Lady Arachne's Summer Garden Masque - all visitors welcome!

[Ashen Lilies]

[Monarch]

Holly, the shapeshifter disguised as a half-elf woman continues doing her job as security by walking around and taking a break from dancing.
She's wearing a tweed suit and tie. Her mask is gold and covers most of her eyes, forehead, and left cheekbone and has long black feathers coming out on the left side (and the security obsidian spider hidden among the feathers).

She approaches the butterfly-man.

"That's a nice mask," she says. "Where did you get it? I've been looking for one like that for a while but haven't found them yet."

See, she collects masks.

[Monarch]

"This? Oh, I had it made," says the butterfly man, giving Holly an easy smile. He's a prince, you see. Princes don't need to buy things.

[Nocturne]

The grey-skinned lady crosses over, grabbing another drink from the same server as Electra, and resumes her scan of the room, paying particular attention this time to both Fayyaad and Cantata. Notably, she's not looking at Electra, but seems rather tense.

[Deathkeeper]

[Dena and Tina and Goblins oh My!]

Isaac is about to reply to the girls when even more women appear!
Isaac looks between Dena and Electra as he tries to place her.
"Oh! I met her while training that one time. Yes, hello. It's nice to meet you two. Having a nice night?" he says cheerily. This must be Dena Xifhara. She was in the public image more than other MERC members, and it's hard to forget someone with snakes for hair. Isaac was doing a little bit of research on the Nexus' Organizations when he was looking for a side job to pay for all his elephant-proof clothes.

[Zefir]

[At the Finger-Friendly Food]


"Honestly, Priestess, I'm not much of a weaver."
Moschu reaches under the nearest table and pulls out an extremely glossy top hat.
"But look at this."
It's very smooth, and it really does reflect the light in an unusual way as it's moved, like it's full of stars of crystal dust.

[At the Finger-Friendly Food]

Yep, they are a bit hostile if you are hostile to them.
She just had a top hat right here for show? Or did she teleport it here or is it even an illusion? Well, who cares it's their and Mia tries to touch it, gotta get a feeling for the material, right?

"It looks.. sparkling." Mia says, showing off a kid like facination for the hat. "But sadly this won't do. The effect is to distracting for a robe I look for."

[In search of a quieter place]

Awen walks into the empty chair-filled grove that looks like it's already prepared just to reach the back.
Wow, that's not suspicious at all.

The suspicious witch starts to find Fade suspicious. He followed her, and then is leading her into an empty area that he prepared ahead of time with lots of chairs and tables littered around to make it harder to get out.
She eyes him, and then takes a step diagonally to the side to get more space between them. And she slows down slightly, to get a little more space between them.

"Okay, thanks," she says. "That'll work perfectly fine.."

She starts to cautiously walk down the prepared path, keeping an eye out just in case this guy makes any sudden movements or tries anything funny. Book in one hand, and...is that the glint of a dagger in her other hand?!? Awen seems to be hiding something metallic in her free hand.

[In search of a quieter place]

Suspicious witch should take the big picture. this place is still very visible from outside. If he would want to try anything he sure had it done where they first talked rather then here. He's an undercover guard, which might be good to know, but undercover means don't tell people? Well it's not that hard undercover. As she walks the path and mainly fokus on traps and Fade she might notice a shadow slipping out of the grove.

"Good to hear."
Fade replies in his typical voice.
"You can read here without trouble. And don't worry we were hired to secure the safty of the guests."

Was that last one related to the dagger? The shadow can see for Fade and should have seen the dagger as it slipped back to the real body. Or maybe he is just a very kind security guy.

[5a Violista]

[Monarch]

Oh, a prince?
Holly works as a...private investigator. Well, that's one of her jobs. She's got a couple of jobs.
Pretty much the same thing, right?

"Whoever made it did a good job," she replies, not missing a beat. "It really suits you."
Not to mention how it matches the rest of his clothing. Aah she's in love with his outfit.



[In search of a quieter place]

"..."

"...Okay," Awen says. She still finds him a little suspicious but that sentence does calm her fears a little. The dagger slips higher up.

And then she safely reaches the back! She sits on a chair and, after a while trying to find a position comfortable enough considering her broken ribs, starts reading.

[Morty]

[Dena and Tina and Goblins oh My!]

"Hi!" Iknika says in greeting to Dena and Tina. She didn't know Isaac also rubbed shoulders with MERC people. Of course she remembers Dena from their expedition into the MERC office in Riverside... where that creepy girl bit Koshal's dog.

[Dragon and Dove]

Xunafae doesn't give up, Fayyaad has to give her that. If only he didn't have something to do here... still, he smiles.

"There's never reward without risk, is there? You can stay safe and sound at home, but then you'll hardly live." Then he spots Electra behind Xunafae. He recognizes her, of course, but he pretends not to. "Hello, my lady. Having a nice evening?"

[Earl of Purple]

Elephants, Goblin, Gorgon, Cyborg

"Uh, hi. It's a pleasure to meet you." Natalie wasn't expecting the interruption, but drops into a curtsy anyway. It's a movement she hasn't practised as a loxodon, but she doesn't need to- she learnt how quite early in life, and it's surprisingly elegant. "I'm Natalie."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Dragon and Dove]

Electra's smile is warm, but her voice when she speaks is different than what Fayyaad's familiar with. Her basic tone doesn't shift, but she's using the higher portions of her vocal range, and she's adopted a very slight British accent.

"Hello, good sir, m'lady. Indeed, I am, though my curiosity has been piqued just a bit by the lady's attire. Would you care to share where you acquired such a wonderful ensemble, Miss?" She gestures at Xunafae's dress politely, clearly appreciative.

[Recaiden]

Anchored Jack

"It's a little odd, the shadows, but no odder, I think, than most of the things that happen in Nexus on a daily basis." Like that ice-cream van on the roof of the Investment Opportunity Union, when there's no ramp for it to have gotten there, and its robotic operator who never seems to run out of ice cream- even if customers are harder to find. Jack's not even sure if anyone else knows it's there.

She'll continue to dance, if Anchor's happy to. "Do you know why our shadows are behaving this way? Or is it just a personal quirk that you've always had?" Either seems likely.

Anchor is happy to keep dancing with Jack.
"Well, the goddess of change taught me a little bit about shadows. But really it all started when I was captured by this wicked witch, who tried to magically turn me to the side of evil just to see if she could. It sort of made me a pillar linking the shadow dimension to normal space. They can be pretty important, shadows."
Maybe a dance that has them closer together, moving arm-in-arm.
"Then when I was escaping from Masq Island, a monster hit me so hard I was knocked right off my shadow. It went and did its own thing afterwards, something about ninjas and freeing itself from the witch's curse, and I was pretty much laid out recovering, but we finally met up again!"

[At the Finger-Friendly Food]

Yep, they are a bit hostile if you are hostile to them.
She just had a top hat right here for show? Or did she teleport it here or is it even an illusion? Well, who cares it's their and Mia tries to touch it, gotta get a feeling for the material, right?

"It looks.. sparkling." Mia says, showing off a kid like facination for the hat. "But sadly this won't do. The effect is to distracting for a robe I look for."

They're not hostile to DM, they're just friendly towards the idea of extra legs.

The top hat suddenly teleported into her claws has always been here, for show.
Moschu bobs happily. It is sparkling. Sparkling things are great.
"Oh, you wanted something more subtle? That's harder, you need to work to overcome the natural changeiness of the fabric. But it's possible."
Sadly she doesn't have a plainer, less sparkly display item.

[Earl of Purple]

Jacked Anchor

"You have lived... quite a life, it seems." Jack's pretty impressed! Certainly more interesting than her life, in her opinion at least. As she's never (knowingly) met a god, or been abducted by any kind of witch, and has only really had... about two proper adventures (with two more occurring simultaneously with this scene), I think I'd agree with her.

She's also pretty happy to move closer in the dance, too.

[Recaiden]

"I have!" Anchor agrees cheerily. "And that's not even the wildest stuff that I've done." That would have to be when she rescued Yueh from the radiation pits. Or perhaps the time they fought the storm god - she still feels a bit cheated that the power of love turned out to be the answer to that conundrum.
"It can be a little lonely dealing with all that stuff. But I wouldn't give up adventuring. I mean, not without a crazy-good reason." It's just in her nature to want things and help people in ways that get her into trouble.

To Jack's credit, Anchor never got any additional limbs in her interesting life.

[Earl of Purple]

Anchor and People with Extra Limbs

"Oh, no, I don't think I could, either. Loneliness... I can maybe assist with that, but probably not long-term." Jack's not really looking for anything serious, since she considers herself too young to settle down.

[WarKitty]

[Spy On]

Agent C isn't an amature. Just one guard with less attention? this shouts for secret cameras or such. Which on the other hand means he is right here. He takes a good look around making sure the guard looks away and most other guards. The right when he is sure its safe he opens the door just a little bit. A moment later he is gone. He didn't go through the door yet but in some way he disapeared? On a closer look you can see him in his true stuffed animal form, which steps through the small opened door. Let's hope that trick confused any watching guard.

Agent C slips through the door into an area near the entrance. Behind it are webs everywhere and a number of spiders running back and forth. It will likely occur to him that this might be a problem - spiders are also very small and not liable to overlook even small stuffed animals. Most of them appear to be working on a very large spider silk tapestry, although a number are relaxing around the area doing various leisure activities, drinking, reading, playing on small game systems, and so forth.

The Mercenary

Cantata responds with a silent little giggle, entertained by the fae woman's strange enthusiasm. She nods, miming the raising of a glass to confirm that she would indeed be back to take her up on that offer before slipping back into the party. What an odd type of person to bump elbows with, a partygoer eager to see some chaos. Hopefully she won't end up obliging her too much - the less mayhem she might be in the center in, the better.

Moving through the crowd and swinging her hips to the beat, Cantata starts to dance along with the rest of the partygoers... but she scans the room as she does so, looking for entrances to the backstage area of the party. Her quarry would most likely be found back there.

The easiest backstage area is the one where the wooden golems are heading in and out, carrying platters currently loaded with bowls of some sort of soupy pastry dish. If she ducks through, she'll see Sam standing over a large cauldron ladling a thick soup into fresh pastry crusts and calling out orders to various kitchen help. The filled pies are loaded onto trays and carried out by the golems. It's quite a busy scene, for a party this size.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Monarch]

Oh, a prince?
Holly works as a...private investigator. Well, that's one of her jobs. She's got a couple of jobs.
Pretty much the same thing, right?

"Whoever made it did a good job," she replies, not missing a beat. "It really suits you."
Not to mention how it matches the rest of his clothing. Aah she's in love with his outfit.

[Monarch]

"Why thank you," says Kal, smiling. "That means a lot, coming from someone of such obviously good taste as yourself."
He gives Holly a little wink. Yes, complimenting the taste of someone who just paid you a compliment is a bit on the self-aggrandizing side. But hey, the suit + gold mask look is hella.

[Reinholdt]

Spoiler

Show

[Dragon and Dove]

Xunafae doesn't give up, Fayyaad has to give her that. If only he didn't have something to do here... still, he smiles.

"There's never reward without risk, is there? You can stay safe and sound at home, but then you'll hardly live." Then he spots Electra behind Xunafae. He recognizes her, of course, but he pretends not to. "Hello, my lady. Having a nice evening?"

[Dragon and Dove]

Electra's smile is warm, but her voice when she speaks is different than what Fayyaad's familiar with. Her basic tone doesn't shift, but she's using the higher portions of her vocal range, and she's adopted a very slight British accent.

"Hello, good sir, m'lady. Indeed, I am, though my curiosity has been piqued just a bit by the lady's attire. Would you care to share where you acquired such a wonderful ensemble, Miss?" She gestures at Xunafae's dress politely, clearly appreciative.

[Dragon and Dove]

Xunafae frowns slightly, but is all smiles by the time she turns around to greet Electra. "Good evening. This? Oh I had it made at the Needle and Thread in Inside. If there are better tailors in the Nexus, I have yet to meet them."

[Arkhosia]

The Mercenary

Cantata won't duck through, not just yet - but she will slip close to the entrance, peeking into the bustling section and assessing the options it presents. The automated nature of those entering and exiting makes it easier to slip inside without notice, giving her plenty of cover to hide behind, but partygoing attire like hers would surely stick out like a sore thumb within the busy kitchen. Besides, she can't be sure this section will link to somewhere her quarry is much more likely to be located... but perhaps a helpful staff member might just have the information she needs. And so the woman will enter the area casually, timidly raising her hand to try and get the attention of a member of the kitchen crew in a convincing rendition of a lost partygoer looking for directions.

[Recaiden]

"Oh, no, I don't think I could, either. Loneliness... I can maybe assist with that, but probably not long-term." Jack's not really looking for anything serious, since she considers herself too young to settle down.

Well, the two don't necessarily go together.
"Oh? Well, I'd be happy to have your company. I mean, for the short-term."
Can it be so easy as that? Should this be indicating something about Jack, or about Anchor?

[5a Violista]

[Monarch]

Holly blushes from the wink-and-compliment combo. "Thanks. It's brand-new." Luckily, the mask distracts from most of the blush but it still seems to have worked.

"You should be careful, though," she says. "There are a lot of spiders here. Someone might mistake you for an actual butterfly and try to...eat you."

I mean, sure, she looks confident but seriously? Did she just say that? Internally, she's calling herself out for saying such a tacky and awkward line.

[Morty]

[Dragon and Dove]

That's a trick Fayyaad hasn't seen from Electra before. Using the brief distraction, he takes a look at the crowd... hmm. What is that, admittedly very fetching, woman doing around the kitchen? Could be nothing, but it could be something.

"Shall I fetch you something to drink?" he asks the two women.

[Earl of Purple]

Unanchored Jack

Jack smiles at the answer, hoping they mean the same thing with the words they're using. Knowing her luck, they don't. But asking straight out would probably be a social faux pas, so... "There's this fountain in Inside, in a square not a park. There's a burger bar nearby that does a great lunch deal on Saturdays. If you want company, you could probably find me there." But for now, dancing. And maybe sorting out the full meanings of this conversation later.

[Deathkeeper]

The Mercenary

Sam’s keen ears pick up the person entering once she puts up her innocent wanderer facade.
He goes over immediately, putting his hands up placatingly.
”Woah there, Ma’am. About-face, this here’s the kitchen. Party’s back there.” he tells her gently.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Dragon and Dove]

Electra nods appreciatively at Xunafae.

"It's quite lovely. I shall have to inquire as to having something similar made myself," she says with a smile, before giggling at Fayyaad, and holding up her glass in mock toast. "I already have one, but perhaps your lady would like one?" The ping from her cameras showing Cantata pausing by, and then entering the kitchens hasn't been lost on her. Sam is back there, but there's no telling whether she's just lost, or looking for someone, and apparently Fayyaad picked up on it as well. Fayyaad should have his obsidian spider on, so Electra can speak to him without anyone being the wiser.

"I take it you saw that girl enter the kitchen. Go ahead and check it out. I'll keep watch here." All said through his spider, so no one should hear it but him. She doesn't even move her mouth when she speaks through it, either. Dena may have told him about this little trick, but then again, perhaps not. No time to explain anyways, they have bigger things to worry about.

[Murkus]

[Tina and Isaac and Iknika and Dena - TIID]

The winged chrome gal in the little black dress and the wicked, smiling spirit mask folds her arms behind her lower back. Her wings give a light-catching flutter. "Nice to meet you too. Don't you kids look sweet? I sure hope we aren't interrupting anything."

[Recaiden]

"Well, I expect I can find the place. I mean, well, you know."
Anchor inclines her head in almost-a-nod, since her smile doesn't come through the mask. Sounds like she's got a date. Well, not that kind of date, exactly. But some sort of plan.
The dance goes on! Forward, forward, spin around-

[Earl of Purple]

Jack Floating Away With An Anchor

Jack's going to continue dancing, getting into the swing a bit more and relaxing quite a bit. And Jack might be disappointed it's not that kind of date, but probably not too much.

[Reinholdt]

[Dragon and Dove]

Xunafae shakes her head. "Oh no, I must pass I'm afraid. Did you see the creature they have serving the drinks?"

She motions in the general direction Anri was when she first arrived at the party. "It comes straight out of its body. And it seemed quite sentient on top of that, talking to the guests and all. I am not easily disturbed, but this felt disquieting to say the least."

Well there we go. Neither woman is in need of a drink.

[Arkhosia]

The Mercenary

The woman stops in her tracks, raising her hands to show that there's nothing left to hide and trying to ease the imposing cook's suspicion with a smile in her eyes. A hand drifts to her side to slowly retrieve her phone and type a response. Sorry, I just need to find an acquaintance who works here. Cyborg, purple robe? I think he was helping out with the lighting and such?

[Recaiden]

Well, I think it is that kind of date.
It's not that other kind of date, you know?

Anchor will dance on, happy, for another few songs.

Eventually, though, she'll say This has been nice, but there's only so much dancing I can do at once."

[Earl of Purple]

Unjacked

"Yes, I agree. I need to sit down, if nothing else." Jack's not sure if she's being dismissed as dancing-partner or not, though, so she's a bit loathe to just go and sit down. So she ends up dithering a little.

[Shadowcaller]

[Dena and Tina and Goblins oh My!]

Isaac is about to reply to the girls when even more women appear!
Isaac looks between Dena and Electra as he tries to place her.
"Oh! I met her while training that one time. Yes, hello. It's nice to meet you two. Having a nice night?" he says cheerily. This must be Dena Xifhara. She was in the public image more than other MERC members, and it's hard to forget someone with snakes for hair. Isaac was doing a little bit of research on the Nexus' Organizations when he was looking for a side job to pay for all his elephant-proof clothes.

[Dena and Tina and Goblins oh My!]

"Hi!" Iknika says in greeting to Dena and Tina. She didn't know Isaac also rubbed shoulders with MERC people. Of course she remembers Dena from their expedition into the MERC office in Riverside... where that creepy girl bit Koshal's dog.

Elephants, Goblin, Gorgon, Cyborg

"Uh, hi. It's a pleasure to meet you." Natalie wasn't expecting the interruption, but drops into a curtsy anyway. It's a movement she hasn't practised as a loxodon, but she doesn't need to- she learnt how quite early in life, and it's surprisingly elegant. "I'm Natalie."

[Tina and Isaac and Iknika and Dena - TIID]

The winged chrome gal in the little black dress and the wicked, smiling spirit mask folds her arms behind her lower back. Her wings give a light-catching flutter. "Nice to meet you too. Don't you kids look sweet? I sure hope we aren't interrupting anything."

[Tina and Isaac and Iknika and Dena - TIID]

Oh no, he's surrounded by women now! There's no escape!

Dena would lead, but before she has any chance Tina goes and calls the kids 'sweet'. Harmless to an child but the older they got, the more dangerous that particular word was in their presence. Especially to the one she know remembered was called Iknika who Dena imagined had to suffer that description the most of the three.

Still didn't recognize the other two though. Which admittedly would make them as suspicious as the woman Fayyaad was with. But as Iknika clearly knew them that would mean... they were her magically disguised friends? No, Isaac definitely hadn't been in the trio at MERC and only one of them had been female so that couldn't be it.
Either way, that would mean they were familiar to someone she was at least vaguely familiar with and that made them less suspicious.

She still couldn't figure out if Iknika had been related to Dipsnig or not though. One of the trio had been Krayger's relative and that had been the reason they had been at MERC in the first place, right?

"Can't complain, it hauntingly beautiful in here don't you think?" Dena asks rhetorically as she inclines her head as if looking at their surroundings. Of course, she couldn't she a bloody thing in this blindmask (that was kind of the point) but she didn't think moving the serpents around would give the same effect.
"But yeah, hope we aren't interrupting anything here. Electra just had us come over for this silly little game we're playing." She waves her hand dismissively. "You know, the sort of thing stuffy adults like to do before shuffling off this mortal coil?"

[Recaiden]

"Yes, I agree. I need to sit down, if nothing else." Jack's not sure if she's being dismissed as dancing-partner or not, though, so she's a bit loathe to just go and sit down. So she ends up dithering a little.

Yes, Jack, you were being dismissed. Dance with other people! See the spidery sights of the ball!
Or not.
After a couple moments of her dithering, Anchor asks "Shall we find a quiet corner to sit then?" and heads for one of the archways through the hedges.