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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stormonu" data-source="post: 9794799" data-attributes="member: 52734">It's me again:Palaise de Operium (based loosely on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_Garnier" target="_blank">Palais Garnier</a>):  Commissioned by the royal family, this grand opera house stands atop Hackwark Hill and it is considered that both ends of the Grand Road were built to lead up to its courtyard.  The opera house itself is over 500,000 square feet, standing five stories tall and capable of hosting four operas in its main galleys at the same time.  The bottom two stories hold a mix of state rooms, ballrooms, private concession areas (and their kitchens), actor tenements, stage storage and maintenance/service tunnels for the upper galleries.  The northernmost opera gallery is known as the "Royal Gallery" and is the most prestigious and lavishly decorated.  It is reserved for those productions sponsored and favored by the royal family; getting one's play to this gallery is the dream of every playwright in the city.  Shows in this gallery are guaranteed to remain for at least 6 months, with a year not being uncommon.  The other three rotate through shows regularly, lasting between a month to three months.  The Southern gallery is always where new shows are first revealed, while the western gallery is often used for returning shows brought back by popular (or royal) demand.  All of the galleries, except the Northern gallery tend to show 2-3 different shows throughout the day and evening.  It is rare for the Northern gallery to have more than two shows in rotation, usually one in the morning and one in the evening - often with the Northern gallery being dedicated to one show (ran in the evening) per day.The grand courtyard is over double this size and hosts a permanent open-air circus (think more Circus de Sole than Barnum) that acts as a sort of pre-show to the more prominent indoor events.  It is open aired and a popular upscale destination for the common populace.  Up-and-coming composers seek to get their stories on the play stages in this courtyard, hoping for a patron to pick them up and expand their show into a main event in the greater opera theatres.  The Operium enjoys a magical link to the Fire portal, which it employs to both light the courtyard and opera houses as well as power the nightly firework shows.  Overseeing the various fire channels is a council of Efreet bound by mystical oaths to the city's royalty, who are handsomely paid in a steady stream of onyx gems to lessen the likelihood of disobedience of these fiery lords.The well-to-do populace can often found visiting the outer shows, with daytime shows being more family-orientated than the somewhat burlesque nightly shows.  Parties and concessions are common in the outer court, though the stronger alcoholic drinks are only brought out as the sun goes down.Besides running on the funds acquired from the courtyard circus, its primary means of funding is by offering patronages.  Starting at 1,000 gp and going upwards, these patronages allow an individual (and at the higher levels, their entourage) not only access to shows whenever they desire but a "vote" in what shows will be hosted in the various (non-Northern) galleries.  The higher patronages not only count as multiple votes, but allow the patron to suggest (or even write) plays to appear in the galleries.  A third pay option, known as a "gift" acts as sort of one-time patronage, allowing an individual in good standing with the Operium to vote for a particular show or suggest/promote a show to appear in one of the galleries.  Generally, gift prices start at 150 gp and are treated more seriously by the council of the Operium as the price goes up.There are underground entrances to the Operium, designed to accept carriages, for the well-to-do so that they may arrive without spectacle or needing to deal with the common populace that permeates the upper courtyard.  Private showrooms containing artifacts from older, popular performances are on display in the underground complex, as well as meeting rooms where nobles and the wealthy can have meet & greets with the cast and playwrights of the Operium.Tales speak of that amid the mazework of underground passages is a sublevel known only to a handful of the most prominent individuals of the city and the royals.  These hidden rooms are used for private screenings (especially of plays considered unsuitable for more public display) and unorthodox parties whose existence would certainly draw disapproval if their existence was revealed to the public.  The greatest of the stories of this "underworld" speak of an isolated, fiery dungeon where royalty keep prisoner those who most displease them or are too dangerous to allow to walk the city free.  It is also whispered that those with the connections and willing to pay the steep price can have their rivals imprisoned in the dungeon as well.The Operium is run by an elite council of eight established and prestigious playwrights - one of the requirements being that the individual has had at least one show held in the Northern Gallery.  Openings are rare, and openings are only filled by vote of the current members.  A council member usually serves from 8-14 years, though they can be removed early by unanimous vote by the other members - generally a very rare occurrence reserved for those who truly embarrassed the Operium as a whole in some way.</blockquote>

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