Chapter 11: The Elemental Masquerade Report

General Summary

SESSION 11 WORLD ANVIL RECAP It is the night of the Masquerade Ball at the Ashton’s city estate. The party finds themselves aboard the carriages en route to the ball, having taken most of the day to prepare for this opulent event (including, in Dove’s case, coming prepared with some raw eggs and a short bow, among other things). In one carriage: Elinor, Dove, Lord Spudnic Sterling, and Lady Maeve discuss each others’ costumes and Elinor’s romantic prospects. In the other: Alice, Oliver, Dominic, and Nicholas pass around a bottle of Oliver’s absinthe and converse about more scandalous things like past romantic entanglements and smutty novels. They ride up to the Ashton estate, an imposing and beautiful castle of gothic nature (do I remember this right? Don’t want to describe it wrong).   The inside of the Ashton estate is nothing short of incredible. Red drapes magicked to show embers drifting across them, ornate candles and chandeliers casting enchanting shadows on the walls, great fireplaces changing color to the music. A grand stage hosting a series of mesmerizing performers throughout the night. The smell of spices and blooms wafting about and music with a magically fiery quality to them, delectable foods that have been smoked and cooked and prepared in unique ways involving fire. Guests in elaborate costumes of all kinds fill the spaces, mingling about.   The Sterlings join the event. Their costumes are as follows: Alice: an enchanting gown of white pearls arranged in the shape of a horse head — she is dressed as an elegant white mare and is somehow pulling it off! Dominic: standing tall in an ombré gray-to-black suit with silver shale-inspired embroidery and a half-cape on the right shoulder. His waistcoat is black with dark red and gray patterns running through like veins of minerals found within the earth, with a matching mask adorned with stalactites. Black shirt, black gloves, and a red cravat complete his outfit. He is the caves in the ground, symbolizing the treasures that can be found when one delves into the unknown. Oliver: he is wearing a shirt made of chains and diamonds, showcasing his beautiful chest and abs, with dark trousers and his signature attention-grabbing boots. His hair is up in a bun and his eyes are adorned with sparkling makeup underneath his black mask. His hands are adorned with silver chain-like gloves, hiding his wounded fingernails. The most eye-catching feature, however, is a great floor length dark cape which has been illusioned to show deep, bright glimmering lights passing by whenever he moves. He is the Lights Within the Earth. Nicholas: his bright white hair a shock a against the colors shining off his costume — over his dress shirt and pastel rainbow cravat, he is wearing a corset-style vest embedded with thousands of tiny multifaceted diamonds that reflect every color of the rainbow in the light. Attached to the back of the corset are large nearly floor-length tails, also covered in the diamonds. He has strings of larger diamonds draped artfully over his shoulders and hips, and his white mask covers the full face, arching up to create several points similar to that of a crown. He is the rainbow of light caused by the prism of a diamond. Spudnic: wearing a normal brown suit with the most non-committal strip of fabric hanging from his top hat, a bit of silk with eye holes cut out of it. He is… whatever the group decided he would be. Farming earth, perhaps. The kind of ground a good potato would be grown in. He honestly doesn’t care. Elinor: steps out in a dashing tailored black suit with eye-catching black-opal details. She has a half-skirt attached to her pants that drape beautifully behind her, and her jacket has long tail that drapes over the skirt. Peeking out from under the jacket is a vibrantly colored black-opal corset with beads strung elegantly along the underside. Her mask is black with fiery black opal details spilling across, as one might find the precious stone peeking out from the earth. She has a Smokey-eyed makeup look under the mask, and her hair is up in an ornate braided bun with opal beads placed about. She is a Black Opal. Maeve: bounces out in a pink dress with other pastel color details, with two great plumes of feathers arching over her head in the shape of bunny ears. She is a rabbit. Dove: emerges in a ball gown of wrinkly gray texture, imitating the look of natural rock. Peeking out from under the gray are bits of shiny fabric imitating the look of a white opal. Her mask is a “blind-mask,” it’s gray lace covering the full top part of her face including her eyes, though she can see through it. Her hair is slicked back into a small, perfect bun, not a curl in sight, showcasing the plethora of clip-on earrings adorning her ears. She is an Opal Geode.   Catching the eye of the whole ton, the Sterlings begin to make their way inside before stopping to see the Blumetts emerge from their own carriages, most notably Lady Heather as a Blumette giant eagle, Frank as a Dalmatian, Ruby as a rose, and Dahlia as what appears to be a kelpie. Elinor offers to escort Dahlia inside, making an opening for several members of the Sterling party to engage in various degrees of embarrassing and aggressive ways. Elinor somehow survives the ordeal, and even receives a compliment and a kiss on the cheek from Dahlia, who thanks her for the book Elinor sent as way of apology for the previous night.   Nicholas finds Emily Frost and escorts her inside. She is dressed as a diamond to match his costume, in a sleeveless dress and a mask made of glittering makeup in place of an actual masquerade mask. They exchange pleasantries and run off quickly from the rest of the Frost family, as Emily’s father and grandfather have informed her not to be seen with Nicholas. They group up with Elinor and Dahlia. Bernard Vaneforge, dressed as a pinecone, joins and shares his interest in their intellectual pursuits. He lets them know the Vaneforges are trying to invent a new mode of transportation that doesn’t rely on animals, and begins to ask Dahlia about her research, but Elinor notices Dahlia signal to him to stop. Elinor takes a big swallow of her drink.     Dominic, on the way to getting a drink for Lady Myeong Brewwick, runs into Ruby Blumett. She all but begs him for a dance, to which he responds with a hard negative, despite the rudeness that will surely be talked about by the servants and members of society nearby. He brings the drink to Myeong, the 17 year old clever Brewwick who just came out for the first time this season. He secures a spot on her dance card, flirts a bit, then loses her interest entirely when he reveals he is not interested in being anyone’s knight in shining armor. She exits the conversation and joins her friends, clearly speaking of him in jest.   Meanwhile, Oliver and Dove gossip a bit whilst observing the goings-on of the room. Oliver wonders aloud if he should step in and be by Dominic’s side throughout the evening to save him from floundering in public, but Dove seems wholly uninterested in lending him any aid. They watch as the Shadowbys enter the room, and Oliver comments on the gaudiness of Prince Phillip and his husband Yil-koon’s costumes, the former being dressed as a swordfish and the latter a gold-threaded tiger. The royal couple bicker.   Oliver grabs Nicholas and brings him to say hello to the queen. Upon seeing her, Oliver notices that this is not the Queen herself, but an actress that the Queen hires to be a decoy/doppelgänger of herself for whenever she does not wish to attend an event. Noticing that Oliver is strutting a little extra in front of Prince Phillip, he tries to send a message into the mind if Prince Phillip, but is met with some psychic/magical shield that forces him into a vision of a graveyard for a brief, terrifying moment.   Dove, too scared to go speak to the Queen, decides to find Elinor. On the way there, she sees Myeong Brewwick and tries to quietly sneak an egg into the folds of her dress, with the intention of it breaking and leaking egg goop all over her dress when Myeong eventually sits down. However, Lady Myeong whips around, catching Dove red-handed. She throws some sort of potion on her dress, nastily calling Dove a little beetle. Dove flees to Elinor and begs her for help. Just before stepping away, Elinor asks to put her name on Dahlia’s calling card, but Dahlia reveals that she has already penciled in Elinor’s name.   Pulling Elinor away, Dove panics about the potion burning into her back through her dress. Elinor sees Dove’s features begin to change: a great carapace grows from her spine, tugging at the edges of the dress; her eyes bulge and pull to the very sides of her face; great pincers begin growing out of her mouth. Quickly, Elinor casts Dispel Magic, saving Dove at the last moment from being polymorphed into a giant beetle. Elinor pries the truth out of Dove, that this potion was retribution for a failed prank, and that the prank itself was intended to be retribution for Myeong being mean to someone. While Elinor and Dove argue over the ethics of pranking nasty people, Dahlia suddenly appears to offer help. She mends Dove’s dress with magic, and lets slip that there are rumors of werewolves about, perhaps connected to the Bouldertons. Elinor sees a flash of Dahlia’s red hair, but chooses not to ask about it. After Dahlia leaves, Dove tells Elinor she thinks she should confront Dahlia about her lies, but Elinor is made uncomfortable by the idea.   The party briefly gathers, with Dominic and Oliver and Nicholas just so happening to find Dove and Elinor on the edges of the room, just before Alice also finds the group and breaks them all up again. The party scatters.   Elinor and Oliver speak, Elinor voicing her concern about her uncle’s health and Oliver sharing his gratitude and love for his niece. She asks her uncle for advice on whether to pursue Dahlia Blumett alone, or keep her options open (along with any opportunities of flirting with the devastatingly sexy Annalee Ashton again). He suggests she take it moment by moment but to not throw away her obvious feelings for the Lady Dahlia. He also assuages her nervousness about the season by suggesting she see dances and callings on ladies as business meetings that must be scheduled, which definitely cheers up Elinor some. If there’s one thing Elinor loves, it’s being able to rely on a solid schedule. Perhaps hearing the opposite of what Oliver was trying to say, she darts off to “schedule some business appointments” with some ladies. On her way, she catches a glimpse of Davinor in the crowd, followed by a glimpse of her dead father with his spectral arm wrapped around her mother. Refusing to be swayed, she pushes past her conflicting feelings, and even somehow pushes past the ever-persistent Lord Boulderton in her search for Annalee(sp?) Ashton.   Dominic approaches Dove, intent on apologizing for his outburst the night before. Dove is resistant and cold, clearly still harboring some resentful feelings towards Dominic. He assures her he sees her as part of the family instead of a servant, and asks if there’s anything he can do to make up for it. Dove says she’s not so good at this friendship thing, and admits that a dance with Dominic might bring up her mood. They dance. Dominic is elated, happy to have made up with the woman he has feelings for. Dove, riding some high of having the room’s eyes on her in a positive way, asks Dominic if he would like to try some prank on Lord Frost, of all people. She hands him her egg in front of the whole crowd and walks off.   Oliver runs around making connections with several people at the event, most notably Lord Ashton. Oliver talks up Sterling house, promising great things if the two houses agree to start working together. Lord Ashton makes a deal with Oliver that if he can provide any intel that might help take House Brewwick out of favor with the royals, he will take that as proof that the Sterlings are capable enough to be worth the Ashtons time.   Nicholas bumps into Lord Gale (sp?) Stormont, starting up a conversation. Nick thanks him for reaching out after Davinor’s death, and begins to speak about his art. Gale shows him a scar behind his ear and says he hasn’t had a chance to connect to music since he lost most of his hearing at a young age. Nicholas tells him about a deaf composer who felt the passion of his music through the vibrations of the instruments, and offers to demonstrate for him on the piano. Gale agrees, and Nicholas plays a stunning rendition of Love’s Sorrow, arranged by Rachmaninov.   As Nicholas’s music swells, the session come near its close: Dove and Dominic on the hunt for Lord Frost, Elinor searching the crowd for Annalee Ashton, and Oliver, having caught a glimpse of Prince Phillip and his husband, decides to follow them out of the castle.   Oliver follows Philip and Yil-koon discreetly, but is unable to hear their conversation until they are fully inside their carriage. Listening at the curtained window, Oliver overhears Yil-koon mention some sort of secret of Philip’s that he could use to take down the royal Shadowbys, all it would take is a message to their MC Carver. Sounds of a struggle ensue, and Oliver hears a slap, then some choking sounds, then a gunshot. Oliver flings the door open, revealing Yil-koon’s dead body and a disheveled Philip holding a smoking gun, Oliver’s ring hanging on a necklace around his neck.   “Oh, Phillip,” Oliver sighs. “You always were overdramatic.”