The Master of Games nods before replying to the Midnight Samurai's choice. "The Merchant of the Sands does not hold the Baron," she says, before bringing a card to The Kuthona Rat.
Kuthona Rat, check your PMs.
The Master of Games nods, then, following the instructions whispered to her by The Dark Lady, reveals the card handed to her before the Dark Lady excused herself and made her way to the washroom.
"The Dark Lady plays the Count, forcing the Angel to discard his card and receive a new one. Since the Angel is holding the Princess, The Angel is eliminated from the round. The Dark Lady is now the only remaining player in the round, making her the winner of the round."
"My lady, you are as chilling as you are beautiful," The Prince says, denoting her fine and very frostily decorated costume. The Prince hands the Princess a scroll, containing an invitation and a note. "Please do not let my entrance spoil the round. I LOVE a good sporting game of chance and clever tactic. I should like to observe the rest of the round."
** spoiler omitted **...
The Snow Princess smiles as a response to the Grand Prince's compliment. "I warmed by your words, your Majesty," she replies, playfully hiding her face behind her white ladies' fan as if she were overly blushing in the presence of the Grand Prince.
She curiously takes the offered note and tilts her neck to read it. She seems to look down her nose while reading it, as if she were either scoffing at the note's author or she were looking through an invisible pair of eyeglasses.
"A friend of a friend, I see," she says, as she folds the note. "You seem quite different from our mutual friend. I am curious, how did you meet?" she asks.
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The Twins consider their draw for a moment. The male Twin's mask moves, the result of what might be a momentary grimace, as the Gallium Paladin's card is played. The woman's eyes, or at least the mask's eyes, move between her card, her twin's card, and the Gallium Paladin. She sighs.
"We have lost, brother," she finally announces. "It is only a matter of time."
"Not all hope is lost, sister" her Twin replies.
"Pfft, only most!" she interjects.
Her Twin weathers her outburst, the continues, "Either Desna smiled upon him or he has played us both for fools most brilliantly." He frowns for a moment, then nods, "We have only one option."
The female twin lays down her card. "We play the Count, choosing ourselves."
The male Twin slides his card to the Master of Games face-down. "Master of Games, please collect our card and deliver us a new one."
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"Oh my gosh the ceiling is gone! It's snowing!" The Kuthona Rat gasps as he gawks in awe for almost a minute, giving no indication that he even sees the Winter Drake. He eventually shakes his head and looks at the card that was given to him. He immediately shifts his gaze to the card played by the Merchant. While staring intently at it, he begins to talk to himself.
"I don't like doing the same thing over and over and over and over again, but this card isn't the right shape, it is lemon. I remember when this one guy at a wedding I went to the other week was lemon. He kept shouting about love and lies and I had to calm him down until he was no longer jealous of the lime wedges and was apple like everyone else. Sorry Mrs. Ess, but you've got to go now otherwise the ceiling won't come back. Say hello to your sister for me."
As he finishes his rambling monologue, he plays The Priestess face up on the table and nudges it toward the Merchant.
The male Twin slides his card to the Master of Games face-down. "Master of Games, please collect our card and deliver us a new one."
The Master of Games retrieves both of the Twins' cards. "The Twins have discarded a House Guard after playing the Count, and have received a new card," she says, as she gently hands the male Twin a new card.
She then walks over to the Gallium Paladin to hand him a new card as well.
After watching the Kuthona Rat for a moment, she nods, then quietly informs the Kuthona Rat of the contents of the Merchant of Sands's hand, and then she approaches the Merchant of Sands with a card for her.
Twins By Proxy, Gallium Paladin, Kuthona Rat, Merchant of Sands, check your PMs.
Gallium Paladin, Merchant of Sands, it's your turn.
Here is an update of the round's progress:
Group A: one card remaining, currently The Gallium Paladin's turn
The Twins by Proxy: played House Guard, Baron, Grand Prince, Count, discarded House Guard
The Midnight Samurai (removed from round): played Priestess, discarded House Guard
The Gallium Paladin: played Marquise, Handmaiden, Handmaiden
Group B: The Dark Lady wins the round.
Group C:
The Kuthona Rat: played Marquise, Priestess
Merchant of the Sands: played Priestess
The Midnight Samurai: played House Guard
The Angel scoffs. "Figures. Once again proving my point of 'Never be the first one to take someone out.' It never ends well for you." He then plays his card on the table. "Priestess. I look at my own hand. What a surprise."
"It was mostly luck. I believe the only point where an actual strategy changed the outcome was when you thought I had the Baron or the Count and decided to feint low by naming the Baron, when the Count was actually dangerous to you, thus leaving me in the game and possessing the Count."
The Masked Cat takes advantage of the break in the game to mingle with the other guests at the Masquerade . . .
She curtsies low before Grand Prince Stavian, "Your majesty, it is a great honor to meet you in person. Even in the Mwangi Jungles, your name is known, and spoken with the deepest of respect."
As she passes under the Winter Drake, she smiles and calls up to him, "Your music is most beautiful, a pleasant addition to an already excellent fete."
She moves on, appearing at the elbow of the tiger, with whom she entered the party. She speaks a few words to him to him quietly, which seems to improve his spirits.
As for the card game, it is a clever one. Since I did not grow up playing it, I fear I underestimated the importance of the last few turns, but I think I am picking it up quickly. Don't think me dull witted for losing at the first attempt."
Eventually she maneuvers her way to where the Kuthona Rat, the Merchant and the Midnight Samurai are still involved in their game. She waits for the Kuthona Rat to finish his rambling speech before addressing him. "I could not help but overhear, when you made your entrance, something about a cat. A friend of cats is a friend of mine, if you will forgive my poor pun."
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In response to the Tigresses praise the Winter Drake bows politely and holds the lyre to its chest briefly. It continues playing theme appropriate music, since the lull in the rounds. The Music will switch back to the standard winter theme, with the hint of drama and foreshadowing mixing in as the players continue the game.
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"Lemon?", inquires the Merchant. "I have not heard of this Goddess Ess, who features lemons in her portfolio, nor have I heard of her celestial sister. Perhaps you can educate me, Rat. After all, there are far too many sayings about making lemonade from lemons, and the point is, lemons generate a tidy profit."
"Now, back to this castle... I have quite the decision on my hands. However, I am displeased that the Rat has been sneaking around in my business. I believe I will send a guard to arrest him. Let's see, Rat, have you been hiding behind a Baron?"
House Guard on the Kuthona Rat, targeting Baron
"Now, it is time for me to speak to someone far more important, and by "speak to", I mean, taunt."
She addresses Prince Stavian:
"Hey! You! Stavian number 3! Thanks for putting such high taxes on the the 'Relics' of Taldor so that no one will buy them. No one wants those anyway. You waste too much money on your people. Who cares about infrastructure? If you were smart, you would only be looking after your personal profit. And you would stop investing in the army so you could be conquered easily by a superior country. You know, the only reason Taldor isn't a province of Qadira is that we don't feel like defeating you right now. That's right. We could if we wanted to."
"The Kuthona Rat does not hold the Baron," The Master of Games says in reply to the Merchant of Sands's choice, before approaching the Midnight Samurai with a card for him.
Midnight Samurai, check your PMs.
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The Kuthona Rat may be wary of the the sudden anger in the Merchant's demeanor, good thing he is great at gauging a person's emotional state and behaving accordingly.
"Your face is lemon right now. It looks like you have a bad taste in your mouth. So it is lemon," he says this is a calm, matter-of-fact manner so as to avoid any offense.
He pauses to breathe for a moment before continuing, "They are sisters, because there are two cards with Mrs. Ess on them, that means they're twins and since twins have to be related and they are both ladies, that means they are sisters. They are also probably sisters in the convent where they live together. I don't know what god or goddess the sister Esses worship, probably something grape, pomegranate, or rose..."
His voice trails off as he hears the Masked Cat approach and speak.
"I could not help but overhear, when you made your entrance, something about a cat. A friend of cats is a friend of mine, if you will forgive my poor pun."
He begins to respond before visibly wincing at the Merchant's sudden outburst at his liege.
He turns back to the Merchant scowling,"Some ecognomeix policy, infersucture is needed to allow the prophets to work, otherwise they cannot do proper worshipping. Money spent on the people is what allows the ecognomey to keep working. And another thing, conquering is not something to be discussed in polite company, particularly in front of the sovereign of this land. I get that you are lemon right now, but at least pretend to be apple in front of a lime. Oh and I'm barren of barons."The Kuthona Rat breathes deeply and retrieves his hipflask, taking a hearty gulp from it before turning back to the Masked Cat,
He finally pauses to breathe before finishing his speech. "That brings me to tonight, my mom said I wasn't allowed to bring my kitty to the house here because nobody else likes kitties and that the lady in the letter said she was 'all or jick' so I couldn't bring him. Otherwise, I'd show him to you and you could pet him. Anyway, yeah I'd love to be your friend Lady Cat! He smiles beneath his mask and the articulated jaw moves in a similar manner.
The Master of Games gives the Paladin a puzzled look. "I am not certain of my understanding of your choice. The Kuthona Rat is not your opponent; The Twins are your only opponent. Do you mean to use the House Guard, attempting to remove them from the round?"
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The Snow Princess smiles as a response to the Grand Prince's compliment. "I warmed by your words, your Majesty," she replies, playfully hiding her face behind her white ladies' fan as if she were overly blushing in the presence of the Grand Prince.
She curiously takes the offered note and tilts her neck to read it. She seems to look down her nose while reading it, as if she were either scoffing at the note's author or she were looking through an invisible pair of eyeglasses.
"A friend of a friend, I see," she says, as she folds the note. "You seem quite different from our mutual friend. I am curious, how did you meet?" she asks.
"His Holiness? Ah, yes. Fine Dwarf; I believe we met just before, ahem, I joined the Pathfinders." Stavian, for just a fraction of a moment, looks uncomfortable. He immediately returns to his playful smile.
Surpassing his bluff check tells you that, having never been to one of Lady d'Apcher's masquerades, Stavian is unsure how far he should step out of character in order to tell his story.
"Yes, Father mostly left me to oversee our estate while he argues on end in the Senate. I was bored, and I met his Holiness in a local tavern. He noted that I had some magical skill that might help the world. I wasn't interested in the Pathfinders, initially. They're known as tomb robbers, and not for their over concern for the lives of their agents. But honestly, something grabbed me when he said:" Stavian clears his throat, attempting a terrible Dwarf accent. " 'Have ye ever been on a real adventure, hmmm? Have ye, lad?' Then he began to regale me with tales of dungeon delving and demon killing, while showing me scars. Within a week, I had joined basic training. Morgrym remained a bit of a mentor. I came to him for advice when I could. He's a very giving man, but opinionated. Tends to have a moral bone to pick with everyone. But enough about him. My lady, you are radiant, and your party lively. I shall be delighted to meet your other guests."
Stavian motions to the others that are beginning to address him. Turning to Lady Tigress, nodding in respectful salutation, "Lady Tigress, you honor me with your words. I find my ego inflated to hear that my reputation has spread so far to the southern tips of Garund. I hope that you shall find this evening that I live up to the tales you have heard in faraway Mwangi."
The Grand Prince notes the Drake musician and smiles. "The music is splendid, the snow drift a both fitting and marvelous effect."
It becomes obvious that the Grand Prince heard the Merchant's taunt, but is strictly ignoring her.
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The Samurai holds his new card between his fingers, his play for the moment forgotten at the Rat's story. His jaw hangs open for a moment before he shakes his head, returning his attention to the matter at hand. His eyes shift from the Rat to the Merchant for a few brief moments. He seems to make a decision.
"Madam, I'm not certain how your 'nation' of sand fleas and cultists of the Sun Witch operate, but here, one keeps a civil tongue when speaking to royalty. In this instance, I believe strategy and patriotism happen to coincide when I say that I believe the Baron is precisely the man to teach you some manners." He lays the Baron down in front of the Merchant and takes a sip from his latest glass of wine, looking at her intently over the rim while awaiting the Master of Games to adjudicate.
The Master of Games calmly adjudicates the Samurai's bold move. "The Midnight Samurai has used the Baron and chosen the Merchant of Sands," she says, before taking both the Samurai's Baron and the Merchant's card. "The card in the Midnight Samurai's hand is closer to the Princess than the Merchant of Sands's House Guard," she announces, revealing the House Guard. "The Merchant of Sands is removed from the round."
She then turns to the Gallium Paladin and the Twins. "The Twins By Proxy do not hold the Princess," she says. She then approaches the Twins and the Kuthona Rat with cards for them.
Twins by Proxy, Kuthona Rat, check your PMs.
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"Well, now, what have we here?" asks the female Twin as she considers the cards she and her brother hold.
"All or nothing. As all the best contests, it comes down to the final play," her Twin announces as he sets down the card he holds from the previous turn. "House Guard, I fear the Gallium Paladin has been conspiring with the Count to have his letter delivered. See that his correspondence is intercepted." Both twins fix their masked eyes on the Gallium Paladin, awaiting the outcome of their final gambit.
"The Gallium Paladin does not hold the Count," the Master of Games says, before approaching the Paladin with a card for him.
Gallium Paladin, check your PMs.
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The Merchant, indignant, challenges the Midnight Samurai's words:
"Sand fleas...you callously disregard a national delicacy. Sand fleas are additionally quite healthy, and your skin would probably not be so pallid if you partook in them occasionally. And as for the Lady of Burning Dawn, how dare you disparage her name? She is not known to be merciful. I hope you get sunburn. You probably will."
Even though the Merchant is clearly putting on a show, and has not believed 99% of what she has said this evening, she was somewhat offended by the Midnight Samurai's words. Nonetheless, she does not mean her flimsy insults.
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At the Master of Games' announcement, the female Twin wordlessly kicks her chair away with a strength unexpected from one of her stature. It shatters against a wall. Without a word, she turns on her heel and disappears from the hall.
Her twin turns apologetically to the Gallium Paladin. "She does not tolerate failure," he says by way of apology, then stands, bows stiffly, and hurries after her.
The hostess gently laughs as the Merchant unleashes her tirade. "It is a lovely sight, having such caricatures on display," she comments.
Similarly, she quickly dispels the awkwardness of the female Twin's reaction by turning to the Dark Lady. "I believe I have found the perfect reward for this first round. Would you care to lead us in a toast, the first of three?" she asks the Dark Lady, as she motions for the servants to bring full glasses to everyone.
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The merchant takes a deep breath to regain her composure.
"Ah, but the Rat is right. There are entirely too many lemons in this situation. Pretend to be an apple..."
She fiddles with her sleeves. A hat with a stem and a leaf appears on her head, and her courtier's outfit turns a deep shade of red.
To the Rat:
"Will this do? I ask that regardless of how convincing I may be, that you do not bite me. Your teeth are long and sharp. While I have great admiration for wererats, the process of becoming one seems altogether too unpleasant for my delicate sensibilities."
The Master of Games calmly nods. "The Gallium Paladin has played the Count and has chosen the Twins By Proxy. The Twins' House Guard is discarded, and a new card is dealt. Since the deck is empty, they receive the round's hidden card, and we now move to the end of the round."
She takes both the Paladin's and the Twins' cards and reveals them. "The Twins By Proxy, their letter is in the hands of the Baron, while the Gallium Paladin's letter is in the hands of the Princess herself. The Gallium Paladin wins the round," she explains.
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The Kuthona Rat frowns at his cards, "I am no longer barren of barons, I now have the Baron of Barons. This is quite the dilemma, do I go for the win or do I thank Mr. Swordsman for reprimanding the Merchant by playing Prince Ess? Seeing as you're a dark knight man in black armor from the same place where my mom got me my fan from, I guess that surrendering would be a front to your honor. I play Munchausen, the greatest baron of all. Thank you for the good ga--" He cuts his sentence short and leaps from his seat as the Twin's chair explodes against the wall. His cards land face-up on the table, The Baron and The Princess.
The victory is forgotten though as he cowers underneath the table. He babbles incoherently to himself, but some phrases can be heard intermittently.
"...Sea witches are not like sandwiches, big difference. Save Prince Ess from her evil twin. She wasn't there for my symphony. Synergy, sinfully, some phony, somebody else, full of lies. Angry dead men. His fat head burst and was full of worm, that's not right. Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why was there blood? I see blue red blue jumble blue green blue yellow blue purple blue in you go blue white black gray eight chronosadistic seventy. So why won't the fan work? Is it working? No statues don't care about fans. Statues have no fans. The dead have no fans. The bugs have no fans. Then they burst and stone rained rained rained down on the earth and I fell down falling falling down down down. Don't read the words or speak the poem. Tricks and traps are not apple words. The knife, 'Oh happy dagger, happy happy dagger.' Too happy, wants me dead. Killed the Ess. Half man Half Ling. Why the Ess? Just a child. So cold, did I take my medicine? I thought I took it, I must have took it. Am I with drawers? I hope not, normally not plum. No plums, plums evil. All clear sir, not all clear. Safe is not safe in the safe. The poor soldiers, goblins civilized success, but the man wanted them dead. Why why why? I trained them and they were good. Why hurt them? Don't hurt them! I'll take the fall and I'm falling falling again. Do I still have magic feather? Make me fall less this time. Less. Less. Slower, to not hurt me, not falling. I don't want don't want don't want to die yet, not my time. The clock is wrong, it lies. All the clocks are lemon and pineapple. Don't let me fall off the bridge Lady Rose, don't let the bridge run away away, let me grab the wasp instead. But no, I fall, am I dead? No? Good."
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"It was mostly luck. I believe the only point where an actual strategy changed the outcome was when you thought I had the Baron or the Count and decided to feint low by naming the Baron, when the Count was actually dangerous to you, thus leaving me in the game and possessing the Count."The Angel scoffs. "Figures. Once again proving my point of 'Never be the first one to take someone out.' It never ends well for you." He then plays his card on the table. "Priestess. I look at my own hand. What a surprise."
"Meh - I was trying to feint that I didn't have the Princess and just bide my time. I misread and thought that you had a much stronger card than you actually did."
The Masked Cat looks like she was about to make some reply to the Kuthona Rat's story about the kitten. When he launches into his panicked monologue, she appears to be slightly overwhelmed and confused. Though her mask hides her true expression, her head is tilted slightly to one side as if she is trying, and failing, to make sense of the Rat's chatter.
When the Rat eventually excuses himself, she says to no one in particular, "What an odd fellow."
Her subsequent comments are addressed to the Merchant/Apple, "That was artfully done. Too often people assume that magic is for raining fiery death on one's foes, and they overlook the subtler applications. And it is a rare wit that can keep up with, and react to, a Rat's erratic scurrying."
"Meh - I was trying to feint that I didn't have the Princess and just bide my time. I misread and thought that you had a much stronger card than you actually did.""It was mostly luck. I believe the only point where an actual strategy changed the outcome was when you thought I had the Baron or the Count and decided to feint low by naming the Baron, when the Count was actually dangerous to you, thus leaving me in the game and possessing the Count."The Angel scoffs. "Figures. Once again proving my point of 'Never be the first one to take someone out.' It never ends well for you." He then plays his card on the table. "Priestess. I look at my own hand. What a surprise."
"I see. The problem, of course, is that we have nearly full information as the game winds down. It really just came down to turn parity. If there had been one fewer card, of course, you would have won. It was pretty random."
The Samurai's eyes widen, though it isn't clear whether it is from the Rat's play, the Merchant's curse, or the Twins' loss. "Well played... I think?," the samurai says to the Rat with eyebrows cocked. He looks to the Mistress of Games for confirmation of his loss.
The pale-skinned lady indicates the uniqueness of that turn. "I will leave this question in the hands of the Snow Princess," she replies in answer to his silent question. She then calmly collects all the remaining cards, then acquires a drink from one of the masked servants.
The Snow Princess's eyes widen at the Kuthona Rat's mention of 'happy dagger,' as if she had a special recognition of that phrase. As the Rat excuses himself, she dispatches one of her masked servants to keep a close eye on him.
She then attempts to dispel any lingering awkwardness. "Dark Lady," she says. "Would you care to lead us all in a toast? Gallium Paladin, you will be next." After asking her question, she motions for the servants to refresh everyone's drinks.
she toasts, in her kinder, not-in-character voice, but still a strong commanding voice that easily carries throughout the hall.
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The Apple, leaving her Merchant guise behind for the moment, raises a glass, nods in firm approval. She whispers softly,
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The masked servant peers into the restroom and sees that the Kuthona Rat has removed one of the mirrors in the room and positioned it directly across from the other one. He now is seated on the floor, staring into the center of the mirrored reflections of reflections. His breathing is steadier and he seems calmer. An open hip flask is on the washbasin shelf. Upon noticing that someone else is here, (which him noticing this is a miracle in and of itself), he speaks slowly and deliberately.
"I'm okay Mr. New Person, thanks for checking in on me. I'll be out in a minute, I just needed a quiet place to think for a moment and clean away the plum. The noise was loud like the other times. Lots of other times and places and people and monsters and times and places too. Not apple clocks. Plum clocks. Anyway, do you like reflex ons? I like it when reflexes are on instead of off, because reflexes do not look as beautiful when they're off. I can never seem to find the center of them though, my head keeps getting in the way..."
He suddenly stops as he has an idea. He speaks excitedly,
"I know, ♫√∆₪ſ§π♪!" As he says this in a lyrical fashion and moves his hands for a moment, he disappears. His voice though, continues to talk excitedly,
"So THAT is what the center of a reflex looks like! It's marvelous, Lady Rose would be very pleased. All right, time to go back now."
The servant sees the mirror lift upward from the ground and replace itself next to the other one on the wall. The flask subsequently levitates up from the shelf and tilts sideways for a moment before closing itself and coming towards the servant at waist height. The door he had been behind until now suddenly opens and closes. Moments later, the Kuthona Rat winks back into sight near the end of the hallway, returning to the ballroom in a dignified manner once more.
The Snow Princess gives the Dark Lady an approving smile. "A worthy aspiration," she comments. "Once my current business with the Pathfinder Society is concluded, I will be entirely free to perform my own role in securing the Empire's future. Just how we can all help each other in this regard is... it is a difficult conversation to have while masked. But it is one I certainly look forward to having."
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The Winter Drake still in its role continues to play. It claps politely with its claws after each toast, directing the Drums in the Orchestra to beat to the claps and the other musicians to stand and clap as well.
The Samurai joins the Drake and his musicians in the applause. "Hear, hear! To the future of Taldor!," he cries out over the applause.
The hostess takes a moment to look around at her gathered guests, and visibly changes her mind during the appreciation of the Dark Lady's toast. "Actually, that would make a lovely topic, the future of Taldor and what we can do to assist," she says, at an appropriate moment.
"Thus far, the Society, the organization that binds many of us, has largely stayed away from Taldan business. But we as individuals, with our accumulated wealth, talent, and skill, can obviously do plenty, and we can likely employ utilize our influence with the Society to employ its resources. We all speak of support for the Princess, but what can we do? What sort of ideas or plans have you, my worthy guests, thought of or put into place?"
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Her subsequent comments are addressed to the Merchant/Apple...
The Apple smiles slightly and nods appreciatively to the Masked Cat.
She then returns to her former guise as the Merchant. The Merchant takes out a sheet of paper, a quill, and some ink. She holds the quill in her right hand, and cups her left hand to her ear, leaning in toward the table eagerly.
Both Tiger and Tigress raise their glasses to the Dark Lady's toast. To the discerning viewer, Lord Tiger seems more genuine in his love for Princess Eutropia, and the bright future of Taldor. The Masked Cat seems to be making an honest effort to be polite, and go along with the crowd.
The Cat speaks quietly to her companion, "It will be a bit of an unmasking if we must honestly discuss what we have done . . . or not done in support of the Princess."
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The hostess takes a moment to look around at her gathered guests, and visibly changes her mind during the appreciation of the Dark Lady's toast. "Actually, that would make a lovely topic, the future of Taldor and what we can do to assist," she says, at an appropriate moment.
"Thus far, the Society, the organization that binds many of us, has largely stayed away from Taldan business. But we as individuals, with our accumulated wealth, talent, and skill, can obviously do plenty, and we can likely employ utilize our influence with the Society to employ its resources. We all speak of support for the Princess, but what can we do? What sort of ideas or plans have you, my worthy guests, thought of or put into place?"
"AHA! I believe I've found you out, Princess." The Prince says, ever playful in his tone. "Is this a party, or a political rally?"
Stavian, obviously not wanting to make things too contentious, floats out of the conversation at-large, and over to the Qadiran merchant. He says a bit under his breath, and in a more serious tone "My lady, please forgive my dismissive treatment of you, for a moment I had been perturbed by your taunt, forgetting that this is a masquerade, and thinking your words to be honest." Stavian then returns to his light demeanor and boyish smile. "I believe your exemplary disguise and superb acting skill has outwitted me!"