week 1

[stagemanagers]

[Well, all escape attempts have failed thus far. None of you have seen the Phantom since his brief appearance on Sunday, or heard from him at all. It looks like, for the time being, you’re all going to be stuck here.

You're free to continue exploring your surroundings to your hearts' content. The only real restriction on your movements is that the kitchen is closed between the hours of 10 pm and 7 am. Better make sure to grab any midnight snacks you may want ahead of time. Also, remember to label any investigation toplevels!

The Merchandise Booth is now open for business as well! The Phantom hasn't deigned to explain how it works, but...well, some of you will start to find mysterious coins in your rooms, and the Booth's got a place to put coins. You'll figure it out.

Should you wish to engage more with your host, you're welcome to drop letters in the box office slot. There's no set way to converse verbally with him, and he's certainly not guaranteed to respond if you just yell at the walls - but that doesn't necessarily mean he isn't listening. Just something to keep in mind.

Enjoy your first week, everyone.]

Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday

(( OOC: This will be the last mod post for this week! Feel free to start submitting regains for any threads that aren't with the Phantom. Remember, song threads mean an extra coin! This is a peace week, so get all that CR while you can! ))

Comments

[37773972]

[...]

I should ask Christine about the story. Unless you know it? If he really is the Phantom of the Opera [crazy as that sounds], maybe the story has a clue.

[mcfife]

My ancestral weapon, the Hammer of Glory. It can be wielded like any other war hammer, but as an ancient artifact, it contained astral powers that can even counter immortality.

[revelfree]

[Ariel shakes his head. There's a small, sad smile on his lips.]

Her name was Helena. The most beautiful girl in my village. We were great friends. Perhaps if I were less inclined to my pursuits, I might have stayed there with her.

But I left my home. And I shall never return again, for her or for anyone else.

[etincelledefierte]

I know the story. That’s why I asked him if we were in Paris when he showed up to meet us. If I knew that one way or the other, it would help a little bit. I’m not as much of an expert on it as I’d like to be, but I’ve been to the Paris Opera House at home. I’d at least know a little more about possible places we could find an exit to the outside.

[Oops, she’s rambling.]

That’s a good thought, though. Thinking back through the story...

[isawallflower]

Well... All of you are involved in theater?

[ She's trying. ]

[37773972]

[Oh. Well then. Stephen sobers up a bit from his humor, nodding slightly as Ariel speaks.]

...maybe you'll find someone else. [Or won't.] It's that important to you, though? Finding answers?

[etincelledefierte]

[She is and Claudine appreciates that.]

...we are? No offense, but Jeremy doesn’t seem like the type.

[37773972]

[Not a bad thought at that, Claudine. Stephen shifts a bit, settling to face her more directly]

Give me the short version. What's on the [heh] playbill.

[reassuranceandrevolution]

I hope you like peanut butter and jelly.

[Sigyn grabs the ingredients from the cabinets]

Was there any reaction with the last acid you tried?

[superbeliever]

[Luckily the water is about as fresh and clean as you can get without cleaning materials.

Unluckily, apples are notoriously slick and hard, and therefore hard to grab hold of when suctioned into an underwater ceramic hole.

Richard watches with bated breath, almost self-aware of his role in this situation but mostly waiting to see if the kid can do it.]

It's, er. It's quite a large apple, isn't it. The ones in the orchards back home are only about yea big, but this is as big around as my fist.

[etincelledefierte]

The short version is that it’s the story of Christine, the Phantom, and Christine’s childhood friend Raoul. The Phantom has been Christine’s music tutor, to the point of all but pushing her onto the stage when the lead actress is unable to perform. To keep her in the spotlight, the Phantom makes sure things keep happening to other people in their theatre company, to the point of a chandelier crashing onstage. Eventually the Phantom kidnaps Christine and when Raoul goes down to rescue her, captures him. He gives Christine a choice: stay with him and Raoul lives, or leave and he dies. Christine asks the Phantom what kind of life he’s lived to be able to put someone in a situation like that and that act of giving him a chance persuaded him to tell Raoul and Christine to leave and never tell anyone what happened. The musical leaves it unclear as to the Phantom’s fate after that, whether he remained in his lair or died or something else entirely.

[37773972]

[....]

That explains how he treated our Christine.

[But huh. He touches his chin in thought.]

I can't see him kidnapping us to keep him company, not with the way he's treated us. And the...other things. [Like killing and all that.]

[etincelledefierte]

It does, yes.

[She nods.]

Telling someone else to kill for him isn’t the style of the Phantom I am familiar with. It’s one thing to drop a chandelier on someone, but it’s another entirely to say “now go kill someone.”

[37773972]

...were there any other figures in the story? Manipulators, maybe?

[etincelledefierte]

Technically, Carlotta and Madame Giry, but not to the point that the Phantom is. Carlotta is a passive-aggressive diva, and Madame Giry is just covering for the fact she knew the Phantom was there the whole time.

[37773972]

I'm mostly trying to figure out who else is involved. I really don't think the Phantom is doing this all by himself; the technology required is beyond anything I'm familiar with.

[And he's getting used to sending messages through time, so.]

[etincelledefierte]

I don’t think he’s doing it by himself, either. The timeline of the musical is right around the turn of the 20th century. The technology wouldn’t have been there for something this elaborate.

[isawallflower]

[ She offers a little shrug. ]

He...said his friend talked him into it? [ She has another theory, but. Well, that's not hers to share! ] Christine said he was an, uh. Play rehearsal virgin.

[etincelledefierte]

...that does explain a lot. Though I can’t say I’ve ever heard the term “play rehearsal virgin” before.

[it gets a laugh out of her, at any rate.]

[recessives]

I mean... yeah, it does.

[ She sighs. ]

But I don't really have any other choice.

[recessives]

I... Better...?

[ She frowns. ]

Maybe it's just that I haven't seen anything like it before.

[37773972]

Do you think it's possible he's a pawn? Maybe promised Christine'll come back if he pretends he's in charge? [Assuming you can go across dimensions, maybe you can find a parallel where she's willing to stay...?] But then, that doesn't get us any closer to why this is going on - just brings in another unknown. And I really doubt he'll answer anything about that, wrong or right.

[justmeheere]

What? Like, like a crabapple? [He's just playing bobbing for apples in the toilet here and trying to hold a conversation. 0/10, would not recommend.] Welcome to, to, to the modern era, I guess. We shot cows up with, uh. With hormones and shit and now apples can clog a toilet.

[Jeremy manages to basically roll the apple up the side of the toilet bowl and pick it out with two hands. It's fine. He's fine. Everything's fine.]

[recessives]

[ oh good time to get bullied- but first. ]

Who?

[recessives]

[ Shilo sort of. Bolts upright at the piano, looking over. ]

Oh, uh... hey, Riley.