And OK I guess the "random" is a bit misleading and a lot of my questions are about the Virtuosos since they seem to be the one major aspect of the storyline that thus far isn't reasonably fully explained and/or everything suggests that we're waiting on OblivAeon for remaining answers.
3. Are they always guys? All the other known names seem masculine, or at least not obviously feminine.
4. How do they get chosen, anyway?
Subnote: It also seems particularly interesting that the storyline acts like Anthony dying would end the line of Virtuosos, but his predecessor was killed off before Anthony could meet him and Anthony still discovered his destiny anyway. There must be some existential "event flag" factoring in here that the world and/or Anthony hasn't met yet.
5. IIRC we know the instruments don't have any inherent power, so, what are they for? Just to focus/channel magic energy? Or are they more like magic feathers? It's interesting that in Prime War Anthony seems to be using a songbook as one of his options. It's also notable that Anthony can learn from the other instruments even though they're not inherently powerful.
I'm no expert and I can be wrong a lot of the time. But I'll try to answer these to the best of my knowledge.
I'll reference the official bio here for...well,reference:
The Virtuosos of the Void always passed on their chosen instruments. The new Virtuoso would learn their fate when handed the instrument, the artifact itself imparting the title and the knowledge that order must be preserved. When a young bartender named Anthony Drake happened across an ancient Chinese bell in a cultural arts museum, he learned more about the ways of the world, as well as his own destiny, than he ever could have imagined. He was the newest Virtuoso of the Void and should have already been training in the ways of the Void, but Akash’bhuta had disrupted the cycle early. She, over time, learned to destroy the instruments of the Virtuosos, and she had broken the fiddle of the previous Virtuoso of the Void before it could be passed on to his successor.
Anthony Drake set out, leaving his mundane life behind him. He sought the remaining instruments of past Virtuosos in order to learn to channel his new-found power. Calling himself The Argent Adept, he fights as an agent of order and restoration against the discord sewn by all manner of vile beings.
#3: It is unknown if all Virtuoso's were male. There are likely other instruments out there that Drake does not know about or havn't found. For instance, he found the Baton much later than all of the others. Knowing Christopher however and how he writes, I would say the chances are high that he would say "yes" to a past female Virtuoso.
#4: There may not be a specific way to choose who is the Virtuoso. It seems to me that its a bit of the old "choosen one" archetype, that it is just a matter of destiny.
Subnote: Drake dying would not end the line of Virtuoso's. However, Akash only learned to destroy the intruments with his predececor and the Violin. It is the knowledge and power that accumilates over time that, I think, makes Virtuoso's much stronger over time as they gather all those previous memories of the ones before him. If Akash continues this new found pattern of destroying the current instruments before the Virtuoso can get their feet on the ground so to speak, she severly limits the amount of power the next one can poccess and can stop them before they become a threat by intervening early like she did with Drake. Of course, Drake has "plot armor" in the begining of the story, but it doesn't make the threat of what Akash could do any less thretening to the Virtuoso's existence. Also note that Drake was way behind the ball when Akash first showed up and he would have certainly lost and died in that first fight if it wasn't for Captain Cosmic showing up to help, which eventually led to the formation of the Prime Wardens in the first place.
#5: Actually, I beleive the intruments do have special properties. They may not be innatly powerful, as in anyone could pick up and weild them, but the Virtuoso's can certainly channel past users and gain power and knowledge from them, so it stands to reason that there is a special bond that forms with those instruments. Consider this as well: Drake actually destroys the Bell at one point which provides him with such a surge of power that he is able to rip a massive space warship in two.
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I have a theory on the songbook. Would you like to hear it? Great!
Drake uses the different instruments for different songs/rhythems to produces different effects or powers traditionally. But he needs to summon them and physically use them to work. The destruction of the Bell was a massive setback for Drake. In that story line he basically cuts off his arm to save the body in a metaphorical sense. He needs those instruments and the powers/songs/knowledge that comes with them, and he handicapped himself. Keep that in mind while we switch gears a bit.
If you notice on the Prime Wardens Argent character card, all the intruments he still has avaliable are pictured, but they are not actually there. The art is more like stainglass right? They are there in spirit but not there in a physical form. This is pretty important. Also, notice the name of the innate power. Conduct.
Ok, so remember when Drake destroyed his bell that I talked about a few sentenses ago? Drake couldn't just get weaker and be ok with it, there would be no way to continue fighting the villains he has been, and certainly would be screwed if Akash picked another fight right now. He would certainly die being weakened. So he had to go out in search of more lost instruments of the Void. Back in my first answer, I mentioned the Baton. Well, this is what Drake found, the rose laced conductors baton. Now, the baton was powerful. More powerful than any instrument he has found up to this point, and he thrived with this power. But why was it so strong? Think about what a baton is and what it represents. It is the instrument of the conductor of the orchestra, the one who directs every other instrument. Wherever the baton moves, the other instruments follow. It is a dictorial relationship by nature, a relationship that is far to easy to exploit and abuse. Even if the baton points in your direction in an orchestra at the wrong moment, you play because thats the power it weilds. You do what it says, even when in the wrong.
As we know though from the card art from the alt-art foil pack, the Baton comes with a lot of baggage. Bad baggage. Dark and evil baggage. The previous owner of the baton fell into the trap I described above and used the other instruments by force to do his will. This warrped Drakes mind to a large extent as we see in that incap art, and it would take a great deal for him to finally destroy the Baton and free himself from the control and bloodlust that power brought him.
Drake was back at square one, but not without learning a very valuable lesson. Controling multiple instruments at once was a huge spike in power for him, but he needed to find a way to conduct the orchestra without the tyranny of the Baton. I believe he found the answer of how to do that with the songbook. The songbook, as opposed to the baton, has a much more symbiotic relationship with its user creating a healthier dynamic. I have no evidence of this, but it might also be possible with the song book to store the knowledge of previously found instruments to preserve and recall their songs even if the physical object is no longer around. This type of consolidation of power might be bad in the future, but certainly makes Akash's original plan to stop the Virtuoso's once and for all much harder to execute.
This may not be very accurate in some details (will have to wait for a Letters Page on Argent to find out more), but to me the general brushstrokes make sense as connecting thoughts