The music rises, a clamor of brass with eerie flute rising over it to suggest celestial melodies. The curtains open, sliding smoothly on the rail that runs from one of the stage buildings to the other, and behind it, oil lamps illuminate a city scene. The shadows give its streets depth and substance despite the fact that they're really painted flats that run on clockwork machinery under the stage. While some theaters pay a pretty penny for sorcerers to use real magic to enhance their productions, you know from Diar that the Odeon's manager prefers to rely on mechanical effects.
To a final fanfare, Diar enters from the left in an antique and stylized scholar's robe, striking a dramatic pose and gesturing toward the heavens. "The stars show us strange faces tonight. What could the comet that has appeared in the night sky portend?"