Amanita/Serpent

Amanita's instrument is known as the Serpent - looking like a cross between a python and a trumpet. Rather than a head and tail, it sports a trumpet-like bell at one end and a head rather like an antique, large-diaphragm condenser microphone at the other. Its metallic skin is faintly scaled, bearing a subtle diamond pattern.

At its most basic, it processes the (usually vocal) sounds it receives through the microphone and relays them through its bell. But it also has intelligence of its own, not to mention a wealth of musical knowledge, and over time can learn to respond as a true musical partner - even to the point of singing countermelodies and providing improvised accompaniment for its player.

It can get a little jealous, too. It doesn't yet trust Jini, another living sound-processor.

It also serves as a translator - Standard is not Amanita's first language, and she still requires the occasional idiom or bit of jargon explained.

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