Encounter ideas for next Haiku of Horror

[Gamer Printshop]

With the successful release of my Haiku of Horror: Autumn Moon Bath House, I need to start working on my next release. As voted by several of my Facebook page, my next iconic location and release is Haiku of Horror: Floating World Kabuki Theater.

I am looking for interesting ideas for a complex encounter. How would you develop the following?

The product will feature fully laid out floor plans for a typical kabuki theater, a detailed explanation concerning the art of kabuki, stated NPCs of actors, stage crew, theater owner, key members in the audience at the time of the show, and the stats for attacking PCs.

My thoughts: while kabuki plays often depict important cultural sagas and tragedies (which Kaidan has too many), one of the other favorites of the audience are political parady plays that poke fun at local authorities in ongoing scandals at court. Since kabuki actors are the superstars of entertainment in Kaidan, they can get away with this, more than anyone else attempting to do so.

So I picture a famous kabuki actor (bard) expected to parady a local magistrate. However after the last parody show, the actor received an anonymous death threats, purportly sent by the parodied individual, and a conflict is predicted for the next show. One of the available plot hooks is that the owners of the theater will approach the party as mercenaries for hire, in the audience to watch for and prevent a potential an expected assault during the show.

Should the attack be open combat, men rushing on stage to spirit away the actor off-stage, out of the theater, or some other form of attack?

Any cool ideas - I'm looking for an interesting encounter that might feature: assassins, spellcasters, hired thugs or other.

Describe to me a cool encounter that would fit the above situation... please!

GP

PS: I have ideas to present many of these possible Haiku of Horror locations, however, of the Kabuki theater, I'm slightly drawing a blank, yet it was the site voted on as what I should do next - I need your help!

[Steerpike]

Is Kabuki in Kadain all-female (as it was originally), all-male, or mixed?

As an alternative to a "protect the actor/actress" scenario the Haiku could be a simple murder-mystery where someone is killed onstage and the characters have to find out who (the magistrate the actor was satirizing?  A jealous personal rival?  A spurned lover/customer?).

Another alternative: the Haiku revolves around a supernatural/cursed play, or a play in which local spirits decide to take part.  Think The King in Yellow and Neil Gaiman's A Midsummer Night's Dream except with Yokai and Kabuki.  The theatre becomes much more than a theatre for a brief period of time, as actors and audience are drawn into the spirits' machinations.

[Gamer Printshop]

While I will discuss the origins of kabuki, including the fact that kabuki was originally all female actor/prostitutes running shows on dry river beds as a means of inviting clients to partake of their "other services." However, in an attempt to keep within more common cultural norms, Kaidan, like Japan banned women actors from kabuki and now it is a male only activity. I will also point out that it is common for kabuki male actors to be prostitutes as well.

I like the A Midsummer Night's Dream concept with yokai and kabuki idea better than my premise. Now for more ideas to develop that - note this is only for an encounter that could potentially serve as a plot hook or building material for an entire module based on this premise. The Haiku of Horror is intended to be an exciting iconic location, with an included encounter as a potential adventure site - so I don't need an entire module's worth, just enough to offer a premise for a GM to do as they want.

I'm sure I've got the creativity to develop your alternative ideas, but what ideas do you have to develop it, I am interested to know - the more options I have the better product I can release.

Incidentally, while in Japan last, I attended a show of all female actress/entertainers that weren't kabuki per se, but something else (new?) and was an interesting opportunity that I witnessed.

Edit: there's a King and I type story from Japanese lore involving a past emperor of Japan and his favorite consort, until it was discovered that the heroine was actually a kitsune using her magic to seduce the emperor, while giving him sound advice - however, the discovery of her true nature forced her to escape being hunted by bands of revenging samurai. Perhaps the actor portraying the kitsune, is of course an actual kitsune-tsukai (kitsune witch) manipulating the play so that she wins this time... one thought anyway.

[Gamer Printshop]

Haiku of Horror: Autumn Moon Bath House got a 10/10 review from Roleplayer's Chronicle - not bad for the first review of my first authored product. I'm dancin'!

Edit: Endzeitgeist has just given this a 4.5/5 star review!

Edit#2: I just got invited to do an Email interview with Cape Rust from Roleplayer's Chronicle - who did the first review above. Anything to help get the word out is a good thing!