Bestiary

You know those songs you can’t get out of your head? Most times, they’re tricks of memory and sensation. Occasionally, though, they’re the voice of the Avatar — an entity (or really, a type of entity) certain mages call Melody: a guiding spirit who manifests as music.

Generally a song only you can hear, she sometimes chimes out loudly enough for other people to hear. In the case of especially strong manifestations, Melody appears in physical form, never speaking except in song, but playing an instrument of some kind that makes the sort of music the mage needs to hear at that time. In such manifestations, Melody is near-in­ evitably female, although certain descriptions of this type of Avatar mention masculine rock stars, blues guitarists, mad organists, and the like. Because music truly has no gender, however, Melody Avatars are as fluid as music itself.

What type of music does Melody play? Ah, that depends on what you need to hear. In her most encouraging manifes­ tations, this Avatar becomes the proverbial theme song for the mage in question: heroic, perhaps, maybe sad, dissonant when that suits the situation, occasionally terrifying. The tunes range beyond human capability, of course; a single Avatar manifesting with a flute could play an entire orchestra’s worth of sound. And although “Melody” makes a convenient catch-all name for this Avatar, the spirit itself can appear in whichever guise suits the person perceiving it. One mage might experience Melody’s influence as a pretty girl with a violin, while another perceives metal-slinging demons or a menacing phantom. What you get from this Avatar is what you’re most willing to receive.

Whatever form Melody attains, this Avatar manifests when the mage needs direction. Tantalizing music might beckon the mage toward greatness; tragic airs underscore his defeats,

heroic symphonies inspire his greatness, crushing discord scorns his moments of failure, but intricate harmonies evoke the triumphs he could attain once he gets out of his own way and — as the old song says — listens to the music of his heart.