Mime Hunt

Appendices

Being by way of a partial glossary and gazetteer, with some cultural and historical notes, as well as those astrology readings undertaken by or for the party, with annotations.

Glossary

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".

Astrology Readings

#1 Question: "Who is the most powerful Mime Lord?"
(by the court astrologers of Proscenia)

I Remember
I remember sky -- It was blue as ink Or at least I think I remember sky. I remember snow -- Soft as feathers Sharp as thumb tacks Coming down like lint And it made you squint When the wind would blow. And ice, frozen on the streets, Cold as silver, white as sheets Rain like strings And changing things Like leaves.	I remember leaves -- Green as spearmint, crisp as paper. I remember trees -- Bare as coat racks Spread like broken umbrellas. Parks and bridges, drums and flutes, Ruddy faces, muddy boots, Light and noise And bees and boys And days. I remember days -- Or at least, I try. But as years go by They're a sort of haze,
And the bluest ink Isn't really sky. And at times I think I would gladly die For a day Of sky.

#2 Question: "Who is the greatest threat to the King?"
(by the court astrologers of Proscenia)

Trust and Betrayal
Some time has past the winter is here Dark memories haunt me My vision is not clear But my focus is crystal Cause my wounds are bleeding still You hurt me forever How could I ever have thought that you would The only one that I trusted Why the hell should I forgive You left me to rot And god damn this loneliness	We are gathered here together To decide over the hearing Of a most evil and an unpleasant crime Perpetrated by an evil and unpleasant mind For reasons of personal greed and ambition The defendant is accused My trust your betrayal I stab away my sorrows It all ends here, my sight now clear A new day begins tomorrow
My sadness you'll see This sorrow ends in victory --------------- You're nobody, if you paint, Though you want, your grief in colours, To play a king, put two sparkles in your eyes, No chance to cheat, then you'd cast a spell and turn, Clown's betrayed, black into white, By his face, betrayal into laughter.

#3 Question: "What are the employer's plans for the guild party?"
(by the Guild -- standard question)

Send In the Clowns

Isn't it rich, aren't we a pair
Me here at last on the ground - and you in mid-air
Send in the clowns

Isn't it bliss, don't you approve
One who keeps tearing around - and one who can't move
But where are the clowns - send in the clowns

Just when I'd stopped opening doors
Finally finding the one that I wanted - was yours
Making my entrance again with my usual flair
Sure of my lines - nobody there

Don't you love a farce; my fault I fear
I thought that you'd want what I want -sorry my dear
But where are the clowns - send in the clowns
Don't bother, they're here

Isn't it rich, isn't it queer
Losing my timing this late in my career
But where are the clowns - send in the clowns
Well maybe next year

#4 Question: "Who should do this mission and what should they expect?"
(by the Guild -- standard question)

We're Gonna Be Alright

It may not all be bliss, but every wound is treatable.
We won't go under -- we're gonna be alright.
Don't see how we can miss; our team is undefeatable,
I wouldn't wonder -- we're gonna be alright.

We may have had unhappy landings, misunderstandings --
We're still growing.
Some years are bad. We're hale and hearty -- we'll keep the party
Going.

Hey babe, let's have a kiss. Remember -- we're unbeatable.
We're gonna blunder -- we're gonna hold on tight.
Hi ho -- we're gonna be alright.

#5 Question: "The whereabouts and well-being of the former King's minstrel; Brighella"
(by Serendipity)

And with a smile
I'll take you to the seven seas of Rhye

(Oh I do like to be beside the seaside
Oh I do like to be beside the sea
Oh I do like to stroll along the prom prom prom)

#6 Question: "Who instigated the arrest attempt on us?"
(by Dawn}

I see a little silhouetto of a man
Scaramouch, scaramouch will you do the fandango
Thunderbolt and lightning - very very frightening me
Gallileo, Gallileo,
Gallileo, Gallileo,
Gallileo Figaro - magnifico

But I'm just a poor boy and nobody loves me
He's just a poor boy from a poor family
Spare him his life from this monstrosity
Easy come easy go - will you let me go
Bismillah! No - we will not let you go - let him go
Bismillah! We will not let you go - let him go
Bismillah! We will not let you go - let me go
Will not let you go - let me go (never)
Never let you go - let me go
Never let me go - ooo
No, no, no, no, no, no, no -
Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go

#7 Question: "What would happen if Domdaniel was broken / opened / ceased to exist?"
(by the Guild, for Dawn)

<academic abstract> Bayesian belief propagation in theatrical models has been recently shown to have very close ties to inference methods based in statistical aesthetics. After Yedidia et al. demonstrated that belief propagation fixed points correspond to extrema of the so-called Bethe free artistry, Yuille derived a double loop algorithm that is guaranteed to converge to a local deviational minimum of the Bethe free artists. Yuille's algorithm is based on a certain decomposition of the Bethe free artists and he mentions that other decompositions are possible and may even be fruitful. We shall begin with the decomposition of Bethe free artists and show that this has a principled interpretation as pairwise mutual information minimization and marginal entropy maximization. Next, we construct a family of free artists who function as a spectrum of decompositions of the original Bethe free artist. For each free artist in this family, we develop a new algorithm that is guaranteed to converge to a local aesthetic deviational minimum. Preliminary dramatic reenactments are in agreement with this theoretical development.

This answer prompted considerable discussion, and led to a side trip off-plane for Mortimer and Dawn to see if certain highly technological sources could offer more information. The full transcript from these sources is available.

#8 Question: "Where is Zanni?"
(by the Guild, for Dawn)

<fragment of play>
Enter Zanni with Brighella as reinforcement.

Brighella wants to know what all the panic is about. Arlecchino explains that he and Zanni are going to die in the war and that there is nothing they can do about it. If Zanni is going to die then he wants at least one wish fulfilled before he goes. Zanni dream lazzi. Arlecchino agrees with Zanni's sentiments, but alas, neither of them have any means. Arlecchino and Zanni decide on a mutual suicide pact. They are about to kill each other when Brighella offers a solution. He'll buy their dead bodies and advance them the means to fulfill their dream. They agree to have a feast and then come back and kill each other.

Exit Zanni and Arlecchino.

#9 Question: "What other portals or ways are there to reach Calenture?"
(Astrology and Research by the Guild, for Pent)

Calenture Portals:
Various fevers occurring in tropics, especially a form of furious delirium accompanied by fever, can among sailors, lead the affected person to see the sea to be a green field, and to throw himself into it. This can sometimes lead to Calenture.

Calenture can be accessed from the Dreamlands:

A dreamer seeking to learn the art must be of the 5th sphere for at least 1 month.
A dreamer must seek out a member of the Dreamers of Calenture who will be willing to train them
The training must include, among the other tasks, is a weeks time spent on each of the following quests: History, Planer Reformation & the Great Rituals of the Dream.
This training will also include the duties of a dreamsmith to the city of Underlight and the great responsibilities a dreamsmith has not to abuse the art.
Upon completion of training the dreamer will swear to the oath of Calenture and abide by its rules.
Plateaus in the art will be available only through Calenture, a dreamsmith of higher skill may set forth a proper task, one that serves the house and Calenture.

Dreamlands Commentary (quite detailed - a relevant snippet below).
Two of the most powerful Houses in the Dream, Dreamers of Light and House Calenture, fell into all-out confrontation over the fate of the essences stored within their prime artifacts.
When the battle was over, two Rulers of Light were dead by Dreamstrike.
Skirmishes between Houses erupted, and each House began to take advantage of the portals to seal off their claimed lands.

#10 Question: An attempt by Mary-M to contact her patron Sammael, to ask if he had any information regrading Dom Daniel:

But instead of the usual contact with him, she got:

A (Greek) chorus of small rounded angels appear in togas and masks on top of
a small white cloud, and proclaim in celestial harmony:

There was/will be a time where each/the world is void and without form.
There is an absence of light/dark, of life/death, and past/future. Without
free will there is no good/evil. Knowledge is fate, ignorance is hope.
Domdaniel is a ladder leading up into a bottomless abyss.

All praise to Sammael.

A faint sound of giggling wafts away with the dissipating cloud.

Footnote: Never send Cherubim to do a Kerubim's job.