It was well past the time when players would have performed, past the receptions and parties, even past the hour in which the last drunk stumbled down the cobblestone street. These inebriated merrymakers were never many, but always too loud, singing half remembered lyrics to an almost identifiable melody. Even the echo of their song had faded at this late hour. It was so late that it verged on early, yet there was no hint of dawn; the darkness of a summer night clung to the world in a torrid tryst, entangling itself with shadows. And unlike the strangely cacophonous gardens and foliage that surrounded the playhouse, with it’s chirping crickets, buzzing insects, and owls who asked questions from the waning moon; the night itself seemed to hold it’s breath within the Gilded Lily.
In the thick silence and heavy black of night, a shadow danced silently along the battens and catwalks, up in what might have been the rafters if it weren’t for the nature of the building. It drifted between support beams and ropes, and glided to the second floor hall, a seemingly weightless specter. And when no longer aloft, it crept from one inky shadow to the next. Without illumination the space it occupied might be indistinguishable from empty darkness.
Word had it the proprietor, Councilman Stefan Berdini, was a clever man and knowing this inspired unparalleled caution in someone entering without permission and lurking about the place.
Offices ought to have been unoccupied, but still a pause was given to listen. First, a patient crouch in the safety of a shadow, concentrating on the slightest sound from the hall and stairs. Then, what may have been a hooded head, pressed gingerly at a door. When nothing was heard and the door itself had been examined, the knob was slow turned and all the treasures of a broom closet revealed.
Rumor or insight also suggested that the building held it’s share of secrets, though where exactly they were, had, apparently, not been disclosed.
Somehow, even without a lantern, objects were throughly examined, shelves were lifted, and walls caressed to rule out seams or questionable solidity. Honestly, it seemed excessive. But without a clearer direction of what needed to be found, and with the purpose of finding well-hidden secrets, every surface would be scrutinized.