The Hermetic Theater
Type: Entertainment
Description:
You approach a man and asks about the stage being prepared by a group of what seem to be itinerant artists. You are pretty sure it wasn't there this morning.
"You have never seen the Hermetic Theater? Melpomene of Bonisagus is the director. The woman over there, in the green dress. No, the other one, the blonde. She travels the Order with her theater going from Tribunal to Tribunal... but I thought she was going to Thebes this year! We got lucky!"
Background
Melpomene is a Trianomae with a passion for the history of the Order. As a kid she loved watching mystery plays. After her gauntlet she begun to roam the world, and got in love again with theater from several different places. Finally, a few decades ago, she started to write "mystery" plays to narrate the big events of the Order. Her masterpiece is "The Peregrinations of Trianoma", were she retells Trianoma's travels to meet the twelve founders. While not being exactly historically accurate (for example, Trianoma only manages to convince Tremere after defeating him in Certamen, which wouldn't exist for a few years when they first met), it is loved by the public.
The actors are mundane, but Melpomene sometimes invites magi for special participations, or to help with certain special effects outside of her capabilities. She uses CrIg for lighting, CrIm or CrHe for objects and props, and the occasional CrMe to remind an actor who forgot the next line. A multitude of mundane stage tricks is also used. It's usually free to watch the plays, but a few mundanes go around the audience selling salty food and drinks.
The plays reinforce themes like the lawlessness before the Order, the necessity of a strong Code, Bonisagus and Trianoma (sacred) roles in the foundation of the Order, etc. House Bonisagus likes her plays very much. Besides "Peregrinations" other plays include "Join or Die!", "The Temptations of the Devil" (about house Tytalus corruption), "Through Arcadia the Wanderer Goes" (where a mortal travels to the realm of the fairies and meets several figures from hermetic history), "The Witty Jack" (a story about a clever Redcap who solves various problems with a few simple enchanted items and his cunning) and the Magus and the Dragon (were a magus breaches several parts of the Code, messes up with a dragon and ends up being eaten alive. It's actually a very funny play). She is currently working on a play about whatever would get her in contact with your troupe (the Solomonic Order if there is someone from the East, the life of Guernicus if there is a Quesitor to inquire, the forbbiden love between a magus and a noblewoman if there is someone with noble blood, etc), and she would love some feedback on it.
Spell:
Creating the Stage of Hermes (CrHe 30)
R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Ind
The spell creates a fixed stage with trapdoors, cranes and machinery required for a play. The spell was developed through experimentation and has a minor flaw: there is always a slight mismatch in planks, beams and boards. This causes the construction to look a bit rustic, unprofessional even. The floor is squeaky, and the trapdoors sometimes get stuck. But Melpomene thinks it's better this way; the theater has personality.(Base 3, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +2 size, +1 elaborate shape, +1 complexity)
Personalities
Melponeme: Prideful +1, Free-spirited +2, Moralistic +1.
Story Seeds
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The next play will begin soon, but the actress who plays Trianoma can't be found anywhere. Melpomene asks you to find her. Is she just burned out from rehearsing too much, or is something else at play?
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The next play will begin soon, but the actress who plays Trianoma can't be found anywhere. Melpomene asks you to replace her.
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There is the symbol of a mystery cult hidden in the background of a scene. What does this means? Who put it there? Is Melpomene related to the cult?
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A Flambeau didn't like the way the founder was represented (wrong hair color, wrong height, too wrathful, not wrathful enough... choose it). Melponeme refuses to apologize or make amends. Can you de-escalate the situation? If not, what is going to happen?
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The stage is ablaze!!! Was this really just a CrIg sponted spell that got out of control?
Suggestion
Anyone who watches a play can put adventure XP or exposure XP in OoH Lore in that season.