Action: Come one, come all!

[ofthebeast]

Characters: ALL THE PEOPLE
Open? Yes.
Where: The Palace
When: The night of the 3RD
What: A masquerade ball and a very deep sleep.
Warnings: Part of a comm-wide plot!

The Prince Sif has felled an unknown beast, and presented its stuffed head to the King. This would be reason enough for a ball, but there are victories to celebrate. More heroes arrive every day. The kingdom was aptly defended when the forest wall fell. No one has tried to assassinate the king in several days.

All told, a good night for a party. The theme of the ball is a masquerade, and shops in town have been surprisingly (almost suspiciously) able to provide gowns and masks in ready supply.

The palace has been opened to heroes and townspeople alike, provided they can present themselves appropriately. The heroes have been strongly encouraged to attend, and those who do not come voluntarily may well be greeted with royal retainers at their doorstep, outfit and dance card in hand. Expect a very full dance card, heroes.

The banquet table is stacked full of food – roasts and cheeses, summer fruits and vegetables, rivers of wine and more ornate desserts than should be permitted in a time or war. This evening is about success – best to enjoy it.

In the center of the ball sits the beast’s head. A scaly, purple thing. Its eyes have been taken out and replaced with rubies, its mouth twisted in the same sort of anguished look on its face as when Sif killed it. There has never been a beast like this in Schwanheim before – if you like, come closer and take a look. The king is very generous with his gifts.

[ooc: The party is a LIE. Well. No, it isn’t! Enjoy the party. Your characters will be expected to wear full masquerade gear, or they will be shunted aside and dressed properly.

After the attendees go home, they will be plagued with dreams more tangible than they have ever felt. More information here]

Comments

Party Here~

[ofthebeast]

[Get your party on before you are all murdered :D]

[consultmybooks]

Go ahead. Try to dress the ghost in proper masquerade attire.

A mage with decent concentration could actually probably manage the right illusion spell, but Giles is damned if he's seeking one out.

...okay. After a fight between a townsman and a shopkeeper that resulted in a bit of extra property damage, particularly to the merchandise, Giles did stumble across what can best be described as the "ghost of a mask". It's insubstantial as he is and will fade by sunrise. But, for now, it suffices.

Not that Giles knows why he's bothering. He's already being given a wide berth, whenever he lets himself be visible, after the poltergeist activity and broken wishes of the day before. Really, Giles isn't entirely certain why he's attending this mess. No one can make him, very few want him, and he'd just as much enjoy his newly obtained freedom from the bottle by sitting outside.

...but, well, the possibility of getting a look at something from the Two Faced Forest that isn't trying to eat someone was a powerful lure. And so Giles can be found standing before the head. He has his journal and a pencil out of his pocket, and has the journal open to a blank page, but is staring fixedly at the paper without making a move with his pen. Given that he's evidently quite distracted and quite visible, he's probably blocking your view.

Otherwise, if you're quick, you might catch Giles around and about, at the buffet table, on the dance hall, by the doors watching people come in. You might be able to see him staring distantly, and a little sadly at the scene that is the subject of his observation. But, unless he's addressed, Giles blinks out of sight shortly after and returns to his place by the head of the great beast.

[greatsquirrelhunter]

Aralu, with her usual sense of humor, dressed Faolan as a wolf for the gala, since he had insisted on going to see the severed head. As a hero, albeit a small one, he has been getting more attention than he expected, and has been pulled into at least one dance by a town girl.

When able to break away, he makes a beeline for the head, eyes lighting up on seeing it and the person near it.

"Giles!"

[shiromadoushi]

"Got everything settled with the curse?" The voice was plesent enough behind the horned and fanged oni-style mask that Bakura had been rather pleased to have found in the pile of feathered and all together far too girly looking masks.

[goldeneyeball]

He'd been called a demon on the town bulletin board more than once.

If they wanted a demon, he'd give them one. A tall, gaunt figure draped in rags with a long white animal skull for a face drew up beside Giles and watched him draw. His brittle antlers betrayed him as the wizard that could be seen lurking the edge of town on clear days.

"Sure was ugly, wasn't it?"

[canistricari]

A mysterious but handsome blonde man in a tuxedo wandered the party with a stunningly charming smile on his face. He wore a remarkable coyote mask over his hair rather than his eyes. It seemed to change slightly every time one looked away from it for a moment.

He came up behind Giles and looked almost lovingly at the beast's head.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

[folklorist]

Don't mind Helios walking up to you bro! He too is dressed in a masquerade mask and attire. The sun mask probably gives him away because, really, it's rather fitting for him.

"I-I wonder what it is..." the beast he means. It's nothing Helios has ever seen before at least. It almost makes him want to go back into that forest and try to find out more about the creatures there. Helios looks over at Giles with a wary gaze then.

"H-How are you, how are you feeling?" After yesterday Helios can probably guess the answer. But he doesn't see the bottle so the curse has probably lifted.

[through_fire_be_reborn]

[[Dancing through the crowds is a young woman in bright red silk robes that shimmer and sparkle as she moves. Her mask covers almost her entire face with that of a fire dragon. Even though her eyes cannot be seen, they can be felt as she watches over the party, seeming to vanish into the throng, only to reappear across the room.]]

[greatsquirrelhunter]

[Why hello, embodiment of chaos! Have a small, cute thing that likes to pounce on shiny, moving things.]

[consultmybooks]

[Even Giles is having some difficulty keeping track of this one. He's met people who are deft in a crowd before...and then there's this lady. Honestly, he's almost starting to wonder if she's a ghost herself. It would be nice...

So, the girl in the dragon mask might feel a slight chill along one arm from just behind, although the source of it is likely not immediately visible, as sneaking up behind someone to check their tangibility is something that warrants invisibility.]

[canistricari]

[ Coyote (disguised as a handsome blonde man) is naturally drawn to the woman, and his smile, once charming, turns wild as he approaches. His mask seems to change when nobody is looking, because he can't resist showing off, but it's nothing compared to her dress. ]

Hello, hello!

[shadedsunlight]

[A flash of red catches Ginia's attention and she follows the woman best, impressed at the ease she moves through the room. Her mask is beautiful too.]

[offyougonow]

[[Not too far from the head sits the King's comfy throne, with the King upon it. He's not so much for dancing, but he's expected to show at these things, and hey, he gets first pick of the banquet! He'll be chowing down and gabbing and joking with the locals. If it weren't for that crown on his head, you'd never know he was the king!]]

[folklorist]

[ And once Helios has mustered up enough courage to do so, and with a little help from Giles, Helios will walk up to the King and bow a little in respect. It's really only because of the man's crown that he even knows he's the King. He doesn't seem ill-tempered or even secluded at all. But, then again, Kings who are on good terms with their people is not unheard of either. This at least also helps Helios have a better outlook towards this whole thing. ] Y-Your highness. I, ah, I-I'd like to have a word with you if-if you don't mind?

[ Several words. Most of them being questions. ]

[wanderwonder]

[ She hadn't intended on attending.

Welp.

The last (and first) time she'd gone to a masquerade, she'd 'dueled' over the last piece of cake and the host of the party had been murdered. She'd been dressed as a unicorn that time, ha ha, unaware that she was actually one, but here? Not so.

She'd gotten as simple a mask as the townsgirls would let her, gibbering on about heroes and having to look the part. They'd conveniently ignored her comment that not looking the part was the point of a masquerade, or so she had thought. What she absolutely would not back down on was a dress she could actually move in, that didn't trail on the ground lest she have a repeat of Myron's ball. Eventually, they let her go in a very simple gold and white dress.

Right now, she's more or less parked near the banquet table, her small plate filled with nothing but fruits and vegetables. She looks to the stuffed head, then moves her gaze elsewhere. Don't want to lose her appetite... ]

...dude, that is not a simple mask. Olindra got ripped off.

[consultmybooks]

I, um, I take it that you didn't appear for a better look at the thing, then.

[Said as Giles flashes into sight next to her. Her plate gets a glance, a slightly sad glance, and then Giles' gaze ticks back up towards Olindra's face, hidden as it is behind her glittering mask. His own is a wooden mask, done up to resemble a brown owl, although it's as ghostly as he is.]

[shiromadoushi]

The nice thing with a costume ball, Bakura reflected, is that with a creepy enough mask most of the annoying girls left him alone. So with the demonic horned mask in place, he's managing to actually enjoy this party.

...and might be attempting to scare a few people with it. Just because .

[goldeneyeball]

Bakura isn't the only one with stirring up a little trouble on his to-do list. A
skull-faced, gaunt creature lurks nearby and recognizes that poof of white hair. He was still butt-mad over Bakura being better at magic than he...but he'd show him! James stepped up behind him and clacked his skull-mask's teeth loudly. He'd figured out how to animate it to an extent.

The fun part would be trying to get it off later. But shh.

[somewhatpointy]

Well, going to this party hadn't exactly been on Ryo's list of things he wanted to do. He'd only just arrived, and he was more concerned with finding a place to stay and getting his bearings, but the townspeople had other ideas. They'd been annoyingly persistent, continuing even to bother him after he'd given one a pretty good punch. He'd finally given in and gone if only to get them to leave him alone...and he supposes getting a measure of these other "heroes" might not be a bad idea, either.

And so Ryo has found himself attired in black clothing he assumes is what passes for formal wear in this place, along with the absolute simplest masquerade mask he could find--it's gold, and it covers half his face. Good enough.

He doesn't really know anyone in particular--that he sees, anyway--and so he'll go ahead and try to get a look at that beast's head. It's different from the monsters he fought back home, that's for sure.

If you don't find him looking at the beast's head, he'll be skulking along a wall somewhere, trying to watch everything without really being noticed himself and gruffly shooing away the local women who seem to want to dance with him.

[shiromadoushi]

Oh hey, is this the corner of avoiding women? If so, there'll be an oni-masked Bakura trying to do the same, stubbornly hiding behind the hideous face on the mask and wishing the dark hair on it covered more of his stand-out white poof.

"Aaa~aaah, they never give up, do they!" he sighed, mostly to himself as he half slumped in a chair.

[folklorist]

And here will be Helios moseying along throughout the ball checking up on people and looking at things with a intrigued eye. He's obviously going to be stopping by the food to taste all those culinary delights that are out. He's also going to stay as far away from dancing as possible. Helios and physical contact, while he has gotten better, is just not something that goes well together. Helios will also be sporting a rather symbolic sun mask because apparently people here actually know what his name means.

Still you can probably bump into him if you want to. He looks slightly out of place since he's totally not used to masquerade parties at all. But nevertheless he'll cordially talk to whoever approaches.

[shadedsunlight]

If there's one thing Ginia will admit to, it's the food is delicious. While she started out the night eying the table of food with suspicion because she knows there are many dangers of unknown food. She's read fairy tales, knows the danger of feasting on food. The monsterous beast head displayed in the center of the room doesn't allay her fears either. But as the night goes on, and no one seems to be displaying any being poisoned, whisked away by unknown forces, or any other ill-side effects, and her own stomach begins to growl, Ginia decides to follow the adage of nothing ventured, nothing gained. Maybe this really was a friendly, festive party with no side-effects.

There are no protests from Odin as Ginia heads toward the table, the dog padding a bit ahead of her. He's too well-trained to leap up and grab food for himself, but he sits himself down right in front of a large roast ham. Ginia chuffs lightly as she picks off a piece and drops it down to him, then begins filling her own plate. A bit of salad, some roast bird, and some fresh fruit for now. The desserts she'll have to tackle later. As she works her way down the table of food, Odin sniffs at the air, then trots off ahead. He stops in front of a man wearing a sun mask, sniffs curiously at him, then sits down. Tail wagging, Odin gives a single happy bark, then raises his paw for a handshake.

[shadedsunlight]

It's been a strange, strange sort of day, the kind that began with waking up in a strange new place with an unknown man in your room, and ended by being forced off to a masquerade ball. If it weren't for the lack of wings and not a single townsperson knowing anything about Luceti - when they could look at her written questions and weren't trying to stuff her into one dress or another - Ginia might have believed this was a very elaborate sort of experiment or some crazy delusion.

Fortunately, it wasn't a crazy delusion. Unfortunately, it wasn't Luceti or even anywhere remotely related to Earth. Unfortunately, the townspeople weren't taking "no" for an answer as they began to prepare her for the ball. Not wanting to cause any trouble and realizing the many benefits of attending a party for gathering information, Ginia relented and let them dress her in a gown and mask and went off to the castle.

She was thankful Odin had also appeared, the dog hanging closely to her side as she kept against the wall. A small leather pouch hung off her wrist, a leather journal and some sticks of charcoal inside. At least they'd been kind enough to give her writing utensils.

[consultmybooks]

...oh god.

Giles had just been keeping a lookout for the girl in the dragon mask when he catches a glimpse of someone else. Someone with dark hair and a familiar, massive dog at their side.

It can't be right. It can't. He must be seeing things. She's wearing a mask, like all the rest, and large dogs are common enough around the town. But as she moves about the party, Giles finds himself looking towards her more than once, but never closely enough to be certain one way or another. It's maddening and frustrating and he's not sure which possibility he wants.

Even so, not knowing is the worst part, and so he moves towards her. He tries not to walk through people or let people walk through him, and so his progress is slow, but, eventually, Ginia will find her path blocked by an older man wearing a mask in the style of an owl, as he slides around a chattering couple. "E-Excuse me, miss..."

And then, for a second, Giles simply stares at her. The memory of his breathing sounds impossibly loud in the din of the crowd. That close together, he knows.

And then, almost before he knows what he's doing, he closes his eyes and blinks out of sight.

[goldeneyeball]

BC

BC BC BC

That was the expression radiating from behind the skull that the town hedgewizard wore. His shoulders were draped in rags and he fumbled with a piece of fruit he'd found on the banquet table. He really wasn't good at parties. Or people. Or people at parties. He just wanted to go home and mutter curses into his pot.

He couldn't stop himself from swaying a little to the music though.

[halfwitch]

Gretel was a little awestruck and disturbed by the costume. After staring from across the room for several minutes, she had to approach him to talk about it.

"Is it real?"

[tatra]

Tatra the Social Butterfly dances with everyone, chats with everyone, and wears a lovely golden mask with her flowing orange dress. She is everywhere at once, the quintessential party girl.

[for_that_i_run]

"There is some one who looks like they are enjoying themselves."

Eagle's tone was lighthearted even teasing as he watched Tatra flit joyfully from one conversation to another.

"You must really enjoy events like this?"

[shorterinperson]

Alanna was accustomed enough to wearing dresses now. As King's Champion she was often called upon to appear at formal events, and she had long since gotten over her hatred of dresses. Hers was simple, a long red thing, matched with red drop earrings and a red mask. She grimaced at the disembodied head and lingered by the food.

[greatsquirrelhunter]

Faolan saw her and left off his chase of the flame butterflies [although a few followed him] to run over.

"Alanna!"

Prepare for hugs, whether you want them or not.

[for_that_i_run]

Eagle might well have missed the event entirely, not due to any malice or great desire to avoid socializing, but just because he had managed to fall asleep. If one of the attendants hadn’t noticed and made certain to get the young Prince awake and dressed properly for the masque he might not have appeared at all. Still… he did manage to arrive late. That could be seen as proper too, arriving fashionably late so all the peasants could see your entrance into the ballroom. It wasn’t the intention but many in the ballroom agreed it was the correct way to behave.
Another formal function, how many of these had he attended over the years? Between being the President’s son and a Commander in his own right it had been necessary to attend dozens of occasions similar to this one on Autozam. They had become a very practiced art and even some what boring with all of the idle chatter though he could admit that wearing a mask did put a slightly different twist on things this time.
Eventually, as most of the guests were, Eagle was drawn to the table with the grisly head sitting on it. The monster was the very reason for this gathering, but it was such a strange thing to feature so prominently in the room. It gave many of the ladies a startle and even Eagle himself found looking at the thing very disturbing.

“Why would anyone want something like that?”

It was still interesting though and Eagle couldn’t help wondering out loud to himself or whomever happened to be standing nearby.

“What kind of monster was this?”

[whatmuttiforgot]

"The ugly kind." Momiji-the-ever-helpful replied. The pink bunny mask did little to hide his look of disgust. "It;s really out of place here."

Drink, drank, drunk.

[brosif]

The gift to the king was her idea. The party most certainly was not. Sif's return to the palace was preceded by an exceedingly long day, and she wants nothing more than a few hours' rest.

But her clothes have already been laid out. An intricate coat of crushed blue velvet, terrible for a summer night. She has always assumed that women's clothing is more of a trial than men's, but with all the assorted belts, buckles, layers and snaps that it took to get into this ensemble, she may have to rethink that position. The mask is every bit as intricate, and clearly not of her own choosing.

She wants to sleep. But she spies the wine, and thinks the day has certainly earned her a pitcher full.