Tales from the Rollbooth: Eberron 5e Campaign Session 3: The Midnight Opera

Chapter 3: The Midnight Opera

In which my player indicated to me that he wanted to take everyone to the theater so I narrated an original Opera in 4 parts.

The journey to Sharn is over, but the night only begins as our party prepares for The Midnight Opera at the Syrazune Theater in Upper Menthis. Invited by Vedim, our resident smiling and puckish elf lush, the party prepares themselves in their best. Abel wears his cast-off armor and medals, Orival wears glamourweave and a half cape which obscures the dragonmark on his shoulder, and Agata does the best she can with the colorful silks she managed to save from her old life. They fit in, somewhat. Vedim is waiting in a box that he paid for personally.

The party is rudely pressed aside to make way for Lord Mayor Cathan ir'Demell, a sweaty, rotund, bald-headed human man with his wife on his arm. They make their way to their private box flanked by a personal escort of eight private mercenaries.

The party follows to the front-of-house, at which a dwarven, bearded man sizes them up, before being told they are here with Vedim Nailo. The dwarf looks incredibly disappointed as he produces blood red tickets with red trim and has an usher show them to their box.

The party meets with Vedim, who engages them immediately on the theater. Orival is uncomfortable, having had thoughts of going to be with the other guests on the lower floor, or perhaps leaving. Abel makes himself at home in the bottom of a glass as the Mournland comes up in conversation. Agata loses herself in the colors of the costuming and regalia as the theater seats are filled. Vedim tells a tasteless joke about Cyrans, and the others combat with tasteless jokes about elves.

Orival asks Vedim pointedly what he did during the war. It was nothing, and he asks what he has done since. Vedim has taken delight here in the theater, comfortably.

Their box's server, Nitheril, brings them their choice of wine or ale--Vedim has his regular, Abel asks for ale, Agata has a glass of wine, and Orival asks for three bottles. Orival is uncomfortable with smelling the cork, or being served in general.

She welcomes them to the Syrazune Theater, for The Masks of Voel--a comedy in four parts.

The show begins.

The show takes place in 4 parts, based on a pre-Galifar epic poem of the birth, life, and death of heretic Tanneus Voel.
The first act shows a half elf tenor, introducing the play, and a warforged woman, singing beautifully. She proceeds to split her face open--a rare customization--and sings with herself in harmony as lights cast the silhouettes of the two halves on the backdrop behind her.

She then proceeds to give "birth" from her wide bustle to a bald headed human, a baritone also singing in the same scene.

The second act is the rising life of Tanneus Voel, in which he garners favors on ends both benign and nefarious. The second act ends when the warforged mother of the first act returns in different costuming, and they marry.

Intermission occurs. Vedim notices that they can see the Lord Mayor's box, and that he is quietly fuming. He excuses himself to the privies as Orival and Abel continue to get plastered. Vedim goes to the Lord's box to attempt to strike up a conversation with him. The guards do not let him enter. The normal security at the theater would, but the private guards will not--though one appears to be somewhat hot under the collar for him. Vedim also sends a message to the ushers to ask about a special guest in the audience tonight, but there was no such guest tonight.

Meanwhile, Orival and Abel speak briefly on the war, and Abel reveals he was in the 32nd Division for Northern Cyre, having taken up arms after no other options were available to them. Orival reveals to Abel that he served on an Airship over Cyre when it went down. They both agree the Last War must be the Last War.

Agata leaves to stretch her legs, and finds two nobles arguing over having made the same choice of garment this evening. She also finds rows of unfinished statues lining the halls, all elves, and one dwarf. She doesn't recognize them.

When Vedim returns, they press him again about doing something, and he offers to take everyone to the Mournland so that they can all do something. He does not reveal what this is.

Intermission ends, and the third act of the play, the rising fall, depicts escalation in the plans of Tanneus Voel. His wife leaves him for a dwarven woman, a gorgeous soprano with a luscious beard. There is a scene in which she shatters multicolored crystal on stage, and the pieces float away. The third act ends with Voel caught in the act of conducting a human sacrifice to dark lords.

The final act is the hanging scene, in which comedic music plays against a tragic song, and as Voel is hanged he continues to belt.

Abel stands and leaves, the execution scene taking him to a past he did not want to revisit from the Mournlands. He takes a walk to splash water on his face. He passes by the Lord's box, in which the door is thrown open as the Lord Mayor orders his guards "OUT" and he stumbles out with an impatient rage painting his bald head--having seen himself hung in effigy. Abel follows, curious. Finding that they are not leaving through the lobby, but rather furiously making their way to the backstage. He heads back to attempt to get a better look at the stage from the box.

Around this time, Vedim receives a message from their box's server as Orival loudly questions the comedy of this play. Vedim reads the note, and verbalizes "oh, fuck."

He flees, in a sober fashion to the back.

Agata presses the server for what the note said, and she says casually that they've found that Vedim needs to meet an old friend. Agata insists that doesn't seem like the behavior that one exhibits when meeting an old friend. It felt alarming. Nitheril explains that if you knew the friend, you wouldn't be alarmed. She continues to invite them to make themselves at home for the next twenty minutes before they close down the theater.

Vedim storms into the backstage area to find the Lord Mayor having all the actors and writers arrested. He sees an old friend, a gray haired, grizzled dwarf named Hagro being dragged deadweight from the back after having given one of the guards two black eyes and the other a limp.

Vedim attempts to be scathing trouble for the lord, and is nearly clapped in irons himself before claiming to be Himo Nailo. He offers to write a poor review of tonight's performance and make sure that the play's authors wont be put into business again. They agree for the publication to take place in four days, otherwise, a manhunt for all parties here will be issued.

The Lord and his guards leave, leaving Vedim a moment alone with Hagro. They speak, heated and angered first, before laughing. Nothing about the play was changed, just the costume, and the sexy middle of act 3. Hagro became ornery at the lord when he pushed him out of line for a skyrail, making him late for an appointment. Vedim claims that it is never supposed to be personal. Hagro remembers those old words, and is mostly out of the game now. He does art. Art is always personal.

Vedim has motivation to go to the Mournland, which worries Hagro. He claims to have a magewright and two Cyrans in his pocket.

The party goes carousing. The night begins with Agata casting in the upper wards--Vedim has a wild injury he claims to have gotten from someone he came too close to. A guard accosts them, asking for her license. Standing near a dragonmarked heir of House Lyrandar, and a veteran of Cyre, the guard offers to let it slide for the evening, and will come to call on her in the morrow to have her license ready then.

Agata makes three friends, and has vague memories of doing something very illegal.

Abel makes a friend, but it banned from the bar they went to.

Ori wakes up with a tooth in his hand, it's not his tooth.

Vedim makes a handful of friends as well.

The following afternoon after a long night's rest:

Vedim writes a quick scathing review of the Masks of Voel under the pen name Himo Nailo and then seeks out the Silvered Dune, a coffee shop employed entirely by halflings from the talenta plains. He meets his mark, a dwarf named Rothgar Hargasten, while under the guise of a Brelish alter ego farmer human. He raises some concerns from his mark and lies more, eventually saying that he has some juicy information on a political rival. The dwarf gives him an address.

Abel goes to seek out an adventurer's guild, finding nothing seeking members at the moment--however, he does find that many patrons seeking individuals will post messages to their door. He finds a goblin shopkeeper named Harbasque looking for Dhakaani relics, and willing to pay top Galifar for them. He agrees, telling Harbasque he is heading to the Mournland--a spicy opportunity for the shopkeeper, who is used to paying for scraps from the cogs over whatever Morgrave University left over.

Agata is told Mr. Wyrriseyn is ill, and he will not be able to make his meeting. That he will hopefully be able to speak with her tomorrow on some possible silver flame business. She receives the news from his secretary, who covers the cost of her license when the guard comes to call on her.

Orival heads to the Unity Dinner, prying for information. It is roughly 4 days until Aureon's Crown, and the graduation of Morgrave in which the students will be getting up to mischief and attempting to impress future employers. To no avail, he attempts to bring someone he identifies as a wandslinger, perhaps into the Mournlands. The halfelf refuses, but likes the offer of money--offering him information on any Morgrave things he might know. Orival is interested in a Zil artificer, newly arrived. The halfelf knows her ... someone named Doctor Nym Halastendo arrived to Morgrave last week, acts a little shady, and seems to be after something.

End Session. The Party Levels up to 2.

Next Week's session: Out of the Spires, Into the Fires