⇨ THE MASQUERADE

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone! Attendance is mandatory.
When: Late Day 65
Where: The Celebration
What: The Masquerade arrives, and so does the carnival's enemies. For more info, check out the Draculas 101.
Warnings: Further party hell. Also, vampire violence, mind control, etc.

THE HOST & THE HORDE↴ The time of the Masquerade arrives. You've been given free reign of the place up till now, but a few hours before the party commences the Host will inform you that your presence will be required, and will assist you (forcibly, if need be) to sort out any last minute costuming concerns you might have if you've left it until now. When masks and outfits are sorted, you'll be left to your own devices until you are summoned on the evening of Day 65. The Masquerade will start off normally - relative to everything else in this place, at least. Everyone in the Celebration will be called in for this event, centered in a grand hall with side rooms offered to those that need them for whatever reasons might come up. The food and drink is especially ambrosia-esque this evening, and the music will stir your soul, even if you're not usually a music person. Enjoy it if you can - the peace won't last. ► MASKS: Though the masks seemed only mundane before, once within the Masquerade atmosphere, they will magically begin obscuring people's identities beyond what a normal mask should be able to do. When a person is wearing one, it would be supernaturally difficult to figure out who they are - maybe you forget what their voice should sound like, or maybe the other details escape you. Of course, it's possible to figure out if you look for it, based on general shapes and personality traits, but unless you know someone well it could be a challenge. Of course, you can just take your mask off and remove the enchantment entirely - though the Host will hassle you if they notice you going without. Stop ruining the party! ► TEMPTATION: Though it's felt easy to be whisked away by the draw of pleasure and luxury during the rest of the week, that feeling will seem to come to a head at the actual party. If you are aware of what needs to be resisted then it's possible to fight back and ignore it, but more than ever it feels all too easy to just dance your life away. Nobody seems to be dying from it, at least, or 'burning out' any faster as a result - it's mostly just extremely distracting from other concerns. Like vampires, for instance. VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE↴ It's during the latter half of the party that things will start to go bad. Though it will go unseen by the carnival, the Masquerade has gained an additional set of guests - the vampire's of the demon lord that has been chasing them for the last several months. The Host doesn't discriminate, and anyone is welcome to attend the Celebration, provided they don't start a fight. Right. About that. ► THE KINDRED: The vampires don't like to play fair, which means that they are going to be attacking with stealth and trickery - taking advantage of the way that the party has dulled the alertness of many of the carnival's workers. They'll be using that lack of inhibition to lure individuals into places they can be attacked or turned in private - their primary goals are to capture the Supervisors and to turn as many of the Ringmaster's workers as possible before escaping back to their dimension. Some of their targets will be gone before anyone has a chance to notice. Remembering that they will be avoiding big public confrontations, so if anyone starts one of those it will probably by the carnival members striking back. This is going to wear on the Host's patience extremely quickly. ► COLD IRON: Oh, right, and they are definitely bringing iron weapons - as pure as they could get. They'll have things like iron collars or shackles to try to trap people with, as well as iron daggers and guns with iron bullets. They'll have to be on the down low with, but they are going to exploit that weakeness as much as possible. Those that have only been in the carnival a few months will mostly just feel discomfort at the touch of it - as if they are touching something that is slightly too hot or too cold. Veterans that have been around for years will find its touch to be burningly cold - the type of temperature that would threaten to destroy flesh after prolonged contact. Those that have been here for up to three years will take it the worst. See the Transformations page for more details! ► TURNING THE TABLES: Being turned is a mixture of pleasure and pain, and is often hard for mortals to mentally reconcile as it happens to them. Being drained by these vampires is simultaneously impossibly satisfying and extremely terrifying - once they've started in on your, the way it overwhelms your mind and body can make it nearly impossible to stop them without help. Once you are dead or dying, they will feed you their blood - at which point your body will go through a painful transformation as the demon spirit takes its place inside of you and your dead body is violently resurrected. As soon as you wake up, freshly changed, the bloodlust will set it - it will be extremely hard to control, and at first all you will think about is wanting to sate that hunger. Combined with your sire having direct control if your mind through your blood connection, new vampires will be mostly incapable of doing anything but following the whims of the rest of the vampire pack and seeking nourishment. This blood lust will begin to fade after they've fed. Killing isn't necessary to feed, but it can be hard to stop yourself, as a neonate vampire. ► CLOSING TIME: Before the party is officially over, the Host will have had enough. Before you can pursue all of the vampires or take back the people they've stolen, the lot of them will have escaped back to their dimension, and the Host will have kicked the entire carnival out for participating in so much violence. If you want to make any final moves before you go, this is the time.

Comments

[pipers_son]

“Oh, just a quick little break~. So many folks ta see, so much ta do, it’s enough ta make a man dizzy if he doesn’t take a step back!” Because no one but himself needs to know that he’s also trying to hold himself back as well. Cheerfully, he starts to bounce over.

“So how about me as a person, eh?”

[dontpokethat]

"So I can imagine. It's making me dizzy just watching it from here." He really cannot emphasize enough how tired he is of all this.

He gives a quiet laugh. "Little early to say, but you seem alright so far. Points for not calling me boring for sitting it out."

[pipers_son]

“Oh, I don’t often call folks borin’,” he says breezily, cheerfully going over to invade Ginko’s space. Or, well, the corner he’s claimed for himself. Hey, he said it was okay. Ginko only has himself to blame if he starts regretting this. “I think it’s usually just a matter of findin’ what makes ‘em tick, don’t ya think?”

[dontpokethat]

"I'd agree, yeah. But I think it can also be a matter of accepting that you're not gonna know."

After all, there are plenty of people that he's never going to know much of anything about, and who will never know much of anything about him. But lots of them interested him all the same.

[pipers_son]

“Oh ho~.” He leans in a little playfully, doing his best to not be too close. While he doesn’t peg this guy as the short, some people got punchy when their space was invaded. “Does that mean yer gonna be a mystery sort for the whole party then?”

[dontpokethat]

Ginko huffs quietly. "I haven't planned that far in advance; mostly just focusing on not losing my mind here. But, I guess we'll find out if we keep talking."

[pipers_son]

"I think you're probably doin' a bit better than some other folk I've seen around here, frankly." Joker thinks back to Sherlock and give a low whistle. Yeah, definitely better. "I mean, ya seem too calm ta have snorted anythin', for starters."

[dontpokethat]

"And I intend on keeping it that way. Rather not do anything I'll end up regretting, thanks."

Says the guy whose primary activity of the night seems to be drinking. But, look, he knows his own limits with alcohol. He just doesn't want to deal with all this while completely sober.

"I take it you're not going for that, either?"

[pipers_son]

“Eeeeeeh, what can I say?” He shrugs, hand flopping out in a lazy casual gesture. “Drugs ain’t ever been somethin’ I’ve had the time for, and then I learned what they actually do ta a man… Well, then the allure kind of wears off, don’t it? And trust me-” He laughs. “When it comes ta drink, no one wants ta see me really drunk.”

Absolute moodkiller.

[dontpokethat]

"Almost sounds like there's a story there." He's just teasing, of course; he's not going to push for more information than Joker this complete stranger wants to give.

"Guess I don't have room to talk on that front, though. I've found things are way less likely to get uncomfortable when I can actually think before I speak."

And then he can decide not to voice most of what goes through his head!

[pipers_son]

“It’s a story involvin’ property damage, of course!” That’s a lie, in fact, but no one needs to know the truth. Especially some stranger at a random little party inbetween the various worlds, right? “But what’s that mean, huh? Are ya an especially blunt fellow when yer tipsy? Flirty?”

[dontpokethat]

"Right, of course. Should've guessed."

He snorts, giving a small, vague gesture with one hand. "First guess was way closer. Mostly I just end up saying whatever pops into my head, and I can end up rambling about stuff nobody needs to hear pretty fast. Though, that might be better than if I did start flirting with people; can't imagine I'd even be any good at that."

Speaking of talking a lot. He's just gonna go ahead and set his cup down for the time being.

[pipers_son]

Aww… No more loose tongues made that way by alcohol. Well, that’s fine. If the guy is this chatty already, Joker can work with that. Chuckling, he rests his cheek against his hand. “Well, if ya think yer not a good flirt, I could help, if ya like~. I’ve been told I’m quite the charmer! So??” He leans a little closer, wings fluttering a bit. “What do ya say?”

[dontpokethat]

Oh jeez. Maybe he should have seen this coming. Ginko leans away, his mouth pulling into a grimace - though it won't be visible with his mask covering his entire face.

"Um... no thanks. Not really a priority of mine, anyway."

[pipers_son]

Even if the face is a mystery to him, Joker can roughly imagine at least what expression is crossing it, and he laughs as he leans back.

"No ladykillin' for ya tonight, huh?" A pause. "Or men killin'. Whichever."

[dontpokethat]

Ginko relaxes some, quietly relieved, and gives a quiet laugh. "Ideally, I'd rather avoid killing anyone."

COMEDY! But, no, he does know what he meant by that. "No, I'd really rather stay out of all that. Never really been interested in trying - and, again, I'm trying to avoid winding up regretting anything here."

[pipers_son]

"If they're pretty enough, might be hard ta say it's a regret~." There's definitely a wink coming from behind Joker's mask, probably just further proof that he shouldn't be allowed around people.

"But nah- whatever makes ya happy, then. For some folks that's just livin' it up in the now when they get the chance." For a second, he wavers on saying anything else, but then gives in as he leans back against the wall feigning nonchalance. "Sometimes they won't get it any other time, after all."

[dontpokethat]

Yeah, he doesn't need to see this guy's face to sense that wink. Similarly, Joker may be able to guess just from the incredulous noise Ginko makes that he's rolling his eyes.

He goes quiet, then, watching the man next to him thoughtfully, even though he can't actually see his expression. Force of habit, or maybe he's hoping he can pick up on something some other way. "...Guess not. Can't blame them for that, anyway, if that's how they want to do things."

[pipers_son]

"And how do ya do things?" Chin on the back of his hand, he smiles a bit. "What makes ya happy and when do ya do it? There's gotta be somethin', right? Are ya the tea and books kinda guy?"

That's a thing he's heard people are into, after all.

[dontpokethat]

"Probably closer, honestly." He shrugs. "Call me cliched, but I do tend to prefer peace and quiet. I like doing research, working, that kind of thing."

[pipers_son]

“Oh no.” Joker’s tone is all exaggerated dramatics. “A workaholic. No wonder a party ain’t yer thing. I should take ya dancin’, get yer mind off of things like that, but I have a feelin' ya would refuse me.”

[dontpokethat]

"Hey, I don't see what's wrong with liking my work." Ginko laughs, briefly rubbing at the back of his neck with one hand. "I'd be doing you a favor by refusing. I've never danced in my life; that'd just be embarrassing for everyone."

[pipers_son]

"Weeeeeeeell...." He tilts his head down a little, smiling. "I could always teach ya. Dancin' is a good skill ta have, after all. And away from most of the crowd, the only people we'd be embarrasin' would be the two of us." He winks.

"And I don't know about you, but I've done more embarrassin' things in my life."

[dontpokethat]

Ginko is just about to refuse, but... well. He can't see any harm in it. It's not like anyone is even going to know who he is, so he might as well take the chance to try and learn something.

"...Y'know, why not." He pushes himself to his feet. "But if I step all over your feet, you've got nobody to blame but yourself."

[pipers_son]

For a second, there's only silence as Joker stares, and, when the words finally hit, he bursts out laughing. "Cor, I thought ya would refuse for sure!" But hey, it's what he wanted, right? He hops to his feet, sweeping into a bow.

"Worse things have happened ta my feet than that, don't worry~." Now to figure out which of them is taller...