The Dark Lady’s Chase

A Dark Lady looked down from the highest of dawn shadowed spires and marvelled at what transpired below her. Loud, raucous youths and stealthy adults fanned like fallen wheat to stalk a single black figure through the streets. They ran through alleys, looked behind carts and tried to outwit their prey. It wasn’t very difficult to evade them until a young boy, dark around the eyes and light of purse caught scent of the runner. The prey ran hard, loping along the pitch dark roads only steps ahead of pursuit. So fast and close was their run that both lost count of how many times they tumbled over one another, flailing with no sound but strangled breathing..
Cornered in an alley far from the beginning of his course, an old man pulled the veils from around his face and looked the young boy in the eye. “Ye made it this far, but try an’ take me token. I dare ye, ye river rat. Come get it!”
The boy with the dark eyes and hollow cheeks addressed his elder slowly with deliberate pause, “I took it four blocks ago…”
Jaechem cocked an eye at the boy, digging in his costume and coming up empty. “Well I’ll be damned, boy. Damned indeed. Why did ye keep on chasin’ me? Near killed me wit’ activity!”
“I wanted to see if I could catch you… or if you’d die of heart pains before giving up.” The boy levelled a grin at the old man, and took off, losing himself in the streets.
The Dark Lady watched her chosen run free and her Keeper making his way back to the gathering. Horns howled in the distance. And she smiled. “Run little one, run like so many before you. Run until nobody remembers you were here…Run until you are safe, and all forget the wrath you will carry back on your wings.”

Organizer:
The Dark Lady’s Chase is sponsored by many of Corvis’ clothiers and textile groups. Arranged and orchestrated by the Corvis Spinner’s Auxiliary, it is an annual function with open invitation. The Corvis Spinner’s Auxiliary is composed of women of all ages from all walks life. At one of their nightly spinning sessions it would not be uncommon to see a skillful refugee from the countryside handling loom with a rich merchant’s wife.

Rumours persist among lower textile merchants and clothiers that many of the Auxiliary’s members are wife or daughter to a city Guildsman. Braver rumourmongers would tell you that these gentle ladies could grind the textile mills and all weaving to a halt with pillow-whispered threats.

Description:
The Chase is such a long running tradition that few remember it’s origin at all. The most commonly agreed upon anniversary being 18 years which only receives enigmatic smiles from event organizers. Many details are kept secret to preserve mysteriousness and heighten the experience for new attendees. When asked directly, the ladies of the Spinner’s Auxiliary will only tell you this: “It celebrates the ingenuity and stamina of Corvis’ citizens to persevere against all odds.”

The first activity begins before dawn by candlelight with a crowd gathering at a marked street corner in the Industrial bourg. At first sign of dawn, a black-clad figure appears from an alley in a cloud of alchemical smoke. Swathed in veils over a tawdry black gown to hide any sign of gender, they don’t speak a word as everyone is told to snuff their candles. This time is filled with the ticking of watches, and the mistress of ceremonies lights a candle at precisely one minute. This is the signal for the Chase to begin, the figure long gone in the industrial maze.

Whoever finds the runner first receives the year’s token, holding the secret for the entirety of a year before the next chase when they will become the runner. The contestants are called in by a loudhorn and last year’s winner steps free of the crowd in normal garb to present the Mistress of Ceremonies with last year’s token. This token is strung around their neck in a small ceremony that entitles them to join the panel of dour merchants and scruffy vagabonds that have won in previous years. Each panel member is hereto entitled a Keeper of the Secret. In the odd case that someone should tell the secret within the year (only twice on record) they are shunned from this event as if they didn’t exist, totally ignored even if they show up.

The day’s second activity is one of reserved repast with observers watching the sun reach its zenith from the comfort of the Spinner’s Auxiliary meeting hall. A hearty lunch awaits anyone that comes to the tea garden, prepared by the Auxiliary’s membership. [The Corvis Spinner’s Auxiliary is located by the North Gate in the Merchant’s bourg, across the way from Garworth’s Arcane Emporium.]
The third and arguably most anticipated part of the Chase comes with nightfall and the lighting of Corvis’ street lamps. One of the city’s many industrial storehouses is lent to the Auxiliary for this one day a year and it is transformed into a palatial ballroom. The location of the masquerade is firmly kept secret until its signature lanterns are lit just outside the doors. Street urchins and the city’s poor have been known to find out its location shortly after the lighting and sell whispered hints in the Quad for a few farthings. The Auxiliary has never openly discouraged this to anyone’s knowledge, although the city guard doesn’t appreciate this spontaneous untaxed business. Groups of Corvis’ citizens have been lost in a drunken haze for hours before finding out where the party is due to mischievously worded hints.

It all begins with a feast in honour of runners past. They each get a chance to speak their piece if they wish and take the first dances. Once picked mostly clean, the food is pushed aside and musicians from all over the city congregate in one corner to improvise the night’s music. After dancing for hours, the festivities end with the best costumed dancers being presented with a promissory letter for clothing at famed tailors and seamstresses. The only restriction to these gifts is that the outfits must be made from black fabric.

Midnight chimes ring out the end of the ball, sending attendees home or out for further merriment. The crowd rarely gets above a dull roar from unspoken rules of propriety, but once let outside they fill the streets with laughter and gaiety until sunrise.

Social Crowd:
The crowds at the Chase’s activities are spirited and most are clothed in costumes ranging from expensive jewel-encrusted gowns to scraps of material fit together with maniacal logic. Chasers are often filled with paranoid curiosity in the morning before the unveiling of the runner, soothed and at ease over lunch, only to enter the evening masquerade with painted and masked faces protecting each fragile reputation. This means that a demonic looking crime lord might dance with a merchant’s wife while her husband spends his time dancing with a gaily clad lady of ill repute. Rich merchants will spend money all year with tailors preparing to mimic last year’s rogue prince.

Crowd Examples:

• A woman of early adulthood (it can be presumed) is dressed in a smattering of skin-tight mismatched blue patches. Each patch is cut roughly and held together by stitched threads that expose bits of the skin hidden below. She wears a blue-accented white porcelain mask and has dozens of blue dyed feathers wound into locks of her long raven hair.
• A towering man at six and a half feet of height glowers in the garb of a red-hewn demon while resting in his shadow is the petite form of an older lady in an eye-mask and black gown. Her form is simple, every now and then disappearing in her suitor's shadow. This often leaves the eye to wonder if she is there or if you imagined her entirely.

Adventure Hooks:

• Father Dumas of the Church of Morrow approaches the players to humbly ask their assistance for one night. He wants the party to take in The Dark Lady’s Chase and keep an eye on its participants. Suspicions have been raised that a Thamarite has infiltrated the Spinner’s Auxiliary, an infestation that could lead to immoral and economically damaging possibilities. He doesn’t seem to be bothered by the suggested history of smuggling witches -- the church is not intolerant of those innocently persecuted -- but having people smuggled to the breast of Thamar doesn’t appeal to his higher nature.
• During the morning’s Chase, the runner and his/her pursuer turn up dead. Members of the Spinner’s Auxiliary cordon off some of the players in an alley afterward to ask their assistance based on reputation. (A good way to bring a party together from a crowd.) This might lead to a group of Griffin gang thugs fighting it out over their loot in a back alley, or chasing a mysterious assassin into the Undercity. Much of the chase takes place in the darkness of early morning, and the industrial district has many places to hide. This can go for thugs and pickpockets as well.
• A rumour hits the street that at the noon repast someone poisoned the morning’s winner, exposing him and his token to the crowd in the process when the body was checked. Who might have done it? A mystery to be sure.
  

By: Christopher L Drake

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