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!

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[Well, that's kind of attractive and intimidating. And all over her trying to make polite noises and not meme ones. Well then.]

Positive association. We can discuss morality and ethics another time-maybe over drinks, if you're interested.

[And she's not even trying to make it a date, just a lively discussion, really. But she goes quiet, listening. She hasn't heard the term Yharnam before so...]

It does sound rather...interesting, if not particular. It makes me think of some of the ways it can be treated in other worlds.

[Carriers of disease, of life, of so much...it could be a metaphor.]

These...Yharnam? You called them? Are they a culture, or are they a race of people?

[Is that much different to how she normally is? But she doesn't say anything more. Soon enough, the smile is gone, and the clouds have returned, and she's back to serious and chilly.] Hm, well. I've had enough of lectures on that here to last me this whole new year. [She's made a concession on how gentle, how soft many of the Mirrorbound's homes are. Not many know what it means to have to kill to survive - and not for food.]

Yharnam is a city; the residents are called Yharnamites. Queen Yharnam was a Pthumerian, last of their royal line, and so the city is named for her. It was built over the ruins of a place called Pthumeru Ihyll - their ancient capital, and so the city can be considered quite ancient itself.

[Hey, she didn't get many invites over drinks did she? Or dates? But the serious and chilly isn't so bad after that bit of sunshine.]

Oh, I'm sure. I'm not here for lectures. I'm just here to enjoy your company.

[Back to the juicy things. But Pthumerians...she didn't know of it, but goodness, this was fascinating. Especially since it was on the ruins of another city.]

That sounds fascinating. It sounds as if she is the last of an ancient civilizations. Not that she'd field questions about the ancient city but...sorry. I'm getting kind of excited. My academic is showing.

... Oh, I'm sure. [Well, this isn't a party to try to angle onesself into a courtship with the scion of a family of higher nobility, but she still isn't sure what to make of offers like that. Dating isn't really in her lexicon, because she's from an era where things were done rather differently.

Either way, she sounds more amused than just straight up immediately tossing the idea out the window.]

I'm not sure if you would call what she is doing "living" anymore. It is more that her... consciousness is still here, in the waking world. Her consciousness... and her blood. Well, and the Great One who took her for a mate, and turned her into whatever existence she can be considered now.

[She smiled up at her. Yeah, she was common as dirt, and she really wasn't here for relationships. Asura had to yell at her and she had to punch him a couple of times to actually vent some of her feelings.

So Maria is safe there. Unless she wants a fight, but...later. She likes their suits.]

Far be it from me to judge but...it sounds like she's just a giant pool of blood now? A conscious pool of blood?

[Not that it's bad judging! She's curious, and wants to make sure she's got it right.]

Ah, no, she's more like a ghost. A ghost who left behind some of herself that was... later utilized. [But it gave the scholars of Byrgenwerth all kinds of fun new ideas for research. And the nobles of Cainhurst a new fad.

And then things went downhill.]

Some of the Pthumerians still yet... "live", if you could call it that, in the catacombs. But it is there they remain, trapped in their servitude for eternity.

I...see.

[A solid ghost, more or less. Well, instead of fun academic things, it sounded more like...well...she made a soft noise.]

That sounds more like a horror story. A tragic horror story. It's not as if they wanted to be trapped, or if they did, they didn't know the full consequences.

Hmmm... I'm not so sure. [A shrug.] But, well... we cannot ask them. Whatever language they speak is lost to us, and even if we could speak it, they do not... really answer with anything but violence. [And Caryll is long since gone.] And that is the ones that didn't end up turning to Beasthood, their minds lost well beyond the veil of madness.

If you get the chance, perhaps you can ask them if it is lonely to no longer have the masters you spent your lives serving.

I mean, if there was a similar magic in this world, we could somehow translate but- you have a good point.

[She laughs a little, giving Maria's hand a squeeze.]

Thanks, but no thanks. I don't have a death wish. There's flirting with someone deadly but with logic, and those with madness that wield cleavers the size of people.

I know which side of the coin to stay on.

Ah, but hell hath no fury... [Than what? Well, not an undead... or undying... or both creature. Sometimes the people outside of the catacombs were more difficult to deal with. Prospecting the tombs was easy - take anything that looked valuable, kill anything that tried to kill you, and there was plenty of that.] It was violent, certainly, but there was a predictability to it. Sometimes the obvious dangers are the better ones to pursue.

[And then Byrgenwerth got too curious. And then the Church got too brave. And then Maria lost control of everything.

... She puts it out of her mind.] Well, but it was quite fascinating, the whole time. Even with the giant, flaming swords. If only it were possible to return to such simplicity... I think, we'll just have to make do with the tales and the pondering of what could have been.

[Some would complete it with 'a woman scorned' as the line goes, but sometimes...hmmm. Curious indeed.]

Sometimes the obvious dangers are not from the overt path, but the subtle one?

[But that seems to be too sensitive for Maria, and she'll respect it. Even if she has to laugh a little at the mention of giant flaming swords. There was always at least one somewhere.]

As one poet said, nothing gold will stay. We can only take the lessons of yesteryear, respect it, and keep walking forward while respecting the past.

[Not to say that Sokie hadn't looted before. She had. But as she said before, sometimes it was best to let sleeping dogs lie.]

Respecting the past... [Oh, now that's an interesting thought. One that brings a strange sort of noise to Maria's throat that almost... sounds like a laugh. Can't be though, right? Maria doesn't laugh at things!

Still, her eyes glimmer with the amusement, and the corner of her lips twitches as she pushes it back down.] Now if only people weren't so curious.

Either way, there are none of those tombs here, and little I can do, either way. What has been done, has been done [yeah, right, stop being a hypocrite, Maria "I am still hung the hell up on my past" nolastname] and now we have a new history to learn. At least, I hope people are looking into the history of this place.

[....huh, looks like she made her laugh! Score one for Sokie, even if she hadn't meant to. Oops? But she still smiles briefly, if for a little amount of time.]

Oh, I'm sure they have. Been looking into all sorts of things, poking their nose into trouble...that sort of thing. Humans are too curious for their own good.

[Just like Sokie is.]

Though I haven't heard of anyone scrying into the past yet. There is that possible route.

[Huh. It might be useful too.]

Hm... there is. But that requires a level of study that I have not pursued. [Scrying... divination. Those are not her fields of study. She prefers things more practical for survival and. Well. Murder.]

I'm sure someone will, though. Some day, we'll find a truth. It may not be the one we're looking for, and it may not be one we want to hear, but we will find it. [Sufficiently ominous.] The hardest part may be deciding what to do with it.

I've been dabbling. I might give it a shot-I'm sure I've seen it in a book or two.

[Not the ones that she stole back in the Black City, but ones here. She'll have to look again.]

The truth is rarely kind. But hopefully it'll clear things up, rather then muddle things further. I know sometimes it makes difficult.

Yes. And they do teach the classes... it's just a matter of whether or not you wish to go into them. [Maria, however, does not. If it's not combat-focused, she has very little interest in it. Or... well, the odd few skills she learned how to keep her equipment maintained, but that was more practical than not. She doesn't see much of a point in divination.]

I suppose the only thing to do is to look into it. Though this is not our world, I don't see any problem with becoming more integrated into it. Who knows how long we will be stuck here, after all.

True. And I do go to classes, for sure. I don't c-actually, I might cram, a bit. I like learning how to do things. And it helps me understand the information more if I teach the practical applications.

[And learning new things, including divination, is good. Plus...there's the memory restoration. That's part of divination magic.]

I hope we're not permanently stuck here but...I would like to be prepared for whatever may happen.

[Yeah, Maria would much rather forget her memories than remember them, welcome to having a shady, awful past that you regret mightily.]

There's nothing wrong with learning about it, either. Knowledge is power, is that not what they say? And information can be brokered, if one wishes to strike a deal.

[Or just. Researched. Give her ALL the Forbidden Knowledge. She's been rather starved for it of late.]

[Laughs into salad, on she knew all about regrets. So. So many regrets.]

And deals are always...mm, good things to make, in a world of vital bonds.

It would always be welcomed too if someone desired an in between to discover the answer of certain questions.

Oh, they certainly can be. [You know, if you're careful about them. But she doesn't think she needs to say that.]

Do you mean for yourself, personally?

[Yeah Maria we know you don't care. But hey. Thank you for being polite. For Sokie, she offers a small shrug.]

Perhaps. But I also am the type that tends to search for her answers herself. Whenever possible.

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MASQUERADE: Noveur 8

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