Profile
I still need to flesh out Orpheus's backstory, but I fully intend to update this once I do.
Orpheus Linard is betrothed to Eurydice Rodia. The two are starcrossed lovers, pulled apart and pushed back together at various parts of their lives. Eurydice and Orpheus are both artists, with Eurydice mainly working in paints and sculptures and Orpheus in writing music and poetry. Eurydice's aptitude in the painterly world gives way to recognition by the Castle, with Eurydice being given the role of the Castle Artist.
Eurydice becomes overwhelmed with the sheer amount of artistic projects she is assigned to in the Castle, causing Orpheus and Eurydice to see much less of each other than either is used to, the two of them having been inseparable for years.
Though proud of his fiancée, Orpheus falls into a deep depression at the near-constant absence of her. Determined to also make a name for himself, Orpheus begins reading his poetry wherever he can. His performances capture the attention of a man named Alec, the owner of a bar in downtown Canaan, The Pomegranate Tree. Alec invites Orpheus to read at The Pomegranate Tree, playing guitar as he recites his poems.
After one of his performances at the bar, Orpheus is approached by Ares, lead singer of a small but successful band named Broken Teeth. Ares and Alec, the sole band members, ask Orpheus if he would join their band as the guitarist, which Orpheus gladly accepts. The trio become closer, and Orpheus tells them of his fiancée, though forgetting to ever introduce her by name and only calling her "my beloved". Orpheus sings her praises, telling his bandmates all about her role as the Castle Artist and how they don't see each other often due to her insane working hours.
However, Ares begins pulling away from the band, and with no lead singer, their shows become few and far between.
One night after one of Broken Teeth's rare performances, Orpheus is met by Eurydice outside of the bar. Delighted by this surprise, Orpheus embraces her and begins to tell her all about what she has missed during her time as the Castle Artist. Orpheus tells her about his bandmates, Ares and Alec. Eurydice is relieved that Orpheus is finally getting his own big break, and promises to see a show soon. After their meeting, Eurydice leaves to return to the Castle.
One day as Orpheus is planning to practice his guitar for a show, he realizes that his guitar is missing a string. Money is tight, so Orpheus, not wanting to lose the spotlight now that he's got it, goes to a local music store and steals a pack of guitar strings. Unfortunately, he is caught by a local constable, who brings him immediately to the Castle Court, demanding he be tried for theft in a Soul Judgment.
Though Orpheus explains his case, that he's a man with a clean record, he's just getting his big break as a musician, and he's got his fiancée to take care of, the violent Castle Judge and Magician, Jove Ardelean, sentences Orpheus Linard to soullessness. Orpheus's soul is removed by Castle Judge Ardelean, and Orpheus's soul, now enclosed in a apothecary-style vessel, senses the death of Orpheus's body.
Orpheus's soul is then brought to what is known in the Castle as the Soul Keep. Though expecting to be there until the end times, Orpheus's soul senses Eurydice enter the Keep, and Orpheus's soul shines with all of its power to draw her to him. Eurydice can sense his soul, capturing it and using her own body as the vessel. Eurydice promises to the both of them that one day, she will find a soulless human to act as Orpheus's vessel so that the two might be reunited and married.
