Quick answer: Talk to the Leading Opera Actress in the Myst’s Tavern courtyard for her rouge. Burn it at the alley censer, then take down the three dolls that appear to get the Tianxiang Pavilion Key.
Where The Star Performer starts
The Star Performer is a side quest in Pangzhen. The quest giver is the Leading Opera Actress, a red-robed puppet holding a pink parasol. She stands among the opera puppets in the courtyard of Myst’s Tavern, beside a water channel and a water wheel.
In our run, the way to the courtyard went out of the Myst’s Tavern bell room into the corridor lined with wine jars, along it to its far end, into the parallel corridor next to it and back along that one to the courtyard.
In our run, she said “It’s in Tianxiang Pavilion… but it’s locked. The doorman has the key…” and “He loved the scent of our face powder. Burn some in the censer down the alley… it may draw him out.”
The conversation gives you Leading Actress’s Rouge, a Story Item. Its card reads “Its intricate preparation and rare ingredients make this rouge exceptionally precious. Reserved only for Leading Opera Actresses.”
The quest objective then reads “Lure out the Tianxiang Pavilion doorman in the alley beside the Pangzhen Opera Stage”.
How to get the Tianxiang Pavilion Key
The censer is a small red lacquered incense burner at the foot of a high stone wall in a walled yard. It sits about 46 m from the Myst’s Tavern bell.
In our run, the way in went from the tavern’s back store room through an open double door into the alley, down a wide stone stair into a lower lane lit by braziers, along that lane to its end, up a second wide stone stair into an open yard full of wine jars, around the jar racks and along the strip by the yard wall to the censer.
In our run, the censer showed “An incense burner with embers still burning. Adding a certain incense may deepen and prolong the fragrance.” and then the choice “Place the leading opera singer’s makeup” or “Leave”.
Choosing “Place the leading opera singer’s makeup” uses up the rouge, and the line “The heat from the incense burner carries the scent of the makeup through the air.” appears.
In our run, three big-headed dolls appeared around Soul right after the choice and landed the first hit before Soul had turned around.
In our run on Pathbreaker, the fight took three gourd refills, and a doll that was left alone got its health back.
In our run, the Tianxiang Pavilion Key card showed once all three dolls were down: “An engraved key carrying a faint scent of rouge and powder. Opens the main gate to Tianxiang Pavilion.”
Next, the objective displayed is “Enter Tianxiang Pavilion”.
Tianxiang Pavilion and the Dance Fan
From the Myst’s Tavern bell, the main entrance to Tianxiang Pavilion is about 68 m away; unlock it with the Tianxiang Pavilion Key.
Inside the pavilion, find the leading opera performer’s fan, the Tattered Dance Fan. Bring it back to the Leading Opera Actress in the tavern courtyard.
She accepts the fan and permanently abandons the stage. The Dance Fan accessory remains behind, boosting damage dealt according to the distance covered during an attack, up to 40%.
