The Courtyard [EVENT ROOM 3]

[Lye]

The Iverstead Estate frames a massive courtyard at its center. Although slightly dusted with the evening's snow, it contains several flowing fountains and expertly maintained hedges in the shapes of mythical creatures. At its center, a marble statue of Iverstead himself stand upon a pedestal with a plaque at its base. The words carved upon its surface seem recently disturbed compared to the rest of the frost ridden surroundings. Blue roses, tough to the Salvic climate, bloom freely along the Courtyard's perimeter and a soft glow from the windows of the estate help to provide a romantic ambiance when paired with the moonlight above. The soft, lilting tunes of the ballroom carry quietly in the air, battled only by the silence of the eternal Salvic winter.

Players must use Quote tags to indicate movement to another thread in the event.

[Celandine]

Only the finest and most elaborate of nobility had been invited here, and those who had bargained their way through connection, blackmail, bribery and politics. From the most opulent of dukes to the lowest clerk in a distant parishioners office, these were both the powers that be ok Salvar and the visiting dignatories.

Upon finding that her daughter was already in Salvar and having caught an ear of the potential allies to be made and met so that perhaps the Gilded Lily could finally carve a slice from Salvar's icey grip, Philomel Van Der Aart had bought her way to influence affairs. Tonight trade deals would be negotiated, marriages would be arranged, and political understandings would come together that might or might not influence the entirety of Salvar for yet another year. Here, the Church of the Ethereal Sway held social power, and that implied difficulties, but at a base level because of how they were involved with all matters of life here it meant one single acquaintanceship or alliance might make or break a destiny.

Hair pinned back in a myriad of loops and curls, and dressed from top to hoof in a long-skirted, short-sleeved, satin, royal purple empire gown, overlaid by a lacey, crocheted black shawl, Celandine looked the part of a princess. Pinned as a brooch just below the catch of black lace at her throat a white lily made from silver and mother of pearl was the only clue to her ultimate alliance. Aside from that Celandine was but another young debutante here, one who had carefully hidden her goat legs, and took small steps if only to avoid attention. For those that had known Philomel in younger days they might mistake Celandine for her, but then they would be caught out by the very human ears and her piercing silvery eyes.

Coming into the wide courtyard at the centre of the house, the faun let her eyes roam across the scenery, taking in the roses, the topiary, the water features, the moonlit statue at the centre of all. There were few people here as yet, her being one of the first, but she found a quiet spot underneath the extended wing of a foliage dragon and close to the marble foot of Iverstead. Slowly she took out a small peacock mask from the clutch at her side, and held it hesitantly, not knowing when would be the right time or the right requirement to hide and reveal herself.

It shimmered beneath the dapled light, a mirage of purples, blues and greens. Two round holes served as spaces for eyes and a silk ribbon could be used to tie it about her head. She paused, looking up at the heroic pose of the lord and rolled her eyes a little.

"Awfully arrogant," she muttered.

[Flamebird]

Felicity enters from the ball room.

Felicity left the stuffy ballroom for the cold courtyard. With fanciful hedges and blue roses, the winding courtyard was dusted with powdered snow. It was strangely comforting, the cold. With no people in sight, Felicity bent down and pulled her high heels off. Bare feet felt the biting freeze of the stone pathway. It was still better than wearing these atrociously designed shoes.

With a sigh of relief, the redhead walked around the cold exterior. She felt far more comfortable out here, even if her dress still itched. Reaching and scratching her side as she strolled, she eventually turned the corner and saw... The peacock mask!

A young woman, younger than the half neanderthal herself, was mocking the statue of the lord who had invited them all here. Felicity took a glance over, pulling out her letter and comparing the similarities. Indeed, this must be the one. Satisfaction flooded Felicity for the first time that night as she approached her

"An individual with a peacock feather mask," Felicity greeted her, "I was told by a friend you would be here."

Still holding her high heels, she placed a hand on her hip with the hint of an amused smirk, "You sure mocking our host is a good idea?"

[Celandine]

One hand triumphantly raised, the other resting on his hip, the statue of Iverstead truly was something of another time. Evoking ancient cultures which worshipped heroes he had dressed himself in traditional furred warwear, with the twisted pine coronet of a champion on his brow. One foot was resting on the head of an enemy, as if he had defeated them only just then, and he smiled with such pleasure and privilege that the only adjective that Celandine could think of to describe it was:

"Probably not," she admitted to the red-haired young lady who had waltzed up to her. From her tone and the way she had addressed her it was highly likely she thought very similar of the marble pose, and thus wouldn't have Celandine immediately expelled from the Ball.

Fingering the peacock mask she glanced from the statue to her new acquaintance and quickly remembered her manners.

"Greetings," she lowered herself into a perfect Salvaran curtsey. "Our host I am sure is a champion of the many."

Standing back up she smiled graciously. "I was specifically told to bring this mask to this Ball. My patron told me there would be good acquaintances to meet here. Pray, may I ask who you are, lady?"

She bowed her head again, for all the sake of proprietary keeping up the formal words and demanour for now.

"I am Celandine Vaeron."

[Flamebird]

"Celandine?"

Well, ten millions questions flamed into Felicity's mind at once. Was Philomel much older than she appeared, when her daughter was nearly the same age as Felicity? No... no, that could not be right. Then why was Celandine a young woman instead of a child! This was confusing and creepy.

Felicity shooed the thoughts away as she observed the prim, proper girl. Her silver eyes pierced her with a twinkle of light. Was she more immature than she gave away? Felicity lowered her shoes to the ground then stood up again, nodding. "I'm Felicity. I'm... sort of... a friend, kind of, to the Nightingale of the Gilded Lady."

Felicity really did not consider Philomel a friend. She actually disliked the whore. However, as she was a friend to Shinsou, Felicity felt obligated to be friendly towards that faun.

Before anything else could be said, a loud speech rang from the ballroom. Felicity leaned closer towards that direction, taking in what she could hear of the lord's speech. When the orchestra started playing again, Felicity turned towards the Celandine again. "What are you doing out here? You hate the ballroom too?"

[Celandine]

"A friend of the Nightingale of the Gilded Lily?"

Celandine took a step back and assessed this 'Felicity' up and down. Flaming red hair, an ornate and well-fitted dress, but one she seemed incredibly uncomfortable in. Smart shoes and she was sure that was a blade or two hidden under those skirts. Not that this 'Felicity' was the only one. Celandine had two knitting needles sharpened and hidden in her hair.

"You are not a Lily, certainly," she decided, frowning a little and fiddling with the fringes of her mask. There was a distinctive way a Lily held themselves - proud, resolute and with resolve. Indeed, this woman had such prowess, but she seemed to be a little ... Well all over the place. Or rather, out of place. Unsure of herself, of where she fit in the universe.

"I am out here because the 'Nightingale' wanted me to come to this Ball, and I thought it would be a delightful evening, yet ... It's loud."

She shrugged, straining to see through a passageway of the hedges and glimpsed the window of the ballroom. "It seems busier in there when I started to come out here."

Rolling back her shoulders she stood tall again and sighed, taking a curtsey.

"Fine. Fine. Greetings, how fare you this fine evening? I need your full name, your code name and what affiliations and your message, if you have one. Have you come to make discussion, bargains, or trade with the Gilded Lily?"

Oh how prim and proper she sounded. Rolling her eyes she scowled a little, still not used to all this responsibility.

[Flamebird]

Felicity listened to the frustrated girl with a sense of sympathy. Celandine had sass, a lot like Philomel. Felicity crossed her arms as the cold continued to bite her. A warrior of the Brotherhood of Castigers, Felicity felt overwhelmed and crushed by responsibility as well, in the beginning.

Especially when it all shattered before her.

Felicity looked down, her feet were numbing. Unable to risk her feet stepping without feeling, avoiding the possibility of bleeding, she bent down and placed the shoes back on.

"I bet it's warmer inside." Felicity stood up, pulling the see through hood over her head.

She turned towards the young faun, "You tend to crave escape from your problems too?" She leaned towards the girl, crossing her arms again. "I get it. You need relief from the tremendous burdens you carry. How do you escape though? I prefer hard adrenaline, the numbing of the heart to the raw senses of reality. Physical pain can override mental pain, and it's a relief."

Felicity turned to the direction of the door, motioning the girl to follow. "I know several people who have turned to drinking, or..." Felicity grimaced, then shook her head, "Pick your poison, how do you numb the weight of the pain?"

Felicity sighed, "Want my advice? Do what you can to have fun here. If your emotions are invested, so will your mission."

[Dracosius]

AJ & ZJ enter from the ballroom

The princes each took a deep breath of the cold night air. After the heat of the ballroom, the sudden temperature change was somewhat invigorating. They turned to one side and began to walk.

“So who was that pretty blonde you were dancing with?” AJ asked.

“Her name is Lady Olivia. Her father is a minor noble here in Salvar. She seemed quite interested in my title of ‘prince.’ For the life of me I could not seem to get her to talk of anything but what it must be like to be a prince and live in a castle. She didn’t seem to believe me it was much different than what her life is like. What have you been up to?”

“Absolutely nothing. I’m bored to death. Why did we even come? It’s not like this is a diplomatic mission or anything. It’s just a social gathering.”

ZJ scooped a handful of snow and started packing it into a ball. “I don’t know why you came, but I came for a change of scenery. Mom and Dad never let us go anywhere, so I came just to get away from home. You know Siela practically jumped at the chance of a ball with different faces. Did you see her? She won’t have to get her own drink or snack all night long.”

AJ laughed and started walking, swishing his hips extravagantly and speaking in a high pitched voice, “Oh, I think I need a drink.”

ZJ answered, bowing stiffly and speaking in a deeper voice, “Please, allow me. Don’t push yourself, I will fetch you anything you require.”

The boys laughed and paused near a fountain. “Girls! What silly creatures!” AJ chuckled.

“Indeed,” ZJ agreed, then without warning threw the snowball he’d been packing directly at his brother’s face. It landed square on his brother’s nose. Laughing, ZJ ran away as AJ scooped up a handful of snow and gave chase.

[Celandine]

Celandine had barely begun to follow the red-haired girl (whom had flatly refused to answer her questions in the proper style, had broken all protocol and presumed to invite Celandine with her to the punch bowl, of all places) when there were three sounds.

The first was chatter, loudly of young people, laughing like her and Felicity were not - possibly mocking each other. It was terribly familiar at least.

The second was a woosh. A whizz of something flying through the air like a bolt from a crossbow but far less dangerous and more soft. Something akin to bladder-ball which the ladies of the Gilded Lily liked to play in their spare time.

And the third noise was a 'wumph'. This last sound was accompanied by a hard thump to the side of Celandine's head as something cold and wet crashed against her horn and her skull and then - Drys forbid - began to slide down her dress.

"Eek!" She squeaked, throwing up her hands. Her peacock mask went wild, cascading somewhere to the snow and foliage around her. Quickly she turned, trying to remember if she had had any sort of vision about being attacked tonight. But no - all her dreams had been about just meeting boring people and having to conduct business on her mother's behalf. None of them had suggested anything about being attacked.

Turning, she spied a pair of older teenagers, running and chuckling. They were throwing balls at each other - but not bladder-balls or moss-balls, but rather ones made of the snow itself.

Whumph. Something white and round landed near her again, and this time she clipped her hooves, bounding quickly out of the way.

"We're being attacked with snow!" Celandine freaked a little, going to tug on Felicity's sleeve. "Help!"

[Dracosius]

As he came around the corner, ZJ heard the squeal and subsequent shouting. He skidded to a halt. AJ came just as quickly, threw a snowball, and missed and sailed through the air directly at the ladies. Unfortunately for the boys, he was unable to stop before ramming right into his brother. They fell to the snow in a jumble of curse words and limbs.

“Ahh! Get off!”

“Sorry, sorry, ack! I’m trying! Just give me a moment!”

After a moment, ZJ extricated himself and got to his feet. “My apologies ladies, we didn’t realize anyone else was out here. Are you okay?” He asked politely as he began dusting snow off his clothes and out of his brown hair.

AJ also got to his feet, glowering at his brother. He still hadn’t noticed that they had company.

“What was that for!? Why’d you stop all of a sudd- Oh! Umm, hi! I’m Prince Aiden and this is my brother, Zevernus.”

Zevernus spied the fallen mask in the snow and bent to retrieve it, “I believe this belongs to one of you?” He dusted the snow off and held it out for its owner to take.