Allye/Plays/Another New World

Real Date	2020-03-31
Game Date	434-01-33
Event	"A Night at the Operas," hosted by the Fancy Pants Adventure Club
Point of View Character	Unknown

[OOC: Based upon Josh Ritter's song, "Another New World"]

Allye says, "This is a short musical performance that I wrote, the bittersweet tale of an adventurous ship captain and their beloved ship."

Allye exclaims, "It will be portrayed by the incomparable Raiael and Shaylynne, and accompanied by Lorwryn's crew! Everyone please give them all the applause!"

Allye nods to Zeinto.

(Zeinto walks forward to the makeshift stage, and firmly draws a cord causing a curtain to draw open and reveals a bar scene, empty but for a single woman bent over a table with her head held in her hands.)

(Raiael lifts her head and gazes out at the audience as the music drifts through the area. She sighs softly, her face worn with some unspoken loss.)

(Zeinto leans into a nearby hatch and gives a sharp whistle. On cue, music floats up from under the deck, at once distant and pervasive.)

(Raiael stands from her place at the table, slowly making her way to the front of the stage as an eerie violin line meanders through the music. Her eyes are distant and unfocused.)

Raiael enigmatically sings in a mezzo-soprano voice:

  "There once was a time
   Long ago, in my prime
   When my life was rife with adventure.
   I studied my maps
   And thought that perhaps
   Beyond the edge new lands stood for venture."

Raiael smiles to herself, swaying back and forth, seeming lost in the memory.

Raiael adoringly sings in a mezzo-soprano voice:

  "My crew seemed unsure,
   But their thoughts were secure
   With one mention of my Laiva Dargi.
   Darling Laiva Dargi!
   The queen of high seas
   Dear ship, my partner on every journey."

Lorwryn nods to Zeinto.

(Raiael steps off of the stage and continues singing, walking through the gathered audience and making her way to the Floating Locksmith's mast. A flutter of fabric is seen from behind the sturdy wooden column.)

Raiael frankly sings in a mezzo-soprano voice:

  "That spring we set sail,
   No doubts would curtail
   Our bold plan to chart the uncharted.
   Each night I would dream
   For my Laiva Dargi
   Of new harbors to find now we'd started."

(Zeinto quietly moves away and motions for Buck to climb down off the mainmast, whispering to him and granting Buck the luxury of watching Raiael's performance.)

(Raiael closes her eyes and presses her back to the mast, wrapping her arms about herself.)

(Shaylynne steps out from behind the mast, twirling around it to lean against Raiael for a moment before taking a bounding leap away. She turns to smile back at Raiael, the ethereal whisperlayne of her clothing whipping about her willowy frame in the brisk sea breeze.)

Raiael distantly sings in a mezzo-soprano voice:

  "But each day it got colder
   The fear seemed to smolder
   In the hearts of my poor sea-worn team.
   The waves that once rocked
   Turned to snow drifts and chalk
   Scraping the sides of dear Laiva Dargi."

(Shaylynne reaches out to Raiael, taking her hand and pulling her into a graceful dance. She turns once and then twice in her arms, smiling warmly at her.)

(Raiael gazes at Shaylynne sadly, unable to return her smile. She continues to sing and she dances, her fingers grazing the bare skin of Shaylynne's arms with every spin.)

Raiael ruefully sings in a mezzo-soprano voice:

  "At first my men huddled
   Together, befuddled,
   As the days turned to months from the weeks,
   But snowy footprints unfurled
   Over the edge of the world
   Until there was only Laiva Dargi and me."

(Shaylynne darts away from her partner, her graceful leaps and turns carrying her across the expanse of the ship's deck. She at last spins back into Raiael's arms, where they sway together as the eerie music plays on all around.)

(Raiael wraps her arms tightly around Shaylynne, burying her face in the dancer's neck for a moment before lifting her head again to sing.)

Raiael sadly sings in a mezzo-soprano voice:

  "We dreamed of warm places
   That we'd still yet to face
   As I chopped down her sails in the cold.
   Yes, I burned her each night
   Just to keep me alive
   In the loving embrace of her hold."

(Raiael falls to her knees, her head bowed.)

(Shaylynne steps lightly around Raiael, wrapping her arms around the kneeling woman's frame from behind, cradling her soothingly.)

(Raiael stands, shrugging off Shaylynne's arms. Purposefully, she strides back to the stage, but once there she seems to deflate again and collapses into the chair.)

(Shaylynne gazes up at the stage for a moment before turning away, slipping into the shadows.)

Raiael bitterly sings in a mezzo-soprano voice:

  "They say I was saved
   Brought back from the grave
   So I drink here each night and I try...
   To pretend that the hunt
   For a new oceanfront
   Was well worth the burning of mine."

(Raiael takes a swig of her whiskey, before staring down at the table, forlorn.)

Raiael quietly sings in a mezzo-soprano voice:

  "But sometimes I sleep
   And then in my dreams
   I hear the far off ocean's strange roar.
   And so I believe that dear Laiva Dargi
   Has finally made it to that bright distant shore."

(Raiael's voice fades to a whisper as the curtain slides shut. Below the deck, the music slowly trails off as the sound of each instrument falls away, until at last all that remains is the steady crashing of waves against the side of the ship.)