September Event - Waltz of the Harlequin

[pumpkinhollow]

**Plain text version here.

WALTZ OF THE HARLEQUIN

ACT ONE: MAKE AN ENTRANCE

{ CONTENT WARNINGS: None }

SCENE: Leeds Estate Ballroom, night. Music can be heard from a small string band in the corner. Enter PARTYGOERS, stage right.

The estate is beautifully decorated, as it always is, in vivid blues against dark wood. Flowers made from blue and golden silk adorn the walls and furniture. Candles burn in tasteful centerpieces on the round dining tables. Delicious-looking foods can be seen on the serving tables, ready to be claimed and devoured. A member of DAHLIA’S diligent staff tends an ornate bar near the door and dancers in fine clothes twirl on the dance floor to upbeat string music.

DAHLIA can be seen in the center of the room, wearing a golden gown embroidered with roses and surrounded by her ENTOURAGE, which consists of DAISY, LAIOS, RADAR, and JEFF. All of them wear the colors of House Leeds---- blue and gold. She welcomes the PARTYGOERS warmly.

DAHLIA, going for an appropriate greeting for the person she is speaking to--- a handshake, a hug, a kiss on the cheek.
Welcome. So glad you could make it. You look ravishing. Please help yourself to something to eat, and enjoy your night.

It is a beautiful night. Formal only in appearances, the energy of the Gala is casual and light, if not a bit decadent. All seems well.

ACT TWO: ALL IS REVEALED

{ CONTENT WARNINGS: rotten food, blood, forced body transformation, unreality. }

SCENE: Leeds Estate Ballroom, one hour later. The party is well underway. When the grandfather clock chimes, it sounds strange and distorted.

The sound immediately draws the attention of DAHLIA, who grows concerned. The sour chiming continues. In the center of the ballroom, a plume of sickly yellow smog bursts as if from a smoke bomb, flooding the room and causing PARTYGOERS to stagger and cough. When it fades, the environment has changed.

Enter MENDEL, from the smoke burst.

The decor in the space has changed drastically. Where once the space was deep, cool browns and shades of blue accented with gold, it is now filled with ruddy browns, jaundiced yellows, plummy purples, and searing reds. The bundles of silk flowers are replaced with bouquets of decaying fishing nets, bloody gauze, and rotten fruit which seems to bloom from splitting bruises. Tattered swags in mismatched patterns line the walls, and each PARTYGOER is now in a masquerade mask designed to fit with their outfit.

DAHLIA, lightly panicked.
What are you doing here?

MENDEL, laughing raucously.
Surprise! Oh, I do so hate to cut in, but I simply could not go another year without doing something special for my favorite niece.

He wraps his arms, which look like graying, exposed meat, around DAHLIA.

MENDEL
You see, everyone---- Darling Dahlia here has been lying to you. Her whole life, even! Can you believe it? You see, her father was never Japhet Leeds. The man couldn’t stand her! Jane Leeds was still her mother, oh yes, but her father---

DAHLIA attempts to cut in, but MENDEL grips her tighter, clamping a hand over her mouth as he presents her to the crowd. His claws dig into her arm and her cheek. He continues to snicker as he speaks, and DAHLIA struggles.

MENDEL
Her father is my own baby brother, Prince Aster of the Dark Feast! Isn’t that a funny prank? But I think the joke has overstayed its welcome. It’s time to show your little friends who you really are, isn’t it, princess?

In a swift motion, MENDEL pulls DAHLIA into a twirl, as if dancing, sending her spinning toward the crowd. When it ceases, DAHLIA stands before her gala, changed. Her complexion is blue now, and her hair, raven black. A pair of bat-like wings adorn her back, and a crown of antlers like that of a deer wreath her head.

MENDEL
Ah, no, that’s not quite what I was going for. Let me try again.

With a snap of MENDEL’S fingers, DAHLIA changes again, her body shifting against her will. Her well-kept black locks morph into wiry ashen hair which covers her body. Her face extends into that of a cow-like skull with sharp teeth. Her hands become clawed, and her feet become cloven hooves. Before the crowd now stands THE PINE DEVIL.

MENDEL
There’s our birthday girl!

THE PINE DEVIL (DAHLIA) attempts to lunge at MENDEL, but with another snap of his fingers, his streamers and swags lash out at her like vines and lash her tightly.

MENDEL
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some catching up to do with my darling niece. And you all have a party to enjoy! I leave you in the care of my talented assistants.

He starts to turn away, but then holds up a finger to shake and turns back. Oh, one more thing, I almost forgot. I’ve left all of you some party favors in those masks. Have fun!

MENDEL grabs a bound and helpless DAHLIA and disappears once more in another plume of smoke.

Enter BLANCHE and SEEMINGLY (GLEE MASK), opposite sides of the stage. The pair of them meet eyes, and pantomime tugging on an invisible rope in opposite directions, and suddenly the ballroom expands as if unrolled like a scroll, becoming a sprawling labyrinth of tiny ballrooms, winding corridors, and secret alcoves. The PARTYGOERS are separated from one another. At the same time, the magic in their masks activates, inflicting one of the following curses:

• Leaky Bucket: deprives the party goer of their short-term memory. They know who they are, and why they're here insofar as understanding it's Dahlia's birthday gala, but all new information tends to leave their mind after a few minutes. (Think Dory from Finding Nemo.)
• Amnesiac's Lament: deprives the individual of long-term memory. All new information is retained, but they have no idea who they are or why they're here. How distressing this is can be at the player's discretion. Perhaps they despair at the memory loss and are trying to find a way to escape the ball, perhaps they don't see anything wrong with their lack of context and are just trying to enjoy this weird party.
• False Friend: the opposite of Zone of Truth, those with this affliction will be unable to tell the truth and can ONLY tell lies. Any fact from the most mundane to the most complex can only be lied about. Whether or not the person is cognizant of their new habit is the player's choice.
• The World Revolving: those afflicted suffer frequent bouts of vertigo which makes the space feel as though it is spinning, sometimes very slowly, sometimes very quickly.
• Dirge of Delusion: this particular curse will cause the mask-wearer to struggle to perceive reality correctly. Objects will appear as other objects, people as different people, rooms as some other place, or even the entire ball as somewhere entirely different. These disorienting visions will come and go at times.
• Feeling Funny: the wearers of these masks will find that their emotions are completely out of control, sometimes bursting into fits of laughter, tears, or abrupt paranoia, before going completely numb for a while.

All PARTYGOERS will find their masks incapable of being removed. Those with infernal resistance from NEIL or the HOUSE OF CARDS will find their masks are less impactful, but the resistance is imperfect. However, ALICE DYER and SAMAMA KHALID will find that they have absolutely no effect from the masks at all, due to the BOON OF DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY acquired by ALICE.

The party resumes.

ACT THREE: Dance with the Devil

{ CONTENT WARNINGS: rotten food being eaten, imprisonment, impending violence }

SCENE: a distorted Leeds Estate, time unknown. As the party devolves into chaos, a clandestine meeting is arranged to locate the host.

Somewhere in the distorted estate, ALICE locates JEAN. Once she gets the Golden Wolf Mask in their hands, JEAN will be able to remove their current mask to wear the new one, which has a unique effect---- the ability to see the path of MENDEL through its eyes.

JEAN and ALICE, along with anyone they are able to recruit for help, will find MENDEL and DAHLIA on the second floor, which has transformed into a large theater balcony overlooking the party. DAHLIA is caged, and MENDEL seems to be enjoying the view as he eats half-rotten tomatoes as if they are apples.

MENDEL’S assailants choose how to make their approach. When he is destroyed, the party will end.

GRAND FINALE

{ CONTENT WARNINGS: fire }

SCENE: Leeds Estate ballroom, late night. The stage has returned to its prior state, and we are left to the aftermath.

When MENDEL is at last destroyed, the ballroom is restored to its normal size and coloration, as if the events of the night never occurred. Masks fall away, and DAHLIA stands center stage, looking exactly as her friends and neighbors remember her. However, the memory of what has occurred here tonight cannot be wiped away, as evidenced from all the onlookers around her. Are their expressions concerned? Angry? Fearful? Hurt?

Does it matter?

DAHLIA, quietly.
Get out.

There is a moment of stillness and consideration, before she speaks again, louder.

DAHLIA, shouting.
GET. OUT.

As she speaks the second word, a massive burst of blue flame erupts behind her. Glass breaks. Tables topple. DAHLIA’s hair flutters in the force of the blast. She stands stiffly, unafraid as the hot, raging blue flames consume her ballroom, peeling the wallpaper and cracking the wood. She means to chase everyone out, even if it means bringing the room down upon herself.

When everyone is gone, the flames seem to retreat, as if sucked up into their original blast point. DAHLIA, spent, collapses to her knees in the burnt shell of her own birthday party, and sobs.

Blackout. Curtains fall.

After the event ends, Dahlia will be absent from town and her home only open to close CR until further notice. She will not be answering her sending stone or her phone calls.

Comments

Alice Dyer | OTA

[closureisformovies]

Act One

Alice is barely hiding her nerves.

The dress she's wearing is as big and layered as it is gorgeous on her, perfectly fitted to work with her body and far fancier than anything Alice has ever worn in her life. Moving around in it is... a challenge, if in part because of the large sword she has stashed under the skirt.

(She'd enjoy it more if she didn't. If she hadn't walked into her apartment and found this heap of material waiting for her with a note. Christ, she feels sick if she thinks about it too hard.)

Nervous anticipation turns her into a wallflower in a way she usually isn't. She smiles at people, even chatters and jokes, but it's hard to get her away from the sidelines and people might even be asked to bring her drinks or food because, "Frankly, mate, I'm scared I'm gonna trip on my face."

Every now and then, her gaze flicks uncomfortably to Dahlia.

This is going to be a long night.

Act Two / Three

The big reveal is no surprise to Alice, of course. Aster already told her enough and she cares little about the unveiling of the local cannibalistic predator in comparison to the nightmare ahead.

The masks do nothing to her. Her head is as clear as it's ever been, despite the inevitable consequences of Sam's own clarity, and she has a job to do.

Time to find Jean.

[For my own sanity, I'd rather only one or two people get in her way as she heads to find Jean!]

Act One: For now...

[huntingtruths]

Sam had thought he would follow Alice to the gala, it felt better to go with a friend than alone. Stag if you would. But He doesn't get that chance seeing as Alice seems to be a lot more dodgy lately. He's sure it has to do with whatever she refuses to tell him but for now, for now he'll just have to deal with it.

He doesn't see her until he does at the gala and...he's struck speechless by what he sees. He feels absolutely underdressed in his nice sleek sage green suit. Meanwhile Alice looks like something out of a painting or some period piece. Excusing himself from greeting Dahlia, Sam makes his way over to Alice with a smile as he cleared his throat.

He means to say something witty, actually feel smart talking to a pretty girl for once. Instead...all he can get out is....

"Wow."

[closureisformovies]

She's not proud of just how avoidant she gets in the final lead-up to the big event. The closer the party gets, the worse her nerves are, the more she fears a moment of weakness that ends in her spilling and screwing everything up even worse in the process. By the time the dress turned up, she could barely imagine looking Sam in the face.

Distracted like she is, she only spots him when he's already on his way over and her heart suddenly can't make up its mind between pounding, doing flips or just stopping dead. When's the last time she's seen him in any kind of suit? Why does he have to look good, right now, isn't tonight going to be torture enough—

Even she expects banter, when his mouth opens. That's how they are, why would it be anything else? Only, nope, instead: she watches him lose his ability to string words together in real time.

...oh, Christ, girl don't get your hopes up.

"Is that all you've got?" she teases, because that's all she knows how to do in the face of this. "Just 'wow'? What's the matter, Sam, cat got your tongue?"

[huntingtruths]

It's not like they had any formals they went to together, maybe at one of his families dinners or something? A dinner after he got his job at the law firm maybe? Or when her parents passed, but that wasn't a time for ogling Sam in a suit. Not like she can do now, if her heart will let her of course.

Meamwhile Sam knows he has never seen Alice dressed to the nines like this. He's never seen her in anything this fancy and he can't help but be happy for her. She really does look like the belle of the ball, and in his opinion she deserves it. Then of course she's teasing him and he's reminded that Alice is still Alice, even with the fancy dress. He has to laugh.

"Would it be better if I told you that your beauty took my breath away?" He's teasing. He really is.

He is.

Promise.

Fuck that is way too close to the truth though.

[closureisformovies]

The pink in her cheeks is totally just makeup he didn't notice at first, right? Totally. Totally just makeup. There's no way that Alice is actually blushing, don't be ridiculous.

She swallows a bit too hard before she laughs. "I mean it's more words, but it's also a hundred times cheesier so you win some you lose some. Where's that total lack of game gone? The dorkish charm of a compliment that sounds like you're seeing a girl for the first time in your life every single time?"

Even joking feels like playing with fire, when what she's trying to convince herself has to be nothing but teasing still manages to make her feel a little better about wearing a gift from a— from Aster. The way Sam looks at her makes her stomach do a flip, like she's still some lovesick student not a jaded 34 year old who pays taxes.

[huntingtruths]

Too bad for Alice, he knows what she looks like when she blushes. Seeing her now he knows that's exactly what's happening and it still does the same thing to him. A brighter sort of smile as well as how his stomach flips only for it to be filled with a cold regret when he remembers that they aren't anything more than friends now. He shouldn't be having those sorts of feelings any more.

"Look, it's not every day you get to see a pretty lady dressed up in some fancy dress I've only ever seen online." It sort of reminds him of some of the visual boards that would pass through his tumblr back when he had been more active.

Still he can't help but stare at Alice, she really did look stunning. After a moment he finally clears his throat and looks around the gala. "Definitely interesting...right?"

[closureisformovies]

"Well, don't get used to it. This is a rental," she lies, disguised as yet another joke. At least, she thinks it's a lie; for all she knows Aster will reclaim it, but she doubts it. What she'll do with the thing after this evening is said and done... she really doesn't know.

She dares to let herself enjoy the rest of his awestruck staring before he finally looks away, at which point it's hard to deny that she deflates a little. "Oh, yeah, it's kinda a lot. I know Dahlia's posh and everything but wow. Bridgerton's got nothing on this."

[huntingtruths]

To be fair, he is definitely still a bit flushed. The only reason he's looking anywhere but Alice is because he's trying to not look like a fool in front of her more than he already does.

"Yeah I thought so too, it's like some high fantasy masquerade or something."

He can't look anywhere but at her forever and eventually his eyes are back on Alice, still seemingly at least a little awestruck.

[closureisformovies]

"Right? All we're actually missing's the masks, but I always thought seeing through those things looked like a nightmare. Especially the fancy-fancy ones." Idle statements loaded with dramatic irony for 500...

Oh god he's looking at her again. She can't keep doing this.

"Honestly feels like the kinda shindig where you're really meant to be up dancing, but even if anyone asked I'm not sure I could do anything in this thing but sway without falling on my arse."

[huntingtruths]

"If you had to wear one of those with that dress, you might trip yourself." He chuckled and shook his head.

And here he had been thinking about asking her to dance, but then he is terrible at dancing and he would feel awkward trying to lead. Maybe later in the night, after he's had time to process everything and get used to how his heart keeps picking up.

Damn it.

"Probably won't see me out there, we both know I might as well have two left feet."

[closureisformovies]

Why does she feel weirdly let down that he didn't ask her? She's the one who just cut herself off at the knees by joking about how she couldn't, and why would he ask her anyway? Except in a silly, friendly way.

God, get it together, Dyer.

"Oh, yeah, you'd go careening into the buffet tables after you tripped over your partner's legs," she jokes instead. "I guess you could stand on someone's feet. Probably easier than trying to lead with your noodle arms."

[huntingtruths]

"Ouch," Sam grins a bit, a small flicker of hurt passing over his expression so fast it's almost not even there. "Way to build a guys confidence."

Well, maybe he wasn't going to ask her to dance after all. Even if she was joking the last thing he wanted was for her to be right. He'd hate to ruin her dress and their night because he got so nervous he tripped on her gown and sent himself or both of them into who knows what.

[closureisformovies]

Yeah she gets the feeling that one didn't land so well. Fuck, this should not be this awkward. Maybe she should've worn a different dress, screw Aster's 'present' (no, she'd be far too scared to risk that). Maybe she should've hidden better in a corner and just rode out the evening until the shitshow begins where he couldn't even see her. Maybe— ugh, maybe a lot of things but they're here now.

She's quiet a bit too long this time, weighing up whether to double down, pull back into a different joke, or a secret third option as of yet undefined.

I mean maybe you've gotten better since we last hit the club is right there ready to fire when she takes a sudden swerve down that unidentified road and just says, "...hey, Sam?"

Intermission [Middle of Acts 2&3]

[skeletonkeay]

"Alice!" Gerry jogs up to her, wearing a mask that looks more like a muzzle of teeth, covering the lower half of his face but leaving his eyes exposed.

Shit okay. Here comes the hard part.

"The mask I'm wearing makes it so that I can only tell the truth right now," he says, slowly, hoping she'll get it. "I doubt I can do anything to help."

Goddammit. This is so fucking stupid. Questions, at least, are unimpacted.

"Where are you headed?"

[closureisformovies]

Alice squints dumbly at him for just a moment or two—she might be unaffected by the masks, but the stress is clearly doing a number on her all by itself—until something clicks. "Seriously? Oh that's just fucking annoying—"

At least it means his mind is his own, but this is a whole other kind of frustrating.

"Uh— I gotta find Jean. I saw 'em earlier but now everything's all spread out and this skirt is a complete fucking nightmare—"

[skeletonkeay]

"Haven't seen 'em." His eyes snap to one of the doors. "Wanna take a walk?"

[closureisformovies]

Alice follows his gaze briefly then looks back at him and, in a moment of relative Alice-normality, pokes his mask and grumbles, "Stupid fuckin' things—" before jerking her head that way. "Yeah, okay, right, yeah— walk."

[skeletonkeay]

And so they walk. "This what you were trying to tell me about before?" Trying not to tell him, more like. But the discrepancy makes it close enough to a lie that he can say it unimpeded.

[closureisformovies]

Alice's voice is a little strained when she answers, "Yeah, sure— sure was. Knew somethin' was gonna happen tonight but— fuck, I still dunno how much I should even say! Sam's got questions and I don't even know how I'm s'posed to answer him and—"

Deep. Breaths. She cannot lose her cool right now—not anymore than she already has.

"—I just gotta get this stuff where it's gotta go."

[skeletonkeay]

"Then I guess I'll get in your way as long as possible," he lies, thankful that it can still come out as a joke. "My freaky vision's not working at all, so I can't see for shit right now. Got no idea where anything is. You two'll probably be fine on your own, though, so no need for me to bother looking for backup, yeah?"

[closureisformovies]

"Well if you can't—" wait, no, fuck, goddammit. Every time she doesn't think hard enough for a minute she forgets. "It is so hard to understand you right now. Right. Okay. Yeah. Back-up. Back-up would probably be good, yeah. I don't even know what kind, I dunno how this is gonna go, but—"

[skeletonkeay]

"What? No, I'm talking totally normal." He flashes her a sideways grin. "Listen, the way up's clear. I don't think you'll need anyone with combat skills. Best not to trouble Link or Daisy or that Dimitri guy or Rambo--- Y'know, the punchy sorts. Couldn't even begin to tell you where to meet."

Gerry cranes his neck to look back at the stairs.

[closureisformovies]

Even now he's getting a playful half-hearted punch in the arm as she reverses everything he's saying in her head. "Right. Okay. You do that. And I'll— Jean, mask, sword, stairs. If you see Sam—"

She doesn't have an end to that sentence.

[skeletonkeay]

Gerry won't try and finish it. It'll be bullshit anyway. He won't let anything happen to Sam.

He offers her a sort of sideways fist bump. "This is only going to be a little bit of a disaster," he says, a flexible lie. Maybe it'll be fine, maybe it'll be a massive disaster. Who's to say.

[closureisformovies]

"I hope that one's true." Better that than the massive mess she's fully expecting. She meets the offered bump and adds, "And be careful yourself. No dying before we link back up, you got that?"