The League magical traditions

Theatre is a vital part of League society, and theatrical groups called Troupes are common. From the most bombastic performances in lavish theatre houses to the simplest productions performed in the streets themselves – the Catazarri in particular love spectacle and little is more spectacular than Catazarri theatre. In part this is due to the common use of magic by a Troupe’s performers. Most of this magic is simple stage tricks, but skilled performers use expensive magical powders to produce a flash of smoke or a burst of sound; and the best can weave quite literally enchanting performances. Quite how many members of a Troupe can perform actual magic is a closely kept secret. A Troupe demands every bit as much loyalty as any other Camorra and discretion about the abilities of the members is considered just another part of the rules. Whether producing a performance of Scillio’s "The Fallen Herald" or attempting a dangerous ritual by command of a Merchant Prince, every member of a Troupe will usually play a part.

To the League, magic is a commodity like any other. Although Orison lays claim to the secrets of grand power and treat it with great dignity, in the League it is the money of a wealthy patron that pays for that dignity. As such, the show a Troupe put on is as important to their reputation as the results they produce. The performers weave knots in time as well as space, drawing influences from the past to spread their patron’s influence in the future. They must make a show of invoking symbols of plenty and prosperity, as much because a Merchant Princess enjoys watching a bravura performance as because it’s important to the ritual. A troupe will guard their Facio masks carefully. It is well known that masks have power - when one knots the ties on a mask in order to perform enchantment, one does not simply wear a piece of cloth or leather or paper, one is wearing the combined weight of all the stories told about that character; and all the stories than can yet be told. Many mages know this; and the notion of taking on a character for the purposes of ritual is well established. The most famous masks in Catazarria are in the Facio Hall, in the Armetto Theatre house, on Sarvos. These masks are old and in some cases, nothing special to look at, but they are exceptionally potent in the hands of a skilled performer.

Rivalry between theatre troupes is famously intense as every troup is forced to compete for the patronage of the most powerful Camorra. Feuds are commonplace and performers have been murdered for changing troupe or even for a bad performance. Open violence is usually restrained but public duels between performers are the norm when an opening night is approaching. Such matches always draw a fine crowd as performers are expected to retort and riposte at the same time.

The numerous troupes of the League cities would have you believe that there is no other traditions of magic in the cities, but this is far from true. There is an underclass of street-mage known as Dilettantes - a derogatory term first used by the Troupes that many of these street mages have reclaimed for themselves as a badge of pride. Their rough magic is more immediate and improvised, with neither troupe or patron, performed on street corners; and most Dilettantes are part conjurer, part con-artist, with a widely-held reputation for being crooks and scoundrels - or so the Troupes would have you believe. Then, at the top of the social pyramid, there are the Mage-Princes who weave their knots in formal dance. Not every League mage is a born performer, but most can learn a few simple steps; and the courtly dances have a power all of their own, weaving knots of people, binding the magic into them, following patterns danced in the same way for hundreds of years. The storyteller Julio Martinette once hinted that the ruin of the drowned streets of Caricomare was brought about by a dance - although quite how, he never elaborated.