Quest [Seasonal Quest] The Masquerade

[Scorn]

Scorn felt a little better with another Zith in the air, but she was still to upset to show it. She kept flying in tight, anxious circles, eyeing the gathering below. Part of her wanted to just leave... but her sister would be unhappy. She could see Scourge already glaring at her from her place down among the spectators. Scorn could not understand why Scourge wanted so badly to pretend she was one of them, one of the stick men, but she didn't know how to remind her sister that she was a Zith. Laute's question forced Scorn to think of what had sent her up here in the first place. Vyvian. Snarling, she ranted at Laute, her tone almost accusing. "Slaves are dumb. I thought they must be great if you keep one around so much, but they're just useless. What are they even for? Why not just eat them?" It was a question she'd tried to understand before, but in the past, any time she tried to keep a slave, they just ran away. And now, that was happening again. She couldn't understand why Vyvian didn't want to be her slave. Didn't he appreciate not getting eaten?

[Laute]

Laute stared at Scorn for a moment, her question surprising him. He had been raised with slaves his entire life and her questions was something akin to asking why he hunted. Her genuine confusion confirmed it wasn't a joke and Laute gathered his thoughts before responding.

"Our slaves gathered water and fungi. One told me about the outside world." He grinned at his next word. "And its a good way to prove yourself if you manage to maintain a useful line of slaves." He hadn't participated much himself, but his father had enjoyed breeding slaves himself, competing with his uncle in this regard. A slow but consuming process.

Laute paused at his next thought, considering Aditi. "my slave..." No, that wasn't entirely right. The bond between them was held by a ghost, a ghost he was trying to understand and forgot. "She was my brother's slave."

That was all he wanted to say about that.

Around them the air of hostility had yet to leave. It irritated him and though he would be reluctant to admit it, he felt uneasy here in the air. It was his element, true, but only in the open sky. Here in the cave, surrounded below and on the sides, he felt suffocated. A fight here would be dangerous.

Below him, he could hear a hoot, Viridae calling to him. A familiar face amongst the singularity below him.

Eyeing the archers around them and swords below, he felt a little relieved as the non-combatants started to move away, returning their attentions to the ball. It felt less crowded now and his unease lessened.

Still, he disliked being out in the open so much.

"Let's go down," he suggested, still unsure of what the exact problem was. Was she trying to get a slave? Had her slave left her? Her questions didn't answer his own, and he was left wondering. There would be no answer now, however. Scorn was distraught, agitated. It was a state he had very little experience with and his only memories of it were as a child. Even then, he had only a child's response to it, and none of those would serve now.

Looking down to where his plate still sat, he offered another suggestion. "Did you eat?"

[Scorn]

Scorn's response to Laute's explaination of Aditi was a simple, "Oh." She did not need him to elaborate; she knew well the bond between twins, and if the slave had something to do with his, that was more than enough reason for him to keep the thing around. That had nothing to do with her own situation however, and she was beginning to think that slaves were more trouble than they were worth. She was certainly aware that colonies had occasional use for them--her own colony had not been entirely without slaves--but that was only when a colony was stable enough to sustain the extra mouths. She assented to Laute's wishes and descended with him, keeping as close to him as she could without getting entangled in his landing. She was still upset, and anxious of the crowd, but with Laute there it was easier to ignore everything else. As he offered her the plate, she sniffed dubiously at the contents. "This is food?" she asked him skeptically, but she took something at random and put it in her mouth anyway. It was certainly not what she was used to, but the unusual texture was not entirely unpleasant. She decided that, while she did not prefer it to a fresh kill, she would not be opposed to eating more, if nothing better was available. To signal her approval, she took another morsel from the plate.

[Poison]

As Sosicly grabbed one of his arms (one of his real arms!), Avarys protested a little. The fake Eypharian had found the scene more amusing than anything else. Besides, the Ochya were already there. He briefly glanced at the woman in her revealing black leather outfit. He hadn’t realized how great Alanys Aster could look! When she was doing her work at the Woven Gate, she usually tried to act and look like one of the guys and threatened to stab anybody who complimented her on her femininity!

„I’m sure the boy can take care of himself“, he told Sosicly, but she insisted. He sighed. „Alright, let’s take a look.“ He followed Vetari and Sosicly to Vyvian quickly. As he saw the boy there, bleeding, with his mask torn off, he shook his head. It was serious. He realized that he might have misjudged the situation slightly. He looked from Sosicly to Vetari and finally asked Daratur’s son, „Are you a doctor? How serious are his wounds?“
~~~
As Scorn took to the air, a couple of people gasped, and the two Ochya that had approached her swore. They couldn’t shoot her – they didn’t have any bows with them – the woman had a Symenestra lash, and the man only had his claws. They watched Scorn and Laute and came a bit closer as they descended again. If they did as much as look at one of the Symenestra in the Gathering Hall the wrong way again, there would be consequences.

[Vetari Violet]

”I’m as close to a doctor as this boy looks like he’s going to get,” Vetari grumbled. ”Get me some silk, thick, long silk. Some decorations, somebody’s dress, I don’t care but I need to stop the bleeding.” He couldn’t correctly gauge how serious the situation was, having never worked on wounds this large or this deep before, but he had to act as if it was urgent if he wanted to get anything done in time. As those were being collected he snapped clawed fingers in front of the boys face. He looked distant and spoke monotonously, as if they were already losing him. Vetari wasn’t going to let that happen. He wondered if the fact that they’d been caused by a Zith would have anything to do with how the wounds were to heal. Perhaps because the weapons were natural he’d be more susceptible to infection, unless the Zith regularly cleaned them. He doubted that. Zith weren’t widely renowned for their cleanliness, and what they were known for was far from pleasant. He had been uneasy when the Zith colony had first arrived in Kalinor, but they had mostly kept to themselves and hadn’t hurt the residents, preferring a symbiotic relationship to a parasitic one. However, Vetari could feel that the winds were beginning to change. He had half a mind to speak with the Ochya and get the Zith thrown out in the dead of winter. That would teach them to hurt the people of Kalinor while he lived and breathed. Vetari started to strip the boy of his clothing, being careful not to agitate the wounds but finding it very difficult to accomplish. ”This is going to hurt a bit, but I promise I’m only trying to help you. I need to you stay strong, stay awake and stay calm. Can you do that for me, Versda?” He slowly but deftly manipulated the cloth over the wounds, exposing the boys chest and shoulders as the silk wraps came to him. Looping them under the arms and across the chest, he tied tight bindings over the wounds, trying to staunch the bleeding. It wasn’t perfect, but it helped, slowing the bleeding considerably. ”Does anyone have a poultice or something to help with wounds?” he shouted into the croud, turning in time to see the Zith begin to descend.

[Vyvian]

Despite the extreme pain, Vyvian bit his lip and smirked. Ride the pain... Ride the pain The consequent adrenaline rush surged through him and he chucked unnervingly, even to himself. His eyes darted across the doctor in front of him, examining... An internal fire lit behind his eyes, some fresh kind of insanity awaking. "Don't worry.. I live for the pain... It makes you feel... so alive" He muttered while smiling. His voice sounded harsher than usual, but his inner self liked what it saw. Gone was the weak, pathetic child, and now was the cruel, harsh, but of all things, fair, version of him.. awoken in the pain. Blinking himself back to the present, smile faltering for a moment as it surfaced in reality. Vyvian looked up through his hair and chuckled drily. "I've just been attacked by a Zith, I'm sure anything you will do to me will pale in comparison." he whispered, before moving his shoulder to give better access. He closed his eyes and leant his head back, going back to his world of the imaginary. Scorn plashed through his mind.. A corner of a mouth twitched as he thought. Maybe he could kill this Zith.. Some part of him lusted for blood now, more than company.. His eyebrows flickered. He had come to a realisation. He had accepted he'd never have a place among society now.. and he wanted revenge.

[Poison]

Eventually things calmed down. For a while the partygoers were a little uneasy, but gradually they began to enjoy the masquerade again, ate, drank and laughed. Right at midnight the ruling couple appeared. Nessora was wearing a gorgeous gown of black and blue silk, and her husband Avadon was dressed in a suit of silver spidersilk.

„After we have given the matter much thought“, Nessora spoke. „We have decided to award the prize for the best costume to Viridae Kabre. Congratulations, Viridae!“

She gave him a beautiful cloak of Ranekissra silk, and Avadon handed him a small spider statue made of silver.

A female Symenestra that stood near Scorn whispered to her, „You know, if you weren’t a Zith and hadn’t caused a scene I think you would have won. In my opinion your costume was the best. Nothing can beat a Zith with a skull!“


Laute:
Skills: Disguise 1
Lores: The Masquerade of Fall 513 AV

Viridae Kabre:
Skills: Disguise 1, Intimidation 1
Lores: The Masquerade of Fall 513 AV
Your Prize: A woven tapestry cloak made of Ranekissra silk, a small silver spider statue

Scorn:
Skills: Disguise 1, Intimidation 1
Lores: The Masquerade of Fall 513 AV

Vyvian:
Skills: Disguise 1
Lores: The Masquerade of Fall 513 AV
Other: Vyvian has a scar on the right side of his face now!

Sosicly and Vetari if you come back, let me know, and I’ll grade your posts as well!