Miguel Tremblay Boneregard de La Moelle

### You're alone in the forest. It is 10 pm and you have used your last message spell. Out in the distance you hear the toot of a horn slowly getting closer. Between the trees, the moon shines down to reveal the pale skeletal remains of a one man band marching towards you.

This skeleton is clad in bright fancy attire befitting a court musician. He walks to you with a spring in his step before bowing low and deep, introducing himself with an air of confidence.

He is a bard with a dream that transcends death. At least, that is all he can assume. He has no memory of his life before being a skeleton. He remembers not his race, his family, or how he came to walk again. What drives him is his wish to become the best musician, with or without skin.

Miguel's lack of flesh does not seem to bother him. He is aware that his looks may be unsettling, but he pays them no mind. While having a skin suit would perhaps be helpful in passing from town to town, Miguel would prefer to be accepted for who he is, as he is.

His instrument of choice is a trumpet. He is skilled in using other instruments. He can improvise a xylophone using his ribs, a drum by using his skull, or other instruments if he gets creative enough.

Miguel loves animals, especially cats, and hopes to one day own and and teach a small band of felines to be his back up musicians (particularly using a bongo and keyboard).

When flirted with, Miguel will often use skeleton or bone puns. He is living (or un-living?) proof that you don't need a body to enjoy the finer things in life.

### **Suggested characteristics**

Compiling over 3.5 and 5th edition of dungeons and dragons, these characteristics might be helpful for building this NPC/Player

•Standard medium size, 25-30 ft speed.

•Immunity to cold, poison, sleep, exhaustion, and charmed effects

•Possible damage resistance or reduction to bludgeoning and piercing, due to their lack of organs

•A penalty to charisma and strength due to being an undead.

•Being an undead, you could argue that Miguel does not need to sleep, eat, drink, or breath.

•Being a bard with a low strength score will limit what kind of armor Miguel can wear. Consider giving Miguel some dexterity, dodge feats, or other ways to protect his bones.

•Consider Miguel having full autonomy of his bones: Perhaps he can remove his skull and use it to peep behind corners; maybe he can detach his hand to grab something just out of reach. This would give Miguel a lot of versatility that could double in his parlor tricks.

•Think outside of the box: Being without flesh really puts a hamper on the "lustful bard" trope. Consider something more comical or dramatic.

•I personally see Miguel as a drama queen: someone who is always on the throws of passion and always on the stage. It brings life and character to a creature without facial muscles. The more animated, the better.

### **Suggested Music Pieces**

*Most of these pieces are "for the memes" and not meant to be taken seriously. Any "doot remixed" song can be used.*

•Doot Doom theme (Knee-Deep in the Doot, Nick Ino)

•Undertale, Megalovania (Spookytale: Trumpetvania, JoltJolteon)

•US Military Bugle Wake Up Call [for waking up companions or signaling]

•Calvalry Charge - Bugel Call [ambushing or charging into battle]

•Lully- Marche Royal [when entering triumphantly into a city]

•Puccini - La Bohème - Musetta's Waltz [Setting up a passionate or romantic setting]

•Borodin - Symphony no.1 [Exceeding joy]

•Mahler - Symphony no.5 [Joy or victory]

•Verdi - Requiem - Dies Irae [expressing fear, tension, or a powerful storm]

### **Puns (add as needed)**

*Please add what you can to this list of bone-puns. My comedy is 95% dad jokes and terrible puns --Saccillia*

•"Well, I had no *body* to go with" [when asked why he came to the party alone]

•"I want tibia (to be) honest with you.."

•"I find myself very humerous. You, on the other hand, don't have a single funny bone in your body"

•"I have a bone to pick with you" [proceed to use one of theme songs] [a challenge]

•"Ouch, tough crowds. Perhaps I am not as hip as I use to be" [swinging hips for comedy]

•"It was a tough crowd, but I don't let it get under my skin" [when asked why he is so calm about a bad gig]

•"Hey, do you.. need a hand?" [proceeding to offer his popped off fore-arm and hand]

•"Ooh! People like that just rattle my bones!" [annoyed]

•"Well what do you expect from a one-man-skeleton-crew?" [When asked why he is taking so long to set up]

•"Oh, I may be adventurous, but I don't have the stomach to do something like that" [avoidance]

•"I tried to argue with this man whose dog nabbed my femur, but I had no leg to stand on" [joke]

•"You know, before settling on the trumpet, I dabbled a bone on the trom-bone" [sad trombone sound effect][joke]

### **Fun Facts**

•Suggested Nicknames: "Bone Daddy", "Spoop", "Bone Head". --thanks to Marcus Worboys

•"Tremblay" comes from the Michel Tremblay, a theater playwright in Quebec, Canada. He wrote controversial but eye opening French plays focusing on the working class women.

•"de La Moelle" is a rough French translation meaning "of the Marrow"

•Upon researching images for inspiration, I came across a ms. Leena Lecklin and her character "Frills". I highly suggest looking at her tumblr https://leenalecklin.tumblr.com/ for some wonderful depictions of a more serious and tragic interpretation of a violin playing skeleton.

I did not think this character would be unique, but I wanted to take extra steps to separate him from Leena's adorable character out of respect. Miguel was always meant to be more of a meme one-shot character. He was never meant to be a copy of Frills. That being said, if you would like to make your own undead bard, you could look to her art for inspiration on how they would interact with the world. Just be sure to not step on any toes.

**Inspirations:**