Chelf
(a.k.a. Chelf)
Chelf is a Mundeenian Crunch artist who managed to gain a toehold into the musical landscape of their enemies the Stenza by sheer accident. Despite not being as famous as the Running Twins or as controversial as Tybae, Mecho, or Amemea, they were established enough in the scene that a collection of their complete works could be stored on a data chip when they were in their late teens. During the latter years of the Purge of Muxter, Stenza Third Officer Ta'zhen discovered Chelf's music in the middle of an operation on Muxteran soil and took a shine to it, using it to process her own complicated feelings about the ongoing war.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Chelf was born shortly after the start of the Stenza-Muxter war, and like many of their peers in the Crunch scene they are largely ignorant of a time before the conflict started. They got into music at a young age, listening avidly to the Running Twins, Tybae, Mecho and others and experimenting with the sound in a blown out garage in their neighborhood (including detonating an ice mine with their friends for a laugh). Some of their later demos began incorporating the raid siren as a sound element and playing around with it as a symbol.
The revelation of Amemea's political leanings rocked the Crunch community when Chelf entered their adolescence, and they were the first to release a track commenting on the issue. Called "Collaborator", it used the raid siren to thematically connect Amemea to the Stenza, while lyrics dissed her as a liar, a poser, and a fraud. Critics called the track "on the nose", but it was a wild success on Muxter and is often pointed to as an indicator of the general opinion of most of the Crunch community on the scandal.
Following this great success Chelf was first recognized at the Pantheon of Mundeen's Sunset Gate praying over a farm animal, although out of respect for the holy space and their privacy no photos were taken.
They followed up their success with the release of their first record, In the City of the Temple, a "sonic map" of their neighborhood featuring sounds from the war as backdrops and hooks. All tracks were recorded on location, and it is possible to pick out which track was recorded where if you are familiar with how Crunch works as a genre and the various neighborhoods of Mundeen. However, some are easier to locate than others; the record features Chelf singing a hymn a capella, which corresponds to a hill from which the Pantheon of Mundeen can be seen in all its multi-colored glory.
In the City of the Temple was another huge hit on Muxter, drawing a lot of commentary about the changing relationship many Muxterans have with the divine, in their private lives and in relation to their local temples. Chelf personally maintains a household shrine and began donating regularly to the Pantheon about this time. Those donations helped cover damages the complex received from artillery and contributed to the priests' program to build ears into the outer shrines to reassure the public.
Chelf's further releases blended religious and secular themes with the backdrop of the ongoing war, including the Siege of Mundeen, which officially began in 2493. They were established and prolific enough that in 2497, Ta'zhen found a data chip containing an entire collection of their works in the rubble around Mundeen. Ta'zhen kept this collection and began playing it periodically as she herself explored how she related to the ongoing hostilities, which in turn led to Chelf being the most recognized name in Mundeenian Crunch among the actual Stenza, against whom much of the genre is ideologically positioned. (This fame is moderate but fairly noteworthy among the Stenza broadly, but many members of the Clan of the Lost can identify individual works and what they broadly represent.)
In keeping with their habit of responding quickly to any change in the water, so to speak, Chelf released a single but lengthy and winding track chronicling their shifting initial reactions to this development. The track contained several movements in random order reflecting various emotions from anger to sadness and pleading with the gods to hope for change. The track never received an official title, but became arguably the most successful of Chelf's individual works since their commentary on Amemea.
Gender Identity
Chelf is a third-sexed individual and therefore goes by they/them. They are fond of using makeup and hair styles to further confuse the point and explore the concept of self-expression.
Education
Like many growing up in the war, Chelf's education was spotty at best, and while they formally learned to read and write, they are a self-taught musician (a pedagogy of which the Crunch genre is very accommodating).
Accomplishments & Achievements
Chelf first rose to success by being Amamea's first and harshest denouncer, and has followed this up with a wildly successful record, proving they weren't a fluke and establishing them as forward-thinking, with an acute grasp on the war in particular and politics in general.
Social
Religious Views
Chelf routinely prays at the Pantheon of Mundeen, either over the offerings entering the temple complex or at one of the many exterior shrines. Although this is not known to the public, they also maintain a household shrine to the gods that have watched over their family for generations, but were almost forgotten due to the war.
You character portrait reminds me a bit of Death in Neil Gaiman's Sandman. I think you have a solid article here. The concept of Crunch music and how reactive Chelf is in her musical expression to events in her world is very cool.
I wish I could have included a little more Siouxsie Sioux in there, but artbreeder was not cooperating :D I found it fun to explore how the events of the universe affect other people, people who touch the story indirectly.