Viol of the Hollow Men

The Viol of the Hollow Men, also known as Tallow's violin, was the unique fiddle that belonged to Nikolai Tallow of the Vast.

Description
The name "Tallow's violin" was rarely uttered, even by the owners of this enchanted musical instrument, as Nikolai Tallow was considered a harbinger of bad luck.

Powers
The Viol of the Hollow Men possessed an uncanny magical ability that allowed a capable bard to play the instrument and summon between one and four shadows for nearly a minute.

History
A notorious individual, Nikolai Tallow hailed from a simple chandler family near High Haspur. The occasional travelers through the area exposed him to many cultures. One day, he met an elven musician named Relev Thinriver who, over the course of several years during his journeys, taught the young man to play his violin. Nikolai fell in love with the instrument and its beautiful sound. Relev admired the young man's natural talent, sharp mind, and passion for everything, but was wary of Nikolai's arrogance and proud bearing. Eventually, Relev Thinriver was killed by a group of orcish bandits but not before he taught all he knew to the young man. Through the years that followed, Nikolai traveled the Vast and practiced his music, often returning to his isolated home high in the mountains.

More years passed, and Nikolai became a famed violinist all across the Vast, the southern Moonsea region, and even Sembia. But the man's fame attracted the attention of Tremble Ghon, a thug and a bandit leader from Calaunt. The criminals followed the musician through the Elvenblood Pass and caught up with Nikolai at the The Elf in Armor inn. The bandits demanded a performance from the famed man, who was dining with his father. Nikolai refused, offending the "stinking oafs". Tremble Ghon taunted the musician and doubted his skill, to which Nikolai retorted his music was good enough to raise the dead. Ghon thought it a fun challenge and murdered the fiddler's father in cold blood, waiting for the proof of the claim. This caused quite a massacre in the inn as the villagers attempted to intervene, only to be cut down by the gang. Tremble asked Nikolai, "Where's your big mouth now, fiddle player?" In response, the musician pulled out his violin and played a song never heard before nor after. The musician played like a madman, consumed with passions and moving almost unnaturally. The song climaxed with Nikolai's father, along with all the dead around him, returning to "life" but in the shape of vengeful shadowy creatures who chilled the bandits, draining every spark of life out of them. But the mad song never ended. Nikolai Tallow continued dancing in strange agony across the lands of his home until every creature to have ever died there joined him in the dark revelry. It was said that Nikolai disappeared into a mysterious wall of mist that disappeared after he entered it.

Thereafter, local legends claimed that on nights when mists enveloped the land, Nikolai Tallow's ghost played his phantom violin with the shadows of the dead dancing to the melody in the light of the moon.

By 1281 DR, the Viol of the Hollow Men had reappeared in the Realms. A drow merchant Nym, who caused the fall of Dorn's Deep and the Hand of the Seldarine centuries prior, had the enchanted fiddle and was happy to part with it for a price.

Appearances

 * Video Games
 * Icewind Dale