After almost two months of practice, the performance day is finally here!  Lady Dearest had hired Gideon, the premiere choreographer, away from Olympia to put together the show.  As an intermission to the event, the youth of Castle Moresby will be putting on their own performance.  Their training and choreography was run by Angelique, who works for Gideon, and the great man did oversee the effort.

The program calls for the older girls to go out and perform a ballet ensemble piece, then for Scarlet, the youngest girl who was selected for the troupe, to fly on to the stage with a clever wiring system run by a backstage hand.  The wires will bring her up more than 30 feet in the air as she twirls and floats, then glide her to the stage where she will perform her solo dance.  The dress rehearsal was flawless, but Scarlet peeks out at the crowd of fifty or sixty people -- nobles and their families -- and realizes how many things could still go wrong.

She waits up on her platform, her harness already attached and double-checked by the stage crew, when Allyssa pokes her head up from the ladder.  The older girl was always helpful to Scarlet, in spite of seeming a little disappointed that she was not selected to be the star of the youth performance.  "We're just about to go on; I wanted to make sure you were ready," Alyssa says sweetly.  "Don't be worried about all those people, just go through it like we did in rehearsal."

"Oh!" she exclaims, "there's a little something on your costume, maybe one of the feathers from the ..."  She trails off and reaches to Scarlet's back to grab the item.  Suddenly, Scarlet hears a snap, and she looks down at the release for her harness.  It seems Alyssa has cut it through, so the release will no longer stay shut.  "Break a leg, you little bitch." Alyssa sneers as she steps quickly down the ladder.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:16, Fri 25 Feb 2022.

Scarlet takes a deep breath. So much is at stake tonight.

The performance, of course: if Scarlet mucks up, Angelique won't be pleased, and she is as demanding as a drill sergeant in prim skirts; in turn, the old, petulant Gideon will be displeased. The Lady Dearest herself won't be much amused, but most of all, Scarlet fears disappointing Mother.

Mother is occasionally angry, but her outbursts are not the worst. The worst is when she's disappointed: not the angry yelling and the flaming eyes, but when those same grey eyes glaze over like arctic ice and instead of screaming at her she just shakes her head slowly, in silence, making Scarlet feel worse than a failure: like she is absolutely letting down not just Mother and the D'Ardelles, but also the very Rheams, her august father himself. Scarlet would rather die before she disappoints.

"Oh, hi, Alyssa!" she says, with a pale, twitchy smile. She is nervous, and under pressure, and only twelve, but she's not stupid. She knows full well what an envious little bitch Alyssa is, how she has been bitching behing her back about 'that tall titless ragdoll, playing Aphrodite? You must be joking!'. Alyssa is a couple of years older, already has boobs like cart wheels, and she hates being upstaged. Scarlet knows how much she has tried to steal the main role of The Birth of Aphrodite from her, and Mother has made sure to let her know how much behind-the-scenes scheming it took to get Scarlet the role. Screw it up and she will be Disappointed.

"Oh, I'm not worried, 'Lyssa, it's just hard to breath in this corset and... no, don't worry, leave it, it's not a-HEY!"

She turns a whiter shade of pale, watching the irreparable damage with horrified eyes. With just minutes to go!

"Oh no you didn't..." she mutters desolately.

Oh yes she did, the damned bitch. She totally did, and now Scarlet has a choice of not showing up and disappointing everybody, or going ahead and probably break more than a leg when she lands. It's thirty feet or more, by the gods...

She looks around desperately, looking for something to patch the harness with. No needles, no thread, just some old rags - they will have to do. With trembling hands she ties one end to the harness and the other to a wire, trying to make the knots as tight as possible...

Scarlet d'Ardelle rolled 8 using 1d20+6.  Craft Clothing.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:30, Sun 27 Feb 2022.

Scarlet realizes that her makeshift repair to the mechanism is not going to hold.  She either has to skip the aerial part of the performance or do it holding the release shut the whole time.  This means that she will not be able to do the twirls at all, and will be limited to facing the same direction.

You can skip the aerial part, or stick with it and roll a Perform Dance with a DC of 17 to consider it a "good" dance.  Whatever happens, roll a Perform Dance against a DC of 13 for your performance on the ground, but it's at -2 if you do the aerial part and fail it by 5 or more (representing being so shaken up).  To counter this, I'll give you +2 on your floor performance if you beat the aerial roll by more than 5.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:00, Mon 28 Feb 2022.

With a sigh Scarlet throws away the useless pieces of cloth and takes a deep breath.

I will end you, Alyssa. Not tonight, not tomorrow, maybe not next year, but end you I will. You will never see me coming, and you will rue the day you crossed the daughter of the Duke.

Oath made, she grabs unto the wires for dear life and plasters a theatrical smile on her face, jumping into the void to spin and pirouette in the first movements of The Birth of Aphrodite...

Scarlet d'Ardelle rolled 21 using 1d20+8.  Perform (Dance) DC17.

... knuckles white, holding most of her weight with her left hand while she twirls all the way to the ground, in a graceful spiral of flashing silk. She can hear the gasps from the audience, and wants to believe Mother is one of them. She curtsies to the audience while she releases the safety clasps, launching into her ground routine...
This message was last edited by the player at 00:16, Tue 01 Mar 2022.

Scarlet d'Ardelle rolled 18 using 1d20+8.  Perform (Dance) .

... undeterred, unfazed, her confidence bolstered by having not just survived Alyssa's sabotage, but also having pulled off a flawless flurry of tricks. By the time she did the final jump and split, the smile on her face was real.

Eat that, Lyssa. See that, Mother?

BTW, you are the granddaughter, not the daughter of the Duke.  The old man is still around and quite fit.  Since I turned 60 this past October (and my older child is 37), I no longer think of someone whos eldest is 27 years old to be the slightest bit infirm.

Thanks to the girl's natural flexibility, Scarlet is able to simulate a twirl without ever letting go of the latch that holds the harness to the wire.  Landing smoothly, she performs her routine, not flawlessly, but with a grace and brightness that rivals even the professional dancers.  She doesn't realize until her final arabesque that blood is dripping off her hand where, holding the latch so tightly, she must have torn a bit of skin.  Cupping the hand as part of her bow, and her second bow, she holds a small pool as she follows the last dancer off stage.

Immediately, her mother grabs her and pulls her aside.  "Why did you skip the twirls?  I mean, yes, it was fine," she waves a hand, as if dismissing some sprite who had insisted she say something complimentary.  "But it could have been so much more, so much better, if only you had done it as you were told.  You just never listen, never really concentrate.  After all I've ..."  She pauses as a wrinkled hand with long, delicate fingers and painted nails grips her shoulder and pulls her gently, but inexorably, back.

"You were lovely, dear.  Very well done!" says a firm, warm voice.  Scarlet recognizes Idalaiz Rheams, the aunt of the Duke.  The older woman draws a handkerchief, seemingly from the air, and wraps it around Scarlet's hand.  She then tugs on Scarlet's costume to reveal the latch of the harness, and magically produces another kerchief to wipe a bit of blood off of it before inspecting it for a moment.  "Keep this to yourself," she says, tapping the girl's injured hand with a perfectly manicured finger.  Somehow, her eyes convey that she refers to something more than just the small wound.  "Come to my rooms after the feast tonight.  I want to check on your hand, to be sure it heals well."  After a moment, she adds, with a significant glance at Anne d'Ardelle, "Just you, Scarlet."
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:52, Tue 01 Mar 2022.

Oops, true, got my family links all mixed up, sorry.

"Mo-mother, I-I was just..." she starts stammering, put of breath after her dance, tears pooling in her eyes.

Mother is disappointed. She has done it again. Will she never be enough? Will Mother never be satisfied? She has blown it, again, and perhaps that was her last chance at...

And then the nice old lady showed up, like she just magically teleported from another, better world. Scarlet blinks a few times, needing a few seconds to understand what Idalaiz is saying, and then a few more to believe it.

"My lady, I... Of course, my lady," she says, in a slightly broken voice, then a nod. "I will and... I will."

She is already looking forward to it, heart racing.

Scarlet's mother does not leave her alone, all through the fine supper put on by the Duchess.  "She's the Duke's aunt.  She is quite important.  I will come with you, to make sure you don't say something to embarrass us.  After all, I'm your mother, I should be there."  She expresses this same message half a dozen times in half a dozen different ways through supper, to which Scarlet repeatedly reminds her that she was told to come alone.

Anne starts to alternate pitches to come along with speculations on what Scarlet should wear.  "There's no time to have something made.  We'll have to make do with your blue dress that you wore to that girl's birthday dance.  Or maybe ..." and she continues, eventually listing every nice dress Scarlet has ever worn, including some that certainly do not fit and she probably no longer owns.  Once the meal is over, she rushes the girl back to their room to change.

I'll let you describe your room and your process for getting dressed.  The room should be pretty nice, but it is not in the family wing of the castle.  Your mother will try to follow you, describe what you do.

After a few of those exchanges, Scarlet switches to her nod-and-shut-up routine; Mother is always like that when she smells political ploys, and at the end of the day, whether she comes or not is hardly Scarlet's decision. She doesn't know the lady Idalaiz that well, but by blood alone she is leagues above Mother; if the lady says Mother is not coming, then she is not, whatever any D'Ardelle argues to the contrary.

Back in her room, she lets Mother dress her up like a doll. Scarlet is young but not stupid: she notices how Mother is more childish than Scarlet herself, how she plays dress-up with her like a little girl. She knows better than to contradict her, and she only sighs dejectedly when Mother makes her pad her corset with a couple of rolled-up stockings. She weathers her remarks about Scarlet being 'such a late bloomer' and keeps her stoicism up.

Because she knows that deep inside, right now she has something Mother covets but can't have, so the adult envies the teen: the attention of a powerful Rheam... Whether that is good or bad for Scarlet, it remains to be seen...

Scarlet walks through the passages to the entrance to the family quarters, her mother following half a step behind and chattering the whole way.  The hallway is wide enough to allow for double doors at the end, but there is only a single, normal width door, with a divan beside it.  One very average-looking man stands in front of the door, wearing Rheam livery.  He has a rapier at his side, but no armor.

Scarlet announces herself, and he says, "Very good.  Welcome, young miss."  Turning to Scarlet's mother, he gestures to the divan and says, "I am terribly sorry, but the invitation is for the young miss, only.  If you could wait here."  He holds the door open for Scarlet but then nimbly steps in way before Anne has any chance to enter.

Inside is a formal foyer, a room 15'x10' with another door on the opposite side and an opening off to the left.  Standing at attention are three armed and armored guards, two holding halberds and one with no weapon drawn but with a fine longsword on his belt.  They do not move until the first door closes, at which point the one without the halberd opens the next door and the two with halberds step to each side to allow Scarlet to pass.  As she walks past, she sees that the opening on the left leads to a narrow stairway down.

Beyond the second door, an older man greets Scarlet with a warm smile.  "Miss d'Ardelle, we are so very glad you could join us.  If I may be so presumptuous, I would like to congratulate you on your fine performance this afternoon.  Your flying entrance was breathtaking, and your dancing was magnificent.  Was it not terrifying to be so high up off the ground?"  He nods to Scarlet's response and continues to chatter while leading her to Idalaiz's rooms.  The family quarters are all richly carpeted and even the hallway has beautiful tapestries.  It is clear that no expense was spared where comfort was at risk.  Idalaiz's rooms are just beyond the large fireplace on the right where a large fire has the entire wing quite warm.

Inside the door is a small sitting room, with four comfortable chairs and a small table.  Idalaiz Rheam is standing in front of one of the chairs once the door is open, but she smiles and sits back down as Scarlet enters.  "Do come in, Scarlet.  Have a seat," she calls, then turns to the butler, "Pax, please would you send someone for some tea, and some fruit punch, and a brandy.  Oh, and send Flo in, please.  Thank you so much."  Her tone is very genuine, as if she is truly grateful to the man for just doing his job.

Scarlet has barely settled when an older man comes in without knocking.  He wears a white and gray outfit with the symbol of Asclepius embroidered above his left breast.  Idalaiz waves him over and reaches to draw Scarlet's sore hand up on to the table.  The man examines the wound and mutters that she is fine, but puts some ointment on it, anyway.  By the time he leaves, a young woman carrying a tray of tea, fruit punch, assorted small cakes and biscuits, and a small decanter of brandy with two snifters.  She pours a brandy for the older woman, then looks at Scarlet and surreptitiously slips the other snifter into the pocket of her apron.  She asks if the "young miss" would like tea or punch, and pours some for her.

Finally, the two are alone.  Idalaiz wastes no time with idle chatter.  "I suspected that Alyssa would try something, this afternoon, but I thought she would only be trying to get you flustered, not to put you in actual danger.  You kept your head and put on a fine performance, which is why I invited you here tonight.  I am always on the lookout for young girls and boys with enough sense and enough cool to perform under pressure.

"I have a special place, here in the Rheam household.  You know, I assume, that I was the younger sister of Ashander's father, but this role I speak of is not just of birth.  I coordinate information for the family, to make sure that we keep what is ours.  I have ears everywhere, and I make sure that my nephew knows all he needs to of what happens inside the castle, outside the castle, and even in the palace.

"I want to ask you to help me.  It will not always be fun, it might be hard and even dirty work.  I have to know that you will be fully committed to the Rheam family, completely loyal to your grandfather, and to your father if he ascends to be Duke.  I realize that he hasn't been much of a father to you, but he has acknowledged you, and brought you and your mother to castle, which, you should know, costs him from his personal allowance.  It might not seem so, but he has enemies, and it could be that you are better off not being seen too strongly associated with him.  So don't think too poorly of him; he does care for you, in his way.

"So, will you work for me?  It has to be a secret.  You tell no one.  Do not even tell your mother -- her concept of keeping a secret is only to tell her twenty closest friends.  You do not tell your friends, you do not tell even that boy you're interested in.  And you certainly do not use it to throw in Alyssa's face just to show her that you are more important than she is.  You will be more important, but it has to be enough for you just to know it in your own head, and let Alyssa think otherwise.  Can you do that?"

After Scarlet agrees to these terms, the girl remembers to bring out the fine handkerchief that Idalaiz had left with her as a makeshift bandage, now washed clean but still a little bit damp.  As a way to amuse the girl, she claims, but really as a test of the girl's ability to learn, Idalaiz shows her the trick of making the kerchief appear, as if out of mid air.  After a few tries, Scarlet masters the move.

(You may assign one of your next level's skill points to Sleight of hand right now, giving you an extra bonus now which is then normalized when you next level up.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:01, Mon 07 Mar 2022.

Scarlet walks at a dignified pace, forcing herself to be elegant and ceremonious, instead of grabbing her skirts to run, more in keeping with the frantic rhythm her heart is beating. But she rememebers herself, and she sticks to manners.

She doesn't know who the old man is, so she curtsies to him deferentially, in case he is some sort of higher-up she has never heard about. His compliments make her blush.

"Thank you, my lord, I am extremely flattered," she replies smoothly. "It was an indifferent performance, really; your lordship is too kind."

She follows him into Idalaiz's sanctum and curtsies ever deeplier for the lady, before taking that seat.

"Punch, please," she says in a small voice, secretly pleased at being treated like a grown-up in everything but the offer of alchol, and hates herself for the way her voice trembles.

"A-Alyssa? How does your ladyship kno-...?" she starts, eyes wide open, but shuts her mouth in time. Do not importunate the lady with stupid questions, she hears Mother admonish. She listens through it, nodding to each point, more amazed at each turn: she knows about it? She employs girls like her? She wants Scarlet to work for her? Her august father actually cares for her? It will be secret job, even to Mother?

It's hard to produce some voice after that string of revelations, but she manages.

"I-I wo-would... naturally, of course, my lady, I would-I will, I do! Yes, I shall keep this secret, your ladyship, or may Zeus fulminate me where I stand!"

And a couple of minutes after this solemn vow, the most serious and significant moment in her short life, Scarlet is giggling in pure delight as the lady teaches her the handkerchief trick: not because it is a really impressive feat (she learns it after a few tries, after all), but because Idalaiz is taking the time and effort to make her laugh.

Nobody has ever done that for her, ever.

Sleight of Hand increased by 1!
This message was last edited by the player at 16:12, Mon 07 Mar 2022.