The Collective Works of Jacqueline Dulcimer

[VengefulSeraphim]

THE PRICE
A Tragedy Most Diabolical

Written and produced by Jacqueline Dulcimer

((Based on ‘The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus’, by Christopher Marlowe, and ‘Faust’ by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)).

CAST
Mephistopheles - The Lord of the Eighth, and the Duke of Cania. He offers a deal for Felix’s soul, as well as serving as the narrator of the story in various parts.
Felix - A wizard who sells his soul to Mephistopheles.
Lucretia - Felix’s wife.

ACT I

[A desk covered in various scrolls and arcane codices can be seen in front of a backdrop, depicting the inside of a series of tenements, constructed from wood. Past the drapes that adorn the window looking out, a large, splendorous, and clean city can be seen and beyond the gates, verdant hills forming the horizon that the sun is only now peeking its head over.]

[Felix, a magician in drab clothing, enters to sit by his desk, a frustrated look on his face as he bends over and attempts to study the notes he has compiled. He drinks from a glass resting on the desk, filled with what appears to be scotch. He begins to grind his teeth, crumpling up a few of the papers on the desk in anger. Felix exhales, looking over a book about the arcane, flipping through a few pages as if impatient and eager to dig in to find the answers he seeks quickly.]

[A hooded figure with a flaming, possibly unholy ranseur, moves towards the audience, looking directly at them as he addresses them, and narrates the story..]

Mephistopheles: … I have revealed myself to you all, but not to him. Not yet, at least. There is a time for everything, and his time can wait. It shall surely come soon enough. I have forseen what fate has in store for he. [smiles thinly underneath his hood] But allow me to … introduce myself. [removes his hood, revealing the appearance of a gentleman, albeit appearing quite diabolic at the same time] I go by a great many names. Some call me ‘the Master of Hellfire’, others refer to me as the ‘Cold Lord’, and still others call me the ‘Crimson Son’. But the simplest name is often the best - thus, call me Mephistopheles.

[gestures to the man working at the desk] This.. poor soul is Felix of Damara. He is an aspiring magus, at least in name... but while most of those who even think of studying the Art know that magic requires years of study to get right and perhaps even centuries to fully master, that is a slow thing to learn... Felix has always thought of magic something that would deliver upon him instant gratification and that is what he so demands; because he has not gotten what he has wished for the most, he has cursed all of the gods both for his slow progress, rather than blaming himself.. for his own impatience.

[Suddenly, Felix yells out in frustration and rage, taking a glass of scotch and throwing it to the ground. A female voice calls out from off-stage...]

Lucretia: Felix! Felix, are you okay?!

Mephistopheles: ‘Tis my cue to depart for now, and watch this all unfold.. until it is time to reveal myself properly. [runs to backstage, from stage-left]

Lucretia: [cautiously enters from stage-right, peering into the room slowly, wearing a plain-looking dress] .. F-.. Felix?

Felix: [buries his face in his hands, not looking up towards Lucretia] .. These books, these codices, the tomes I read, the scrolls I pour over. They .. don’t explain anything. They’re impossible to wrap my mind around. Nothing my master taught me prepared me for this.. I should be capable of performing feats beyond what mundane minds are capable of by now!

Lucretia: .. You only finished being an apprentice to Protaeon a few months ago. [looks concerned, before offering a faint, encouraging smile] Give it some time, I’m sure... I don’t mind working as a barmaid for a little while longer, if it means you’re spending time doing what you enjoy.

Felix: [exhales, rising to hug Lucretia and lightly peck her on the cheek, looking in her eyes with a smile on his face as they stand close] I.. just wish I could learn magic quicker, so I can make life better for both you and me. Do you imagine how much magic can do for us? We’ll cease to be mere peasants, and we’ll dwell in a castle! Both you and me, and I’ll treat you like a princess..

Lucretia: … Hee! Well, you’ll always be my prince charming, no matter how much coin we have. Don’t worry, I can stave off our money-grubbing landlord, you just focus on learning magic, my little wizard-in-training. Oh, and... hey.. [leans forward and stage-whispers] .. come to the bedroom in about 30 minutes and I’ll be treating you like a king. [walks off-stage, blowing a kiss to Felix as she does so]

Felix: [smiles at her until she walks off-stage, his smile slowly fading as he turns his attention back to and stares at the various parchments and tomes covering his desk] … She works so hard, and yet no matter how I try, I cannot advance in my studies at all. Truly, the gods hate me and want me to suffer.. they demand that my love and I to stay forever in this accursed squalor. [exhales] She works, and I work, and yet we both go nowhere. If only I could master magic quicker than I have been! Then I could make both of our dreams go true.. [looks up towards the sky hopefully, then down at his desk] … oh, I would give my soul for that.

[Suddenly, in a burst of ‘hellfire’, Mephistopheles emerges on-stage, appearing to apparate before Felix. Felix jumps up, knocking his chair over, yet remains silent, his fear palpable as he eyes the stranger.]

Mephistopheles: [smiles] Easy, now. Relax.

Felix: W-w-w-who are you? How did you get in here? [swallows audibly, eyeing the ‘man’ with apprehension] WHAT... are you?

Mephistopheles: I am simply someoone who wants your greatest wish to come true. I could not help but overhear you. [wraps an arm around Felix, his hand sporting long, black fingenails, and his phalanges appearing as though claws]

Felix: [winces, looking at the hand with visible disgust, before forcing a grin] How can you help me? [looks over Mephistopheles warily again, the grin fading] What can you possibly do for me, strange being.. ?

Mephistopheles: You spoke of a desire to learn magic faster, did you not.. ? I can grant you the ability to skim through books and know all that there is to know inside them, to look at a scroll and copy it instantly, to know... all there is to know about the world. You will be capable of ingesting information at a rate most mortals would regard as impossible - unthinkable! All this can be yours for the simple price of something so insignificant that you will never notice it going missing.

Felix: That being.. ?

Mephistopheles: … Your soul.

Felix: [jumps away from Mephistopheles and out of his arm, moving all the way to the other side of the stage, looking terrified] You.. you’re a fiend! A devil, even?!

Mephistopheles: [laughs mockingly] It took you that long to figure that out, did you.. ? My, you have a long way to go, dear Felix, if you are to become the archmage you see yourself as, years from now. But.. devil.. fiend? These are improper terms to use, terms the gods and their servants use to misrepresent the truth.

We are angels, albeit fallen ones. I once bore wings - a pair of them.. [sighs wistfully, as he looks up, before returning his attention to Felix] All we want is to make life better for you, and for your wife. I’ve personally watched how she has slaved to pay the rent. You want life to be better for you both, but your progress is slow.. though you KNOW that knowing magic is the way to cross the great divide between the nobility and the commons. The difference between a hedge-mage who knows a few spells and an archmage who knows all of them is the difference between having their wife cleaning floors and their wife being in a noble’s court, perhaps a noble themselves...

Felix: I’m just not sure I want to give up my soul...

Mephistopheles: Come, now, Felix. You owe this to your wife, and you owe it to yourself. You’ve worked hard, and working hard is not merely enough these days. You have to find a easy way, a shortcut, and that is what I am offering you. A way to power, for a pair of poor unfortunate individuals. The price is small, and I’ll tell you what... [holds up a finger]

Felix What is it?

Mephistopheles: Your soul will only be collected whenever you’ve felt as though you have learned the most important thing you'll ever come to learn within your life. That way, you can live an unnaturally long, plentiful life as those who truly understand the Art are want to do, AND you'll die knowing everything and thus be truly content. Who knows? You might even achieve what they have been incapable of...

Felix: Oh, my. This is.. this is a sound deal. Where do I sign?

Mephistopheles: [takes out a scroll bearing the contract and infernal pact, along with a quill, gesturing to the bottom] Right here. [hands the quill to Felix]

Felix: [appears about ready to write his name, before suddenly having his finger magically pricked by the quill, blood dripping onto the contract - he resists exclaiming loudly, instead shaking his hand, hissing, looking up towards Mephistopheles with anxiety]

Mephistopheles: Come now, Felix, the hard part is over! Go to your books! Go to your books and tomes and scrolls and behold your new talents! [gestures to the desk] I am off to make more dreams come true, my good man. Enjoy yourself. [grins diabolically, before he disappears just as he left, in a flash of hellfire]

Felix: [reluctantly sits down by his desk, cracking opening a book - his eyes bulge, and begins to flip to another page, and to another, and to another, flipping through the book with incredible speed, before shutting it, blinking several times as he looks over himself in amazement - he grabs another book and begins to flip through another at an incredible rate of speed, grinning diabolically in a smile that mirrors Mephistopheles’ own as he speeds through the works before him]

[Fade to black, exeunt, change of scene.]

ACT II

[The desk remains, but the backdrop has changed. On the stone wall is a picture of Felix, his expression stern and calculating, wearing the clothes of nobility. Books litter the ground about the desk, whilst the window reveals a bustling metropole, though most buildings below appear to be mere shanties, the city appearing as though beyond repair and suffering from untold squalor. It is night, and the window overlooks the whole city, as well as providing a wondrous view of the stars themselves, leading the audience to believe that they are inside a wizard’s tower or a castle of some kind... perhaps a combination of both?]

[Enter Mephistopheles, hooded, providing narration and background on our protagonist...]

Mephistopheles: Only a few years has gone by, and Felix has become a wizard of immense power, and he has succeeded all my expectations of him. The old lord of the city has been eliminated and now Felix rules the city, though he has grown paranoid and fearful... and restless. Those who speak ill of him disappear, and all others pay a hefty tax that keeps them poor. Those who were his enemies before - his landlord, those who laughed at him for attempting the Art year earlier - now lie rotting in a dungeon, where they will never again see the light of day.

He sees himself as all-powerful, yet he continues to sate his desire for information, knowing his journey is incomplete.. and this desire is sated often at the expense of other things. He sends agents far and wide to find him new lore to uncover, to pour over... and not everyone is happy about how he spends his time, and about what he has become. Observe... [Exits stage-left.]

[Felix and Lucretia enter stage-right, clothed as nobles - in colorful and refined clothing that contrasts greatly with the clothing they wore in Act I. Felix carries a glass of champagne, smiling wide. Lucretia’s expression, however, is melancholy, appearing almost miserable.]

Felix: What a party! I enjoyed myself greatly at the gala, Lucretia. Didn’t you?

Lucretia: .. Aye.. [sounds entirely disingenuous, her head lowered] I did. I enjoyed myself.

Felix: You know, it’s remarkable. But a few years ago, we were like the others here. [moves to the window, looking out over the city, or appearing to] Worthless wretches, no better than livestock.. [turns back to face Lucretia, his expression cold] But we made it, Lucretia. Look where we are. We made it. I made it. I made it all happen.. for the both of us.

Lucretia: [takes out a fine handkerchief and begins to sob into it quietly, turning away from Felix]

Felix: What is the matter. [suddenly looks over Lucretia sternly, as if demanding to know, showing little visible concern, more annoyed than concerned]

Lucretia: I.. I can’t stand to look at you anymore.

Felix: Explain your words, woman.

Lucretia: You are not the man I loved and got married to. I don’t know what happened to you, but ever since you got serious about your studies, you’ve been ignoring me.

Felix: Ah, I see.. [smiles lustfully] It has been some time since we huffed each other, hasn’t it? [wraps his arms around her waist, his hands moving slowly upwards towards her bosom]

Lucretia: No! [takes his hands off her, looking at Felix with a fiery anger in her eyes] … You don’t listen to me! It is as though I am but your trophy, something to show off. Throughout that gala, you just showed me off! Then I stood silently by your side while you spoke to your .. mage friends! Who are, by the way, all terrible people. It’s them, isn’t it? Being around them? They’ve made you this way... I know it, I know it!

I’ve been miserable, Felix. All I ever see you do is pour over your books. If you’re not doing that, then you’re issuing decrees to raise taxes! You’ve taxed everyone to death! People we knew... they’re in our dungeon!

Felix: [shouts out angrily] They LAUGHED at me... [trails off, before his lip quivers, looking as though betrayed as he looks to Lucretia] Did you not remember the second wedding we held but a few months ago? Was it not a magical experience for you? Did you not enjoy it?

Lucretia: [exhales, looking down at the ground] It was much more lavish a ceremony. There were massive chandeliers overhead, and there were many more people who saw us being wed.. for the most part, I remember your eyes... staring at me before, when we first wed. Those eyes were deep, and they said ‘I love you’. I did not see those eyes in our second wedding.

Felix: [scowls deeply]  Do you know what I gave up for you? What I did to make you happy? To take you away from that damned drinking hole? I gave my SOUL for you!

Lucretia: [shakes her head, giving the words of Felix little thought, thinking it a mere figure of speech] .. You don’t even give me so much of a thought, unless you want me to sate your desire for flesh.

Felix: You ungrateful trollop! After ALL I’ve done for you! After having given you all that your heart could desire...

Lucretia: I desired YOU! I loved you, and you.. and you.. [shakes her head, closing her eyes, remaining silent for a fair few minutes, before speaking in a warbling voice] I .. I’m leaving you, Felix. We’re finished.

Felix: No.. no.. [shakes his head, before taking out his staff, pointing its tip directly for Lucretia, the staff bristling with arcane energy] You are not.. leaving me. If I cannot have you, then no one shall.

Lucretia: [takes out a rapier, balancing it in her hands, looking at Felix with a mixture of disgust and pity] .. I had a feeling you would say something like this. You’re.. a monster, you know that? It.. saddens me to see you like this. But perhaps I can put the FENCING LESSONS you gave me to GOOD USE!

[Lucretia lunges to the left and sticks Felix with her rapier, blood seeping through his fine silk outfit. Lucretia tries to slice at Felix again, but finds her blade stopped by the wizard’s staff, which he uses to parry the blow. Further improvised choreography follows, before Lucretia is pushed onto her back by Felix, and Felix points his staff directly for her stomach. A gout of lightning consumes Lucretia, and she lies dead. Felix, for a moment, stares at her corpse, frowning, but he does not look at her with compassion, but instead as one would look at an animal slain by another.]

Felix: [exhales] .. There will be others. Others who will grow to respect you. Others who will recognize you for who you are and love you unconditionally. She was beneath you, Felix... [kicks the ‘dead’ body gently, before exiting]

[As Lucretia lies there, still, Mephistopheles comes out.]

Mephistopheles: … and it was at this point that Felix became more monster than man, and the Lady Firehair herself died a little that evening.

[Fade to black, exeunt. Change of scene.]

ACT III

[The scene has changed yet again. Cobwebs surround the desk and even more books can be seen around it, though all show age. Ivy has entered inside via the window and has started to cover the stone wall inside. The setting resembles the castle or wizard’s tower in Act II, but it seems as though nature has reclaimed the area around it, and part of it. The city is gone, and in its place lay tall cyclopean ruins surrounded by the a thick forest glen. The world has changed. Mephistopheles enters from stage-right, wearing a hood as before.]

Mephistopheles: … Aeons have passed, thousands upon thousands of years... and the world has moved on, and yet Felix still lives. Having found the secret to both immortality and eternal youth, he dwells in his tower, looking the same as he did in life. Yet his humanity is missing, and he has become something else, as alien as the landscape that surrounds him.

He knows all that was, all that is, and all that shall be, all that can be understood by mortal ken... but still he hunts for knowledge. Craves it. He leaves his tower only to travel through the vast ruined libraries, wracked by time, searching for any piece of lore, arcane knowledge, or secret that he does not know... he aways leaves with his hands empty, as rarely does what is written survive the passage of centuries, millennia..

Thus, he has spent his days alone... [stands in place as Felix enters] Well, almost. Any success in finding that missing piece of the puzzle? The one thing you do not know? [removes his hood, offering a winning smile towards Felix]

Felix: [enters, wearing a dustier form of the noble robes he wore before, tattered in places] .. I have not. I cannot satisfy myself. I have to search for more, and more...

Mephistopheles: Have you tried searching for information regarding other worlds?

Felix: [shakes his head, grunting with unpleasantness] I know all there is about other worlds. Everything that is of import. Everything that is worth knowing, I already know. Sod the rest.

Mephistopheles: Immortality is as much a curse as it is a boon, I see you have discovered. What you say, however, is a falsehood. You desire something, even though you think that you know everything.

Felix: [appears introspective] .. you have been the only one around to keep me company. It’s been so quiet here. I’ve spent centuries here, watching as the world has moved on. This world is alien to me, I understand none of it, even though I know all about it... [gestures out the window, exhaling] I am the most powerful man in all the lands, and yet there is no one for me to share my knowledge with, none for me to impress... [exhales, suddenly grasping his head, as he exclaims] You HAVE to let me die! Please, take my soul. I am begging you...

Mephistopheles: I am sorry, but as I told you before, contractual agreements are contractual agreements. I will only release you from your immortal state when you've come to learn the most important thing you shall learn in your entire life.

Felix: By the Mother of All Magic, I’ve.. I made a mistake. [frowns, looking to Mephistopheles, his face contorting into a scowl as he continues to behold him] .. I.. I just realized what a fool I am. All these years, I’ve never realized how good I had it, with .. with.. what was her name, I cannot even remember... I .. I was so happy with her, even if I was but a mageling, then. That’s what I should have known from the start. That was the hole that was missing from within me.. she completed me. But now I can’t even remember her name!

Mephistopheles: [suddenly beams, a diabolical smile on his face]  Her name .. was Lucretia, my friend.

Felix: [winces at the name, showing genuine contrition] .. Oh, Lucretia, I should have never... done what I did to you. But at least you’re in a better place. That, at least, puts me at peace. Truly, at peace... and being able to ascribe a name to that face that I see in my memories.. it is magnificent.

Mephistopheles: [pulls out his ranseur, smiling] How sweet. I'd say it's important that you know now that you erred in making a deal with me... far more important than anything you may have learned in a book, yes?

Felix: [sighs, before saying almost unthinkingly] Aye...

Mephistopheles [laughs cruelly] Then it is time to pay the piper, as you mortals say. You see, you did make a mistake, my friend. Did you really think you could get out of paying me?

Felix: [seems to ponder for a moment, before coming to a stark, horrifying realization] Wait, no! I didn't mean it! [stands slowly, raising his hands as he looks towards Mephistopheles in terror] Please.. just let me enjoy her memory for but a moment more! I want to live, I want to live for her!

Mephistopheles: That was not in the deal, Felix. Do not fret. I will have a series of special duties for you to complete in Cania. [after a small struggle where Felix uses all his magics to ward Mephistopheles away and Mephistopheles himself is unaffected, Felix is pinned down, slams his ranseur through Felix’s chest, ‘claiming his soul’ - with that, the body lays still] .. Ah, Felix. For a while there, you thought you could outlast me. But what is a millennium or two to a being such as I? Nothing. [laughs, looking over Felix the same way a man would view a worm, before turning to look to the audience]

So let this be a warning to those who think there is a shortcut that can be exploited to one’s advantage - there is no easy path that can be taken to greatness that is not earned through hard work.. and those who deal with one such as I or try to outwit beings powerful than they should know their hubris will have them end up as Felix - doomed to a fate much worse than death.

[Fade to black, exeunt.]