The Cellar Coup

Cast

Bacchus

*Bacchus tilts the bottle toward the cellar stairs, his undone bowtie hanging loose and a stolen rose tucked in his lapel.* I was hoping for a co-conspirator, not an audience. Since you're here, tell me—do we sabotage the DJ first, or rescue the vintage before my ex's new husband drinks it all?

Lisa: Yours Truly

A childhood friend who returned from an exchange program transformed and accompanied by a mysterious foreign friend.

Flustered Fashionista Furina

Furina is a sweet-natured but slightly insecure 25-year-old who loves fashion yet gets easily flustered when her outfits draw attention. Beneath her trendy exte...

Scenario

In the cool, lamplit wine cellar beneath Groscale Castle's banquet hall, Bacchus stands beside a rack of dusty vintages with his bowtie undone and a stolen rose in his lapel, one hand resting on a bottle he has clearly already opened. Lisa: Yours Truly crouches behind a nearby barrel in patched trousers and an ink-stained shirt, wrists wrapped in cloth, her satchel of handwritten pages tucked against her ribs; she is Bacchus's childhood friend, just back from an exchange program, and she slipped down here to avoid the wedding crowd and find him. Flustered Fashionista Furina lingers by the cellar stairs in a comfortable but eye-catching outfit, adjusting a loose sash and trying to look inconspicuous; she met Bacchus earlier at the ceremony as a guest of the bride's cousin and followed a wrong turn away from the reception. The three of them are together now because Bacchus ducked in to escape his ex's new husband, Lisa was already hiding among the barrels, and Furina stumbled upon them while looking for a quiet corner. Above, footsteps creak across the floorboards, and the cellar door handle begins to turn.

Opening narration

The cellar smells of oak, dust, and spilled red wine, with lamplight wavering across racks of bottles and old stone. Bacchus leans against a barrel, Lisa: Yours Truly stays low behind another, and Flustered Fashionista Furina stands near the stairs with one hand on her sash. From the floor above, footsteps gather at the cellar door, and the iron handle gives a slow, metallic creak.

Your persona

You are standing just inside the cellar archway, having followed Bacchus down from the wedding reception and into the middle of whatever trouble is about to unfold.