When Nat goes down to get the Staff, he sees an ancient, bloody violin and a jeweled glove, among other things.

wrote:Gladstone's Staff, a jeweled glove, an ancient violin, stained with blood; goblets, swords, caskets, and tapestries.

What were these mysterious other items, specifically the violin and the glove, as they have the most description. Are they based on anything in particular?

Any speculations? I think the glove is probably something similar to Gladstone's Staff, a powerful thing capable of high offensive magic. The Violin.. I dunno. It's creepy though. :ermm:

When played puts everyone to sleep?
Welocme Nittles.

The violin could be referring to The Music of Erich Zann, one of H.P. Lovecraft's ambiguously mythos writings. But although that would be pretty damn cool, bringing Lovecraft into the Bartiverse is probably not what Stroud was trying to do.

The enchantment on the violin is obviously beneficial - perhaps it makes it stay in tune, correct mistakes and the like. The bloodstains are there because of people fighting over the perfect instrument.
How do I know this? Well, what could you possibly do to make a violin in the hands of somebody who hasn't practiced for decades any worse?

Sentynel wrote:Well, what could you possibly do to make a violin in the hands of somebody who hasn't practiced for decades any worse?

Set it on fire.

That makes it stop making a noise (after a little bit of burning, anyway). That sounds like an improvement to me...

Yes, but the person holding it would be making a lot of noise... :P

Only briefly. Violin amateurs can go on for hours.

You make a good point. However, the smell from their roasting carcass would be worse than the noise...barely.

Roasting meat smells a hell of a lot better than an untrained violin user sounds..

Yep.
Hell, close your eyes and imagine real hard, it's just chicken.
Tasty, tasty chicken.

A chalk screeching on the blackboard....

The Scarlatti Tilt by Richard Brautigan wrote:"It's very hard to live in a studio apartment in San Jose with a man who's learning to play the violin." That's what she told the police when she handed them the empty revolver.

Hehe.

RBC wrote:The violin could be referring to The Music of Erich Zann, one of H.P. Lovecraft's ambiguously mythos writings. But although that would be pretty damn cool, bringing Lovecraft into the Bartiverse is probably not what Stroud was trying to do.

Actually I wouldn't be suprised if the violin was something from another work, and Stroud put it in just for the hella it. We should ask.

Meh, I'm just a Cthulhu fanatic.

Maybe it was for those one djinni that need to be enchanted with music but the magician mest up on the pentacle and the djinni got him! =) hence the blood

Perhaps the violin is a more complex version of a summoning horn (puts its first user in the power of the creature he summons).

and its just need blood for sacrefice like the golem's percament

I think I like Nemaides idea. You know how the summoning horn had the ashen fingermarks from the first person to use it? Maybe the first person to use the violin has to cut themself and bleed all over it... (what a lovely mental image )
And some demons are receptive to music, I assume, since Nathaniel takes music lessons with Mr. Sindra in the first book.

I think the jeweled glove might be something from Viking Mythology (either that or I'm just making stuff up now)

Has nobody even thought about the implication that the glove MIGHT just be an ornament?! Or that possibly some guy just got REALLY mad at a violin?! LoL

The vault is for 'grade one' magical items. Props, ornaments, and unclean violins do not qualify, I think