The Guild of Performing Artistes

From street Jugglers to soloists in the Grand Opera, every performer in the Free City is required to join the Guild of Performing Artistes.

The guild has many wealthy patrons, most notably among the cultured nobility of the city. Otto of the Circle of Eight (see Chapter 3) is a member. The guild is open to accepting anyone with any ability in the field of performing arts, and it is not unknown for the guild to tempt famous performers from other regions to take up residence m the Free City.

The Guild of Performing Artistes has the largest proportion of demihumans of all the Free City's guilds within its ranks including elven poets, half-elven bards' gnome musicians, and even a troupe of half-ore clowns. Present membership exceeds 700, although by no means are all of these artists normally present in the city at the same time; some take shows on tour around neighboring towns and cities, and some are just itinerant by nature.

The Guildhall of Performing Artistes (location A5) is an ostentatious building which contains a small theatre (used for rehearsal and for staging private performances before the guild's patrons), an art gallery, and a shrine to Lirr, the goddess of poetry, prose, and art. As a rule, the members of the Guild of Performing Artistes are abnormally superstitious, and a dedication to Lirr 1s always performed on opening nights.