Thormenalan Game of Masks

On key holidays and other occasions the Thormenalan Electorates will hold large masquerade balls. The timing varies from city to city. Tulaan holds two larger ones, Summer and Winter, at each solstice. During these dance parties for the city’s elite, they play the Game of Masks.
Formally, the Game of Masks is a guessing game. The winner is the one who can reveal the correct identities of the most important attendees. Three incorrect guesses prevent the participant from guessing further. For an identity to be revealed, the participant calls attention to himself, through an announcement from the band master or sometimes ringing a goblet with a piece of flatware. The guess is then formally made and if correct, the target must reveal him or herself.
Informally, the Game of Masks is a grand intelligence gathering session. Participants go to extreme lengths to conceal their identities and the deception extends beyond just the costume. They will act and speak on as many levels as they can to both help themselves win the contest but also make other guests think they are someone they are not in order to get them talking. Masters of the Game of Masks will actually see to how many levels they can go – disguised as one thing, but speaking and acting like one person acting like another, acting like a third and so on.
It is legend that a couple of hundred years ago Elector Krivaris (female) acted as another (male) Elector who was acting like he was one of his own bodyguards (male) who was acting like he was his own lover (female) who was acting like another Elector (male) who was having a separate affair with the bodyguard’s lover.
Pretty much anything goes with the costumes, which might be other people living or dead, famous or common, or even animals or creatures of myth and legend. They are also often heavily layered, with one disguise cleverly concealing yet another. Most such masquerades specifically prohibit the use of magic of any kind. Often, as in the case of Tulaan, the events are held in proximity to the city’s Corestone.
Corestones are some of the greatest magical artifacts of Faelon. They dampen or prevent the use of magic in a wide area from a few hundred feet to a mile or more. The great cities and castles of Faelon are built around these artifacts and Tulaan’s Citadel, Fort Suncrest, houses one that protects most of the Suncrest Electorate and the northern portion of Glenport. Tulaan’s Grand Council Hall is a part of the fortress and contains the Grand Ballroom in which the Summer and Winter Grand Masks are held.
Weapons are allowed as part of costumes, but no missiles for ranged weapons. Security troops provided by the Councilar Guard are armed with ceremonial halberds, but a core of crossbowmen is kept handy. The Councilors are responsible for the protection of the guests from harm and more importantly, the Council and Council Hall from everyone else.
The Grand Masks of Tulaan are not without physical conflict. Ugly reveals, treachery, broken hearts and confidences, duels and plain old bar fights sauce up the night of dancing, drinking and deceiving.