bluh bluh huge ball

[thalassino]

Characters: Vatheon
Location: That Castle
Time: Evening, on Sunday
Style: Any
Status: OPEN. Threadjack, threadhop, spam away!

[ Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen of Vatheon— whatever your newfound stature may be, Prince, Princess, Knight, or Peasant, you will all receive a message on your SFC on the eve of Saturday regardless:

You are cordially invited to the castle for this evening's ball. In addition, you are all welcome to try and solve the riddle if it fancies you. It just may break the curse!

The invitation is unsigned, but its intentions are clear. Maybe you hadn't quite noticed the sizeable castle in the distance of the city that had sprung up, but this message would surely garner your attention toward it now.

Should you arrive at the castle, plenty of attractions await you:

Ballroom ❧ A very large and beautiful ballroom is lighted up, complete with a playing violin orchestra. While the curtains will be drawn during this event, there is a windowed view and exit on one side of the ballroom that leads to:

Smee's Rose Garden ❧ A broad and colorful spanse of a garden, complete with many paths and turns. Plenty of roses are arranged in great arches, which provide perfect little places should you need some privacy with your sweetheart. Anyone familiar will even tell you that the garden was purposefully designed for just that sort of thing.

The Riddle ❧ There is an inscription located on a noticeable plaque set in one of the garden's benches. It reads:

Two are necessary to break this curse
Riled up, upset, what kind of love?
Only this kiss will stop it from getting worse.
Look for a winged one is push comes to shove,
Look for a glance slightly dark,
Search for a pair in reluctant love.
One answers a call; that's your mark;
One longs for patria though adverse.

Dining Hall ❧ Connected to the ballroom is an extremely long hall that stretches as far as the eye can see, elegantly arranged as the dining area. Expensive and exquisite cuisine seem to be on the menu— try something new? Chances are you won't be eating from a selection such as this again anytime soon!

Dais ❧ There is a noticeable raised dais that is easily visible via any area within the ballroom. It's locked off from guests, though— what is it for...?

Do enjoy. ]

Comments

[withoutasign]

A few. Seadwellers were typically the most resistant to my message, and it was always difficult to include them in the meetings because they made everyone else nervous.

[He perks up at that information.]

You can? How?

[devwocean]

There's a good reason for that. Both a those things. [Gosh, Signless is so stupid]

[He pauses] I can't showw you wwithout my fins. Wwe can use them like a kind a wwordless language, to signal each other wwithout speaking, under wwater.

[withoutasign]

I'll well aware that they stood the most to lose by the idea of equality, as well as the fact that most of my other followers had had negative experiences with them. But any who chose to listen would be welcomed at the meetings, blood color and caste notwithstanding.

[He trots forward a bit.]

Really? That's fascinating! So it's like a whole second language that only seadwellers learn?

[devwocean]

I'm surprised you had a single one. [The fact that he had any is disquieting to him, actually, and he frowns at it]

Yeah, that's right. A little like morse code, only a lot more complicated.

[withoutasign]

Two or three, actually.

[He can tell Dualscar is uncomfortable with the idea, so he doesn't elaborate.]

When you have your fins back, would you show me? I never realized your fins had any purpose besides decorative.

[devwocean]

[It freaks him out that sea dwellers he knows could actually follow this douchebag, okay? Land dwellers are one thing. They're naturally dumb.

And he's fine with changing the subject to be fully about him]

I suppose, but it wwouldn't mean anythin' to you. You'd probably think it looks silly, actually. It's just a lot a flappin' and displays.

[withoutasign]

I'd still be interested in seeing it.

Did your lusus teach you how to speak it?

[devwocean]

[Wow, he's not sure he wants to talk about his lusus]

Sort of. Not directly on account a it didn't havve facial fins.

[withoutasign]

I'm very interested in language development.

[Signless' ears twitch and his eyes brighten.]

You see, I didn't have a lusus, so I learned Alternian from wigglerhood. I find it fascinating, though, that other trolls learn both a language to communicate with their lusus, and Alternian, despite never hearing it from their guardian.

And now I find out seadwellers have another language on top of that! We really are incredible creatures, you know?

[devwocean]

[Blink blink. Hang on, he just agreed with the Signless on manifest destiny?] Yeah, wwe really are. The most incredible race there is.

[withoutasign]

[Wait, no, dial it back there, Dualscar!]

I wouldn't go that far. There's still room for improvement, but that's true of every race and species.

[devwocean]

A course there's room for improvvement. [He's talking to one right now] But that doesn't mean that as a wwhole wwe aren't superior to all a the other races in the univverse. Wwe're stronger, because wwe make ourselvves strong, and wwe're smart and technologically advvanced, and adaptable.

[withoutasign]

[This is so totally not where he wanted this conversation to go!]

That might all be true now, but what happens when we meet a race stronger and more capable than ourselves? Rhetorically, let's say that we do. What then? Are we strong and united enough to make a stand against it?

[devwocean]

[That's just a ridiculous proposition and the look on Dualscar's face reflects that. But Signless did say it's hypothetical, so he sighs and thinks about it.]

A course wwe are. [And he scowls] At least, wwe should be. If there wweren't people like you, tryin' to undermine that united strength by disruptin' evverything and making the lowwbloods rebel.

[And here we've stumbled over the exact reason why he hates you so much, Signless. Congratulations]

[withoutasign]

[Yeah, he figured as much. But Signless keeps his composure.]

But doesn't say something about us? It's not true unity, is it?

[He creeps a step closer.]

Imagine how powerful we could be if we truly were all equal and unified. Then we could take over the stars.

[Not that he wants that, mind you. Just hypothetically.]

[devwocean]

Wwe're not equal! [He snarls the words] Wwe're just not, and no amount a fantasizing wwill make it so. You wwant a rustblood on the throne? Wwith upheavval in ten fuckin swweeps wwhen she dies an a new one has to vvie wwith all the legions a trolls of evvery colour to find the next successor?

There's a reason Her Imperious Condescension is in charge. It's on account a her lusus, wwhich is because a her blood. And wwe are her closest cousins, so wwe are the next in line, naturally. And the indigos, the most powwerful land dwwellers, because they can do their fuckin' chucklevvoodoos and control those beloww them. It's like that all the wway dowwn the line to the most lowwly and short-livved a the rusts. It's natural and logical, and it's just the wway it has to be for a vviolent and competitivve race like ours!

You can say maybe there's other wways it could be if things wwere completely different. But that's just fantasy and not true. Maybe there's small wways it could be improvved and things could be better for lowwbloods on a day to day basis, fine, but wwhen it comes to our basic nature, this is howw it is.

[withoutasign]

Then why are the highbloods so afraid of us? You're right, we don't live as long, and this is our burden, just as life almost unending is for you. But the highbloods do all they can to keep us down, to keep us suppressed and weak.

Why hasn't anyone tried to improve the day to day life of lowbloods? Why can't we be granted a little dignity, a little autonomy, the ability to be the masters of our fate? What are you so afraid of?

[devwocean]

[He snorts and rolls his eyes] The highbloods are NOT afraid of you. But there are a lot of you, and so it's important that you be controlled, for the stability a all of civvilization.

[He shrugs] Isn't there dignity in acceptin' your place and wworkin' hard to be the best you can be at your owwn levvel?

[withoutasign]

Listen to yourself. Isn't it telling that you say we have to be controlled, for the stability of civilization? Sounds like fear to me. Like someday the lowbloods will realize there's a lot more of us than there are of you, and then where will you be?

[Signless also shrugs.] If it's so dignified, you'd be willing to switch places, wouldn't you?

[devwocean]

[He snorts and rolls his eyes again] Not fear. You're makin it out to be something it's not. You obvviously can't grasp the import a wwhat you tried to do, the disaster it could a caused if it'd been let to get out of control. But that doesn't mean I'm fuckin scared of you. The sheer numbers are wwhy wwe havve to keep things under control, yeah. Because apparently you're all too fuckin selfish.

Wwhy wwould I wwant to do that? [Growl] A course I wwouldn't swwitch places.

[withoutasign]

[It still sounds like fear to Signless, but he's tactful enough to drop the issue.]

Why not? Wouldn't there be just as much honor and dignity in working to the best of your abilities as a lowblood as there is in doing the same as a highblood?

[devwocean]

I'm not stupid. There's dignity an honour, sure. But it's not pleasant compared to my life.

[withoutasign]

I'm not suggesting you are stupid. However, I have to wonder how much dignity and honor you would find in a life of slavery and servitude, pleasant or not. Would you let yourself be treated like a red or brownblooded slave, if it were the Condesce who was your master?

[devwocean]

[If he had fins at the moment, they'd flatten. As it is, he stiffens at the mention of the Condesce, which hits a little too close to home for him. So far, she's treated him very nicely, but of course there was always the chance that he'd displease her and she'd begin treating him badly.]

I suppose I wwould, yes.

[withoutasign]

[Signless notices that change in demeanor; clearly, the Condesce is a sensitive subject for Dualscar. He keeps quiet about it, although the information is certainly filed away for later.]

What if it were someone else, with the same blood color? Would that make a difference?