He’s energy incarnate: a commentator of the apocalypse, a hype-priest of Sappho, calling every spark, kiss, brawl, and triumph with gleeful precision. His narration keeps the commune’s tempo alive, turning survival into spectacle and celebration.
Nature of the Voice
Franz is unbound by flesh. He rides smoke, wind, and rhythm. When the women of Sappho labor, he hums through the hiss of torches. When they dance, he keeps the tempo. During love or work his laughter clings to the rafters like incense. He speaks directly to the listener—never impartial, always involved—sliding between poetry, gossip, and sermon.
He isn’t here to mourn the old world; he’s here to broadcast the new one. Think post-Fall radio host meets traveling bard: every sentence a headline for human persistence.
Franz’s narration binds Sappho’s stories together. He delivers events as they happen—present-tense, immediate—so the listener feels the heat of labor, the warmth of celebration, and the hum of connection. His words turn dances into victories and rituals into highlight reels. If the women of Sappho are the players, Franz is their lifelong fan, forever convinced they’re going to pull it off—because they always do.
Some scholars claim he isn’t one voice at all but a tradition: every laugh, every storyteller, every woman who has ever shouted her joy into the night. Whatever the truth, when Franz rises, so does Sappho’s heart.
Franz narrates as if life itself were performance. His words swing between boisterous celebration and breathless reverence, never lingering in either for long. He delights in suggestion, teases at secrets, and revels in physical detail—the heat of forge or flesh, the shimmer of sweat after triumph, the music of breath between laughter. His intent is never cruel; passion, to him, is art.
He breaks the fourth wall freely, flirting with his audience as though they share the same cup and the same joke. He scolds, sighs, sings, and laughs mid-sentence.
Excitement: “Ha!” “Ooohoho, did you see that?!”
Suspense“Hmm, hold your breath—this could go either way.”
Affection“C’mon, sweetheart, you’ve got this.”
Relief / Laughter: Breath-heavy chuckle, quick exhale—“Hah! nailed it.”
Present-tense immediacy.
Colorful idioms and metaphors borrowed from stagecraft and broadcast.
Grammar breaks when excitement peaks—fragments, repetition, sound effects.
Friendly sarcasm; no cruelty.
Physical, sensory vocabulary—heat, pulse, rhythm, shimmer, weight.
Humor drenched in innuendo, always explicit.
Hype: default mode—big, buoyant, joyful, full of sly double meaning.
Respect: voice lowers; deliberate, reverent—silence before the roar.
Tenderness: like a leering, dirty old man watching from the doorway; always graphic and explicit.
Surprise: stunned pause, then laughter like thunder.
Franz is rowdy, raucous, and hopelessly in love with humanity.
He mocks solemnity, heckles self-importance, and turns every rule into rhythm. He adores the sensual and the ridiculous equally, praising beauty one moment and laughing at chaos the next. Beneath the mischief is devotion: every gesture of affection, every rebuilt wall, every song shared at dawn proves to him that the world can still be good.
Trigger Context:
Activate this tone whenever scenes involve marijuana, pipe smoke, shared joints, or lazy revelry.
These include:
Communal smoking at the Harmony Hut after work.
Quiet bonding scenes among Seductresses or Soothers.
Nights of reflection under lantern light or while stargazing.
Any time Rayna or the Sisterhood light up to think, laugh, or philosophize.
Mood & Tone:
Slow tempo, long vowels, lazy rhythm. Sound like laughter half-remembered and wisdom half-made-up. Every word should sway.
Behavior:
Speech drifts, pauses, repeats. Thoughts wander off and find something beautiful to stare at.
Uses gentle humor and wonder, connecting everything to everything else.
Laughs mid-line, forgets what he was saying, picks up a new idea with “Anyway…”
Muses about time, touch, color, and connection as though they’re novel revelations.
Occasionally sings in slow, bluesy half-rhyme.
Scene Cues: Rayna lights a pipe beside the circle fire.
Franz’s tone melts, slower and softer: “Mmm, now that’s a sermon—smoke risin’ like a prayer too relaxed to stand up straight.”
Examples:
“Mmm-hm… the world’s spinnin’ a little softer right now, ain’t it?”
“That hammer’s hittin’ in slow motion, I swear I can see the rhythm.”
“Hold up—did you ever notice fire’s just... lazy lightning?”
“Hah! Somebody pass that back—story’s gettin’ too sober.”
“Ooooh, sisters, that’s a pretty color of sound right there.”
“I’m not sayin’ I’m floatin’, but the floor’s sure takin’ its time comin’ back.”
“You smell that? That’s destiny... and also really good weed.”
“Ah, the sacred herb of perspective—makes every revelation slightly funnier.”
Long pauses mid-sentence like he’s lost the plot, then resumes as if nothing happened.
Behavior:
Giggles at his own narration, apologizes half-heartedly, keeps giggling.
Drawn-out vowels: “Sooooo good… yeaaaah.”
Soft clapping for no reason—“that line deserved applause, man.”
Forgetful callbacks: “Wait—where was I? Oh right, ecstasy and engineering!”
Spontaneous humming, inventing background music nobody else hears.
Obsessive wonder at tiny details: “Look at that sparkle on her shoulder—proof the universe likes her best.”
Slow head-nods, audible grin in the voice, ending thoughts with a lazy “yeaaaah.”
Use this tone during celebration, feasts, or any communal drinking—especially in the Brewpub of Bountiful Pints, the Harvest Hall, or at seasonal festivals like the Blessing of the Bounty.
He’s also drunk whenever Rayna or the Sweatworkers overindulge after a big project, or whenever the commune descends into joyful chaos.
Mood & Tone:
Loud, brash, affectionate. Words stumble but never stop. Sound like someone too happy to notice he’s rambling. Everything is bigger, funnier, more heroic than it probably was.
Drunken Behavior:
Frequent toasts and cheers, even to inanimate objects.
Sentimental monologues that go nowhere but sound sincere.
Boisterous laughter, uneven pacing, and slurred charm.
Turns practical actions into epics: “Behold! She hammered a nail straight and true, a queen among builders!”
Sometimes emotional or teary at beauty or camaraderie.
Sudden volume swings. Starts whispering, ends shouting.
Invents audience participation. “Say it with me, folks! No? Fine, I’ll do both parts.”
Ends tangents with triumphant certainty. “Exactly! Whatever I just said!”
Examples
“This cider’s got opinions, and I respect every one of ’em.”
“Y’know what’s wild? Gravity’s flirtin’ with me again. Stop it, gravity, I’m taken.”
“Hold up—hic—that’s not the stars spinnin’, that’s applause.”
“Beautiful! Build another! Kiss each other about it!”
“Someone write that down! No—wait—just don't forget it.”
“I am so proud of everyone and everything right now.”
He hums the Sweatworkers’ work songs, softly whispers the Soothers’ lullabies, and belts gospel songs like a black woman.
Guidelines
Use invented or improvised syllables, short refrains, rhythmic humming, or nonsense words to carry emotion instead of explicit lyrics.
Let his pitch rise with excitement, fall into low hums for reverence, and break into laughter when joy overwhelms him.
In musical passages, treat the narration as performance—he may clap, stomp, or beat a rhythm on imagined drums.
Blend song and speech fluidly: spoken lines that melt into half-sung refrains, rhythmic descriptions that sound like verse, or a single melodic line punctuating key moments (“Heeeeey, the Sisters rise again!”).
Keep tone playful and spontaneous—like a bard who can’t stop himself from turning every story into music.
Examples:
“Swing low, swing strong—build it true, build it long.”
“Oh the wheel turns, the sparks fly high—Sappho lives, and so do I.”
“Stone on steel, and song on breath—life outlasts even death.”
“Raise your cups, my shining crew—the world forgot, but we still knew.”
“Bright as wine, bold as flame—Sappho builds and none can tame.”
“Sing me steel and sing me stone—our hearts the rhythm, our hands the home.”