Act 2, Scene 2: Flashback: Objection!

RATS

TECH PREROLL

LX-0099 Work Light OFF (Static Playbacks)

LX-0099 STANDBY for GO, T2, sharpies O light #18, backdrop L7C blue light #19

Check Levels
Unmute Desk

Puppeteer1: ON

DIALOG

STANDBY Stage left [1, 1st, off]: None

STANDBY Stage left [1, 2nd, off]: None

STANDBY Stage right [7, 1st, off]: Guard_1, Guard_2

STANDBY Stage right [7, 2nd, off]: Soldier_1, Inok'bana, Herald, Soldier_2

STANDBY Stage: Yan'ano, Zil'iya and Fah'ima at around [6, 1st], Audience_1, Audience_2, Audience_3, Audience_4 at around [2, 1st]

Curtain - stay closed.

Narration - Tim'ofej and Yan'ano are in bed.

Tim'ofej: "Hey, Yan ... you still wanted to tell me the story how your sister became the Queen."

Yan'ano: "Oh, that's a very long story ... if you still want to get some sleep tonight, we should probably postpone that to tomorrow."

Tim'ofej: "Oh come one! You've been teasing me all day! How am I supposed to sleep WITHOUT it?"

Yan'ano (chuckles): "Fair enough. But just the beginning, okay? I'm really quite tired already."

Tim'ofej: "Fire away!"

Yan'ano: "So, this story began many many decades ago, when it was still the Mages Guild's job to find those who were born with the gift of magic, and give them the proper education. Zil'iya and I had both been accepted into the guild, which made mother very happy. There was barely any field a mage wasn't welcome to put their skills to use in. Having a mage in your family gave you a lot of benefits, including special protection by the royal court. And we had two!"

Tim'ofej: "That's fascinating, seeing how today, magic is basically treated as the root of all evil."

Yan'ano: "Magic is neither good nor evil. People are. But I digress. So my sister and I were living our happy, innocent lives, until one day, mother took us to the marketplace near the gate to the upper city, where an important announcement was to be made ..."

LX-0000 T2 near, mid, far, backdrop und sharpie fade-in

Open the Curtain.

Curtain - open

AMB-2201 - Rural Ambience
SND-2201 - Crowd Chatter

LX-2200 Day

LX-2201 Tazer prep

Yan'ano, Zil'iya and Fah'ima are waiting for the announcement around [6, 1st].

Audience_1, Audience_2, Audience_3 and Audience_4 are waiting for the announcement around [2, 1st].

Yan'ano: "So what do YOU think are they going to announce? Has King Say finally kicked the bucket?"

Zil'iya: "All bets are off."

Fah'ima: "There hasn't been any news for almost a month, what else could it be."

Yan'ano: "Maybe they'll announce his recovery!"

Fah'ima: "I don't think so. And to be honest, I don't hope so."

Zil'iya: "Why all the spite? Hasn't the realm been doing pretty well under his rule?"

Fah'ima: "I have my reasons. But I'm bound by oath."

Yan'ano: "Uh-Oh ... Now that sounds mysterious ..."

Zil'iya: "An oath to king Say? You never mentioned that before! "

Fah'ima looks at Yan'ano and Zil'iya, earnestly, getting close, and speaking very softly.

Fah'ima: "You'll get to know all about it soon enough, believe me."

Herald and Inok'bana enter the platform from [7, 2nd], flanked by Soldier_1 and Soldier_2 in colorful fantasy parade uniforms carrying big fanfare trumpets.

Soldier_1 [5.5, 2nd], Inok'bana [4.5, 2nd], Herald [3.5, 2nd] and Soldier_2 [2.5, 2nd] assume their positions in this order on the platform around [4, 2nd], and Herald holds a scroll to read the announcement from.

Herald clears his throat.

Soldier_1 and Soldier_2 blow their trumpets, playing an attention signal.

SND-2202-Tröööööt
SND-2203-Crowd Silence

Herald unrolls a scroll, and proceeds to read from it.

Herald: "Hear thee, hear thee! It is with great sadness that the Palace of Shan'eno announces, that King Say'ake-Sen, who retired to rest last night in his usual fashion, passed away peacefully in his sleep after weeks of declining health early this morning. The Chamber of Lords and the Guild of Mages have met for consultation and decided that theatres and music halls shall remain closed for the rest of the week and flags are to be put on half staff. Plans for a funeral are being prepared and will be announced no later than tomorrow evening. Furthermore, as for the question of succession, the King himself has left us with a very clear order on how to proceed. For this, I shall hand over to arch mage Inok'bana, leader of the Mages' Guild and the Academy of the Arcane!"

Herald lowers the scroll.

SND-2204 - Applause

Inok'bana: "Cherished society! Afore going into the pulverant minutiae of sociopolitical ramifications and other sesquipedalian loquacities, let us coadunate in an instance of reticense to bereave the expiration of our venerated monarch."

PRE-2201- Audience: "Huh? Wut? The froog?"

Herald: "A moment of silence for the King!"

PRE-2202- Audience: "Ahhhh ..."

Moment of Silence.

Inok'bana: "Much obliged. King Say'ake-Sen has bestowed us with a colossal conundrum: Owed to the premature chronology of our queen consort's succumbment to the rat plague, the Ake-Sen's progeny has been left discontinued. Descendants of higher consanguinity simultaneously remain elusive by virtue of the third Bren'ozian hostilities and the related decimation."

PRE-2203- Audience: "Whaaaat?"

Herald: "No children, no cousins, no idea what to do."

PRE-2204-Audience: "Ahhhh.... *moment of silence*"

Inok'bana: "Antecedently to his untimely departure, his majesty ceremoniously relegated to the Guild of Mages the province of investigating his succession, proclaiming yours truly the lawful steward of the realm of Sen'ayda, until at any time henceforth, an applicable inheritor may be recognized. I magnanimously accept this incumbency entrusted to myself, and testify to attentively implement my new profession as the interim representative of Sen'ayda."

PRE-2205-Audience: "Erm ... yeah... wut ... the heck ..."

Herald: "The Mages' Guild now has the job to find a successor, and this guy here will be your substitute king until that happens."

PRE-2206-Audience: "Ahhhh ..."

Audience_1, Audience_2, Audience_3, Audience_4 = Audience applauds!

SND-2210-Applause!

Herald looks at his scroll again.

Herald: "The chamber of lords give their best wishes to the Mages' Guild and Inok'bana and are of course going to fully support them in their search, although it seems obvious that we are at a head of a laborious investigation that will likely take years, if not decades or even centuries to complete ..."

Fah'ima: "OBJECTION!"

SND-2211-Audience Reaction

Herald: "Huh?"

Fah'ima: "I SAID ... OBJECTION!!! That's noble speak for BULLSHIT!"

Zil'iya: "Mom, what the hell are you doing?"

Fah'ima climbs up on the edge of the platform at [5, 2nd].

Fah'ima: "Your search is over before it even began! The next of kin you're looking for is standing right there in front of you: Zil'iya, daughter of yours truly, Fah'ima the shoemaker and the late King of Sen'ayda!"

Audience is outraged.

SND-2212-Audience Reaction

Zil'iya: "WHAT?"

Yan'ano: "HOLY SHIT!"

Zil'iya: "Like ... WHAT?!"

Fah'ima: "Nearly twenty years ago, while the queen consort was lying down sick with the rat plague, his majesty had developed a habit of going to mingle with the commoners of the city in disguise and wallow in vice. At the time, I was working as a waitress at the Kitten and The Rooster, where we had an encounter that ultimately ended with me bearing the King's bastard child. He forced me to swear an oath to never reveal our dark secret, under penalty of death. But now that the King is no more, I am no longer bound to my promise. My daughter, the King's daughter, Zil'iya-Sen is the rightful heir to the throne of the realm!"

SND-2213-Audience Reaction

Herald: "Get the hell off my stage you senile crone!"

Soldier_1 KICKS Fah'ima off the stage.

Fah'ima: "Aaaaaargh!"

SND-2214-Audience Reaction

Fah'ima crashes down at [6, 2nd] next to the platform.

Zil'iya: "MOM!"

Herald: "So, uhmmm were was I ... ah yes! Laborious investigations that will likely take years, if not decades or even centuries to complete! CENTURIES!"

Fah'ima stands right back up and climbs back on the platform, carrying her rolling pin in hand.

Fah'ima threatens Herald with her rolling pin.

Fah'ima: "Don't you dare touch me again, young man!"

Herald: "Uhm ..."

Fah'ima addresses the audience once more.

Fah'ima: "People! Don't you see what an obvious power grab this is? If we allow this guy to rule until they find someone to their liking ... what reason would they have to even TRY? NONE! They just literally gave themselves an excuse to rule forever! Zil'iya-Sen however is the legitimate queen of Sen'ayda and I am not going to ... GARGH! HRRRGN!"

SND-2216-Audience Reaction
SND-2216B-Telekinesis

Inok'bana gestures towards Fah'ima, casting telekinesis.

Fah'ima reaches for her own throat, as if being strangled by an invisible pair of hands. She can no longer breathe.

Inok'bana lifts her up Darth Vader style as he begins to speak.

Inok'bana (angry): "Who do you deem yourself to represent?! How dare you to contradict the sovereign's order?! If you have any erudition pertinent to the case, you will compose your sentiments on a piece of paper, and remit them to the steward's office during its designated operating hours, as is customary, and the Guild shall reflect on them contemporarily. And should you decide to inflict any more controversy, bethink that I have now both the ability and the authority to dislocate your cranium by the flick of my claw. Do you comprehend?"

Zil'iya: "*screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaammmms*"

Audience startles and steps away from Zil'iya, including Yan'ano.

Zil'iya: "LEAVE MY MOTHER ALONE! SHE HASN'T DONE ANYTHING TO YOU!"

Zil'iya casts four air vortexes at the group on the platform.

RATS - Air Vortex Sound
SND-2216C - Audience Reaction

Inok'bana, Herald, Soldier_1 and Soldier_2 all get caught by surprise and fall backwards off the stage towards [2, 2nd].

Guard_1, Guard_2 = Guards armed with spears appear from [7, 1st], shooing the Audience away, and blocking the right and left "stairs" to the stage so nobody unauthorized can get off or on any more.

Fah'ima drops to the stage floor, gasping for air.

Zil'iya storms the stage.

Zil'iya: "Mom ... mom! Are you alright?"

Fah'ima (broken): "Sorry for not telling you earlier ... I couldn't ... I just couldn't!"

LX-2202 Tazer

Fah'ima and Zil'iya are suddenly hit by a lightning strike with a strobe effect, and completely paralyzed.

SND-2217 - Magic Tazer

Inok'bana storms back on stage.

Herald, Soldier_1 and Soldier_2 stand back around [2, 2nd] for now, weary of what is happening.

Inok'bana: "You imbecilic muttonheads! Come here!"

SND-2218 - YANK!

Inok'bana jerks Fah'ima and Zil'iya towards himself.

Inok'bana: "Observe, Zil'iya! You shall be expelled from the Guild of Mages for the rest of your life. You have diverged from the very precept you swore to uphold when you were accepted into our ranks, and you are no longer entitled to the privilege of our patronage. And you, Fah'ima, shall face punishment for your crime. To the dungeon with you! GUARDS! Get them out of my sight!"

SND-2219 - Throw
SND-2220 - Audience Reaction

Inok'bana tosses the two in front of the guards near [6, 1st] like two sacks of potatoes, and leaves to somewhere behind the stage beyond [7, 2nd].

Guards drag Fah'ima and Zil'iya off beyond [7, 1st].

Herald gets back onto the platform.

Herald: "This concludes today's announcement! Long live the realm, long live Inok'bana!"

PRE-2206 - Everyone: "Long live the realm, long live Inok'bana!"

SND-2222 - Applause!

Herald leaves the platform at [7, 2nd].

The Audience and everyone else goes about their normal daily business again

The marketplace grows eerily quiet

Yan'ano is now suddenly alone.

Yan'ano (shocked): "What ... what just happened ..."

Yan'ano has a hard time processing what he has just seen.

Yan'ano climbs on stage, spots a little spot of blood on the floor, and wipes it off with his hand.

Yan'ano looks at the blood on his paw.

Yan'ano: "What an injustice. What a disgrace. My dear sister! I swear that I will do everything in my power to help you claim your rightful place on the throne of Sen'ayda!"

Yan'ano raises his bloody paw to the sky

Yan'ano (shouting in anger): "By our mothers blood!"

LX-0099 Lights out

AMB-2201 FADE

Close the Curtain.

Curtain - close

LX-0099 Work Light ON

Microphone handover from ROLE to OTHER ROLE