More Plays - The King of Birds

For this system/dungeon.

The inimitable Susperia, Dario Argento, 1977

The King of Birds

An infamously cursed play - no actor in their right mind would consent to act in it. During the first showing in the capital, the theatre burned down along with everyone inside it. It is well known that those trying to act it out suffer dangerous and improbable mishaps. The King of Birds itself is a sort of mythical bogeyman in the Barony, and since it never actually enters onto the stage during the play, its nature is unclear. 

When playing in The King of Birds, your critical failure range is increased by one, and suffering a critical failure will have worse than usual and often dangerous consequences, as determined by the DM. If you attack someone with a prop weapon during the play, there is a 1 in 6 chance that the weapon will do damage as if it were real. 

All fear damage taken during the play is at +1 in act one, +2 in act two, +3 in act three, and +4 in act four. 

Finally, in the blackout scenes, the Kingfisher will attack people on the stage, as indicated in the script. It will not remember doing this once the lights come back up, and will treat you mentioning it as a lie. 

ACT ONE

A pair of young lovers, a watchman, a bandit, and a murderer, gather inside an isolated and abandoned house to escape from the blizzard. We arrive in media res, after they have lit a fire to warm themselves. They make small talk, and the Murderer tells them about the King of Birds. 

You cannot see the King but he will show himself to you once you come to the realisation, in your deepest heart, that you cannot stop him from killing you. His eyes are very white and his face and his hands are in darkness. 

• The Beau, The Maiden, The Officer, The Criminal, The Noble. All talking in rapid dialogues: we are so cold, thank god we are safe for the night, where did this cabin come from? Fortuitous indeed. The Lovers ask what the others are doing out in the night? The Watchman, Bandit, and Murderer all claim to be looking for a killer. Discussion of this - is it the same person? No. The Murderer tells them that the killer he searches for is the King of Birds. No checks. 
• The Beau, The Maiden, The Officer, The Criminal, The Noble. The Watchman describes his quarry: a serial killer who kills women in the city; and the Bandit describes hers: a highwayman who murdered his lover. They ask the Murderer, are either of these the same as yours? The Murderer laughs and says no, these are nothing like the King of Birds. The Lovers announce that they will retire for the night as they have a long way to travel in the morning. They leave the stage, with elaborate mimicking of closing, bolting, locking and barricading a door. Officer, Criminal, Noble check CHAR.
• BLACKOUT. All players take d6 fear damage. The Officer, The Criminal, The Noble. In the absolute darkness on stage, the Watchman describes the terrible murders in the capital in sickening detail. The Bandit describes the viciousness of the beating the highwayman dealt his lover. The Murderer talks about the movement of the King of Birds through the night, its appearing and disappearing, its sealing tight of the rooms of its victims, its cruelty and its hatred. Officer, Criminal, Noble check CHAR. The Kingfisher attacks the Beau and the Maiden once each. If either of these players has templates in Actor, they are instead attacked three times. 

ACT TWO

The fire burns low. The Watchman, Bandit, and Murderer discuss their motivations for catching their various killers - law, justice, and curiosity. They speak of their own professions. The Watchman keeps order, the Bandit ensures that the rich do not abuse their power. The Murderer says that he is an agent of other powers, but refuses to elaborate. They sleep, and they dream. The bodies of the Lovers are dismembered off-stage, and the pieces strung across a thorned scaffold.

There are black feathers beneath his black leather gloves. His beak was fashioned from sharp steel. There is no pity in him and where he goes he will make the world in his image. The world is utterly mad. 

• The Officer, the Criminal, the Noble. As they speak they all confess that they are sleepy. The room is like a dream or a nightmare. Can they trust one another? The Murderer keeps hearing something from the room where the lovers are. The other two say they must be loving one another, don't disturb them, they are young and very beautiful, they deserve this respite. The world is a bad place. The Murderer is agitated. Don't sleep he says, but they seem to be sleeping already. Noble checks CHAR. 
• The Beau, the Maiden. The dismembered bodies of the lovers are dragged across the stage. Requires Strobe. The Beau and the Maiden test DEX. On failure the Kingfisher will attack them once. 
• The Officer. The Watchman dreams that he has found his serial killer. He fights him and is bested and killed. Officer tests CHAR.
• The Criminal. The Bandit dreams that she has found the highwayman. She cannot stop him from killing her lover. She kills herself. Criminal tests CHAR.
• The Noble. The Murderer tries to wake the other two but cannot. In a panic he monologues that he has to flee. The King is here, and these people are already damned. He gathers his possessions and leaves the cabin. He mime locking, bolting, and jamming the door behind him. 
• BLACKOUT. All players take d6 fear damage. In the absolute black on stage we hear the Watchman and Bandit wake and ask themselves where the Murderer has gone? Why would he leave? The blizzard roars and screams outside. Where would he go? The Kingfisher attacks the Murderer once. If this player has templates in Actor, they are instead attacked three times. 

ACT THREE

Maybe he was the serial killer? Maybe he was the highwayman? It cannot be helped now, it cannot be helped. We will find his frozen corpse in the morning. In the meantime can they trust one another? They talk about their dreams, and in doing so decide that in fact they can trust one another. The body of the Murderer is beaten and stamped to wet pieces outside the house. 

He is invisible and incorporeal. He comes when he will. He chooses the ones he will persecute and there is nothing that can save them once they have been chosen. Most of all he delights in killing the ones who do not deserve to be killed. 

• The Officer, The Criminal. Perhaps we could work together? We can find one first then the other and both will be vindicated and avenged. What is that noise from outside the house? The criminal says it sounds like her dream. She is white and shaking. She tells the Watchman that he should not leave the room under any circumstances. Officer, Criminal check CHAR. 
• The Beau, the Maiden, The Noble. All three dismembered bodies are dragged across the stage, then posed obscenely and made to dance from thorned wires. Requires Strobe. The Beau, the Maiden, and the Noble test DEX. On failure the Kingfisher will attack them once. 
• The Officer, the Criminal. Surely it will be dawn soon? What is that horrible noise? It feels like we have been here for days. They elaborately mime barring, locking, and barricading the doors to the house against trespass from the outside. Officer, Criminal check CHAR. 
• The Officer, the Criminal. The Watchman stops and thinks. He says that they should unbar the doors, take down the barricade. It is in this enclosure that whatever is outside takes them. The Bandit tells him he is losing his mind, and not the touch the door. Officer, Criminal check CHAR. 
• BLACKOUT. All players take d6 fear damage. In the darkness of the stage the Watchman can be heard to say yes, of course, you're right, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Then both Watchman and Bandit start screaming, which turns slowly into terrified crying and unintelligible pleading. The Kingfisher attacks the Officer and the Criminal once each. If either of these players has templates in Actor, they are instead attacked three times. 

ACT FOUR

Each of the abused and dismembered corpses is paraded across the stage, and made to act out violent and degrading acts on the others. 

He is here now, he is here now, he is here now. He is like God, he is like God, he is like God. A God that hates you, a God that hates you, a God that hates you. 

• The Beau, the Maiden. The corpses of the Lovers are made to act out their beating and killing of one another. Requires Strobe. The Beau and the Maiden test CHAR. On failure the Kingfisher will attack them once. 
• The Noble. The corpse of the Murderer is made to bow to the audience as it is once again beaten into pulp. It says 'I welcome this! I welcome this!' Requires Strobe. The Noble tests CHAR. On failure the Kingfisher will attack them once. 
• The Officer, the Criminal. The corpse of the Watchman asks the corpse of the Bandit to  dismember it with a knife. The corpse of the Bandit complies. The corpse of the Bandit asks the corpse of the Watchman to beat it to death. The corpse of the Watchmen complies. Requires Strobe. The Officer and the Criminal test CHAR. On failure the Kingfisher will attack them once. 
• BLACKOUT. All players take d6 fear damage. 

FIN

Aftermath: All players in a production of The King of Birds henceforth treat all death and dismemberment rolls as one worse than they otherwise would be. There are no additional benefits. This play is unique in that this takes effect whether or not it was the first play performed by these characters. The effects can also stack if you're insane enough to try to act it out twice.