eswareinmal | Action: Come one, come all!

Entry tags:

Action: Come one, come all!

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]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ginia returns his bow with a curtsy befitting a lady and a smile that has always been for him. He wasn't her prince charming whisking her away on a great white stallion, though once when she was a princess, she wished he was. Rather, Giles was her equal, her partner, her confidant, her lover, all things better than a common prince.

/I wondered about that head. Fearsome thing. Will you accompany me? I want to take a closer look./ She offers her hand, aware he can't take it, but more for the symbolism of the gesture. Even if he was a ghost, she still loved and wanted him. They would have to adjust, but she still wanted to be with him. It would take much more for her to give up everything they had together.

/And my love, do not think for a moment I love you any less because I cannot touch you. I confess I would have you now if I could touch you, but I've always loved you for reasons beyond sex./

He can't take her hand, no. But you don't always have to touch someone to be close to them. Ginia showed him that as well, that night when their roles were quite reversed.

Giles appears solid enough, as long as no one's walking through him. Solid enough to blush very faintly at her words. "...I know you do," he says softly, and he does. But, despite the surface signs of embarrassment, decorum, and propriety, a very faint smile touches his lips. "And I know you would."

So would he. Expectations placed upon them be damned, he'd spirit her away just like he had at the last ball they'd attended together. But, instead, Giles guides her towards the monster's head, at its place of honor on the table, its sapphire eyes glittering malevolently in the light.

"It, um, it came from the, the Two Faced Forest. That's, um, what they call the local woods. And, if I may say, they, um, certainly live up to their name."

Ginia follows him to the monster, edging her through the people already gathered around the head until she can see it herself. Odin approaches the outer ring of people before giving a low growl, earning a few startled gasps from the party-goers, then lurks off to wait elsewhere, wanting nothing to do with the head.
Beast is a good description of what it is, monster too. It's grotesque and fascinating and Ginia decides she doesn't like it. It unsettles her and serves as her first introduction to the things that exist in this world. It's not Luceti, with its fairly safe forests and the most dangerous things being the other villages or the Third Party. She listens to Giles' explanation with a small frown on her face, committing the information to memory.

/I don't like it. It feels... I don't know. I don't like it. Are there other things like that in the Two Faced Forest?/

"I, um, I-I can confirm the presence of rocs, chimeras, and an irate witch in a, um...candy house."

From personal experience, although Giles trusts Ginia to know him well enough not to make him add that much.

"Only at night, of course. Um, during the day, it's the sort of place you'd expect to find people having a picnic. Of course, um, at night, it's, it's surrounded by a wall of thorns. Or...well, so I've been told. I've, um, only ever been on the night when the thorns failed to put in their scheduled appearance."

For Giles, this entire situation is resoundingly familiar. A beast to be identified before its kin can come down from the wilds and start eating people. If only he had halfway decent drawing skills, or the ability to actually read anything.

Still. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't a bit thrilled at the problem being posed by the mysterious woods.

An irate witch in a candy house. Ginia slowly looks over and fixes him with a disbelieving look even as she tries not to smile. What a strange, fantastic world. She can see why Helios would like it, and knowing Giles as he does, why he would too. Even she can admit to a bit of giddiness about it all, having grown up on fairy tales and mythology.

/Two faced indeed,/ she comments, musing over things and making a note to explore the forest herself. After making proper preparations, of course, but the idea is too much to resist. There's a great big world out there and she wants to see as much as is reasonably possible. She'll need a backpack, food, camping gear, a map... the gears turning in her head are probably visible enough to Giles as her expression becomes thoughtful.

An irate witch in a candy house. That stuck Giles in a bottle and saw him passed around the village like a demented game of hot potato. The things you miss, Ginia.

The silence stretches on, and Giles is looking at her properly to be certain that he isn't missing anything she might be signing. He isn't, she's obviously quite lost in thought instead. What she's thinking about is easy enough to guess...but Giles clears his throat a touch noisily anyway.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

The things she miss. Though truth be told, given that Ginia can be just as self-sacrificing as Helios, do you really want her making a wish?

/Know a good store I can get camping gear and supplies for a few days? Though I suppose that'll require a job first because I have a feeling not everyone is so generous on giving out finery for everything,/ Ginia casually signs back to him, looking at him with a smile. Of yes, she'll set out for her own little journey as soon as she can, but there's also an unspoken offer for him and Helios to come along. She may be headstrong, self-sufficient, and an adventurer herself, but she knows she's very much out of her element.

/I'll also need a place to stay tonight, unless the castle is kind about providing a room for their "Champion."/

It had been admittedly touch and go, with Helios. Still, Giles had finally managed to talk him around into a slightly less insane witch, and it had been a pleasant few hours as a result.

"I, um, I know a few that might be able to provide." He's had no cause to visit them, but when you have little else to do and no need to sleep, you tend to get around, and Giles has over the last few days. "As for jobs, well...Helios has been managing well enough, with his magic. Perhaps you could, um, sign on as his assistant, or...something."

Giles is easy to provide for, now, as far as journeys go. Now that he's free of his curse, he's not bound to anything, and he makes a good distraction for hungry beasts. Ginia doesn't even have to ask.

Then a thought seems to strike Giles, and he gives her a curious look before abruptly switching to signs.

/Speaking of, um, gainful employment...as I'm, um, sure you notice, or were told, we...well, we all have our roles here. Just out of curiosity, what did you get saddled with?/

/A non-magically versed person being the assistant to a magician?/ Ginia teases lightly, but there's validity behind it. She could manage his appointments or fetch things for him, maybe take on a few jobs that required less magic and more of her own skills. There were always options to be had. Ironic how she left behind one past only to pick it up again. Maybe the old saying was true; there's no such thing as a retired hunter, just a dead one.

She gives the head of the beast one last careful look before she moves away to seek out a quieter place to converse in. She settles over by one of the windows, pausing to admire the view outside it as she waits for Giles to catch up. Odin dutifully catches up and lays down at her feet. Giving a glance to make sure no one is watching, Ginia tilts herself a little to the wall and reaches through a slight slit in her skirt to draw out one of the knives given to her on her arrival.

/I've got another one on my left leg and was advised to practice staying out of sight./

"A non-magically appointed person with sense, a reasonable attention span, and, um, a good understanding of when to duck." All of which he knows Ginia possesses in equal or better measure than Helios does. He knows "personal assistant" is certainly a step down for her, but, well, it could pay for a room. Helios' isn't terribly large even for one man and a ghost.

Giles follows her towards the windows, blinking out of sight when her back is to him so the entire thing looks a bit less odd and appearing again beside her, just in time to see her draw out the knife.

For just a second, Giles shows no reaction. Finally, sounding as though he's choosing his words very carefully:

"I'm going to go ahead and assume you're some sort of thief."

That, or an assassin. Giles is truly hoping she's not an assassin.

Thank you, Giles, your tact is appreciated. Ginia glances down at the knife her hand. It's nothing fancy; sharp, durable, good grip, equally good for cutting up a steak and slashing open someone's throat. The weapon is returned to its sheath and she brushes her skirt back out, hiding the slid in the fabric.

/Guess I am. I suppose it's fitting enough given my past profession. I suppose some things have a way of following you./ Her expression is far from happy, but she shrugs it off. /I'm going to guess Helios is some kind of magician or wizard or something along those lines./

She stops signing to look over him. He's a ghost, yes, but she has a feeling there's something more than that. They have roles, purposes, so what did they give you?

/What about you? Anything else I should know?/

He is the lingering spirit, the ghost who can't know rest until he's passed on his knowledge to worthy heroes. But that sounds hopelessly melodramatic to say, and so Giles focuses on the practical. At her question, he falls into thought, recalling the last two days and what he's managed to draw from them, about himself.

"I'm, um, I'm afraid I'm still puzzling it out, myself. And it's been a maddening endeavor, let me tell you. But...well, here's what I've gathered so far. First..."

Giles blinks out of sight as quickly as a television changing channel. A few seconds pass, and he reappears on her other side. "Handy enough. Um, besides the witch, I haven't found anyone who can see me when I'm like that."

When he blinks out of sight, Ginia dumbly looks around for him, before tensing up as he appears right behind her, hand dropping down toward her knife. Not that a knife would do any good against a ghost, but training is hard to break. She relaxes slightly, forcing a smile back on her face.

/Very handy,/ she agrees, forcing her hands back up to sign. /Now what's this about a witch?/

Giles' hands immediately go up as Ginia pulls out her knife, open and empty, and an apologetic smile appears on his face. Another bad habit he's sunk into, but Giles has yet to find a way to make himself visible without alarming people. "S-Sorry."

He's working on it, though.

"The, um, the witch I mentioned earlier. The one who lives in the candy house in the forest. Suppose I should have expected it, honestly but, um, so far she's been the only one."

/Right, that witch./ Intriguing as the idea is, Ginia knows well enough to know to stay away from the people dwelling in candy houses inside deceptive forests. Maybe later on, once she's a little more prepared or has good reason to, but for now she'll play it safe.

She moves to sit down on the cushioned window seat and smiles at him, tucking a few unruly strands of hair behind her ears.

/I take it your time here has been exciting so far./

Giles leans against the wall just beside her, forgoing the window seat but letting himself be at least a bit at ease, all the same.

"Helios, um, had it right, when he said that this place is a bit like Luceti on fast forward. In about five days, I've been kicked by a deity-turned-horse, made my way into the Two Faced Forest after dark, w-when that's supposed to be impossible normally, a-and, um, well, now there's this." He makes a grand, sweeping gesture to encompass their general surroundings here. "And, um, it's only by virtue of my current state that I-I've avoided getting eaten three separate times."

Luceti on fast forward. It's a scary sort of thought and she whistles slightly when she hears his very busy five days. Maybe it's not so unexpected in a fairy tale sort of world. She remembers how active and busy she'd been as a knight and princess when Luceti itself become a living storybook. Maybe it wasn't so unexpected here, though she had no intention of saving princesses from dragons any time soon.

/I guess starting off my first day at a masquerade ball isn't so bad,/ she comments lightly, looking around the splendid ball. While she's still expecting some sort of catch, it's hard not to get caught up in the festive environment. /And eaten three times? Do I even dare ask what has tried to eat you?/

Giles answers readily this time, ticking off on his fingers.

"Chimera. Roc. And, um, I wasn't terribly certain about the witch, but I did get a look at the oven and, um, I probably would have fit. I, um, I was only able to track the witch down in the daytime, though. The others, well, they only come out at night. I, um, I suppose that's one small advantage to having the thorns. They come up after sunset in a wall around the woods. There's, um, only been one night so far when, when that hasn't been the case."

Giles settles easily into the role of informational provider. There aren't half as many people here as in Luceti, and their comings and goings seem even more random, so it's not a role he's been able to take on for very many besides small werewolves. He even seems a bit happier, explaining things, finally feeling as though he's fitting into the role a bit.

"Speaking of the thorns, actually...I presume you've been informed of them, then? They're our, well, our primary opponent, odd as that still sounds to say."

Chimera, rocs, and purple scaled beasts, oh my. The world is certainly shaping up to be an interesting one. She also imagines Helios is having quite the field day seeing all the creatures, and potentially getting himself in trouble with the more dangerous and unfriendly ones. She loves her friends early, but she knows their habits.

/The thorns yes, though everything else is fairly new, and I thank you for it. I suppose these thorns are the kind that are resist to a flamethrower. Or, given this sort of setting, lots and lots of fireball spells./

Helios was having a field day right up until the point that he met the chimera. The experience had shaken the magician on a level that Giles had hoped never to see again, and if he can't stop the other man from going back to the forest, on a practical level Giles is intensely grateful to have someone around to support him that is tangible.

"That, um, I don't know. We, we do know it's resistant to blades, as a few of the warriors rode out that far. One tried to take a sample back, and, um, found that the thorns were rather resistant to the idea. If any wizards have gone out that far, they aren't sharing."

/We know a wizard, time certainly seems to be something we have on our hands, and I'd like to see these thorns for myself. What say we take a trip?/ Typical Ginia, first day and already making plans. It was really no different than her and Luceti, making plans on seeing the barrier only a few days after her arrival. The main different this time is she has people to go with instead of being a lone wolf.

/Or anywhere else for that matter. As much as I love Luceti, the new scenery is quite nice./

"I admit, the only thing I've seen beyond the town thus far was from horseback. Well...horse dragged. And, well, then we were primarily focused on getting back. A bit beyond the forest but, um, then our goals were still the same. Sif was, um, on her way back in any case. The thorns themselves are, um, a couple of days ride beyond here."

Typical Ginia. It's equal parts reassuring and a cause for concern. Reassuring because, well, Ginia is good at rallying people, and with her around, Giles and Helios together could probably muster up the courage and motivation to get out and explore.

On the other hand, if she runs herself ragged, that's just one less way Giles can be there for her.

Sif, the Norse goddess of earth. An interesting name. Whether or not she's a deity remains to be seen - after all, Helios was not actually a sun god - but someone to keep an eye out for. The slayer of the beast in the center of the room was reason enough to talk to her, but that Giles had always met her was promising as well.

/Is there a stable around we could borrow horses from?/ With borrow involving any sort of combination of saving up money to pay for them, being given them out of the kindness of the townspeople hearts, or stealing them in the dead of night and riding off before anyone could discover their grievous crime.

Given the fact that she knows Thor and Loki seems to have something of an unhealthy fascination with her? Even Giles feels safe in saying that yes, she's a deity.

But Ginia can meet Sif for herself, later on. Giles hasn't seen the goddess at the party all night, and can't really fault her if she decided to run out on the party.

"Yes, there are a few. And, um, don't worry about me. I, I just need to attach myself to one of you, and then I can follow easily enough."

/Hold on, "attach"?/

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