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A woman wearing a pink-and-purple robe, complete with a wide-brimed witch's hat, enters the liberty's edge meeting room.
"Greetings all!" she starts out. "I've only recently joined Malthus's faction of the pathfinders, but I haven't noticed much activity from a faction with such an honored goal. Is something going on? If not, may I suggest we start something? I'm currently putting together a stage show with liberation and anti-slavery undertones, maybe we can work together to make it a success in Absolom!"
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"Oh, my, that all sounds very lovely!" the woman responds. She takes off her wide brimmed hat and bows with a showey flourish. "My name is Charlotte, I go by Lustrous Charlotte when on stage." She rights her self and dons her hat once more. "I must admit I'm rather new, but I hope to up on stage shows that inspire children to pursue magic in any of its myriad and wondrous forms. And of course, no one can properly study magic if they are bound to another's will or enslaved."
She looks around for a moment. "Sadly, I just graduated from the academy, so my magic's not quite so inspiring yet. Nothing like your overland flight! You sure I'm not using up too much of your duration here?"
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A small gray fox with a pink bow yawns, pokes his head out from under a chair, and spits out a bit of bloody chainmail along with a diatribe.
"you want to free slaves. With a play? How does THAT work? Find slaver. Kill slaver. Show slaves the glory of earning their own freedom to kill more slavers in glorious battle, to live free if only for a moment. THAT"S what frees people. Not prancing about on stage in front of a painting.
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A small gray fox with a pink bow yawns, pokes his head out from under a chair, and spits out a bit of bloody chainmail along with a diatribe.
"you want to free slaves. With a play? How does THAT work? Find slaver. Kill slaver. Show slaves the glory of earning their own freedom to kill more slavers in glorious battle, to live free if only for a moment. THAT"S what frees people. Not prancing about on stage in front of a painting.
The human gets taken aback by the small fox for a moment before recovering her composure.
"Yes yes, Mr. Makkarios has the right of it. Sure, yes, you meet evil slavers, take them down, no question. But the thing is, not all slavers are, y'know, EVIL. I mean, take Chelliax. Parents grow up teaching their children that Halflings are property, are non-sentient, that they DESERVE to be slaves. They are indoctrinated. So what if I could undo some of that damage by showing them that there's another way?
"Listen Mr. Fox. I want to take out evil mean vindictive gnoll slavers as much as anyone. But if you had the option to teach kids that slavery is wrong and that they shouldn't do it, wouldn't you? I mean, that's what I'm looking to do. I have no delusions that I'm going to change the mind of evil slave-traders, but getting children to cast aside slavery? Isn't that an option worth exploring?"
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"Ahhh, education!" The stunning auburn-haired woman pulls back her hood as she strides through the door. "Yet another area of endeavor that my own efforts against the foul institution have lacked. Cuorecielo, please note that down in my schedule to address."
A tiny, winged woman floats in afterward, and nods curtly as she makes a note in a just as tiny journal. Then, she flashes a brilliant smile to all present. The human woman pulls a chair and turns it backwards and straddles it in the same motion, somehow controlling her skirts in a demure manner.
"Pardon me for intruding. I'm Venture-Captain Sheliantha, without lodge at the moment. I couldn't help but overhearing, and I have to agree that there are many fronts in which the fight must be fought against the scourge of slavery. I've been trying an economics focus recently, attempting to eliminate the potential for profit on a large scale." Her eyes go around the room and she smiles at the fox, seeming to read the lettering on the bow he wears.
"Mr. Bonaire, I too am eager for the visceral thrill of taking down evil captors and oppressors with my own spells, but sadly, that is just on a small scale. I think that our young thespian," she smiles radiantly to Charlotte, "has a concept that I wish I had conceived. I hope you don't mind, Dear, if I work with that thought and develop it."
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Charlotte once again takes a deep bow with a flourish of her hat before straightening out for the Venture Captain.
"You honor me with such praise Venture-Captain" she replies. "But I fear you may have the wrong of it. In truth my planned stage-shows aren't morality-plays. I merely seek to instill an inspiration for little ones to learn the wonders of magic in any one of its myriad forms. I simply mean to imply that denying one the right to explore such things, for any reason, is a tragedy. Showing people how slavery hurts, instead of yelling at people that it is bad, is much more effective, at least in my opinion."
She pauses for a moment before continuing. "Also, while I have been trained as a thespian, my plan for the stage shows is to put on a magical extravaganza with lights and illusions and all mannor of magical imagry, not a normal "play" as it were.
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"They're slavers. That's evil. They're evil. If someone can't figure out that owning someone, running their entire life for your profit isn't wrong nothings going to fix that except a good disembowling. Or beheading. Or evisceration. Maybe a good mauling. Unless your play is SO bad it causes them to drop dead on the spot it's not fixing anything "
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"They're slavers. That's evil. They're evil. If someone can't figure out that owning someone, running their entire life for your profit isn't wrong nothings going to fix that except a good disembowling. Or beheading. Or evisceration. Maybe a good mauling. Unless your play is SO bad it causes them to drop dead on the spot it's not fixing anything "
"I never said definitively it would work, just that it's worth trying. Listen, if I'm right, it spreads the idealism of freedom to some kids who haven't considered it. If you're right I provide some entertainment to some kids. So why not try? Worst that can happen is that I put on a stage show and make some people smile.
"Besides, I think you are underestimating the power of indoctrination. Kids may have never even considered that there is another way because no one has ever told them there can be. And critical thinking skills-those don't come along until MUCH later in life. I'm just saying, putting the option out there may get them to consider freedom at a much earlier age, that's all."
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A voice pipes up from a dark corner. Venture Captain Raylos Chattra is nursing a drink in a ragged knight-captain's uniform, barely recognizable from his usually resplendent self. His eyes appear somewhat sunken and drained of color, and his shining eidolon is nowhere to be sren. "You think this little pageant of yours will even be allowed in any of the regimes where you want to make a difference? They'll gut you before letting you past their borders. The pup's right, making a difference takes blood and sweat. Art can make you money, certainly, but thinking you're going to change the world with it is just patting yourself on the back."
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"Fine. Well I have one use for your play. I was here the whole time. Napping. Under this chair eating scones. And definitely not out doing something useful and illegal which would require that I have several individuals attest to my whereabouts. Here. Under the chair. eating scones. Wink wink..."
The black tip of his tail vanishes under the floorboards, and he's gone.
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"I agree fully that it is worth trying. However, as Venture Captain Chattra says, such a performance might be illegal or suppressed in some areas." She nods for emphasis to Charlotte. "So, be very careful, and only act as a provocateuse if you really want to. Performances in heavily traveled areas, such as here in Absalom are not likely to receive retaliation, and might get to some of the target audiences you seek."
She sighs heavily, and crosses her arms on the back of the chair in front of her. "If you would like to go into more dangerous areas..." There's a brief grimace as if the sorceress isn't liking what she is saying, "My caravan travels about southwestern Avistan, and you could work as a barker and perform with a show. I haven't been run out of a town yet, and I'd prefer to keep a good name, but you could use the situation to help find areas in need of your help, or even those needing direct intervention by teams of Eagle Knights. It might be very dangerous, but when you are feeling ready, get ahold of me. We'll discuss how to make something work."
She stands, and under the collar of her gown flashes the insignia of a Knight-Captain of the Steel Falcons. It's hard to tell if the flash was intentional or not.
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Marko Vishki, a lanky Varisian man dressed in loose flowing clothes sits forward from his apparent nap in the corner of the room, "If you have need of performers and/or choreographers, I would be glad to lend my talents to your enterprise... for a time at least."
He stands with the grace of a dancer and walks across the room, “My own training is limited to dance, so I don’t know how well it would fit into your plans, but let me know if you are interested.”
Glancing towards the voices of dissent before turning back to Charlotte, ”And don’t let the doubters dampen your enthusiasm. Ending slavery will require more than freeing those currently enslaved. It will require changing people’s minds and even more changing their hearts, and nothing changes hearts like art.”
Flopping down in whatever available seating is most convenient to his new location in the room he continues, “Don’t get me wrong there is plenty of room, and indeed need, for killing in what we do. However, if all we do is kill slavers more will just take their place. So many people are raised being taught that slavery is normal and acceptable, most of them do not even own slaves. These are the people we must reach, I think, before they become slavers or slave-holders or even raise yet another generation blind to the evils of slavery.”
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The woman looks around a bit flustered from all the different ideas being offered to her. "Well, you've all given me something to think about. I want to reassure you that I have no intention of putting on outright plays against slavery. Instead, just some stage shows with underpinnings showing all should be free to pursue their own course of magic. I seek to inspire, not condem"
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"Greetingsss, fellow Pathfindersss", a hissing voice comes from a newly arrived suit of nearly 7 foot full plate armor. The man removes his helmet to reveal the snake like face of a nagaji. "I am a warrior, not a performer, but I appreciate that sssometimesss education and ssspeechesss can make a big differencess."
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"Forgive my late arrival to your conversation. I am not a regular associate of Maldris, and the Edge, but word reached me of your plans to stage a show featuring magic. Perhaps I may offer some advice? I have been putting on magic shows before I even knew any magic . . ."
She produces a coin, with a flourish, as if she had just pulled it from Charlotte's ear.
"Even relatively simple magics can be used to good effect on the stage. After all, you don't want to imperil your audience with a real blast of fire or inter-dimensional gate. You just want something that looks the part."
She mutters a few magical words and holds her hands up. Purple lightning runs up her right arm, and then appears to arc above her head and jump to her left.
"A simple illusion, known to many relatively novice bards and wizards. If you combine simple magics and stagecraft together, the effects can be quite entertaining."
She produces a dagger and, after a few magic words it hangs suspended in he air in front of her. She then begins to juggle three other knives and, once she has settled into a comfortable rhythm, plucks the fourth one out of the air and incorporates it into the juggling shower.
"Again, a simple spell that most wizards can cast many times each day, but presented in the right way it can look most impressive. Anyways, I'm sure your show will be a great success and, as Sheliantha suggests, it is a great cover for going places where a card carrying Pathfinder, or a flag waving Andoran, would not be so welcome."
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"Oh, uh thank you Lady Katriana, and. . . You other too, for believing in me when others don't. I'll try not to let you down. Worst thing is I just entertain some kids, right?"
She casts a simple spell and purple lightning dances from one hand to another, much as it did with Katarina, only without sound.
"A fun way to use silent image, mind if I use it in my stage show?"
The lightning forms int a human-sized doppelgänger, still made of lightning, and she begins faking a fight with it, jabbing with her spiked gauntlet while the illusion dodges out of the way.
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Sheliantha claps with delight and lets out a musical laugh. She casts, and concentrating, she adds a soundtrack to the stage fight with crackles and blasts of lightning accompanying the action.
Her smile brightens as she times her crashes and echoes follow the action in Charlotte's show.
"I think you have a winner, there. You could get quite the audience going with that."
The sorceress casts again, and a noble horse stamps and whinnies on the stage, backing the two combatants, giving a depth to the show.
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"A fun way to use silent image, mind if I use it in my stage show?"
The lightning forms int a human-sized doppelgänger, still made of lightning, and she begins faking a fight with it, jabbing with her spiked gauntlet while the illusion dodges out of the way.
Katarina watches the display, and nods approvingly.
"I offered the advice; you can use it or not, as you like. I dare say you have a better sense of the theatrical than I have. For me it was all trickery and misdirection, and since I threw in with The Exchange I've been applying that in a slightly different direction from what you have in mind."
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After several weeks, the 'witch' returns. Again, dressed like a traditional witch, she calls out to all who are in the hall.
"You-ho! Anyone here? I just had the most marvelous mission! I even got to put on two stage shows to some very. . . unusual customers. It all worked out well though!"
"Not the most challenging audience for my first outing, I admit, but it ended up working well enough. Good place to start from, at least." she says. As she finishes her story.
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"Welcome back! And, all in one piece, I see. That's wonderful."
The Venture Captain sweeps away some paperwork into a folder, and rises gracefully.
"I'm glad you had a chance to perform for an audience that could appreciate your show. I haven't been to Tien as recently as I would have liked. Sometimes day-to-day drudgery gets in the way of things." She purses her lips and puts a finger to her temple in thought. "I suppose I could work it in next Fireday..." She nods slowly and her attention returns to the here and now.
"What did you like the most about your shows? Did you have rapt attention throughout? Or, did you have to work at pulling them in?" She sighs and looks to the wall. "I'm not much of a performer, myself. I mean, I dabble in singing a little, and I have some training in giving speeches, but, going up and just grabbing an audience and taking them on a journey..." her gaze goes a little wistful as she thinks. Then she turns and flashes a dazzling smile.