Vampire Love Lost

You float the idea of heading to the theater to Irina, at which point she claps her hands together, "excellent. Allow me to don my armor and we can head out: I hear that they're currently performing Vampire Love Lost, which is supposed to be about the fall of the Vampire Empire centuries ago." {if Icarus dates == 1}You shake your head; "is it really necessary to don your armor to see a play?" "A paladin needs to always be prepared to uphold their oath." You continue to shake your head; you really don't see the necessity.{elseif Icarus market = true}You nod, having clearly seen the benefit to her always being prepared.{else}You sigh and shake your head, already knowing how the conversation will go if you choose to question it.{endif}

After ten minutes, Irina emerges in her set of plate, and the two of you head towards the theater. You have a bit of a walk with the theater being closer to the docks, and in the southern wing of town, away from both the slums and the nobles' district. As you walk, {if Icarus love > 65}Irina slips her hand into yours, you feeling warm by the connection from body to body{else}the two of you engage in idle chatter, talking about things such as the weather and ongoings in various kingdoms and empire{endif}. In time though, you arrive at Teatro Sul Mar, and Irina pays for two tickets to see this day's performance.

You two file into the door for your tickets, and take seats in the indoor area, seats arranged in ovaline formation about the stage at the back, each row slightly further back than the previous. Looking up, you can see a dome-like ceiling plated in smooth copper, only having greened slightly. As you sit in your seats in the fourth row, you notice that the crowds are still filling in the theater, the curtain still drawn.

In time, the crowd settles into their seats, and the gloworbs dim, causing the lighting in the theater to fall everywhere except at the well-lit stage. The curtains retract, and the cast comes out. One speaks up, "greetings. Today we will be performing Vampire Love Lost, a tale from long ago far to our south. Nevertheless, the cultural impact of the Vampire Empire can be felt even to the far reaches of Europe, as it ruled for long and with tyranny across the continent. It is important to note that though the performance is fictional, the events involved in the collapse of the Vampire Empire are largely shrouded in mystery, and as such they very well could have happened. Additionally, certain members of our cast would like to make the distinction between monstrous vampires — former mortals transformed by the occult, whom ruled the Vampire Empire — from natural vampires. Unlike monstrous vampires, natural vampires need food and drink, mature, can die of old age, and can reproduce through natural means." At this you examine each member of the cast in turn as they bow, and note that one of the cast members is, indeed, a vampire.

The cast walks back out of sight, and the gloworbs on-stage dim, as a voice comes from above you somewhere: "In river delt' where lay our scene, a town sits nested in its stream. In temple poor the cleric wait, she stand alone in her faith."

The lights on stage brighten back up, and you see hinging up from the ground a wooden stand-in for a temple on the righthand side of the stage. In front of it stands the previously noticed vampire cast member, her now wearing cleric's garbs, a holy symbol on her shield of a crystal surrounded by mist. From the left wing of the stage, walks a man wearing full plate mail, sword sheathed and kite shield on his back. He puts his hand to his eyes, scanning the stage and audience, "where is a knight of Tono supposed to find directions around here?" The cleric goes over to him, "I heard you say you need directions, is there assistance I can lend?" "Yes, I'm in need of directions to the Citadel of the Vampire Queen." "It's a few days east of here, but why would you possibly want to go there?" "I have come to free this land of her tyranny!" The cleric lets out a laugh at this, "many adventurers have come before you, most not so brash as to yell to the masses their intentions. What makes you think you'll succeed where they failed?" "I have the might of my oath and my city on my side!" "And where are either order or city?"

The now-clearly-paladin blushes, and sheepishly admits, "across the sea." "So what makes you different from the other adventurers? I saw a group of three head for the castle just a month ago. Two are dead now, and one's a thrall." After a minute of just staring at the cleric blankly, "I don't suppose having you on my side would make a difference?" "No, likely not, and it would be suicide to agree to help you so publicly, what with the Queen's spies everywhere." As she says this, a wooden bat is flown over their heads, both looking up at it. "I suppose that's a no on dinner with a beautiful cleric then." She blushes, and looks away. "Yes, I suppose it is."

The paladin exits the stage to your left; then to your right, in walks a man wearing messenger's garb. "You've been summoned. The Queen shall be in town a month from this day, and seeks the blessing of the church for a festival here honoring her patron. Her daughter will be here to help organize shortly." The cleric solemnly bows her head and takes the note from the messenger. They both exit from the right of the stage, and the lights dim once more.

When the lights re-brighten, the temple is gone, but the building backdrop is still present. The previously-seen paladin walks in from the left, a man in squire's garb following him. Already present on stage is a mock merchant's stand, a half-elf wearing extravagant clothing behind the stand, seated. Merchant's scales are on the table, and then someone enters from the right of the stage, pulling your eyes over to them. The new person seems to be a male vampire — but that's odd, you only remember seeing one vampire among the cast; makeup? Or maybe magic? Either way though, your eyes are completely fooled.

As you snap back to attention, you notice that the paladin is currently discussing something in the background with the merchant, and the squire and new person have engaged people in dialogue. "So I have heard that your master has approached my sister with licentious intent." "Is a mere compliment considered licentious now? Are we not free to say what's on our mind?" The new person, presumably the brother of the cleric, simply starts laughing at this. "What is freedom but an illusion presented us by our rulers?" He stops laughing, his face turned to a frown. "If you know what's good for you, outsiders, you'll go back from whence you came. By the name of Ilias, you have been warned." "And if you had been told about more than simple flirting, you would know that that's not the card the Deck has handed us." The brother Ilias narrows his eyes, "abandon this fool's errand now lest it be your doom, child." "You call me a child? You are but swaddled by position."

Ilias goes for his weapon; "what, now you resort to **** of arms against me? So primitive a man are you." In a flash of metal, the two have now swung blades, blades briefly stopping each other as they back away to dueling range. The two spar for a bit, as the realization hits: why are the blows not doing any real damage? A closer inspection even from this distance reveals that the blades have been dull, rending them far less effective in genuine combat, but perfect for trained actors. In time, the squire has backed Ilias against the wall, clearly having superior position, when the paladin snaps to attention, and yanks the squire back. "Have you lost your mind, Julian? We are here to liberate this land, not slaughter its denizens!" He takes out 3 silver from his coin purse and offers it to Ilias, "I do apologize for this. I hope some coin can smooth this over for the time." Ilias bows his head, "this shall suffice for the time, but do teach your squire some manners." The three exit stage from directions the entered, and the lights dim again.

When the lights come back, the temple prop is back, and the wooden sun in the sky has been replaced with a wooden moon. The cleric is at the temple, and a new woman is speaking to her. "Greetings, I am Soara, crown princess of the empire. I have come to discuss arrangements for the arrival of the Queen and the festival to follow." The cleric bows her head, "so I have heard, your highness." The two sit at a mock table you hadn't noticed until now, and the princess Soara gets a large paper out, but you can't quite see what's on it; albeit, she gets a pencil out and starts drawing on the paper, "you know, when you're in a position such a I, you hear things." "Oh?" "Yes, such as a certain foreigner who came here with haughty dreams. Quite ridiculous. I even heard he propositioned you." "Oh, I wouldn't necessarily call it propositioned . . ." "He asked you to dinner. Seems quite clear to me."

"You know, you do have options. For example, play your cards right and I may take you as consort." "Oh?" "Yes, I mean, let's be honest. Eventually, the queen will die through some accident or another, and then the empire will fall under my grasp." ". . . I don't know, I mean, I have my faith here and duties at the temple." "Are you really going to turn down such a offer of power though? You could be the right hand of the queen some day if you play your cards right!"

"I'll think about it. No promises, though." With this, the lights dim once again, and when they come back, the temple has been replaced with a tavern — this time on the left of the stage. The paladin stands there, alone. Princess Soara enters from the right of the stage, approaching the inn. "So you're the upstart looking to overthrow the Queen." The paladin instantly goes for his sword, "ah, the queen's bitch comes to do her bidding." "Oh please, I'm my own person." "You abandoned that long ago." The princess rolls her eyes, "oh please, what's a minor pact with an evil deity got to do with anything?" "It changed the very appearance of you. Surely you remember your life as a human prior to becoming a denizen of evil!" "Actually, I was a vampire before I became a vampire. But that is beside the point."

The paladin draws his sword. "Oh please, put that blade away. Although, if you want to draw your other blade, I won't exactly be complaining." The princess giggles, pushing her now-clearly generous chest forward, emphasizing it. The paladin can't help but draw his eyes towards the bountiful bosom, and if you're being honest with yourself, you can't help but to do so yourself. In time, though, the paladin manages to draw his eyes back to the princess's face. "Like I would be drawn in by your diabolic schemes, temptress!" The princess rolls her eyes at this, "very well, you have won — for today."

The lights dim once more, and the lights at the seating lightens. "At this time we will have an intermission. Please use this time to grab food and to tend to your needs." You and Irina file out of the theater, and look around for food.