Although it's a bit confusing due to the many perfumed ladies at the event, Malandraenas eventually catches up with a tall older woman in a stately grey dress quietly watching the crowd as she reads over a pamphlet and sips on a drink that smells of honey and mint with a slice of lemon in it. The scent of the woman herself, however, along with the look of recognition in her eyes tells Mal that he has found the princess.
"I say, are you looking for someone young man?" the disguised princess says with a knowing look and a slight smirk.
Mal laughs, "Always, ma'am. A friend of mine might be in a bit of trouble, but then, she always is. I'm just trying to keep an eye on her in case something unexpected should happen. There seemed to have been a ruckus upstairs that made me nervous." He scans the room, trying to be alert for any sign of danger, "I guess I'll just hang out and try to keep an eye out for her well-being." He says before bowing and giving the elderly-looking woman some space, trying to disassociate himself with her in case anyone were following him too closely.
G-Milf Alis raises an eyebrow and holds her palms up in question. "My how thoughtful of you to trouble an old woman with such worries. I'm sure your friend will keep her eyes open, but no doubt she will have other priorities. Good that she has a nice lad like you to look after her."
As Mal takes his place by the doors, the orchestra begins playing the lead-in to Fleurs du Mal and the nobles lingering in the foyer quickly return to their seats. As the last of them clear away, Alis says, "Showtime!"
Perception Checks
Sense Motive Checks:
SONG: Fleurs du Mal
SONG: Fleurs du Mal
As the performance starts, Mal winces at the bright spotlights that converge upon Alis temporarily dazzling him. He takes up a spot inside the doors, takes a moment to become unobtrusive and blinks away the stars.
Perception Checks
Stealth Checks
Lureene looks at Felmor, and thinks for a moment, while glancing over at Lady Kale's booth. We have some incriminating evidence on Lady Kale, yet it will take Alis to verify the seal is wrong. I think we should feign ignorance and wait for Kale to make the next move.
She squeezes Felmor's hand reassuringly and says quietly, "Let's enjoy the show, Knight-Captain."
While Alis can see little except for the vague outline of the stage and the aisle down which she proceeds, everyone else has no trouble at all of seeing every nuance of Alis' pretty face as she sings her heart out.
Almost immediately, Felmor notices that Lady Kale is looking rather perturbed in her booth intermittently glaring at your box and at Alis. Aside from the princess, the orchestra, and the spotlight technicians in the catwalks above, everyone else in the theater appears to be transfixed by the performance.
By the end of the song, even the lighting technicians have stopped moving as the princess has assumed a position on-stage, her gold and silver dress shining like a treasure-trove against the red velvet curtains behind her.
Perception Checks
As the song reaches its conclusion, Mal notices some movement amongst the catwalks, but he has a difficult time making it out due to the contrast from the other bright lights in the room. Pointing to the ceiling, Felmor catches the hint and gives Lureene a nudge as the audience breaks out into a deafening standing ovation.
With her keen darkvision, Lureene has little problem making out the black-clad figures of the lighting technicians, particularly since the illumination focused upon the stage is easily blocked out by taking a step back. Peering into the darkness, the sees the foremost lighting technician leave his spotlight and approach an array of sandbags. She is just barely able to make out the glint of metal in his hand and notices a slight vibration on the crystal chandelier directly above Alis as it drops about a half-inch while he does something to the ropes.
Initiative Rolls
Although she cannot hear it above the din of the audience, Lureene notices with alarm as the other three lighting technicians begin running at the man. Looking down, Lureene sees that Alis is none the wiser to the saboteur 40-ft above her. She is completely lost in this moment's adulation.
, Mal, Felmor, Saboteur
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- Catwalks: 50-ft above the level of the front row & 40-ft wide
- Stage: 5-ft above the level of the front row, there is a carpeted ramp that leads up to the stage that Alis walked up.
- Back of auditorium: 10-ft higher than the front row
- Mezzanine/box seats: 20-ft above the front row, box seats are recessed 5-ft from the side of the stage
- Alis: standing a few feet back from the edge of the stage
- Lureene & Felmor: Yvonne's box is the 2nd from the stage on the right, about 15-ft back from the stage
- Mal: ~60-ft away. The central aisle is about 7-ft wide and there are a few ushers and other individuals standing in it as they applaud
This is a surprise round, at present, Lureene and the Saboteur are the only ones who can take a full round's worth of actions. Single-actions only for Fel and Mal.
A chill runs down Mal's spine as he realizes something is going down, and he reacts by digging down deep, bestial power flooding his legs in preparation of the sprint to come.
He roars Alis's name in warning… DAMN, I DON'T THINK SHE CAN HEAR ME!
Lureene looks at the stage and as she feels the grip of horror enter her heart, her Father’s words echo in her heart: Abandon your fear and her fear dissipates.
She coolly glances at the man intending to kill ‘Lis, Her sister! and realizes he is out of range of any spell she could cast. She grabs Felmor’s arm, and points to the saboteur. Once he looks up there, she leaps to her feet and jumps off the balcony!
Unfurling her wings, she thinks Ouch, this is going to hurt her, but not as much as he will… as she glides directly into Alis, trying to knock her out of the way!
Throwing caution to the wind, Lureene unfurls her wings and leaps from the balcony headed straight for Alis. As she does, there is a collective gasp from the crowd allowing Mal's voice to roar out above the noise,
Perception Checks
The tiny vocalist looks up just in time to see Lureene flying on a collision course with the stage to her right. In a desperate attempt to save her friend from breaking her pretty neck, Alis dives to catch Lureene...
Wings and gowns collide and the two fall backwards. The heavy velvet curtains get yanked down by the impact even as the crystal chandelier plummets smashing into the stage. Its twisted wreckage showers them, the orchestra and the first few rows of seats with shards of broken glass.
Reflex Saves
Lureene hears a sharp cry from Alis when they land, but she bounces off the princess and lands safely, taking only a few minor scratches from the broken glass. Alis fared only a little worse, but it looks like she got hit in the head by the heavy curtain rod when it fell. She's out cold from the impact.
Thankfully, it appears that the chandelier was lit by multiple continual light spells, so there is no risk of fire, but the whole theater is now in a panic wiht people hopping up to assist the members of the orchestra pinned under the wreckage of the chandelier, and stagehands rushing out to see what happened.
Up on the mezzanine level, Felmor notices Lady Kale looking down at the scene and then gesturing up at the corner of the catwalk near her balcony. Her two guards crowd in behind her and then begin to escort her away with all due haste.
Mal soon finds, a veritable wave of frightened aristocrats surging towards the doors behind him!
, Mal, Felmor, Saboteur, everyone else
MAP: Valeria's Playhouse 02
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- Bens: The audience. Men, women, children, the elderly. All Bens each and everyone one.
- Kords: Stage hands, lighting techs. The guys on the catwalks have a green border around their squares.
- Catwalks: Look for the translucent grey shading with the dark grey borders. Columns 8, 17, 18, 23; Rows E, K, N, T, and the area above Mal (which exits to a loft above the front of the theater).
- Greybeards: Orchestra
- Straehan: Conductor
- Harrolayne: Lady Verona Kale
- Amber, Brycen, Falcon, Suny: Other wealthy theater sponsors
Lureene rises to her feet wondering, how did I misjudge that so badly? Still, judging by the results, it looked like she had saved Alis's life, although inadvertently it seems. Oh well, it worked, I cannot complain.
Quickly looking up, she scans the catwalk for the saboteur, and seeing him about to make his exit, thinks NO! You will NOT get away from me! Soon, the sounds of chanting arise, and Lureene points at the man up above her, and soon a mass of sticky webbing appears, right on top of him!
Felmor sees Lady Kale trying to exit, and thinks, Nay, I dinnae think so.
Seeing Lady Kale making her retreat, Felmor moves to head her off, racing down the steps and nearly to the theater's foyer.
For her part, Lureene uses a spell to cover the catwalk in sticky webbing...
However, the man just barely evades her spell!
Empowered by the primal blood surging thru his veins, Mal is able to dash thru the crowd before they flood the central aisle, easily leaping over the wrecked chandelier to land by Alis. Looking down, he sees that she suffered a nasty blow to the head when the rod holding the heavy, upholstered curtains clobbered her. While Alis is out cold, she doesn't appear to be in any further danger, (though the fact that the terrific din in the theater isn't waking her is somewhat disturbing).
Perception Checks
Now right underneath the man, Mal can make out the black-clad lighting technicians running around on the catwalks. 30-ft above and not far from him, he can make out the spotlight operator who severed the line securing the chandelier. The man makes it past the webbing, but seeing someone coming to tackle him, he leaps over the railing attempting to land in Lady Kale's now empty box seat.
With a loud thud, the man bowls over the padded armchairs in the box, and escapes your line of sight. From up above, Mal sees another lighting tech attempt to jump down to head him off...
He knocks over an elderly patron and the young girl with him, and disappears into the hallway. Seeing that both have fallen below, the two remaining men in the catwalk race towards the back of the theater to do what they can. At the top of the main aisle, the two panicked ushers fling open the doors and take cover to avoid being trampled by the press of fleeing patrons.
Besides Mal, the conductor climbs up on the stage wringing his hands in anguish as he looks on his wounded songbird and dead and injured musicians. Unable to shout above the crowd, he motions imploring Mal to help heft the chandelier off those trapped beneath it. A few of the guests who still have their wits about them, are currently trying to do so, but with its gold-plated wrought iron construction it appears to be tremendously heavy.
From back stage, the other actors and two more stage hands appear looking aghast at the scene before them. The woman who played Helena and Marguerite kneels beside Alis and holds her hand looking up to Mal and Lureene expectantly. The actors who play Ariel and Mephisto, thinking it best to stay out of Mal's way, run over and help finally lift the ruined chandelier off the orchestra, tipping it over onto the grand piano and out of the way.
No sooner do they move it however, than does a chill race up Mal's spine. Turning around, he sees the slain drummer and and tuba player rise up with vacant expressions in their eyes and begin clambering their way up onto the stage!
They claw for the stagehand closest to them...
...hitting him so hard with their blind-side attack that they knock him screaming to the stage!
, Felmor, Mal, saboteur, everyone else, undead
MAP: Valeria's Playhouse Round 03
Lureene curses as her quarry has escaped. She turns her attention to Alis, and then notices the undead. Damn! This is definitely an assassination attempt if I ever saw one, she thinks wryly.
She notices the actress hoping to help, and moves over to her, holding out her potion.
Once she has obliged, she chants another spell, and two glowing lights shoot out from her fingers and strike the nearest undead!
Felmor bellows as he puts his heart into his best sailor's bellow while brandishing his weapons. Not bothering to stop, he plunges into the streaming mass of fleeing people, ducking and weaving through the theatre goers, until he (hopefully) makes it to the other side.
Lureene's magic missiles impact the nearest zombie leaving a pair of scorch marks on it once fine clothes. It looks up, at Lureene's outstretched hand losing all interest in the downed man.
Meanwhile at the back of the theater, Felmor shouts, brandishing his sword and several people in the crowd cry out in fear. The moment of hesitation on their part allow him just enough of an opening to shoulder his way thru. Miraculously, he avoids nicking anyone with the razor sharp blade.
He makes it about half was up the stairs towards the opposite box seats but does not yet see Lady Kale or her guards.
, saboteur, everyone else, undead, Lureene, Felmor
MAP: Valeria's Playhouse 03b
"Woman!" Mal shouts at the stunned actress idly holding the healing potion, "pour that down her throat, NOW! Lureene, I'll hold the stage; you see what you can do about the saboteur!"
Seeing that the first priority is the unnatural living on stage, Mal dashes between the group of bodies, his slash thrown off as the conductor gets in the way.
Priyya, holding vigil in the cathedral, feels a great ebbing in the force...
Mal rushes to interpose himself between the princess and the non-combatants. While his attack misses badly as he trips over 'Marguerite's' gown, he succeeds in drawing the heat off of the poor, battered stagehand.
Frightened by the calamity behind her, the actress hops to the other side of Alis so she can see. The stagehand by her, helps the woman get Alis into an inclined position to ensure she doesn't choke, and they successfully coax the pale, blue liquid past her ruby lips.
The conductor, gritting his teeth after getting in Mal's way a moment ago, crouches by Alis' side taking her left hand and shaking her shoulder in an attempt to wake her.
With a groan, Alis sits up, putting a hand to her forehead as she winces against the din all around her. Seeing the signs of calamity around her, she gets to her feet and apprises the situation.
Curtain's down, chandelier took out the orchestra, everyone's fleeing, there's webs in the catwalk, and Mal's fighting zomibes?!?!
As patrons continue to race out of the playhouse, the two zombies attempt to lay the smack-down on Mal.
The drummer, previously struck by Lureene, bashes him hard in the side knocking the wind out of the giant ranger.
By Mal's feet, the downed stagehand very carefully tries to crawl away without making any sudden movements.
Up in their box, Valeria looks to be freaking out while her beau is attempting to get her to leave. Meanwhile on the opposite side of the theater, the old man and the young girl seem to be cowering in front of their chairs, backs to the railing.
, Felmor, Mal, saboteur, mundanes, Alis, zombies
MAP: Valeria's Playhouse 04
Lureene looks over to the balcony where the elderly man and the young girl cower, instead of running for the exit. Warning bells ring in her head. Without another glance she runs towards the balcony, and as she is about to leap off the stage, cries an arcane word, then flies up to the adjacent balcony, landing on her feet gracefully.
Felmor gives a sigh of relief, glad he had not hurt anyone. He continues up the ramp...
Not having time to answer Alis, Lureene hops too and puts to good use the swift fly spell she learned from Sertieren just days before. With the added maneuverability imparted by magical flight, she has no problem zipping up into the hallway drawing her rapier as she goes. From the opposite end, she sees Felmor run, up sword in hand.
Felmor finds Lady Kale standing behind the bust of an actor or character of some note mounted atop a marble pedestal. With her left hand, she's pointing at the stage hands, her guards moving in on them, clubs and bucklers in hand, the shortswords still sheathed at their hips. They seem to be trying to block the men from proceeding down the hall or entering the box where the old man and the girl are cowering.
When Lureene swoops up, the stagehand closest to her, who still has a knife in hand looks over his shoulder at her at grits his teeth. The other stagehand looks like he's bracing to try and tackle the man.
Upon seeing Felmor standing right behind her with a sword drawn, Lady Kale shrieks, and cries out, "What is the meaning of this!"
Thinking quickly, Lureene casts a spell attempting to alter the assassin's mind...
Seeing that his escape has been cut-off, the man reaches down to his belt, pulls free a potion, and downs it. Instantly, his eyes go wide, the knife slips from his fingers, and he falls to the ground, clutching at his throat.
Meanwhile down below, Mal continues to hold the stage after his own fashion hoping to buy his charge time to recover...
He delivers a pair of vicious blows to the drummer injured by Lureene's spell. His claws tearing its head clear off and send it flying into the crowd. It drops to the stage from the assault as do a few women who scream and faint at the sight.
Nearly half the crowd has escape the theater at this point. The old man and the girl on the south box are still cowering, using their chairs for cover. On the opposite side, Valeria's husband throws up his hands, shakes a finger at her and disappears down the hallway. She continues to watch the scene below unfold for a moment before she moves back and follows. The few brave men who had stayed to help move the chandelier off the injured orchestra members, look about nervously even as they try to revive the musicians and get them away from the stage. The pianist is motioning towards a back room in the south-east corner.
One of the stage hands, and another man who had climbed up onto the stage to help, run around behind the stage props trying to reach a door on the same side just by 'Marguerite'. 'Ariel', 'Mephisto', and the other stagehand keep their distance from Mal and the undead tuba player eyes wide in disbelief at the madness before them. The injured stagehand regains his feet and shoves his way past Alis running thru the door to safety. Taking his lead the conductor and 'Marguerite' try to coax Alis thru the same door, but she's not having any of it...
Without hesitation, Alis circles around Mal, attempting to dart past the zombie into a flanking position. "Uugh, try to leave enough for a decent burial, these were good men!"
With no capacity to care about such thing, the undead tuba player swings at Alis as she moves...
...however even in her elaborate ballgown, her movements are surprisingly agile and she evades it with ease.
Speaking words that seem almost angelic, her hand darts out towards the zombie, a pale blue glow surrounding it...
Her attack connects and the zombie visibly staggers as the necromantic energy animating it is severely disrupted.
It makes another attack against her...
But doesn't even come close to hitting.
, Felmor, Mal, saboteur, mundanes, Alis, zombie
MAP: Valeria's Playhouse 05
Lureene curses again, strange she never cursed this much before, she must be maturing. Realizing he had intentionally poisoned himself, she knows time is of the essence. Then the words of Princess Alexis come to her, "Never forget when a timely message will help save the day". She moves down to the fallen form of the assassin, and quickly chants a minor cantrip.
Perception Checks
Just barely overhearing Lureene's missive, Alis exclaims, "Mal, I can take care of things here. See if you can help!"
Lureene succeeds in making the man vomit.
However, he continues to grow paler by the second. She can feel his pulse slowing at an alarming rate! The man looks up at her, a look of sheer terror in his eyes, "I– didn't– want..."
Felmor resists the urge to utter some banality at the Lady Kale, especially since the assassin has just poisoned himself! Instead he calls out in a clear voice, tinged with steel, while eyeing the guards carefully, "There be an attempt on Princess Alis' life. I'd advise ye guards ta stand down 'n not ta interfere wit' me business."
Looking back at Lady Kale who nods to them, the guards step aside and the stagehand gets out of the way. The knight captain kneels down alongside of Lureene and the assassin but is unable to do anything more than Lureene already has.
, saboteur, mundanes, Alis, zombie, Lureene, Felmor
MAP: Valeria's Playhouse Round 05b
Mal growls in frustration at having to leave a fight, adrenaline flooding his legs as he tries to clear the distance from the stage lip to the balcony. Mal then grabs the rail of the balcony, trying to use his momentum to swing himself over. then he draws one of his scrolls - the one used to halt the effects of poisons - from his coat.
"Lurene! I have a scroll that might do the trick!"
It's attention focused upon Alis, the remaining zombie doesn't notice when Mal sprints away. In a truly amazing feat of athleticism, Mal sprints and springs from the edge of the stage as if shot from a bow. He seems almost to hang in the air, but whether that's a trick of optics as he dashes out of the converging beams of the spotlights one cannot say.
In an instant, he clears both the distance and the height. His hands catch the edge of the balcony and his powerful arms launch him up and over, landing within. Before him, he sees Lureene kneeling next to a downed man who is perilously pale and foaming at the mouth. Lureene has managed to get him to vomit up whatever he drank, but it's clear that the poison's effects are ongoing...
The man begins shaking uncontrollably as he slips closer to death's door.
The stagehand and patron who helped with moving the chandelier continue backstage even as those men helping to carrying the unconscious musicians get them up the stairs and into the side room. The other actors and stage hands keep back from the ongoing fight in the spotlight between the princess and the zombie, the conductor begins singing to cheer her on, Ariel and Mephisto take his cue and join in.
The old man and the young woman in the remaining box seat peer around past the guard closest to them gawking at the situation before them.
Taking her time to ensure her spellcasting does not provoke a counter-attack, Alis lands another strike upon the zombie. Light flashes from her hand, completely suffusing the undead musician and he falls over, dead once more.
When it falls, the three men, give a cheer and applaud the sparkling diva. A few of the people in the crowd are given pause at the singing and clapping and turn to regard the scene looks of confusion on their faces. Feeling a bit awkward, yet still standing in the glow of the spotlight, Alis raises and eyebrow before giving a bow.
For a moment, she remains transfixed, looking up at the box seat where Mal vanished before shaking her head, "Enough! There are injured who need help. Send a runner to the cathedral, I'll do what I can until help arrives."
Nodding in understanding, the two closest stage hands set off for an outside door backstage.
, Felmor, Mal, saboteur, mundanes, Alis
Three long strides carry Mal to the self-poisoned saboteur, where he kneels, pressing his palm where the man's throat meets his chest. All the while his green eyes intensely scan the thick sheet of hand-pressed paper upon which are scrawled strange, exotic glyphs. Finding the keyword, Mal looks down at the man and utters a string of words in a rustic language, and those close enough hear the words echoed in a whisper from around them. When done, he mutters to Traker, "Be ready. I'm not sure if he'll come around or not. We want him alive."
Lureene sighs in relief as Mal has arrived on the scene. Seeing Mal wave her off, she rises to her feet and looks over to Lady Kale and her guards, and also the elderly man, along with the little girl.
She lowers her rapier, but does not sheath her weapon, instead she turns to The old man and the young woman, and asks them, ”Are you two OK?”
Felmor nods at Mal, not bothering to respond verbally, as he watches his surroundings, ready for anything, while Mal tries to keep the man alive.
Mal's spell halts the ongoing effects of the poison just in time. The man is too weak to offer any resistance, and his skin is clammy to the touch, but he is alive and stable for now. Within a short time, the theater has emptied but for a few patrons trying to wake the women who fainted.
Alis and the other actors have disappeared into the back room.
As soon as the path thru the foyer is clear, Valeria and her husband run towards the stage. She cries out, "Princess Alis, where is she, is she alright?"
'Ariel' pokes his head from behind the scene and shouts a reply, "Back here, she's treating the injured."
Up on the mezzanine level...
”Are you two OK?”
The old man gives a sigh of relief putting a hand to his chest as he tries to still his racing heart. He nods in reply but the young woman whispers pointing to the downed assassin, "Did he diiie?"
Behind her, the old man tells her to hush but the woman still cranes her neck in curiosity.
From further back in the hallway, Lady Kale asks, "Who is he, can you tell?" Turning to one of her guards she says, "Run to the keep and fetch Captain Stallings, hurry."
After about a minute of work, Alis emerges back onto the stage, speaking with Valeria, the conductor and the other actors. She calls up to the balcony, "Mal, Lureene, I've healed the musicians enough to wake them. what's the situation up there?"
"The man lives.. barely. There's nothing else I can do for him right now, though Darkmane may have more to offer." He turns back to the (still unconscious?) man, "I don't know what your intentions are here, but you won't die today."
Lureene calls down to Alis in reply, ”Everything is under control up here for the moment. Although, we could use some additional help up here.” She turns to Felmor, and says quietly, ”Please keep an eye on ‘Lis, OK? Mal and I are ok up here.” Felmor nods at her and moves off to join Alis downstairs, knowing the Princesses life may still be in danger.
Lureene turns to Lady Kale, and replies, a cool note in her voice, ”I do not know who he is, other than an assassin. Do you have any idea who would want to murder Princess Alis?”
"None whatsoever, my good woman. Judging by the standing ovation she received, your princess seems to be well regarded, even if she has chosen to take issue with me for some reason..."
Within the span of a few minutes, Captain Stallings arrives with a sizable guard contingent along with Duke Jarmaand, Lady d'Calla, a middle-aged wizard wearing red robes, and Bishop Tredônia. Shortly thereafter, a more familiar face arrives, Priyya the Surya-ka-Vahaak, she is accompanied by a half-dozen clerics and acolytes.
Upon seeing that Alis is standing on the stage, Yvonne says something to the Duke and the two of them quickly make their way towards the stage. "Your highness," the Duke begins, "please forgive this unfathomable incident."
He motions to the dignitaries behind him and says, "The council and myself came straight away from chambers as soon as we heard of the attack. Rest assured, we shall not rest until we have discovered the culprit behind this. If there is anything you require, any recompense that can be offered, please... name it. I shall be placing Captain Stallings in charge of this investigation personally. Captain?"
"Thank you, your Grace." An older man deeply tanned and still hearty in spite of his years steps forward and bows before the duke and princess. He has a short, well-cropped white beard and sharp blue eyes.
"Highness," he says, "do you or your attendees have any thoughts on who might have motive or stand to gain something by attacking you?"
Felmor bows perfunctorily as he acknowledges the august dignitaries, although you do see his face light up when he sees Priyya. Before the Princess can answer, he speaks up, ”I dinnae wanna talk about it ‘ere, best ta find a private place afer I say any more.” He glances meaningfully at Alis, the look on his face plainly saying she should follow the same example.
He motions to his Desert Rose, and says, ”Up the south ramp, ye will find Lureene and Mal, they need yer assistance.”
Priyya spares a moment to snap off an improper salute and a knowing smile to her Beloved before heading off in the direction he indicated at top speed, all business again.
Every time I'm about to get an answer from Alita, something comes up! Maybe that is all the answer I'm going to get? She puts the concern aside and heads up the ramp.
She politely pushes through the uninjured people crowding the upper deck to get to Mal and the victim amidst a blast of healing energy.
She gets the particulars of the battle from Mal and Lureene while tending to the assassin/victim.
"Unfortunately, I don't have any spell to counter-act the poison. We may need the Bishop's aid for that."