middaeg | MASQUERADE: Noveur 7

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MASQUERADE: Noveur 7

WELCOME TO THE MASQUERADE

I. Arrival

The event starts early evening, Noveur 7, thanks to the help of several hands. They had worked for a couple of days prior to the start to get the large ballroom decorated to everyone's liking. The day of the event, earlier on, a few may have appeared to do some final touches. Those who had stayed behind to help with some last minute decorating, Louis had cleared out and advised to leave so that they could get ready for the masquerade.

a. Outside

When you approach, you will find that the outside of the building is a perfect location for a masquerade. There's a large ballroom, granted to them for use by the Coven. They had been kind enough to allow them to have the space and necessary supplies in order to throw such a party. And, it's clear that they took every advantage of the granted space and land around them.

There's a gorgeous, outdoor fountain, and lights underneath the water to give it a pleasant, warm glow through the water. If you watch it long enough, the lights seem to shift colors. There's gardens surrounding the building, as well. The gardens, like the fountain, have low, warm lighting around them so that the plant-life will be clear well into the late night.

There's benches outside as well, with a clear view of the fountain - so if someone needs to step outside or take a break from the indoor events, they can enjoy the fresh air and the warm, calming feeling from the fountain and gardens. This is a perfect place to escape when you want to relax away from the bustle of a party.

b. Inside

The entryway has open curtains, gold - and tied back with a burgundy rope. There to make everyone feel as though stepping inside, they are making an entrance of their own. Once you step inside, you'll notice the grand ballroom with high ceilings is fully decorated. It is clear that a lot of effort and time went into this, thanks to the help of many different people and several sets of hands. The colors that seem to be continually present are gold, reds, and purples. Though from time to time there may be splashes of other colors and personal touches from those who had helped in places - mostly in the form of masks hanging on the walls, or balloons scattered in places away from the main dance floor.

From the main ballroom entrance, straight ahead, is the main dance floor and to the right - refreshments. Near the refreshments, there are a several standing tables to set down a drink or stand around to socialize with friends or people you've just met. In addition to the standing tables, there's a couple of dining tables and chairs so that you can sit and eat, drink, or chat.

Inside the main ballroom there's a few gaming tables scattered around - including card games with some dealers around where you can gamble, and pool tables. Make a wager or play for fun, it's all up to you. Additionally, on the floor Kaito will be performing magic tricks to entertain individuals and small groups throughout the floor. You'll be able to catch him periodically through the night.

There are a few hallways leading to several rooms, and it all depends on what you're looking for, but no matter what it is, you can probably find it.

One of the rooms has the silent auction. Here, you can look at some of the things that are up for bidding. There's several interesting, enchanted items including: weapons, jewelry, books, instruments. They are protected, as well, so they can only go home with the winner.

Don't worry - there's signs posted everywhere so you will be able to find what you're looking for.

c. Enchanted Masks

You're welcome to have brought a mask that you had picked out for yourself, or - if you prefer, you can pick up an enchanted mask near the entrance of the party itself. These enchanted masks will conceal all distinguishing features, whether they are as simple as horns and scales, or as large as a set of wings. The only obvious features will be what a character is wearing, whether it is their attire, mask, or both.

You aren't obligated to wear them, of course, but they do provide the total anonymity that is often part of the excitement at a masquerade such as this. These effects are only present when one is wearing the mask. The moment the mask is off, any distinguishing features are immediately visible.

It's a perfect opportunity to have a little fun and engage with someone you may not have spoken with otherwise.

This enchantment will wear off the next day at sunrise, so you may keep the mask you pick out for yourself at the party.

d. Photobooth

Near the front of the ballroom there's a neat looking photobooth set up thanks to the work of both Omi and Prompto. There's props so you can take fun or silly pictures with your friends or date for the night. The backdrop for the photobooth is magical, of course. With a quick flip the background can be changed to one you desire whether it's a different color, an entirely new environment. The photobooth will be available through the night.

Additionally, you'll be able to find Omi on the floor catching candid photos of the attendees. Smile!

II. Refreshments

Away from the dance floor are several tables with matching, deep purple, table cloths. On top of the table are a variety of foods - some brought by the attendees, others brought in thanks to the aid of the coven. You can expect to find at least something that you'll absolutely love when exploring the options. There's everything there - from healthier options like fruits, vegetables, and dip - to less healthy options such as cupcakes, and truffles. Food on sticks, and easy finger foods seem to be a very popular options.

While many of the options wouldn't even require a plate, there are some plates and utensils in shades of blue and gold available to use.

Next to the food there is a table featuring three punch bowls with three different flavors. One seems to be a fruit punch, one seems be purely berry flavored, and one - seems to be a bit of a surprise. It tastes a little bit different to everyone who tries it, but so far - there have been no complaints. Next to them, if you would prefer, there's pitchers of water.

Near the back corner, there's a bar with a bartender, there to serve those who would like a drink. Ask for a surprise, or your favorite drink, and you can have something mixed for you. Next to the bar, there are rows of the most popular bottles of alcohol. Though you won't be stopped if you take one, please tell the bartender so that they can keep their stock replenished for the other guests.

Drinks, of course, come free to those who are able to legally drink. Anyone underage will be met with a powerful enchantment that is acting as a method of preventing that from happening.

III. Dance

a. The Lock Box

Maybe you want to find a new dance partner. Maybe you want to find a new Bond. Maybe you just want to talk to someone new. The Lock Box is near the entrance of the ballroom. It's inaccessible thanks to both a lock and enchantment that are on it.

It's set up neatly on a table, with only it, paper, and a pen so that names can be written and added to the box. When you enter your name, another name will be produced from the box. It is clearly enchanted, of course. Once you're given a name, you and your new dance partner will be compelled to be near one another. This will last for about the length of a song - long enough to dance, or have a conversation.

Usually, only others who have put their names in the box will have their name drawn, but sometimes those who didn't put their name in the box will have their name drawn and will feel compelled to seek out someone who drew their name.

Sorry to those who didn't volunteer, magic isn't always the most predictable! Though you may get lucky and just find your next friend or Bond, so it's hard to get mad about it.

b. Song & Dance

Whether you picked your dance partner yourself, or were compelled to dance with your partner thanks to the Lock Box, the dance floor is ready for you. The music is enchanted, to provide a feeling of calm, relaxation, and joy. Characters will feel at ease, and even those who may not typically dance will want to get out on the dance floor.

Thanks to the talents of several Mirrorbound and collected records you'll have a variety of music all through the night. While much of it is upbeat, as it is encouraging individuals to dance. Whatever your mood, you will find a song that you'd love to dance to, as long as you want to dance.

IV. Gaming

Throughout the venue, there are a variety of gaming tables. There's poker tables with a dealer available so that you can play a game, place a bet - maybe you'll lose some cunes, maybe you'll win big. That's all up to how good you play the game. Note: Dealers (and the party host) are not responsible for any losses that occur when gambling. Play responsibly (or not).

There's also some pool tables available to those who wish to play. These table are open to anyone, and they are free to play. There's only a couple of tables available; however, they are scattered throughout the venue.

Set up near the bar are three long tables with only an array of cups and a printed set of rules for a game that some may recognize as none other than something very closely to beer pong. In place of the ping-pong balls there's a small, plastic coin that is used. Have fun drinking with friends while playing a game. What's not to love?

Are you looking to play a game in a quieter space? Down one of the hallways there's a couple of game rooms where you can not only find decks of cards and a pool table, but also a variety of popular party games such as charades. You'll also be able to find a room for those who want to settle in for a game of chess or checkers.

V. Late Night

The lights dim, just a bit more as it starts to turn into a late night, though there doesn't seem to be any sign that the party is ending. Small, glowing trinkets are brought out when the party seems like it should otherwise be dying down. These trinkets are - of course, to your taste, whether it's a bracelet, a ring, a necklace, or just simple something small that almost resembles a wand. This will glow up to a month, so you should like what you pick: whether it is for for you or is to act as a gift for someone of your choosing.

The music is meant now to entice you to go a little wilder than they may have been earlier in the evening. Most of the food has been replaced and only small, quick snacks have been brought out for those who were still wanting something a bit to eat. Alcohol is still readily available to each and every person who is able to legally drink, of course.

You're welcome to - quite literally - dance until the sun rises or until you just can't stay awake any longer.

Note: Please see the questions thread if you have any for me - don't be afraid to ask. Please assume all characters received fliers this year, and anyone who would have wanted to work would have had the opportunity to help setup. As there are a variety of performers through the night, I did not note any specific ones and will leave that up to the performers discretion.

Please place any warnings, including 18+ content, in the subject line! Thank you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"That seems a dangerous thing to ask...," And yet she couldn't find herself denying it. But maybe it wasn't romance she sought so much as... something to fill that place someone had found within her, and left behind. A place that Jill, bless her and keep her, could not fit just by herself.

Saber leans forward slightly. She's not sure what to make of this. She's cautious, almost, trying to figure out what it is Scathach wants from her. They're not exactly friends, after all, even if Saber doesn't have anything against her.

"It is. That's why I'm trying to figure out what you're asking of me..."

There was something to be said about Celtic cultural permissiveness when it came to love and sex, about a culture that valued marriage as a means of consolidating family or power, and love and sex as something shared freely. Within that culture, never had Scathach thought of her love-life as complicated.

At least, not until her time within the world she was in at that moment.

"Set aside what my own interests are... Is that something you'd even consider?"

"I don't know," Saber replies frankly. She's a touch hesitant, but she wants to be honest.

"Relationships were never something I pursued in life and... even here, I haven't exactly sought out romance of any sort. Or physical relationships for that matter."

Her expression curls for a moment behind her mask.

"...I feels as if I would want to know you better."

"Do you wish to court me, then?" a soft chuckle, though one that seemed almost sardonic, despite how bleedingly honest it was in that moment, setting her glass down to trace a clawed finger along its rim, sounding a chime...

"I know how knights approach these matters, after all. And who can claim to be more knightly than you?"

"...I suppose that would be the best way of phrasing it. Although in this case, I feel as if you might be doing the courting."

Saber settles her hands on the table, gloved fingers interwoven.

"I've simply... I've never thought about trying a relationship of any sort."

"Well it's not as if you'd break my heart," Scathach chuckled, though there was a sort of grim irony to her words, as well. Between her prolonged existence and being able to hold on to the pain of loss, what defined 'breaking' one's heart felt like such a loose, unknowable thing. But it could be its own strength, as well...

And Scathach valued strength, above all else.

"Artoria... dance with me."

"I wouldn't want to do such a thing-" Saber starts to say and then Scathach says her name - her true name - and her face flushes. No one has called her by that since her arrival here. She hasn't allowed it, hasn't told anyone. To hear it spoken now, especially in the context of their conversation is a little flustering.

"I-"

She blinks and then starts to rise to her feet, cheeks pink.

"...very well."

True Names were not light things. They were not casual words, tossed about on the wings of butterflies, left to drift on breezes. Even if they were not from the same "time", they were both Heroic Spirits and knew of the weight they held, what they meant, what knowledge they signaled.

To speak a True Name was to know someone.

Scathach set her drink aside, extending her hand to take up Saber's in her own, fingers intertwining.

"Dance with me... and then decide for yourself what it is you wish. Consider it a battle to determine where you go from here, King of Knights..."

"A battle..." Saber murmurs and gives Scathach's hand a little squeeze, "I suppose it will be one, considering our heritage."

She's a little shorter, so she'll have to do her best to keep up. Not that she anticipates it being a problem. Her wings flutter for a moment and then settles.

"Lead on, Scathach."

It may have been a bit silly, to think of dancing, of courting, as a battle. But that philosophy ran through Scathach so thoroughly, she could hardly help the comparison. Her battle lust managed to appear in such strange places...

At the dance floor, she confidently took the lead, bringing an arm to Saber's waist, pulling her close at the music began. It hardly had the formality of what Saber was no doubt familiar with, but it wasn't nearly so casual as the sort of dancing Scathach had in her homeland, either. Something inbetween. Something almost... romantic.

Oh. Saber seems slightly flustered (again) by just how bold Scathach is. Still, she allows herself to be pulled close, her gaze on her partner's face as they launch into the dance. It stires something in her - a spark of warmth that she wasn't sure she's had before and one she's not sure she ought to feel for someone she doesn't even know all that well. But it's there. A feeling that goes turning around and around in her head and doesn't let go - at least for now.

"You dance well," she comments after a few moments, if only to fill the space, "Although it's different from what I'm used to."

"The art of dance has evolve quite a bit since your time, but you're a fencer, so I don't doubt your ability to keep up..."

Which was good, because a different sort of music began to play just as the last one faded, and while the energy didn't seem so dramatically different at first, upon the end of that first stanza, Scathach suddenly pulled Saber in close, tight, leg practically leg as each step became much more dramatic, and she felt her eyes locking with Saber, flashing with a heat that was not unlike one would see in an enemy soldier, bearing down with killing intent...

"You flatter me-"

Saber begins to respond but then the music picks up and she finds that their dance has become very... charged. To say the least. Despite her reserve of self-control, she feels her cheeks flush and it's all she can do to concentrate on keeping up with Scathach as they move together across the dance floor.

"This - this is different."

She's now acutely aware of how close together they are as well.

"This is called the Tango," Scathach murmured, her motions unrelenting, not waiting for Saber to keep up with her but rather expecting she would, even despite her lack of familiarity.

"A prolonged life has allowed me to learn many things... including this."

Saber, for her part, is keeping up. Even if she does look flustered. She's just... very close and the dance is very energetic. Something that the monster part of her seems to take a great deal of pleasure.

"I - I never had the time, honestly. I was more focused on ruling and on warfare..."

Her eyes meet Scathach's and she holds her gaze.

"May I ask - what is it you would like from me tonight?"

Or at all?

"All I had asked of you was a dance...,"

The music came to crescendo, and so to did Scathach, twirling with Saber one last time, holding her close and tight against her waist, her chest, before dipping down low, magenta hair cascading around them like a flowing waterfall, eyes locked to hers, just for a moment...

"And a dance... is what you allowed me. Thank you..."

Oh.

Saber feels her cheeks heat all over again as she's twirled and then dipped. She's honestly never been courted before. Not like this. And her only other experience is Gilgamesh (if that can be called courting) and suddenly she thinks she understands why people write stories about it.

"I - you're very welcome," she murmurs, hands gripping on to her shoulder and hand as they straighten up out of the dip.

"...you've given me quite a bit to think about."

"Have I, now?" Scathach chuckled slightly, calmly and much more gently leading Saber away from the dance floor, now that the song was complete, though still keeping her close.

"Well, here's a bit more... you should know we Celts are free with our intimacy... It's not like the post-Christian morals of your time."

There was no not-awkward time to bring it up, but her life in Aefenglom had taught her it was important to bring up. Assuming everyone would be okay with the Celtic flavor of free-love turned out to be poor form.

"Ah," Saber replies, taken a little aback. There might be a flush in her cheeks, but she seems determined to tamp that down. She simply nods and straightens her shoulders a little.

"Then you should know that my... experience with intimacy is very limited. And I am unsure if I wish to dabble further. Regardless of how free or unfree one wishes to be. I hope that I do not offer you an insult by saying so."

"Nay, such a thing could never upset me. A warrior respects personal boundaries. That fits within your chivalry, as well, does it not?" Well. She said respect, but Scathach still had her tendency to push at those boundaries. They both knew that, by then, what with the tango and all. But she at least knew not to push too hard or too far...

"If... if anything happens, it will be at your pace, Artoria...," again, her True Name. "I'll presume little, but appreciate all."

Her true name again. Saber's cheeks flush a little darker.

"Thank you for your understanding," she continues after a moment, "...perhaps we might try... a... date? At some point?"

She's feeling this out. What is she doing? She doesn't know.

"Perhaps... but for now, even if all it we had was a dance, I think I'd be satisfied with that, and your continued friendship," She reached, slowly, to take up one of Saber's forelocks, leaning in close to press a kiss to that... A very, very old courting gesture, and one she hoped didn't go missed.

"Until then..." and with that, she stepped back, letting the hair fall loose once more, and began to walk away, back towards where she last saw Jill in the crowd...

Oh. That's... different. Saber is left blinking, unsure of how to feel. Flattered? Embarrassed? Glad? It's a muddle of emotions and so she simply murmurs her reply as she watches Scathach go.

"Until then."

She reaches up to touch the forelock with one gloved hand. Well... she has a lot to think about.

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MASQUERADE: Noveur 7

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