The White Mask Theater & Performers Guild - RP Thread

[Ambaryerno]

\\FYI: Mehtar is an alias Aleric is using on the Sword Coast.

Aleric paced outside the Temple of Lathander, drumming his fingers impatiently on the hilt of his sword and sending warning glares at passersby who inquired too closely into his business.

The delays in arranging meetings with the priests of the temple were wearing on his patience, and it was only the periodic forays into the Woods of Sharp Teeth to relieve his frustration on the Orc raiding parties that kept him from fashioning the nearest lamp post into a battering ram to put down the doors.

He and Selis needed information, and they needed it quickly. But every hour he was delayed in this accursed city was another hour away from his employer's side. Aleric did not relish the thought of being viewed as a failure if Lilly should return in his absence. One failure is enough. I let down the one I loved most in this world and lost everything. I will NOT fail again! The thought sent him into a black mood, and the guards posted outside the temple tensed warily lest he explode into a rage.

Assaulting the coven head-on was foolhardy. The creatures did not appear to have established a full-time presence in the theater--he had made several visits to the building since entering into Selis's employ and had seen no sign of them--and they could not fight an enemy that could appear at any time and vanish as just quickly. They needed an advantage. They needed to know where to strike. Let the bloody Garagosans rage blindly. This is a war, and the Lord of Battles WILL deliver us if we execute with planning and forethought. They did not know their enemy's number or quality. Selis had been overpowered by the leader of the coven with, to guess from her story, barely a struggle. But she had been taken unawares and unprepared. Aleric intended that next time they would be ready.

But he needed bloody answers! It was clear the creatures had the run of the theater, but why thus far have they only attacked those who ventured into the attic? What was the mysterious portrait that appeared of the creatures' first victim after her disappearance? He hated unknowns. Even in the chaos of battle he despised the unexpected. A sudden and unforseen assault upon the flank could turn victory into rout, and he had no intention of entering into this fight ill-prepared.

The doors of the temple swung open, and an armored figure, the Captain of the Temple Guard, appeared. Aleric ceased his pacing and waited patiently as the man approached. He bowed politely in greeting, but Aleric merely folded his arms across his chest and waited for his answer.

"Well?" he asked.

"Forgive me, sir, but the priests cannot address your concerns today," the guard said.

"Did ye make it clear to them this isn't just some bloody supplicant with a flesh wound to be healed? This is sodding urgent!"

"I did make the importance of your request clear to them, sir. I apologize, but you may try again tomorrow."

Aleric strangled a cry of frustration and stormed off west down the street, making his way towards the High Hedge and an equally fruitless attempt to gain an audience with Thalantyr....

[Braithwaite]

To my lovely and renowned Selis Vhaire,

I have forever laid honor and acclaim to offer the White Mask as my Theater and home to the most gifted stage craft and artistry to be heard.
There are many new Performers arriving to the region. I believe their skill and talent need to be assembled to measure how great their choir can achieve when it is sung in Multipart Harmonies. Our Chorus can amaze and shape the moment like no other weavers of Harmonic Force of Will. . .
The finest purveyors of amusements and enchantments shall be welcomed to add to the flow to The Performance. Let's gather and fill the ears of Faerun The Greatness of Our Chorus. Our Voice has the capacity to Inspire Greatness when it is so Vitally need to turn the tide of Epic Feats.



To All that purpose the Ear. ..


Signed


Glyd'yah Jarshby,

Bard of White Mask Theater

/0

[VanillaRose]

When the letter from Miss Jarshby arrives for her, Selis Vhaire reads over it with a warm smile before sitting down at her desk to compose a reply. Once she is finished writing, she sends the letter via courier to her old friend.

Dearest Glyd'yah,

It warms my heart to know that you are still alive and well, and I am filled with so much joy to know that you are still interested in the Performers.

You are right - many talented individuals have made themselves known to me, and I have added quite a few new Performers to our cast. We are all very eager to make plans for the upcoming grand re-opening of the White Mask Theater, and I do want us all to meet sometime soon.

Your optimism and enthusiasm for the Performers will be an invaluable asset to me as we enter into a new era of arts and entertainment. I would be delighted to see you again; I am sure we have many things to discuss! I would also like to present you with a key to the theater, as I have gifted all the other active Performers with a key.

Please visit me at the theater soon - I look forward to speaking to you!

Kindest regards,

~Selis Vhaire

[VanillaRose]

Days had passed, and neither Selis nor her hired sword, Mehtar, had made any progress with their endeavors.

The situation had not really changed. Although there had been no sign of Lilly or her alleged cohorts, something was palpably wrong with the theater. Doors that Selis was certain she had closed were found open. Things seemed askew. There was a fell aura to the place, and the young songstress sensed that she would again encounter Lilly - or something worse - soon enough.

She had hired another capable mercenary, Randriana, who was a long-time acquaintance. At first, Selis tried to maintain that her hired guardians were there to keep her safe from the "obsessive fans", but one of the more perceptive Performers saw through the ruse and subtly chided her for appearing egotistical. However, once Selis explained the situation at the theater, Alison Schlump was eager to help drive the unwanted visitors from The White Mask.

The question still remained "how?" How could they prevail against their enemies? Mehtar had not yet managed to obtain an audience with the ever-busy priests at the Temple of Lathander in Beregost, but the man was as persistent as he was ill-tempered. Someone would have to speak with him at some point, and perhaps then he could obtain some useful information.

In the meantime, her two hired guardians had finally convinced Selis to leave the theater and stay elsewhere. She was understandably reluctant, but the safety of her Performers had to take priority over her own stubborn pride. Still, it was with a heavy heart that the young woman packed some of her things and sought a room at the Blade and Stars Inn.

A viable explanation had been created: the theater would be closed for maintenance and renovations in preparation for its grand re-opening. Amidst all the work, it was not suitable for anyone to stay at the theater. Selis briefly debated whether or not she should tell the rest of the Performers the truth behind the ruse, but she ultimately decided that they had a right to know.

As another day drew to its close, she was sitting at an unfamiliar desk in an unfamiliar inn room. By the flickering light of the candle upon the desk, Selis penned the notice that almost broke her heart to write.

NOTICE!

The White Mask Theater will be closed for routine maintenance and renovations in preparation for its grand re-opening celebration. The Performers Guild looks forward to showcasing its talents for you soon!

[VanillaRose]

The following morning, Selis trudges to the White Mask Theater and tacks upon the door the notice she wrote the previous night. The notice is there for everyone in the area to see (( IC )).

NOTICE!

The White Mask Theater will be closed for routine maintenance and renovations in preparation for its grand re-opening celebration. The Performers Guild looks forward to showcasing its talents for you soon!

[VanillaRose]

Selis was standing outside The White Mask, staring at the notice she had earlier tacked to the front doors, when Randriana found her. The two women talked as the sun faded past the horizon of the Palace District, and they only noticed that twilight had arrived when small dark forms fluttered overhead. Birds, Selis had muttered, but the winged rodent-like shapes were unmistakable to both her and her bodyguard.

The pair searched the courtyard of the theater, but nothing amiss was found. It was only when they were leaving that they saw the body lying between the theater and the Duchal Palace. They heard footsteps, and Randriana's hand went to the hilt of her blade, but the footsteps belonged to their other ally - Mehtar, freshly returned from Beregost.

Faced with a lifeless body in the middle of the street, the trio moved closer to examine it. Selis was horrified when she recognized the man as Thurgood, one of the theater's maintenance employees. Thurgood was quickly determined to be dead, and unsurprisingly, he was not very bloody even though his throat had been slashed. A few passing nobles glanced towards the scene, but Selis quickly tried to alleviate their suspicions by remarking aloud how the two mercenaries were supposed to lift the "prop body" during the "re-enactment". She then nodded and made various comments about their movements as Mehtar and Randriana carried Thurgood back into the theater. Selis hoped that her ruse was believable enough for nobles.

None of them were prepared for the grisly sight that greeted them when they entered the theater. Bifur, another maintenance employee, and Natalie, an excited young understudy, were dead in the aisles - murdered in a similar manner as Thurgood. Selis barely had time to process what had happened when a shrill, mocking feminine laugh rang throughout the theater. The acoustics in the place caused the laugh to amplify and echo, and Selis found herself involuntarily shuddering at the sound. She immediately knew to whom the laugh belonged, and she barely recognized her own rage-filled voice as she screamed a name: LILLY!

[Ambaryerno]

Aleric sat at his usual table at the Elfsong, pinching the bridge of his nose. His head pounded from the frustration of the confused and hectic meeting in Selis's room at the Blade and Stars, and he wondered how much was really decided.

Several days earlier he had finally gained an audience with the priests of Lathander, who were able to provide a number of answers, but left him with even more questions in their place. The wizard Thalantyr was of little use, tersely answering a single question before nearly throwing Aleric from High Hedge. Something Selis more or less implied as "just desserts."

He returned quickly to Baldur's Gate to meet with Selis and a woman named Randriana, another mercenary in her employ, to pass along the information he had uncovered. Aleric found them outside the theater where a body lay in the alley between the White Mask and the Duchal Palace. After a cursory investigation they realized he was dead, and Selis recognized him as one of the theater's workmen. His throat was slashed and his body virtually drained of blood.

While Selis provided a distraction, Aleric and Randriana moved the body into the theater. As they laid him down on the floor they were greeted by the sight of two more bodies--another worker and an understudy--and the floors coated with blood. Aleric and Randriana drew their swords and swept the theater, but saw no one. Then a voice called out from the shadows and laughed. Lilly mocked them, reminding Selis of her threats, but otherwise refused to show herself. Aleric led the three on a search of the theater, but no further trace of the vampire could be found. Even the attic was empty, and the strange painting Lilly had left behind of her first victim had vanished.

At Aleric's recommendation they decided to retreat from the theater before discussing any further plans. With blankets from the store rooms they wrapped the three bodies and, under an invisibility spell, carried them from the theater to the Temple of Gond. They made arrangements there with the priests to ensure Lilly's victims would not rise themselves as undead, contributing to Lilly's forces.

Seeing that Selis was badly shaken, Aleric advised they should meet again later once she had a chance to rest and recover. When they met up at Selis's room at the Blade and Stars, Aleric revealed everything he had learned:

The Lathanderites revealed they already knew of Lilly. She was a servant of Alastar, himself a member of the Shadow of the Aria--an extension of Shar. However Alastar had been believed destroyed, though it was unknown whether or not this was so.

Although the possibility existed that Lilly's choice of the White Mask was coincidental, the priests concurred that it was possible the theater may have housed something Lilly sought. They also expressed a curiosity in the painting Aleric described. It could have only been a means for Lilly to toy with Selis--female vampires particularly were noted for such acts before finishing their victims--but that it could hold some clues. Such a work would have had to have been started weeks before it was left behind. When Aleric inquired further into the missing woman, an understudy named Alison, Selis noted that she first arrived seeking a job almost the very day Selis returned to Baldur's Gate after her long absence. She could remember no other details of the painting, other than that the woman was wearing a dress from one of the costume trunks.

Of the grounds themselves, Selis had so far turned up nothing from her search of the city records. However the Lathanderites indicated that the foundations of the structure were set unusually deep into the ground, though they knew of no tunnels or areas beneath the theater.

There was little other significant information the priests could provide, but advised speaking with Saint Merielle Williams about Alastar, whom Selis believed was the Shadow Singer, the same entity destroyed by Joan Degaulle in the White Mask's equivalent on the Shadow Plane.

Aleric's visit to Thalantyr was far less productive, but the wizard did indicate that whatever drew the vampires to the theater could be scried using magic.

After some discussion, the three decided to discuss the matter with Saint Williams and DeGaulle, and Selis would contact the wizard Tiberius about scrying the theater. Meanwhile, she turned over to Aleric what notes and correspondence relating to the construction of the theater itself.

He spent some time perusing these and nothing seemed out of the ordinary until he came across the account of the accident which cost the lives of several construction workers. Not long before, Selis received a mysterious anonymous donation to the project, signed only, "S.O.T.A."

When Aleric met with Selis and Rand again, they were joined by Saint Williams, DeGaulle and Tiberius, along with a new man in Selis's employ, a follower of Tempus named Alexis. The three were soon brought up to speed, but soon the discussion broke down into confusion.

The inability to combine the growing number of pieces of their puzzle frustrated Aleric, and he felt the meeting spiraling down lines of thought that clouded the central issue:

Selis was mistaken in the identity of Alastar, as the Shadow Singer was a different being altogether, a Demi-Lich, who may have ultimately escaped destruction when banished to the Fugue Plain by Myhun Kren. Much arguing ensued over the location of the Lich, and the poor judgment of the Fist in attempting to eliminate such a being by mere banishment.

Saint Williams was able to provide some additional information on Alastar. He was a vampire who served Lady De'Vossos. They could determine little other connection between Alastar and his mistress, and the Demi-Lich other than that all three were members of the Shadow of the Aria. Alastar himself had abandoned the group of his own volition. De'Vossos was the wife of Lord Drakkus, and had attempted to revive her husband but it was unknown whether she succeeded. The only other information that could be provided was that she was fond of the arts. Unfortunately Saint Williams could remember little else, but agreed to gather as many of her old notes as she could find on Alastar and deliver them to Aleric for review.

Tiberius agreed to use his magic to determine what at the theater the vampires could be searching for, but expressed doubts: If Alastar was indeed involved, anything of value would likely be shielded from any magical attempts to locate it. He also suggested the painting of Alison could have been a means of imprisoning her soul. However Aleric was frustrated by the wizard's quick dismissal of the Shadow of the Aria's connection to the theater's construction as having been already resolved. He let the matter drop for now, but would not forget the organization's interference in the theater's founding. His own suspicions fell on De'Vossos due to her fondness for the arts, and it was an avenue he would return to if there were no other leads.

DeGaulle could only provide some limited information on what she knew, but perhaps hers was the most shocking revelation: A portal to the Plane of Shadow within or near the theater itself.

Ultimately, the group finally agreed to a course of action:

Research into the grounds on which the theater was built would be continued. A thorough search of the building would also be made for hidden doors, panels or passages within the theater, while Tiberius would attempt to locate the Portal to the Shadow Plane, or any other anomalous sources of magic.

As the party broke up, Aleric's mind continued to return to the painting, and the presence of the Aria in the theater's construction as he awaited Saint Williams's information on Alastar. He resolved to ask Selis about the costume dress the girl was seen wearing in the portrait. Until then, all they could do is see what their investigations turned up.

[VanillaRose]

(( *dusts off this old thread* ))

Word spreads that the Performers will be having a meeting at the White Mask Theater in approximately half an hour (( 5:00 p.m. Central time. ))

All Performers and people interested in learning more about the Performers are encouraged to attend.

[rokranon]

A large crate is left on the back of the stage near the locked door in the White Mask. It bears no markings other than a large stamp of a purple phoenix. If anyone tries to move it, it is surprisingly light for a crate of this size.

[VanillaRose]

Selis Vhaire returns to the theater early in the day, and she pauses when she sees the crate - and the symbol marked upon it. When she discovers the lightweight nature of the delivery, an impish grin forms upon her face, and she hauls the crate into the back part of the theater.

[Flights of Fantasy]

Man's Road

The masquerade was a wonderful success despite some minor problems. The after show buffet had been well enjoyed, the remains of the food that could be preserved were stored while the rest discarded, and the dishes already cleaned and put away. Now, sitting alone on the couch in the back room of the Mask, Solus' left hand moves the quill in graceful strokes across the parchment resting on his knee. Hours ago, he felt so overjoyed to be a part of the masquerade, even if he did spend most of the time as a "dead body." He had a part to play and he did it perfectly. Yet, it all seemed to be naught more than a dream now. The joy that had been there was gone. He was Solus, he was alone.

An hour or so back, Solus had been in Beregost, running another shipment for Matz. He had seen the pair at the entrance of the city talking to another, but he had been invisible and just continued on in silence. After picking up the shipment and heading to Naskel to help a certain ranger, he made his way back to Beregost and to the northern gate, figuring they would have moved on by now. He ended up walking right into them. A smile on her face and hand-in-hand with her love, she waved to Solus cheerfully. He traded words with the pair, briefly talking about the masquerade and its success. The entire time, a smile was on his face, but it was a facade. Once again, she had reconciled with her lover, and once again, he had to pretend all was well. It was a little easier this time, though. Perhaps because he had been there when it happened this time, but his heart still ached as he watched the woman he loved in the hand of another. But he was Solus. He was alone.

As Solus sits there and continues to write, he marvels at how quickly joy can turn to sadness. His silver eyes, glowing in the dark, look over to the "poem" included in the Coudfish Wrapper of Ulgoth's Beard as it sits next to him on the couch. He analyzes each line as he works out a counter, despite the phrase that repeats in his mind over and over again. "I will never love you." An occasional tear slides down the side of his face as he continues to work, but this was the only way he could express the love. He would always be Solus, and he would always be alone.

[Steal Your Face]

*A rather large package is left at the White Mask. While sizeable enough to require both hands to carry, it weighs no more than 5 pounds. It is simply addressed in a neat, precise, obviously elven hand.*

Alison Schlump

[vetinari]

*Alison grins as she looks at the package and with a girlish laugh she tears it open. She gasps and pulls out a fur pelt, snow white with black stripes. She pushes it into her face to enjoy the softness of it, and then hugs it to her. A note had fallen from the package and she leans down to pick it up*

*Still hugging the pelt to her, she reads the note. As she reads her it expressions change; Delight, curiosity, delight, happy determination.*

*she heads to the back room with her new gift and can be seen composing a letter. When she is done, she heads out of the Theater into the city*

[VanillaRose]

A flurry of activity occurs within The White Mask Theater. Its owner, Selis Vhaire, has rarely left the building in the last several days. All sorts of items seem to arrive at the theater; furniture and a variety of crates appear to be the majority of the deliveries.

[Wildelf]

At the latest hours of night and the earliest hours of morning, the darkness and silence give way to strange noises emanating quietly up from underneath the theater...