The Mad God's Masque and Bellicose Ball (IC) (M)

[Sunblink]

Elizabeth felt slightly relieved when Tobias accepted her offer, but didn't allow her face to betray this. She nodded her head politely, affirmatively, and with a strength visually disproportionate to her body, lifted the trunk and started to drag it through the snow behind her, its bulk drawing a giant, indented divot into the white powder. Using one of her wing-tentacles to handle the cumbersome luggage was tempting, but, undoubtedly, a stupid idea. Elizabeth anticipated being preoccupied throughout the whole venture to the carriages with the weight of her trunk and the potentially uncomfortable feelings it would create in her arms, but fortunately, Tobias was talkative enough to distract her. Elizabeth herself wasn't so conversational, but she appreciated the companionship, at least. The only issue was formulating an elaborate enough lie about her whereabouts. In the end, Elizabeth decided to take some of the truth, and omit and alter a few details.

Elizabeth nearly said something unintentionally morbid, like, If you die, I'll be sure to bring your cadaver to the hotel for you, but stopped herself. She wasn't sure if that kind of humor was appropriate. When she saw the wait in front of the carriages, she very nearly cursed. Instead, she uttered something indistinguishable and inaudible in her mother tongue and compulsively adjusted her robes. Tobias seemed frustrated, too, but handled it, at least, more gracefully than she did. The idea of walking through the snow didn't seem so inviting to her, but ultimately, she decided that Tobias was right. Elizabeth nodded - at least the humorous way he put the situation helped assuage her irritation. She returned his smile.

During their little adventure, Elizabeth listened patiently to Tobias's narrative, feeling very fortunate that no personal questions had surfaced yet. She knew next to nothing about iron imports, unfortunately. Occasionally, Elizabeth would offer some input or express some interest or something else, to let Tobias know she wasn't bored, or she'd rustle her luggage inconspicuously to alleviate the weight on her arms. In spite of this, she felt rather relieved to enter the hotel, since the cold was becoming a little tiresome. The hotel was comfortably warm.

Elizabeth settled her trunk down and shook her clothing, throwing the snow off of it. Finally, Tobias popped a question, and she answered automatically with the alibi she prepared. "Moderately cold, I suppose, but that's only natural in a mountainous region. When winter arrives it tends to snow a lot, and it gets very cold," she explained pleasantly, smiling a little.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Aisha deCabre]

The restaurant really had a way of drawing people into its midst, with its combination of sweet-smelling foods and a sensation of beauty surrounding it.  Once again it showed that whomever built the hotel spared no expense, or at least very little expense.  Rynkura smiled in anticipation as she sat down, with her staff lying on her lap as she started to settle herself and take a look at the menu items, shown on a little preview slip on the table.

She hadn't looked for long, however, when a figure showed up in her sight as if materializing out of the air.  Glancing over, the tigress beheld a rather large musteline, an ermine in its white winter fur dressed in the fine uniform that the hotel staff boasted.  Rynkura noticed how quick he was at finding her table, and certainly how his eyes gleamed in the light as he waited for her answer.  Another in the hotel who was partial to old-fashioned manner, it seemed.

Usually it was hard to look predatory in front of a tiger, but he managed well.   Rynkura nodded with a quick smile.  "Yes, I will be," she answered simply, glancing back over the items again.  She'd have rather not kept him waiting, but it was hard to decide.  "And I'm rather partial to the steak here, or perhaps the pheasant.  Whatever that delectable smell is..."

The tigress glanced back up at the waiter, resisting the urge to lick her fangs.  "What would you recommend then, good sir?"

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Tim blinked. "Push... " She turned around. "Oh, for... Rover! Lift, dammit! Lift!"

Rover looked down at the container. He looked back at Tim, confusion plain on his face. He looked back down at the container, and tapped it with one claw. Gave it a bit of a half-hearted push. Looked back beseechingly at Tim, who was tapping one paw.

"I said lift. Come on, there's a good boy."

Rover heaved a large sigh (not that he could give any other size, mind) and gripped one corner of the container in one paw, and, giving a mighty heave, lifted it onto his shoulders. Balancing it with one paw, he looked over at Tim. She smiled up at him, and said "OK, with me." and headed round the corner after Ray, who by this time was well out of sight, with Rover padding heavily at her heels.

Once round the corner, they discovered a grand addition to the hotel, the stables were set at right-angle to the larger building's sleek black glass. The ground was cobbled here, and the largest building was largely open-air - rough-hewn cedar and slats of wood making up the majority of the building. Two long doors on either side could be closed to secure the building, although it was obvious it would still be freezing inside. It was also obvious that the larger gryphon had no chance of fitting inside it. Ray nodded glumly. "Set it where-ever you like, as long as you don't block an entrance. There should be enough hay behind the building there to make a bed for... him."

Tim nodded, commented "He won't need the hay, I think," and directed Rover to park the container over to the side of the door, out of the way. It landed with a fairly hollow boom. She then shooed him around the building, interrupting his nosing into the door, and into the recommended place, where he could keep an eye on the container as well. "Stay here, ok?"

Rover nodded.

"This is bed, ok?"

Another nod, less eager, this time.

"And I'll see you in the morning." She reached into a pocket, and pulled out a furry, squeaky toy - roughly a foot long, it wasn't big in her paws at all - and threw it up into the air. Rover caught it, the poor toy vanishing with a distant, forlorn toot, inside one of his paws, which promptly went under his head. He smiled, curled up, fluffed up his feathers, wrapped his wings around himself, and closed his eyes. Then one opened again, swivelled around, and looked at Tim. She grinned, padded over, and, placing both paws on the massive beak, kissed him on the cheek. "Goodnight, Rover. Sleep well." He grinned, and closed the eye.

Tim jumped down, and padded back over to Ray. "He should stay put, now that he has his teddy. I believe you said something about a room for me?"


(( OOC: Thanks, Cog. Lovely description of the stables. *steals* ))

[techmaster-glitch]

   While it wasn't cold enough to really affect the digmech or Karazkt, it was still quite uncomfortable for him. He was literally out of his element. And when he was slapped in the face a the third time by a pine branch, he had enough. He pushed a lever, and the opaque metal cover slid over the cockpit. With the limited range of his infravision through it, Damaske Castle was no longer in sight for him. It didn't matter though, as he was easily close enough to feel it with his antennae, even through the mech itself. It really was hard to miss. He conjured up a quick and intense wave of fire and heat in the cockpit, warming it up considerably.
   Soon enough, the digmech rumbled up just outside the castle, and stopped at the wall. The barrier was rather unusual to Karazkt, but then again, so was everything else he had seen of the surface world so far. After puzzling over it for a moment, he decided it would be rude to go through it, since the surfacers couldn't have build it without purpose. Probably some sort of stone decoration, which Karazkt actually found somewhat appealing. He certainly would inform his hive about this unusual feature when he returned.
   Thus, he charged up some earth magic, fed it into the digmech, pointed the arms down, and released it. A wide, angled hole in the ground was blasted in front him, right in front of the wall. He maneuvered the mech into it, pulling several levers. A huge drill folded out of one of the arms, and an equally large spiked grindwheel on the other. They both started spinning rapidly, and the mech dug through the loose soil extremely quickly. In short order, he was digging up, and emerged in the castle courtyard on the other side of the wall. Now he was close enough to actually see the castle itself, even through the cockpit shield. However, it wasn't very clear, so he retracted the cover again.
   Now that he saw it clearly in his infravision, it was actually a little overwhelming to the Insectis. He was used to underground tunnels, but this...this was a massive structure of stone, on the surface. He slowly removed the goggles covering his eyes, wincing as actual sunlight touched them for the first time. He looked up at it, and his antennae froze.
   The sight was magnificent.
   The castle, in his normal-light vision sense, was utterly incredible. The sharp architecture was utterly alien to him, yet he found it immensely attractive. This massive stone monolith seemed to exert some awesome force over him, keeping him in a state of near-shock over the sheer impressiveness of it.
   After a minute or two of marveling over its details, Karazkt woke up enough to start the mech getting closer, and he steered his way towards the appropriately and proportionately huge castle doors.

[Boog]

Jeremiah was making his way down from the third floor, still grumbling from his encounter with what he had personally dubbed The Beast From Beyond Menopause when a rumbling noise shook the castle. One eyebrow rising to the classic one-o-clock "What the dancing hell?" position he made his way to a window to check on WHAT WAS THAT IN THE COURTYARD!?
The frog ducked back into cover with a muffled 'eep!' Before leaning out to check again, only to end with another frightened 'eep!' He finally worked up the nerve to study the disconcertingly large arrival for enough time to discern its mechanical nature, and that of its comparatively dwarfed pilot.
No. Nonononono, they didn't. Did they? Is that an INSECTIS?
Fuck, I buy it. You got a load of that last one, didn't you?
What's it riding? What the HELL is it riding?
It's pretty!
I approve of the overall design.
Heeheehoohehaaaheehehahooahoo...
Opinions from the peanut gallery duly noted and ignored. Hearing the badger's rapidly shuffling approach, Jeremiah paled. They expected him to show in an INSECTIS? Didn't they kidnap birds? He heard something about them kidnapping birds. He wasn't one, but who was to say this guy would know that?
Cowards make the best strategists. They think of everything.
"Old boy, wait. I need you to-"
"Already know, already know, there's a guest..."
"Guest? Where?" The badger looked out the nearby window in surprise, to the frog's chagrin. How could he have missed that noise...?
Or all the canapes you've nicked? Gift horses, sir.
"I was simply going to have you check to see what was caught in the woodchipper..." The badger murmured bemusedly, before doing a double take as if just realizing the frog was there. "Right then, see him in! Right to it! The woodchipper can wait..." The badger turned back to the window, murmuring something else softly to himself. Jeremiah, figuring ignored counted as dismissed, made his way down to the door to see in the latest arrival.
He opened the doors a bit more cautiously this time, gazing up at the gargantuan mech without even TRYING to hide how imposing the great steel construct was to him.
"Ah, hello!" The frog tried once, waving one hand to get the rider's attention, "Hello Sir! Or Madam!" He considered what he knew about insectis, "Or other! May I see your invitation?"

[Stygian]

If the frog had forgotten about her, the bat did not mind so much. Any less attention from that kind of creep, she appreciated. For all she tried though, she could not understand what he was on, with those other voices. She had never heard something like that before, or seen anything quite like... Well, that was a mystery for another time. If any time at all. If there really was nothing more to it than a regular sort of illness or curse, she would not so much as touch him with tongs in order to find anything out. She was not obligated at all to help someone like that.
   Ignoring the amphibian's derogatory thoughts - they seemed to be all that lasted in that mind of his - the bat entered the room which had been prepared for her, a large, mostly open and sparsely decorated but stylistically solid and comfortable room that would not have been out of place in a larger, more luxurious hotel suite or in some of the noble's quarters or merchant palaces that she knew quite well. Perhaps more likely the latter. The walls were stone, after all. Not everything was plastered or covered. And the fireplace down the main room added a lot to the 'spooky old castle' image. So did the roofed bed. And the draperies and cold floors...
   Not about to get out of her boots, even on the luxurious carpets here, or make herself too home to leave in a haste for that matter, the bat simply set her bag down, and looked at the accommodations for a good half a minute. Then, spinning on her heel, she opened the door, and exited the room once again. If she could not figure out what was happening reasonably fast, then at least she would ascertain who and what was present, and how that might be used...

[Cogidubnus]

The grey wolf smiled. "It's got nothing to do with your family business, I imagine." he said, leaning into the table. "Just relax, you'll be fine. Trouble for you will be in the form of a very old dragon, and you don't sound like someone she'd want to antagonize anyway." he leaned back again, and sipped his drink.

The waitress form before returned, carrying Mel's drink. Something of an indeterminate, soapy color fizzed violently inside a polished quartz glass, which she set delicately in front of the snow leopard. She gave a slight smile at the feline, and walked off, leaving the drink bubbling in front of her.

"Surprising people get invited here. It's not all kings and queens, sometimes, but...ah..." the wolf paused. Someone was playing the piano rather strangely, and his face looked as though his insides had taken two steps to the left before his body could catch up. He and the various other patrons of the restaurant sat in discomfort until the song ended, at which time another tune started up. The vague murmur that was sulking in the room intensified, with various people alternatively looking sharply at the two playing their instruments, or looking somewhat ill and pushing their food away and walking off. The two beings managing the bar and the various waitresses began to scrutinize them, no longer certain if they were part of the scheduled entertainment - another one with a jacket to go with his waistcoat began walking briskly towards them.

Cogidubnus shook his head. "Whoever is in charge of the music is probably going to be shot." he said, his voice without a trace of irony.

* * *

The ragged cat looked at Kiet neutrally, keeping his hands on the keyboard as the ringtail played his fiddle. It wasn't long before the cat had closed his eyes in time with the music, and was nodding his head to Kiet's fiddle. His expression changed, from neutral discourtesy to simple rapture. The incubus's music was not moving so much as exciting, but the cat listened as though it touched his soul - hands still, barely touching the keys, clearly somewhere else entirely.

At the crescendo, however, as Kiet stopped short, the cat jerked as though slapped, and looked up at the Cubi angrily. A man with the hotel staff was approaching them both deftly, but the cat paid no attention, instead giving the cat a gut-twisting glare.
"Why didn't you finish?" he said, ignoring his previous question. There was a note of pleading in his voice. It was apparent the music had affected him far more than it should have - a tear glimmered in his yellow eye, a drop of blood in his white one. He closed the piano lid with a slam, making the patrons of the restaurant again jump. The suited panther approaching them made a face, his expression darkening with every exclamation from the hotel's guests. He put his hands on the piano, glaring at the both of them.

"Excuse me, I'm going to have to ask the both of you to le..."

The cat turned, giving the man such a look that he stopped short, leaning back. The black cat stood up, closing his eyes and tilting his head until his neck popped, and then deftly stepped between Kiet and the piano. He wiped his cheeks, blood and tears mixing on his sleeves.
"Of thirty bare years have I, twice twenty been enraged," he said, seemingly answering the incubus now. "And of forty been three times fifteen in durance soundly caged..." he faltered, continuing, "The moon's my constant mistress, the lovely owl my marrow; the flaming drake and night crow make me music to me sorrow..."

With the slow speed afforded of methodical, steady pace, it took a moment to realize he was quite nearly out of the dining area. He seemed to be talking more to himself now, continuing whatever strange answer he'd begun.
"I repose in Paul's with waking souls, yet never am a-frighted..."

* * *

"No doubt several, ma'am." Horatio said, opening the door for her. Despite his polite answer, Andrace could see that her tactic was at least having some effect. His face had flustered written all over it. Even so, his self control was remarkable. She'd thought she'd caught him stealing a peek once, although it was nearly impossible to tell with those shades of his on.

"The mistress should be ready to receive guests within the hour. Our humblest apologies for imposing on your vacation here." he said, following behind the lioness back down into the dining room. The crowed there seemed to have thinned since they were there last, so it was no problem navigating their way through and getting a seat at the bar. A pleasant looking raccoon cleaning a glass asked them for drink orders.

Horatio said something Andrace didn't quite catch. The bartender seemed to pause for just a second before nodding, and then turned to the lioness, reaching under the bar and producing a clear-stone glass. "And for the pretty lady, ma'am?"

* * *

Goss was contemplating how he was going to fall asleep at five O'clock in the afternoon, when he heard something tapping the window. A glance confirmed that there was, indeed, someone on his balcony that was not there before.
"Long time no see, Marshall." a man said, his face obscured by a high collar and a low-set hat. His mouth was set in a mean grin, and he had a long pistol in one hand.

"You don't know me, but I know you. A lot of us know you, Marshall Goss." he said, smiling that same, mean smile. "My luck here is plainly just stupid. I didn't know there was a soiree like this going on, but when I saw your face on the street..." he smiled darkly.

"For all the boys of Trent you've killed, Marshall." he said, lifting the long pistol. He made to aim it at the man, but at the last moment, he stuck it under his chin instead. His brains exploded onto the small balcony, blood and grey matter splattering the windows and pooling on the concrete floor.

* * *

"When winter arrives where I'm from, it's time to put on the long sleeved shirts." Tobias said, smiling kindly. "This kind of cold, it's just silly. I will say, I've never seen snow falling before. Even if cold like this should be illegal, I do like that." he said, and continued to walk inside briskly.

He got in line for the check-in counter. "But ah. Our pilgrimage is complete - thank you for showing me the way." he smiled at Elizabeth, his face kind. "And for listening to me ramble the entire way. My apologies, I don't mean to dominate the conversation. Ah, what brings you here anyway? I mean, did you got an invitation out of the blue, or perhaps you're the duchess of Zaphyren'ae, ah?" he said, his tone amused.

* * *

Ray simply stared at the massive gryphon, his expression indescribably forlorn. He nodded glumly to the smaller gryphon at his side. "Room 419, yes. Fourth floor, room 19." he said, handing over the key with some hesitation to the quadripedal gryphon - who managed to take it anyway, in a display of surprising dexterity for someone who used their hands to walk also. He sighed, and began walking back to the hotel's entrance. "I need to get back inside before this gets blame... to check people in. If you'll excuse me, ma'am, I'll just go back inside, now."

The clerk left the both of them with a shuffling walk, his pace increasing the farther he got away from Rover, the probable lawsuit.

* * *

The first thing Elyse noticed about the castle, was that despite the somewhat squarish, if impressively large, appearance of the castle on the outside, on the inside, vaulted ceilings, narrow, windowed corridors, and ornate decoration declared the interior decidedly gothic. It was extremely well-furnished, and as she explored she realized that it was far more spacious on the inside than it seemed on the outside. It would be very easy to get lost here, if you weren't careful.

The upstairs was largely bereft of other people - it seemed that she was early for the party. She didn't see any servants here either - probably all busy getting the ballroom and other areas ready for the ball the next day. Nothing immediately jumped out as out of the ordinary.
Something was bothering the bat, still, although she couldn't quite place it.

Eventually her wandering did take her to someplace where there was someone to talk to. An elderly mouse was just finishing with locking one of the wooden doors when Elyse turned the corner. He wasn't dressed in the uniform of the servants downstairs, but it was apparent that he knew he was supposed to be there, and Elyse was most certainly not. He straightened, putting the keys in his pocket, and giving the bat a stern look.
"Are you lost?" he said, frowning.

* * *

"The roast duck is excellent, and very hard to get this time of year." he said, proffering a menu. "I can tell the lady is fond of something she can...sink her teeth into. If she does wish for a steak, I heartily recommend it - it's won several awards. Alas, roast pheasant is not on the menu this evening, although I can talk to the chef and see if we could make an exception." he said, smiling.
"Shall I get you something to drink while you consider?" he said, pen poised.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Karazkt was still admiring the castle when the doors opened slightly, admitting a very odd surfacer. Karazkt rather thought he looked like some sort of surface version of an ugly Mer, without spikes. Said surfacer then inquired if Karazkt had his invitation.
   "Yez...one momenT..." Karazkt said with a very peculiar accent, still glancing up awestruck at the architecture while ducking down to the bottom of the cockpit. He opened a small compartment, and from a small stash of items he plucked out a charred red envelope. The paper, it being something he wasn't very familiar with, apparently had been scorched when Karazkt conjured up his fire wave earlier. He extracted the letter from the ruined envelope, and fortunately, the letter was still mostly intact.
   The tips of two of his fingers then glowed brown, and and two pebbles flew up from the ground into his hand. With more brown glowing, he pinched the paper in between them, and then levitated it down to the waiting surfacer.

[SpottedKitty]

Andrace snickered and winked at Horatio as she walked out into the corridor. It might have been accidental that her tail tuft brushed lightly across his ankles. Or maybe not. She started down the stairs with a brisk stride. "An hour's plenty time f'r relaxin'," she replied, "an' I'm here on... business, I s'pose y' could say."

Halfway down, though, the lioness slowed for a moment. She didn't stop, but the fox, following behind, saw one of her ears twitch back, and her right hand shifted as if about to grab a weapon, although she appeared to be unarmed. What was that... she thought, did I hear...? No, nothing. The noise had been so faint she wasn't sure she'd really heard something. It could have been anything: something dropped on the top floor, a door closing in one of the nearby suites, maybe even the plumbing. She'd heard plumbing make all sorts of weird noises, even in fancy places like this. She dismissed the thought with another flick of her ear and continued down the stairs. She paused for a moment at the bottom, glancing at the windows to make sure there were no giant Gryphon eyeballs looking back in at her.

"Ah, now this is more like it!" Andrace said as she strode through the thinning crowd in the dining room and perched on a tall stool at the bar. She hooked one paw around one of the stool legs, and curled her tail around another. She was just about to reply to the cute raccoon in hotel livery with "I'll have th' same as th' handsome foxy here," with a mischievous grin directed Horatio-wards, when she saw what was being poured into his glass. It was greyish, and it bubbled and burbled like a tiny volcanic eruption. And most drinks weren't poured from a bottle held in long-handled metal tongs, while the barman held a filter mask over his muzzle. The lioness had a strong stomach, and had proved herself capable of drinking most of her brothers and sisters under the table on a regular basis, but there were limits. "Ah... I'll have a brandy," she said finally after a few eye-boggling moments. "A Cross Reserve '83 if y' got it." She fished her key out of a pocket in her jerkin and let the raccoon see the room number on its tag.

The first drink went down Andrace's throat in a couple of gulps. She sighed with contentment and nodded to the raccoon for a refill, nudging her glass over the countertop. Her tailtip flicked leisurely from side to side as she turned towards Horatio and leaned against the bar, sipping more slowly at her second drink. "So, what brings y' out here t' th' back o' beyond?" she asked, cautiously eyeing the tectonic processes going on in the fox's glass. "Does Icewing come here f'r th' Masque often?"

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Tim blinked at the clerks rapid exit, and shrugged. Maybe he had other work to be getting on with. Oh, well. She took one last glance over at Rover - now snoring peacefully, interspersed with well muffled squeaks from the toy in his paw - and headed after Ray, hoping to at least get a few moments rest before morning.

Having eaten earlier (with the big fellow around, you made sure he ate early and often; if you got caught short, you were in big trouble) she figured there was nothing more going on between now and morning. So she padded quietly around the front, in through the entrance, across the lobby - pausing to briefly sniff the smells coming from the dining area, and notice the tall lioness from earlier heading for the bar - and headed quietly up the stairs.

Once she reached the sanctity of her room, she opened the door, deposited the key on the table there, and looked around.

And gasped.

It wasn't often she got a hotel room; to be honest, she didn't usually get more than a stretch of field where Rover happened to have planted himself on any particular evening, with, if she was lucky, some of his wing to protect her from the elements; heck, having a fire to huddle round on snowy evenings was an unexpected luxury. But this? This was... well, there was only one word for it. Impressive.

She padded through the room. Well.. not a room, more of a suite. Well appointed bathroom, bedroom, hallway, a small room for, well, it looked like entertaining guests in. Not that she was likely to have any here, but having the facilities available was just impressive. Sufficient storage for more clothes than she owned, let alone had with her; admittedly, with Rover, carrying space was never really an issue, but even so...

She flipped off her travelling robe, and hung it in the cupboard, before going to check out the options available in the bathroom.


An hour or so later, much refreshed, very very impressed, and slightly sodden in the few places she'd missed drying, she collapsed into the (very oversized, and very comfortable) bed.

To sleep the sleep of the dead. At least until morning...

... with any luck.

[Azlan]

Ignoring the man of the hotel staff for the moment, Kiet silently observed the strange cat.  He blinked at the somewhat anapestic response, and did not respond.  Such persons as this were always a good sign of interesting times.  Heedless of those around him, the incubus squeaked slightly and tensed, barely able to hold himself back from exploding with glee in a manner akin to that of a school girl... a Japanese school girl from manga.

"oh what fun this place and this ball will be!" 

The ringtail sobered a bit.  It was quite clear that the cat had known what that final note would have meant, and he the black one had wanted, no needed to hear it.  Almost as an afterthought, Kiet finished the tune, though the emotional, charged energy was gone.

Spinning in place, cape billowing as his hands disappeared behind his back.  His violin and bow slipping into some unseen space.  Kiet then stepped forward, a mischievous grin of glittering white across his muzzle as he approached the one who had seen fit to interrupt them.  He moved quickly, maneuvers that would scream aggressive deadly action, but stopped short of delivering a fatal blow.  Instead he held out a simple lollipop, a pink confection that smelled strongly of musk.

"Do be a good lad and be sure you eat all your vegetables before you have the lolly."

Kiet drifted back off into the dining area, looking for anything else interesting that might happen.

[Boog]

Jeremiah snatched the invitation away from the pebbles nervously. Yep, INSECTIS it's an INSECTIS invitation INSECTIS INSECTIS ACK! DANGER WILL ROBINSON! The frog coughed once and continued. "Yes, this seems to be the real deal. Welcome to Castle Damaske, Mister," he guessed, and then squinted at the invitation once to make sure he had the name right, "Kaz, Kazarked... Karazkt. Mister Karazkt. Welcome. We have some guest rooms made up for early arrivals, like yourself, but you'll need to find someplace nearby to keep your ve, vehic..."
Jeremiah had noticed the Hole.
It was obviously a professionally made Hole, judging by the smoothness of the sides and the sheer size it had reached without collapsing. What was more interesting, however, was how it went right under the wall and came up right in the middle of the rosebushes.
The lad would never have seen a wall, he's used to living underground. Separations don't have to be built, it's free space you have to work for...
It was too much. The frog burst out laughing.

[Aisha deCabre]

Rynkura listened to the ermine's answer with quite an open mind.  On the inside, she was salivating.  Duck, steak...rather unfortunate about the pheasant, but still there was a chance for some award-winning meat to be served in front of her, a culinary slice of heaven waiting for the angel, so to speak.

The Healer hummed quietly, a sort of hungry murr to her voice,  before smiling back and closing the menu.  "Kind of you to offer about the pheasant...perhaps next time.  I shall try the steak.  And as for a drink, a smidgen of red wine if you would not mind."

As the tigress made her decision, her ears happened to just then catch the ending of a very peculiar musical piece played at the piano by two individuals, ending in a slightly abrupt fashion.  Rynkura's eyebrows quirked, an ear turned back, but she just shook her head.  The only atmosphere in her mind that probably would have no right to be disturbed was to be the ball later on.

"Interesting entertainment...albeit unexpected," she muttered with a short chuckle and handed the menu back to him.  "Thank you, good sir."

She leaned back on the seat afterward, beginning the wait for her food with a simple bit of people-watching.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

"All sorts of people are invited. Variety is the spice of life they say," agreed Mel as her drink arrived. As she picked up the bubbly drink in its special glass she noticed Horatio at the bar and waved at him before taking a sip of the concoction. Not because she really wanted to attract his attention but because she was trying to act like she wasn't hiding out and trying to avoid him would catch his attention. Then the odd, awkward music assaulted the ears. She nodded agreement to Cog's assessment of the musical act. "Good thing Grandmother is not here to hear that."

[Stygian]

Elyse's first instinct was to go back and search from where the frog had left her. He had been intent on seeing someone else, she was fairly sure of that. And stowing her in her room and keeping her as far away from things not supposed to be seen should have been his intentions in the first place. Especially with his opinion of her. It was just that the matter of them having gone fairly straight from the entry hall up to the room made this reasoning ineffectual. So, she concluded, she really had no clue as to where to go. Better then to find someone to go to instead. She probably was not allowed to walk around as she wished, but someone else...
   Wandering the castle yielded little at first. There was nothing to be observed, and there seemed to be terribly few people about to discern any information from. Not only that, but there was this nagging, annoying feeling that something was not quite right that she simply could not shake. At last though, she lucked out. And quite well, on top of that. She eyed the keys slipping into the mouse's pocket for half a moment longer than anything else of him.
   'Who isn't?' she replied to the wizened little man. 'Frankly, people mostly only think they know where they are going and what they are doing. In life in general, or otherwise.' Smirking, just a tad deviously, she narrowed her gaze at the man. And slowly, she reached out with a sliver of her will toward him. She was cautious though. It was just a careful touch, really, to discern whether if she could have him more compliant or not. Who knew what sort of protective charms some people wore? 'Now, just what do you think you are doing, and where do you think I am going?'

[e_voyager]

Aten smiled understanding he feelings. his own uncle would problem have made the poor want to be artist  wish for a swift painful death before he was half done chewing him out over the poorly selected and even more poorly  implement's ,noise selection. to call it music was and insult to the art..

"In a ways it's good to know that i may simply be a quark in the gears. but still i makes me more curious as to whom invited me and what your story is good sir ."

[techmaster-glitch]

   Karazkt said nothing as the surfacer stumbled over his name a little, which was understandable. What wasn't understandable, however, was when the peculiar surfacer burst out in a series of uncontrolled verbal spasms. After a moment, Karazkt deduced that it had to be the surfacer way of laughing. As to why, Karazkt could not begin to fathom what he found so funny.
   "You are...laughing. Why are you laughing?" Karazkt asked quizzically. Then Karazkt followed where his gaze had gone, and realized he had been looking at Karazkt's hole under the wall.
   Karazkt continued to speak with his very unusual accent that was slightly hard to decipher. "WhaT iz iT you find humorouz over there? I azzumed thaT the zTrange zTruKTure iz zome zorT of a zTone deKoration. While any zingle WorKer Kould eazily repair zuch a zimple thing, I thoughT iT mighT be...'rude', iz it? ...To go through iT."
   Before Karazkt had left his hive-city, he had been taught the basics of 'diplomacy' by a few of the Zizidronacht's Princes and Princesses. The very understandable frustration of all parties at the disturbace of the natural order aside, one of the things they had told him was that surfacers were an extremely finicky lot, and they took offence to the slightest disruption of their own constructions, even things that were considered trivial or even natural to Insectis. Karazkt assumed the wall was one such thing the surfacers might take exception to, even if it had just a simple hole in it.

[Boog]

"Sorry, I'm sorry..." Jeremiah wiped away a tear and tried to make his laughing die down. "It's... It's a thing, with folks up here." The frog couldn't help but like the individual who just seconds ago made him a nervous wreck; the lad seemed to possess that special breed of stupidity that's only capable of flourishing when you try to grow intelligence in the dark by itself. Not only were such people amusing because they would never notice a 'kick me' sign on their back no matter how many times they were kicked, but by and large they were usually honest to a fault. Jeremiah could remember BEING that kid in his younger days. "Digging near, around, or into our structures. Kind of a thing. Like..." He thought for a minute. What did he know about insectis...? "If someone from another city dug right into your center of government or treasury or something. Plus, you came up in the middle of the gardens." The frog gestured with one narrow-fingered hand to the disarray that was once been some rather carefully tended roses. "Here, lets see if we can keep your gizmo out of sight. With any luck nobody will know you did it if they don't see this huge bloody thing." He rapped his knuckles on the side of one of the hands, knocking off some of the caked-on dirt, and nearly cracked up again. "Come on now, lets hide this."

[Shadrok]

Aruk looks down at the drink and its robust fragrance, when finally with a sigh he says
"Well, those who dare win." and with that grabs the glass and downs the drink.

"Cough! m-huh. w... Cough, well now that's a strong drink. Cough!"
He wipes a tear away from his eye.
"Now then..." he picks up the menu and looks it over.
"I'll have the steak with skinned potatoes."

"How would you like your steak?" the waitress ask in a somewhat impatient tone.

"Medium rare, as for what to drink... What would you suggest?"

"Well we have an exceptional choices of wines that you could chose from."
The waitress hands him the wine menu and he makes his selection.

"I'll have the 'Zwarte Nacht' red wine."

With order and empty glass in hand the waitress leaves without another word.

[techmaster-glitch]

   At the surfacer's comment on something digging into the middle of an Insectis center, it was Karazkt's to laugh, or do something that somewhat resembled it. He started making a sound like a stuttering buzz, but more noticeably, his antennae waved in a rhythmic, yet slightly erratic, fashion.
   "You zay thaT az if iT were pozzible To enTer a hive-ziTy unanTizipaTed..." Karazkt resumed his own way of 'laughing' for a moment, then quieted. "Hide my digging machine? Odd...buT if you zay zo."
   Karazkt tunred some valve knobs, cranked a few levers, and the digmech started plodding forward.

[Cogidubnus]

 The one-eyed black cat left the hotel without being apprehended, somehow - the feats that can be accomplished walking calmly and unobtrusively can be incredible, if only one can seem like they know where they're going. The cat was going where the hotel wanted him to go besides - outside, and away.

Dust gathered and tangled in its tangled locks, the feline staring moodily at the black-glass structure from across the street. The setting sun glinted off the smooth glass, and long shadows furrowed through the rosily-colored snow as the cat shook his head. Unnoticed by anyone else, it muttered to itself, and pulled its scarf a bit tighter round its neck, adjusted it's gloves, and huddled in its coat against the wind as it started tottering towards the distant castle, leaving a twisting and winding trail of footprints up the mountain path.

* * *

As Kiet began to move in ways that screamed hostility and lethal action, the black-and-purple suited panther's eyes widened with not only fear, but palpable rage. Even as the Cubi moved, a full two dozen pairs of black, humorless suits tensed and reached inside coats, most moving in front of their respective nobles and dignitaries promptly and efficiently. In the space of a breath, every eye in the room locked on the incubus, and when the Ti'Pallo produced a lolly instead of a bladed tentacle, very few people laughed indeed.

The panther took the sweet from the Cubi's hand delicately, directing a withering stare at him as he put it in his coat, and turned quietly without saying a word. A full half of the restaurant got up soon after, men in suits giving him hard, mirror-lensed stares, while the well-dressed bourgeois alternatively ignored or glared practically hateful stares at him. It was quite some time before the hushed stares resumed conversation once again.

* * *

Horatio relaxed, deciding to let the quartz glass breathe again, and smiled an apologetic smile at Andrace. "My apologies." he said, choosing not to address the subject further. His glass of whatever-it-was remained untouched, however, simply bubbling and fizzing to itself contently.

"To answer your question, though," the fox began, clearing his throat and shaking his head just slightly. "The masque is what brings us here, yes. Icewing is here...quite frequently. Almost on a first name basis with the staff." he said, smiling slightly. "Which can be good or bad, depending on who you ask."
"Of course, the staff rotates itself, and humble servant of the family that I am, I've been here only once or twice myself. Of course, to someone humble like myself, I simply wonder what brings such a pretty lioness to the back o' beyond..."

Positioned as they were, Andrace didn't have a clear view of the white fox's left hand, although she certainly felt it pinch her backside just once.

* * *

Cogidubnus shook his hand loftily. "I received an invitation, and here I am." he said simply, drinking down the rest of his drink while a slightly disturbed waitress set Aten's in front of him, retrieving the wolf's glass while she was there. "As for who invited you, the anonymous benefactor of the ball chooses to remain anonymous." he said, smiling slightly. He nodded to Mel. "I imagine if he asked your grandmother, though, she'd be able to tell him, yah?"

* * *

Surprisingly quickly, the waiter was back with her plate in his hands, and with a flourish, set the platter in front of the waiting tigress. Lightly seasoned meat with mashed potatoes, a touch of garlic and greens, and steamed carrots stared up at the Ryn, the succulent, tender meat practically falling apart on the table already.

"Can I get you anything else?" the waiter said, placing a napkin and a set of silverware in front of the healer, and waiting for her response with one hand in the other.

* * *

Aruk's meal was a little while in coming, but the wine came quickly, and about halfway through the glass the steak followed it. Juicy and tender, with steaming potatoes on the side, it looked like a meal fit for a king. The waitress gave a small smile, and after placing his silverware on the table, left him to enjoy it.

* * *

Elyse's sliver of will touched the man delicately, and the vampire bat caught the faintest glimmer of the interior of the mouse's mind. Among the levels of mental hygiene she'd seen, it was the most disgusting psychological landscape she'd ever seen before - disgusting, like the bloody floor of a slaughterhouse, and yet impressive, complicated as a spider's web, the mental balance as delicate as a thread of silk. Her mental finger brushed the surface, searching for the entry to the mind, before quite abruptly the mental intrusion was rebuffed, much in the same way an unwelcome finger is snapped in two.
The strength was hideous. The will behind it was absurd, a product of the primal desire and intensity of  the insane - as at this point, after seeing inside his head, it was quite obvious the mouse was horribly, thoroughly mad.

His expression, formerly irritated, was now vicious. Spittle dripped form the corner of it's mouth as it gripped a dagger with bone-white knuckles. Tendons stood out on it's arm, it's bicep trembling, before with a bloodcurdling scream it hurled itself at Elyse.
And stabbed itself in the eye.

It hit the bat with a thump, crumpling and falling into her. Blood spurted from the eye, running down the mouse's face and onto Elyse too, a hideous crimson stain splotching onto the pure snow white of her dress. In the creature's death throes, it thrashed - pawprints of blood dotted her side, streaks of sanguine color ran down her chest before the mouse, seconds later, expired.

[bill]

Goss stared straight into space, not even reacting to the intruder, not even after he had killed himself right in front of him. He began breathing heavily. Without saying a word, he began to clean up.

The body went into the closet, while the blood was cleaned up as best as possible from the balcony. The small amounts of blood that got on him were washed off in the sink. Then, Goss picked up the room phone, and dialed his contact number.

We're sorry, but calls to this country code ha-

Goss slammed down the phone, picked it up, and called the front desk. The receptionist picked it up.

"Front desk, do you need assistance?"

Goss took a deep breath, and pulled himself together as best as possible.

"Yes, uh, I was wondering..."

He thought about the words of the intruder, how he hinted of others like him.

"I was wondering if, uh, if anyone's asked to see me? I'm not expecting visitors, but, you never know, right?"

[e_voyager]

Aten sipped his drink tried to digest what he'd found out. this was more then he's expected. on one hand he could be a quark on the other he might be a surprise guest of the dragonnes head of Ms Mel's family. but give that he was forced to wonder. How would the dragoness Matriarch  even know of him? and if she did why would she care? but then he couldn't ask that now. instead he's wonder and maybe ask her later. he sipped his drink again. then guested to the waitress so that he could order a meal. he had the felling he'd need something on his stomach.

[SpottedKitty]

Andrace smiled enigmatically at Horatio over the rim of her glass. The lioness appeared to be taking frequent sips, but it would take a second, or even a third glance, to notice that the level in her glass was only going down very slowly, if at all. "That's all I'm really 'lowed t' say 'bout it yet, just... business," she said. Her tailtip fluffed out for a moment and her ears flicked up to an alert posture as she felt claws meet with a delicate pinch at her rump.

Easy now, girl, she thought, y' got him on th' hook, now r'member what Mum taught y' — play him a bit, give him a bit o' slack, then one good hard yank an' y' got y' hook set firm in his muzzle... or wherever else y' want it.

Outwardly, Andrace's only other visible reaction was to widen her smile and slide her elbow a few inches along the bar, leaning forward a little to improve the fox's view down the front of her shirt. "I been thinkin' though," she said after holding the pose for a couple of seconds, "what it is y' mistress wants wi' me. Here I am, fresh off th' train, an' Herself points me out an' says she'll talk t' me. I'd bet that don't happen t' many. I'm beginnin' t' wonder if my business is Icewing business. Hmm...?"

She raised one eyebrow questioningly and directed the full force of her best of-course-you-can-trust-me expression at the fox. Outright asking Horatio directly like this was a long shot, she knew, but it was the only thing that made any sort of sense in the brief time she'd had to consider the situation. If her "employer" was only a diversion, then she was about to meet her true employer upstairs, in the dragon's lair.

[Aisha deCabre]

Much of the interesting troubles that had befallen a few of the other guests went unbeknown to Rynkura as she made herself more comfortable in the seat, awaiting her food and taking in the sensory delights of the dining hall.  But the angel, wings hidden, knew just how to keep herself still alert, and she found herself wondering about the party that would be held the next night...and who the benefactors were.  Who had known the nobility in her old family name.  Who sent out the invitations.

Perhaps it was just the air of inherent curiosity in all of feline-kind, but the Healer could not help but feel like she had to keep on her toes.  It was a sense that seemed all but lost to her since the end of her paladin days.

But it was an easy thing to forget, once the ermine, with admirable diligence, returned with her plate.  Oh, the meat looked like it had been made out of heaven.  The scent of the food coiled around her acute senses and made even her disciplined stomach grumble just one note.  Paired with the wine, it was all but perfect.

"It looks wonderful.  That will be all for now, my good sir," the tigress replied, bowing her head with a smile, as showing sincere thanks within the confines of her calm and elegant poise.

When the waiter left, hopefully satisfied with the answer, Rynkura took in the scents of the meat and the vegetables before graciously digging in; lending the attention to naught but her eating.  So long as there wouldn't be more unfavorable distractions in the dining hall, Mistress Msh'taan was content.

[Boog]

Once the mech was stored away in a clearing in the woods Jeremiah had found the other day he led the insectis back to the castle.
"... The kitchen is downstairs, ballroom's to the left of the foyer, and I'll show you up to your room. If anyone asks you about the hole in the gardens, you have no idea what happened. Any questions?" The frog smiled pleasantly.

[Stygian]

Before the little man managed to land on her completely - disgusting thought; to have that sort of thing touch her! - Elyse's anger flared up, and a ripple seemed to pass through the air as an invisible force hit the mouse's body with a disgusting smack. Blood spattered about, and with a face that held equal parts shock, disgust and fear, the bat took a couple of shaky steps back. The mouse's body, hovering, suddenly shuddered and was thrown in the other direction, bouncing into a wall which lodged that knife even deeper into the old thing's skull, and then falling flat onto the ground. Looking around with paranoia, Elyse shivered still with the creeping, chilling feeling of the man's madness. He had stabbed himself in the eye! Himself! That madness was...?!
   Eyes shooting down, suddenly the bat looked at the blood spatter on her clothes and her fur, and had to resist a sudden urge to sick up or to tear the clothing from her skin. What if that thing had been infectious? She had heard of stranger things. Far stranger. And in Furrae, most people made very, very deep inquiries into the dangers before they went into unfamiliar country. At least on the frontier, or in the fringe edging on Creature domains. Even if it were a specific thing, it might be something that transferred by blood nonetheless. It was the Icewings, after all. Feeling her knees buckle, the bat put her utmost into not panicking, and focused.
   The first piece of cloth fell off her, and seemed to disintegrate into shimmering dust mid-air, and then many more followed. Little red droplets fell onto the cold stone floor as the bat methodically shapeshifted every last little drop, every smudge, away from her, pushing the resulting dust and strips of cloth and residue away and creating new pieces of garment in place of those lost. Once done, she took a moment to gather herself, and then cast a glaring pair of eyes toward the body laying on the floor more than a couple of dozen feet away. Very, very carefully, she prodded it with a sharp, jabbing force. There was no response other than an uncomfortable feeling, but just to be safe, she let that force push its way through his neck, breaking it and making a sizable hole, before even approaching the body. Then, carefully, without touching him, she relieved him of his keys, and let them float over into her hand.
    What a nice start to the evening, she thought to herself.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Karazkt was quite confused when the surfacer had him "hide" his digging machine in the clusters of strange tall solid plants, but went along with it. While he was shutting down the mech, he set some levers, turned some knobs, and fed a little dormant magic into the boiler. If anyone tried to start up or move the mech without disengaging the proper controls, the mech would immediately activate and the engine go into maximum uncontrolled overclocking. In that state, the mech would tear itself apart and explode in moments. The secrets of Zizidronacht technology will not fall into the hands of a rival hive. Karazkt was almost sure this was a ploy to separate from him his mech, thus leaving it vulnerable to theft. However, it did seem rather blatant, even to him.
   Returning to the great stone structure with the surfacer, he listened as the surfacer described various chambers of the castle. The surfacer then asked if Karazkt had any questions. His smile was completely lost on the Insectis, though.
   "Yez. I do. WhaT iz thiz hive-ziTy, and who iz the Kween? Theze deTailz were noT given To me, a mozT unusual proToKol omission."

[Azlan]

Kiet made light of every hateful stare and gathered its emotional power into himself.   An ecstasy in which he revelled, a delicacy more subtle then the finest fillet.  The charged whirlwind of power revived old vices best left hidden, and with supreme will he reigned in his near psychotic urge to begin tearing through the aristocratic trash of this world.

Poor mother, I may have made her negotiations somewhere a tad bit harder.  Kiet scanned through the crowds and was amazed to find none of his clan's allies or allied nations among these people.  What did mother know that she had not told him?

Meanwhile Camoile, Ariella's envoy, was busy apologizing heavily for Kiet's odd actions to the manager of the restaurant portion of the hotel.  A subtle twinge at the back of her neck had alerted her to some problem and to be safe, she initiated the standard ritual for apologizing for Kiet.  She was extremely well versed in this ritual, having had to use it so many times. 

Mumbling to herself, she continued to bow, "why, why does he always do something outrageous everytime he leaves the SAIA?  I swear... SHE must be repressive."

[Boog]

Jeremiah considered the question carefully, replacing a few words and reaching the conclusion that the Insectis probably meant something to the effect of 'take me to your leader.'
"Most people probably don't keep very good track these days unless something goes wrong," the frog replied honestly. "We, erm, what's the best way to put this...? We pick our 'queens' out of the general citizenry who can afford to try based supposedly on their skills as a leader." he shrugged, "I'm too new in town myself to know precisely who it is lately, but the city itself is called Damaske."