few coins with his performance. So, after that, he was allowed to participate in performances from there on.

Then, when he was 20, the gypsy troupe came to a village known as Wershire. It was a medium-sized village that was a far distance from any large city. The people led simple lives and produced most of what they ate, wore, and worked with though they did trade for some supplies such as iron. It was there that Adonis met Lucia, a hard-working girl who mainly did carpentry with her father and some minor black-smithing. He was immediately smitten with her even though there wasn’t any special about her. In fact, it was her simpleness that drew the bard. Because of his attraction, he mainly sung songs and told stories about love during the troupe’s stay at Wershire. Finally, one night, he managed to talk to Lucia alone. While she didn’t immediately fall in love with the bard, they did find that they could get along better than most people. The night before the troupe was going to leave, a week after they had come to Wershire, Adonis confessed his feelings for her. Lucia didn’t respond right away but seemed to pace with uneasiness. He apologized for his bluntness and started to leave. The carpenter stop him and kissed him lightly on lips saying that she left the same. Adonis had never been so happy. The next day, he told the troupe that he had decided to stay in Wershire. When told the reason, the gypsies were elated for him even if they were a little sad at his leaving. They gave him a small bit of money, a little more than what he had earned for his performances, and set off. Though, they did promise to come back some day and perform again.

About four months after leaving the troupe, Adonis and Lucia were wedded. The wedding was a small and simple but happy nonetheless. In celebration of their marriage, Lucia presented the bard with a harp she carved for him. For his own present, Adonis used the new instrument to sing several songs in celebration. They lived in a small house, newly erected with help from almost half the village. Lucia continued her work in carpentry while Adonis did random help around the village, mostly providing entertainment for children whose parents were busy working. Life was unsophisticated but pleasant for them for three years. Unfortunately, Adonis became ill with a virus that infected his lungs. He was stricken with a high fever, weakness, and was unable to hold in anything he drank or ate. The village doctor did all he could, ice baths, potent medicine from herbs, and even a bit of bleeding, and it seemed like the bard would recover. His fever broke and he was able to eat a small amount. However, the second night after his apparent recovering, the illness struck hard and he passed away.

~

Cold darkness surrounded him from every side, threatening to smother him. He couldn’t see, hear, or even smell anything. Just darkness. “Lucia?” he whispered through the blackness. No reply came back, “Lucia?!” he called again, this time louder and with worry. Nothing came back to his ears. He cried a third time, “Lucia!” Finally, an answer did come back.

“Calm yourself, dear Adonis,” a feminine voice told him. It wasn’t his wife, however.

“Who are you?” he questioned and looked around for the source. His eyes found a faint light in front of him. At first the took it to be a way out of the darkness, a light at the end of the tunnel. But the more he looked at the light, the more it started to take a shape. A female’s shape.

“I have little importance in the vastness of the world,” the light replied, making the bard recoil in surprise, “But I have taken an interest in you.”

He gave the light an apprehensive look, “Why?”

“Because you sing so beautifully. You used to sing so wonderfully for you wife and all the villagers.”

The phrase ‘used to’ caught his attention, “What do you mean? Where am I?”

“Why, my dear Adonis, you are dead,” she stated bluntly.

“What?!” he gasped, “But-but I can’t be dead.” He hung his head in shame and tears started rolling down, “Lucia and I had such a good life. How could I just leave her behind? We still had... we still had time...”

“Do not lament, bard, for I have an offer,” Adonis’ eye lit up with hope, “If you will sing for me, I will allow you to go back and spend the rest of your days with Lucia.”

He nodded vehemently, “Oh yes, please. I can sing for you anytime you like, just let me go back to my darling Lucia.” While he wasn’t sure, it almost looked like the being smiled at him. Suddenly, he was no longer in the oppressive darkness. He couldn’t see anything but he could hear, touch, and smell again. But what he turned his attention to was the sobbing coming from somebody laying across his chest. The bard opened his eyes to see his wife crying upon him, think him for dead. He weakly raised his hand and stroked her hair, “Oh, please don’t cry Lucia.”

She turned to his face with swollen and surprised eyes, “Adonis?” Then she flung herself forward and grappled him, “Adonis! Oh Adonis, I thought you had left me!”

He continued stroking her hair, “I would never leave you, Lucia. Never.”

~

The next day, the doctor declared that a miracle had happened for Adonis to recover so swiftly from the night before. While he was still rather pale, the bard’s strength recovered swiftly. Two days after his death ordeal, he was up and walking around as though nothing had happened. About noon, he set himself down near the center of the village where a small pile of hay sat. Lucia sat beside him, watching over him carefully in case he relapsed into sickness again. “Everybody so happy about your recovery,” Lucia said after the fifth family had given them their best wishes, “Why don’t you sing a song to cheer people up and make them forget you were ever sick?”

The bard sighed, “I don’t know. I feel like the only songs I can sing are sad ones. Maybe I haven’t quite gotten over my sickness yet.”

She smiled, “No, you’re over it but being ill does have a way of sapping one’s strength and happiness.” His wife thought for a second and then suggested, “So, why don’t you sing a sad song. At least, if you’re singing, it will give some sense that nothing happened.”

“Well, alright,” he replied meekly and flowed his fingers across a few strings for a tune. Then he began to sing. As usual, Adonis became engrossed in his singing. Other than Lucia, it was the only thing that gave him happiness was to create the strands of sounds that people found pleasing and uplifting. He sang without aim, simply allowing his heart to pour out.

How long he sang he didn’t know but suddenly he heard Lucia whimper, “Adonis...” The call wasn’t strong enough to be heard over his song but he heard it nonetheless. Stopping himself, he looked to find her standing in front of him, a knife stabbed into her chest with her own hands.

“Lucia!” he shouted in confusing and panic. She started to fall and immediately he grabbed her in his arms. Crimson spread from the wound. “Lucia... why?!” he asked, unable to think of anything to say. Her reply came out in an incomprehensible whispered and she gave him an apologetic looked mixed with fear. Then she died. The shock of losing her, after almost being separated two nights ago, left him utterly bewildered. He didn’t know what to do, think, or even feel. The bard tore his eyes way from her body to see if anyone had known what had caused her to kill herself. Then he wished he hadn’t looked. Bodies littered the streets with blood flowing freely. Everyone was dead, Adonis knew that as soon as he had seen the blood. What who or what would cause such a massacre? And why was he the only one still alive?

“My dear Adonis, you sing beautifully,” a voice suddenly stated, making the bard jump. Turning, he saw the being of light standing in front of him once more.

“What happened? What have you done?!” he questioned accusingly. Tears finally started coming from his green eyes as he tightly clutched the body of Lucia in his arms.

“I have done nothing except allow you to be here again,” she stated, “It was your singing that caused this.”

“What?!” he gaped, “How could my singing do this? I’ve sang hundreds of times before and nothing has ever happened except happiness. Not death. Never death...”

The being spread her arms wide, “But my dear, you have never died before, either.”

He glared at her and asked once more, “What have you done?”

“I gave you the ability to stay in this mortal realm. In exchange, you promised to sing for me. Which you do quite beautifully.”

“You did this!” he shouted in anger, “I would rather have died then caused this!” He looked at the knife protruding from his beloved stomach, “I would rather die even now...” The bard carefully slid the weapon from Lucia’s body and, closing his eyes, promptly thrust into his own heart. He only felt the slightest bit of pain, which surprised him, but it was more than enough to know he would be reunited with his Lucia.

Until he opened his eyes and found the bloody scene still displayed in front of him. Confused, he looked at the wound in his chest. Blood leaked slowly from it and was accompanied by water. “What?” he whispered.

“You cannot die if you are already dead,” the light replied.

He kept his eyes on the knife, “But you restored my life to be with Lucia.”

A small chuckled came from the being, “I simply said I would allow you to remain here with her. I said nothing about giving you back your life.”

“Wench. You tricked me,” he stated with despair. Adonis slowly removed the knife from his heart and dropped it on the ground. He looked at her with hard eyes, “I will not sing for you.”

“My dear, you have little choice,” the being stated. A shadow then appeared next to her, quite the contrast to the light she appeared to be made from. The shadow was also female shaped but chains seemed to be wrapped around her.

It looked around for a second before its head settle on the bard. “Adonis?” Lucia questioned. The minstrel couldn’t say anything in surprise and sadness. Then the shadow vanished.

“You see,” the light stated, “Lucia is with me. And I do not live in a forgiving place. Suicide is a dire crime, one that people are punished for.”

“Let her go!” he commanded, “You already said that it was my singing that did it.”

“But it was her hand,” the light replied, “And she will be punished for it. Unless you sing for me.” The being came closer to the bard, “Sing for me and she will not come to harm. Sing and Lucia will be safe.” Tears still coming from his eyes, he turned away from the being of light but nodded his head. Coming closer, the light placed a red cloak around his shoulders, “On my word, I promise she is safe.” Then she handed him a harp that looked so much like the one Lucia had carved for him, “This Naraka and it will accompany your wonderful singing. And...” with a smooth motion from her, a demon appeared in front of the bard. He didn’t flinch, “This is Flauros and he will protect you. You can’t die but I still don’t want any harm coming to you, my dear.” She wrapped her arms around him in an embrace. Even though she was made of light, her touch was cold and uncaring, “Sing for me, my dear Adonis. Sing for me your beautiful songs. Sing your songs to all who would hear them.” Then she vanished as swiftly as she came. Standing up with an impassive expression, too hurt to feel anymore, Adonis left Wershire to sing for his Mistress.

Battle Rank
Player: Ranarath
Character: Adonis Ronen
Innate: Song
Overall Rank: V
Strength: II
Speed: II
Elemental: IX
Skill: VII

Battle Arena
Deceased Songs - Dropped
Sanctimonia Foras Mortalitas - Currently Active

Crossroads
An Angel's Aria - Currently Active

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*Approvedeth*