The latest story arc for the Sigil campaign had the party stop a serial killer.  Sigil’s sweetheart, a Tiefling Pop Idol called Ika, is performing a benefit gig for the victims’ families, to be held in the town of Broken Reach in The Abyss, and it’s my job as DM/chronicler to see if I can choreograph a full-on Animé J-Pop Idol concert using d&d 3.5 rules.  For the sake of brevity, I am only choreographing Ika’s role in the concert as the star of the show.  In some cases I may try and replicate the video as accurately as possible, in others I will create imagery to match the lyrics.

The Venue:
Custom built by the same architect that designed Red Shroud’s palace, the stadium appears to be constructed of the same white marble with a red glass domed roof.  It is elevated above the ruins of Broken Reach, appearing almost as an extension of the palace.  The stadium itself consists of 3 levels, the highest level being private boxes, in a semi-circle surrounding a large stage.  A smaller circular stage is in the center of the stadium, with a small catwalk connecting the stages.   There are five entrances leading to the seating, each with a cordoned off area for bards, clerics and illusionists to perform their magic.

As guests take their seats, the stage appears completely barren; plain white marble flooring with a circular glass covered panel in the middle, and a white marble wall with nothing more than the name ‘Ika’ splashed across it in a large colourful graffiti-esque font.

The Show:
The stadium darkens as a team of Succubi roll out canvas to cover the roof.
Ika casts Darkness on herself (Tiefling racial spell-like ability), and immediately casts Dancing Lights on herself (Dancing Lights, 0 level Bard spell, aura version, 1 minute duration), thus making her appear as a glowing figure in an orb of darkness. (Dancing Lights being chosen over Light as it won’t dispel the Darkness entirely).

After a few seconds to allow the audience to settle down, Ika enters the stage starting the song Shake It (chosen as opening song to get crowd hyped and fired up).  Two backing dancers accompany her, obscured by the Darkness.
At 20 second mark, Rainbow Pattern cast on the main stage flooring (Rainbow Pattern, 4th level Bard spell) and Ika dispels the Darkness.
Every 5 rounds (30 seconds), Shiftweave (magical item; changes clothing’s appearance to resemble different outfits) is used to change between the five programmed outfits.
At 1:46 mark, Rainbow Patterns are dispelled and Dancing Lights cast on Ika and backing dancers (Spotlight version).
At 2:30 mark, Silent Image of large multicoloured cubes created (Silent Image, 1st level Bard spell), materialising from various points within the audience and floating over their heads.
At 2:45 mark, Rainbow Pattern recast, moving to follow Ika as she makes her way to the center stage.  Continue until end of song, where Ika casts Light on herself (Light, 0 level Bard spell).

After song, Ika interacts with the crowd, comments on Broken Reach’s redevelopment, says a bit about her reasons for running the concert etc. whilst the main stage is being prepared for Right of Wrath; a metal band native to The Abyss.  Preparations include casting Darkness on a fire pit beneath the glass covered area of the stage, then setting fire to it; the Darkness is cast in such a way that it is not visible on-stage, but obscures the fire.  During Ika’s speech she makes her way back towards the main stage, stopping on the glass area where the band members of Right of Wrath are silhouetted in the dim lighting.  With a click of her fingers, the Darkness is dispelled and Pyrotechnics is cast (Pyrotechnics, 2nd level Bard spell, Fireworks version).  A blinding flash emanates from the fire below the stage, giving Ika a chance to quickly move behind stage.  Right of Wrath slowly move to their positions on the stage to the deep sounds of bells ringing (Ghost Sound, 0 level Bard spell), then summon their instruments ready to perform (Summon Instrument, 0 level Bard spell).  Right of Wrath perform Astral Dogma.
Meanwhile, backstage, Ika changes into a different Shiftweave ready for her next act.
As soon as Right of Wrath finish, Super Jupiter (a popular boy band) start performing Clock Strikes.  Towards the end of their performance, Tiara takes to the stage; a tiefling pop star and known celebrity couple with a member of Super Jupiter.  As the lights fade, a spotlight (Dancing Lights) falls on Tiara, who says a few words for the crowd (‘Everyone having fun?’ etc).  This leads into Rabbit, which Ika joins partway through.

At the end of Rabbit when the lights are down, Major Image (3rd level Bard spell) is cast to subtly bring up a blue lighting to the stadium, which now bears a resemblance to a room as you would find in a house, the back wall of the stage now bearing a sign which reads Quiet Room.  The bards are encouraged to add their own details to the room to make it appear slightly neglected; misaligned pictures on walls, dying plants etc.  Ika and Tiara are sat back-to-back on the center stage as the song begins.
At 1:05 mark, a second Major Image is overlayed to include starlight.  The air is subtly made to appear distorted as though the stadium is now underwater, and the catwalk is given a road-like texture as Ika and Tiara move to the main stage.
At 1:30 mark, the second Major Image begins to fade, reverting back to the neglected room design.
At 1:50, Tiara runs to the center stage, Ika halfheartedly tailing after her.
At 2:09, A Silent Image (1st level Bard spell) transforms the catwalk into a river, the sudden illusion of water splashing obscuring the two tieflings just long enough for Invisibility (2nd level Bard spell) to be cast on Tiara by a bard by the side of the catwalk without being seen.  Ika moves back to the main stage.
At 2:30, the Major Image starts taking on a darker hue.  Any of the bard’s modifications begin to look even more neglected, plants wilting further, pictures starting to fall off the walls etc.
At 2:55, Tiara casts Dancing Lights (Aura version) on herself, creating a ghostly outline of herself whilst she’s still invisible as she appears by Ika.  Together they slowly make their way towards center stage as the stadium darkens and a Silent Image creates the starlight effect once more.

As the music fades, so does Tiara’s Dancing Lights; when gone entirely she quietly moves backstage whilst remaining Invisible.  Suddenly the music for Your Heat begins.  Ika is engulfed in a red light that stops her in her tracks, caused by Daylight (3rd level Bard spell) being filtered through red glass from under the catwalk.  She runs towards the center stage, the light following.
At 0:40, Ghost Sound (0 level Bard spell) creates an indistinguishable whisper that travels around the stadium.
Once Ika reaches the stage, at 0:55, Major Image is used to create the illusion of the stadium disappearing, revealing the city below which appears as it used to before its destruction, and is now rapidly being covered in vines and flowers.  As part of the illusion, it appears the entire stadium is descending towards the ground as the city goes through a entire day and night cycle; any buildings that may be clipped through turn translucent, a ghostly image in the stadium.  Ika appears to be scanning the audience as if looking for someone.
At 2:05, the vines and flowers start to fade, and the city appears as though it is night.  For the remainder of the song, Ika dances and uses Shiftweave as she deems appropriate.
At 2:28, the stadium begins to rise again as the city starts disintegrating back to its real current state, until it appears to be just Ika dancing on the center stage, floating in the air above Broken Reach.  During the final illusion, the succubi team are rolling back the canvas on the stadium roof.
As the song ends abruptly, all spells still in effect are suddenly dispelled, resetting the stadium to how it looked when the audience first entered.