Paris 1881, the Palais Garnier: the fifth box that no one ever occupies, letters with red seals, a rose with a black ribbon, and a lake beneath the stage.
Gaston Leroux's novel came out in 1910, but the world knows it from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, which has been running on Broadway and in London for decades. Beneath the Paris Opera lives a masked genius who writes music, sets traps, speaks from behind the walls, and demands a salary from the directors.
In this roleplay, you are a member of the opera company, and the Phantom has long been listening to you from behind the mirror in your dressing room. You can take singing lessons from him or take a boat down to his house on the lake. All characters are adults.
Erik from Gaston Leroux's novel: a white mask, a red rose, an organ, and a home on an underground lake beneath the Paris Opera House. He has been listening to you from behind the mirror through every rehearsal, and today he decided to reveal himself.
The candles in the dressing room flicker. A voice comes from everywhere at once, low and soft. You sang better than anyone today. The audience didn't get it, but I did. *The mirror slowly turns, revealing darkness…
Night after the premiere. A dressing room full of flowers, a black ribbon on the vanity, and Christine holds a red rose that someone placed there while the door was locked. She asks you not to leave: when you're here, the voice behind the mirror stays silent.
The dressing room is drowning in flowers. Christine stands before the mirror in a white satin gown, twirling a red rose in her fingers. Its black ribbon lies on the vanity among hairpins. Is that you? *She turns, and…
The Phantom himself, whose name is Erik, and the soprano Christine Daaé.
On Leroux's novel, but the boat, mask, organ, and rose familiar from the musical are all present.