The Music of the Night
| The Music of the Night | |
|---|---|
| Date | 5/18/23 |
| Storyteller | Zoro |
| Tier | Trainee - Very Hard |
| Player Characters | Maki, Zeal, Tik, Disorro Saur |
| Rewards | 176 gold, 5 silver, 6 copper, 275 exp |
| Result | Success |
| Author | Zeal |
Log
In light of previous expeditions, I had figured this would be a fairly simple job. We gathered, met with Captain Ink, and simply needed to go in and handle a ghost sighting inside the theater. Sounds of music, figures in the shadows, standard fair. If it ended up being squatters, we were to tell them to stop messing with others, maybe force them out if needed. At the same time, nobody had ever found the main office of the old theater, so if we found that while we were in there he'd appreciate it. It seemed simple, but no expeditions I go on ever end up being such.
It was midday when we entered, and yet as we passed through the front entrance into the theater, it was dark and foggy within. If I hadn't already known better, I would have assumed the roof was without the extensive damage and multiple holes it has at the time of writing. Lighting the way with a torch, I led the group in a circle around the audience area, the group eventually spotting a lit candle on a desk in the middle of said audience area. Not seeing anything in our quarter-circle rotation of the room, we headed over to it and examined the two desks. The one with the candle on it bore a bowl and a bronze bell, neither of which seemed relevant after our experimentation with both. I detected a haunt nearby, still dormant. After Maki rung the bell, perhaps that woke it up, because once Tik stepped too far from the torchlight they were knocked unconscious by an unseen force. After Maki and Disorro got Tik up, we lit more torches to be safe and continued checking the area. I noticed Tik's shadow was wavering and was able to surmise this was the work of a Shadow, though it was more subtle than the ones I had fought in the past. Regardless, I knew shadows were born from violent deaths full of emotion, and we could presume the shadow to be someone tied to the theater itself.
The second table bore scripts and a review of a play, "Magical Ameratis", the review being by Edgar G. Pembleton. It was a story about the crusader Barttuccio falling in love with his quarry, Blasthie, and was given a 4.5 out of 5 by the reviewer. It had many extras, around 23 I believe. This will be relevant, unfortunately.
During our examination I found a letter addressed to a Lady Clean, "Your son was the best bartuccio the Markmuse has ever seen, and his unfortunate demise has been a blow to all of us. Please find inside his last payment that we were not able to pay to him." -Phineas Pferliglohkt". In it I found 3 gold, which I would later return to the captain to do with as he pleased. Perhaps he will find a descendent to accept the gold, but it is unlikely. The others also found four resumes for actors in the other desk. Lindel Clean, a male human, Ray Hiroi, a female halfling, Rainbow Of, a female gnoll, and a resume written in Jotun. I was able to determine it was a male of some sort, but it was not until much later that we found out it was a dwarf named Magival who wrote everything in Jotun.
We went onto the stage and began checking side rooms, finding nothing of note in the kitchen aside from noticing the shadow was now in Maki's. Tik throwing a plate at it got it to stop moving around but didn't seem to directly affect it. Tik also theorized it could have traveled between their shadows during the attempt to heal Tik, but it was a theory ultimately unconfirmed. I will revisit this theory if I encounter similar circumstances.
As we crossed back across the stage, Disorro suddenly felt the urge to act out a part of the play by himself. He could hear the distant cheer of an audience, and he and Tik tested some theory about a mirror world that involved throwing a coin, but the logistics of it proved too confusing for any of us to come to a full conclusion. Passing by an oddly placed chair, we examine some rooms that contain costumes and makeup, until we find a locked door up in the north east. Maki is able to break us in, only for us to discover there was nothing of value in the room at all. I insulted the idea of the owner wasting their time locking up only the least important room, and Tik noticed my shadow growing rather violent. I struck at it with my morningstar, but even with the ghost touch property it didn't seem to draw it out. What did, however, was Tik following through with further insults that prompted it to fully manifest and attack. We were able to dispatch the shadow with relative ease, though we soon discovered that unlike normal shadows, the enfeebling effect it places upon you was yet to depart from us. We were able to determine this shadow was Phineas, the producer of the play we had previously read. His chair just outside refused to move when Maki tried, leaving her with the same weakening effect Tik and I carried.
Spotting a curtain we had yet to investigate, Tik led us to it only for it to reveal a stone wall. Or so we thought, when Disorro shot through it and revealed it was drywall painted to look like stone. I broke through the rest of it with my weapon, revealing a collapsed office. We had thought it to be a dead-end until Tik noticed several 5 star posters across the room's remains, leading Tik to the conclusion that Phineas had died with great hatred over the fact that one of his plays got a 4.5 instead of a 5. That was when Phineas revealed himself fully upon the stage, laying out the scene for us, so to speak. He would not allow anyone less than perfect to perform in his theater, and he was most certainly angry about this one slight by Pembleton, who was a good friend and husband of his daughter. A complete betrayal, he assured us multiple times. He mentioned the axe-like murder of his lead actor the night before the play, forcing the understudy to underperform on opening night. He also called the dancers of the city amateurs, but what happened next has left me skeptical of the tastes of audiences of the past.
I cannot recall the exact path of the discussion, but I, for some reason, suggested Disorro could help him re-perform his play and do it right this time. This led to Disorro playing Bartuccio, Tik playing Blasthie, and Maki playing every single extra. I was Pembleton, reviewing his play "Correctly" this time. I'm not sure why he thought I would make a good play critic, I'd never seen a play in my life before this, and I'm still not sure I have now.
We humored him, the script was burned to force everyone to play it out by "memory", which led to what I hope was a great degree of ad-libbing, not a famous producer's actual work. I told him it was the best play I'd ever seen, and gave it five stars. He took this as fulfillment and departed, leaving us a pile of gold to sort out as payment. Attached below are my notes for the review of the play, for no other reason than to be definitive in my report.
Zeal's review Bandit's work is creative, Blasthie and the bandit's fight shows good choreography, best I've seen in the theater. Bandit successfully stealing the coin purse was a surprise, excellent setup for Bartuccio As quickly as he comes, he disappears. Leaves matters mysterious as to if it really was him or not. Bandit's surprise at their own death felt realistic. Bartuccio falls in love with Blasthie immediately? Another twist I wasn't expecting. The fools give a surprisingly interesting display. As someone religiously disavowed to showing emotion, I am disappointed that I almost smirked. The fools left me properly confused, which was likely the point. A lack of intermissions, which I appreciate. No wasting of my time. "Leaves turn twice in their life, you can do it once." Was quite the term. A fourth wall break, in a play? An appeal only those well studied regarding the ins and outs of the show could identify. Short and sweet final song, just the way I prefer them.