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 Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:55 pm
Gal was under a table frantically trying to find refuge from the squabbles that were all around him. To make matters worse, it also started to rain coins, Gal noted, as metallic circles dropped from the sky. The fighting became even more furious.
Being the observant one he was, Gal meekly peered out from under the table and glimpsed a masked redhead on the balcony, who seemed to be grinning. Gal scoffed. The masked idiot wouldn't be grinning if he was down in the mess on the first floor.
Smartest thing for Gal to do was to probably head for the door of the tavern. So, he did, crawling as quickly and carefully through the masses as he could. Needless to say, his attire did suffer from random drinks being thrown and from crawling on the floor.
At last, he made it to the door, and upon standing up, almost crashed into a blonde lady in breeches. "Uh, apologies, kind lady," Gal nodded, quickly averting his gaze and walking outside in time to be powdered in the dust from Armand's carriage leaving.
Gal sighed deeply and began to dust himself off, taking steps toward the palace. Perhaps, a walk would cool him off.
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Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 12:30 am
Mingling was something his parents always encouraged him to take part in. And from an objective point of view, it really did look like a lot of fun. When Alto was far younger, he was often shooed to the side to stand out of the way and watch like a good little heir. Though it was boring standing there, everyone else seemed to be having a grand time. The adults laughed and talked for hours on end. Alto remembered after a certain age, he could not wait to be apart of the fun.
Apparently the conversations his parents had with their friends were more fun than the countless ones he was pulled into at this ball.
Actually now that he thought about it, when he had gotten old enough, he started sharing Princess Claire's company often at events like these. Even when she was in another relationship, they often spoke as they had grown accustomed to one another. This is the first time he'd ever gone solo to a social event.
Alto couldn't keep his attention focused as a fellow noble babbled endlessly like a brook about his estates, what he liked to do, how much money he had and the frivolous ways he liked to spend it. The women were no better. Though to be fair, they told a few jokes and while he forced a polite laugh, it was hardly funny. Actually most were down right horrible. But it seemed like a way for females to take a chance and hang themselves off of the joke teller's arms and perhaps get closer. But Alto wondered what girl would want a guy that couldn't even tell a decent joke? Oh and it got better! There would be the plucky few that felt like down talking others and the conversation would get so intense that Alto swore a fight would break out at any moment. Good thing that most of the male nobles couldn't fight their way out of a loose sack. So it became a battle of words and wits. Though not much of the wits part. And Alto himself had not gone through the night with out being insulted indirectly. Wouldn't be fair now would it?
'The Princesses' pet' Or something gracefully akin to that.
"It's called being friends. You ought to find some and give it a try." Alto remembered smiling lightly. But his voice was like smooth silk over a sharp blade. With that last statement, he'd kindly parted company. He could still feel the daggers that were being stared into his back.
'Did my parents actually enjoy these sorts of conversations?' Alto inwardly moaned. They all seemed the same. When ever he attempted to steer the conversation to something more lighter, more interesting, it always gravitated back to what the individual felt was better. Themselves. It was amazing they hadn't married a mirror. Retreating off to the sidelines, Alto lowered his mask and rubbed his forehead a little irritated. He could feel the echos of a headache coming on. It was a little too stuffy in here for him and he wasn't referring to the ventilation.
He was on his way out to catch a breath of air when there was a slight murmur of commotion around the entrance hall. Whispers were rampant and so were a few of the noble folks that quickly (but not too eagerly) strided out to the front. This odd behavior instantly engaged Alto's curiosity. He raised a slight brow as he followed suit. 'Something more interesting to interupt a great conversation about their own wealth and influence? Sounds serious.' There was already a small crowd gathered around the door, and from what Alto could hear, it sounded like someone was else was making a rather impressive entrance than Princess Claire herself.
The heir manuvered his way about, trying to catch a glance at the new arrival. When he managed such a feat, the first thing that caught his attention was the apperance of the exotic coach. Or...lack there of. There was no horses, there was no carriage. But there was a tent....Held up by a few servants.
It was like the new comer came from the exotic lands only described in a few traders texts. The mysterious easter continents, where people rode large elephants and tamed large ferocious cats.
Truely an impressive show of wealth and power. He couldn't imagine how much this one paid her servants to carry her carrige in such a manner. His servants couldn't lift anything that weighed more than a few hundred satchels of gold.
The curtains hadn't been drawn back yet, and it made Alto feel as though he were reading a well crafted suspense novel. Had Claire's ball reached so far that raja's of the unknown eastern continents come to call? He swore he felt his heart beat nervously. Because he was worried?
Gently tapping the closest observer, Alto asked; "Who is the new comer?" But apparently they were all in the same boat as everyone else wanted to know the same. Alto could only wait with baited breath. A suitor? Or a very well respected female of power?
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Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 11:48 am
She could hear them, even before she saw them through the opening in the curtains. They were murmuring things-- impressed or disapproving, she couldn't tell. "Aiden," she whispered, quietly enough that nobody outside could hear her; she only hoped he could.
"What?"
"People are staring."
"In a good way, though, right?"
"I thought the idea was to avoid attention."
"What kind of lady wants to avoid attention?"
"Aiden!"
"Tell them it's normal where you come from."
"Which is where, exactly?"
"I don't know. India or something."
India? She'd heard of that far-off land, with its exotic spices and wild animals. "I don't look like I'm from India," she said, though she had no idea what an Indian looked like. What language did they speak? What did they wear? And-- "Don't they have dark skin?"
"Well, you're too dark to be a lady from around here, aren't you? And besides, none of them probably know what an Indian looks like either."
"What kind of Indian name is Evangeline Grace?" She was beginning to panic now. Yes, her skin was tanned from running about on the streets, but that didn't mean she could play the part. What if people started asking her questions? She'd only heard of India from other thieves and the occasional traveler-- all she knew was that it was different, and exotic, and that the people there probably didn't call themselves names like Evangeline Grace.
"I don't know any Indian names. Just say, "You may call me Lady Grace," or something, like it's not quite your real name. They'll go for it. Lots of foreign people use different names." His voice was bright and chipper, and Evangeline knew immediately that he hadn't the slightest idea what he was talking about.
"When've you ever met anyone foreign?" she muttered, not loud enough for him to hear her.
"Here, time for you to get off. Just relax." He was probably grinning his face off, the big idiot. Didn't he realize that this was dangerous? What if she got caught? "We'll be back to pick you up later."
"Okay," she said, her voice weak.
There were a few muffled grunts as her friends lowered the palanquin down to a height that she could climb down from-- she could picture them beneath the door, straining to keep it steady-- and she drew back the curtains with one hand, after checking to be sure her mask was firmly in place. She glanced down and realized that it was still a longer drop than she'd been expecting, especially when she was in such a ridiculous skirt. She was already trying to figure out what she was going to say if anyone asked her name; she'd considered speaking as little as possible, just to avoid saying anything stupid, but that wouldn't do either. She had a feeling that might actually draw more attention to her, although Aiden probably would have encouraged her to play up the mysterious side. She could lie, but they had always been simple lies. This was more complicated than she thought she could handle. She hadn't the slightest idea which topics of conversation were appropriate, or how to dance the fancy steps that these people probably all knew.
And there were so many people watching. They all looked like they belonged here, wrapped in silk and lace, and she felt so out of place. At least she was fairly anonymous. As Aiden had said, nobody here had probably ever met anyone from as far east as India, so perhaps the novelty would be enough to excuse anything she did wrong. This knowledge heightened her courage, and she stood, remembering to hold her head high as Aiden had told her. There were several men in the crowd; she reached out a hand, hoping very much that one of them would take it and help her down from this ridiculous contraption.
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Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:33 pm
"How many people are there?" Claire asked as she daintily stood up and ran toward the door.
"Quite a few," one of the handmaids said. "Don't run, Princess!" I'ts not ladylike!
But Claire wanted to see for herself, so she ran to a large window and peeked through the curtains. From there, she could see the people carriage. She frowned. What an odd contraption! Claire much preferred a solid carriage. Whoever this person was had no taste, and she hoped he wasn't a suitor.
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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 5:17 pm
When the eloquent carriage was lowered by the men, and the curtain drawn back by not a suitor but a woman, Alto remembered to breath. As it seemed, so did everyone else as the curious murmurings began again. He wasn't exactly sure if he was relieved or intrigued by this strange new arrival. He decided it was a little bit of both.
From first glances, she was obviously not cut from the same cloth as he'd seen in many female nobility. Her skin was not fair, but dark. That feature in itself was exotic, since most remained out of the sun, their skin too fair to with stand the sun's light or any of the other elements for that matter. The mask she held gave her a very mysterious but an alluring aura, and when she held out her hand, he felt that it was his duty as a gentleman to help her down. He broke from the crowd who were still staring like a mass of ignorant fools who probably didn't see any of their actions as rude. Well let them stare, he wanted this chance. Finally, something new, Alto dared to wonder if someone above had been listening to his inward gripes this whole evening.
Like any fine gentleman, Alto approached the odd carriage as any servant would. With one hand behind his back, the other still holding his mask, he bowed curtly. As he did so, the mask was lowered slightly over his shoulder, his make shift bow. When he straightened, the mask resumed it's place and the hand he kept behind him, moved forward to take her extended hand. It acted more of a support since she had to dismount from a slightly higher position, but just as a lady would step off a carriage, this was the same manner extended. Oddly, it seemed to make more sense since she had a little farther to go than one who came off a carriage with steps. Princess Claire always forced him to get out first and then help her even though in his opinion, if one could bully the man out, then the female obviously didn't need help stepping down two steps to get off the carriage. Then again, other than Princess Claire, Alto had never seen any of the nobility do such a thing. Servants always awaited the guests and helped them off.
Maybe that's why none moved now.
He supported her firmly with a hand as she stepped down and made certain she didn't stumble or fall. It was a miracle any female could stand shoes like those really.
Standing as close as he was, Alto was rather impressed that everything about this woman was rather different. He dared not do more than offer her a hand, though it was custom to kiss a lady's hand when you greet her, Alto was apprehensive, because if she was indeed from those far away lands, then most likely their customs would be different. What if a kiss on the hand was a religious symbol, or too personal? That, and he was a little shy. It amazed even himself that he would do this much for a young woman he didn't even know.
Perhaps this would not be such a boring evening after all?
"Welcome strange traveler, to the Masquerade ball. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Alto Runeius. What name may I address you by?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:27 am
"Thank you," Evangeline replied, relieved that someone had come to help her-- for a horrifying moment, she'd been sure no one would. They all seemed to busy staring at her, and besides, wasn't she supposed to have servants for that sort of thing? Well, it was all right. She was back on solid ground now, although she was still fairly unsure of herself.
How was she supposed to speak? She could hear people talking around her, speaking with that lilting accent so often heard from the nobility. Perhaps she ought to imitate that? "Thank you," she said, making an attempt-- the result was that her voice came out sounding softly accented, though it was an unidentifiable accent. "You may call me Lady Evangeline Grace." Was that right? She thought that's what Aiden had said. And was she supposed to curtsy or something? She didn't really know how. This gentleman had bowed in greeting-- perhaps she ought to do the same.
She inclined her head enough to be noticeable, but not enough to be improper; the cut of her gown was rather lower than she was entirely comfortable with, and she was afraid that a full-on bow might cause more problems than it fixed.
Straightening again, she regarded the man standing in front of her. He seemed different, somehow, from the others chattering around her, or perhaps it was only that he was the first nobleman she'd ever actually seen up-close. He was friendly enough, at any rate, although this method of making friends was quite different from what she was used to-- on the streets, friendship came after respect, and respect usually came after one person beat the other into the ground. She had a feeling that sort of introduction would be frowned upon here.
"I am afraid I am rather new here," she said, choosing her words carefully. "I apologize if I do not know the customs."
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:16 pm
(Hello there. Forgive me for the intrusion, but I think I'm just going to throw myself whole-heartedly into this RP. If I'm too annoying, the murderer can feel free to take me out too.)
Rainey sighed as she ran down the long, stone hallway to the kitchens for the umpteenth time that night. It was stupid, really, how over the top this ball was becoming. Couldn't the suitors send some nice letters, a present or too maybe, and Claire could decide from there? Or better yet, couldn't she go to them?
No, of course not. It was merely wishful thinking on Rainey's part. The reality was that Cook had been slaving away over her meals for days, and servants had been running all over the place without a moment's rest - Rainey was no exception.
When she rounded the corner on her way back to bring more food to the banquet tables set in the lavish ballroom, she stopped mid-step. It was Andrew. She cursed under her breath "Not again." She had been trying to avoid him for almost weeks now, and now would be a terrible time for her to discover that all that effort had been wasted. He was talking to another one of the servant girls with a cavalier smile on her face, and hadn't yet noticed her. Glaring, Rainey slowly turned and set off running down the long hallway in the other direction. It was stupid and immature, she knew, but she would take the long way. Anything to avoid talking to him yet...
The route she took was not on she often used, and she became somewhat disoriented in the massive castle. She cursed again and tried another course. As she followed the dimly lit hallway, she could hear the sound of music and laughter growing. Hoping she wouldn't accidentally stumble into the ballroom, she turned yet another corner.
It was just her luck - of course she had walked straight into the party. She should have been paying more attention to where her feet were leading her. Claire would have her head for this - as the stuck up princess liked to say, "servants should be seen and not heard."
But she couldn't manage to withdraw from the brilliant scene quite yet. Her eyes widened as she drank it all in. She had never seen anything like it. It was a swirling mass of color and sound and smiles. It was beautiful, and rhythmic, and everything was so new, and interesting. It was a world she had never seen before - never so much as a glimpse. A world that didn't even come close to hers. Hers, with her violent father and dead older brother and frazzled, half brained idiot slut of a mother. Here everything was different - it all seemed right, in a way. No one was shouting. No one was hitting each other, leering at each other. They all looked astoundingly civil in all their jewels and finery.
A small scene at the other end of the room caught Rainey's attention. She craned her head to get a better look. It appeared as though a stranger had arrived, in a somewhat unique fashion, even Rainey could recognize that. Rainey smiled to herself, happy that at least one other person felt out of place. But as the stranger emerged from the crowd. She frowned. She only glimpsed her face for a second, but there was something terribly familiar.
"RAIN!" came whispered cry from behind her. Rainey spun around. It was her best friend, Becca. "Get over here!" she said urgently, waving her over. Rainey took one last look at the stranger and then turned to follow Becca.
"What are you doing here?" her friend demanded.
"I got lost."
"Rainey, you've lived here for years." Rainey shrugged. Becca sighed. "It doesn't matter. But what does matter is that Lilith's going to skin you alive if you don't hurry up and get back to the kitchen!"
"Sorry," Rainey said unapologetically. She took off running back down the corridors with her friend, the sights and sounds of the party fading as she rushed back into her own world, where she belonged but did not want to be.
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:09 pm
After trudging for a bit a cooling off from the despicable thought of a noble making the tavern situation worse, Gal arrived in the vicinity of the castle grounds. There was a commotion at the doors along with other carriages... except one seemed to be made of people. Gal edged his monocle closer to his eye. By golly, those are people! Servants? Gal blinked.
The historian scurried to grab a writing pad and utensil to quickly record the sights. With much interest, Gal headed into the masses, following the pair that had greeted each other from the people carriage. Gal wondered if he would also sight the loser noble who had dampened his spirits earlier.
Gal's "masquerade" wasn't as lavish as many of the others, who were most likely rich nobles or very well off families. Gal himself rather preferred the wealth of knowledge to the wealth of money. Gal knew some of the guests would probably scorn him simply because he wasn't concerned with money as much as knowledge.
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 2:59 pm
Lady Evangeline Grace...
Indeed it was not what he was expecting. Not at all. Alto was half afraid of a name so foreign he might not be able to pronounce it at all. It did come as a mild relief however, but it also sparked a bit of suspicion.
Then something came to mind. Travelers from afar were known to change their names or adopt new ones for the sake of assimilating with the natives more smoothly. What if this young lady had done the same? Alto did not over look the fact that he could hear the smallest traces of an accent. Perhaps she was doing her best to fit in?
At the very least, she could speak their language, but he was most interested to know more about her.
Alto smiled lightly as he nodded his head respectfully. "As you wish Lady Evangeline Grace." He said testing out the name. It wasn't terribly common, and it wasn't a name that any of the known nobles held. For all intents and purposes, Nobles kept tabs on each other and there hadn't been any family under the name of Grace that he was aware of. Alto offered her his arm to her as he stepped to the side to allow Lady Grace room to step forward. "As a new arrival, it is most apparent that you indeed are." Alto replied referring to her comment about being new. It wasn't a very good joke, and Alto would love to kick himself were it possible. "If you would allow it, I would be honored to be your escort. Please take my arm? It's a custom that when a gentleman named Alto offers it, a young lady cannot decline." Alto tried very hard not to wince at his own words. They had sounded pretty good in his head, but when spoken, sounded no better than those who were full of himself. Come to think of it, he didn't know many good jokes. Maybe he ought to ban himself from speaking any more before he looked REALLY bad? "Shall we proceed to the ball?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:26 pm
Rainey found herself once again back in the ballroom, absentmindedly (and unnecessarily) fussing over the place settings at a long table at the end of the grand hall. It was incredible, she decided - that this splendid universe existed so close to her, yet she had never seen it before. At least, not like this.
And then there was the foreign lady...Rainey still couldn't shake the feeling that she knew her. She felt like she had seen her before, a long time ago - like she was an old friend, really. But that was impossible. Wasn't it? Rainey had never know a noble, she couldn't even remember meeting one.
She craned her neck over the crowd to watch the stranger. She was talking to a man now - another guest. She looked slightly uncomfortable. He was offering her his arm, bowing slightly. Come to think of it, he looked slightly uncomfortable too.
Rainey picked up a tray with goblets full of wine and walked around the outside of the room, trying to look like she had a reason for being there and wasn't just trying to get a better view of the stranger. Her distracted manner seemed to not be a good combination with her overwhelming klutziness, and she walked directly into one of the guests.
In her defense, he hadn't been paying attention to her either. He had been walking and writing at the same time, carefully taking notes in a small book. Well, he had been - now he was simply standing there, sopping wet, looking slightly shocked. His monocle and notebook were on the floor - luckily neither seemed too damaged, even if she had managed to spill wine on them too.
Rainey just stared at him in horror for a moment. Should she put the tray down and help him? What should she say? Should she say anything at all?
Trying to hide her bright red face, she began to apologise profusely. "M-m-my lord!" she stuttered. "I am so sorry! I didn't see - I didn't know - I - I -I-"
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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:34 am
((Rain, I'm not sure what your character looks like...))
Gal had been duly diligently taking notes down on the different people and appearance when a torrent of liquid dashed into him upon impact with a someone. His writing pad dropped onto the floor, wet as well, but recoverable.
My, my. It simply is not my day today, is it? The historian thought as he looked up in the middle of the instigator's apologies and excuses.
It was a young girl. From the looks of her attire, a servant. No one would dress up as a servant to a masquerade ball except maybe Gal if he was too lazy to wear anything that looked remotely fancy, and even that was odd.
Gal sighed. "What's done is done," he remarked as he bent down to pick up his monocle and writing pad. The girl was obviously so shocked that she was just clenching the tray and apologizing. "It's quite alright," Gal said calmly. "Things do happen."
On second thought, "might you have a napkin by any chance?" Gal asked. "We can call it even then." He smiled. It would be fascinating to speak to the staff as well, but for now, he would have to dry himself off and prevent himself from becoming sick.
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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 8:47 am
((Yays! More people! Hi, Rain! Do you a description of your character's appearance? I'd like to put it on the front page so people can refer to it if they need to.))
Armand arrived at the palace without mishap. Deciding that grand entrances would be unnecessary, Armand's carriage simply lined up with the others, and he got off on his own and nodded to the doorman. The carriage would pick him up later. It would be a very long trip back to his home country, and the servants would probably start sighing against his random comments or be amused at his recollections of the ball.
Armand wasn't here to hit on girls, but that didn't mean that he didn't have to not do it. Going up the stairs, Armand "accidentally" trod on some ridiculously long dresses and got some evil looks, but he shrugged them off and introduced himself sarcastically.
As a foreigner, Armand wasn't too familiar with the hierarchy here. He only knew that there was the royal family, then nobles, and then so on. Upon heading in, the foreign noble had also noticed Evangeline's set up and Alto talk to her. Interesting, indeed! Maybe the ball wouldn't be so boring with characters such as these.
Over in the corner, Armand happened to seee a blatantly blonde head. For some reason, it looked familiar and he wondered where he saw it before. Whatever the case, the head looked wet.
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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 5:25 pm
"Of course!" cried Rainey, shoving one of her hands into her apron pocket, forgetting for a moment she was still holding the tray. It tipped and almost clattered to the floor, but she caught it at the last second.
Face burning, she carefully set it down on the ground. She proceeded to get the handkerchief she was fumbling for, but stuffed it back into her pocket almost the second it was out. It was absolutely filthy, covered in dirt and dust and who knew what else.
"Oh," she said quietly. "Maybe not. But, um-" She felt like such an idiot. Here she was, practically dying to be part of this splendid world, and the first thing she did when she came into even remote contact with it was spill things and drop things and stutter. "I'll be right back," she said. "I'll get you one." She leaned down to pick up the tray. If she hadn't felt so sorry for the poor man (and if he hadn't been so understanding and kind) she wouldn't have come back at all, but not she felt obligated to at least get him (somewhat) clean and dry.
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 4:34 pm
"Ah..." Gal mumbled as the servant scurried off. "Oh dear," the historian gasped to himself as he realized that he hadn't actually been so skittish. "Oh, my..." he again muttered as the ink started to bleed on his writing pad. However, the only thing the blonde could do was patiently wait for the servant girl to return.
Servants were something the librarian had truly never gotten used to. The man was always self efficient and never truly required any help in the library though he had an assistant at one time. Gal just couldn't think of that assistant as a servant because he wasn't.
Gal sighed as he leaned against a table. Luckily for him, the servant had not dropped the tray on him. Unfortunately, due to the weight of his body and books he tilted the table and caused it to flip. Nothing had been on the table since the food hadn't been there. Gal found himself flopping onto the floor again. Unbeknownst to him, a vase of flowers had flown off in the direction of Evangeline and Alto.
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:24 am
((I am so sorry for the delay! Things have been a little hectic. ^^; ))
Evangeline breathed a sigh of relief-- which, to most, would probably appear to a long-suffering, almost annoyed sound-- and took Alto's arm. His words sounded like those she would have expected from a nobleman, but something about the way they were delivered made her think that he was perhaps not as his words might indicate. He sounded almost unsure of himself, though certainly not as unsure as she was.
At any rate, it was a relief; she'd been sure she would stick out like a sore thumb, but she apparently hadn't messed up yet, and for the first time she began to think that she might make it through this evening safely.
The ballroom was more grand, even, than she'd imagined. Chandeliers sparkled with glittering light, which in turn reflected off the crystal glasses and goblets that several people held. Every gold was brighter here, it seemed, every color richer. She'd been concerned that her own gown would be too bright, that it would stick out, but she saw now that she would have stuck more out had she worn anything less grand. Everywhere she looked, there were swirling skirts and lacy bodices, jeweled masks and pristine gloves. Fortunately, her own mask did a good job of hiding her shock, and she was able to compose herself quickly. Act like this is normal, she reminded herself, before turning back to Alto. "This is a lovely little gathering," she said, aware that the scene in front of her was not little by any stretch of the imagination. But she was quickly falling into the part of the noblewoman; even the accent was coming with less thought now. "This is a celebration for the princess of the land, correct? Where is the guest of honor?" She paused, gesturing toward the masks the both held. "Or are we not to know?"
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