I currently have 6-7 players in my Council of Thieves game. We are getting ready to begin the second part, The Sixfold Trial, and I'm looking for any resources that the community has for running The Six Trials with that many PCs.
Well, it's not much, but here's my ideas for characters for parties with more than six.
There's also a guy who apparently wrote the parts in German, though he apparently only has them in German.
It's also at this point I see you posted in that forum some time ago... sorry!
I'm going to be working on an nineteen-character* (sort of*) version of the play (the other parts aren't going to get many lines) and I'd be glad to share, when I've got it done, if I do get it done. I might end up winging it, though, with any number of those characters, and I can't guarantee that I'll have anything in time for you. I'm sorry!
Still, I'll keep you updated as I can.
Also, you might want to check out the other couple of threads I've started here for more ideas, if you need them, to flesh out your game. (You don't have to, I just thought I'd mention, in case you're interested.) :)
* To explain, I've got one - exactly one - PC. She loves people and recruiting them. So she did. Now all the Children of Westcrown plus a few other friends are going to be part of the play. All. Of. Them. Needless to say, there will be quite a few non-speaking parts, and I expect several of them will be Ilsandra's slaves who simply cower or act as 'seconds' for certain trials (such as for the Trial By Pleasure in Larazod's younger sibling's stead... it could be explained away as punishment or even 'reward' for a particular slave that insulted/pleased Ilsandra or even Haanderthan.
Over half our group (myself included) have extensive theatre experience, and I knew they'd look askance at handwaving auditions, so I roleplayed them out. I had five people auditioning per part (including PCs), and the person with the best role got the part. This meant that not everyone got in the show, and one PC was in the chorus. I cast all the chorus parts plus one understudy per role (who recited the lines under the influence of an illusion once the principal actor fell down).
I kept the chorus on the stage for most of the show, and just handed their character sheets to the players. We had a lot of fun, and no one was resentful that their PC wasn't in the spotlight. That's just how theatre works, after all.
So, hey, here's the idea for act one so far. Let me know what you think.
No, seriously, please feel free to critique (though I'd prefer it if done nicely). :D
I tried to make many of the lines flow within the context of the story but to be easily editable so that most any character can be input or removed as you need them. I copied the acts and created edited versions of them. I'm basically editing the play as I go. I don't think my words are as well done as the original, but it's what I've got. :)
New characters not mentioned in the Adventure are:
MIZKASD: the snarky, bitter, but bound-to-Tybain squire. In some versions there is only one squire, in others there are two.
CERTES: the honest, niave, and honor-bound squire of Tybain who's long had a secret crush on Laratia, Larazod's sister. In some versions there is only one squire, in others there are two.
LARATIA: Larazod's younger sister. Although in this version she's "freshly an adult - as of today!" in others she's quite a bit younger, even truly a child.
LISANDRA: Ilsandra's twin sister. They share everything, and, while they don't think the same, if one has an idea they desire, usually the other goes with it. It was Lisandra who convinced Ilsandra to come to the trial, although this isn't referenced below.
DANFEN: Dentris' sibling. One of the triplets (twins in some versions, and simply siblings of similar ages in others). Bitter and angry, and not clever enough to do more than insult, but loyal to his brother, and always seeking an edge.
DUNROC: Dentris' sibling. One of the triplets (twins in some versions, and simply siblings of similar ages in others). Charming and cautious with his words, when Danfen isn't present in a work, Dunroc often has similar - if substantially more charming - lines. In this case, he thinks that Tybain's squire Mizkasd needs but training in how to channel his tongue.
Mentioned in the AP, but not given parts until now:
FARUS: the happy-go-lucky Desnan and self-styled "Gypsy King" who speaks mostly in rhymes while dancing; Laratia is delighted by him, if she exists. He often is noted as being 'slightly more clever' than Tybain, even though he's effectively a fool.
MONRIS: a fiendish-blooded dwarf who only sings and plays the bagpipes. Often found annoying to audiences, and a source of strength for Larazod.
Not mentioned yet:
Ilsandra's slave: a slave of some sort (yet to be determined) to stand in for Laratia in some of the trials by Ilsandra's command. Goofy and not paying attention, she's chosen because she doesn't 'opt out' like Ilsandra's other slaves.
Ilsandra's lackey: a character who delights in serving Ilsandra. I'm not sure, yet whether or not they'll have any lines or merely offer nice things to Ilsandra throughout.
The criminal: an idea I'm toying with. There may or may not be 'a criminal' already being tortured who, inspired by Larazod, admits his faults, but chooses to undergo the trials.
While I've tried to keep most of the lines exactly as-written, I've had to split them up on occasion to allow for other characters to speak or be brought into the trials at all.
The AP mentions that there are some "expected deaths" in the work and that their lines are left blank thereafter, although I didn't notice any as-written. It may simply mean that if a character dies, the play continues with them silently, but I'm going to play it that Monris, Farus, Mizkasd, and maybe one or both of Dentris' brothers are slain in the course of the events. Ilsandra's slave is a possibility, as is her lackey. I'm toying with the idea of one death per trial, each of which encourages Larazod to continue forward.
Act 1: Condemnation
A high-backed obsidian bench stands upcenter. As the curtain rises, HAANDERTHAN himself perches there, an awesome figure of power looming above the shackled forms of LARAZOD, TYBAIN, DENTRIS, MONRIS, FARUS, and the others. The other members of the COUNCIL, including the sultry ILSANDRA and her sister LISANDRA, flank out stage right and left of HAANDERTHAN’S tribunal bench. The hulking bearded devil BAILIFF stands over them, spiked truncheon in his scabrous red, leather-like hands.BAILIFF
Order in the Tribunal. The Court of His Honor Paraduke Montigny Haanderthan, Black Tongue of Asmodeus, Magistrate Maleficarum, now holds session. All rise.HAANDERTHAN
Be seated, members of the Court. Today this court seeks truth, or at least shadows thereof, from one Larazod Rilsane, honored veteran of the Shadestar War, member of a once gloried house, of recent fallen in Asmodeus’s regard. The accused stands on several counts of failed conspiracy, evidenced thereof by the industrious interrogations of the court’s own Seeker, Drovalid Vorclune, administered with his usual diligence and severity. In these interviews Vorclune gathered from notable sources, only a few of whom survived their conversations with the lash, that Larazod of the Rilsane held audience with undesirables—the topic of their whispered covenant the activities of none other than myself. A most serious affair. Service to Asmodeus’s ever-darkening glory is never without risk of menace, betrayal, and threat of doom. My family and I have long suffered the bumbling attempts of assassins who would tear at our dark lord’s visage as casually as they befoul their mothers’ beds. What they lack in cunning they bolster with sheer desperation, evidenced by consorting with all manner of Aroden-suckling knaves, and aged wiz-worms who trust in mystic secrets over the Dark One’s love. You hereby stand accused, Larazod, along with your illseeming compatriots, of conspiracy to undertake grievous harm to the institution of this tribunal, namely myself, Paraduke Montigny Haanderthan. How answer thee these charges, Larazod of House Rilsane? Be thou maligned by a scandal-brewer’s wagging tongue, or dost thou cleave to my comings and goings as a bloat fly to a fresh cadaver? Speak! And know that lies are my closest friends. They’ll betray you before I. Speak the truth or do worse than die!DENTRIS
Hold your tongue, boy, and we’ll escape the firebrand yet. Your father was the model of a devil’s squire. Summon his wiles now, and keep shut that Abyss you call mouth, before we all tumble down into its darkness. Had you been born deaf and dumb, this loyal servant would yet live to see another midnight.MONRIS
(Singing) Listen well, Larazod, to the man who loves you so! For surly about such matters, he does know!Monris plays the bagpipes while the others speak.
DANFEN
Brother Dentris, do not stay here. We three siblings need only us, you need not bother with this reckless hideous half-spawn. Let us be away.DUNROC
Ah, Danfen, such a way with words. Would I but have thy own, perhaps I may charm a fellow easily too.DANFEN
Do cease your condescension, brother.TYBAIN
Hurl his arrogance and accusations back at him, Larazod. He wants precious golden-yoked truth? Give him more than he can choke down. For whether revealed by the brilliance of Aroden’s eye, or the long red shadows cast by your Dark Lord’s fiery gaze, a man false at heart and shrouded in hollow faiths is nothing more than a traitor to all. Let him that judges false be judged by wraiths—smote by his own brand shall he fall.CERTES
(Aside) Ah, what a great man is my master! I shall strive to be ever-more like him, and bold in the face of these threats!FARUS
(Dancing while speaking.) What's this, then fellows, whom doth we meet? 'Tis true, dear fellows, that I doth entreat! Be well, and I, with no care in the world, do agree with the Pall-O-Dine, to see truth unfurled! Though I must say, the ugly guy up there is scary today!MIZKASD
(Aside) Even the fool, recognizes the danger here that my master does not. Let us see who the 'great man' Larazod sides with. Be he fool like my master or clever like Dentris, I'd rather he confess and we all just leave.LARAZOD
Larazod knows no lies, great magistrate, and no slanderer’s tongue caresses my dignity. The accusations you speak are as true as Asmodeus’s sword. They cleave clean through. Let the witnesses suffer no more lash. To burn their innards with pokers and steal their eyes is simply to waste precious toil better spent in Asmodeus’s service. There is but one point misaligned in this dark constellation—I seek not your death, though the secrets you harbor in your feeble heart deserve a gruesome demise. I carry no assassin’s blade, nor breath-stealing spell to rob your mortality. To end you I need only know you, and to cast you in an honest shade. I pierce your “shadows of truth” and show you for what I know—a false knave, a demon-supping wag-tail, a balor’s bawd, a pus-leaking cataract in the eye of Asmodeus’s justice, and subject to the multi-handed ministrations of a marilith whore, dretchloving plunderer, and traitor to our great Dark Lord.There is much commotion among the council.
ILSANDRA
(Aside) And to think I almost spent this session in the orgybaths of Kalrath. None of their fleshy delights could compare to the ecstasy this half-breed’s words stroke within me! See his fierce aspect burn in fury, even below the tribunal’s culling justice. But how shall Haanderthan answer?DANFEN
Ho, brother, I warned you against such devotion! Now look at this mess. Honest fool, why do I even bother?DUNROC
Perhaps, brother Danfen, because our bonds of family be so strong. The great Dark One himself has seen fit to knit us together from the womb, and our bonds may not be sundered for any purpose. Though, like Dentris, I may have preferred the better part of Valor.CERTES
Have no fear, devil-sworn! My master the great Tybain will see us through this! Take heart and have valor!ILSANDRA
(Aside) And a second fire, like the first! From one so young, no less. Misplaced, but still, perhaps with guidance it can be properly channeled...MIZKASD
(To Certes) Ugh, thou takest these follies so, like our master? What is this 'master' you speak of? Tybain is great with a sword, but heart and valor do not save us from the wrack!FARUS
(Dancing while speaking.) Hurray, hoorah! Look at joy! A commotion, like moi? I'll yet teach the boy!MIZKASD
(Aside) True, the fool could teach our master a thing or two.DANFEN
(Aside) The child knows what to do, though shackled to a fool. I may as well assist his way with what little time remains us.MONRIS
(Singing) Larazod, for hate! You've insulted a magistrate! Now we may all burn in a dump, but I'll aid thee 'till I my foul heart no more can pump! Be strong, lad, take good care! Of this devil, you must beware!Monris returns to playing the bagpipes.
HAANDERTHAN
Heavy words for a forked tongue to manage, boy. You juggle them well enough, but like a poor fool, offer jest and jape. I assume this glib outrage, obviously a threadbare attempt to throw off the keening blade of justice, is backed by the testimony of a thousand law-loving fiends? Perhaps the ancient augurer at your side, ever your father’s faithful lap-lizard, probed the ancient secrets of the cosmos and uncovered my blasphemous treachery? Or have you a soulbonded scroll of bone-white parchment upon which my scrawled hand appears next to some Abyssal conspirator? You amuse me, half-breed, and it is the only reason your sniveling soul is not yet blasted away in hellfire and borne on a river of sorrow to some ignominious corner of the Nine. Whereof comes this lunacy? What disease vexes your broken mind? From what mystery of psychosis do you draw your lies?TYBAIN
You mewl lies like a sullied maid on her wedding night, O Great One. Even a lord may be smote in darkness as Asmodeus sees the truth of you—a base and lowly thing, snivelling in crimson robes. These devil-bowing citizens about us are affront enough to Aroden’s divine will, but ye, whose left hand clasps devil’s claws, and right reaches out for demonic boon—oh double-dealing fiend-lover, who allies with the Abyss. Infernal oaths and Abyssal blasphemy spew in one breath from your twisting lips.HAANDERTHAN
Does your Aroden arse-kissing pall-a-dine put you up to such resounding blasphemy? Have you no tongue of your own, half-breed, to answer my charge?CERTES
Fooish oaf of a magistrate! Dare you sully my master's name? I rebuke thee, foul one!LARAZOD
Truth is spoken freely in many tongues, false magistrate, and by agents of light and dark. You know what you are.HAANDERTHAN
You persist in this foolishness? It shall go hard for you and yours. Recant and your deaths shall be swift, your souls consigned to diligent service in Hell. Refuse, and enlist in agony’s service, consign your soul to wallow in the most ignominious corner of the Nine, and take eternal suffering as your bedmate.ILSANDRA
(Aside) He’s to have a much more interesting bedmate, if I’ve anything to say. The fire that one shows at tribunal, will no doubt burn even stronger between my sheets.DENTRIS
(Aside) That one grows hot betwixt her infernal thighs. Hope beyond hope. One voice of dissent on the council and the slenderest chance of salvation is ours to clutch. Let this waxen sliver of hope not melt until she does—let her find her tongue.HAANDERTHAN
Speak, boy. Do you still baffle with false charges, or have your battered wits returned? Speak.LARAZOD
I recant nothing. You, accuser, so stand accused. How do you answer?HAANDERTHAN
Innocent, of course. And so judgment is passed. My right as magistrate puts you to the flames on my command. My word is law.There is a minor commotion, Laratia runs on stage.
LARATIA
Larazod! There you are, sweet brother! I found you at last, though you hid me and spoke not to follow!LARAZOD
Laratia, why are you here? What of your guardian? You must away, now.LARATIA
No my sweet older brother! I came to be with you.HAANDERTHAN
Foolish sentimentality. Now for the judgment!TYBAIN
You dare defile such an innocent? A wicked magistrate indeed!CERTES
Speak strong, good sir Tybain!MIZKASD
Arg, my master's tongue will doom us, too!DANFEN
Hold your silence, filthy Pall-O-Dine! Cease your words lest your charges be punished for your own ignorance. (Aside) I like the boy and would see him unharmed. He has potential that I could use and mold for my own, should we escape this alive.DUNROC
Brother hold your peace, and please be calm one and all, mighty lords and ladies. The Pall-O-Dine and his squire seek only to protect an innocent (flawed and foolish as that view may be) and does not truly mean insult.CERTES
I do believe my master - !DUNROC
(Interrupting Certes) ... meant exactly as I said, young one. Still, there may yet be a solution for all of us here. (To Certes) Be quiet now, and let me speak, less we all be damned.CERTES
(Aside) Could mere words prevent a soul from damnation? This technique I must learn, to better save others!DUNROC
I do believe my brother, the esteemed Dentris, did once serve well the legalities and principalities of the land. Brother, what say you?DENTRIS
Respectfully, my lord, when I was a barrister of the tribunal, it was common practice to ask Consular Consent in any judgement of a matter involving the Magistrate personally in the case. Has the ancient code of Asmodeus’s court, scorched on the Tablets of Law by our Great Lord’s own fiery talon, so fallen as to warrant its complete disregard in this tribunal?HAANDERTHAN
Of course, you are correct, old man. I’ve no intention of affronting our Great Lord. Council, what say ye on this matter? Do you concur with my judgment? These heinous slanders cast upon my great name warrant utter annihilation. So sayeth I, Magistrate of this Gloried
Tribunal. Do you agree?Councillors mutter and call “Aye.”
ILSANDRA
Nay.LISANDRA
(Aside) Nay? Does my sister and twin hold a new secret crush that I have not yet beheld? Perhaps my aid shall then be forthcoming! After all, what is mine is hers, and what is hers... is mine as well. We do share all.HAANDERTHAN
My ears deceive me. Do you, august erinyes, daughter of Hell, speak against our cause?ILSANDRA
I speak against your judgment. Our cause is yet undetermined by my mark. According to our oldest codes, truth can be drawn from an offender, as pus from a wound. Asmodeus’s Trials show the true heart from the false. Why, simply put the half-breed to the flames. Let
us try him properly in accordance with the old ways.DENTRIS
Well done, lad. Your pretty infernal face is good for something, even if your tongue offends all who hear. We may live yet.LISANDRA
(Aside) Ah, I see now! That half-breed has taken her fancy with his fire and passion! I must say, I like how she thinks and speaks!HAANDERTHAN
Tut, the business of the tribunal heaps higher day by day. We’ve cases waiting in the wings by the thousands. Penitent souls singing out for justice. Shall we delay their flight to Asmodeus’s waiting embrace to engage in infantile contests? Nay, expediency is our charge when matters so lacking in evidence are brought before our bench.ILSANDRA
Come, come, sweet magistrate. The spectacle of a few trials would do my poor heart well. I wane at these tiresome sessions. Let the trials commence. ’Twould arouse me. ’Twould tickle me. ’Twould drive me to distraction.LISANDRA
Indeed great and mighty magistrate. I suddenly find the idea of a spectacle of trials necessary for my vigor as well! 'Twould make me delighted. (Aside) Perhaps two voices can sway where one would find stone.HAANDERTHAN
Trials you say? How now? If it is to be so, let us sweeten the pot. A price I would exact for trials as you insist. If this half-breed fails, not only is my name cleared of all preposterous charges, but you both shall compact to me for a full moon’s service, to do my bidding and satisfy all my unwholesome needs.ILSANDRA
Let it be so agreed. I hunger so for trials, I happily wager my body to your whim. We shall see if this half-breed’s words strike true or false.LISANDRA
Indeed, our hungers are as twinned as we. I agree to your price!HAANDERTHAN
So be it. Larazod, you stand in trial. By my discretion you shall face six of Asmodeus’s fell tests. You stand alone in the face of terrors over which no mortal has prevailed.TYBAIN
Not alone, my lord. I stand with him.HAANDERTHAN
You are under no obligation to do so, Arodenite. Back down and be discharged, to keep at your slobbering benedictions for a few more years at least.TYBAIN
I am true to Aroden, my lord, but I am also true in loyalty and kinship. This man, though half-fiend his blood may turn, is bound to me in brotherhood, as I stand bound to him. Our blades both matched the enemies of Cheliax, and what faith divides, common cause unites. You cannot sunder me from his destiny. I stand trial at his side, as is my right, if I so beclaim it. Is it not so, Dentris?CERTES
(Aside) What bravery! But would his soul be damned by such an act? Would mine? If he goes, I go with him, but at what cost?MIZKASD
(Aside) Ugh, what foolishness! He damns us, his poor squires, without consent!DENTRIS
’Tis true, my lord. If the half-brained, light-blinded knight wishes to perish alongside my good master, he is within his lawful right.HAANDERTHAN
Very well. Burn with him, fool. Your two apprentices as well! Dentris Maltrada, you are hereby discharged.DENTRIS
Nay sir, though I wish nothing more. This boy, as wayward as his fancies take him, is in my care. I never waivered from his father’s service, and I shall not turn my back on the son.HAANDERTHAN
Surely, you’ve no wish to die?DENTRIS
There are worse fates, magistrate, than even can be promised on the deepest level of your Hell. To walk alive in a world, my duty undone, my sworn oath broken, is to walk through fires more smolderous than any Asmodeus keeps below. Though he be a fool, and possessed of a diseased wit, Larazod is my master, and I shall stand by him. Do your worst magistrate. I’ve rolled bones with demons, and gazed in dragons’ hearts. Let us have these trials and be done with my life, if the lords of darkness so command.DANFEN
Brother, no! You simpering fool! By the bonds of family, you've damned me as well!DUNROC
Alas, your loyalty was ever your bane, Dentris, and our own as well. 'Tis pity - I would have loved to see more of the world.HAANDERTHAN
Doddering old sack of bones. No demon’s dice, nor dragon’s musings await you—only torment beyond the stars’ most infinite imaginings. When you mewl out for merciful death, I shall look on in pleasure, as your soul’s wake burns from a withered old corpse. Make ready, supplicants. The trials begin anon. May Asmodeus take pity on your blighted souls.HAANDERTHAN
Very well. Burn with him, fool. Your two apprentices as well! Monris Blacksward, you are hereby discharged.MONRIS
(Singing) Larazod, know this my great friend! I'll be with thee until my bitter end! Thou hast loved and been by my side! By my strength, from this I'll never hide!Monris somberly ceases playing the bagpipes to place a hand on Larazod's shoulders.
HAANDERTHAN
What foolish madness is this? The singing black-blooded dwarf, too? Enough. Who else would waive their discharge? You too, Farus the Traveled?FARUS
(Dancing) Aye, I, too, would love to see, a riddles such as trials by thee! A devil, mind, that doth seek, the truth, I say "hah" and must peek! I'll stay, I'll stay, I'll stay!HAANDERTHAN
Madness! Fools! Dare anyone else?One by one each of the others submits and says "aye".
LARATIA
Aye!HAANDERTHAN
What be this?LARATIA
I waive my right to be discharged! I'll stay with my brother!LARAZOD
Laratia, no! I'll not have it!LARATIA
That matters not! I'm with my brother!HAANDERTHAN
Very well. All have chosen!LARAZOD
'Tis not your battle to fight, little sister.LARATIA
Never fear, brother! I am with you! Besides, they Gypsy King - you know how I love him - and your friend with the delightful instrument are with us! And Tybain! Hello, good sir... (Aside) How brave he is! Someday he will sweep me off of my infernal feet! Perhaps now that I am an adult, as of this very day, he'll notice me!TYBAIN
Er... hello, little miss. (Aside) Her... affections are sweet, but disconcerting. I've known her since she was a child. She still is a child!CERTES
(Aside) Ah, the sweet Laratia! I do enjoy seeing her, though she only ever has eyes for my master. I wish I were more brave than he. Or perhaps I could learn from charming Dunroc the finer arts of persuasion? His words failed him this time, but 'twas loyalty that betrayed, not the words. Hm...HAANDERTHAN
Enough! All here have chosen their path. Make ready, supplicants. The trials begin anon. May Asmodeus take pity on your blighted souls.
So, let me know!
Hey, quick edit to dialogue:
When Laratia first appears, a minor tweak to the dialogue between her brother and herself...
LARATIA
Larazod! There you are, sweet brother! I found you at last, though you hid me and spoke not to follow!LARAZOD
Laratia, why are you here? What of your guardian? Why have you left your revels and the celebration of your birth and adulthood? You must away, now, sweet sister.LARATIA
No my sweet older brother! I came to be with you.
And later, when Laratia volunteers...
One by one each of the others submits and says "aye".
LARATIA
Aye! Me to!HAANDERTHAN
What be this nonsense?LARATIA
I waive my right to be discharged! I'll stay with my brother! I claim the right to endure as he does!LARAZOD
Laratia, no! I'll not have it! You are not even part of this trial!LARATIA
That matters not! I'm with my brother!HAANDERTHAN
Very well. Let this tribunal be witness, the infernal child has volunteered for the trials and waived her right to discharge. All have chosen to stand with this liar and fool!LARAZOD
'Tis not your battle to fight, little sister.LARATIA
Never fear, brother! I am with you! Besides, they Gypsy King - you know how I love him - and your friend with the delightful instrument are with us! And Tybain! Hello, good sir... (Aside) How brave he is! Someday he will sweep my off of my inernal feet! Perhaps now that I am an adult - as, in fact, of this very day, I've become an adult - and perhaps with my newfound bravery, he'll notice me!TYBAIN
Er... hello, little miss Rilsane. (Aside) Her... affections are sweet, but disconcerting. I've known her since she was a child. She still is a child! And besides, her blood runs with that of fiends!
EDIT: because I totally left off all of Tybain's dialogue at the end, there and attributed his new line to her, making no sense whatsoever. Whoops.
So I know this has generated approximately zero interest, but here we are anyway.
Ladies and Gentlesirs, I present to you my (poorly-edited) revision of the script to include a (much) larger cast.
I'll put each area in spoilers because otherwise it's huge. One of the things that can be done easily with this much larger script, if it's desired for a smaller group, is to simply removing lines of dialogue. Frankly, deleting all of a given character's lines will do most of the editing for you. In some cases (such as Laratia and Certes) extensive revisions and removal need to be done on another's lines.
While Laratia and Certes are linked, if Certes is unwanted, he can be replaced with Mizkasd, for example, or if neither squire is needed, Farus or even Dunroc himself can be installed (or Ilsandra's sister Lisandra could go for Larazod's sister Laratia).
You may find my names rather... lackluster. It's true. You've just got to deal with it or rename them yourself, I'm afraid, as I'm just not good enough to come up with great names. It's a weakness, and I apologize.
You will likely also find the new dialogue weak. Again, I apologize, but explain it thus: I'm not a professional. I'd appreciate critiquing (preferably polite critiquing), but I'm sorry if it's not edited well. I'm a full-time stay-at-home-father-of-a-toddler. "Time" is not something I really have, much as that may seem paradoxical (trust me, until I actually started this gig, I myself kind of presumed I'd have hours of free time myself). I try, I promise.
While I already posted the first act, I figure I'll re-post it with the edits (sparse as they are). Each post I make will be a new Act.
Ironically, I'm not using the version I display here, because the genders are changed in a few different places, though otherwise it's the same.
An alternate idea is to simply make the theater bigger.
^ NOTE:
Similarly, the mage was convinced to use fabricate and exceedingly advanced engineering to make a large balcony to hold 50 more people for a theater that seats 300.
First, the expanded dramatis personae:
Dramatis Personae
Being those to face damnation and torments most foul amid the Six-Fold Trial.Primary Roles (necessary for the play to function)
LARAZOD RILSANE: A tiefling at a time when being a tiefling isn't easy. To most Chelaxians, tieflings are considered a distasteful mixing of pure bloodlines and diabolic influences based not on thoughtful and potent compacts and bargains, but rather a crude relationship and mere carnal episode bearing rotten fruit. Larazod is a low-ranking scion of a lesser house and has no real influence. He achieved nominal acclaim as an officer in the Everwar but has never really been recognized as a hero. He is an odd choice for Asmodeus's messenger, but his faith in the Dark Lord is peerless and unquestioning. He is a simple and low-ranking member of society who is chosen nonetheless by Asmodeus to right a terrible wrong through faith alone.DENTRIS MALAGRADA: An old, cantankerous wizard and a retainer in Larazod's family for as long as anyone can remember. He has forgotten more about magic than most wizards ever knew. While his magic is rusty, his mind is otherwise sharp, and his rapier wit cuts down most foes before violence is even an option in their mind. As snarly and grumpy as he is, he loves Larazod like a son, and though he tries to talk the zealous youth out of his dire course of action several times, he still marches steadfastly into death and dismemberment with his tiefling master once his sound advice is ignored. He is the character who most often moves audiences to tears, and his death during the trials often leaves no dry eye in the house.
TYBAIN OBEISAN: A paladin of Aroden who is drawn to close kinship with Larazod not by common religion, but rather by the mutual power of their faith in their own respective gods. The religious discourse between these two characters in the original manuscript illuminates just how close faiths can be, even when diametrically opposed. Tybain serves mostly as comic relief in this play, though theorists claim his original purpose was far more dramatically interesting, and meant to serve as insightful religious and political commentary. However, most of this was cut in staged adaptations for obvious reasons, and only the comic bits involving this character remain. The actor cast as Tybain traditionally dies first in the Trials and usually to audience applause.
ILSANDRA: The diabolic daughter of House Sarini who falls in torrid lust/love with Larazod. Whether or not Ilsandra really loves the young soldier turned tyrant-toppler is a topic of much heated debate among noteworthy drama critics. Many insist she is just using the boy to take down her rival. Either way, no one can deny her canny, Machiavellian mind and demure use of both her charms and wiles to come out on top in the play's conclusion (whether Larazod survives or not).
DROVALID VORCLUNE: Para Inquisitor of the Tribunal, a deeply pious giant of a man whose flesh is one long taut veneer of scar tissue. He is a self-flagellant whose zealous love of his duties as head torturer is matched only by his zealous belief in Asmodeus's will. Assigned to administer soul-rending tortures to Larazod, the giant is converted by the tiefling's unyielding devotion to his beliefs and decides to assist the unlikely prophet through the remainder of his trials.
MONTIGNY HAANDERTHAN: The sadistic, traitorous, and demon-corrupted paraduke of Cheliax who engineers and oversees Larazod's trials. Arrogant and self-serving, he uses his lofty station in an attempt to deflect Larazod's accusations and put an end to both his accuser and his political rivals. His fate is decided, though, as soon as he defies Asmodeus's chosen servant.
BAILFF: The left hand and herald of magistrate Haanderthan. This nameless servant of the court introduces the feared paraduke and speaks no more, though his ominous presence lingers throughout the trial.
THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS: The archfiend and lord of Hell himself, whose hand shields Larazod throughout his trials and who ultimately exacts his own judgment upon both the accused and the accuser.
Secondary Roles (the more commonly accepted roles when expanded versions are cast)
FARUS THE TRAVELED: A self-styled gypsy king, Farus is a smiling tower of joy. He is a dancing clown who speaks in riddles. His role is comedic - generally it was felt that Tybain was enough for the play, and so his character is dropped in many versions of the trial.MONRIS BLAKSWARD: A fiendish dwarf with blood-red eyes and a shock of ginger hair, Monris appears in many early versions of the play as the strong arm to help Larazod. He sings in a deep voice and carries bagpipes, which he frequently blows tunes from. An addition to some productions of the play, most omit this character, as his bagpipes often annoy the audience.
Tertiary Roles (the least often-used roles in the rare events of a very large cast)
LARATIA RILSANE: A tiefling who looks exactly like a half-elf (and is thus treated better and kinder than her brother) and the younger sibling of Larazod. Because of her normal appearance, she is effectively sheltered from the hatred Larazod has received, and generally he works to protect her from the harsher side of life. Having a long-standing crush on Larazod's companion Tybain, Laratia always wanted to be noticed by him, though the older man nobly treats her like a child and no more, uncomfortable with her intentions. Pure of heart (except where Tybain is concerned) and relatively innocent, as well as recently coming into adulthood (her birthday being today), she legally claims the right to enter and undergo the trials. She acts as a naive character that the others nobly protect in their own way without compromising their charge, even as Haanderthan allows to undergo the trials with no remorse. She delights in Farus' whimsy and Monris' bagpipes, and completely fails to notice that Certes is madly in love with her. Although relatively innocent and in most ancient manuscripts she's found in she's legally an adult, there are a few interpretations of the character in which she's substantially less innocent... and definitively not an adult. The latter was also a great problem at the time of the play's original release, as it was suggested that unwholesome events (notably the Trial of Pleasure, as well as the budding romance between herself and others) performed against a young girl not yet of age was most vile. Despite the fact that many older (and seemingly original) manuscripts have one of Ilsandra's lackeys stand in for the girl and that she is of age in the oldest references to her, this one element of the character is a matter of outrage and debate even today.DANFEN AND DUNROC MALAGRADA: old, cantankerous men and brothers to Dentris (occasionally noted as 'triplets'). Danfen is just as cantankerous and insulting as Dentris, but without the clever wit, while Dunroc holds a notably 'silver tongue' and in some editions is even the reason Dentris speaks up to gain Ilsandra's support. The role of these characters is twofold: loyalty to their brother above all dragging them into the trials for which they have no part, and each taking one of the Paladin's squires under their respective wing. Their similarity in arcs and actions (despite their great difference in personality) have caused many to wonder if the original intent was only for one brother (and only one squire). Curiously, they do interact with each other often enough in the plays where they both exist, so it is unlikely they early plays intended them the same.
MIZKASD OBEISAN: One of Tybain's squires, ostensibly dedicated to Aroden, but who never shows anything but disdain for his master, much is made of Mizkasd's name being the same as Tybains, although no text ever delves into their relationship beyond master and squire. Much like other elements with the tertiary characters, it is possible Mizkasd had a deeper story-arc originally planned, that was later dropped. Also noteworthy to drama historians and literary analysts alike is the fact that his name "Mizkasd" is a homonym for "miscast" - a pun which by tradition often ensures that the character is, in fact, miscast for the role, adding another layer of humor and irony. Clearly taken under Danfen's wing, the unsubtle insulting nature of his relationship to his master seems likely to become less subtle as time goes on.
CERTES PERATOLIN: One of Tybain's squires, zealously dedicated to both Aroden and his master, and secretly (and deeply) in love with Laratia, Larazod's sister. One of the most offensive elements of the original work at the time was the "Fall of Certes", in which an honest, truly zealous young man becomes disillusioned with his master and ultimately corrupted by the "power and honor of hell". Defended by many critics as a deeply honest look at what impressive displays can do to impressionable young men, it was nonetheless deemed 'unwholesome' in its original incarnation.
LISANDRA: The other diabolic daughter of House Sarini, and twin to Ilsandra (often noted by historians for being little more than 'Ilsandra, if she wasn't as clever or self-motivated') who desires to do everything with her sister. Entirely devoted to Ilsandra, the fact that their names are nearly identical and that they said to be twins makes for extremely interesting debate amongst drama critics that she is played distinctively - and actively, with no provocation from Ilsandra - subservient to Ilsandra's whims. Lacking the canny, Machiavellian mind and self-motivated drive of Ilsandra, but using of her own charms and wiles to aid her sister is a point that is fascinating, and many wonder if there wasn't a deeper subplot that was never crafted dealing with her. In any event, the fact that she actively (and purposefully) changes herself to be more like her sister (even going so far as to declare "our desires are twinned as we" when, before she realized Ilsandra's interest, she didn't even seem to notice Larazod and seems to have simply voted "Aye" with the rest of the council) leads to many debates about the exact nature of the relationship between the two.
ILSANDRA'S (AND LISANDRA'S) SLAVE: The nameless slave to Ilsandra, often serving her in some way throughout the trials. In versions where Lisandra exists, she may have a similar slave of her own, seemingly imitating Ilsandra's, again, pointing to Lisandra being a subservient sister of the two.
HOMEN AND HEMON: The interchangeable lackeys of Ilsandra and Lisandra, generally if there is only one sister in the play, there is only one lackey, but if there are two sisters, there are sometimes two lackeys. Notably, they seem not to exist in versions of the play lacking Laratia, and seem only to be a combination plot-device and form of self-censorship (as a method of ensuring Laratia doesn't undergo trials she "shouldn't" according to Chelish thinking). If there are two, the first dies in the first trial and the second in the second trial. If there is only one he survives the first trial only to die in the second trial. Many have pointed out that killing them off in this way allows Ilsandra to bypass being part of the trials prior to the Belly of the Beast, though some question their presence in light of Ilsandra eventually joining the trial herself (and her own desire to experience the trial by pleasure).
So, there's the personae. Next time, act one revised (again).
EDIT: and yeah, there's something like twenty roles there, if you count all the roles. Twenty. That's... a lot.
So, here's Act One: Condemnation.
As far as italics go, I don't have the time to really go through each part.
A high-backed obsidian bench stands upcenter. As the curtain rises, HAANDERTHAN himself perches there, an awesome figure of power looming above the shackled forms of LARAZOD, TYBAIN, DENTRIS, MONRIS, FARUS, and the others. The other members of the COUNCIL including the sultry ILSANDRA, flank out stage right and left of HAANDERTHAN’S tribunal bench. The hulking bearded devil BAILIFF stands over them, spiked truncheon in his scabrous red, leather-like hands.BAILIFF
Order in the Tribunal. The Court of His Honor Paraduke Montigny Haanderthan, Black Tongue of Asmodeus, Magistrate Maleficarum, now holds session. All rise.HAANDERTHAN
Be seated, members of the Court. Today this court seeks truth, or at least shadows thereof, from one Larazod Rilsane, honored veteran of the Shadestar War, member of a once gloried house, of recent fallen in Asmodeus’s regard. The accused stands on several counts of failed conspiracy, evidenced thereof by the industrious interrogations of the court’s own Seeker, Drovalid Vorclune, administered with his usual diligence and severity. In these interviews Vorclune gathered from notable sources, only a few of whom survived their conversations with the lash, that Larazod of the Rilsane held audience with undesirables—the topic of their whispered covenant the activities of none other than myself. A most serious affair. Service to Asmodeus’s ever-darkening glory is never without risk of menace, betrayal, and threat of doom. My family and I have long suffered the bumbling attempts of assassins who would tear at our dark lord’s visage as casually as they befoul their mothers’ beds. What they lack in cunning they bolster with sheer desperation, evidenced by consorting with all manner of Aroden-suckling knaves, and aged wiz-worms who trust in mystic secrets over the Dark One’s love. You hereby stand accused, Larazod, along with your illseeming compatriots, of conspiracy to undertake grievous harm to the institution of this tribunal, namely myself, Paraduke Montigny Haanderthan. How answer thee these charges, Larazod of House Rilsane? Be thou maligned by a scandal-brewer’s wagging tongue, or dost thou cleave to my comings and goings as a bloat fly to a fresh cadaver? Speak! And know that lies are my closest friends. They’ll betray you before I. Speak the truth or do worse than die!DENTRIS
Hold your tongue, boy, and we’ll escape the firebrand yet. Your father was the model of a devil’s squire. Summon his wiles now, and keep shut that Abyss you call mouth, before we all tumble down into its darkness. Had you been born deaf and dumb, this loyal servant would yet live to see another midnight.MONRIS
(Singing) Listen well, Larazod, to a man who loves you so! For surly about such matters, he does know!Monris plays the bagpipes while the others speak.
DANFEN
Brother Dentris, do not stay here. We three siblings need only us, you need not bother with this reckless hideous half-spawn. Let us be away.DUNROC
Ah, Danfen, such a way with words. Would I but have thy own, perhaps I may charm a fellow easily too.DANFEN
Do cease your condescension, brother.TYBAIN
Hurl his arrogance and accusations back at him, Larazod. He wants precious golden-yoked truth? Give him more than he can choke down. For whether revealed by the brilliance of Aroden’s eye, or the long red shadows cast by your Dark Lord’s fiery gaze, a man false at heart and shrouded in hollow faiths is nothing more than a traitor to all. Let him that judges false be judged by wraiths—smote by his own brand shall he fall.CERTES
(Aside) Ah, what a great man is my master! I shall strive to be ever-more like him, and bold in the face of these threats!FARUS
(Dancing while speaking.) What's this, then fellows, whom doth we meet? 'Tis true, dear fellows, that I doth entreat! Be well, and I, with no care in the world, do agree with the Pall-O-Dine, to see truth unfurled! Though I must say, the ugly guy up there is scary today!MIZKASD
(Aside) Even the fool, recognizes the danger here that my master does not. Let us see who the 'great man' Larazod sides with. Be he fool like my master or clever like Dentris, I'd rather he confess and we all just leave.LARAZOD
Larazod knows no lies, great magistrate, and no slanderer’s tongue caresses my dignity. The accusations you speak are as true as Asmodeus’s sword. They cleave clean through. Let the witnesses suffer no more lash. To burn their innards with pokers and steal their eyes is simply to waste precious toil better spent in Asmodeus’s service. There is but one point misaligned in this dark constellation—I seek not your death, though the secrets you harbor in your feeble heart deserve a gruesome demise. I carry no assassin’s blade, nor breath-stealing spell to rob your mortality. To end you I need only know you, and to cast you in an honest shade. I pierce your “shadows of truth” and show you for what I know—a false knave, a demon-supping wag-tail, a balor’s bawd, a pus-leaking cataract in the eye of Asmodeus’s justice, and subject to the multi-handed ministrations of a marilith whore, dretchloving plunderer, and traitor to our great Dark Lord.There is much commotion among the council.
ILSANDRA
(Aside) And to think I almost spent this session in the orgybaths of Kalrath. None of their fleshy delights could compare to the ecstasy this half-breed’s words stroke within me! See his fierce aspect burn in fury, even below the tribunal’s culling justice. But how shall Haanderthan answer?DANFEN
Ho, brother, I warned you against such devotion! Now look at this mess. Honest fool, why do I even bother?DUNROC
Perhaps, brother Danfen, because our bonds of family be so strong. The great Dark One himself has seen fit to knit us together from the womb, and our bonds may not be sundered for any purpose. Though, like Dentris, I may have preferred the better part of Valor.CERTES
Have no fear, devil-sworn! My master the great Tybain will see us through this! Take heart and have valor!ILSANDRA
(Aside) And a second fire, like the first! From one so young, no less. Misplaced, but still, perhaps with guidance it can be properly channeled...MIZKASD
(To Certes) Ugh, thou takest these follies so, like our master? What is this 'master' you speak of? Tybain is great with a sword, but heart and valor do not save us from the wrack!FARUS
(Dancing while speaking.) Hurray, hoorah! Look at joy! A commotion, like moi? I'll yet teach the boy!MIZKASD
(Aside) True, the fool could teach our master a thing or two.DANFEN
(Aside) The child knows what to do, though shackled to a fool. I may as well assist his way with what little time remains us.MONRIS
(Singing) Larazod, for hate! You've insulted a magistrate! Now we may all burn in a dump, but I'll aid thee 'till I my foul heart no more can pump! Be strong, lad, take good care! Of this devil, you must beware!Monris returns to playing the bagpipes.
HAANDERTHAN
Heavy words for a forked tongue to manage, boy. You juggle them well enough, but like a poor fool, offer jest and jape. I assume this glib outrage, obviously a threadbare attempt to throw off the keening blade of justice, is backed by the testimony of a thousand law-loving fiends? Perhaps the ancient augurer at your side, ever your father’s faithful lap-lizard, probed the ancient secrets of the cosmos and uncovered my blasphemous treachery? Or have you a soulbonded scroll of bone-white parchment upon which my scrawled hand appears next to some Abyssal conspirator? You amuse me, half-breed, and it is the only reason your sniveling soul is not yet blasted away in hellfire and borne on a river of sorrow to some ignominious corner of the Nine. Whereof comes this lunacy? What disease vexes your broken mind? From what mystery of psychosis do you draw your lies?TYBAIN
You mewl lies like a sullied maid on her wedding night, O Great One. Even a lord may be smote in darkness as Asmodeus sees the truth of you—a base and lowly thing, snivelling in crimson robes. These devil-bowing citizens about us are affront enough to Aroden’s divine will, but ye, whose left hand clasps devil’s claws, and right reaches out for demonic boon—oh double-dealing fiend-lover, who allies with the Abyss. Infernal oaths and Abyssal blasphemy spew in one breath from your twisting lips.HAANDERTHAN
Does your Aroden arse-kissing pall-a-dine put you up to such resounding blasphemy? Have you no tongue of your own, half-breed, to answer my charge?CERTES
Foolish oaf of a magistrate! Dare you sully my master's name? I rebuke thee, foul one!LARAZOD
Truth is spoken freely in many tongues, false magistrate, and by agents of light and dark. You know what you are.HAANDERTHAN
You persist in this foolishness? It shall go hard for you and yours. Recant and your deaths shall be swift, your souls consigned to diligent service in Hell. Refuse, and enlist in agony’s service, consign your soul to wallow in the most ignominious corner of the Nine, and take eternal suffering as your bedmate.ILSANDRA
(Aside) He’s to have a much more interesting bedmate, if I’ve anything to say. The fire that one shows at tribunal, will no doubt burn even stronger between my sheets.DENTRIS
(Aside) That one grows hot betwixt her infernal thighs. Hope beyond hope. One voice of dissent on the council and the slenderest chance of salvation is ours to clutch. Let this waxen sliver of hope not melt until she does—let her find her tongue.HAANDERTHAN
Speak, boy. Do you still baffle with false charges, or have your battered wits returned? Speak.LARAZOD
I recant nothing. You, accuser, so stand accused. How do you answer?HAANDERTHAN
Innocent, of course. And so judgment is passed. My right as magistrate puts you to the flames on my command. My word is law.There is a minor commotion, Laratia runs on stage.
LARATIA
Larazod! There you are, sweet brother! I found you at last, though you hid me and spoke not to follow!LARAZOD
Laratia, why are you here? What of your guardian? Why have you left your revels and the celebration of your birth and adulthood? You must away, now, sweet sister.LARATIA
No my sweet older brother! I came to be with you.HAANDERTHAN
Foolish sentimentality. Now for the judgment!TYBAIN
You dare defile such an innocent? A wicked magistrate indeed!CERTES
Speak strong, good sir Tybain!MIZKASD
Arg, my master's tongue will doom us, too!DANFEN
Hold your silence, filthy Pall-O-Dine! Cease your words lest your charges be punished for your own ignorance. (Aside) I like the boy and would see him unharmed. He has potential that I could use and mold for my own, should we escape this alive.DUNROC
Brother hold your peace, and please be calm one and all, mighty lords and ladies. The Pall-O-Dine and his squire seek only to protect an innocent (flawed and foolish as that view may be) and does not truly mean insult.CERTES
I do believe my master - !DUNROC
(Interrupting Certes) ... meant exactly as I said, young one. Still, there may yet be a solution for all of us here. (To Certes) Be quiet now, and let me speak, lest we all be damned.CERTES
(Aside) Could mere words prevent a soul from damnation? This technique I must learn, to better save others!DUNROC
I do believe my brother, the esteemed Dentris, did once serve well the legalities and principalities of the land. Brother, what say you?DENTRIS
Respectfully, my lord, when I was a barrister of the tribunal, it was common practice to ask Consular Consent in any judgement of a matter involving the Magistrate personally in the case. Has the ancient code of Asmodeus’s court, scorched on the Tablets of Law by our Great Lord’s own fiery talon, so fallen as to warrant its complete disregard in this tribunal?HAANDERTHAN
Of course, you are correct, old man. I’ve no intention of affronting our Great Lord. Council, what say ye on this matter? Do you concur with my judgment? These heinous slanders cast upon my great name warrant utter annihilation. So sayeth I, Magistrate of this Gloried
Tribunal. Do you agree?Councilors mutter and call “Aye.”
ILSANDRA
Nay.LISANDRA
(Aside) Nay? Does my sister and twin hold a new secret crush that I have not yet beheld? Perhaps my aid shall then be forthcoming! After all, what is mine is hers, and what is hers... is mine as well. We do share all.HAANDERTHAN
My ears deceive me. Do you, august erinyes, daughter of Hell, speak against our cause?ILSANDRA
I speak against your judgment. Our cause is yet undetermined by my mark. According to our oldest codes, truth can be drawn from an offender, as pus from a wound. Asmodeus’s Trials show the true heart from the false. Why simply put the half-breed to the flames? Let
us try him properly in accordance with the old ways.DENTRIS
Well done, lad. Your pretty infernal face is good for something, even if your tongue offends all who hear. We may live yet.LISANDRA
(Aside) Ah, I see now! That half-breed has taken her fancy with his fire and passion! I must say, I like how she thinks and speaks!HAANDERTHAN
Tut, the business of the tribunal heaps higher day by day. We’ve cases waiting in the wings by the thousands. Penitent souls singing out for justice. Shall we delay their flight to Asmodeus’s waiting embrace to engage in infantile contests? Nay, expediency is our charge when matters so lacking in evidence are brought before our bench.ILSANDRA
Come, come, sweet magistrate. The spectacle of a few trials would do my poor heart well. I wane at these tiresome sessions. Let the trials commence. ’Twould arouse me. ’Twould tickle me. ’Twould drive me to distraction.LISANDRA
Indeed great and mighty magistrate. I suddenly find the idea of a spectacle of trials necessary for my own vigor! 'Twould make me as delighted as my sister. (Aside) Perhaps two voices can sway where one would find stone.HAANDERTHAN
Trials you say? How now? If it is to be so, let us sweeten the pot. A price I would exact for trials as you insist. If this half-breed fails, not only is my name cleared of all preposterous charges, but you both shall compact to me for a full moon’s service, to do my bidding and satisfy all my unwholesome needs.ILSANDRA
Let it be so agreed. I hunger so for trials, I happily wager my body to your whim. We shall see if this half-breed’s words strike true or false.LISANDRA
Indeed, our hungers are as twinned as we. I agree to your price!HAANDERTHAN
So be it. Larazod, you stand in trial. By my discretion you shall face six of Asmodeus’s fell tests. You stand alone in the face of terrors over which no mortal has prevailed.TYBAIN
Not alone, my lord. I stand with him.HAANDERTHAN
You are under no obligation to do so, Arodenite. Back down and be discharged, to keep at your slobbering benedictions for a few more years at least.TYBAIN
I am true to Aroden, my lord, but I am also true in loyalty and kinship. This man, though half-fiend his blood may turn, is bound to me in brotherhood, as I stand bound to him. Our blades both matched the enemies of Cheliax, and what faith divides, common cause unites. You cannot sunder me from his destiny. I stand trial at his side, as is my right, if I so beclaim it. Is it not so, Dentris?CERTES
(Aside) What bravery! But would his soul be damned by such an act? Would mine? If he goes, I go with him, but at what cost?MIZKASD
(Aside) Ugh, what foolishness! He damns us, his poor squires, without our consent! Oh how I wish he as wise as the fool gypsy!DENTRIS
’Tis true, my lord. If the half-brained, light-blinded knight wishes to perish alongside my good master, he is within his lawful right.HAANDERTHAN
Very well. Burn with him, fool. Your two squires as well! Enjoy their condemnation on your own head. Dentris Maltrada, you are hereby discharged.DENTRIS
Nay sir, though I wish nothing more. This boy, as wayward as his fancies take him, is in my care. I never waivered from his father’s service, and I shall not turn my back on the son.HAANDERTHAN
Surely, you’ve no wish to die?DENTRIS
There are worse fates, magistrate, than even can be promised on the deepest level of your Hell. To walk alive in a world, my duty undone, my sworn oath broken, is to walk through fires more smolderous than any Asmodeus keeps below. Though he be a fool, and possessed of a diseased wit, Larazod is my master, and I shall stand by him. Do your worst magistrate. I’ve rolled bones with demons, and gazed in dragons’ hearts. Let us have these trials and be done with my life, if the lords of darkness so command.DANFEN
Brother, no! You simpering fool! By the bonds of family, you've damned me as well!DUNROC
Alas, your loyalty was ever your bane, Dentris, and our own as well. 'Tis pity - I would have loved to see more of the world.HAANDERTHAN
Doddering old sacks of bones. No demon’s dice, nor dragon’s musings await you—only torment beyond the stars’ most infinite imaginings. When you three mewl out for merciful death, I shall look on in pleasure, as your soul’s wake burns from withered old corpses. Monris Blacksward, you are hereby discharged.MONRIS
(Singing) Larazod, know this my great friend! I'll be with thee until my bitter end! Thou hast loved and been by my side! By my strength, from this I'll never hide!Monris somberly ceases playing the bagpipes to place a hand on Larazod's shoulders.
HAANDERTHAN
What foolish madness is this? The singing black-blooded dwarf, too? Enough. Who else would waive their discharge? You too, Farus the Traveled?FARUS
(Dancing) Aye, I, too, would love to see, a riddles such as trials by thee! A devil, mind, that doth seek, the truth, I say "hah" and must peek! I'll stay, I'll stay, I'll stay!HAANDERTHAN
Madness! Fools! Dare anyone else?One by one each of the others submits and says "aye".
LARATIA
Aye! Me to!HAANDERTHAN
What be this nonsense?LARATIA
I waive my right to be discharged! I'll stay with my brother! I claim the right to endure as he does!LARAZOD
Laratia, no! I'll not have it!LARATIA
That matters not! I'm with my brother!HAANDERTHAN
Very well. Let this tribunal be witness, the infernal child has volunteered for the trials and waived her right to discharge. All have chosen to stand with this liar and fool!LARAZOD
'Tis not your battle to fight, little sister.LARATIA
Never fear, brother! I am with you! Besides, the Gypsy King - you know how I love him - and your friend with the delightful instrument are with us! And Tybain! Hello, good sir... (Aside) How brave he is! Someday he will sweep my off of my infernal feet! Perhaps now that I am an adult - as of this very day, in fact - and perhaps with my newfound bravery, he'll notice me!TYBAIN
Er... hello, little miss Rilsane. (Aside) Her... affections are sweet, but disconcerting. I've known her since she was a child. She still is a child! And besides, her blood runs with that of fiends!CERTES
(Aside) Ah, the sweet Laratia! I do enjoy seeing her, though she only ever has eyes for my master. I wish I were more brave, as he. Or perhaps I could learn from charming Dunroc the finer arts of persuasion? His words failed him this time, but 'twas his loyalty that betrayed him, not the words. Hm...HAANDERTHAN
Enough! All here have chosen their path. Make ready, supplicants. The trials begin anon. May Asmodeus take pity on your blighted souls.
So, there you are! Enjoy.
So, here's Act Two: Trial By Torture
Act 2: Trial by Torture
Enter DROVALID and other torturers.
HAANDERTHAN
Good Keeper of Pain, Tormentor of Liars and Demonsuckling Miscreants, we are honored by your presence. Show these supplicants the favor of your stinging lash, and with rack and fire, purge lies from their lips. Break their souls, and let the mad and guilty appall our ears no more with ranting.DROVALID
Magistrate Maleficarum, I come before you a simple hand whose lash is guided by the greater glory of Asmodeus; may my scourge and that of my fellows do him and this devoted tribunal proud. With your permission I shall begin our first trial.ILSANDRA
(Aside) To whit, if Laratia be permitted to suffer the lash, 'twill Larazod ignore my warm thighs for spite?LISANDRA
(Aside) My twin doth muse to herself, I think. Perhaps I may resolve her qualm and aid her quest! (Aloud) Lord magistrate! While the child did submit herself, can one submit another in her place? After all, she be not the accused.HAANDERTHAN
What are you suggesting, Daughter of Hell?LISANDRA
Only that my slave take her place in the torment of the lash.DUNROC
I do believe my brother may have insight into this...DENTRIS
One can be claimed for a substitute to one who has volunteered... supposing the one being replaced was not part of the original trial or sought for any crimes. Certainly, Laratia, foolish, ignorant Laratia, was not part of these trials until her own volunteering.LARATIA
I need no substitute! I am brave enough to face and keep the truth! Like Sir Tybain!HAANDERTHAN
(Aside) Ah, but if his precious young sister be in harm's way, perhaps he will recant, but he may be more stubborn if someone else suffers... though I cannot break the law before these fellow magistrates...LISANDRA
Indeed, excellent magistrate, I volunteer my own aid, Homen in Laratia's stead.HAANDERTHAN
Ah, but he must volunteer himself for her stead, as she is not accused.LISANDRA
Of course, great magistrate. Homen! Do you volunteer?HOMEN
(Bored, and not paying attention, previously, snapping out of a daydream) Er, yes? Yes, my mistress?LISANDRA
There you are, most excellent magistrate! A volunteer to exchange with a volunteer for this trial.HAANDERTHAN
Very well. It is done. Begin at your leisure, Tormentor. End this fool’s mockery of our court with cleansing agony.Enter the Device and other implements of torture. Laratia is removed to the witness area, while Homen is moved confused to the pit below. Drovalid begins administering agonizing pain upon a stoic Larazod.
DENTRIS
Fools, my good master may be a fool of a tiefling, but if you think to wrack his spine, and wheedle mewled recantation from his black lips, you are even greater fools than he. Larazod is no coward, and he sneers in the face of pain with true faith in Asmodeus—he cannot waver. He faced Abyssal Tyrants and hordes of their slime-ridden minions in battle. His coal-black soul did not quake then. He stands
resolute now. You cannot break his spirit.MONRIS
(Singing) Stay strong, my good friend! I'll be by your side 'till our bitter end!DROVALID
Recant half-breed. Admit your twisted falsehoods, serpenttongued traitor!LARAZOD
Even an ocean of agony cannot turn truth to lie.HOMEN
Why am I here? What have I done? I sought but to serve!Homen dies and is dragged off stage.
LISANDRA
(Aside) And serve you have, lackey of mine. You have served to advance my sister's goals!LARATIA
Oh, Brother! Be strong!CERTES
Oh! But Larazod doeth stand as strong as my master Tybain!MIZKASD
Stronger, you mean! Our master whimpers more when he stubs his toe!DANFEN
(Aside) Hah! I do like the lad whose spite reflects my own.More bone-crunching, skin-flensing torment.
DROVALID
Recant and end this trial! Swift death shall embrace you and Asmodeus smiles upon those who admit their falsehoods—he may not rend your soul completely, may leave some semblance of your spirit intact.LARAZOD
I recant… nothing! Grind on, honeyed torment. Sing sweetly as I may, no cries of “recant” shall you hear. I hate lies, as I hate demon-loving traitors.More torture.
LARAZOD
Had enough, Magistrate? Can you withstand it any longer? Please give in and recant, for the only torment I cannot bear is your continued duplicity. Recant, Magistrate! Recant your own lies, and Asmodeus may have mercy on your slimy soul.TYBAIN
Ha! Even in the face of soul-crushing pain, he taunts this ridiculous Magistrate of Hell. Hear me, Aroden, if Asmodeus has such as Larazod in his employ, all our efforts are doomed. Would your white fist command such steadfast loyalty as this one here, who laughs at death and grins at the grimmest pain.ILSANDRA
(Aside) Such a sweet voice. I long to hear his screams more—ah, but to elicit them myself, with a soulburning kiss, and an aching embrace. This torture is most stimulating, though I do hope the Tormentor doesn’t mar the tiefling’s choicest parts. Leave off those!
They belong to me alone!LISANDRA
(Aside) Look how pleased my sister is! In truth, I begin to warm to this tiefling as well.DROVALID
(Exhausted) Recant!LARAZOD
Never! Lash every inch of flesh from me, leave only a bloody ruin where I stand—that skinned wreck of a man will gurgle only truth and never recant.Drovalid ends torment and casts down his whip.
DROVALID
He is as unbreakable as a marble tide—dragon’s scale would have shattered long ago—and yet he stands unbowed. No lie can evade this unholy lash of mine, gifted to me by Asmodeus himself. Larazod must speak the truth!HAANDERTHAN
Fool! Continue the trial, you’ve yet to probe deep enough into his soul’s painful lies!FARUS
(Dancing) What ho, be this? Our Judge's once-bliss, has now turned to sour pills! That you've failed doth give me chills! Sirrah, you entice my soul to hate, you've failed; now eat the crow on thy plate!DROVALID
My work is done. My findings true. You have never doubted my hand before. Why do you so now? Could it be this tiefling speaks true? Are you allied against our august master of darkness?HAANDERTHAN
Mind your place, Tormentor! You speak blasphemy in the face of this land’s own Magistrate Maleficarum. Beware, your words endanger your very soul. Take you this halfbreed’s part? Then you would join him on his trials? Don’t be a fool.DROVALID
If Asmodeus wishes it so then my soul stands with his. If my hand has failed you, then I shall burn for it. I shall face the remaining five trials at Larazod’s side.HAANDERTHAN
So be it, traitor. Your rending death, and his, shall be my vindication. Bring on the second trial!
A'ight! Act two down! Five more to go!
Act Three: Trial By Pleasure
Act 3: Trial by Pleasure
Enter the bailiff bearing four vials and four curved flensing knives. He hands one of each to Dentris, Tybain, Larazod, and Drovalid.
HAANDERTHAN
It is said that a liar’s pain is easy to bear, but pleasure steals truth from even the most well-tended fortress. So let it be with ye, Larazod. Here before you now are the Flukes of Asmodeus. Their bite more pleasurable than the caresses of a thousand succubi (which you no doubt have enjoyed, you treacherous Abyssal-loving fool). Taste of their deep burrowing bliss. Their rapturous journey through your body shall explore the deepest, darkest pleasures any mortal has ever known. Their soul-shuddering wanderings end in your skull, where they plant their young who consume you in an orgiastic frenzy—leaving you an empty husk of a thing—a spent lover, drooling in
blissful oblivion forever. Unless, of course, you can resist these god-bending pleasures. This time, the trial is not yours alone to bear. Let us see if your trusted companions’ faith remains as unshakeable as yours. Who shall be the first to die in spasms of ecstasy?ILSANDRA
Oh, how I long to face this judgment!LISANDRA
Oh, and I as well!LARATIA
Now, surely my courage will be shown! Now surely I will endure with my brother!LISANDRA
Oh, my august twin, note that the child lacks protection now...ILSANDRA
Indeed. Gracious Magistrate, perhaps you would do me the honor of allowing my own assistant to replace the child Laratia? Another volunteer for the stead of a volunteer?HAANDERTHAN
(Aside) Again, I do not wish to allow this. Surely Larazod will submit with her torment... except for these daughters and their 'substitutes'.ILSANDRA
Good Hemon, do you volunteer for service in replacement of the child Laratia?LARATIA
I do wish people would stop calling me a "child", as I'm clearly the age of majority! As of today, in fact!HEMON
Ah, my mistress? I am sorry, I did not hear and was not paying attention. I am yours to command! Simply speak, and I grant whatever you ask, do whatever you request, even if it mean torment! What is it you desired?ILSANDRA
That you take on the second torment in Laratia's stead.HEMON
Oh. I... see. I think my words were poorly chosen, however I can't recant now.HAANDERTHAN
(Angrily) Very well. The child once again has a replacement.LARATIA
I am not a child!FARUS
(Dancing) Ooh this be one that I do wish! A dream, it is, and we're delish! Surely bliss will set us free! Hurray for you and you and me!DROVALID
Master Larazod, most unholy saint of our dark Asmodeus, please allow me to prove my devotion to your cause. To think my biting lash flayed your chaste red skin, and cracked such a noble hide as yours. I shall be first to face this trial, if you so wish it.LARAZOD
Your courage is beyond question. Show this lickspittle Magistrate the meaning of devotion, my friend.Drovalid administers the fluke, convulses in sheer orgasmic ecstasy, but as it crawls up his arm he suddenly plunges a flensing blade beneath the skin, skewering the fluke and removing it.
DROVALID
Asmodeus bear witness to my devotion. This half-breed speaks only truth!Likewise, Larazod applies the fluke to his flesh, where it hungrily burrows beneath the surface. Larazod shudders in pleasure.
ILSANDRA
Oh, to be that fluke! To burrow into such sweet flesh!LARAZOD
I sing only of the joy of supplication to our dark lord. This pleasure is only a gift of Asmodeus’s truth. I would gladly die at this fluke’s bite, but alas, my duty here is yet undone, and so I scorn this pleasure with a bleeding blade. I shall not relent until your lies are revealed, foul Magistrate.Larazod cuts out his fluke.
MONRIS
(Singing) My friend I shall be with thee! Be strong, and do not turn! If this my final hour be! I'll gladly with you burn!Monris applies his fluke.
MONRIS
(Singing) Glory and beauty! Delight so fair! Such pleasure calls a horrid price! Never to be my share!Monris cuts out his fluke.
Dentris applies his fluke.
DENTRIS
Oh! It has been so long! Sweet, aching ecstasy!Improvises a rendition of the Tallis and his Three Wives, and then cuts away the fluke when it is nigh in his neck.
DENTRIS
(Sourly) Between you, my hideous half-breed young master, and a dream of three succubi’s frolics on my flesh—a hard choice, Larazod, but somehow your sweet countenance won out.DUNROC
Oh, brother, I do love thee and thy bitterness and secret poetry, surely. I'll take mine now, as well, good sirs!Dunroc applies his fluke.
DUNROC
This is truly the ecstacy of the gods itself! How lovely! How beautiful! Oh, glorious hells, all that my tongue has worked for has been to bring me to this!Dunroc cuts out his fluke.
DUNROC
Oof! I must say, that does have a bit of a kick to it.DANFEN
Bah, you both be fools. I'll take the fluke as well, being your brother.Danfen applies his fluke.
DANFEN
Bah! Such pleasure is vile! Reminds me of the demon pits we three survived long ago!Danfen cuts out his fluke.
DUNROC
Truly, brother, you felt no desire even in that? Ah, what an excellent fellow you must be! So stern and strong of heart!DANFEN
Shut up.FARUS
(Dancing) At long, last, 'tis my time! Allow me to begin my rhyme! It's my pleasure tonight! Come, strange fluke, and show me delight!Farus applies his fluke.
FARUS
(Dancing) Oh, yes! Oh, yes! Oh, mighty glory, yes! I've never felt so good! Perhaps I may stay here with my current mood!Farus cuts out his fluke.
FARUS
(Dancing) Oh joy, oh yay, oh my delight! All I hoped it was, it did just right!TYBAIN
My turn, I suppose.Tybain applies his fluke and begins giggling uncontrollably.
TYBAIN
Ooooh! Aaaaah! I know not this feeling!DENTRIS
Ha! Watch the virginal knight squirm!TYBAIN
It is as if a thousand feathers assault my flesh—especially my most… tender… parts. What strange pleasure is this!LARAZOD
Ah, Aroden’s servants, so like sweet children they be. Hold true, my dear friend!Tybain suddenly tears loose his fluke.
TYBAIN
I am well, though I may never be the same.MIZKASD
Ugh, the fool knew more to expect than my master! Fine... give me mine.Mizkasd applies his fluke.
MIZCASD
Oh! Oh, my! How great this is! But my own will is mightier than some fool, much less my master.Mizcasd cuts out his fluke.
DANFEN
Well done, for a dumb lad! Remember to keep your spite close - 'twill save you when naught else will.CERTES
(Aside) My master seemed unprepared for this. How can I be?TYBAIN
Be courageous, Certes! Prove yourself my squire.DUNROC
I know 'tis daunting, but your bravery is sure. You survived one trial, you'll survive this. Remember, though, not to get lost. Courage, yes, but also cleverness.Certes applies his fluke.
CERTES
Ah! Ah! 'Tis like my dreams of Laratia! Oh! But I must remove this to see them fulfilled!Certes cuts out his fluke.
LARATIA
(Aside) Did he just say that he had dreams of me? I never knew! He was always so quiet!CERTES
(Aside) Ah, the fool I am! Now I shall never be able to face her!DUNROC
Hah! Fear not, my young friend. Perhaps your continued courage and confession - unintentional as it may be - is enough. Keep a clever tongue about you - in more ways than one - and perhaps you've a chance, yet.CERTES
Could this be true?DUNROC
Indeed, lad! Trust me, I know from experience!HEMON
Well, I suppose I must take my own, now.Hemon applies his fluke.
HEMON
Oh! Oh, my life is at its end! But I find I care not!Hemon cuts out his fluke.
HEMON
It! Was! Worth it!Hemon dies and is pulled off-stage.
HAANDERTHAN
Curse your persistence. All lies eventually reveal their ugly fangs. I shall draw them as venom from a wound.
Act Four: Trial in the Belly of the Beast
Act 4: Trial in the Belly of the Beast
DENTRIS
Such horrors. What next?LARAZOD
Hold true, old man.DENTRIS
Easy for you to say! Youth laughs at death as a stranger. As you grow older you come to know it well—and fear it.CERTES
(Aside) But I am young... and fear death greatly! Oh to be brave like my master and know no fear!DUNROC
(To Certes) I know your fear, young Certes. But do not worry. All experience fear - every mother's child. 'Tis a normal, noble emotion. Instead of brave - foolish, reckless bravery - be courageous. 'Tis courage will carry you. Courage will keep you. Courage is when you fear, but do nonetheless. In a way, courage is like the cleverest of lies. By admitting your fear, but acting despite it, you deceive yourself into being a better man.CERTES
(To Dunroc ) Courage? Is this the "courage" my master speaks of? 'Tis naught but a lie and faking bravery?DUNROC
I would not claim that none are brave - certainly some are so foolish as to have no fear. But courage, though near to a clever lie, 'tis still a noble thing and 'tis not truly a falsehood - the cleverest lies are those that are true. A tongue slick enough to deceive yourself and ensure your own unwavering even lacking bravery, to fulfill your duty? 'Tis worth having, I think.CERTES
Indeed, sir! Indeed! I pray you teach my heart this trick! Though I fear greatly, I'll go forward!DUNROC
Hah! Good lad, and have at it!TYBAIN
You fear, my squire? Do not quail! Trust in Aroden!LARATIA
(Aside) Look at Ceretes! Does he truly fear, yet continue? And does Tybain mistreat him so for it?DENTRIS
You see? The youth are unshakable! I am less so!DROVALID
I have seen young and old break before this court. They all share one thing: a weak and watery eye speaking to a frailty of spirit. Your eyes are like grit and sand, obstinate even in the face of the storm-fraught sea. You cannot break, old wizard.DENTRIS
Perhaps not, but tell me, Tormentor—what fresh horrors await?DROVALID
Here follows the Trial in the Belly of the Beast. A great terror, gifted to this court by a Duke of Hell, the Beast is a hideous thing, whose stomach is a nest of acid-spewing serpents. It shall swallow us whole, and wash us clean in its acid well.FARUS
(Dancing) I must say indeed, I like this naught, 'though I'd be willing to endure Hell's hot!DENTRIS
Where is the “trial” in this!?DROVALID
If we are innocent, and speak no lies, then the Beast’s Belly will leave us unscathed.TYBAIN
Madness!MIZKASD
At last my master speaks some semblance of sense!DANFEN
Hah! 'Tis a rare thing for that one - more rare than my fool brothers!LARAZOD
Hold fast, my dear friend. Have faith in Asmodeus.TYBAIN
But I do not!LARAZOD
Well then you better learn to swim.MONRIS
(Singing) And, lo, though I cannot swim, I'll never fear, as I'm beside him! I'll hold your arm and guide you through, as you've oft aided me to do!Monris plays the bagpipes while others speak.
LARAZOD
Strong Monris, and all my friends, I've long depended on your heart. Be courageous! Asmodeous will see us through this.HAANDERTHAN
The next trial demands a great sacrifice. Ye, who speaks for the half-breed, the lone traitor on the council who speaks against my august personage. You must brave this trial, and all that follow, alongside the accused. Both of you!
(Aside) And at last there are no more wardens for Larazod's sister. He shall break now.ILSANDRA
(Laughing) Gladly! I stand at this tiefling’s side, or at his back, or him at mine, or perhaps I should bolster him up from below or allow him to do the same to me. You shall see how devotedly I attend his pleasure, for he speaks the truth.LISANDRA
(Laughing similarly) Indeed! I would go anywhere my twin deigns to step, and we'll not be parted over some small thing as this!LARATIA
At last! I am to be free to endure with my brother!HAANDERTHAN
Then burn with him.Laratia, Lisandra, and Ilsandra, joins the companions, and each embraces one at a time Larazod, Ilsandra last and with a fiery kiss. He surrenders to her pleasures.
LARATIA
Brother! I have come to be with thee!LARAZOD
I wish you hadn't for I long for your safety, yet I hold to Asmodeus!LARATIA
Worry not! With you by my side, I'll be fine!LISANDRA
And you, the half-breed who stole my sister's heart.LARAZOD
I've done naught but follow Asmodeus' will.LISANDRA
We shall see - his will be that she do well, and she has bet on thee.LARAZOD
I am honored.ILSANDRA
Know the gifts of Asmodeus, dear child. You have earned great boons by your devoted service, and I shall pay them all with interest. But soft, what terror approaches? Our pleasures must wait.Enter the Beast.
LARAZOD
Come, horror, I shall tear my way from your gizzard with the white-hot blade of my truth.DROVALID
Die though I might, melted to a puddle of liquid flesh in the bowels of the Beast, I cannot think of any greater man to join in death. I am honoured to die at the side of a man so filled with truth.DENTRIS
Come and have a bite, Old Beastie. These old bones shall stick in your craw and choke the life from you.TYBAIN
My holy flesh shall burn all the way down. Aroden’s blessings upon my soul ensure a most unpleasant meal for this Beast.CERTES
I shall serve and guard the lady Laratia, and my honor will remain unstained, even in death! Come beast! My heart may be afraid, but know that I'll not quail before your ilk! I've a duty to perform, and you shan't end it.LARATIA
(Aside) What fine words he speaks! And I delight to be with my brother, too!DUNROC
Ah, the young man has the gist of it. I am pleased that perhaps in these dire times I may have made an ally.DANFEN
Ugh, I hate this.MIZKASD
You're telling me.MONRIS
(Singing) If Larazod goes below, so to shall I! I'll ensure with my last breath, my good friend shall not die!FARUS
(Dancing) I'll head down the throat of the beast - a place I have not been. And when in there I'll light my way, and that's another thing I'll have seen!The Beast devours them. They fight their way free from his gizzard.
Next is Part five!
EDIT: adding the title
Act Five: The Birthing Trial
Act 5: The Birthing Trial
HAANDERTHAN
You have crawled from the maw of the Beast. Let us see what blasphemous lies slither from your treacherous insides. Show them.The Bailiff brings out five crimson eggs.
DROVALID
Dear Asmodeus! Spare us!LARAZOD
What means these strange crimson eggs?DROVALID
Oh horror beyond nightmare! The eggs, they burrow deep within us. They hatch deep in our insides, churning our guts to paste and slurping them through gritted devil teeth. They feed on our souls. When these foul devils have eaten their fill, they tear their way free—terrible things! Hideous devil-children bearing our own faces, but filled with hate for all we are. We are mothers to twisted things and look upon our own visage as we die by their taloned hands.HAANDERTHAN
Shall you recant now, or will you give birth to abominations of your very flesh?ILSANDRA
Do your worst, fool of a mortal. I am a princess to hell, and no child born of my black soul shall bear malice against me.LISANDRA
Indeed! As we twins hold no malice toward our own parents, our own issue shall never assault us.Larazod lifts the Bailiff off the ground by the throat with one mighty hand.
LARAZOD
Ha! Give me your egg, you lickspittle. If Asmodeus wishes it, I shall choke the life of my own devilish child with glee. I gulp this egg down before this court and our dark lord’s very eyes.DENTRIS
Well, give me mine. Not much good it shall avail you. The real Dentris Maltrada was killed ages ago at my own devilish hands when I was born from his old soul. I am a child of this egg.TYBAIN
Truly?! I had no idea!CERTES
(Aside) Is my master so deceived with such as this?DENTRIS
If only everyone was as naïve as ye, paladin.MIZKASD
Why am I shackled with a master such as this?DANFEN
Ugh, I thought we already had a fool.FARUS
(Dancing) While you may refer to me, I'm substantially wiser than you see!DUNROC
He has you there, my dear brother.DANFEN
Stop speaking. Give us all our own.LARATIA
(Aside) I'd hoped to get to the fun part before the more difficult one...Certes places a hand on Laratia's shoulder.
CERTES
It will be okay. Though I be nervous as thee, we shall do this together, and face whate're comes of it, lovely Madame.Laratia looks at Certes in awe, being the first to treat her as anything other than a child.
TYBAIN
I like eggs! Red, white, or otherwise. Hand me mine! I’ll eat it raw!The companions eat their eggs and hideous devil children are born from them. They battle the devil children valiantly. Ilsandra and Lisandra, amazed that their daughters attacks her, lashes out with ferocity.
LISANDRA
This vileness makes no sense! I'll heap my hate upon thee forever. Neither of us shall ever forgive this travesty.ILSANDRA
No! My child! Forgive me! You’ll pay for this, Haanderthan—with your heart’s blood, and with every shred of your soul.
Act six out of seven coming up next!
Act Six: Trial by Combat and Love
Act 6: Trial by Combat and Love
HAANDERTHAN
(Aside) How can this be? Four trials broken, and still they prevail. Asmodeus smiles upon them. Does the Dark Lord truly know of my compact with the Abyss? It cannot be, or I am utterly undone. True or nay, I must try the last. I shall plunge their faith in pitch and acrid stew, and see if they hold to the cause.
(To the companions) You sickly whelps profess undying devotion to one another. Another smoldering lie flung from your dark holes. You but conspire to confound this court and our Dark Majesty. ’Tis ye who contract with demon-spawn and seek my undoing, in service to some slimy mistress or master of the putrid Abyss. Your vile benefactors have thus far warded off justice’s dark hand, but let us see if you hold steadfast before the promise of oblivion.MONRIS
(Singing) Fool and false magistrate, we rebuke thee! With Larazod my right arm shall always stay! We'll never quaver, as you'll see! Your game shall end you, come what may! No matter how we may feel sore! We'll be ready to take some more!DENTRIS
More? I cannot last. My old heart gives out. Go on without me, master. I served your father faithfully. Alas, I am found lacking in the face of his half-breed son. The challenges, ever dire, cleave my soul from me. May Asmodeus keep me.LARAZOD
No foolish talk, old wizard. Haven’t you claimed immortality a thousand times to any bent ear? Old Dentris Maltrada cannot die, ye said. I’ve eaten the heart of an ancient Red Wyrm, and warmed by his fire, my soul burns eternal. Get up, my dear friend, more father to me, than ever any father was. Your duties are not abated. Your task is yet undone. And you, good friend dwarf, I thank thee.TYBAIN
Let the old wizard die. He’s suffered long enough, and we’ve suffered his blustery speeches even more keenly. Kick off, old bag, and be done with ye.MIZKASD
(To Danforth) At last my master speaks sense!DANFORTH
(To Mizkasd) Hush, boy, you'll not speak ill of my brother - 'tis my job alone.Mizkasd looks shocked and is stunned into silence.
DENTRIS
Why you shiny beetle! You quivering pall-o-dine of a young whelp-turned-demigod! You plump kettle! I’ll bring the all-encompassing powers of a thousand worlds crashing down upon your head! The keening song of dead gods warble at my command. I’ll leave your mind a tatterdemalion of a sad rag. Die! Die, you say! Nay, not till I’ve seen the last oafish breath squeezed from your lungs by tongs of fire—you simpering Aro-din-din!FARUS
(Dancing) Hah, I do see, that you've revived yes-sir-ee! Once falling to pieces were we? But nay, you're now aroused and angry!TYBAIN
Looking more lively now, aren’t we?LARAZOD
Peace, old man. The pall-o-dine works a righteous healing upon your old bones—applying the only balm your withered heart desires—spitting ire and uncouth rage. Bile for balm, bile for balm—what a wolfish old man, a terror to kings and angels. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Dentris Maltrada. He knows no equal.CERTES
(Aside) Even my master has a clever tongue on occasion! Truly this 'falsehood' enables miracles!DUNROC
(To Certes) Ah, now you see how clever use of words - both calming and riling - can bond people together. I'll teach thee more of this art, should you desire.CERTES
(To Dunroc) Agreed, sir. I'll do as you say, and apprentice myself to you as I've done to my master, when my time is finished with he.
(Aloud) With fear or without it, I'll guard Laratia with my life, serve my master as my duty, and seek to uphold justice - it matters not in whose name!DUNROC
(To Certes) No need, fine lad. I'll follow thee and teach thee what thou needst for a skilled tongue. Though, from the looks of things, you don't need much aid.LARATIA
(To Certes) I thank thee, good lady. You saved my life.CERTES
(To Laratia) Most beauteous lady, I shall gladly guard thee again; 'twas my honor to but spend my life for the delight of such as thee.Looking lost in his eyes, Laratia takes his hands.
CERTES
(Aside) Even my master has a clever tongue on occasion! This 'falsehood' enables miracles! Truly there is power and majesty in hell, enough to be grasped by the clever.DENTRIS
Enough, pup! I am much abused. Lay not your hands on me, pall-o-dine! I’ll rise without your young god’s urgings. I’ve work left indeed.ILSANDRA
Strange old wizard, loyal and dear heart. He’ll join us in the marriage bed and one last night of bliss will be his for the taking!LARAZOD
A lovely sentiment, my princess of Hell, disturbing though it may be.DROVALID
Enough. It is time. I am not long of your company, but know that I would stand by you all through six hundred trials. Take hands with me, half-breed. My sins and yours are one. Our destinies intertwine, and I walk your path with you to the bitter burning end.LARAZOD
I’m honored.MONRIS
(Singing) I, too, am with you to the end, my lord and friend. I'll die before I leave and live, and it is for you my soul I'll spend.LARAZOD
Thank you, my friend. I've relied on your strength for all our friendship and battles and you've been an ally in this one. And Laratia, I'm sorry for harm to you, but your presence and love is grand.LARATIA
I am thrilled, my Brother! And I may well have found something else important here, too...HAANDERTHAN
How touching. These sentiments of yours are nothing but dreamy clouds, soon to be shred by Asmodeus’s blasting winds.LARAZOD
Face of hazy dream-like bliss, kiss like fire. I burn for you, princess. Cling to me, dig your talons into my chest and touch my heart with white-hot caress.ILSANDRA
I am yours for one thousand blissful years. Drink my sizzling blood from my wrist, or anywhere else you like—let us seal this sinful compact and consummate our love in the heat of battle.LISANDRA
And if your delight be so, sister of mine, perhaps the burning fun can spread open even wider!ILSANDRA
Indeed, sister-mine! Did I not say this would be more invigorating than our previous course?LISANDRA
Indeed, and I love thee for it, though at first I thought you daft. Now, however, I know better.ILSANDRA
As you should!TYBAIN
Dentris, you old cur, dog curled by your master’s feet. I can’t call you friend, but a truer servant I’ve never known. Loyalty is the mark of greatness. Know that my sword is yours even as your spells bend to Larazod’s cause. We stand as one, and we always shall. Certes, you are a good young man, and I'm proud of you more than words can say. Come and let us stand side-by-side. Mizkasd, I know you've long thought ill of me, but let us be as one on this: your master calls you to service and to live.Mizkasd looks uncomfortable and uncertain.
ILSANDRA
Great Tormentor, Drovalid Vorclune, let it be said a man who can bear the vicious ministrations he renders upon his foes is a great man indeed. Though I am pledged to this young half-breed, know your courage sends shudders through my loins.DROVALID
You do me sweet honor, great lady. I stand in awe of your passion, and these worthy nobles’ unshakable courage. Even this milksop of a pall-o-dine stands hard against the torments of Hell—harder than the fiercest witch.LISANDRA
And brothers Dentris, Danfen, and Dunroc, I am delighted by your brotherly love. 'Doth inspire me to renew my own filial bonds.DUNROC
Though few things truly stir my sentiment, and my tongue often is full of falsehood, the truth that we - strangers though some of us may be - have stood together, and have born each other in these great trials means much more to me than I thought possible, and has knit bonds of respect where none were before. Thank you all, regardless of what comes next. Know this, Haanderthan, that regardless of what has been, 'tis a truth I've learned in my worlds of lies: those who practice deceit against our dark master will fall in their own folly.DANFEN
Shut it, everyone. We've foes to face.DUNROC
Ever the way with words, brother.The companions fight off a legion of devils.
Mizkasd lies dying at the end of the battles, having been mortally wounded.
TYBAIN
Mizkasd! Why did you take that last blade for me? I had commanded you to live!MIZKASD
I... suppose... I... rebelled... one... last... time... my master.TYBAIN
Even in rebellion, you served well. I mistook you before.MIZKASD
No... you did not. I truly despised you. But now I see that even Danfen loves those he abuses. I... loved no one. But now, I think, I do. Do well by me, and remember this instead of as I was. Lie about me to yourself, I beg.TYBAIN
I shall remember you well.Mizkasd dies.
DANFEN
(Aside) Fool boy! I'd wanted you to live from what I taught, not perish. Good night, child. Perhaps I will join you soon.TYBAIN
(Furious) I shall see you pay, false 'magistrate'. No matter the cost, you shall suffer the torments of hell, and your falsehoods belayed before his own honest ones. I swear it.
Final Act is next!
Final act, Act Seven: Trial by His Own Dark Hand
While this is practically unchanged from the original, I add it for completion sake.
Act 7: Trial by His Own Dark Hand
HAANDERTHAN
The final trial is at hand. Your souls shall be quenched at long last.LARAZOD
This trial is yours, Magistrate Maleficarum. Asmodeus is the only true judge here. Bow before him.HAANDERTHAN
Insolent dog! Asmodeus shall scour your soul as sauce from a pan. Ash for bones, and waxen souls melted by the dark lord’s flame to puddle at his taloned feet.LARAZOD
We shall see who is judged!THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS enters in a burst of foul colored flames and shrieking, crimson skinned imps and offers Larazod a choice. His devils hang silk scarves around all the companions’ necks—one of red, one of crimson. Each is handed a contract written in blood, which bursts into flames when read.
PRINCE OF DARKNESS
Choose. A true heart shall beat strong for all eternity at my side, a false one burns to cinder in an instant.Larazod and his companions choose the crimson scarves and the red ones burn away. Haanderthan cries out in terror as the Prince of Darkness turns on him.
PRINCE OF DARKNESS
Treacherous magistrate who lords false justice over true souls. Your soul shall burn for all eternity—an everlasting torment awaits you.Prince of Darkness carries Haanderthan into the mouth of Hell. Exeunt.
Alright! That's the end.
Hope this helped some people. :)
Tacticslion, I am reading through your lines in bits and pieces. Thank you so much for the help!
Hey, I'm glad to! It was for our group as well, so I figured I might as well share. :)
I really hope you're able to use this stuff.
Some things to be aware of while editing for your groups according to its size.
Dunroc is tied to Dentris (though not much the other way around) and Certes (who is tied to him). Laratia is tied to Certes and vice versa.
Mizkasd is tied to Danforth and vice verse and tied to Farus (though not really vice verse).
Hemon and Homen are... expendable and interchangeable. Completely. Literally and figuratively (or, "literally figuratively", if you prefer). They can also be melded together extremely easily (the best way to do so would be to merge some of Act 3's surprised lines into Act 2, eliminate the surprise in Act 3, and just have him die there instead.
Monris and Farus are effectively 'lone players' (some Mizkasd and Laratia lines aside), so either are great for an "add only one" group.
Lisandra works really well as an "add only one" entity as well, though a few elements of her dialogue (notably anything dealing with Laratia, Hemon, and Homen) might need eliminating depending on the size and makeup of your group. Also, if your players recruit Aylin Gontasavos into the invasion of the Knot (as ours did), and you don't know where to put her, making her Lisandra is a wonderful thing, considering she looks nearly identical to Calseinica (her "twin" in the play, as I've written it).
Anyhoo, God bless you guys, and I look forward to hearing what you think and how it worked out in your games, if at all. :)
+1 on this, I have a group of 7 so this is perfect for me!
Huzzah! Glad I could help!