backstory

As a child, Seong Ye-jun (성예준) spent most of his time in his father's fish shop. The other kids thought it was gross, but he quickly grew used to the sight of gutting and cleaning fish. When he became of age, he began to help around the shop, continuing the family tradition. He became incredibly skilled with his knife work, even surpassing his father in short order.

Ye-jun started growing bored of the work, though, and started adding flourishes to his work, going as far to save what coinage he had for custom knives that flashed and glittered as he worked. This in and of itself became something of an attraction to the shop, and Ye-jun soon became quite enamored with the spotlight and showmanship. It became less and less about selling fish, and more and more about putting on a show.

His father, as he got up in years, took a more managerial position, and started becoming more invested in Ye-jun's performances, eventually able to use the profit of the store to get Ye-jun into an esteemed bard college. He saw in his son a chance at a life he never could've had.

Ye-jun soaked up the attention like a sponge. There was nothing he loved more than the limelight. His bardic performances were almost solely vocal and dance related, using his skill with his knives to create a flashy and macabre scene. Ye-jun trained dutifully, perfecting his art, trying desperately for a shot at stardom as his father continued to push him. The work was grueling. He failed audition after audition before he was finally picked up by a scout, and began as a trainee idol under the Starlight Entertainers Guild. Though Ye-jun was exhausted by the schedule, he finally got his taste of the scene when he was added to the troupe ARC8NE, one that was in need of a fresh new look and face.

This addition was a smash hit. ARC8NE's popularity soared. Ye-jun was never happier with how much love and adoration was poured his way. Tae-han, DUSK, and Jae, his troupe mates, were perhaps a bit apprehensive of his addition because of his unorthodox performances, but they were thankful nonetheless and Ye-jun got along with them well enough. He did not let the relationships with his troupe mates or the strict and rigorous schedule and rules from their manager dissuade him. Stardom was everything he could’ve wanted and more. Every time the crowd cheered, every time they released new music to wild success, he felt more and more in power.

But the fruits of his labor began to grow rotten. Through all the touring, meet and greets, and interviews, he began to feel that the buzz he had generated upon joining was wearing off, and he was fading into the background. When he looked at his fans he felt the love and adoration split four ways. The focus was no longer on him, and that thought scared him more than anything. He was always trying to make himself look good, even if it meant throwing the other members of ARC8NE under the bus. He grew to have a history of tattling on the others, and constantly trying to one-up everybody, just out of sheer desperation to hear he was someone’s favorite.

He began to feel a deep-seated jealousy and growing urge for more. He was better than this.

After ARC8NE started to decline in popularity, there were whispers of dropping Ye-jun specifically, saying that he was trying to change the sound of the troupe too much and becoming a hassle to manage. He became defensive, and got into an argument with Tae-han, which ended up physical after Tae-han remarked that his popularity was a fluke. Ye-jun’s eyes flashed with pure, violent anger, and without thinking, he lashed out at Tae-han, and accidentally killed him.

Ye-jun had a new problem to face. He frantically consulted his books from his bard college, the blood on his fingers staining the pages, using whatever magic he could find in there outside of his usual arsenal to help him hide the elf’s body. He began to spin the lie that he and Tae-han had gotten into an argument, yes, but it had resulted in Tae-han storming out on him and telling him he was never coming back.

To his surprise, it worked. SEG began to look for other talent to replace Tae-han. But this is not what Ye-jun wanted. To him, this felt right. There was something… hauntingly beautiful about Tae-han’s death. The way he screamed Ye-jun’s name. And with Tae-han gone, well… that meant one less person to split the attention of his fans.

And so a plan began to form. The other members of B4D had to die as well. But their deaths would unfortunately have to be swift, decisive. If all three members except for Ye-jun had suddenly vanished, it would’ve been suspicious.

He worked tirelessly to plan their departure. He scouted locations, got into contact with rival guilds, all the while paying off his security detail to look the other way. And then fate handed him a gift. The perfect opportunity. A massive upcoming performance at a huge arts festival, one that consistently drew high-status nobles and other artists. He managed to get some time alone with their stage set the night before after sneaking out of their room at the inn, and it was set. He staged an accident during their performance, one of the effects gone wrong, setting the stage alight in purple fire. It was perfect. DUSK and Jae screamed gloriously before they were snuffed out, and Ye-jun played the part of innocent victim as well. He did not escape unscathed, again, to not raise suspicion, but his tiefling nature helped him shake off some of the damage from the flames, and it was all worth it in the end.

The 'accident' boosted his publicity through the roof. Ye-jun began to make the new rounds, under the stage name FEINT. This new taste of fame was sweeter than ever, but the urge to elevate his art pushed him even further. Why stop at the troupe? Their deaths were a work of art, and could contribute even more to his music than they could've in life, and there were so many beautiful voices around him that he could elevate.

Death is a beautiful thing, and he could bring about such magnificent art with it. His knives a brush, the body a canvas, the screams and the crying the most beautiful music of all. Hearing his name screamed both lovingly by his fans, and out of fear by his victims, it was all the same to him. Just as long as it was his name on their lips.

treasure

glamoured studded leather
While wearing this armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC. You can also use a bonus action to speak the armor's command word and cause the armor to assume the appearance of a normal set of clothing or some other kind of armor. You decide what it looks like, including color, style, and accessories, but the armor retains its normal bulk and weight. The illusory appearance lasts until you use this property again or remove the armor.

ollamh harp
An instrument of the bards is an exquisite example of its kind, superior to an ordinary instrument in every way. Seven types of these instruments exist, each named after a legendary bard college. A creature that attempts to play the instrument without being attuned to it must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or take 2d4 psychic damage.

You can use an action to play the instrument and cast one of its spells: Fly, Invisibility, Levitate, Protection from Evil and Good, Confusion, Control Weather, Fire Storm. Once the instrument has been used to cast a spell, it can’t be used to cast that spell again until the next dawn. The spells use your spellcasting ability and spell save DC.

You can play the instrument while casting a spell that causes any of its targets to be charmed on a failed saving throw, thereby imposing disadvantage on the save. This effect applies only if the spell has a somatic or a material component.