[ SEMI-OPEN ] MEDIUM, LIVE!

[knightscode]

Date: 17th to 31st of October, inclusive!
Plot: Medium, Live!
Areas: Manchester for the pre-London show, then Greenwich




Worldwide phenomenon Sarah Silverton is coming to London. The British Born psychic, medium and all round lady of the supernatural is doing a special tour ending with a Halloween show in the enormous setting of the O2 arena.

She's booked out the placed, too, tickets are sold out. They weren't exactly cheap, either.

Silverton has plenty of critics, but nobody can deny that she does put on a good show. Some put it down to publicity stunts, but every time she takes over a stage there always seem to be mysterious problems. Lights flickering, sound problems, all sorts of spooky goings on while stage hands swear blind they didn't touch anything. There have even been some who quit because they couldn't take it any more, claiming members of Sarah's team must have been deliberating interfering to draw crowds.

It's no surprise, then, that the Night Council has taken any interest. With the reports of strange goings on escalating (including a falling piece of set in one show that caused injury to one unsuspecting audience member) they've launched a full investigation. While most believe Silverton to be a fraud simply putting together elaborate stunts to sell tickets, any chance that she's a real member of the community flagrantly breaking the Statute of Secrecy must be addressed. Lancelot is charged with putting together a team and investigating carefully. Sarah Silverton is a celebrity, and they can't risk drawing attention to themselves in the process or causing any kind of public scandal. They have just over two weeks until her live show in London, and a lot of work to get done....

[ ooc; Post for the medium, live! plot. Still time to sign up if you want! Spooky content likely, in the spirit of Halloween. ]

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RECRUITMENT;

[knightscode]

Lancelot knows as soon as the files are dumped on his desk that this is going to be a problem.

If even the slightest hint of this investigation being in process reaches the papers they'll have a media frenzy, and if Silverton's security and PR team step up they'll never get within a foot of her.

Lancelot knows he'll need a range of skills, then. They'll need to pull all the records on her first, see what they can dig up in her past, then see what they can find out about the set up of her shows. If she's ordering a hundred stage hands with instructions to levitate things and radios for people to feed her answers then they might have an answer there.

It's probably worth seeing if someone can get close enough to try and sense something off her, too. Lancelot doesn't trust his bluff skills enough to do it himself, but there are a few people he can ask.

[ ooc; For everyone who signed up -- you can either have Lancelot approach your character someone he'd know they'd hang out, or have them already aware what the issue is and being pointed to him. He can meet them in the Night Council offices, or somewhere of their choosing if they'd rather not go there! ]

MANCHESTER;

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The sold out Manchester performance is in a theatre more traditional than the O2 arena, and it's buzzing with excitement. The crowd is a mixture of fervent believers and people who are already two drinks in and hoping to amuse themselves. The believers are quite sure she has special powers, some specify from god but others more generally. None of the doubters have a clear answer how she does thinks. Plants people in the audience? Special effects? Light tricks? They're certain its a hoax, but can't tell you how.

By the time everyone is ushered in the atmosphere is thick with anticipation, and there's an eruption of of applause as she finally comes on stage. Sarah Silverton is a woman in her 50s with wild dark hair and neatly lined eyes. Her dress glimmers in the stage lights and she moves with confidence, practised at being the focus of attention.

"My name is Sarah Silverton, and you -- all of you are my guests tonight. Some of you believe, some of you doubt. By the end of tonight you will all know the truth. You cannot deny what you see with your own eyes. My gift came to me at a young age. It made me different, it made me weird. I didn't understand it at first, understand why I had to be different. Standing here tonight, I know why. This gift was given to me so I could help all of you. I can feel your pain. I know that you have suffered. But you're here now. Let's start."

The show has the elements of any good psychic show -- sick people, people worried about dead relatives, emotional vamping by getting the audience to cheer and believe. Silverton is a good performer, she has a clear voice and certainly seems to believe in what she does.

Reading the show is a little harder. At least one or two people she calls up are plants, but not all of them are. There might be something else to it, they might have been feeding Silverton information in some way, but their emotions are real -- and there's something else.

The show is far from short of drama, but not all of it is just Silverton's preaching. The lights all flicker, dim brighten with her emotional displays. A few blow out at dramatic moments. It could be stage theatrics, but the air is thick with magic. The whole theatre feels alive with it. The lighting bars tremble and creak, the emergency exit lights flicker on and off, and they definitely shouldn't unless someone is flagrantly breaking the law for cheap drama. A few people look genuinely frightened and bolt from the theatre.

For those who stay, though, there's a VIP champagne meet and greet afterwards. Silverton turns up about five minutes in, and she's happy to chat. Some subtle security makes sure it stays just chatting.

LONDON; INVESTIGATIONS

[knightscode]

Sarah Silverton is apparently planning an autobiography, but unfortunately for everyone concerned she hasn't written it yet. A little piecing together of old stories reveals she did spend her childhood in the southeast, moved to the midlands at some point. That she claims she has been gifted for as long as she remembers. There are stories of varying credulity from her childhood of the time she saw the ghost of someone's dead grandmother, of experiences she's had -- and more than a few news reports of strange goings on during her live performances. They seem to be more frequent over the years, and there are even one or two reports of injuries from falling equipment.

As a celebrity Sarah Silverton of course has a twitter account, facebook, a website -- all kept well up to date. It makes her a little easier to track, although not as specifically as might be preferred. Needless to say it doesn't take long to figure out she'll be checking in to the Radisson Blu Edwardian just across the river from the O2 arena, and taking the penthouse suite. At over £600 a night, she must be doing well for herself.