Musicians of Bremen

Overview	Episode 1

“	Heehaw, Doodle-doo, Woof… and me. The four of us were moved to the core by the Pianist’s performance. To recreate the performance half as splendid as what we heard that day, we formed the Musicians of Bremen to study the music.	”
–Meow's Page

The Musicians of Bremen are a Syndicate of self-proclaimed musicians founded by Heehaw, Doodle-Doo, Woof, and Meow. Touched by the destructive concert of the Pianist, these animal-masked artists seek to follow in the Pianist's footsteps by recreating his performance, bringing a new wave of terror to the streets of music in District 9 where their idol first left his mark.

The Musicians of Bremen are encountered in Urban Plague, as the second reception in the middle-left column.

Composition

Character	Description
Meow	The most experienced member and the current leader of the Syndicate, Meow wears a cat mask. She was one of the founding members, but when the others left, she stayed to mentor the newbies, believing it important to uphold their reputation and make her cofounders proud. Wields a long katana with a pink glow.
MuMu	Formerly a Fixer hailing from District 23, MuMu is now a rabbit-masked newbie with the Musicians. He holds a particularly great fervor for the Pianist. Wields a long, nailed baton with a teal glow.
Oink	The newest member of the Musicians. Obsessed with the Pianist's melody, he left his job as a Fixer in the Seven Association's South Section 3 to play his own music, though he lacks experience, much to the irritation of the other two. Wields a bloody double-headed axe.

Story

Episode 1

Pre-Battle

Meow, Oink and MuMu practice their art.

The episode begins with the trio hiding away in their den, practicing their instruments. Meow yawns and states their performance isn't going to well, with MuMu scolding Oink by reminding him these are District 9's Backstreets; the Pianist's homeland. Oink responds that he's still upset at Heehaw's orders of going to the Library, fearing the worst. MuMu tries to calm him by suggesting him to let his worries shake away to the music, while Meow chastizes him, saying he'd use him as her instrument if he keeps falling behind. This brings Meow to lecture the two on that they shouldn't let petty thoughts keep them from performing at their best, and how the hardships they face are much less than what she, Heehaw, Doodle-doo, and Woof faced in their founding days, moved to recreate the Pianist's performance in its initial aftermath.

The three then recall their experience hearing the Pianist's music, the way the enchanting tune echoed throughout the City and moved their hearts; a piano made out of one hundred thousand people, playing their tendons like keys and producing a beautiful tune, causing them to realize the sounds a human can make in the hands of a skilled performer. Meow then praises the Pianist's finale, his notes and his score manifesting physically and disfiguring the Fixers that tried to slay him, not killing them, but assimilating them into the piano to continue his performance, with the last Fixer standing being carefully torn apart, making glorious music as red notes scattered from their body. All before it was sadly cut short by the Black Silence, who finally put him down by cutting off hands and head.

Meow remembers the Pianist's heavenly performance.

Nonetheless, Oink and MuMu are still disillusioned, sad that they might never come close to half his skill according to Heehaw and Doodle-doo. Meow consoles them, encouraging them to pour their heart and souls into their performances to reach beauty, noting the music the other three founding members played before going on a trip to prepare for "a performance bigger than ever". Now in higher spirits, the trio gear up to gather new instruments at the library, before declaring they'll play in a supermarket in Oink's honor after this.

Back in the Library, Roland sighs at the Syndicate, saying the Pianist "left a whole bunch of nutjobs in his wake". Angela quotes the Silent Orchestra, "From break and ruin, the most beautiful performance begins", to the surprise of Roland, who asks if she's interested in the Pianist's music, but she responds that she's heard that music more than enough times. Curious, Roland asks if there was another crazed musician like the Pianist, with Angela replying that they weren't exactly the same along with asking Roland if he heard the Pianist's music himself. He remarks that it'd be easier to count the people that didn't hear it, adding that the music didn't just "pierce" his body like the Musicians praised, but almost killed him, before stopping himself, not to recall his music again. He adds that all musicians are "molto vivace" in the head, one way or the other.

At the entrance of the Library, Meow rallies the newbies, singing along to the sounds their respective animals make, before noting that rabbits don't make any sounds. Right after, Angela arrives to greet them with her usual introduction, only to be ignored while the Musicians bicker about the sound a rabbit makes. Annoyed, Angela remarks their nonsensical nature, before the group yells and hurl insults at her to let them in. Angela is momentarily surprised before Meow suddenly strikes her in the head, laughing as she stumbles and blood starts to flow down her face. Oink remarks that she bleeds despite being a machine, and MuMu threatens to break her legs if she doesn't let them in. Without another word, Angela leaves.

Post-Battle

Angela bleeds.

After the Musicians are slain, Roland is shocked to see Angela's bloodied face when he thought she was purely machine. Angela remarks that she's surprised as well, adding that an impact like that shouldn't have made her flinch at all. Roland asks her if she's doing alright, with Angela confirming and stating she now know how much it hurts to take a hit. Roland wonders if that's a sign of Angela coming closer to being human, and she responds that it might be a step closer to her freedom, but there's no reason to worry yet.

Background

The Musicians of Bremen are a Syndicate of people that were moved by the Pianist's music and his violent methods, inspired to make melodies out of human flesh in equally extravagant ways. To them, destruction and suffering create the most beautiful art forms imaginable, and their performances leave grisly scenes of flesh and blood in their wake. They come from a variety of backgrounds, which can be seen through their clothes. Originally founded by Heehaw, Doodle-doo, Woof and Meow, they were invited by a mysterious individual to join "the largest performance ever," which the former three accepted. However, Meow stayed, wishing to guide the newbies and maintain the group's reputation. Before leaving, the three founders gave the group an invitation to the Library for them to gather new instruments to play.

Though music is their main pastime, the Musicians of Bremen used to make a living as a butcher Syndicate, selling the "leftovers" from their performances to local restaurants in the Backstreets of District 23 — gourmets who valued the taste of human flesh. This worked well for them for some time, and many of the restaurants even paid them back with food, but it didn't last. After Heehaw, Doodle-doo, and Woof left, they couldn't gather as much meat as before, and Oink was also unskilled and often ruined their ingredients. Eventually, they had to pull out of the business altogether. Pierre's Bistro was one of these restaurants, and it suffered greatly because the Musicians of Bremen were one of its only suppliers.

Key Page stories

Meow’s Page

Heehaw, Doodle-doo, Woof… and me. The four of us were moved to the core by the Pianist’s performance. To recreate the performance half as splendid as what we heard that day, we formed the Musicians of Bremen to study the music. We tried flicking strings here and there… Playing music while sitting, on our backs, and even while handstanding! We still couldn’t come close to the Pianist’s level, but we managed to make our own brand of music, something that only the Musicians of Bremen can play. Our performance was actually pretty fantastic, you know? Sadly, our time didn’t last long. One day, a mysterious person approached us and asked us to join his ensemble and perform with him… Woof, Doodle-doo, and Heehaw took the offer and left with that guy. I had to stay because of new members that had just joined our band, though. Yep, MuMu and Oink. It’s kinda… uncomfortable to just leave them behind, you know? We can’t let them mess around and taint our name, either. I’ve been practicing with them to create a performance that could get a standing ovation once my old bandmates come back. But at their current level of skills, the three would just cluck at these newbies’ performance and go back to whatever they were doing.

MuMu’s Page

They say the Backstreets are a nigh-inhabitable hellscape, but the people here live on somehow. There’s lots of people who live in fear every moment, but… The others live a pretty normal life. Some think the Backstreets are totally shady and poorly aged slums… But we do have all the amenities we need here. For one, the supermarkets Oink likes aren’t as good as those in the Nest, but it’s got everything people need. Clothing stores, groceries, dry cleaners, etc… I heard the details are different for each District, so there’s that… I’m just telling you how things are where I live. People here aren’t too unkind to each other. Those Nest dwellers like to gossip about how we’re cruel and dreary and all that, but the truth is, we’re doing just fine. Oh, and there’s tons of good restaurants here. It’s the street of flavor, after all. Freshly baked meat pies, spaghetti made of special pasta… Your tongue and stomach have a wonderful time if you ever go on a trip to our District. We used to hand over the leftovers from our performance here to local restaurants. That meat would go to waste if we left it on the spot, so we might as well give it to the people who can make good use of it, ain’t that right? When Woof, Doodle-doo, and Heehaw were around, we got enough chow to share with several eateries, but our find was halved since they were gone… And Oink kept making silly mistakes with it and ruined those ingredients too often, so we quit that biz altogether. Which is a tad bit unfortunate~ We sometimes got tasty meals for free when we gave them our meat.

Oink’s Page

The Seven Association is a Fixer Association specializing in investigation and intelligence, and it’s knowledgeable in pretty much every affair that takes place in the City. Details about a Syndicate gaining infamy in the Backstreets of some place (the Association probably knows what District it is exactly, but I left before I checked the details of it.), all the information revealed about the Distortion Phenomenon which has been going around lately, when and where Fixer Offices start up and close business, and the beat goes on… The Association treats all kinds of information about the City. Oh, they don’t have access to top-secret intels like the secrets of the Singularities each Nest holds, obviously speaking. When they solve cases, they usually cooperate with other Associations like the Shi and the Liu. If you ask how the Seven Association can secure its confidentiality despite holding lots of juicy info that could attract the many, it’s likely because its staff aren’t bad combatants by any means. They don’t use fancy but crude workshop weapons that are basically large amalgamations of various technologies. Regular informants are armed with nothing more than a simple bladed tool. It sounds very underwhelming judging from the weapon alone, but they use the minimum technique with pinpoint precision to take down their foes.

Battle Symbols

There are 3 Battle Symbols related to this guest group.

Battle Symbol	Name	Slot
	Miau Miau Kitty	Headwear 1
	Effect
	2% chance to boost Blunt dice Power by +1
	Condition
	In an Urban Plague-level reception, have 5 strength at once with Meow's Key Page equipped.
	Oinkie-Oinkie Piggy	Headwear 4
	Effect
	Stagger Resist +1
	Condition
	In a single Act of an Urban Plague-level reception, restore 6 Light from Combat Page effects.
	……? Bunny	Headwear 4
	Effect
	2% chance to boost Evade dice power by +1
	Condition
	In a single Act of an Urban Plague-level reception, inflict Feeble 5 times with MuMu's Key Page equipped.

Trivia

• The Musicians of Bremen are based on the Town Musicians of Bremen, a German fairy tale. The animals in the fairy tale correspond to the original four members of the Syndicate (who are also featured in the group's icon).
• The Musicians of Bremen are mentioned in Chapter 4 of Leviathan. Pablo, a Docent of the Ring, states that they are liked by Ring Maestro Jumsoon for their emphasis on "artistic deconstruction."

Gallery

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  Meow
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  MuMu
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  Oink
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  The Musicians of Bremen's den.