hippodromes | INFO • WIP

WORLD INFO

Set in a heavily steampunk-inspired fantasy setting, the epicenter of this story is the city, Capital of the country, Valleyway. The country functions under Victorian-esque rules and norms. As such, work and home is strictly divided between the genders, so that men dominate the job market and women are expected to function as wives, mothers and daughters at home. In Valleyway, the story goes that only men are born as magic wielders in one of five categories (Levitators who can move and manipulate physical objects with their mind, Seers who can exercise some mind control, read Auras or sense if people are lying, Articulators who can conjure up things with words as well as send magical messages and Alchemists who can turn things into precious metals, most notably gold through touch or, finally, as Priests who can wield all four types of magic at once). One of the few occupations an unmarried woman's allowed to have, is to perform as an actress at the Hippodrome where an all-female troupe simply called the Theatre performs their musical plays. Both male and female roles are covered by girls between the age of 16 and 25 who've been trained at the adjoining school. Usually there are about two dozens actresses working in the troupe at any given time. The Theatre is insanely popular with the general populace who love the big-scale retellings of Valleyway's legends and mythology.

CHARACTER INFO

Rose-Hip, commonly called Rose, is 24 years old. This is important, because she is one of the oldest actresses to have ever been leading the Theatre. She has survived the tenure of her first male roleplayer, Ivy and is being rumored to maybe even survive her second, Winter-Moon Vanelin, who's retiring within the coming year, Rose will soon have been a leading actress for the Theatre for a formerly unheard of three years. Her personal popularity, her acting talents praised as her selling point, as well as the Lohm family's high standing in Capital's society has helped her keep her position, but more than anything, Rose's just more willing than most to do anything it takes to stay free and unmarried, something her work as an actress allows her. While she works hard to put performances on stage at the Hippodrome, she works twice as hard at home to live authentically and without being subject to a man she can't and doesn't love. Moon and she have been lovers for the majority of their run together, something that is kept extremely secret, but now the other woman, one year younger than Rose, is getting married to a rich Alchemist who sponsors the Theatre and works for the Board and it's breaking Rose's heart. Herself, Rose has been engaged to the Alchemist, Grebe Varent, for almost two years and although he has been patient and tried to respect her wish to remain in the Theatre, he is getting impatient. Time is running out for her, and she knows it.