[ AW ] All Dressed Up and Naked

I See What's Mine and Take It

Well, he didn't know it would be this easy. He'd been setting his plans on having to use subterfuge and guile to slip into the castle, but as luck would have it, a ticket to the winter ball seemed to have fallen into his lap. Perhaps some unlucky soul lost it on the wind, perhaps She brought it to him. Whatever the case may have been, the ticket was in his possession now and he'd used it to simply check himself in at the door under an alias--and oh, he had many. How many names had he long ago gone by? Too many to count and yet still few to tie back to him any. And so, for this evening and this evening alone, he comes as as a Magician to pry his magical trades and hock his ever0-more magical wares. What luck that it's a masquerade party as well, for the swaths of deep violet fabric draped around his face and neck and thrown haphazardly over his shoulder serve as a mysterious mask to cover both his unseeing eyes and his torn face. A mystery man of myth and magic. What ares does he bring with him to show--things to dazzle and boggle the mind and delight the senses in equal measure!


But all things would eventually wind down--few would take notice of the magician leaving for a break, and fewer still would find it strange that he seeks the solitude of an empty hall. And yet, is it not passing strange that his person seems to have vanished nearly entirely from the party? Ah, but no of course not, for it is a magician's very nature to vanish and reappear when called upon. And where does he reappear but in a none-too-magical area deeper within the castle. How he snaked his way through the broken service corridors and unpatrolled halls in complete darkness is a testament only to his senses. He does not use his eyes in any case, and so the treacherous shadows are nothing but a boon to his slithering nature. And whosoever would wish to follow would find themselves at a bit of a loss, his trail growing cold just as quickly as the 'magician' had appeared.
Hidden within the confines of his Magical Box of Tricks--and perhaps in the swaths of fabric that are his mask-- he carries several items of great importance, though they seem to be of little import at the moment. Still, best to stash them away here as he memorizes the rat maze of service halls and tiny waterways through the castle's interior-- he must soon return to the party, lest his absence be noticed.

Soon, he is back on the main floor of the ball with the rising swell of the nights festivities just getting into swing. Well then--best put on a show.