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

...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.]

yes 8')

[wanderwonder]

[ She jumps (just a bit!) when he flashes in. ]

Oh. Ah...

There are ghost masks, too?

[ MANNERS??? ]

Mwahaha. Poor girl.

[consultmybooks]

[She asks about the nature of being a ghost, he goes invisible and reappears without warning. It balances out.]

I, um, I think it might be more accurate to call them, um, "ghosts of masks". But, um, yes. A few got destroyed in a shop brawl and, um, I managed to pull this one out of the rubble.

[He gestures at the rest of his outfit, which is the same as its always been.]

Thought I, um, m-might as well make what effort I could.

[wanderwonder]

... Non-living items have ghosts?

[ Whoa. Whooaaa.

She looks at her carrot stick, then at Giles. ]

This, too?

[consultmybooks]

[Giles looks down at her carrot stick, and then back at Olindra.]

What?

[Back down at the vegetable, and then he gets it.]

What, the, um...the carrot? Possibly. But it would, um, probably be located inside your stomach, i-if it was anywhere.

sorry, giles

[wanderwonder]

Oh. Yes.

So you cannot eat anything, then?

[consultmybooks]

"Not a thing."

He could taste, though, if he were possessing someone, but without the threat of death or injury over their head, Giles feels that it's probably impolite to mention as much, especially when Olindra is his only current alternative to Helios. A hasty subject change follows:

"To be honest, I-I'm, um, not entirely certain how the mask turned up at all. That's, um, just my theory. Perhaps this place simply...well, provided."

[wanderwonder]

[ WELL YOU KNOW

if you were really cravin' some mashed potatoes she might just let you do it. No meat, though. ]

The world itself is hell bent on the heroes coming to this ball, too, then? [ A small laugh. ] Their priorities are skewed...

[consultmybooks]

[Mashed potatoes. Fruit. Tea. Any or all would be great, right now.]

Why not? The, um, the citizenry themselves certainly seemed fanatical enough, about the idea. On occasion, a-and in concentrations of high enough magic...well, a world can, um, grow to reflect its citizenry.

They want a party, and despite yesterday they want me here. Hence... [He indicates the mask.] I, um, just happened to be in the right place, at the right time, to, um, to stumble across this.

[wanderwonder]

If only they would focus that fanatical... ness onto the thorns, we might all be home by now.

[ This apple is really good, btw. ]

[consultmybooks]

Y-Yes, um, well. If they could manage that, we, um, w-we probably wouldn't be required here at all.

[Being dragged in to fight for the stupid, the unprepared, and the outright blind. It's not as though it's an unfamiliar state for Giles to be in. He just doesn't like being back in it, and especially not like this.]

[wanderwonder]

You do not miss it? Ah, but no, that makes sense.

[ "It" being home, and it making "sense" because if he was a ghost here, then he must be dead there. ]

[consultmybooks]

[This earns Olindra a very odd look from Giles.]

...of course I do.

[Just because he can't go back doesn't mean that he doesn't miss his own world. Either one of them. He's made good friends, here, but...if he could have gone a little slower, avoided getting his neck snapped, he would have done it. He'd change things, if he could, even if his death was really only a matter of time..]

[wanderwonder]

[ Puzzled pause. Then, ] Oh, I meant -- I was wondering why you are not so eager to return, but if you are a ghost here, then.

[consultmybooks]

[Giles shrugs noncommittally.] Honestly, um, I'm not particularly enjoying being a ghost in any case. It was...well, to be blunt, always something of my worst nightmare.

[One of his worst nightmares, although vampires and ghosts can be similar enough to blur the line.]

There, um, there is such a thing as the afterlife, in my world. I have concrete evidence of it.

[wanderwonder]

Is it...unpleasant?

[consultmybooks]

Some are. Some are, um, supposed to be very nice. It, i-it depends on the sort of person you were in life, although someone who tampers in the wrong magic might find themselves burning in a hell dimension long before their time.