CHAPTER 9: The Blackened Ballad of the Madman with Screaming Strings
Scene: Dim, smoky tavern. Afternoon lull.
The tavern owner wipes the counter. A few regulars nap near soup bowls.
In limps Raiko—mud-stained armor, dead herbs in his satchel, and a weirdly-shaped stringed instrument on his back that looks half guitar, half execution tool.
This time… there's something new.
A jagged, rune-etched amplifier box, sparking faintly like it once shocked a necromancer.
It's fused to the guitar with rope, leather straps, and what might be a haunted shoelace.
---
Raiko:
> "Let me perform. I swear I'll split the tips. Please. I'm starving and my fingers are too calloused to pick weeds."
Tavern Owner (sighing):
> "What, gonna hum war chants like the other sad travelers?"
Raiko (intense):
> "No. I will channel the wrath of ancient chaos through my strings."
The owner assumes he's just another bard with weird dreams.
He. Was. Wrong.
---
🎸 Pre-Show Ritual
Raiko crouches behind the stage like a warrior preparing for a ritual duel.
"His sorry-state guitar—middle humbucker only, body cracked, dignity long gone—roared like a forgotten god anyway."
He eyes the cursed amp artifact he "liberated" from a sketchy junk vendor that morning.
"The vendor had no teeth and spoke entirely in bass drops. That should've been a sign."
Raiko (whispering to the amp):
> "Okay, you relic of pain. Let's ruin someone's dinner."
The amp sizzles. A beetle explodes nearby.
---
🎵 The Performance Begins
The tavern: quiet. People drinking. Card games. Light flirting.
Raiko steps up. His silhouette sharp under firelight.
The amplifier growls softly as he plugs in the cursed cord.
A few patrons glance up. One whispers:
> "Wait—isn't that the scream box that got banned by the temple?"
Raiko breathes deep.
Then he shouts—
> "FOR THE UNHEARD GODS OF RIFF!!"
💥 The room detonates with distorted screeching string-blasts.
Riffs like falling boulders being chewed by wyverns.
The scream that follows sounds like a banshee choking on thunder.
---
⚠️ Immediate Consequences
One old man's wig bursts into flames.
A baby begins to spin on the floor like a summoned spirit.
A chicken in the kitchen lays an egg so scrambled it cooks itself.
A faint red sigil appears in the air… and is immediately sat on by a drunk beastkin.
---
Hilda (bar wench, carrying drinks calmly):
> "Oh. He's doing that noise thing again, but it's louder this time."
Daryl (baker, weeping with joy):
> "I don't know what I'm hearing but I want more!! It's like thunder punched my feelings!"
Someone screams:
> "THE SCREAM CURSE! HE'S UNLEASHED A HOWLING HEX!"
---
🚔 Guards Storm In
Guard Captain:
> "YOU! YOU'RE UNDER ARREST FOR UNLICENSED SOUNDCRAFT AND AGGRAVATED RACKETEERING!"
Raiko (still playing while being dragged):
> "THIS IS PURE EXPRESSION! YOU CAN'T JAIL EMOTION!!"
They try to separate him from the guitar and amp.
They fail.
The cursed trio is fused.
One guard gets shocked and starts hearing whispers like:
> "Distort... Destroy... Drop D…"
---
🧱 Jail Cell, Later
Raiko, now in chains, sits cross-legged on the floor.
The guitar buzzes faintly.
The amp spits out a spark that smells like burnt regret.
Raiko (muttering):
> "Still didn't get paid. But I awakened something real tonight…"
Outside, a guard mutters to another:
> "I think he summoned a ghost… and also made me feel things I haven't felt since training camp."
---
🌑 Urban Myth Status: Activated
People now whisper about:
"The String-Screamer" who plays forbidden chords.
The man who wields a cursed relic that speaks when sad.
The bard who makes furniture weep.
One farmer to his son:
> "They say when the Howling Riffs echo through the trees… your goats will learn fear."
---
Tavern Owner's Log:
Banned Tune: "Shriekstorm Ritual, Volume Infinite"
Damage List: 3 mugs, 1 window, 17 reputations
Final Note:
> "DO NOT LET THE CURSED HOWLER BACK IN, EVEN IF HE PAYS."
---
[TO BE CONTINUED]
— Author's Note — This entire chapter is a tribute to every small-town gig where the crowd was confused, the amp was cursed, and someone's grandma started levitating.
Yes, Raiko is banned. Yes, it's worth it.
– H. Behevras
—
© 2025 H. Behevras | First published on Royal Road
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