Proscenia

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. In this world, its literally true. Artistic and social conventions become physical laws.

Example Physical Laws

• All baritones are evil, and will lose in the end.
• No one important dies without a good aria or two.
• Mime is real - and the most powerful magic.
• Background music occurs during romantic moments.
• Crowds spontaneously burst into song, or engage in dancing.
• Any false identity is 100% convincing.
• Cross-Gender dressing is unremarkable and commonplace, and very hard to spot.
• If someone can't talk, they can sing about it.
• People conveniently forget information if they don't want to talk about it.
• Everyone is really stupid, or at least easily fooled.
• Interplanar travel is via spotlight, which is summoned by a centre-stage performance.
• Those who are funny get more (stage) time to react.
• Fights are staged, and overly-dramatic, with much destruction of scenery and few deaths.

In this world a foolish monarch Arturo rules with the help of his mute chancellor Arlecchino. Evil mimes run the criminal underworld, choreographing an insurgency so well that it is impossible to stop. Sometimes they are thrown into unescapable dungeons (Dom Daniel), from which they pop out occasionally for a quick chorus. The black-dressed Artistic Enforcers, led by Il Capitano, intrude rudely on every scene, measuring hats and dictating amounts of lace. They also ruthlessly, but futilely hunt mimes.

In the adventure Send in the Clowns, it took the party FOURTEEN weeks to figure out that the physical laws of the place were based on artistic conventions. I think they had all chosen to ignore the spontaneous dancing in the markets, the whispered asides to the audience, the fool-proof disguises, the foreshadowing, the repeating character motifs, etc. We were all a little frustrated by then.

A Partial Glossary and Gazetteer

By Mortimer.

Proscenia: An usual small plane, kingdom and city -- the same name being used for all three -- heavily influenced by and devoted to the performing arts. Highly settled and civilized, with a level of magic and technology found only in the most forward parts of the Baronies, and not unlike Destiny in many respects. Planar travel is well known and portal travel over long distances is common-place. Humans and halflings are indigenous, elves are known as planar travellers. Dwarves are known only as malformed humans and not as a race. No mention of goblinoid races. The native language appears to be Common, but spoken with an accent not unlike that of Tuscana. Proscenia has six major festivals or "carnivals" throughout the year (and a seventh in leap years) where people costume themselves in masks and act slightly immorally.

Some hundreds of years ago Alphonso the Great lead the then city-state of Proscenia in a period of expansion and conquest which resulted in him ruling the (small) plane and also that of connected Calenture. It is also at this time that the first edicts against mummery were issued and it appears likely that mimes originally hailed from Calenture. Other named cities: Upton-on-Sea, Woodward-by-lea, Little Haughton.

Mummery: An illegal performing art and form of magic on Proscenia. Practitioners of mummery are known as mimes and greatly feared. Most occupy their time with outlaw activities, larceny, and for some reason arson (although often artistic arson; burring only things that are pink, or destroying structures to create a pattern are not unknown). An example was given of a vacant manor that was occupied by a mime masquerading as the Lord. Other mimes then moved in and all was only discovered when the true Lord of the manor returned.

Mimes appear to possess magical abilities unlike standard College magics (these are also known and legal on Proscenia) and are not affected much by Cold Iron. Their powers appear to allow them to alter reality by imagining it to be real for them, and their audience. They are, by way of example, able to walk through walls of stone by "feeling for an edge", or able to shoot an opponent by mimicking the actions of loading and aiming a crossbow. It appears that a mime can defend themselves by imagining a defence, such as "making" a wall between them and an attacking spell. It also appears that they can be trapped by the conventions of their art, and can, for example, be forced into an imaginary box from which they cannot find escape. Mime magic can affect observers, even if one does not believe in what the mime is doing, or even does not recognize it.

Mimes appear to possess a variety of abilities and fall into certain broad groupings or artistic movements. These do not appear exclusive like Colleges. A mime may be identifiable as a follower of one of the major schools by their dress and actions. Although a follower, mimes appear to desire "artistic integrity" and to make a statement or variation on their founder's work. Each school appears modelled around a Mime Lord, or possibly some sort of archtypical character whom the Mime Lord embodies. Mimes may co-operate in groups, "schools" of one style, or cross-functional groups "troupes" for operations.

Known Mime Lords and schools of mummery include:

• Pedrolino: Followers wear white face and move slowly, manipulate emotions.
• Il Dottore: Followers dress in black (after the manner of scholars?) and are know to rally crowds.
• Pulzinella: Followers were domino masks, and may disguise themselves as other people --though a mask or hat of some form will always be present, even if only in the form of eyepieces, a tiara, a moustache or a scarf.
• Arlecchino: White and motley, pratfalls and organs on a stick. (Arlecchino himself as Arturo's jester wore red and yellow with cute animal patches, and had a horned hat with animal motifs).
• Brighella: ?
• Shapeshifters: Bright chaotic colours, imitate things.
• ?: Acrobats & Caperers.
• ?: Sleight of hand.
• Reality phasing: Moving through walls, walking on air.

Dom Daniel: A supposed place on the other side of a planar doorway that lies at the bottom of an aether lake in Calenture -- a plane permanently attached or accessible from Proscenia. Persons thrown into Dom Daniel can no longer with read by astrological arts and it is believed that there is no way out. Discovered some hundreds of years ago by explorers from Proscenia and used for many years as a convenient disposal system for beings considered too dangerous to simply slay; demons, spectres, unstoppable beings and Mime Lords. It appears that beings in Dom Daniel do occasionally die (though perhaps many years beyond their normal life span) and thence astrology readings will report that they are now dead.

Calenture: An unusual plane accessible from Proscenia by way of a permanent portal. The topography of Calenture is reportedly odd, with the river that feeds and drains the aether lake bounding the plane -- and said to be a stream of consciousness and a river or thought -- and astrology does not work there as there are no useful stars, being instead "little twinkly lights". Some magic is said to work differently there, one example given was that it is possible to lose control of illusions. It is interesting to note that the name of the plane is very similar to a Destinian word "Calentura", meaning a fever of the brain, said to affect predominantly sailors such that they see the ocean as green fields and leap overboard to frolic... with fairly predictable results.

From Columbina's Proscenian Almanac: "The province of Calenture, while primarily agricultural, has net imports of wheat, oats, vegetables, hides, wool and iron. It has no net exports".