Masquerade!! Report

General Summary

With the Beauty and the Beast competitions out of the way, the Guildmaster congratulates Nectarine on her wins and promises to speak later after the Masquerade party. The Guildmaster however catches the eye of another tiefling in town. Both of them regard each other with a practiced observance from years on the battlefield, and part before speaking; rather Nectarine and Enyo go and meet the newest member of the party, a tiefling paladin named Diakath. While some give wary looks, there's a lot of things happening at the festival in the meantime to otherwise distract the general audience. Having been brought in this direction for the chase of their latest prey (werewolves), Diakath catches that the two might know something, but doesn't have enough information to base this off of, and decides to tuck that away for later. The coffee goblin and the kobold patrons escape out of the city, being chased by city guards while the Masked Man narrates all that happens within a certain radius of him. At one point, to the Masked Man's unlucky nature, they correctly guess the weight and age of people walking around.   Diakath is introduced to the Sixth Scents Bakery and to the wide array of pastries while Enyo and Cora go over the last bits of information.   The mark is Senator Jacobo Hughes, a half elf in his 40's, stuck up and annoying individual who is transporting lapel pins in the shape of ivy leaves. A small oblong box to be replaced with another box. However, he is accompanied by a halfling guard named Leaf as well as a fellow Senator named Klaus Felding. Both of them hail from Hillsfar.   Simon, not feeling great, decides to stay home to avoid more social settings.   Diakath is quickly brought to The Sleepy Dragon Inn, run by a copper Dragonborn in her early 30's called Ellithin. The large almost saloon style building is often full of activity, but priced fairly for including all meals, cleaning services and bathing situations. 1 silver a night plus the ability to watch her get flustered when someone mentions Clarice from Imagi-Knit around the corner. Her rambunctious siblings tease her for it.   A quick stop to Clarice at Imagi-Knit brings the group to be fully suited and ready for the masquerade party. (Side note Clarice has way too much glitter. She's a bit of a spell caster to be able to keep the establishment as clean as she does.)   A carriage comes to escort the party to the Masquerade being held at the Duststone Mansion.   Several people are involved in this small party:   Tico Solstice - elderly human male from Dalelry, spends a lot of time talking with the dwarf senator from Hillsfar.   Klaus Felding - older senator dwarven male from Hillsfar, spends a lot of time catching up with Solstice. Walks with a bit of a limp, and seems to be actively avoiding Hughes.   Jacobo Hughes - senator half elf from Hillsfar, "assorted", "difficult to work with", "a bit of a butt", on his first official ambassador mission to begin peace talks with Shadowdale, but doesnt seem to want to actually work on that. Horribly infatuated with Lillith.   Leaf - the halfling body guard assigned to Hughes, doesn't seem to be a fan of them either, but also hasn't been interacting with anyone yet.   Thalra Khalazza - clan leader, female middle aged drow from Shadowdale. A nervous individual with tense feelings towards Lillith. She is working to broker peace between those involved in the civil war in Shadowdale.   Tebryn - male drow in his early first century, and the body guard to Thalra.   Priestess Lillith - female drow, middle aged, from Shadowdale. Brusk, upset, but apparently here for the peace talks.   Karma Khalazza - sister to Thalra, came as moral support. a mage in her early first century as a drow. Specializes in illusion magic. likes traveling.   Arabella Woodleaf - older female human (90-ish) with short hair, works on the council. Loves to gossip, but is generally good natured.   Phrowenia Duststone - older female human (50-ish), and the owner of the mansion where the party is being held at. Seems to dislike the activities of the Monster Slayer Guild   Tarielye Birdiir - a traveling wood elf from Mythdrannor? An alcoholic in the very least. For some reason no one can directly look them in the eye.   Alice Wheatflow - half elf woman, seems to keep to themselves? hasn't interacted with the party.   The group begins interacting with each of the guests in their own time. Karma immediately latches onto Enyo and begins talking with them through the party, wanting to avoid Hughes. She reveals she entered the contest out of fun and curiosity. There aren't a lot of festivals back in Shadowdale. Her sister, Thalra, seems to be the clan leader and is working towards some sort of solution towards the civil war brewing in her home of Shadowdale, but tensions are still high. She seems to be visibly distressed when she is not actively engaged in conversation with a party guest, and has at points, excused herself outdoors.   Enyo had been scouting out where Hughes' bedroom might be, since he didn't seem to have the box on him that was required. Karma offers to help prank him, not knowing Enyo's true goal at the party. Leaf, however, was watching the door and it kept them from making any direct movement.   Hughes, now unable to speak further with Karma, goes off to speak with Priestess Lillith in the library. But after a while he does get slapped, and she says something very abrasively towards him saying he might not 'further her plan' before storming out.   Diakath, who had been speaking with Arabella and Phrowenia about the politics of certain guilds, moves to confront Hughes.   Nectarine had garnered the attention of Tarieyle at the same time, and after realizing that this individual only wanted to steal from the cellar, leaves her on her own to follow after Diakath.   Eventually all three seem to close in on Hughes who had some sort of plan of his own, trying to court the priestess with trinkets (notably a golden spider emblem broach) despite her not wanting that attention. Unable to be fully convinced that he's arrogant beyond belief, Diakath physically persuades him to knock it off while Enyo relieves him of the item hidden away in his breast pocket.   By this point, the dinner bell is rung and everyone is asked to take their seats.   Most everyone has returned to the dinner table by the third call, Priestess Lillith and Tarieyle being the last two to approach the dining room. But Tharla is missing. Karma goes to volunteer to find her sister, but after several minutes of looking upstairs, a terrible shriek can be heard.   Tharla has been murdered in her room, knife to the stomach. Arabella calls for the guards to secure the mansion and for the sheriff to be summoned.   No one can leave until the murderer is found...