The Masquerade [Game Thread]

Started by Valerian, October 11, 2010, 01:19:33 PM

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Valerian



The music was playing softly in the background for atmosphere, the candles were lit, and the air was filled anticipation.  Now the guests were arriving in earnest, everyone ready to dance the night away, and have fun guessing who was who beneath the masks.

But masks can hide many things.  There were also some unexpected guests there -- true creatures of the night, mingling with the partygoers, seemingly just as human as anyone.  What mischief would they be up to tonight?



The Guests:

Beguile's Mistress
Imogen
Kyrsa
Lord Mayerling
Marikir
Moirae
Remiel
Ryven
Saffron
sinera
Xandi




The Roles:

Partygoers (7):  Your goal is to avoid being unmasked so you can keep partying on!  With your votes, you will try to uncover the monsters in your midst and banish them by unmasking them.

Master/Mistress of Ceremonies (1):  Your goal is to make sure everyone has fun, and that the partygoers aren't unmasked by the supernatural gate-crashers.  Once per "night phase", you may PM Val to learn the role of one partygoer.

The Bouncer (1):  Whether through muscle, brains, or charm, you keep the peace.  Once per "night phase", you may PM Val with the name of the partygoer you wish to protect from being unmasked.

The Villains (2): You might be ghosts, goblins, or something even scarier; but on this All Hallow's Eve, you're just mingling with the regular folks, thanks to your nifty disguises.  Once each "night phase", you may PM Val with the name of the person you wish to unmask.  If that person is protected by the Bouncer, then nothing happens.  If not, that guest's role is revealed, and they are banished to the kitchen for the duration of the party.




The Rules:

Since this game takes place entirely during the masquerade party, "night phases" will actually happen once each hour, game time.  Every hour on the hour, the lights will go out and all the usual night phase activities will happen -- the villains will attack, the bouncer will guard someone, and the MC will attempt to learn someone's role.  In between, voting will take place as usual.

Voting ties will be decided via the dice roller.

Any Partygoer who is unmasked isn't dead, but can no longer vote, or reveal any inside information they might have.  Unmasked guests are relegated to the kitchen; unmasked villains will disappear dramatically.

All other rules are as normal.  After some time to mingle, an NPC will be unmasked, and the game can begin in earnest!
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

Ryven

He slowly skulks in to the sound of metal grinding upon concrete.  One step then another and another.  The dull thump of limbs hitting the stairs added to the already macabre atmosphere as Ryven entered.  His head was obscured or seemingly replaced by a giant metallic pyramid shaped object caked with blood and rust.  In one hand, dragging behind him was a long bloody blade which was almost as long as he was tall.  In the other hand, holding it by its neck, was the long deceased corpse of a disfigured nurse.  He wore a long white smock-like apron which had been stained by dried blood and orange brown rust.

He ambled inside, leaving a trail of blood behind him, and once he entered, he stabbed the long blade into the floor and smiled beneath his rather gruesome visage.

"Let's party..."


Beguile's Mistress

#2
   
Beguile entered the ballroom and paused to look around.  The bright blue feathers and golden accents of her mask did nothing to tame the vibrant flames of her red hair.  The shimmering silk of her gown encrusted with thousands of golden beads clung to her like a second skin dipping low in the front and down to...  well, there in the back.  She teetered elegantly on the four-inch heels of her golden sandals as the candlelight glinted from the facets of the emeralds dangling from her ears and wrists as well as the single large stone surrounded by diamonds that graced the center finger of her left hand.

A waiter approached with a tray of champagne bubbling in fluted goblets and offer the libation to her.  With a smile and a nod she took one of the delicate crystal vessels and carried the fragile rim to her carmine lips.  A soft smile appeared as the bubbles tickled her nose and a delighted sigh was heard following the first sip of the fine vintage presented for the guests.  Sipping from time to time she walked the breadth of the room to open doors that led out to the garden, pondering on who else would be attending the festivities this evening in addition to the rather grotesquely costumed individual hidden beneath the gruesome mask.

Autumn52

#3


Xandi came into the ballroom and took in the elegant woman, she was beautiful. She looked around and saw another party goer in a scary costume. She was excited to be at this halloween party, it was said to be the event of the year. She straighten her mask and walked into the room wearing her green leafed costume. It was a green silk gown that flowed with her every step. The leaves were sewn onto the gown in a very intricate design. She hoped her costume was fitting for such a party. The invitation had only said to make sure and wear a mask, which she was delighted with. She loved parties and masqerade balls were her favorite. The waiter greeted her with a tray of champagne, she took a glass and sipped slowly. The bubbles tickled her nose, and she sneezed slightly. Xandi was anxious to see all the other costumes that would make an appearance at this invitation only party.
May light guide you through your turmoil and may darkness never cross your path.

White Light be upon you if that is your wish

Autumn Sativus

   
As the lady Saffron stepped through the grand doors to the ballroom, she looked around slowly through the eyes of her mask. Seeing the few people who had already gathered, she knew that she was just in time for the events to begin. Her dress was of a matching red to the lace around the edges of her mask, highlighted with gold and turquoise embroidery. The corset top was colored to match, with a black satin as the base, and the three accent colors alternating on the boning. A purple toned lace on the top of the corset matched the purple color of her hair.

The matching colors were the simplest part of the costume, really. The jewelery that graced her neck, wrist, and right finger were the difficult part. It was hard to find such colorful pieces in such a short amount of time. But the end result had been well worth the effort, with every piece of the many-colored costume matching with another, right down to the color of her hair. She took a flute from the waiter as he passed her, smiling slightly as she made her way more toward the central area of the large room.
Us against the world
Just a couple sinners making fun of hell


~~A&A(updated March 2021)~~Tales~~Wants~~O&O~~Wiki~~

Valerian

The party was in full swing when the first odd thing happened.  Just as the clock chimed the hour, every light was extinguished, even the candles.  There was laughter and nervous sqeals -- everyone thought it was part of the festivities, of course, and was waiting to find out what the rest of the trick might be.

Then a guest started screaming in earnest.  "My mask! My beautiful mask!"  It was Emily, who had come dressed as a gypsy fortuneteller.  As she shrieked, the few electric lights that had been lit came back to life -- and most bizarrely, the extinguished candles somehow relit themselves.  Then it could be seen that she was, indeed, without her mask, her hair mussed from its abrupt removal.  "A m-m-monster took my m-m-mask!" she cried again.  Then the terrified Partygoer turned and ran, sobbing, from the room.

A chorus of other voices joined in as she hurried away, all of them babbling about having felt or heard Something that should not have been there.  A quick check proved that the mask was nowhere in the room or in anyone else's hands, yet no one appeared to have left the room.

Could the frightened guests be right?  Was Emily's mask truly stolen by... a monster?


Beguile's Mistress
Imogen
Kyrsa
Lord Mayerling
Marikir
Moirae
Remiel
Ryven
Saffron
sinera
Xandi

[Now is the time for the first vote of who to unmask.  Choose wisely!]
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

Imogen

"That's silly, there are no monsters." Imogen stated confidently, wisely not looking directly at Ryven. At least the ladies were a pleasure to look at. The gorgeous masks had her eyes glittering with envy, and if not for her dramatic swirls of her black gown she'd have felt horribly underdressed in her tiny black velvet mask. "And she was just about to read my fortune too." The red glossed lips pouted, and discontent eyes searched the crowd for the one who might have upset poor Emily so. Gawd, it was impossible to tell who'd been near the girl, with the crowd mingling and all that. She didn't think it was Saffron, for she'd have remembered that mask. The same went for Xandi and Beguiles. But who then had created the incredible faux pas of removing Emily's mask before twelve? "Sinera, did you see what happened?" She asked randomly at one of the other party-goers.
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Ryven

As the lights flickered out, he dropped the bloody disheveled corpse of a nurse to the floor.  His other hand grabbed the long blade stabbed into the floor for support.  A shriek of terror rang through the darkness just before the lights and candles flickered back to life.

When illumination was returned, one startled partygoer seemed to have been accosted in the darkness, mask stolen to leave her vulnerable and revealed to all.

Ryven eyed the other guests.  Who would do such a thing?  Who steals a person's Halloween mask to spoil their fun?

It could have been anyone, really, but he decided to settle on Kyrsa.  She seemed like a shifty one.

sinera

"Oh, please," sinera snorted unladylike. "I was on the other side of the room. It couldn't have been me." She pauses to take a sip of her drink. "Personally, Ryven's costume gives me the creeps. It could have been him."
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Ryven

"So because I have a creepy costume that means I stole someone's mask?"  He rolls his eyes and takes a seat.

Autumn52

When poor Emily was unmasked so cruelly Xandi looked around the room at all the other guest. Why would anyone want to ruin Emily's fun? Xandi's hand went to her own mask, thankful that she still had it. She tried to see if anyone looked suspicious but not being able to see everyones faces clearly made it difficult. The eyes, she thought to herself perhaps she could tell by everyones eyes. She swept the room looking for everyones eyes but she couldn't see the eyes of some of the other guest because of their mask, maybe they were trying to hide something. She was afraid to say anything outloud but she thought Ryven had a pretty scary costume, he could hide a lot under that pyramid. She looked away quickly, afraid he would notice her checking him out.
May light guide you through your turmoil and may darkness never cross your path.

White Light be upon you if that is your wish

Valerian

#11
Current Voting:

Ryven (2) - sinera, Xandi
sinera (2) - Imogen, Moirae
Kyrsa (1) - Ryven
Remiel (1) - Beguile's Mistress
Beguile's Mistress
Imogen
Lord Mayerling
Marikir
Moirae
Saffron
Xandi

Yet to vote: Kyrsa, Lord Mayerling, Marikir, Remiel, Saffron
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

Beguile's Mistress

#12
The flickering of the lights, the sudden darkness and the blood-curdling scream sent a chill of excitement down Beguile's spine.  This was turning out to be a very interesting party she thought to herself.  Then the lights came back up and poor Emily was laying maskless on the floor.  As she looked around at the assemblage Beguile realized that the candles had lost their flames during the blackout but were now lit once more, as if by and unseen hand.  A chill of a different sort slithered along her backbone now as she puzzled this circumstance out in her head.

Who?  Who would do this?  Who would play such a dastardly trick?  So many who could do that does she find as she studies the many revelers and so many who could just as easily be innocent.  Still, one stands out who looks like he could do the deed with out second thought.  Remiel, was it you?

desert ashes

#13
With a quiet swish of her skirts and a thin line of tension in her shoulders, Moirae turned away from accepting a glass of champagne and slid a brief glance beside her.  A mask thief among them?  Why would any of the party goers have felt compelled to take the woman's mask?  It seemed like such mean spirited antics for a festive party.  Ryven could be a suspect but that could be making a hasty judgment.  Instead, she glanced to the more... unlikely suspects.  "Sinera, perhaps?  Taking a bit of trickery too far?"
make me forget
how to breathe

leave me with the
taste of your sin
they will lie about you, insult you, hurt you,
betray you, injure  you, set you aflame and
watch you burn. but they will not, shall not,
c a n n o t, destroy  you. because  you, like
R o m e, were built  on ashes, and you, like
a phoenix, know how to rise and resurrect.
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let there be beauty born from ashes

Kye

#14
Kyrsa sipped from her glass of champagne as she regarded the others, her eyes thoughtful.  This was supposed to be a festive night of fun and revelry, and already someone was playing tricks, ruining the evening for at least one of their number.  She couldn't imagine who among her companions would possibly wish to do something of that sort, many of them she had known for years after all. 

Perhaps the masks hid more than she had thought. "Perhaps Saffron?  I have no idea who the thief could be..." she said with an apologetic glance towards Saffron.

Marikir

Marikir looked on as the partygoers accused each other of ruining someone's evening.  Suffice to say, he wasn't sure exactly what everyone was so concerned about.  A monster?  Surely Emily was mistaken.  But, it seemed that someone had played a prank.  So, better to find them first and send them away.  Let them comfort Emily for the rest of the evening then.

He walked around the others, choosing one at random.  He made a motion and indicated that he would like Moirae to respond to the query put to her.

Remiel

"Remember, remember, the fifth of November -- the gunpowder treason and plot.  I can think of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot."

Remiel appeared, his Guy Fawkes mask in place and cloak swirling stylishly behind him.  He stopped, bowed, and seized the hand of the fair Emily, dipping his masked head as if brushing his lips across her knuckles.

"Verily, sweet Emily, I vow and vouchsafe that this villainy shall not go inviolate.  What vice-ridden vandal has violated this victim's vestments?"  He paused.   "Not Ryven, I think.  Very much the first to volunteer, his violent veneer is a vehicle for verity.  I will not veto his verisimilitude.  Nay, more likely it is the voluptuous Xandi, that vicious vixen."

Autumn Sativus

Saffron was shocked as the lights extinguished all together in what seemed to be an invisible breeze flying through the room. When the shriek of Emily's scream reached her ears, she dropped the glass of champagne she'd been holding, the sound terrifying her and sending chills down her spine. What on earth had happened? What would cause someone to make such a terrifying sound?

As the lights returned, again all in the same instant, it became apparent that someone... or something... had taken Emily's mask. What a terrible prank, ruining the fun of a masquerade. Disappointed that someone would go to such an extent to prank the partygoers, Saffron joined the group that was deciding on who it could have been. She looked to Beguile's Mistress apologetically, believing that random choice was best in this case. She didn't want to think anyone of her friends had done such a thing, but obviously someone had to have done it. There was no such thing as monsters... right?
Us against the world
Just a couple sinners making fun of hell


~~A&A(updated March 2021)~~Tales~~Wants~~O&O~~Wiki~~

Valerian

Current Voting:

Ryven (2) - sinera, Xandi
sinera (2) - Imogen, Moirae
Beguile's Mistress (1) - Saffron
Kyrsa (1) - Ryven
Moirae (1) - Marikir
Remiel (1) - Beguile's Mistress
Saffron (1) - Kyrsa
Xandi (1) - Remiel
Imogen
Lord Mayerling
Marikir

Yet to vote: Lord Mayerling
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

Lord Mayerling

Lord Mayerling was the last to step into the party. He carried a glass of champagne in one hand, and his cane in the other. He admired the beautiful, intimidating costumes and masks that accompanied them, though he knew that some were less masked than others. After some light carousing, someone poked him about an impending vote which he was delaying. A single name came quickly and confidently to his lips. ”Ryven.”

Ryven


Valerian

Final Voting:

Ryven (3) - sinera, Xandi, Lord Mayerling
sinera (3) - Imogen, Moirae, Ryven
Beguile's Mistress (1) - Saffron
Moirae (1) - Marikir
Remiel (1) - Beguile's Mistress
Saffron (1) - Kyrsa
Xandi (1) - Remiel
Imogen
Kyrsa (0)
Lord Mayerling
Marikir

Tiebreaker:

Ryven = 1
sinera = 2

Quote from: dice roller
Roll Result: Valerian rolled: 1d2
Comment: Tiebreaking Roll
Result: 2,
Total: 2




So sinera's mask was taken away, revealing nothing but a fellow Partygoer, who was now banished to the kitchen along with Emily.  The party was, sadly, no safer now than it had been before, and again the guests started looking at each other with suspicion.

There are 6 Partygoers, 1 MC, 1 Bouncer, and 2 Monsters.
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

sinera

sinera pouts as her mask is taken away. "Bugger you all!" she announces and flounces over the bar, shrugging off the hands of the footmen trying to escort her out the door. "Give me a bottle each of Vodka, Amaretto & Kahlua. I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit down there with nothing to drink!"

She looks around at the footmen. "You!" she announces, pointing to a particularly muscular and sexy-looking man dressed as a Chippendale's dancer. "I'll need someone to 'take care' of Emily and I.. and whoever else gets banished to the kitchen. You'll do nicely."

Loading her purloined supplied in his arms, she swishes her way to the door, head high. Without a look to anyone else in the room, she retreats to the kitchen to commiserate with Emily and see what kind of 'trouble' she can get into.
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Apparently some people don't read my O/O before adding me on MSN/Y! - so I'll say it here: IF YOU DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE FROM E, I WILL NOT ACCEPT BUDDY REQUESTS. Please read my O/O before PMing me with ideas, thanks.
Best IRC cybersex come-on line EVER: "I see you're an erotica writer...So, do you ever do any realtime collaborations?"

Beguile's Mistress

Beguile sets her champagne aside for the moment and applauds Sinera's panache.  Knowing the kitchen will be an entertaining place should she be banished, Beguile has no real wish to miss the revelry in the ballroom.  So, she listens to the music, sips her champagne and strolls about the room pausing here and there to chat a moment with the other guests or take a turn around the floor with any who might ask.  Her interest, though, is more than half given to watching and trying to discern who the monsters really are.

Valerian

Again the lights flickered and died, and again they returned just moments later.  This time the panic started right away, as everyone darted for what they hoped might be safety.  Alas, it seemed there would be no safety, even for Saffron, their Mistress of Ceremonies.  When everyone could see again, it was she who stood startled and maskless, the unfortunate target of the supernatural culprits in their midst.


Beguile's Mistress
Imogen
Kyrsa
Lord Mayerling
Marikir
Moirae
Remiel
Ryven
Saffron - Mistress of Ceremonies, unmasked by monsters
sinera - Partygoer, voted out
Xandi


There are 6 Partygoers, 1 Bouncer, and 2 Monsters.
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE