Huntress of Heroes

[Gnoll Bard]

So, it's a tiny part of the adventure (only mentioned in one rumor as far as I know), but for some reason I got inspired to come up with a plot outline for Shensen's cancelled opera, Huntress of Heroes, complete with song ideas! You'll find that the half-elven luminary has taken some creative liberties with the source material, but the general framework of the legend remains the same. I don't honesty know that much about opera, but let me know what you think!

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Huntress of Heroes
A dramma giocoso in two acts

Dramatis Personae (in order of appearance):

Violeta, a beautiful and gentle Varisian wanderer and the priestess Dionarra’s most avid admirer, her sweetness and innocence make her death at the climax of Act I the tragic highlight of the show.

Matei, a Sczarni bravo who initially appears as a farcical caricature of the superstitious and untrustworthy Varisian, he unexpectedly emerges as the hero of the opera's second act.

Velkan, a young Varisian boy.

Aolar, the titular Huntress of Heroes, portrayed as an almost farcically villainous but nevertheless horrifying figure.

Dionarra, a saintly priestess of Desna beloved by all of the Varisian wanderers.

Desna, goddess of dreams, the stars, and travelers.

Abadar, Calistria, Sarenrae, and Shelyn, other deities

Chorus, representing various heroes and captive souls

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Act 1

Scene 1:

Next to her brightly painted wagon, Violeta sings about the many hardships of a wanderer's life, but that she is nevertheless filled with joy and hope because her caravan is watched over by the famous Dionarra ("How can these sore feet go on"). As she finishes, the roguish Matei arrives to scold her for praising the priestess so, for while they all love her, they do not wish to draw the attention of Aolar, the huntress of heroes ("shut your mouth and make a fig").

Even as Matei sings, however, Aolar makes her appearance, enchanted to appear blurred and diaphanous (showing that it is only her mind that is present). She observes for part of the song, after which the boy Velkan runs to tell Violeta and Matei that Dionarra has returned to the caravan after being away on a solitary pilgrimage, and all of the mortal characters rush off stage. Aolar then delivers a song in which she describes her evil deeds (taking exaggerated pride in them),but declares that taking Dionarra's body will be her greatest achievement yet ("what a lovely new toy").

Scene 2:

The scene begins with Dionarra singing a song of praise to Desna as she walks along a path, which becomes a duet sung between her and the goddess Desna, who appears gliding through the air above the stage ("The night is long, but the stars are bright").
After the song finishes, Desna fades away, and Violeta, Matei, and Velkan arrive to greet Dionarra. As they do, however, screams are heard from offstage, and Dionarra declares that there is a nearby village that must be in need of aid.

Violeta and Matei beg Dionarra not to go, with Violeta fearing for her safety and Matei reinforcing her concerns with outlandish tales of dangerous beasts said to live in the area ("what nightmares lurk in those shadowed hills"). Dionarra replies that it is her duty as a priestess of Desna to combat such monstrosities, although she does offer that, if he is so concerned, the though she does ask Matei, who so often boasts of his prowess, if he would be willing to accompany her. Matei demures with exaggerated cowardice, and Dionarra sets off alone.

Scene 3:

Dionarra arrives at the village and does battle with illusions of terrible monsters, fighting to save the fleeing villagers. The scene is embellished with magical effects and features a duet between Diona and Aolar, where it becomes clear that
the demon lord has engineered this attack ("what fell power has cursed this land"). The scene ends with the death of Dionarra when she heroically interposes herself between a horrible hook-clawed beast and a cowering child, and Aolar gleefully congratulates herself on her victory ("the fool comes gladly into my domain").

Scene 4:

As Violeta and Matei await Diona’s return, the latter attempts awkwardly to court the young lady, who is naively oblivious to his attempts ("there's a cold wind blowing from the mountains tonight"). Thus thwarted, Matei changes tactics, and tries to impress Violeta with boasting, but as a gentle soul she finds his supposed achievements abhorrent. In the end Matei confesses tearfully that he made most of it up ("What can a poor boy do"), and his sudden vulnerability touches Voleta, who places a hand on his shoulder as the scene ends.

Scene 5:

Aolar returns to the caravan in the body of Dionarra (courtesy of a disguise self spell), while Dionarra's disembodied soul is forced to look on. Dionarra sings a lament in which Desna once more appears to join her in a duet ("would that I could warn them"). Velkan rushes to greet her, and Aolar keeps up the charade of being Dionarra long enough for Violeta to return ("come, gentle boy").

As the young woman arrives, Aolar murders Velkan right before her eyes, and Violeta is so horrified that she is unable to defend herself when the demon turns on her. Just as Aolar delivers the killing blow, however, Matei arrives and rushes to her aid, stabbing the possessed priestess in the back. This forces Aolar to flee Violeta's body, but she carries off her soul along with that of Dionarra.

Matei then takes Violeta in his arms, and as she dies he confesses his love to her in song, while she tries to console him to go on ("hold on to me, dear flower"). As she falls lifeless in his hands, Matei calls upon Desna to take vengeance for her fallen priestess.

Act 2

Scene 1:

Aolar gloats in her castle in the Abyss, joined by a chorus of damned souls ("I bid you welcome, dear guests"), but the spirits of Dionarra and Violeta still defy her. The priestess’ spirit counters her boasting, and then fortells than the enemies she has
made through her evil deeds shall soon come to call, and not a stone of
her castle will remain standing ("no storm can rage forever").

Scene 2:

In "the heavens," Desna speaks with other deities, including Calistria, Shelyn, and Sarenrae. She demands retribution for the wrongs done to her followers, and the other goddesses lament that they too suffer from the terrible evils of the demon lord ("do the angels have no fury"). However, Abadar appears and declares that ancient pacts forbid the gods from taking direct action against a lord of the Abyss. In the end, Desna resolves to find truer allies in her home on the material plane ("what good is eternity"). Shelyn and Sarenrae are saddened by this, but Calistria remains aloof and enigmatic throughout the scene.

Scene 3:

We return to Matei, who is mourning before the graves of Dionarra and Violeta ("where shall I wander now"). Desna appears to him, and instructs him to gather righteous souls who have been wronged by Aolar in order to strike back against the demon lord ("hold tight your hope, oh sorrowful one"). He agrees, and the scene culminates in what is meant to be the musical high point of the piece, an impassioned plea by Matei for mortals, imperfect and powerless as they may be in the grand scheme of the cosmos, to make a stand against evil ("listen here, all you wretched ones").

Scene 4:

Desna, Matei, and their army of heroes march into the Abyss, and another effects-heavy scene begins as they do battle with demons. Desna exhorts her followers to take heart in the face of incredible odds, while Aolar heaps abuse on her faltering demonic foces ("fear not the rising of the tide"). The scene culminates in the goddess destroying the demon lord’s fortress and setting free the souls she had kept from their proper judgement ("and now at last all chain are broken").

Scene 5:

In the ruins of Aolar’s tower, Desna approaches the demon lord intending to end her, but Aolar reveals that she still holds the souls of Dionarra and Violeta prisoner, and threatens to devour them if the goddess strikes against her. Aolar launches into her climactic song in which she declares that compassion is a weakness and that evil will always triumph over good ("what should a goddess care"), but meanwhile Matei sneaks up and manages to free the bound souls. Aolar realizes this too late, and is slain by Desna.

Both the goddess and the spirit of Dionarra thank Matei for his intervention ("let angels' heads be bowed"), and he has one final goodbye duet with Violeta before she must go on to her final judgement ("I fear we were but strangers in the end"). In the end, Matei is left alone on stage, and sings a final song, in which he declares that while we cannot know with certainty what fate awaits us in the great beyond, the more important thing is that we strive to make a better world for ourselves while yet we live ("it is not for us to know").

[Elegos]

I respect the dedication to craft this entails.

[Meraki]

This is really neat! I'll probably be yoinking pieces of it for my party, though I might reconfigure the plot a little to fit the PCs. They'll actually be putting on the opera between books 5 and 6.

[MrVergee]

Neat, very well done and very inspiring. It brings back memories of my opera scenario our Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign, The Passion of Saint Alika, in which the PCs participated.

By writing out the opera, you give other GMs the chance to use it in their campaign. It could play a part in some sort of 'prelude' adventure, starting maybe two weeks before the actual adventure does. One of the PCs (or more) could me cast members of the opera, who are training alongside Shenshen, when Barzillae Thrune arrives in town and messes everything up, leading up to the Night of Ashes. It would be a great way to foreshadow Shenshen and the opera house.

Later in the adventure (e.g. between books 5 and 6, as Meraki suggests) the PCs could try to get the show running again, as a sign of their victory over Thrune.

[roguerouge]

If any set of PCs decides to put this on as an agit prop puppet show or guerrilla theater, here's how I have done them in the past as a complicated skill challenge extravaganza.

To get a sense of what went well and what didn't with the play. Craft: Writing and Craft: Music for altering the original book and the musical numbers; Knowledge: Local for local tastes. I'd allow Diplomacy's Gather Information or a Profession: Producer check to build up an audience, set optimum ticket prices, and generate good buzz. Maybe an organizational check to have the Silver Ravens boost turnout, perhaps loyalty? Disguise checks for costumes. The onstage talent would have Perform: Act, Dance, Comedy, and Sing checks. Orchestra would have Perform: Keyboard, Percussion, Wind, String. Skills for crew would be things like Climb and Disable Device for operating stage equipment, spellcraft and the relevant knowledge for accurate depictions of fantastic beasts with illusions, and Handle Animal for any live creatures. Director managing backstage drama would be Sense Motive, Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate. Performance combat and fly checks for combat choreography, if that's in there. For casting all these positions, I'd have the director and producer engage in opposed checks or something to identify hidden talent.

And tons of RP.

[SnowHeart]

This is an old post but just wanted to say thanks to the OP. We’re starting this for my local, in-person group (temporarily modified for social distancing) and one of the players is going to be a bard. I ran a prologue for everyone going through the Night of Ashes, and had him be a performer at the Opera House preparing for this production with Thrune came in and took it over. This added a very nice bit of flavor and now a non-bard PC’s player just asked about it. Thanks!

[rdknight]

There's a funny real life inversion of this. The play Night of Ashes was put on by a local high school here at the time Hell's Rebels was released. In the play there is a play at the Opera House that's raided by Hellknights. The play is Huntress of Heroes of course.

It was quite good!

I found an old post announcing a kickstarter for it from back in the day.

Night of Ashes

[zimmerwald1915]

rdknight wrote:

There's a funny real life inversion of this. The play Night of Ashes was put on by a local high school here at the time Hell's Rebels was released. In the play there is a play at the Opera House that's raided by Hellknights. The play is Huntress of Heroes of course.

It was quite good!

I found an old post announcing a kickstarter for it from back in the day.

Night of Ashes

Was the script for this ever made available for purchase?

[rdknight]

I've no idea. You'd probably need to contact Paizo.