The Reliquary of Ahazi, part 8
Log Info
- Title: The Reliquary of Ahazi Part 8
- Emitter: Whirlpool
- Characters: Dax, Paenitia, Aryia, Venom, Ravendar, Seyardu, Lyme
- Place: Farmlands of Alexandros
- Time: Wednesday, July 28, 2021, 8:45 PM
- Summary: Overture! Curtain, lights! This is it, the night of nights. No more rehearsing and nursing the parts, we know every part by heart. Tonight what heights we'll hit. On with the show this is it! The adventures are on stage on magic spots with a ghostly audience that desires to be entertained. It commences with Ravendar fiddling, followed up my gun, with occasional music as Venom and Aryia demonstrate amazing shooting and bullet deflecting abilities. This doesn't seem to satisfy the audience, however, so after a discussion on whether or not to try kicking Paenitia around stage, Seyardu is delegated to write a play about a damsel, dragon and knight that subverts expectations. This is done on the fly, everyone takes their positions, and Aryia and Ravendar kill the performance while everyone else dies. Except Lyme, who is sublyme. With a great groaning, centre-stage descends and something appears. The reliquary at last? Close on screams.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Appearing, in Order =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Dax 5'0" 110 Lb Human Female A 5' tall red haired human with piercings and tats. Paenitia 3'0" 34 Lb Halfling Female A Lucht knight, dark skinned in bold feathery finery. Aryia 4'8" 110 Lb Shadow Elf Female A heavily scarred mul with a curious look about her. Venom 5'6" 130 Lb Human Female A woman(?) about 5'6" in a ragged black veil and poncho. Ravendar 3'1" 40 Lb Halfling Male A red-haired Lucht Siuil man. Seyardu 5'6" 150 Lb Sith-Makar Female A friendly silver sith-makar with a perpetual squint. Lyme 7'2" 435 Lb Orc Butch Black-skinned oruch of suitable stature. =-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Went to a Show -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Davienne 5'1" 101 Lb Half-Elf Female A ranger with a cat. =-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= As the GM =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Whirlpool Otyugh I am stinky! =-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
Previously
The adventurers recover after having been steam cleaned and ponder what else to do with the cauldron. There seems to be less mural than there was before, no one can remember which pieces are missing. The best guess of the wall readers is perhaps something personal; everyone provides something, some more personal than others. There is a rainbow explosion and the cauldron sinks into the grown. Everyone follows, discovering a huge amphitheater. Dax and Lyme take a seat.
Phantasmal individuals begin to appear, one after the other, sitting in the audience. Their eyes are beginning to focus. A dozen, two dozen, three dozen. The audience.
They're watching intently, staring at the auditorium. Illusions, perhaps? Half-transparent. A mix of human, elves, and gnomes, as well, men and women. Even some children.
Dax claps and then stays in the audience.
Lyme stiffens as people materialize all around him, and his hand reaches out for Dax' flask once again reflexively. Then he looks around again, and blinks. "Huh."
Venom straightens from her examination of a bench when company suddenly manifests out of the ether around her. There's a moment where her hands come up, locked into fists, but, with a cant of the head and a look about, they lower once more.
She lifts a hand in a tentative wave, then edges back, noting the the tracking of her movements, and her hands busy themselves anew.
"Not illusions." Venom signs, hesitating for a couple beats, then continues: "Remnants of the faithful." <handspeech>
Aryia freezes in place as the audience fills in. Magic. This had to be magic. But then it dawns on her with the catching of her breath. Her attention slides to Venom, her grey face paled to ash, and she gulps. A shudder leaves her as her hands shake as she signs to everyone. "Yes. These are real..." The shadow elf looks incredibly unnerved. <Handspeech>
Seyardu stopped her investigation of the floor from the ground as she picked herself up.
Great, an entire audience saw the silverscale trip. If she had been capable of blushing, she would have been beet red.%r She picked herself up off of the stage and looked around, before quickly hopping off. "Well, I was not expecting this. Did I do something? Or are they waiting for something now that we are here?" She asks the group, trying to move past what had just happened.
Paenitia does not understand the handsigns. She does see the audience appear, and waves happily to them, "Hola! I am Sister Paenitia Snapdragon del Haranna, Knight of the Pillar and the Mistress of Ceremonies tonight"
"We have the great show! The ensemble acts of the uncoordinated. The great orations of the silent, and the amazing adventures of the friend Dragon. Yes."
Now
She sounds as happy as her grinning mask, "Prepare to be enter-TAINED!"
Aryia nervously fidgets with her hands, looking about at their spectral audience. "What do we do?" she asks with some nervous signs, though she smiles a bit at the joke Paenitia cracks about the group. <Handspeech>
Looking around, Dax slows her clapping as others start to pick themselves up and there's a question being played out. "Now, we're here, they're here, an' there's a stage. Are we waitin' fer performers ta show up? I don't wanna give up my seat, I got a pretty close ta the front row an' all. Fair an' square." She comments, and folds her arms a bit as she tries to avoid any spectre-ish people from touching her.
The audience is watching everyone expectantly.
Venom looks to Aryia's hands as they sign, then turns slowly to sweep her attention over the spectres.
Hmmm..
She looks back to Aryia and shrugs, then considers the others. Her usual performances worked under the caveat; if you were aware she did something, she screwed up.
"That is the same question I would ask." Seyardu adds once she is off the stage, and back with the group. "We seem to have done, something. I would wonder if we could speak, but they likely speak nothing we would recognize. Where do we go from here? And is the magic damaged over time, like with the pot?"
"Ha ha, no!" Paenitia says, clanking forward to the edge of the platform where she can bend and still look down at Dax. "See! You are in the seat of another, on his lap. I am sure he much enjoy but there are children watch, it not that kind of show! You must perform another way. We are all the performers!"
The Red Knight waves at everyone. She's laughing, on almost every word she says. Her grinning mask has never been so apt. If only there was someone to fulfill the tragedy role, with a frowning one. She straightens, addressing the whole audience, "I introduce the actors tonight! Lyme, the perfect straight man. Dax, our lush. The two mimes, and the dragon acrobat."
She gestures towards Ravendar, "and the troubadour of heartbreak with his flute of misfortune!"
"All here to amuse and deslight!"
Aryia's feet are frozen on the spot as she's singled out. She had to go up there, didn't she? Would she have to dance again? Oh please, no more dancing...
Slowly, the mute elf steps up onto the stage with only a single, worrying thought in her mind. What the hell is a mime?
Venom cants her head with Paenitia's... unique casting calls and shrugs with a slow breath ruffling her veil. She turns with some reticence, much like her fellow 'mine', and makes her way toward the stage. Alas, she's unable to answer her costar's unframed question, and so, she waits, surveying the audience anew while someone comes up with a script.
These spirits don't seem inclined to do anything just yet. They are watching you, one and all.
"I ain't no lush!" Says Dax, mid-near last pull from her flask. It's really getting low, and basically has drops left. And she stands, her top still allowing much bounce as she grumbles, "I hate all this by the way. Spooks, ghouls, witches, an' their cauldrons of doom. It jus' ain't natural." She shakes her head, looking around the room before taking in a deep breath and then letting it out slowly. "If it'll make them all stop ... starin' at me, fine. I'll do what I gotta do, but no public pissin'... I done that once or twice fer gold, an' people jus' run away while yer pants are down. Won't be fooled a second, third, maybe fourth, time... somewhere 'round there." She starts to move toward the stage, shivering a bit with all the eyes on her and the rest of the group.
"Surely, there is someone better than myself for acrobatics." Seyardu sighs, looking about the room. "I am clumsy enough with both feet on the ground, let alone leaping or tumbling through the air, or jumping between the trees. This one, is unsure what they would do for a performance, if there is one necessary. But if there is anything that I can do, I will assist. The dancing went decently, getting here, but they may not wish for a repeat of what has already been done?"
Aryia gives Dax a weirded out look before signing to Venom on the sly, "What the fuck is a M-Y-M-E" <Handspeech>
Ravendar has been scouting out the back of the amphitheater and watches as the audience appears. He passes his hand in front of a couple to see if there is any reaction as he watches his companions head towards the stage. He starts down just as his name is called out and he winces a bit as it's the fiddle not the flute that he's good at. He does give a big smile to Paeniita, "Thank you for announcing everyone, but perhaps give everyone a little time and we can decide what kind of show we can successfully put on. It doesn't have to be a play or just singing, we can do a variety type show that can showcase everyone's talents. I've seen shows with mock combat, demonstrations of physical prowess, even a mage who could tell you what number you were thinking of by asking you some questions. It was very amazing. How about we take a few moments and brainstorm what we want to do before we get up on stage." He offers.
"Nature isn't all there is." signs the veiled woman.
There is a little quirk to the angle of her head as Aryia puts forth a new question and Venom is still for a moment as she tries to chose the right signs for the answer, "A type of actor that conveys situation, meaning and mood through posture and expression. Silently." <handspeech>
"The show must go on! The audience, he will not wait. We must be interesting as fast as we can." Paenitia replies to Ravendar, waving her fellow Lucht up and switching to stage whispers for everyone else.
The kind of stage whispers that are heard by performers, not meant to be heard by the observers, although she might not be great at keeping them separate.
"Come up with an act to surprise and amuse. Ravendar have the good suggestions." She sounds thoughtful, "I have the idea." She fiddles with her hat and mask pointing at the audience, "Prepare to be amaze!" More fiddling, "in just the moment!"
Once on the stage Dax is sort of moving cautiously, and squinting at everyone nearby, including the people she's been with. "Look, I ain't tryin' ta be dismissive or nothin' but... I've gone ta a show or two an' it always ends with folks throwin' things and people laughin'. I'd be better sittin' this one out, you know, bein' oral support out in the audience an' all. Maybe waaaaay back an' outta sight, away from all these starin' creepers."
"If we will be acting soon, then I shall bolster our spirits before the performance. It is best to get it correct the first time, if it is what is necessary." Seyardu nods, patting the collar of their breastplate. "I am still concerned however, if this is the correct course. The stories from before, it seemed they were quite defeated by the end of them, and I am worried this may be the finale of the trials we have been through."
"Please, allow me just a moment. I would like to see if there are possibly any magics present that may activate should we continue."
Ravendar moves over towards his companions, "I think we all have to perform in some way and we don't want the acts to repeat themselves otherwise the audience will get bored. So what's everyone the best at? I'll go first to get the ball rolling. I'm good with a fiddle and can probably keep the audience entertained for a song or two."
Aryia looks as if she understood somewhat the definition given, but had never seen such a thing before. She gives an uncertain nod towards her fellow silent companion, followed by a light nudge of the knuckle on an arm. "So... do you want to spar for our act or whatever? I think it'd look somewhat interesting." <Handspeech>
Aryia just shrugs at Dax.
Venom turns to regard Dax for a beat or two, then seems to settle on a neutral point where she can probably look at each of her companions as they speak. Her veil ruffles again, and her head turns toward Aryia on the knuckle bump. A stillness and she gives a minute nod and thumbs up before she makes some adjustment or other beneath the shrouding poncho.
Her hands re-emerge, and she signs, "How will we decide who wins?" <handspeech>
GAME: Seyardu casts Detect Magic. Caster Level: 5 DC: 13
"Celestial mother, grant this one sight of the magics which linger within these ruins, the guidance to determine how best to proceed." The silverscale chants, blinking some as she looked around, and squinted even more than usual.
There is magic in several spots on the stage and all the ghosts are magic, of course.
"There is magic on the stage, it is not merely for standing upon. Or rather, something may be present beyond just being a raised platform for the show." They note once they were satisfied. "The purpose, what it is, is unclear."
"Are there any of them pictures from before? Ya know, where it says all we gotta do is eat or drink or somethin'?" Dax questions as she herself looks around, one of her hands moving up and down on her alternate forearm a bit. "What if I ain't so good at nothin'? I mean, I'm pretty good at killin' things an' runnin', an' all that. Very good at eatin', sleepin'... not sure any of that be somethin' too keen on watchin'."
As Ravendar has stepped up, and Paenitia has declared herself the MC, she marches two steps with extra heavy stomps to make her armour clank and emphasize her presence. She addresses the ghosts, gesturing wildly at the bard.
"The first act tonight is Ravendar the Honey Tongued! He shall croon sweet ballads and lullabies of tragedies, to terrorize and delight."
With a loud clang that is her gauntlets clapping together, she steps back and away, points at Ravendar and commands, "Spotlight there! Blue! You are up! Ole!"
She heard there was magic to this stage. Perhaps it works on command.
GAME: Seyardu rolls knowledge/religion: (13)+5: 18 GAME: Seyardu casts Bless. Caster Level: 5 DC: 14
"Those in the stands, they are not illusions." Seyardu says suddenly, finding little with the stage itself. "We should do our best here though, and not dissapoint, I think. Though I know not what to do. If there is any assistance I can provide however, that may be best? I am fairly strong, and relatively tall, so there may be some use I can be."
The hand returned to the armor again as she offered a small prayer. Bolstering their spirits, and not bolstering the spirits.
GAME: Ravendar rolls perform/string: (14)+8: 22
Ravendar looks over at Paenitia and he mutters to himself, "I'm a fiddler, not a flutist, not a singer and not anything else." He takes off his case and he takes out his fiddle. He spends a long couple of moments tuning up the fiddle and he looks over towards Seyardu, "Can you point me to one of the spots?" He asks as he slowly draws the bow over the strings to make sure it sounds right given everything they've gone through. He waits for Seyaru's direction so he knows where to go and will walk over there. He has a bright smile on his face before the crowd as he addresses them, "Ladies and Gentlemen, that you for joining me tonight. I have a very special song to perform for you. It is one about Animus and Tarian, quiet an unlikely pair.
Ravendar starts to tap his foot a little bit as he starts off on his fiddle playing. It's a jaunty tune with a lot of back and forth, which is tough for one person to do, but he seems to pull it off reasonably well, hopefully buying enough time for the others to figure out what to do with their acts.
The audience stares. There is no response until Ravendar is done. There is polite, phantasmal applause.
They don't seem terribly impressed but they may be withholding judgment. on the other hand something could be missing. It's hard to say
"Thank you! Thank you! You are the wonderful, most responsive audience." Paenitia says loudly, doing her best to add to the applause by bashing her gauntlets together. She looks at Ravendar, shrugging, her mask ever smiling, and stage-whispers, "That was good, and tie to Animus, but they the warm glass of water. What you think is missing?"
Turning once more, she calls out to the crowd, "Our next performer need no introduction from me! He or She introduce themselves!" She throw her arms wide.
And anxiously calls back to her cohorts, "Okay, someone else, do the thing."
Aryia looks to Venom, gesturing towards center stage, uncertain. "No winners, just flashy." <Handspeech >
Ravendar finishes with a flourish and the a bow before he heads off stage. "So I hate to say this, but I don't think that everyone doing 1 thing at a time is going to work. I think we need to do 1 big group thing all together. Maybe a chanting prayer or something connected to the Eidolon Hymn if possible."
"Why not get back out there, then and keep on playin'? And we'll jus' add as we figure out what we are goin' ta do?" Dax questions and then looks over to Sey, "You kin do somethin'? Ya look smart, an' fancy, I'll pick ya up and hold you while ya do yer thing?"
Venom nods in acknowledgement and starts to follow Aryia's lead out to the stage. She passes Ravendar with a gently knuckle bump to his arm and continues along. There's a litle list of her head, so she's probably considering his words, but, just in case, she signs anew:
"We need introductions?" <handspeech>
Question/suggestion posed, the veiled woman hikes up the poncho over her shoulder, baring the empty, tooled holster riding her thigh, as well as the tip of another along her back.
"This does not feel right, but I do not know that much about human performances." Seyardu nods. "They do not cheer like those in the stands at the colosseum. "It may be we must all take part at once, in one group. If there is a prayer, it would most be likely something like they would be used to, correct? A prayer with a stage, a performance is the ritual like before."
She looks confused though, towards Dax. "I do not look fancy, and I do not know what to do. And I would likely crush you if you attempted to hold me above, regardless."
Ravendar takes Dax's advice and hops back up to start playing some low key fight music, that starts out low and slowly starts to build. He makes sure he's in one of the places that Seyardu pointed out.
Dax looking to Seyardu then to the others, "You have the shiny scales an' all. An' ya wiggle yer fingers an' things happen. Yer fancy, like them point eared folks." Dax is a bit confused though, scritching at her braided hair near her scalp. "You'd crush me? Ya weigh more'n some oruchs then? Why don't I launch ya then, with my feet? Ya know, like kids do off boats?" She's really grasping for an idea.
The Red Knight looks between Ravendar and Seyardu, "Okay. That the good point. I am out of the ideas for ensemble piece. You will have to write the roles. I am sure there the great story with the damsel in the tower, a dragon, a paramour and backup tragedy singers, but cannot imagine the thing."
Then Ravendar leaps back out as Venom and Aryia step up, "or that work too." She turns her mask to Seyardu, "Okay, you write the group performance."
She faces the audience once more, "Now! Daring acts of violence, with music!"
Aryia looks at Venom across the way, her steadying her breathing and raising her fists. Milky eyes glance to the small piece of weapon glinting behind her mute comrade. She gets an idea. "Shoot me" Aryia confidently signs, turning her plated knuckles towards Venom. She bobs on her feet, frame loaded like wound spring. <Handspeech>
"I am not fancy, and the shiny scales mean nothing." The sith-makar states with a shake of her head. "A group performance, It could work. We have the stage, we have the music, and a show. The question is how myself, and Dax would add to the performance? Music inspires emotion for softskins." She notes, looking to the mul as she was signing, and blinking several times
"I am not sure what you intend to do, but I will trust your judgement. Ravendar, he could play accompanying music, something to add to the tension with such an act, to prepare them for what is to come?"
The sith-makar glances to Dax, and to Paenitia. "Perhaps a throw of dame Paenitia would work better? If you would trust me to be the catcher."
Lyme is so fabulous they made up a whole word to describe it. Sublyme. Lyme is a fine caustic, as well.
Surely, if the mild straightening of Venom's posture are any indication, she's probably blinking owlishly at her silent companion.
A bold play, indeed.
Suspecting they have more similarities than she'd guessed, she takes Aryia at face value, sighing a quick, "Back to me." <handspeech>
Her hands snap to their tasks as her left foot swings out into a wide stance, the left slips the slender cyllinder from her ammunition belt as the other pivots the longarm out from the holster beneath the poncho, bringing them together in a flex of break-action.
There is an almost musical rattle as the shot is readied for a Morbid break into showbusiness and she levels the barrel of the Thunderbelcher, a curious octagonal spiral of pattern welded steel reinforcing a green crystal core, at the other 'mime'. Her thumb pulls back the hammer with ratcheting clicks before the trigger is set off, unleashing the shot with another buzzing report of the quasi-artifice, her bracing hand coming free of the forend at once for what may come in the blink of an eye.
Ravendar continue to play as the music grows more and more intense. He is watching Venom closely as he brings the music to a crescendo right as the bullet is fired.
Lyme slinks out of the bleacher area to stand in the shadow of the stairs. He's not here. No really.
"Fine fine fine. I'll kick the lil' knight in yer direction. You catch them, an' in mid-air..." Dax looks over in the direction of Pae, "Ya do somethin'... fun. I guess. I ain't sure about all this, but it is about as much as I got ta do." She looks around, "Anyone else wanna get kicked around? Maybe tossed about or somethin'?"
Instead of flesh and and blood erupting from where the shadow elf stand, a spray of sparks lit her up. During that flash, her fist was back handing seemingly nothing in air. But with a follow through on the strike, a whistling noise could be heard zipping from Aryia and back towards Venom. A smirk was born on her face, a quick glimpse of a sign "Back" flashed as she keeps spinning on a heel, preparing for return fire. <Handspeech>
"Those do not sound fun or funny and I am not the football." Paenitia says, flinching a step back as the thunderbelcher goes off. The acoustics are amazing here, quite amplifying. "The armour is heavier than she looks. You will break your foot off in my donkeyiote you kick me."
"What the other ideas are?" The Red Knight asks. She is out of position, having earlier missed the magic spots that Seyardu identified. She continues to watch Aryia and Venom's engagement.
Already moving on the shot, Venom snaps her forearm upright with a tight fist and, with a sharp, >Kpewwww!< and flash of sparks, the shot it deflected upward, tumbling end over end in the air to bounce once upon the stage floor and roll aside to stillness. Frozen, perhaps in flourish, or relief that worked, hair, veil and poncho then drift to rest around her. She rests the weapon over her shoulder as a soldier at parade and, tucking one foot behind the other, bends at the waist to bow to her partner. The ghosts do not even flinch, but they seem somewhat enthused for the shooting and deflecting. Perhaps the novelty stirred them.
Aryia spins herself out ro a stop, her bowing along with (albeit a bit awkwardly) Venom. She steps up towards her and stands beside them, a sigh of relief coming from her lips. She shared similar sentiments, it seemed.
Ravendar winds the music slowly down to a close as the duel is done.
"You do not think that tumbling through the air is fun?" The silverscale asks. "I thought it sounded interesting. The artifice, it fires a small piece of metal, and quite quickly, but this one thinks it would be worthy of note, you are clad in much more metal, and have much more personality than a bullet. It sounds more impressive if it were to be you soaring through the air instead."
"But perhaps, there is something else to be done. My ideas, they are still limited on the matter."
There's a bit of a smirk on her face, and Dax offers, "I kin take a piece of jerky, toss it inta the air, and slice off pieces of it ta eat? In mid-air wit' me claws. Or, I could fight someone 'ere. I'd jus' not like hurtin' anyone." She gives up with a bit of a shrug, "That is of course if the lil' knight doesn't want to be flung through the air by my feet, an' all that." Lyme offers from the shadow of the stairwell. "If anyone needs tossing, I can make sure to do it with dignity and respect."
Paenitia stares at Seyardu through her mask, her eyes intense in the faux face of a stylized man. She tilts her head, "I am not the skilled performer trained in song and dance and acrobatics. The armour weight almost as much as me."
Then there's Dax's suggestion, backed up by Lyme. The little knight relents.
"You all seem obsessed with try to throw me. All right, come on then." She drops into a low fighting stance, and she's already low to the ground.
She barks like a very large dog, "Habbe Quiddam." She pulls out her warhammer. <gnoll>
Looking between the two, then over to Lyme, "Ya can throw me if the lil' knight's against it. I probably weigh less, an' I don't mind fer sure." She offers, but looks back to Pae as she relents and quirks her mouth, "Either way, ya can even toss me? I'm fine wit' that as well, jus' thinking wit' yer weird lookin' mask and all the audience might get more of a kick than me floppin' about."
"There are six spots on stage, and they seem to have some audio amplifying qualities, for voice, or other sounds." The sith-makar notes. "Perhaps if all spaces are occupied? There is something needed to activate them, however."
The veiled woman flicks a quick, "Together." to Aryia and gently clasps her hand, turns, and bows for the crowd. <handspeech>
She makes a note to herself to collect that round, even if it needs to be reshaped, it will be useful.
She gives a little huff at Paenitia's observation, but without the expression behind her shroud, the meaning is rather nebulous.
Courtesies afforded, she moves to make way and does, indeed, scoop up the expended round.
Lyme nods to Dax. "I'm sure I can make you flight in a glorious arc." He looks at Paenitia. "I wouldn't want to un-anchor the weight of your self-regard in this. It isn't worth it in the long run." He turns back to Dax. "You can look fierce! I've seen it." He steps up, looking at the stage. "I think we have spaces, Dax?"
Ravendar comes back over to the rest of the group, "So I have an idea. We put on a 1 act play, we keep it short and simple, but maybe offer theme a twist on a common tale. Usually it's knight slays dragon and wins damsel right. What if we did damsel defeats knight and rescues dragon? Maybe the damsel is a wizard sent by Animus to free the dragon from an evil knight. However the evil knight is merely cursed and using her magic the wizard uncurses the knight who is in love with the dragon and the two ride off into the sunset together while the wizard gets her reward from Animus, a peek at his spellbook."
With a look to Lyme, then back to Pae, Dax moves in the direction of the Oruch. She looks around for a 'space' based upon what Sey was saying but she also now listens a little to Ravendar... and squints, "Whoa whoa whoa, ya want us ta memorize that whole thing an' do something with it?" She grimaces a bit, "I'd rather see about gettin' flung through the air and crash into one of them undead witch risen folk than figure out how ta pull off that complicated plan."
Seyardu takes a place at one of the spots, and nods to the Lucht. "You hold yourself with grace and enthusiasm, which will win over the ghosts watching. Maybe. If unnecessary, and you do not wish to, then we will not do so."
She listens along, looking more unsure by the second as she gestures to the spots she saw. "Perhaps a play may work better, it seems while they enjoy it, it is not what they are looking for."
Ravendar smiles at Dax, "Nah I'll make it all up as the narrator, you'd just have to do what I say or I'll narrate what you do to make it all work. The play doesn't have to be good, we just have to do it together, which is what I think the point is. Those that don't want to be in the play itself can help me by making sound effects."
Lyme pauses. "The twists are making my head hurt. Tell me when to toss Dax in a shapely arc!" He pauses. "Okay, as long as you're telling us what to do, I think it'll be okay." A pause. "I'm not an actor. I can try to make noises, too, if you like. But I /can/ throw people."
Aryia looks down to the clasped hands for a moment, surprised. But she bows with Venom towards the crowd. She holds the hand a touch longer before releasing it, her quietly walking over to one of the magic spots. Aryia tries to appear engaged with he developments, but doesn't know how to contribute. She could not act, and her sounds were limited.
The Red Knight glances at Lyme, straightening up as Dax volunteers for the role. Seyardu gets an acknowledgement and she moves to one of the indicated spots.
"Maybe the play work if we take the positions and say something, but you forget Aryia and Venom cannot, and if we have to stay on spot, there is no room for moving."
Paenitia indicates one of the other places the silverscale pointed out, "Maybe throw her there, for the alluring arc."
Ravendar hmms, "I mean maybe the wizard has a companion or two and the evil knights has minions so there can be a little mock battle before the spell is broken. The companion and minions now leaderless go to a tavern afterwards and are rewarded with free drinks."
Ravendar adds, "And if you are a companion or minion I'll reward you with free drinks back at Alexandria."
With Lyme's pause, Dax stops near him and turns back to look over at Ravendar, "Alright alright. Mister fiddly wiggly, we'll follow yer direction." She does look for a 'spot' that is on the ground, but she looks up, "Wait, we're gettin' free drinks?" A bigger grin, "I'm in, I'll be one of them companions or mini uhns, whatever they be. I'm running low an' all, the sooner we get back the better off I'll be fer sure."
Lyme nods. "Just tell me what I am, and what to do, and I'll do it." He sounds... eager to find a place and work it.
Venom doesn't seem to notice to slight delay in the release of her hand, or at least, she makes no overt show of doing so. Like Aryia, she assumes a spot and looks to the others as they plot out their intending goings' on as she idly rolls the slightly deformed bullet across her knuckles back and forth then gives it a moment or two of consideration before slipping it, and ultimately her rifle, back to their places.
GAME: Seyardu rolls perform/acting: (4)+perform/acting: 4 GAME: Dax rolls perform/acting: (8)+perform/acting: 8 GAME: Venom rolls perform/act: (3)+0: 3 GAME: Paenitia rolls perform/act: (2)+2: 4 GAME: Aryia rolls perform/act: (20)+-2: 18 GAME: Lyme rolls perform/act: (13)+2: 15 GAME: Ravendar rolls perform/Oratory: (17)+3: 20 GAME: Ravendar rolls perform/string: (6)+8: 14
Ravendar waves his hand, "It's fine just stay in your circle and do your best to act it all out. I really don't know I'm making it all as I go along. If I had to make guess I'd say that those spots were for trained musicians so that the whole amphitheater could hear them, but I don't know at this point." He gives out roles and hopes for the best as he plays the music and narrates.
Aryia, for some reason, is assigned a role that she can just DO. Every fumble is in character, every blunder was well timed comedy, and the moments she was needed, she delivered strong. Somehow. Maybe it was due to her newfound confidence with her new friend that she seemed to click well with.
Paenitia is a terrible actor. Several factors combine to make this so. She's small, so she's hard to see. Her voice, while expressive, is muffled by her mask so everything she says has to be shouted and she can only feign a few moods, with unbridled enthusiasm being the most practiced. The mask, again, prevents any facial expressions, and her heavy armour, wide-brimmed hat, peacock feather cloak and heavy steel shield all combine to make her largely featureless beyond the obvious. She's a Red Knight. Her limbs are short, so even dramatic poses are hard to distinguish. She clanks, and her performance isn't the absolute worst it could have been, but there's barely no difference between that and what she does deliver.
Dax roars in the middle of Raven's performance and then looks around, "Wait, was I not the terrible dragon?" She pauses and then grimaces a bit as she looks around. Then tries to do what Ravendar tells her to do, but is all boob and no skill. With the directions she's given she's always a bit too late, or too early, or sometimes mixing up parts as she stumbles through lines, words, grumbles and growls at herself, "This is terrible, an' I'd of rather been tossed."
Seyardu, for her part, did a decent job with her lines. But knowing the lines was not enough, and the sith-makar sounded monotone and flat, with none of the expressions picked up by likely anyone on the stage or audience. It would have been excellent if all the audience had been sith-makar, but to those present, it was almost robotic in execution.
Venom is, similarly ungifted in the art of impromptu theater, it seems. She, like the knight, is shrouded and her expressions unguessible. She doesn't have the synchronicity with Ravendar that she seems to have with Aryia, who is by far better than she at this. She struggles with the particulars of her part, and her guesswork makes her reactions somewhat bafflingly sluggish and overwrought. She continues to endure, but doubts an end to the commentary when this is over....
Lyme just listens, smiles, and does what he's told. It works... somehow, but it works. Maybe it's the tingling feeling at the base of his spine when he feels the ghostly eyes on the stage, but... he likes performing. He doesn't twirl, not unless he's told to, but it's there in his toes.
It's interesting. They observe all of you closely, yes, and they seem pleased with the result. You're playing along. It's Aryia and Dax who bet the most attention. Why that is isn't clear, but Aryia particularly has the collective groups attention. There is a nod of recognition from each of them in her direction and one by one they start to fade away. The ground in the middle of the stage starts to rumble, lower.
GAME: Lyme rolls sense motive: (1)+3: 4 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Seyardu rolls sense motive: (2)+7: 9 GAME: Dax rolls sense motive: (15)+0: 15 GAME: Aryia rolls sense motive: (10)+11: 21 GAME: Ravendar rolls sense motive: (11)+2: 13 GAME: Paenitia rolls sense motive: (1)+10: 11 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Venom rolls sense motive: (8)+10: 18
Lyme almost glows with fulfillment. It doesn't matter that the attention isn't on him, he still feels it in his soul, and even as the floor lowers, he doesn't really notice that -- or much of anything. He just sits in the feeling of fulfillment, feeling gratitude.
Paenitia can't tell how her performance was received. Or even, how the other performers did. She tries to meet audience eyes and they're always looking elsewhere, usually Aryia, but occasionally Lyme or Ravendar.
When the stage rumbles and a portion of it starts to drop, she turns in that direction to watch it and completely misses any accolades that might come her way. None do, so it works out.
"Creepy monstrous bastards. Each of them." Dax mentions as she shivers again, seeing the audience disappear. She looks around and shakes her head, eyes a bit wide, "I don't care what we did, or what we have ta do next. That there fella's gonna pay out his backside in drinks." She points to Ravendar, and then takes in a deep breath and out another huff.
Ravendar claps his hands as the play finishes as the ghosts are put to rest one more. "Great job one and all especially you Aryia, you have some real talent." He eyes the middle of the stage, "So what do you think is next?" He grins at Dax, "Yep I owe some of you drinks, but thank you for participating."
Aryia felt incredibly silly, and dumb, her face red with embarrassment and effort. She wanted out of here as soon as possible, even all eyes are on her. Once they vanish she falls to a knee, her fanning her face with a hand. That was... something Aryia did not want to repeat ever again. She steals a glance towards the lowering floor.
Aryia waves off the compliment, attention overload.
GAME: Seyardu casts Create Water. Caster Level: 5 DC: 13
Seyardu offers a bow to the ghosts as they departed. Hopefully it was a good reason, the way the floor opened up seemed promising, for that.
"Well, that is another trial down, yes? How is everyone holding up? These tasks are strange, but they seem to be successful, so far." She asks, looking around. Out of her bag she pulls out a camping mug, and with a short prayer in draconic tongue, it was filled with fresh, cold water that was offered to the Mul as she kneeled down.
Venom is pretty sure her performance was... tolerated, but she does note a trend in where a lot of the attention was focused.
She nods to what Ravendar says and goes about the group bumping knuckles to shoulders lightly before turning to throw a pair a thumbs up toward Aryia, only to find her on a knee.
She gives a quick look to the others, then take a knee beside her and quickly signs, "Are you alright?" <handspeech>
Aryia nods, gulping down the water and spilling a quarter of it. "Don't... don't make me M-Y-M-E ever... ever again." Aryia borrows Venom's shoulder for a bit, steadying herself before finally rising to her feet. <Handspeech>
A platform rises up from the stage. Upon it sits a single, small, ornate chest. Could that be the reliquary?
It could. Of course, the sudden shriek that just fills the auditorium isn't a good sign of getting out of here cleanly...
