Part 4: Setting the Stage

It quickly becomes clear that Bekassine's instincts were correct in thinking that Persechore would be a perfect fit for her character. You seem to have quite the knack for this whole casting thing!

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Finally, it's time to cast Ramank and Yarth. For this special double audition, both Lisbend and Yarrix take the stage. The fiery gnome assumes a scholarly stance while the monkey goblin assumes a hunched over pose as they affect Yarth's draconic snarl. "I believe these elves will be able to help us find our way back to our home world," Lisbend-as-Ramank says. "Do you think they'll feed us first? I'm starving!" Yarrix-as-Yarth growls!

Once again, both of these actors are perfect for the roles. By the end of the day, you've got your main cast lineup: Ormund as Horace, Auselia as Aurelia, Persechore as Bekassine, and Lisbend and Yarrix as Ramank and Yarth. As word spreads of the perfect casting call, Kintargo’s high priest of Shelyn, Zachrin Vhast, hears and gifts you with three rare librettos from the Chelaxian Civil War era, autographed by the composers and librettists. Each is worth 3,000 gp. Additionally, you gifts you with one of the church's greatest treasures: a thorn brush!

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Fallenta’s operas typically require very talented composers and conductors to orchestrate. She’s looked into those who are available to work on the timeline this opera requires, and unfortunately, none of the talented composers and conductors based in Kintargo (or even wider Ravounel) are available for or interested in the job.

As a result, Fallenta tasks you with seeking out a composer elsewhere in the Inner Sea region. She has done a bit of the work already and has narrowed the options down to three suggestions, each of whom can serve as a conductor for the orchestra as well as composer. It falls to you to decide which of the three options you wish to recruit for the job.Dramatic Composer: Vaerthilde Listrassa has an unparalleled reputation as a composer of dramatic operas. She rarely travels from her home city of Karcau in Ustalav, where she’s worked at the Karcau Opera for 30 years as a conductor, composer, and instructor. A devout Abadaran, Vaerthilde prizes discipline, rigorousness, and technical perfection, and more than one aspiring starlet has fled the stage after experiencing her harsh tutelage. Though her methods are severe, the operas Vaerthilde composes and conducts are triumphs of elegance and emotion, and her reputation as one of the best composers in the Inner Sea is well-earned.

Vaerthilde disdains those who don’t take their jobs seriously, but she has also always admired Kintargo’s opera traditions.

Comedic Composer: The composer who specializes in comedic operas is Eustaro Seven-Seas Cobblemar, an eccentric gnome with a laid-back attitude—sometimes too laid-back, as he takes a hands-off approach toward his work that’s vexed many producers. He prefers to "let the music naturally find its way" instead of being too firm in his directions. When his technique works, however, the results cause an audience to weep with laughter from the timing of a musical cue alone. Eustaro has ranged all over the Inner Sea, but these days he makes his home in the Varisian city of Magnimar, where he’s just wrapped up a production at the Triodea, Magnimar’s preeminent concert hall.

Eustaro hates controlling behavior, but he also loves food and drink.

Spectacular Composer: Those seeking a composer for spectacular operas can score no greater coup than hiring Kazhiyya Teram, who’s conducted some of the most impressive productions around the Inner Sea. They don’t tend to flaunt their vishkanya ancestry outside their homeland of Jalmeray, as they’re aware some can be prejudiced. After a long period of touring, they have returned to the city of their birth, Niswan, and are currently a guest of Thakur Kharswan. Despite their talent, Kazhiyya experiences bouts of severe insecurity, and every production they conduct inevitably involves a crisis where they descend into despair about their work not being good enough, convinced their "inadequacies" will ruin the show. If reassured, though, Kazhiyya puts on a show like no other, with the most fantastical effects the Inner Sea’s opera houses have ever seen.

Kashiyya tends to panic under pressure, and they prefer those who are not put off by their ancestry.

With the wand of teleport at your disposal, you quickly find yourselves in the city of Karcau, nestled on the banks of Lake Prophyria in Ustalav. Vaerthilde agrees to meet with you at the Karcau Opera House. She's a tall, dark-haired human woman who wears her hair pulled back in a tight bun. When you arrive, she’s standing in the orchestra pit of the Opera House, motioning to musicians seated in the pit. No sooner do they begin to play than she makes an impatient gesture, and they taper off to silence as she snaps at them: "No, no, no! With emotion. This is a death scene, not a wait for one’s overdue meal at a restaurant."

Once you make yourselves known, she glances up at you, frowning. "We’ll try again in a few minutes. It seems we have company," she tells the musicians before turning back to you. "Fallenta's sending spell indicated you're interested in hiring me for an opera in Kintargo?"