Bard of Time writeup

So I've been thinking about how to incorporate Hussie's moderately recent revelation about the nature of the Bard class into Leland's character (I know we don't have to adhere to canon all the time, but this is something that will bug me if I don't do it). So, I'm going to rewrite a little bit of Leland's characterization and story to accomodate this. Not too much, though, he's still essentially the same, he just has actual reasons for some of his eccentricities. So here goes...

Leland Odhràn, the Bard of Time (bear with me, this is stream-of-consciousness writing, and I'm new at this)

You are the Bard of Time, the Hero who invites destruction through time's natural flow. Almost everything around you seems to succumb to the ravages of time on its own accord. Plants you attempt to cultivate wither in hours. Animals you attempt to take in as pets lose their youthful vigor in a couple days, and then seemingly die of old age in a couple weeks. Mere objects that you own seem to break down much faster than they should; you've gone through at least 10 husktops this way. (Though this one isn't all bad, since things are constantly breaking around you, you've become rather adept at fixing things, or at least you are when you can work yourself up to actually fixing anything, because what's the point of fixing it if it's just going to break again in a week or two?) Even ideas and thoughts that you have seem to fizzle out before they come to their conclusion. (Though you've gotten much better at this! You used to never be able to finish a single thought, but now you're able to force yourself through them. Though there is often still a pronounced pause towards the end of your statements, as you gather up the willpower to finish the sentence.)

This is something that happens no matter what, though there are a couple stipulations that you may or may not be aware of:
1: The more attention you give something, or concentration you put towards something, the faster it seems to succumb. This one you have noticed, and it has made you rather disillusioned with starting anything. If whatever you do, or put your mind to, is doomed to failure or death, then what is the point of doing anything at all?
2: The higher the sentience of the thing you are dealing with, the less likely it is to die within days. Complete sentience renders your powers useless, which is a good thing, because there are a few trolls that you care deeply about, and accidentally aging them centuries would probably get in the way of interacting with them. The only lusus that was able to withstand your onslaught was the Cerbearus, which is known for its intelligence, as well as its complete and utter refusal to obey the normal laws of time.

All of your woes are indicative of a lack of control over your element. This is something that resolves when you find/create your focus item, the Uncommon Time. Your focus item, as the name implies, allows you to better focus your powers, and teaches you control. You will rely on this to control your powers until you ascend or otherwise realize that you have the control yourself.

Alright, that's all I've got. Thoughts, concerns, remarks?

It's a good thing you limited the influence of Leland's time-based powers to less-sentient things. The ability to manipulate the time around other people could be interesting, but hazardous. The only thing it makes me wonder about is what sort of effect would it have on the Imps, Ogres, Giclopses, Basilisks, and the like. Sure, they're individual beings that live and die, but they're also constructs of the game that, when defeated, turn into tools for the players to use in the progress of the game.

An amusing thing would be Leland living out in the desert oasis because of his inability to keep a proper lawnring. The oasis occurs naturally and doesn't take much concentration to maintain or benefit from, but any attempts to grow something on his own ends in withered stalks and overripe fruit. For some reason, though, he cannot seem to influence pumpkins...

Yeah, I figured that having him able to manipulate the time of other trolls at first would just be too much too soon. This isn't to say that he won't eventually become able to use his time-ravaging powers on sentient beings eventually, in fact I plan on him eventually being able to do so. However, that will come after he's gained control of his abilities, so it won't be like he suddenly kills off the rest of the team for no reason. It might be something that comes as he peaks his echeladder or ascends.

Also, I do intend for Leland to also have access to all the time-as-music abilities that I originally planned for him. I think these will be more of a product of the Uncommon Time than Leland himself. The nature of his time device is able to change his power into more varied means.