Poltergeist of the Theatre Settings

No one can point to when the ancient theatre appeared. Few know the history of its ownership, of the souls who vanished into obscurity. Of the people who do learn its secrets, there are only two kinds: victims who are never seen again, and an audience that never speaks of it.

Still, rumors spread, as they always will. Some tales suggest the theater is the creation of a misunderstood genius known as the Owner, the Playwright, or, as he called himself at the end, the Puppeteer. These tales suggest he disappeared before the performance of his greatest creation, a maddening work that ran for a single night of perverse pleasure. Some say that his genius did not end with his ****, and that he continues to pulls the strings of his actresses in the theatre from beyond the grave.

What strings can a dead man pull? Well, the theatre has particular rules. The rules may seem unreasonable, random, or perverse, but they are posted for all to see, and they must be obeyed. It is said that whoever breaches the ridiculous rules of the theatre will find themselves the target of the Puppeteer's ire... and, most terrifyingly, his control. There are all kinds of roles to be filled in the theatre, and the spirit of the Puppeteer is always surveying his domain for meddlesome troublemakers to bring under his magic power and bend to his perverse whims. Rumors may spread of the performer's humiliating failure on stage and they may disappear from the public eye as if in shame, never to be seen or heard from again... But have they truly fled into the shadow of obscurity, or have they joined the Puppeteer's collection as his stagehands? His attendants? His theatre troupe? Or even his props?

Such a theatre known as the Arpeggio was said to exist in a small American town called Buttersdale. Now, however, another theatre has appeared to grow the Puppeteer's collection in another place, perhaps even another reality. The same Puppeteer, or a new telling of the traditional ghost story? Pray you never find out.

Should you find yourself in this cursed theater of perversion, be you performer or layman, exceptional or ordinary, hero or villain, read the rules carefully, or be prepared for a new role on the stage.

And if you find that role to be beneath you as you stand on stage in a costume you wouldn't be caught dead in, reciting nonsense from a trashy script out of juvenile fantasy, never forget: abandon your shame, play your part, and satisfy the Puppeteer. The script can be revised, and it can always get worse.