The Piano Man (also called the Man of Strings) is the frail but powerful ruler who overthrew Belle and established the age of order and reason. He resides in the floating fortress of Tensegrity.
Description
- Physically frail old man, barely alive
- Eyes blaze with life
- Able to quickly perceive intimate details about people
- Requires Tonic (blue luminescent potion) to maintain his power
- Sits in front of a giant piano
Abilities
- Can tap into the rhythms of the universe when powered by Tonic
- Extremely perceptive - sees through tricks and knows people’s histories
- Powerful enough to force prophecies from seers
- Has a presence in every plane through Tensegrity
History
- United the seven nation army to organize resistance against Belle
- Eradicated Belle’s influence from all 7 planes of existence
- Brought about the “age of reason” with diplomacy and cooperation
- Established Tensegrity, a singular stronghold with presence in every plane
- Reign is now crumbling and ending
Relationships
- Served by Amras and Uptown Girl
- Funded in his early days by Elyas
- Now opposed by Elyas, Amras, and Uptown Girl in a coup attempt
- Guarded by forces loyal to him
- Party competed in The Intervals under his banner
Chronology
Meeting the Party
- Party brought Augur of Melodies to him at Tensegrity
- Amras brought him Tonic at the elevator
- Uptown Girl escorted party and Amras up to his chamber
- Thanked party for saving the Augur, dismissing The Synth as an annoyance
- Drank the Tonic, undergoing physical transformation
- Started playing piano and tapping into universal rhythms
- Began singing “Piano Man”: “Son can you play me a memory? I’m not really sure how it goes…”
- Forced the prophecy from the Augur through musical duet
- Augur proclaimed: “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind” and collapsed dead
- Prophecy revealed god of winds is due - “it can’t be worse than the tambourine man”
- After exertion, reverted to sickly thin old self
- Knew party had saved Lyric and dealt with Queen of Hearts
- Granted party honor of competing under his banner in The Intervals in exchange for saving Augur
Self-Sacrifice
- Stabbed himself with the Knife of Transposition to foil The Coup
- His soul was captured in the knife’s gem
- Intentional act of defiance against Uptown Girl and Amras
- Denied the conspirators their prize by removing himself from play
Dream Sequence
- Party entered Orchestral Plane (dream plane) which appears as an orchestra
- Met half of Piano Man
- Showed the dagger to strings section