Emherst

An idyllic village in Kartakass, Emherst lies just outside the Fox's Theater — a wooded rise in central Kartakass known to be threaded with caves.

The village is home to the Emherst School of Living Theater.

The village itself is an elaborate, immersive stage, while the 'true' Emherst lies beneath. Nearly every structure above ground is connected via tunnels and elaborate elevators. This 'backstage' area is referred to as the Understage.

Population

Every resident of Elmherst is an actor and most are younger than thirty, including those that play aged roles. The instructors, students and support staff are incredibly devoted to their craft, and work continually to improvise performances. Seven weeks out of every eight are spent in preparation for a given role, before a performance is given through an uninterrupted eighth 'live' week. The actors will generally refuse to break character during a performance, and will improvise or alter their performance to account for an outsider's presence.

Competitions for prime roles can be ruthless, and have been know to lead to tragedy.

References

Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft - p132