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The Vampire Ball

Scene details

Setting: At last, the elite of Rosia, and also our heroes, gather for a delayed extravaganza. Can the Star Chasers utilize their connections and charms to ingratiate themselves with the Queen and stay close to intercept Xiuhcue's inevitable ambush without revealing the vulnerable Ankhialeans to the Oradians? Will Yacumama and Ankhiale behave themselves? And what of everyone else? One thing is for sure: nothing will go wrong.

Log


 At the summit of the Hanging Gardens, the pale green-veined stone of the steps, soothingly shadowed by ferns bursting with tropical flowers, rises to become pillars limned in gold, as if one were rising above cloud cover to become suffused in sunlight. The elite of Rosia and those judged talented or entertaining enough to join them this year approach between those pillars the wide-open doors of the magnificent palace, their finery no less dazzling. From the entrance echoes an aural invitation, the sound of a harp played with exquisite skill and mingling with a trio of voices that shift between soul-stirring harmony and intriguingly artful dissonance, as well as a mysterious hum.
 "As anticipated," Ivo murmurs with a smile, the braiding of his own fine outfit sparkling to rival any attendee (thanks to his nigh-critical shopping success), "the Oradians are the first to catch on to the newest Cosmopolitan innovation."
 To step into the palace foyer is to have one's senses drawn taut in different directions: the sights of the guests and the often-splendind sometimes-challenging art on display, the aroma of the banquet and the many extraordinary potted plants, the sound of the urbane chatter representing a hundred conversations worth listening in on, for the royals of Rosia are not merely wealthy but distinct in genuinely possessing taste. But Ivo's gaze is turning toward his object of reference. Among the musicians discreetly upon a dais, beside the harpist, is an intensely focused bard playing what appears to be some manner of magitech harmonium that emits a strangely appealing buzzing, at times reminiscent of a voice such that it complements the singers stirringly.
 "The court dubbed it a synthesizer," Ivo remarks to his party, "but of course, the first were built from discarded parts in the Warrens within the spire. Now that Cosmopolis has opened its gates and is trading again, it was only a matter of time that such music would start to catch on... but we're witnessing the first generation of a new musical form."
 He sounds genuinely delighted, without a trace of discomfort at being among this rarefied crowd. Doubtless Ivo, though a low-ranking aristocrat in his own home city-state, *is* among his own people, in a way, and is happy to be amongst appreciators of culture, to say nothing of sharing it with the beauties in their retinue. But one who notes his subtle glances at Reize and Atl might suspect he is also making an effort to set others at ease by kindling their curiosity so it might displace their trepidation.
 Or perhaps Ivo is trying to do the same to himself, as his gaze flickers to Reize's pendant before looking away. Yacumama is here, quiet. Ankhiale is presumably here, wherever Atl goes. They have strong advantages, not least among them being Ruidosa's rank and connections, when it comes to the task of cozying up to the Queen and ensuring they can be present when and if Xiuhcue and her militants strike. But to do so without revealing any more about the Ankhialeans and potentially exposing them to the threat of Oradian vengeance, whim, or cold prudence... that is a delicate task, and everyone here, visible or invisible, is an unpredictable X factor.
 "Thrilling, isn't it?"
 Ivo murmurs this, then realizes he is grinning.

<COMBAT> Ruidosa La Crima has attacked Reize Seatlan with Dark Orb Burst.

Ruidosa La Crima is here, of course. So is Tranquila La Crima. The two look like a pair of blue and yellow diamonds in the crowd and Ruidosa La Crima is recounting some of her 'adventures' to a group of royals, since she barely left the manor grounds 'growing up' and everything was so new to her.

Tranquila is happily nodding along, agreeing and corroborating her stories. To her benefit, Ruidosa isn't exaggerating any of her stories-- she isn't making herself out the hero when she isn't and all that. Look, liars get fryers.

She suddenly looks to the right and stares into the middle distance as she says 'Hold on' to her group.

She merely raises her hand and fires a blast of dark energy through the air towards her fiance, Reize Seatlan.

"That's the soup spoon, Reize, USE the PUDDING spoon!" she sputters. Correcting him, loudly. The group she was talking to all turn to look at Reize. They seem non-pulsed by this display.

Is... is this normal?



  When they first arrived, Reize did stick by Ivo while they adjusted themselves to the environment. Reize, however, required a bit more adjusting due to his change. His black hair is slicked back, given a more clean look to it, with the exception of that defiant ahoge that stands proud against all attempts to chain it down. He's dressed in a red formal attire, complete with a frilly necktie. The gloves on his side.

 He had been listening to Ivo, until...

 ...food. Then he'd abandon Ivo for a moment.

 He had been eyeing one of the puddings nearby on a tray and he gives a bright smile. He idly reaches over for the soup spoon, preparing to place it on---

 Suddenly, dark blast. "GAAAAH!" Reize yelps and panics. There is a sudden flashback to the spartan training that he went through with Lady La Crima. She drilled down many etiquittes onto him. It was long nights and early mornings.

 The La Crima were spartan.

 And that spartan memory causes the boy to yelp. "Ma'am, yes ma'am!" His hand reflexively and instinctively grabs the pudding spoon and raises it high, as if he has obtained a sword.

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: What magical properties does this particular palace pudding spoon possess? Blessed? Cursed? Something in bewteen?
Roll(s): 6. Total result is 6. This is a failure (by 4).

  • Character: Daiby
  • 1 week, 1 day ago


EARLIER, IN THE SERPENTORIUM ON THE SHIP

"You know, this is a big moment in the lives of my younger friends," says Daiby, addressing the camera. "I confess that even now I'm not sure I understand all of the implications of a ceremonial ball and social cotillion for the un-dead." As she says this she is feeding a peculiar-looking ground sausage to the Flame Boa, who is currently reclining in a hemispherical habitat - currently with the top off, the magitech lamp absent.

As the Flame Boa begins to swallow the proffered prey-sausage, Daiby continues, "And I'm very concerned about the prospect of things going badly all of a sudden, because I feel like there's a real blooming love between Reize and Ruidosa." The sausage is engulfed by snake-throat, gradually. Daiby's grip weakens.

"Sometimes I wish I was still writing monographs about ophidian taxonomy," she confesses, lowering her eyes even as the Flame Boa begins to munch on her fingertips, which get a little bit of a :/ and a fingertip-push against the snout. As she opens up the nearby tube of burn serum to clean up her fingertips from the spreading blistering, Daiby says, "In the end. All I can really do is my best. I think that's the secret behind just about everyone. The few who aren't desperately trying to dance past the music... why, most of the time they're just mean. Sometimes, of course, they're worse."

NOW

"Really! Was it found by a synthesizer? Maybe that was someone's name," Daiby muses to Ivo while looking with innocent fascination at the instrument.

WHAT IS DAIBY WEARING HERE.

Daiby has gone deep, deep back into Cosmopolitian fashion, and in her case this goes so deep it ends up being almost minimalist. Two layers.

Down low you have a simple linen sheath dress. It is undyed, but immaculately clean, and to touch it is to feel a warmed smoothless and an ineffable lightness, as if it could fly away. (It was given some elemental treatment to preferentially reject air molecules above a certain velocity. It won't last, of course, but then again what does? Especially in the laundry.) Though this is in the classical style that hugs the hips and legs and leaves only a subtle breach to the left side to allow for non-mincing motions of the leg, it has been - in the interest of not dominating attention - cut to rest above the breast-line, not beneath.

On top is a network dress in the classical style. Cylindrical beads form an overhanging sheathe - primarily blue, with some interruptions of red and gold for visual relief, suggesting a snake pattern (of course!) without really committing and coming up in straps over the waist, a pair of little lapis-lazuli disks set in electrum resting over the breasts.

(Feet are wedge sandals, headpiece is copper with some gold chasing and a single faience cameo over the 'third eye'. She has also accessorized with the Flame Boa itself, who contrasts well against the mostly-blue beading.)

"I feel as though we should stop them from making too much of a scene," Daiby murmurs to Ivo, watching Rui correct Reize on key pudding-related etiquette, "but I don't want to make too much interference in the natural course of their relationship. Still," and here Daiby's clearly bringing herself around on it, "this *is* rather critical, and it isn't as if this is their first encounter, isn't -"

'gaaaaaaah!'

"Just give me a moment," Daiby tells Ivo, before SUDDENLY

She and the Flame Boa are directly behind Reize.

Daiby rests a sororal hand on his shoulder and says with incredibly ominous lighting, "You won't go far wrong if you work from the outside in. That's why they lay them out that way, Reize, so you don't have to think when you're six drinks in!"

At least that's how they do it in Cosmopolis.

Daiby is back in chat distance with Ivo in the next shot.


 Ivo's elegant disquisition upon innovations in music shall not be disrupted by hijinks. He smiles placidly as explosions resound behind him, dark particles scattering like shrapnel. The musicians, to their credit, also do not falter, for they too must be accustomed to vampire mores, specifically their distinctive blend of languid refinement punctuated by bursts of frenzied violence. One might wonder how aristocratic decorum could cohabitate with such barbarism but, Ivo reflects, perhaps all aristocracy is barbaric when it comes to an appetite for acts of brutality and/or domination.
 Certainly the aristocracies with which he's familiar, at any rate.
 He spares Reize a glance to ensure he's still intact, if only for Yacumama's sake (who remains residing safely in his pendant), only to squint slightly and raise an eyebrow at the pudding spoon held aloft by their fearless leader. Was it a trick of the light, or did it seem to absorb some of those shadowy particles floating about? The palace must be so overburdened with relics and trinkets that caught royal fancy that it wouldn't be strange if some got mixed in with relatively mundane furnishings or tableware. In particular, it wouldn't be strange at all if the one thing Reize happened to grab *was* such a trinket, or so Ivo thinks.
 But before he can reach for the sensor embedded in Hauteclare's hilt to glance at a reading, his gaze settles upon Daiby, back by his side as quick as a skipped heartbeat, and his mind is blessedly wiped clean of pesky thoughts. The herald who has been dutifully announcing arrivals upon their entrance has been piping up, but ever since Daiby's arrival, doubtless attention has been affixed upon her: a visitor from Cosmopolis is rare enough even after its unsealing, one of such grace and beauty rarer still, and her serpentine affiliations and aesthetic leanings evoke the ancient traditions of the court, showing striking insight for an outsider... if indeed one can call "outsider" the inheritor of the regalia of the Oradian serpent priestess clan.
 "It ought to have been named in honor of you," Ivo belatedly declares, "who so effortlessly synthesizes wisdom, wit, and charm." He tries to sound florid, so that his flattery sounds like flattery rather than as heartfelt and sincere as his words actually are. Oh, Ivo. "When the dancing commences, I do hope you and your boa will allow me to have the first."
 In fact, Ivo has an ulterior motive: he suspects the Queen herself is likely to arrive around such a time, and to see Daiby dancing in all her splendor, especially with a Flame Boa conjured, would be sure to make a delightful impression. That's his only ulterior motive, though, for sure.
 In the background, further nobles arrive, some with astonishingly elaborate raiments that occasionally require servants to help support, strange animal or elemental or quasi-mechanical companions, or works of art borne in their wake as offerings to attract attention. There is the occasional commotion outside as the order of the procession into the great hall is decided, perhaps sometimes in explosive vampire fashion, but at the very least, the stream of visitors remains a diverting treat for the senses, and so far our heroes are the object of admiring or inquisitive gazes and not any unwanted attention.



  *Piku*

 Reize slowly creens his head towards Daiby once her hand rests on his shoulder. There is something ominous about that lighting on her face. "...O--Oh... o--okay. Yeah. I-I'll remember that."

 Once it appears that dignitaries have started to congregate into the area, Reize looks over towards Daiby, slowly joining over with Ivo with a thoughtful look, "I suppose we should start to mingle." That is why Reize is moving over to join beside Ruidosa.

 After all, since he is her fiance, it is better to be near her.
 

Ruidosa La Crima is watching the procession while talking and regaling about her beach/island adventure when they all got stranded and shipwrecked. She's also showing off her ''ring'' which is drawing it's own eyes. People know what that ring is, here. And they're astonished at it's rarity and semi-uniqueness.

And Reize found it's matching necklace mates? Even more baffling~! It makes some other vampire girls flutter their eyes at Reize.

Ruidosa doesn't notice. Instead she's too busy watching nobility parade in still as she looks to Reize. "Grandfather is probably arriving shortly. This is gonna be a problem. For you! A Problem for you." she says as she frowns a little.

She starts looking. Galito isn't here. That's good. Grandfather can't make him fight Reize if neither is here yet.

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: That spoon is suspicious. Did Ivo read something about this when they were investigating the rare books room with the tilcayo cat...?
Roll(s): 10. Total result is 10. This is a success (by 0).

  • Character: Daiby
  • 1 week, 1 day ago


It's like a super high rank banner with discount 10x and a guaranteed SSR after 50 pulls, Ivo! (If that makes no sense to you, don't worry: it only made sense to several fallen empires, who perished for reasons contested in the historical record. It is thought that the 'horse girls' and 'gun girls' were part of a cult of femininity that anthropomorphized the perils of horse ridin' fools with guns.)

Daiby has handled her visitors and the people who remark on her with an elaborate curtsey, one which does not disturb the line of her dress or the Flame Boa itself. It's actually Cosmopolitan too, it's just archaic. But so is her dress! 'You're too kind~.' 'Thank you, O Requited One.' 'Thanks, canid; I'm walking here.'

But now, Daiby laughs, next to Ivo. Who gets a very gentle nudge with an elbow. "Oh, stop," she says. "I am hardly a princess who deserves to have random things she had nothing to do with named after her! Though if he wanted to name a chord, or something like that," Daiby muses, having found what seems like a moderate and appropriate 'place to have something named after you.'

("Oh!" Daiby remarks to Ivo. "He's going to mingle. I can see it on his lips. How nice, he's taking a bit of initiative! I do think it's bracing how they're not following the standard, mass marketed romantical script, but it DOES sometimes look like bullying *just* a bit -- oh excuse me -- Thank you, your grace. What? Oh! Ha ha! Such is his will indeed!")


 For some indecipherably mysterious reason, Ivo is finding it difficult to look directly at Daiby right now and so glances back to Reize, just checking to make sure their chief is hanging in there. But even he is surprised to see so many vampire babes ogling his friend. Certainly, Reize must be of interest given his exploits both in the realms of adventure and vampiric seduction. It seems as well that the relics they uncovered to gift to the La Crimas were even more impressive than Ivo anticipated. Nevertheless, Ivo is convinced that there is something a little off about all of this, and thus does he squint again at the pudding spoon in Reize's grasp.
 In his investigation regarding the legacy of the Harem Master, he had noticed a few similarly bizarre titles mentioned, one in particular being the legend of the Gregarious Gourmand. As much as Ivo had attempted to avoid distraction (perhaps another reason why he was so slow to notice the cat), he couldn't help but at least skim *that* anecdote. Supposedly, vampires are given to odd obsessions during their long unlives, and one such fellow was determined to unlock the deepest possible flavor of anything he ate, devoting himself to eating not for nourishment but sheer voluptuous pleasure. Yet he found himself unable to share his tastes with others, for only he could taste of what his enchanted tableware revealed. Thus did he endeavor to endow his many magical forks and so forth with the dark magic he wielded simply to grant them the capacity to influence others and attune their tastes and desires to his own. This allegedly led to his downfall when, upon bringing his prized Spoon of Fellow Feeling to the royal palace, he was accused of attempting to mind-control royalty and imprisoned for a century. Or so the story went.
 An unsubstantiated rumor, surely.
 "I shall discover a chord forthwith," Ivo quips, grinning at Daiby, attention drawn as she nudges him. His demeanor smoothly changes from grandiose to We're All Friends Here, Just Kidding Around, which is quite convincing and doubtless renders his slight blush unremarkable. "And as for bullying, it too can have its charms, if the bully is charming."
 No wonder he gets along with Madonna.
 "My jacket? To think you would notice me in the shadow of such radiance," he is now asiding to an inquiring minor noble, managing to sneak in another compliment to Daiby in the process. "There is a particular stall with an exquisite selection that I *must* recommend..."
 As he and Daiby both expertly banter with guests, Ivo's gaze idly shifts to two main passageways: the great double doors that lead outwards, whence new arrivals arrive suitably heralded, and the splendid passage leading further inwards, overseen by inscrutable Shadowguard attendants. From the former, acquaintances will eventually arrive, friendly and otherwise. From the latter, the Queen and her attendants will surely emerge when they believe the time to be ripe. In either case, Ivo wants to be prepared to seize the initiative and define the situation. They are well poised to make a good impression on the Queen and not just lean on Ruidosa's own influence, lest her grandfather have something to say about that, but he does not know for how long Yacumama or Ankhiale will remain silent. Both are surely processing what has become of the ancient serpent clan as best they can, but Ivo cannot predict to what they might react.
 ...well, maybe the spoon will be enough to solve their problems, if it is indeed subtly drawing everyone's attention to Reize. That's a good thing, right?