The Play

     In the southern region, among the looming spires of mountains, a village can be found. Sequestered deep within the river valley, Saepita stands as an example of man's pioneering spirit. The residents of Saepita risked the journey into the unmapped regions centuries ago to seek a better life. With an ever-flowing river, abundant flora and fauna, and woodland that never seemed to end, these pioneers found themselves a hidden sanctum. The village prospered, but not in the sense of monetary value. The abundant resources and few visitors allowed the villagers to explore and practice the arts: paintings that found the inner beauty of any subject, writings that described the most epic of tales, and plays that captivated the very minds and souls of the audience. Speaking of which, I believe the village will be putting on a performance this year.

     I wonder which play it is.

     It is about midsummer now, and the villagers of Saepita are hard at work. You see, performances used to be held every other night or so. Times have changed since then, and the plays are treated with more reverence than they once were. Now, the performance is held every decade on the night of summer's heart. The villagers have been preparing for years, and there's only a few more days left until the big night. The stage itself, a large cobblestone slab in the center of a clearing about a mile outside of Saepita, is always set up, thankfully. Surrounding the stage is the auditorium, dug into the earth and carved of stone. There is ample seating for hundreds of viewers, although it has not seen that large an audience in several decades. Depending on the play, decorations, costumes, and other effects need to be prepared accordingly. The night of summer's heart is almost upon them.

     I do hope they've found a suitable replacement for poor Balen.

     It happened last winter. The cold was especially harsh that year, and the elements proved too much for the old man. Balen had been one of the lead actors since the day the performances were rescheduled. I am not concerned for the village because of a lack of planning, a list of backups for each actor is always kept and maintained, but Saepita always begins rehearsing the next performance as soon as the previous has been completed. To lose a lead actor so close to the night of summer's heart is such a shame. Whoever is to take his place has had about a decade of practice to catch up on in a matter of months. It would be such a tragedy if it weren't so damn comedic.

     Perhaps a new one will join the audience this year.

     I have just been informed that the play being presented this year is Ruler of One's Kingdom, how delightful. A truly tragic performance that tells of a king of a distant land who begins to lose favor with his people. Not for reasons of his own doing, but because of events outside of his control. An unknown plague has swept through the kingdom, pests have devoured field upon field of crops, and a neighboring kingdom has declared war seemingly unprovoked. The world is set against him, and every time he thinks he's found stable footing in the wake of calamity, the world is still there to shove him to the dirt again and again. It ends with the king's subjects storming the castle, craving royal blood. Just before they reach the his chambers, the king escapes the reality in which he failed by hanging himself. As his defeated corpse hangs, the surrounding scene dramatically shifts from a royal chamber to a dingy cell revealing that that king was not a king at all, but a mad man in an asylum. It is a truly jarring twist to those who are unfamiliar to the play.

     However, I'm more intrigued by the fact that Balen's role was the mad king, the lead role.

     Oh, if I weren't so incapable of empathy, all my pity would go out to that poor bastard, Donaeto. Not only has he had far less time to prepare for the performance than every other contributor, but he's also been condemned to the lead role. Although, I'm not terribly concerned. Mostly because it's not my neck on the line, but also because the performance does not solely depend on Donaeto. While the actors are important for obvious reasons, there are plenty of other individuals that can make or break the performance. Caeita manages the costumes, which are custom made and unique to every performance. Only the finest fabrics and patterns are worthy of her designs. Eloi manages stage props and decorations with the utmost scrutiny. If an element of the stage design fails to meet his vision, he sets it ablaze. Junia ensures that the sacrificial blood adorns the front door of each home along the main street of Saepita. This acts as a sort of path for the audience to follow to the auditorium. They even hired a neophyte mage from the capitol this year, Falco, I believe his name is. Lighting and effects can only achieve so much by conventional means; this mage might alleviate that and add a certain arcane flare to the performance. With them and the many others contributing to the play, Donaeto has a chance that someone will perform their duty slightly worse than he. We will have to see.