middaeg | MASQUERADE: Noveur 8

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MASQUERADE: Noveur 8

WELCOME TO THE MASQUERADE

I. Arrival

The event starts mid-evening, Noveur 8, 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 deep blue 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 large 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, deep blue, and dark purple. 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 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.

There some seating nearer to the walls without tables, as well, for those who maybe wish to take a moment to themselves or need a few seconds to relax. There's also some standing room for those who maybe are there more to socialize and enjoy the company of others, rather than dancing.

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 feature 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.

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.

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 drawn together. 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 softly 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 talent of both Elliot and Wataru on their violins, as well as people from within the city to provide the music.

There's a variety of music to play through the night. Most of the music is upbeat through the night, encouraging you to grab a partner and dance. Songs like waltzes are the most prominently played, as they're perfect for beginners and experienced dancers alike. And then, from there, there's some slower paced, romantic songs - though they are less frequent. Whenever those play, find someone you want to get close to and take a chance to dance and maybe even have a quiet conversation.

Whatever your mood, you will find a song that you'd love to dance to, as long as you want to dance.

IV. 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 hit me up if you have any questions; ICly: This takes place on the 8th. Putting this up early is to help ensure everyone has a chance to enjoy themselves! And, if your threads need any warnings of any sort, please add them as you go! ♥ Thank you all!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Why in the hell would you want someone to drink from you?

[ And yeah he's just... going to STARE at Berserker for that because what the fuck??? Is this some weird kink thing that he should just NOT be asking about? ]

Like I said: curiosity.

[ It's as simple as that, really. ]

I don't mind being bitten. [ Don't ask anymore on that for your own good, Trevor. ] So if it does little harm to me and helps an ally, why not do it?

[ Look, he may be stupid when it comes to feelings and all that but he can sort of take a hint here and it's why he just decides to... drop it. For both their sakes. Maybe more his. But dropped it is. ]

Oh, so we're allies now, are we?

[ Yeah he sure is going to zero in on that but he just sighs, plucking the straw from between his lips and looking over the bitemarks littered across it. ]

A dragon and a bloodsucker. Doesn't sound all that likely to me.

Better an ally than my enemy. [ Cryptic and vaguely threatening. ] You may be a drunk, but you're not an idiot...and if you've survived as long as you have fighting monsters as you say you have, you're capable, too.

[ It's an honest, if blunt assessment, delivered without much emotion behind it. ]

It's as likely as anything else in this place...like a vampire killer becoming a vampire.

[ He IS a damn good hunter, last of the Belmonts, one who helped kill fucking Dracula himself. But it's the whole latter part of that sentence there that gets Trevor to narrow his eyes some at Berserker before he blows some air at him through the straw. ]

Are vampire dragons a thing here?

[ He's just gonna...grab for that fucking straw again with less coordination than before. ]

Not that I know of...why?

I said get yer own!

[ And the whole teething thing. HONESTLY. ]

Vampires turn people into vampires. Or do you know not much about vampires to begin with? Lucky for you, they're my specialty and not because this world is fucking with me.

[ Fine, keep your straw. Berserker settles back down in his seat with a huff. ]

I know of vampires... [ Vlad the III and Carmilla he is familiar with, at least as they are as Heroic Spirits. ] But I don't know the finer details because it never mattered.

[ He gives a dismissive wave. ]

I doubt you'd be able to do much to me beyond feed on me, though.

And why is that? Is turning not a thing with vampires here?

[ Mind you, he's... not too sure about crossing a vampire with an entirely different monster?? Animals don't seem to turn vampiric should they be fed on. Then again, they're left dead more often than not but who's to say the same rules for vampires applies here? It just... seems universal. Or should be, shouldn't it? ]

I don't know. I haven't heard of it happening...but I also don't know many vampires. [ A beat. ] Plus I'm strong enough to kill you if it goes too far for my liking.

[ He's just gonna... stare... for a long time there. ]

Look, that's great and all that you have so much confidence in yourself but taking down monsters is what I do and what I've always done. I've taken down things bigger than you.

And I know the most efficient way of killing someone in any situation. [ That's not a bluff, either. He is a brutally efficient killing machine, even without the powers granted to him as a Servant. ] But I don't do that unless I have to. And I don't want to kill you. So spare me the posturing and I'll spare you the threats.

And why don't you want to kill me? Don't tell me you actually like me or something.

[ And he laughs because... that doesn't sound right at all. He can be an immature asshole, he knows it. Keeps him from getting attached and losing everything and everyone again? Or something. Yeah. ]

Killing is like paperwork for me, boring and routine. I don't do it unless I have to.

[ Ah...That's bleak as hell. ]

And as I said before, you're an ally...Unless you betray me, it will stay that way and I'll have no need to kill you.

[ Yes, that's his way of saying "I like you" or at least "You're not unbearable company". ]

This is where I say I'm flattered, right?

[ But instead he just... chuckles a little around his straw, shaking his head as he does so. Who in the hell would have ever thought? Life's still shitty, that's not gonna change. The only thing that WILL is him and he'll eventually die and rise as a vampire at some point. How fun, right? No. It's not. So maybe he can at least take this moment for a small sliver of something that isn't shitty and just... let it be. ]

Doesn't want to kill me. Just wants me to suck his blood.

I never said I wanted it, I said I was curious about it. It's a possibility for you if it becomes unbearable.

[ He folds his arms on the bar before leaning forward to rest his head on them. This is a conversation he's just the right amount of drunk to have. ]

Would you rather I want to kill you?

[ Well that makes two of them then?? But when he asks about the whole killing him thing, Trevor just smiles a little to himself behind the rim of his glass, eyes staring off across the bar. ]

That would be more normal.

[ And even if he laughs a bit at that, he speaks the truth, letting that tired smile tug at his lips before he takes a drink. ]

I thought you'd be used to abnormal things being normal here by now.

[ He manages an extremely brief smile from where he lays on the bar. ]

I'm a late bloomer I guess.

[ Plus the whole turning into a vampire thing is just NEVER going to normal for him. ]

Are you used to just monsters wanting to kill you or everyone?

[ And that's fair. Berserker is just very good at accepting whatever may happen to him, at this point. He took the weird effects from the mist last month with surprising grace. Turning into a dragon was already weird enough, what was adding fur and new ears into the mix? ]

My family was casted out by the Church because they believed us to be users of black magic but that's a load of bull. We've never used black magic or worked with Satan himself. The years we spent fighting monsters and protecting people from things that go bump in the night. Along comes the Church and decides, fuck you Belmonts, you're not doing what we want so... away with you. Away with you all in the name of the father, the sun, and the holy fucking spirit. Amen.

[ He sounds bitter as he just lets that all come out, downing the rest of his drink as he stares to the straw between his fingers he had been chewing on. ]

Burned it all to the ground. Chased us out. Turned those who we swore to protect against us. So... yeah, I'd say everyone.

[ Cue dramatic hand wave. ]

Nothing like having everyone turn against you for false rumors, right?

[ He hadn't been expecting an actual answer. Berserker lifts his head off the bar as Trevor speaks, patiently listening. He can relate to betrayal being a sore spot: betrayal is what got him killed (well, the "true" version of himself, whose memories he has, anyway). ]

Hm, that's unfortunate. No wonder you act the way you do...Everyone's a potential threat and may betray you at any time.

[ It's about as sympathetic as he can sound. ]

People are just pieces of shit.

[ That's muttered around his straw which is now back in his mouth, nodding his thanks as he stares to the... what number drink is he on again? Oh well, whatever. ]

You're alright, I guess. But you're still a little shit yourself, so. Don't get your hopes up there.

[ Yet even as he says that, he chuckles some around the rim of his glass, licking over his lips then as he holds the glass out just enough to look at it. ]

Shit. I'm gonna miss the taste of this.

[ He's not going to fight the assessment that he's a little shit -- he absolutely knows that. No wish on the Grail could erase the pettiness of Cú Chulainn. ]

As if you aren't. [ Yes, that's the best he can come back with. ] ... Are you going to have to stop drinking once you turn? Or are you just going to miss that particular drink? Because you can just get another one, if that's the case.

[ ... Yep, he is a little shit. ]

Since I imagine blood is the only thing I'm going to want to drink or will even come close to satisfying me.

[ And that just... gets him to groan and bury his face in his arms on the counter. He's still not ok with this. It's absolutely THE WORST thing that could have happened to him. Of all the things to be in this world, he has to be A VAMPIRE. ]

At least you hoard treasure or... bones and skulls. Whatever.

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