Summer Festival Disaster

[:: Pandie ::]

GASPEAUX.
Lelanda LeAmour
Andre Tavoll
Symphony De Madrid
Raistlin Majere
Pandora LeAmour
Village Girl Elspeth
Sir Tryffin
Tyron

Since there is no PD for the Queen's bedroom, Gaspeaux stood instead outside the great hall, straightening his tie. It paid to look well and dress fancy when you knew your clothes would be ruined. Peasants liked things like that. He grinned and strolled down the hall, Maverick safely locked away til after the ball that night.

"Oh temptress mine desires...wherefore might you be hiding, mizz? Ole Gaspeux will finnnnd you."

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::She looked up from her book when she heard him calling her name….well if in fact she was the “Temptress of his Desires”, here’s hoping that was right…::

::She placed the book down and stood, making her way across the floor to the door that stood open and leaned out, peeking at him and winking::

You can not find that which is not hiding…Hello Gaspeaux. Is there something I can help you with?

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They had arrived, the three of them, early that morn, and already there was a buzz about town that the handsome carpenter had returned with ANOTHER woman in tow. He had deposited the two of them at his house, then hurried to get ready. LIke his coutnerpart, he had dressed nicely, and had even combed back his hair. Now he sat at the kissing booth, nervous but hiding it quite well.

ah, they were at the archive room again...where she had given him his job...and that first real taste of her laughter. Such pleasant joys. He smiled easily at her, holding out his hands.

"Ah, Mizz, so many things, but...tis almost time for me to get dowdn to the square. tis almost time for me to allow the citizens of your fine realm to make mischeif with ME instead of the other way around. But, a little bird told me..."

He placed his hands together, making a shadow-puppet bird on the wall, but then it seemed to split away from his body and fly off on its own.

"That there is to be a masquerade afterwards. I was wonderin if we might be able to make the land jealous, by the two best dancers in the land going together."

It was more a statement than a qestion, and he let his eyes glitter.

::She watched the wall and its bird and then smiled as she looked to him and softly nodded her head::

Yes, there is the be a masquerade after the festivities and I would like very much if you were to accompany me, but…as it is a masquerade, I can not simply tell you who I am…you as will everyone else, have to guess…But do not fear my dear Gaspeaux, I will find you when the time comes…

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Even Symphony seemed to be dressed well, or at least she was wearing a dress rather than work clothes. She sat primly at a simple wooden booth, a pile of pamphlets spread before her. They were simple woodcuts with simple, none-too-realistic carvings. They were bedecked with the hand-scrawled legend " Vellcom II Hydden Relm of Trankillty a fynne place to vysyt".

He let his eyes glitter a bit more, hidden inuendo in them, letting her know exactly what he thought they could do when the "time" came.

"Until then, I must head down that way. Do come and enjoy yourself beforehand. Wont be every day you get to see such justice wrought as your people holding the joke on me!"

With that, he danced a quick jig closer to her, placed a quick, dry peck on the corner of her lips, then traipsed away, a bit birdlike himself. Oh, if only she knew...

::She did not miss the look in his eyes, and her cheeks flushed a bit at the thoughts she was having, but she remained standing with her back straight, head held high as he spoke of the people of the village pulling one over on him::

Before she could respond her had placed a kiss a badly aimed kiss on her and he was off…Such an odd man, but such a good…ermm…Shame on her for thinking such things…where was Sarah when she needed to talk about such things::

Underneathe the hard wood surface, there was another, smaller stack of pamplets, just as painfully hand scrawled and hand etched.

These bore the legend "Hydden Relm Tankillty vellcoms Nyt Kreetchers wif a varitee of offertunitees"

He jigged his merry way down, spun and took a bit of a leap. Luckily, not too many of the people seemed to be around just yet, so he sat spread eagle across the plank, whisteling and catcalling a few of the shoppers as they hurried about.,

"Oh, thats right, run along, didn't think a daft old bugger like yourself could hit the target anyway, even if twas right before your nose."

"Whats the matter, lass, your young man keep you up all night, so you're too tired to even hit such a broad target? Or do you merely throw like a girl?"

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So this was the source of all the noise that prevented him from quietly enjoying the various tomes that consisted of his studies. Raistlin Majere hobbled slowly down the length of the Summer Festival, a grim look on his features as he passed booth upon booth that lined the main road, his expression unchanging, as if he were unimpressed at the liveliness the people of this community. He had paused three times during his small walk. Once at the Food Court, to examine the local cousine. He sniffed at the air to pick up the strange smells that emitted from inside many of the booths. The scents had sickened him and forced him to pick up his slow pace.

He had stopped once again at the Kissing Booth, a small smile crossing his features as he imagined himself sitting inside of the booth, waiting for those who find the courage to step forward to brave the pain of touching him. He shook his head, and continued forth, toying with the idea, imagining how incredibly short that line would be

Finally, he had paused long and hard at the Dunk Tank. Oh, how Pandora would LOVE to see him sitting on that platform, Poised and ready to fall into the water that could possibly change his already fragile health. Everyone around him would probably smile to see his condition worsen or so he thought. He had not many friends.

Still, the thought intrigued him, he could always use his magic to protect the target from being struck. He smiled as he thought of the expressions the people would have when they thought they had fully struck that target, only to see the archmage still sitting calmly on the platform

Perhaps I ought to give this booth a shot after all...

Slowly, he made his way to the booth...

The swaggalicious blondie strolled easily up to the kissing booth and smirked down at the carpenter.

"Oh, I'll be having myself a roll of the dice in a moment, dear Master Tavoll, but in the meantime, guess who gets to spend the entire...evening...right here with me? and not a healer witch in sight to...spoil our fun."

and then laughing at the shocked look on his face, she strolled esily over to the kissing booth female side.

He had never been to this tiny little kingdome before but thought the time was ripe. what a mistake THAT had been. Now he stood for all so see--unfortunately, given that he was wearing such a pretty red corset and a skirt to match his hair. WORSE, he looked GOOD in it.

He'd be DAMNED if he thought a woman would be hosting the tournament. SUch a thing was not how they'd did it in HIS day. SO instead HE lined up the various weapons and waited for the tourney to begin.

It seemed almost as if she'd been waiting for the sun to set, for as soon as it sank behind the trees, Pandora LeAmour's eye's gapped open. There was no adjustment to the light change since her chambers were as dark as her eyelids had been. Not that it really mattered to her. Pandora could see just as well in the darkness as in the light, if not better.

The first conscious thought that formed was in regards to the small festival for the citizens of the Hidden Realm of Tranquility. Her niece had come to her expressing a request from the villagers about hosting a summer festival. Pandora had granted permission, and promised to make the necessicary arrangements with the Nightworld to ensure the festival went off without a grave mistake.

True to her word, she had spent nearly a week without rolling the minds of anyone so that come the end of the festival, she would be able to roll the minds of those mortals whom had discovered nightworld in the process of their celebration.

Normally it would be an automatic death sentence, but with a festival it was too difficult to ban other nightworlders from entering without revealing who and what they were, and thus the Queen and the Master of the City struck a deal. For one night only, all nightworlders would be able to be themselves, nearly free of restrictions. It was still forbidden to hunt in Tranquility, and thus meals would be provided to both residental and visiting nightworlders within the Tower.

Away from the tower, it was free game. The residents were in for a bigger shock then they realized. Pandora had been mentally planning for the task at hand of being strong enough to roll the minds of the residental mortals just enough so that the knowledge of such nightworlders was erased.

Generally, Pandora was only able to roll up to three minds in the course of a week. A few months back she had successfully rolled the minds of every mortal being in the Tavern. Tonight, she would push herself to the limit.

Bertha set about prepairing Pandora for a night out of the Tower. There was little need for painting herself, and Pandora actually found she felt quite naked without it. IT had been soo long since she could go without painting her skin to match a blushed female. When finally she was dawned in a bold but simple gown, her hair tied up off her neck, Pandora crossed the length of her chambers and fell through the drop.

Her slippered feet made not a sound as she landed on the ground floor within William's room, her legs bent to lighten the impact of dropping from three stories. She paused there, on the balls of her feet, one gloved palm pressed against the stone of the floor, to ensure her legs were both in one piece, and then she straightened herself up, using both gloved hands to adjust the gown that seemed to have belled out during the drop.

William was already there, her evening cloak in hand, waiting for his master to arrive. It took hardly a moment to slip the cloak in place, and watch as William unbolted the Tower and Pandora was free to leave.

He rolled his eyes and grinned.

"Oh sure, this ole codger looks about a step from his grave and he's till more of a man than you young gents! Alright, ole man, let us see what you've got then, but be careful. We wouldn't want to see you throw your hip out! First throw is free, you can narry use magic 'tall, and each shot after that tis a shilling towards buying my new cart and mule, so enjoy."

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He grimly ignored Elspeth for the moment, and awaited his frist customer, a bit surprised they werent lining up yet. Killed the ego, that right there.

She recognized the snub, but for the moment ignored it. She'd get her revenge. She was already scheming

He was getting very nervous by her calm demeanor, but was saved the trouble of awkward small talk by another arrival. It was good old biddy McClenson, easily about two hundred years his elder, grinning shyly like a two year old as she picked up the dice and shook them in her gnarled, liver spotted hands. Andre looked with some dread at the results. Snake eyes. Two. Damn. He grinned sickly, and trying to ignore Elspeth's snickering, placed a very quick kiss to the old woman's laugh, causing her to blush like a school girl.

There were no visitors yet. She wondered if perhaps her Disquiet was scaring them off...it wasn't particularly strong today, but it was there, radiating off of hre like a desecrating halo.

Old Man? Throwing out a hip? Had this man some kind of Death Wish? He was more than tempted to cast a spell right then and there, he even had caught himself as he opened his mouth to udder a few words to the runes that floated passed his minds eye. No, for now, he would play this foolish game of theirs. He grabbed a ball, and held it with his long slender fingers, his eyes staring at the Target. If only Caramon was here, that muscle bound oaf could have easily hit the target, perhaps even smashed the contraption or shattered the ball upon the target. 'Still', he thought to himself, 'It cant be all THAT hard'.

Raistlin pulled back his arm, took careful aim, and sent the ball flying... only to see it land several feet short of the target, landing on the ground and rolling to a stop against the cloth tarp. He muttered something along the lines of his robes getting in the way of his throwing arm. Slowly, he reached into his pocket, and began fishing out coins that have not been seen by mortal eyes for centuries. Of course, he had forgotten to find the proper currency that would have been accepted by the modern times. He would have to wander back and bribe Pandora for a cycling of his currency, and where WAS that blasted woman

You best not go anywhere, I have yet to finish with you.. You find yourself in luck, I have not the proper currency for this time...

He turned, and slowly walked away, his minds eye staring at the many runes that consisted of a Telekinetic spell that would trigger the mechanism and cause the lad to fall into the water, a grutesque smile washing over his features. For now, the man would stay dry... only for now........

he let out a catcall of laughter as he watched the man leave.

"Oh, ayuh, blame it on your robes, sir, we allllll believe that! Go on and come back when you've got more shillings, you vagabond!"

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Tranquility didn't seem to be too busy even with the festivities taking place. William had warned this may happen. The weather was simply too warm for people to want to spend a great deal of time outdoors.

As she walked Pandora glanced skyward, the darkness of the clouds indicated that rain might very well be in the foreseeable future. If it rained, the festival would have to be cancelled.. Of course, anyone wanting to play out in the rain was more then welcome to.

Seeing as she wasn't amongst anyone she really knew, and with her attention diverted to the sky, she wouldn't have known if anyone was around or not, Pandora grinned to herself, her brightly painted lips pressed softly together. Lush lips. Full lips. They made the perfect smile.

Why was she smiling? Well, she would be one of those one's that still galavanted around even amongst the rain!

Smile still in place, Pandora lowered her gaze from the sky so that she was looking around once more. She got a few odd looks here and there, some of the locals whispering. Rumors had stirred this way and that about exactly who she was, and this was the first time any of them had seen her without the beautiful blush paint job that Bertha did.

A shock for familiar eyes, no doubt.

This thought is what kept that rare smile plastered on her lips. A real smile.

To her left, the food tents. To her right, a large table with a makeshift sign announcing a kissing booth... Really, now? Pandora adverted her steps to carry her towards it, merely out of mild curiousity, of course!

Sure enough, no sooner that Pandora reached the kissing booth, did the rain start to fall. People rushed about in every direction, some holding thing's over their heads, other's trying to stop the rain from reaching them with their mere hands.

Pandora was shuffled against the shoulder as someone hurried by, though it didn't budge her from her spot. She simply stood there, arms gently at her sides, watching as people hurried to and fro.

She was a vampire. A little bit of rain wasn't going to cause her to melt, for heavens sake. Seeing as she wasn't blushingly painted, she had no fear of it affecting her. Of course, her hair would look absolutely horrid, and her gown would probably cling to her form, but with everyone running about looking for cover, who would notice?

Her steps were slow, casual. Almost as if she were dancing to a lullaby. She wasn't headed in any particular direction, merely stepping into a clearing when the crowds parted. As she walked, her gloved hands rose above her head, fingers working through the many pins and contraptions that held her hair atop her head. With each pin she removed, she disgarded it on the ground, and a strand of already wet hair fell around her shoulders.

No more kissing booth. No more dunk tank. No more dress up. Even the food attendants were quickly stocking piles of dishes into a covered wagon. Shame, really. It would have been nice to try out some of these mortal pasttimes. Then again...

Pandora changed her direction to head for where the dunk tank still sat, abandoned. There wasn't anyone sitting on the plank anymore, and the balls lay scattered on the grass. Just because you couldn't dunk anyone, didn't mean it wouldn't be fun. Practice makes perfect afterall, no?

[:: Pandie ::]

Rain. Perfect, just what he needed to make his health worse. The Black robed mages golden orbs flicked upwards to stare at the dark clouds forming overhead and smiled softly. Perhaps this was a blessing in disquise, as it would allow him to return to his studies without much more disruption from the cheerful noises that fluttered into the window of his room. The air was difficult to breathe and caused his lungs to ache from the effort. He paused at the side of the road to cough, and struggled to keep on his feet, leaning heavily upon his staff as he always had. The magical artifact had been used more often than a crutch than he had used it for its magical purposes.

His orbs flicked towards the Dunk tank, watched Pandora step up as if she were going to try her hand at it and shook his head. There was no purpose anymore to try to hit the Target, yet he couldnt help but watch with slight amusement, perhaps Pandora had much better aim than he, or perhaps, she would fail miserably...

With the latter thought in mind, Raistlin decided that it would be a good idea to take cover behind a wagon that was hastily being filled with dishes to watch the spectacle while thinking that perhaps the Coliseum wouldnt be abandoned due to a small summer drizzle

Pandora bent at the knees, and scooped up three balls from the soaking wet grass. She glanced around the surrounding and not seeing anyone paying attention to her, Pandora then turned to eye the target. It looked like a little wagonwheel with a poor paint job.

Carrying all three balls in her hand, Pandora walked up to the dunk tank, studing this weird device. She hadn't the faintest idea what to do with it...

Balancing the balls in the crook of her left arm, Pandora reached out with her right and pressed against the target. The sound of something moving caught her attention, and Pandora glanced to the plank as it fell. Quickly she released the target and watched the plank slide back into place.

A delightful smile broke out upon her face. This was interesting. This was very interesting indeed..

She backed away from the tank until her soaking wet slippers were standing behind a line painted in the grass. Carefully, Pandora LeAmour bended at the knee once more and lowered first one, then two and finally three balls into the wet grass. Still bent over, she shifted all her weight onto her right leg and used her right hand to pull free the soaking wet slipper from her left foot. Tossing it onto the grass a bit of a distance away, Pandora then repeated the same action until she was now slipperless.

With an excited grin, she then scooped up all three balls and rose to her full height once more. With her eye's locked on the target, Pandora wound her hand back and let one of the balls fly forward. Her first ball travelled half the distance and landed with a bounce on the mossy grass.

Pandora's nose wrinkled and she tilted her head. Obviously, she hadn't been expecting that. Then, she tried again. The second ball at least made it to the target, but then it didn't stop there... It bounced and rolled somewhere beyond where the target itself was located.

So focused was she on that third ball that the tip of her tongue poked out between slightly parted lips. So focused, that she didn't even seem to feel the rain anymore. The ball left her hand and soared the distance, making contact with the bare edge of the target. Just enough, apparently, to cause the plank to fall.

Pandora threw her arms up and did a quick victory dance, her face turned upward for the rain to fall upon it.

"Whoohoo! Now that is how it is done!"

Pandora turned back to the dunk tank and considered trying again. The rain was coming down a lot harder now, and the small clearing was all but abandoned. Seeing as she was already soaked from head to stockings, it wouldn't hurt to give it one more try...

She started out at a brisk walk, pausing to pick up the first and second ball. Then she had to duck underneath the target to reach the last one that had gone well past it's mark.

Bringing herself around again, Pandora took the same stance she had used before, behind the white line of course. Balancing two of the three balls in the crook of her left arm, Pandora took the third one in her right and wound up to give it a throw.

Once more, just like her third shot from before, the ball hit the target and the plank fell. The grin on Pandora's face reflected all that was needed on how she felt about that shot.

Rolling a second ball into her right hand, Pandora relaxed her stance. She was getting cocky. Twice in a row, this was so much easier then she thought! Aiming for the target once more, Pandora released the second ball.

Much to her dismay, and embarrassment might I add, the ball landed nearly directly infront of her feet. Horrified, Pandora instantly glanced around to ensure that she was indeed alone. Then stubbornly, she kicked the ball with her bare foot, watching as the wet grass slowed it's progress so it didn't make it but two steps from where she stood.

Poking her tongue out in concentration once more, Pandora ignored the loser ball and set her sights on the target once more. With her final ball, Pandora took stance once more and let it fly.

Boom.

The wet ball hit the target with a slap, the wheel pushed inward and the plank fell. Pandora gave a stubborn brisk nod of her head, the grin back.

"That's more like it."

She was just about ready to go and retrieve the balls once more when a loud clash of thuder echoed around her. She had been having so much childish fun that she'd all but forgotten about the rain!

With a regretful glance towards the dunk tank, Pandora walked in the opposite direction, scooped up her ruined slippers and, carrying them in her hand, turned back down the path towards the Tower. The mage that had been after Raistlin hadn't died yet, and the spell upon her was still there. Staying in the storm probably wasn't the best of idea.

The trip back to the tower was harder then the trip to the festival grounds to begin with. Her clothes weighed a ton, her hair was slick and dripping around her cheeks and the back of her neck, and her eyelashes kept spewing down raindrops into her line of sight. Bertha was not going to be pleased.

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Raistlin watched quietly, even after the Cart had long since gone and forced him to move behind an abandoned booth, he did not take his eyes off of Pandora as she tried her hand at the empty dunk tank. Her luck proved to be similar to his own, till her third ball flew and made its mark, then another ball found the target, and yet a third. Raistlin frowned and muttered an oath to himself. He would try his turn again.

He waited for an opportune moment when Pandora had disappeared from view, then snuck over to retrieve the balls. His Black robes were drenched from the rain and clung to his skin, yet he didnt let this bother him. He move back to the line, positioned himself in front of the target, and Let one of the balls fly.

This time, his luck proved to be much better than the last, he grinned to himself as the ball struck the target, which promoted him to take another ball. The second ball pinged its target, and fell to the soaked earth. He was elated, the wide smile on his features burned brightly, he took hold of the third ball and wound up, let the ball fly.

It must have been the rain, or perhaps it was the way his robes had clung to him, it might have even been his luck. The ball flew over the Dunk tank, and fell off in the distance, a mans scream pierced through the temptest as the ball fell to the earth. Raistlin grimaced, and began to hobble quickly out of view, heading back to the Tower, his eyes watchful of anyone behind him, but heard nor seen nothing. Thankful that he didnt have to stand in the rain and settle any problems that he might have caused. He thought to himself that perhaps he should let Pandora take the blame for that one, should anyone ask HIM if he heard or saw anything peculiar that evening.

The sound of the plank behind her let Pandora know she wasn't the only one who had wandered back to give it a shot whilst it was free. A quiet chuckle escaped her slightly parted lips, but she did not turn around. She hadn't wanted anyone watching her, and thus she doubted the participant wanted an audience either.

When Pandora reached the tower, she rapped on the door and waited patiently for William to gain her admittance. Luckily, the moment he spotted her he hurried through the unlocking of the door and ushered her in, trying his hardest not to glance at her wet attire.

As William helped her off with her cloak, he talked about the weather that had reached them, and futher went on to explain that they were expecting a rather terrible storm. Way to state the obvious.

"Oh, thank you. Aye William, friend, I do think you are correct. It is coming down awfully hard out there."

With William's help, Pandora struggled out of her soaking wet cloak, not that it did much good. She was wet to the bone, and freezing at that. Quietly cursing the idiot who had gave her the curses of mortals, Pandora began stripping her gown right then and there in William's room. The poor man looked like his eye's were going to pop out before he quickly turned his back on her.

"Oh, come now William. It is not like you have never seen a woman before. Now turn around and help me out of this gown before I catch chill."

William stubbornly shook his head and muttered something about going to fetch Bertha. She couldn't really blame him. Poor William was well into his eighties and it was just improper, so she stood there, hands on her hip, dripping a nice sized puddle below her, while William hurried off.

Finally managing to reach the tower, Raistlin stood at the door of the Entrance to the tower, his robes felt like the world itself was weighing down upon him. He trudged slowly forth, mud clinging to the hem of his robe. It had been a difficult walk from the Tank to the tower. He shivered violently, the slight breeze the storm brought caused his robes to feel as if they were made of ice.

As he stood at the door, he lifted the Staff of Magius, and used the tip to rap lightly upon the door, and wrapped his hands about himself, trying his best to keep warm. If the attendant at the other end of the door didnt hurry soon, he would catch a cold that would surely claim his life

While Pandora awaited Bertha to arrive, there was a rap at the door. Pandora hesitated, glancing around for William. It wasn't her duty to answer the tower door, for heavens sake. Clearly William wasn't anywhere in sight, and thus Pandora gripped hold of the helm of her gown and trudged out of his room to peer through the small slit in the door.

The man standing out there was soaked, and she knew exactly who it was. She laughed, nay actually she giggled, and considered leaving him out there. But Raistlin was more powerful then she was, and thus Pandora dropped the grip on her gown and began unbolting the tower door. She pulled it open only a slight way, and turned her back on both the door and Raistlin, making her way back into Williams room, which also housed the drop.. Or the stairway to the upper levels of the tower, some called it.

Let Raistlin get the door open the rest of the way and lock it behind him. She knew she looked horrid soaked to the bone and didn't care to look him in the eye whilst he laughed.

When Bertha finally arrived, she took one look at Pandora and started shaking her head, her fingers working expertly over the many strings that kept her gown in place. Leaving said gown draped over William's chair, Pandora and Bertha headed for the Master Quarters. There was, afterall, a Ball to get ready for.

The first thing Bertha did was drape a dry blanket around her Master. There wasn't much that Bertha could do about Pandora's hair. There simply wasn't enough time to let it dry, and thus Bertha did her best to pin it up in a fashon that you wouldn't be able to tell it was so wet.

Once her hair was in all sorts of pins once more, Bertha then helped Pandora into her evening gown. This took the longest, for it had more strings then any of the gowns Pandora had previously worn before. A fresh dry pair of slippers were placed on her feet, and Pandora rose from her chair to turn towards Bertha. The Master Quarters didn't have a mirror, oddly enough. Pandora had ordered all mirrors to be removed from the tower after the mortal spell was cast.

The last thing that Bertha took care of was painting Pandora's skin a pale white. Tonight, she could be a vampire. Tonight, she could of Nightworld. Tonight, there were masks, but none of them as real as the one she wore every day in Tranquility.

When the last touch of pale powder was applied to Pandora's flushed body, Bertha stood back once more and Pandora was able to see exactly what she looked like in the woman's eyes. Bertha always did a wonderful job when the woman put her mind to it.

"Thank you, child. Remarkable."

Pandora then headed, once more, towards the drop only to be called back before she was able to take that final step. There was Bertha, holding out her mask.

"My goodness. I had almost forgotten!"

Pandora hurried towards Bertha once more, a gentle smile upon her face.

"Whatever would I do without you, Bertha?"

Bertha murmured something quietly that made Pandora laugh as she took hold of the Mask from her servants hand. She wouldn't put it on until she had left the Tower. No need to give herself away, afterall.

((Please note the Masquerade Ball is NOT scripted due to the fact that... Well.. I am not that good! Too many posts, too little time, and I'm already frantically saving pictures for the Best Mask contest.))