Jiacomo arrives, following Eleyna.

Hiss, the Lenosian viper, Sybilla, the Lenosian courtier arrive, following Talen.

In the dead center of all the uproar that assaults, but also beckons, the senses is none other than the Harlequin of House Velenosa. Blacktongue has donned the motley of his vocation, black and silver painted on his face and plastered right along with his trademark cheshire's grin. The beard is dyed a bright purple, the only touch of color upon him. He stands on a barrel of what could have only once hold wine, calling and beckoning to people - or heckling in less kind terms. "The Eclipse is upon us, the end? Not so near. But what the mirrors shows, it that which you fear! A reflection, a truth that tongue cannot deny. For what the eye spies? The tongue cannot truly deny." A raspy laugh follows and he concedes to the other performers who begin their calls from their booths, their seduction for hoped silver - or scandal. Both are equally profitable in the Lyceum.

"Try your strength, win a lucky trinket for the lass...." calls an attendant near a booth promising to test one's strength in an axe throw. A beat and then he adds as he stares so blatantly at a woman's rear. "...or not. I'll do it for you! More's the prize for me!"

Mira Matessi, one of the Artiglios by extension, wanders toward the epicenter of the madness, wearing a tiny little reddish-orange skirt wrapped just barely over her hips with a ragged hem meant to look as though it was roughly torn from a larger garment. Another piece of the fabric has been carefully wrapped over her bust, the ragged edge hanging freely a few inches below her chest, but never quite connecting to her bare midriff. She has tall red socks, long red gloves, and her fox-red hair has been fluffed and left wild, with some little ears tucked atop her head. She wears a large white bow in her hair and a long tail has been afixed to her skirt in back, near the tailbone. Looking a little nervous, she glances about timidly.

Decadent parties with free stuff? You don't have to tell Mayir Grayhope twice! The Lowers sailor wanders through the Velenosa grounds, looking this way and that, looking to get himself a glass of wine. That seems like a good place to start! And so that is where he does.

From the interior of the Velenosa Estate, Eleyna and Talen emerge arm in arm and, seemingly, in the midst of an intense discussion. Clad in gold witn pearl accents, the Archduchess gleams in the torchlight. With a huffed sigh, the blond Velenosa murmurs, "I know you think you are oh-so-clever, but trying to negotiate me down from three contortionists when I haven't even agreed to one. It's not even your birthday."

Isabetta Gilden, a stick in the mud, wanders around the outskirts dressed as... a huntress! Seriously who would of thought, the only thing about her outfit that is different than usual is that her face mask is in place, so anyone who wouldn't recognize her leathers, or her blonde hair, or her looking like a stick in the mud might not know it is her. She notices some of the others in the crowd, Mira, for instance, and scowls. She's instantly jealous that her preparation consisted of hastily last minute tossing on her normal outfit and just throwing her arms up.

"Well dressed. House Velenosa is full of foxes." Blacktonue calls to his niece, tossing her a blue apple. "Here. Eat that. It should take the timid right out of that stammer." To others that pass him he grins, smile far to wide, "Fancy an apple? Fancy a rhyme? I have only more hidden, and trickles of time."

Blacktongue amends, tacking onto the discussion he picks up from Talen and Eleyna. "If you are in need of contortionists, I have both scathing and glowing reviews." There is a momentary silence that comes from the tent titled. 'Donato's Infenro Room'. One contortionist is even so brazen to stick her head out and glare at the Jester.

"Three is modest when you compare it to my uncle," Talen grouses with relatively 'good' cheer, "so you clearly don't understand how much I'm trying to make an effort in this process of haggling." As he exists the house with his wife and walks down the path into the heart of fun, gunmetal eyes roam over the area. Spying Isabetta's look as his cousin wanders path only causes him to be distracted entirely by the commentary to Eleyna, however, as he leans in to call to both ahead, "Lady Isabetta, cousin, good to see each of you." Then, aside: "I think Isabetta wants a costume."

exits*

Blacktongue checked intellect + alchemy at difficulty 15, rolling 21 higher.

Mayir spots the foxy Mira and he pauses to pick up another glass of wine, falling in step along the lawyer. "Need a drink?" he asks, giving his best smile. He doesn't seem to realize that costumes were in order. But he also does not let it stop him. It's just how he is. "You look good. Really got into it."

"Fortunes, fortunes, for silver I will sliver the days to come!" calls a Fortune Teller, the woman's face well weathered and with hands gnarled. From the Sideshow she calls, her smile promising secrets kept - mocking and infuriating, but inviting, all the same.

Mira squeaks and catches the apple with what at first seems to be deft dexterity, but then she nearly drops it and tosses it from hand to hand as she chases it about. Finally getting a hold on it, she eyes her uncle suspiciously...and shrugs, taking a casual bite. Chewing on it a bit with a bob of her head from side to side, she seems to be waiting for something that never comes. Shrugging again, Mira's hourglass hips lazily sway to and fro as she walks on through the stalls and attractions, tail swinging counter to them across the back of her ragged half-skirt.

Blinking at Mayir, she tilts her head, "A drink? Not... Um..." She blushes a bit, swallowing. "Well...maybe?"

"It's not a negotiation and there is no haggling involved. If I catch you with a cortortionist, you are going into the the fountain." It's only then that Eleyna realizes that said fountain is filled with red wine. Blacktongue might have just stumbled upon Talen's preferred method of execution. As she passes both Mira and Isabetta on her way to Blacktongue, she offers Mira a nod and a little wave to Isabetta before focusing her gaze on the Harlequin, "No contortionists tonight, though did I hear a fortune teller?" With a sly smile, she starts to head that direction, with Talen in tow or now at his leisure.

"Apples, apples, where-ever shall they fall? Weak of mind, the will to maul. But no? No, they are only simple things! There are no webs, no hidden strings!" calls Blacktongue with a cackle tossing another apple into the crowd. To Eleyna he adds, "...I would suggest the champagne fountain. Bubbles in the oddest of places. Foreplay, or vexation. Dependent upon your tastes."

'Maybe' means 'yes,' at least to Mayir and so he proffers his other glass of wine to Mira and then takes his own, raising it up to her. "Mayir Grayhope. Pleased to meet you, Mistress Foxy One." He clinks if she'll clink and then takes a sip of his wine, looking her over. "You want to go to one of the booths together?" She's apparently his companion, unless she says otherwise.

The Fortune Teller smiles at the Archduchess and begins to beckon Eleyna closer with a gnarled hand, the other holding her deep peridot scarf close to her chest. "Yes, yes, fortune for a silver and a sliver of what is to come!"

The slight figure of Mae Grayhope, draped in a cloak, with the hood up, wanders onto the Velenosa grounds. The small woman's cloak is near black and has an odd shimmer to it, and she seems to drift about beneath it, looking rather a bit like a shadow. She pauses at the edge of the festivities and slowly looks about with her big, dark eyes.

Talen checked composure + etiquette at difficulty 15, rolling 23 higher.

From the Maze of Mirrors a masked woman calls, her costume one of Northern garb - every bit the heathern, down to the scant silks only covering bits and 'woads' in suggestive areas. "Come, come, it is only a maze! Nevermind the smoke, the maze..."

"You are a strange creature," Talen informs his uncle on the description of fountains, their contents and the effects. Eleyna's excitement for the fortune teller seems to have him at least marginally inclined to humour her, so he heads on over, guided by her arm. "You do realise you'll get nothing but a positive fortune, right? Nobody tells an archduchess something bad unless they have to," Talen drawls. "We could bet, heads or tails, on whether Isa's is awful or not though," he proposes. "Not like that'll stop you getting one anyway, though."
The lingering, shadowy figures across the way do get his attention, surprisingly not alarmed, as he walks. Mae ends up with the greyish eyes of the former Velenosa guard, now archduke consort, before he judges the figure a non-threat. "Join in, stop looking shady, it tweaks a trained reaction."

Mira seems to space out for a moment, blinking at Mayir with an owlish gaze. But then she snaps back into the present and nods, eagerly, with a light bounce of her chest wrapping, "Absolutely. Lets do something dangerous." Grinning with surprisingly white and sharp teeth, Mira's glasses catch the torchlight of a nearby sconce, turning into bright circles of flame. Waving enthusiastically to Elenya, Mira bounces over to Mayir and seems to be /waiting/.

"A strange creature that has lasted long and to tell the tale no doubt, no matter what the nasty buggers have done to my tongue with their inferior concoctions." jests the Harlequin, bemoaning the lesser apothecaries of the Lyceum. Blacktongue's smile turns to sneer, vanishing as quickly as it appeared when his laughter is found once more. Mae's figure is noted and to her his piercing eyes turn. "Business or pleasure?" he asks, singling her out over the crowd.

Mayir laughs at Mira when she so suddenly decides that she is in after being so hesitant for a moment. He then reaches over and grabs her hand (if she will allow), and begins to pull her over towards the Maze of Mirrors and the woman in the Northern garb and very little else. "Let's try the maze!" he says, cheerily. "If we get lost, you'll keep me company, right?" He winks at Mira.

a tiny man with a BIG unpronounceable name arrives, delivering a message to Mae before departing.

Mae's eyes find Talen, and she flashes a smile to the Archduke-consort. "I am shady!" she calls across the way. Before she can say more, a tiny man (how tiny? who knows) stops her, to hand off a message. She murmurs a thanks, then looks back over. Eyes fix on Blacktongue, and she starts directly towards the man. "Um... I'm not quite sure," she tells him. "I still haven't figured out the answer to the riddle. I'd like to answer it, that would be pleasureful. But it all feels more like business, now..."

"I'm sure that Blacktongue has only procured the most accurate of fortune-tellers for his party. Have a little faith. But, I agree. Let's call Isa over. I bet you 10,000 silver, she gets a good one. Isa looks like the type to stab you in the kidney if you step out of line, after all." Just steps away from the soothsayer's booth, Eleyna lifts her hand and calls out to Isabetta. "Isa! Come here. We're going to discover our futures!" Once she sees where Talen is looking, Eleyna offers Mae a nod, but leave the verbalizes to the Sword.

Isabetta isn't trying to avoid Talen, she just literally doesn't hear him because of all the activity. After a moment she wanders over toward Mira and tells her, "You have a very nice costume, I wish I had thought of that." Her voice is utterly deadpan and flat like the emotional inflection was cut off, if there was an emotion attached. Probably she's interrupting something, but she doesn't seem to notice if she is.

The man at the feat of strength booth has given up, instead now blatantly staring at the women as they pass, eyes sliiiiiding over to the contortionist tent with no lack of blatant lecherous intent.

From that tent? Oh, the sweetest of singing in euphonic invitation. The smell of dust lingers, for those that know it.

Isabetta does hear Eleyna though, because she's cooler I guess. She says to Mira, abruptly, "Sorry, childhood friend is calling who might poison my breakfast." She leaves out, if I don't come over, on purpose, because it turns out the breakfast poisoning is just a fringe benefit of some friendships. She heads over to Eleyna and has a mask on so you'll have to imagine her smiling. "My costume is pitiful." She says in a voice with the faintest inflection of whining.

The fortune teller looks a little impatient, the scent of the game fresh and enticing as the silver is just at hand - fortune, of her preferred variety. Still, she looks between Talen and Eleyna, but then to Isa expectantly. "For the Duchess? No charge. For her, full price for lolligaggin'."

Eleyna nudges Talen with her elbow, smiling at the fortune teller as she says, "Pay the woman, my love."

Mira trots after Mayir when her hand is grabbed, her tail bouncing behind her as she keeps up, "Just the maze?? Maybe if we go through the mirrors, instead..." Looking around suspiciously as she approaches the Maze of Mirrors, she blinks when Isabetta approaches her, "Rawr? Costume?" She looks over herself and ohs with a laugh, bringing the tail about her body, "Oh, thank you! I decided on something more visible for tonight. Moonlight and all that. Ah..." She tilts her head, considering something, as if a little surprised she said that. Anyway, thank you! And have fun!" she adds when Isabetta runs off.

Mayir has joined the Maze of Mirrors.

Mira has joined the Maze of Mirrors.

Aida, 6 Pravus Honor Guard arrive, following Belladonna.

"Very well, 10,000 silver it is, that she gets a bad one," Talen replies as he stands before the fortune teller's section and transitions from alongside his wife to behind her, his hands sliding around her hips, clasped over her silk-covered abdomen. Dipping his head in, her neck is given a press of his mouth while he watches the man prepare his implements of... fatereading. With the instruction to pay, he simply-- from somewhere-- slips a blade to cut off Eleyna's pouch so it drops into his palm so he can find the money, "Yes, my love," he imparts with a thick tongue, so very dry. The fortune teller? Soon paid, very well. "For the Gilden huntress, too."

"I don't know if you can go /through/ the mirrors," points out Mayir as he keeps his hand in Mia's, his other on his glass, as he makes his way on into the place, looking to see what he can see. (Or find his way out what he can find his way out!) "That might hurt. But still! We can see if we can find some danger inside." He is teasing her now.

Blacktongue sinks in stance at his perch, forearms resting on top of his thighs as he cants his head to the side to look at Mae curiously. "The solution is in the problem, the assumption that invitation was the thing to be puzzled after. A twist of words, a snare to the mind to be far from kind to the old fool's wits. The Jester offered up his supplication, hoping for a riddle of confoundation." To the matter of business he laughs, throwing his head back with the rich, raspy sound that sounds ripped from his throat. Blame the years of consuming poison as a living. "Business? Darling, I make pleasure my business. Do not talk shop here! "

Mira purrs softly as she slips into the Maze of Mirrors, tilted forward at the hips slightly in a very light crouch of preparation for horrors within. "Not if you do it right, but fine. And...go!" Mira quickly darts into the maze, squeaking as she nearly runs into a mirror almost immediately.

3 Fidante House Guards, Alejandro arrive, following Calista.

Mae keeps her eyes on Blacktongue, she stares at him for a long moment. She captures her lower lip between her teeth and chews idly. She looks away, then she looks back, and sighs. "No," she admits. "I still don't think I get it. Is it, something... like.. Friendship or ... Time?" she asks, squinting at the man. She stares for a moment, then gives a forlorn sigh, and then pivots, and looks towards Eleyna, Talen, and Isabetta. "Oh, fortune tellings?" she calls over, sounding rather excited. She abandons Blacktongue and starts over to join them.

Miraculously, Eleyna suddenly finds herself feeling remarkably lighter with just the tinest slice of a knife. Amazing how that happens. She doesn't even have time to get angry because there is a fortune to be read. Yet, there is time to give Isabetta a sharp retort, "I haven't poisoned your breakfast in years, Isa. And, to be fair, last time I did, you deserved it. You know what you did."

An apple core is suddenly launched from the Maze of Mirrors, tracing a parabola across the face of the Red Moon.

Isabetta dramatically touches the back of her hand to her forehead and complains, "Accusations." Then lowers her hand and looks over at Talen before remarking, "Fabulous costume." And folding her hands behind her back before saying to Eleyna, "He pulls off respectable surprisingly well, did you dress him?" She looks at the fortune teller, not sure what to make of it yet, possibly delaying her turn. Does she look uneasy? No way, what potent of death could a fortune teller possibly give her that, gulp, could possibly come true. It's all an illusion after all, yeah, not real.

The attendant in her scant, mockery northern garb and mask of a wolf remarks to Mayir and Mira, "If you go through the mirrors it won't end well for you, unless you like bleeding to death. Still, mind your step!" she calls sweetly after them in an afterthought.

The coin is quickly take, vanishing beneath the Fortune Teller's scarf as she sits down at her table and with a sweeping wave of the hand, welcomes them to join her. Suddenly she is all pomp and circumstance since the silver has found a home at her side. "And who shall be first? Ah...yes, the one over all of us holds domain - Archduchess! Your hand." And holding her gnarled onces forward, palm up, waits for Eleyna. To Talen she says, "You'll get yours, wether you ask for it or not." the sharp words ebb into something sweeter for Isa, "Just a moment, dearie."

"Says the woman in the armours of my design," Talen quips to Isabetta, before he looks down at himself, then tips his chin up even -prouder-, if that's possible. Clearing his throat, he fastens the pouch to his belt, then returns to hugging Eleyna's waist from behind. "Isa, you'll probably marry a wart-ridden dog or something, if I recall fortune tellers and their penchant for sadistic emotional torture." Or he might be confusing himself with them. The teller is given a risen brow, before he rumbles, "I'll give you a fortune, too. A bloody nose."

Another apple is tossed into the crowd where a few scramble for the bright golden delight, discord for a moment then replaced with a contented sigh. The two? They soon vanish into the vined terraces once the apple is confused. Blacktongue studies their retreat , detached curiosity of a clinical sort before his attention flits back to Mae. "I will speak plainly. You are trying to solve a riddle where there is none. It is a contest. Give me a riddle. Best riddle wins. The entirety of the Compact has the entirety of the Eclipse to submit and to claim my prize." As she abandons Blacktongue he places a hand over his heart, the other to his forward and in a dramatic mimed flare- crumples to the floor in a fit of melancholy. "MY lady, she doth abandon me!"

There is such a thing as being fashionably late and being utterly tardy. Luckily for her, the Duchess of Roses knows precisely how to smooth over this faux pas. The sultry sway of her hips is emphasized by the silk that clings to her curves and her long dark hair, kissed by blackened cinnamon is left loose, partially veiling the side of her face with an aura of mystery and intrigue. Calista lingers in the background for now, her eyes, shadowed emerald in color, drink in the sights of Blacktongue's Fun House evening in the garden. Lush lips curve into their infamous Tehom-may-care smile as strolls along with a leisurely pace.

Raja isn't dressed up. Though, she has decided to come and see the festevities. The leather-clad woman makes her way through the various games and atractions that have been set up. She is quiet, not really participating, sort of dubious about all the people milling about.

Upon hearing Talen's offer of a 'fortune' for the fortune teller, Eleyna rolls her eyes and says to Isabetta, "As you can see, he can -look- respectable. We're still working on our table manners." Which, Isabetta would know better than anyone, is hilarious since Talen attended every etiquette lesson right along side them. Upon hearing Mae, Eleyna waves her over with her free hand as she offers her palm to the woman at the table. "Come and hear my fortune, Mistress Grayhope! Then we get to hear yours, yeah?" She glances at Talen, "So, what do you think? Am I took be cursed to live to decrepit old age and lose my looks to Time or will I be destined to bear a dozen half-cur offspring?" She glances at the fortune teller expectantly.

4 Culler Hoodlums, 2 Culler Brute arrive, following Orathy.

Talen says without a thought, "Both, probably."

Mae looks back at Blacktongue, and she just laughs, and rolls her eyes. She lifts a hand, to blow a kiss towards the other harlequin. Mae swings back around, to Talen, Eleyna, Isabetta. She steps up closer, and smiles brightly. "Your grace. Your highness. Ummm-... My lady?" she guesses, as she looks upon Isabetta. She considers a moment, then leans in and murmurs a few words to the three, before she straightens back up. "My fortune will likely be /boring/," she wagers. Then blinks. "Oh, your grace, you will beautiful until the day you die. And, Gods willing, that's a long, long time from now," she says.

Wandering through the grounds and taking in the sights, Belladonna does indeed have her guards with her this evening, and they're staying perhaps a bit closer than usual. The little Duchess has faint circles beneath her eyes right now, though the light smile that stays steady on her lips is certainly pleasant enough. There's the occasional pause to sniff at a flower (and make a face, because so sweet) or watch one of the performers, and Aida brings her a drink before too long after having had a couple of sips from it already.

There is real discomfort in how Isabetta receives Talen's words and edges closer to Eleyna, "Table manners and curs? This is starting to sound like a lecture on responsibility and marriages. If this fortune teller is a secret match maker I just don't know what I will do." Luckily the attention is shifted to Mae, which illicits a look from Isa, but when she calls her lady in that doubtful tone she practically melts, "Oh look someone who appreciates my costume, Mistress Greyhope is it? You can officially be friends with me, it's perfectly safe I assure you, just ask Eleyna who never lies."

Orathy is quick to jog up behind Belladonna's guard retinue to catch up, thouhg he deems himself more important than the guards and comes near enough to grunt to Belladonna, "I ain't sure this is my sort of thing." Fun. Orathy doesn't look like the type to have a lot of fun! He doesn't have smile lines afterall!

The Fortune Teller makes a show of muttering to herself, even a slight seizure as the 'spirits' of whatever is talking to her takes hold. Her eyes roll slightly back, bloodshot whites showing before she SNAPS back to attention and with a cackle gives Eleyna her fortune first; "Slow at first, quick, quickened the ascent! But slower, slower....they circle. Smiling from shadows of dusk, until the silencing dawn. Keep hold of that crown sure and strong." To Talen she then turns, "She will not be your last love." It is humoring brevity, but potent all the same as Isabetta gets a far more favorable fortune. "Lady of the Hunt, years it make take, but your largest prey you will find. It is up to you to decide, whether mortal or divine."

From one Duchess to another, Calista spots Belladonna among the throngs of party goers. She takes notice of the Pravus' guards as she slinks her way across the garden like ... buzzing little bee. "Duchess Belladonna, would you care to be my date for the evening." The Pravus guards are greeted with a polite nod of her head while her own Fidante retinue lingers not too far behind her. "We could use a drink, could we not?"

Talen checked composure + etiquette at difficulty 30, rolling 21 higher.

Mae has abandoned him, Blacktongue's feigned faint dropped, the Harlequin rises to his feet just in time to catch sight of the Duchess of Tor. Calista is given flourished bow as the man doffs an imaginary cap, sweeping it against the ground. A flick of the wrist and some slight of hand, he offers a purple apple to her. "Are you at will to partake?" he asks, voice glass dragged over silk.

"You must know a different Eleyna to me," Talen tells Isabetta in inferred disbelief, "as she lies to me all the time." Mae's proximity gets her a few moments of consideration before he decides to say, for Eleyna's benefit, "I hope she's right. We don't want your beauty to fade." Charming, this one. Of course, when the fortune teller gives their offer of Talen's future and his 'last love', he makes a slow showing of adjusting the sleeve to his dominant hand before he manages to pull out words instead - finding some cooler, calmer reply. "You seem to be mistaken." Just as he'll likely say the same about Isabetta's, since he gives Eleyna a withering look, "10,000 silver it is, a bet made and won, by you."

From the tent of Donato's Inferno comes a riotous ripple of laughter, a contortionist falling through the opening only to clutch a sheer silk against herself and then scurry back in. Blacktongue does eye that for a moment and then stage whispers to someone passing by, "...vexing in the silks. That one sounds like an alto playing at being a soprano- off key."

The wolf masked woman in front of the Maze of Mirrors has been tossing back wine all night, using the white wine fountain as her own personal watering hole. She begins to sway, the undulating roll of her hips finding a beat all their own that has more than a few passerby's pausing.

"Perhaps not," Belladonna agrees, turning toward Orathy and lifting her chin, offering up a little smile. "So I doubly appreciate your willingness to join me for this. I will even make it worth your time if you at least *try* to enjoy yourself." Something playful surfaces very briefly, gone by the time she turns towards Calista. "I would not turn down your company,," she answers, shifting just half a step closer to Orathy as the other woman comes closer. When the drink is mentioned, she lifts her glass in indication before taking a swallow from it. It's then waved at Aida, who nods and moves to slip off to fetch (and taste) a glass of something or another for the other Duchess to drink.

One might expect that the enigmatic words, which sound quite ominous, that the fortune teller spares for her, might give Eleyna pause. After all, fortune teller's are never wrong! Yet, while her silken smile remains in place through those words meant for her, it slips as the old woman utters Talen's, the smile fading like the light does as a cloud slips over the sun. She withdraws her hand, back into her own safekeeping now, before a smirk is plaster over her lips that does not quite meet her eyes as she laughs and says with a note of false gaiety, "See? You should never bet against me. I always win. Who's next?" She leans in to listen to something Mae has to say, grinning a bit as the words register eve as her eyes slide over to take in Belladonna and Calista as they wander amongst the flowers and torches.

Mae whispers a few more words, then refocuses, on the fortune. She eyes the fortune teller, then looks up at Eleyna, then Talen, then over to Isabetta. Her brows climb, and then she clears her throat. "Would Talen's last love be... Talen?" Mae asks the fortune teller, with a winsome smile. She'll ignore, well, the first part of that fortune. But then look up to Isabetta, to see if that registers with her.

Calista places a delicate hand to her chest then when Blacktongue makes his appearance and she draws in a breath before speaking. "Purple is one of my favorite colors." A voice that is soft and enchanting, melodic even, like the call of a Siren. "For you? Anything, Blacktongue." The same hand that brushes across the expanse of her chest moves fluidly, palm up, to accept the aubergine apple. "This is quite the display. Both you and Archduchess Eleyna have outdone yourselves." There is a smile then for Belladonna when the other woman shows she has something to drink already. "Ahead of me, Duchess. I will need to catch up." Alejandro is on it, fetching his lady a glass of something decadent. Before taking a sip of wine, Calista brings the apple to her lips and takes a bite. Her eyes level on Blacktongue as she savors the apple's flavor.

"Ah, I understand completely," Isabetta lies and then to her companion states, "The game is afoot, now we have to find the fortune interpreter whom will no doubt charge us to decode our fortunes." Unlike Talen and Eleyna, it is clear that Isabetta found no meaning, rather she just sounds completely confused about her fortune. A moment or to later she manages to compose herself and then offers, "Is it her turn?" while gesturing to Mae, not entirely sounding certain she wants to hear more fortunes. "Oh no, Talen's first love is Talen, Talen's last love is his first love or his second, you know it's quite confusing really."

Raja stops at one of the fountains where red wine simply flows. "Well then!" This seems to please the dark-skinned Culler. This party just might be more to her liking than she thought! Free booze? Hell yeah! She locates a mug before making herself right at home by the fountain, dipping her mug under the crimson flow to fill it up to the brim.

Calista checked stamina + survival at difficulty 15, rolling 5 lower.

Rosaline, former contorntionist of Tor, catches sight of Calista and suddenly bursts into tears with a trembling lip glare aimed at Blacktongue before running off.

Orathy catches the little smile, and his hunched forward shoulders straighten back as he considers the sentiment of making it worth his while, "Aye, suppose I could see about it, if there be drink enough." He glances around at the crowd with some suspicion, lingering a little longer on the woman y the maze of mirrors, those undulating hips garner some of the Culler's attention. It is fleeting since his eyes flick back to Calista when she comes over and Belladonna steps closer to him. "What be the point of all this eh?" He asks, in his Lowers Brogue.

Rosaline, former contortionist of Tor have been dismissed.

Blacktongue checked intellect + alchemy at difficulty 15, rolling 35 higher.

Kit, the grey fox, a tiny man with a BIG unpronounceable name arrive, following Monique.

"Cue the joke about loving myself on a regular basis, har har," Talen says, then reaches out and gives Isabetta a shove on her upper arm. Then there's a scene of tears and running contortionists and Talen turns his head and looks suddenly -ecstatic-. "Oh, drama, look," he crows, shaking Eleyna a little, indicating for her to pay attention, also to distract her from awful fortunes. "Breaking hearts, Rose of Tor," he calls out to Calista, a rare sight of his crooked smile shown at the delight. Of course, Mae's is due, so he lingers by the crone for a time longer - if only out of idle curiousity.

Mae, too, turns to look at the crying. Then she spots on duchess and another. She might not recognize Calista, but her eyes catch Belladonna. Mae sends a smile that way - which is probably hard to see considering her dark hood is still up - before turning back to the fortune teller. "I can decode it for you later, my lady," Mae offers, as an aside, to Isabetta.

"The whelp turned Prince is generous." The Fortune Teller baits Talen further before turning her aged and tooth-missing smile back to Eleyna. "Don't fret; it always end well for you." There is a cautious look to the Harlequin, ensuring her true employer has not heard any of the fortunes told his family this eve. "She does have the winning hand." she agrees, giving Eleya's hand one gentle squeeze before releasing it. To Mae her attention turns and she motions her closer and holds out her weathered hand for the younger.

"That is one of the best things about Velenosan parties," Belladonna tells Orathy, her gaze leaving Calista when the woman turns her attention to the apple. "There is an endless supply of the finest alcohol to be had. There are fountains of wine." She tips her glass that way, in indication. "The point of it all is to acknowledge the parts of us that most deny most of the time, to relish them. In practical terms, it's a hedonistic celebration where many leave most restraint behind."

"That's no fortune at all, to say Eleyna always wins in the end. I must insist on a refund." The crying does draw her attention, or rather did, but it was over so quickly it was hard to keep her attention very long, so it is soon back on the fortune telling which continues to perplex her, luckily Mae offers to save the day by explaining it later which she'll surely remember as she responds, "Delighted to hear it Mistress, sorry I already forgot your name." Though she sounds apologetic about it, she doesn't appear to be lying.

"She has expired anyway." Blacktongue remarks of the former contortionist of Tor as she runs off. "I caught her trying to do her makeup likes yours the other evening.." he confesses to Calista with an entire lack of tact; he's trying to embarrass the woman as he futher admits, "I wouldn't remember her name if she didn't have it inked at the base of her spine." Telling, that. Now with all the utmost propriety he turns to Belladonna and introduces/offers. "The Blacktongue, Harlequin of House Velenosa. Apple?"

"Margery Grayhope," Talen informs Isabetta, helpfully.

From the sideshow emerges the painted lady and man, covered in head to toe tattoes of differing ink styles. Who manages to catch their attention? Monique! They approach the Valardin and then ask, "...have we seen you before? You just seem..well, familiar. Or wanted." the woman smiles larger at this.

"Mae Grayhope!" Mae corrects Talen, with a huff. "And I own the Murder of Crows, if you know the place. And I'm a Harlequin... of Death. Not House Velenosa," she adds. Then she turns back to the fortune teller and nods a few times. She tugs one rather nice looking black, fingerless glove off her one hand, and then she extends it out. "Tell me of Fate, old woman, and we'll pretend it's not shattered," she says, with a sweet smile.

One knows not to eat the whole apple unless they wish to be sick for days, but a bite won't kill one. Maybe." Calista gives the piece of fruit a look and then glances up to Blacktongue again before stepping in closer to share a private word with him. While they speak, she hands the apple back and lightly fans her face. Heat taking over, the sounds of the crowd rising and washing over her from every direction. She hears Talen but it takes her a moment to find him. "Only if the rumors are true, your grace." She takes the glass of wine from Alejandro now and lightly holds it between her fingers.

Monique slips into the fray of the festivities with a furtive air, one of eager delight and wide, greedy eyes. Her hair is a flaming beacon to mark her, and her smile is quicksilver for Blacktongue's greeting. "As the King. He stole two of my posters from the collection. This is astonishing," she waves a hand to the dark revelry.

"No restraint eh?" Orathy chortles, "Reckon that is how I be living my life already. Should be able to fit right in." He starts to make a thorough study of what sort of booze there is to drink, "Fountains of wines?! Now I've fucking seen it all..."

Eleyna's attention is also drawn toward the crying contortionist. She narrows her eyes and says in a low voice, "Hopefully he'll finally get rid of that one. She took Donato's duck away from him." Her chin lifts and she pointedly looks away, her expression softening just a bit as she glances between her companions, murmuring, "The only reason I always win is that I never engage in losing games. There, you have my secret. I should charge each of you for it." She reaches out to tentatively press her hand against Talen's forearm, just a simple touch for the moment.

The Fortune Teller turns to Mae and smiling sweetly amends, "The name was never given." Talen and potential snark is flat out -ignored- while the new client is approaching. "Silver for a sliver of the future." the gypsy reminds before proceeding with the fortune; "The wall of skulls stack high, but yours will be small. Loved ones? Aces, spades, in your hand. Keep them close and the wheel cannot demand."

"I thank you for the offer, but no thank you," Belladonna answers Blacktongue, bowing her head to him and offering another smile when she raises her chin. She does laugh for Orathy's reaction to the fountain, giving a gesture that way. "Go enjoy," she tells him. "Just find me when you're done, I'll be nervous until you're back." Because she totally looks nervous. Really. Well, she does if nervous-face is the same as pleasant-face. Her attention comes back to Calista and Blacktongue; there's a moment spent studying the other Duchess before she smiles again to the Harlequin. "I do not think I would fare so well," she says, in explanation for her refusal.

"What is the Murder of Crows?" Isabetta asks Talen, lowering her voice while she watches the woman with the fortune teller. "Mistress Margery does not appear one to be trifled with, why is she not telling the fortunes?" While she contemplates this her eyes happen across the crowd and she notices Monique, resulting in her quickly reaching to her face covering to make sure it is in place. No way she could be recognized in her leathers that she was literally wearing the last time they met. To Eleyna she says, "My cousin will cover my debts."

"Short for Margery," Talen insists to Isabetta, despite the woman who objects being the one who owns the name, or in this case doesn't. "It's a place you shouldn't go, but you will just because I said that, so it's a tavern in the Boroughs, Isa. Try not to get felt up by a random thug, punch him in the throat and show him the stuff you're made of." Mae is given a watchful eye for a time as she interacts with the fortune teller and tells her the truth of the world and its weave. Then there's the touch of hand from Eleyna to his arm. Tucking his mouth against his wife's ear, his lips open and he captures it at the lobe, suckling it in full view of the public. It doesn't seem to bother him. When he lets up a few seconds later, he exhales words that are hushed there, before he presses on her lower back as if to guide her away, though he soon ceases and slips away without much more said. It's easy, in a crowd.

Calista leans towards Belladonna a touch to conspire. Hushed words lull on velvety tones. She then gestures towards Eleyna and Talen. "Have you stopped over to greet the Archduchess and the Archduke yet? I do not wish to be rude." The young woman has yet to take a sip of wine but feels her mouth is a touch dry. She licks her lips once, then twice.

Blacktongue is fortunately, or unfortunately, overhearing the going on's over near the Fortune Teller's tent. To Eleyna, darling niece that she is, he calls, "One reason she is on the way out. The new one? Much better with my grand nephew." Why the Jester and his revolving door 'performers' are entrusted the keep of an infant, is anyone's guess. "Calista." he says simply, veering to the next venture of conversing after hearing her private word. His lips curl in a slow smile, his namesake playing at the eye-tooth before forming the words, "The rumors are always true, to those with the heart or mind to believe them. Embrace them! In fact, encourage them! Shall we?" he asks as he passes off an apple to Belladonna. This one? Why this one is a BRIGHT pink.

Mira has left the Maze of Mirrors.

Orathy does go off to have fun... which means he's going to start drinking out of the fountain and then wander off to god knows where.

Mayir has left the Maze of Mirrors.

4 Culler Hoodlums, 2 Culler Brute leave, following Orathy.

Mira emerges from the Maze of Mirrors looking annoyed. She's wearing a little slip of a skirt made from reddish-brown, ragged fabric, and a top wrapped about her bust of the same material. She has a foxtail, fox ears, and a white bow tied in her hair. Grumbling softly she hrms, looking about at the attractions.

Mae hands over the few silver with only a little hesitation. She's surely not tossing around tens of thousands of coins! Then she waits for the reading, and a smile crosses over her lips. "Intuition and energy. That's what /everyone/ says," Mae tells the fortune teller. Then a little giggle, and she bows her head. "Thank you, madam fortune teller," she says. Then she's blinking, and looking up at Talen. "... Wait, what?!" she blurts. "Is it?!" she asks, with a wave of confusion and concern crossing her pale face. And then Talen is leaving. So Mae looks to Isabetta, then Eleyna. "Is Mae short for Margery?!" This is a full on identity crisis, it might seem.

The painted pair, head to toe tattoos, grin impishly at Monique. "We have your poster too. Do you not seem...surprised, your fame reached the South? Tell us, your -worst- crime. We wonder if it matches ours."

The quieter words from Calista have Belladonna nodding to her. "I have not," she says, quietly. The apple passed to her is eyed for a moment, and then there's a thoroughly vacant smile offered to Blacktongue and Calista. "I wish you both a good evening," she says, stepping two paces backwards before she turns and walks away, setting the apple down on a bit of masonry she walks past, starting to drift back the way she came.

Blacktongue shifts his eyes to Mira and Mayir, one brow arching while its brother angles down sharply. The look is certainly inquisitive.

Mayir makes his way out of the Maze of Mirrors, slightly behind Mira, looking a combination of flushed and confused. Whatever. He stops to get some more wine for himself, and then looks at the foxy lawyer. "Want to try something else?" he suggests, gesturing around the party.

"Definately True," Isabetta tells Mae without even an ounce of hesitation. Anyone who knew her would also know that the truth matters nothing here, only what she can say that will get someone's goat. Once button is revealed that can be pushed she is desperate to push it. At least Eleyna would likely know, maybe no one else does. She tries to give Mae a consoling pat on the shoulder, but no doubt would instead feel patronizing.

Mira blinks at Mayir, as if looking surprised that he's still there. "Rawr? Like what?" Trotting over to the Grayhope she went into the Maze of Mirrors with, Mira blinks up at him with just slightly -too- innocent of a look, her eyebrows high and eyes wide.

One moment, Talen is leaned in to Eleyna, lips against her ear and then the crowd obscures them from view and, when it parts again, she is alone, smoothing her hands over the front of her gown as she calls over to Mae, grinning, "It could be, if you want it too, Mistress Margery Grayhope!" The Archduchess makes her way to the center of the madness, namely Calista and Blacktongue, offering a nod as she sees Belladonna departing. To the other two, she murmurs, "A proper lead up of insanity to the Masquerade. Well done, Uncle."

"My worst crime?" Monique replies, lips curving. She tips her head thoughtfully. "I have no bad crimes. I was never caught." That's the simple answer, and the one she sticks with. "But I'm game to hear yours." Her gaze lingers here and there, specifically on Mae and the fortune teller.

Mayir looks around the area, considering his options. "We should go to the sideshow and I could win you a prize! Or we could go into the --" And here Mayir gestures over to the inferno room. "Whatever that is." Or. He leans in and murmurs something into her ear, smiling with equal innocence.

"Be well, Duchess." Calista bids Belladonna a pleasant adieu as the woman starts to leave the soiree. "Did you hear that?" She tells Blacktongue and Eleyna by chance as the Archduchess now joins them. "Oh, you're so much closer than I suspected. Were you here the whole time? The pupils of her eyes have dilated some. "I thought I heard someone say Mae Culler was here? I'd like to meet her. I was writing with her the other day. Always so good to put names to faces."

Mira clasps her hands behind her back, rubbing her calf with the shin of her other leg as she listens to Mayir's whisper, the tall black socks crossing. "Mmm, tempting...but I *do* like prizes." She considers the sideshows thoughtfully and nodding quite suddenly as she looks back up at him, "But if you fail, I'm going to laugh at you. Fair warning."

"No, I-... Don't teeeease!" Mae whines, at Isabetta. Positively unbecoming of a noblewoman! Which it's a good thing Mae's not that. "I never met my dad. And my mom didn't exactly /speak to me/. What if they picked Margery and Mae is just the nickname..." She says, with a frown. This has decidedly got her perplexed, and Eleyna proclaiming this so hardly help! And so she stays there, by the fortune teller, looking sullen, and unaware of any Monique's staring at her, or Calista's using her proper name.

For the most part the Fortune Teller seems altogether over the fortune process once the words are said and their silver spent, she eyes them, trying to gauge their willingness for more. "You are fortunate." is all she says to Mae, as simplistic as that is.

The inked couple laugh identical in a peal of laughter for Monqiue, "Then you are the hand we would..need, but you seem captured." They pout in unison and glance to the Fortune teller as Monqiue goes that way.

Aida, 6 Pravus Honor Guard leave, following Belladonna.

His nephew is given a nod as he departs and then Blacktongue turns his attention once more to Calista, "Well, it has hit you quicker than most..." a glance is given to the purple apple in Calista's hand. "Mae is here, but seems unwilling to give me a riddle." he opines with a a curl of his lips up the left cheek, the dimple forming while the right remains dormant. "She drew me once, though the eyes were the wrong color."

Isabetta stays there with Mae, she watches Eleyna go and seems to consider following her as her entourage, but instead decides against it. Eleyna is headed over toward stuffy looking conversation and maaaybe it was less Isa's scene then well.. Okay certainly less fun, she turns her attention fully on Mae and speaks in the most consoling voice she can manage, which isn't that consoling and says, "I know exactly how you feel." The statement is a lie, she's no idea what she's talking about. "But you know, Margery is a lovely name, you should embrace it. Here lets try saying it together."

Monique strolls up behind Mae, towards the fortune teller. "It could be short for Maybelline, too. Or Maeve. Or Mayflower!" So helpful. She eyes the fortune teller, skeptically, but with an eye for avarice that they both probably share.

"Well! All right! And if I win?" asks the Grayhope sailor, Mayir, as he makes his way over towards the sideshow with the foxy lawyer, considering her words. "What do I get then?" But he doesn't seem to much care, really, because he is stepping up to the line to see what the throws are.

6 Malvici Guards, Adjutant General Vincenzo di Malvici arrive, following Calypso.

The woman in the wolf mask and 'northern' garb and woads continues her dance near the maze of mirrors. It is bacchanal truly, intoxicated as it is enthralling. The slow rise of arms is followed by a serpentine, fluid roll of the hips that ends eventually at the knee. It causes a few men to pause, speak to her softly and upon her half quirked smile, they enter the maze.

"No you don't!" Mae protests, as she snaps out of her distracted contemplation. "I don't need to see behind the silly mask to know you're teasing me," she huffs. "Thought you said we were going to best friends," she says, and then huffs, again. Mae finally catches her name - spoken by Blacktongue - and looks that way. "Oh!" she calls. "Oh, is that it? Is it red, like fire?" she asks, loudly, across the way. And as she's shouting, Monique arrives. "Oh, Lady Monique, what if it /is/ Mayflower? That's so pretty-..." She gives a soft sigh. Then she glances as the old woman. "Oh! Give her a few silver and give her your hand. She'll read your fortune. She's rather excellent. Totally spot on."

Mira smirks over at Mayir as she follows, hips lazily swaying to and fro. "You get to give me a prize, that's what." She sweeps a hand before her, "So what game are you going to risk? Knowing my uncle, they're probably all rigged, but in random ways."

"Well, maybe you are the prize!" says Mayir, cheerily, as if suggesting that the Real Eclipse of Mirrors was the friends they made along the way. But then he steps up to the booth, putting down his silver and getting a throwing axe in return. "Oh, man," he says, looking down at the axe. "This isn't my thing!" And yet here he is.

Isabetta pouts behind her mask and seems to lose a little composure. After Mae finally stops speaking and Isabetta is firmly and truly defeated she manages to say, a little defensively and a little childishly, "Well.. but that's how I treat my friends," she replies lamely, "Just ask Eley- Her Grace.." She gestures toward Eleyna lamely and then looks back at Mae. At this point she spots Monique standing there and freezes right up. Her nervousness quickly overtakes her composure and she manages a weak greeting, "Hello, My lady." And tries not to meet Monique's eyes while wearing a mask, it is after all the exact same outfit she wore to the gauntlet when they met earlier.

"Well done, in all, niece." Blacktongue extends to Eleyna and wrapping an arm about her shoulders, gives her a one-armed hug and then a peck on the cheek. He releases her and then with more slight of hand, extends an impeccable aquamarine apple towards her. "My newest." is all he says before his eyes shift to the clamor of his name. "Mistress Mae; we will have a lesson on riddles at a later day...." and then his voice raises in lilt, greetin Calypso, "My sunshine! Oh, doth, how the clouds now break at the radiance of your smile.." Calista is about to be told something but, thinking better, he simply murmurs it in her ear.

The man at the axe throwing booth takes a moment to lazily quirk a brow at Mayir, smirking when he finally catches sight of him. "Top heavy as this one? You'll have to throw hard." is all the says before pointing at the cleary large LOG at the end of the stretch of booth. "Hit that, win a prize. Bottle of the finest, or bottle of the worst. Or, if you get bullseye? Lady gets a favor at the Jester's generosity." And the terms laid plain, he hands an axe handle-first to Mayir to throw.

Calypso steps in to the celebration with her hands clasped behind her back, observant for a moment. She smirks a little as she sees a few familiar faces. "Well, doesn't this look like quite the party." She approaches Balcktongue when he calls to her so poetically, her smirk fading back in to a shrewd and serious expression. "Harlequin. What devilish deeds are you coercing these fine people in to this evening?"

Eleyna peers closely at Calista, takes in the familiar signs of having partaken in one of Blacktongue's special apples. "You know, I do seem to recall a certain Duchess cautioning me not to eat apples just because they are offered to me." She leans in and gives the Duchess' shoulder a slight squeeze before she looks Blacktongue in the eye and takes the apple with a little laugh. She holds it close to her chest and says, "If Duchess Fidante can't make it across the Square on her own, feel free to put her in one of the guest suites. Unless there are other quarters that she might enjoy. I myself used to spend a lot of time in the servants wing." The Archduchess smiles archly, lifts her brows as if in a mock expression of utter innocence and starts to melt into the crowd, but not before giving Calypso a wink and a nod in greeting. Soon, the Velenosan is lost in the crowd of revelers.

"I'll call you Mayflower as long as you like me to," Monique replies to Mae with a fond smile, reaching out to touch a hand to the other woman's arm if she allows it. And then her eyes drift sidelong to Isabettea... and squint. One of her eyes winks, and she turns to the fortune teller. "What dire predictions, lady mystic? I've got silver to spend."

Mira scowls at the Man at the Axe Throwing Booth, "Excuse you." Folding her arms under her chest, she continues to frown with a tilt of her hips, well aware of to whom he's referring. But to Mayir, Mira notes, "Put some effort into it, would you? Getting a favor from my uncle is no small thing."

Mayir checked strength + medium wpn at difficulty 15, rolling 3 lower.

Eleyna is overheard praising Blacktongue for: Ain't no party like a Jester's party...

Mae looks to Blacktongue and just frowns, and then tosses up both hands. "I am never going to figure this out," she says, with a sigh. Then her attention shifts to Isabetta. Then over to Monique. Her brows furrow. "What-..." She starts. Then stops. She flashes Monique a smile. "Thank you, my lady minx," she says. Then she turns, and reaches out a glove hand, to snag Isabetta's gloved hand. "Was she mean to you?" she asks Isabetta, as Monique goes into the fortune reading. "I could pull her aside and tell her how she is to treat my friends, if she was," Mae says, seemingly entirely serious.

The problem, of course, is that Mayir is a lover, not a fighter. Or at least not a guy who throws heavy axes at any point in his life. So he gives the thing presented to him an old heave-ho, but it spins helplessly away down into the base of the log. "Well!" he says finally. "At least I hit /something/." He seems pleased with that, at least.

Mira is overheard praising Blacktongue for: Apples.

Mayir is overheard praising Blacktongue for: What a party!

Jiacomo leaves, following Eleyna.

Standing in the gathering of Eleyna and Blacktongue, Calista lifts a hand to welcome Calypso. Her smile, though impish as always, is far more relaxed this evening. "Hmm? Oh yes, that was probably me." She confesses to Eleyna as if the Archduchess was not already speaking about her. The words and music in the background grow louder in her ears but it does not seem to be too bothersome. Her laughter is lighter, brighter even. She catches Eleyna's mention of her time in the servant's quarters but rather than call her on it now, she gives the woman a little waggle of her brows then bids the Archduchess a good evening.

Calypso makes her way over to Calista and grabs a drink along her path. Eleyna is given a return wink and then a more polite incline of her head as the Archduchess heads out. "What is good to try here, Calista? Have you gone through the maze of mirrors yet?"

Mira winces a bit when the axe goes flying, but looks relieved when it thunks into the log, at least. "Well... At least no one died..." She turns and taps Mayir's arm. "Why not try again?" She nods a couple times, lifting her eyebrows.

"Don't blame -me- for the apples. I only provide, it is you who consumes." Blacktongue shifts blame induced by Eleyna with his caricature of care in expression, brow furrowing and a fraction of second when his lips indulge a pout. It vanishes as quicly as it appeared, replaced by a vulpine grin. "We have plenty of rooms, and sadly not all of them my own?" he does bemoan to the Duchess of Roses in jest, bidding his Archduchess then a fond farewll. "General turned Duchess, though I prefer the former..." he begins to Calypso, "...indulgence. Always, always the imbibing. Care you an apple, a wine? Why, enough and we may get you laugh."

Mae catches /that/ particular moment out of the corner of her eye. "Mayir you missed!" she yells across the way. For sullen and shadow-ful, Mae sure does get /loud/.

Blacktongue adds for Mae. "Write a riddle. It is simple."

"Good luck, my Harlequin." Calypso says with the raise of her glass to Blacktongue. "I think I -will- try an apple. Guide my hand way from the poisoned ones, won't you?

"Do not eat the purple apple." Calista shares with Calypso then shakes her head a touch. "And no, I've not yet gone through the maze of mirrors. Would you go through with me?"

Mira looks over in surprise and laughs at Mae's sudden shout. Recognizing the lady in question, Mira gets a goofy little smile and waves from around Mayir. "You leave her alone!" Mira calls out to Blacktongue, sticking her own pink tongue out at him before looking back at Mayir expectantly.

Isabetta with her hand in Mae's is like totally struck by how manic this situation has become, so her composure is lost and she sort of stutters her next words, " I .. ah." She looks over at Monique and admits, "Someone was mean." She lets Mae get carried away to her next distraction, but decides to follow along and starts paying attention to the axe throwing too. To no one in particular she murmurs, " I am so jealous of that costume," referring to Mira's sort of catlike costume of like just random clothes (and not much of them) thrown on.

The man at the feat of strength booth seems to take pity on Mayir. When Mira isn't looking, he winks and passes the other man a bottle of the finest wine he has and then remarks, "I hope you have harder to offer her than the hardest you gave at this booth. I'm certain she'll 'bounce' back from the loss just fine."

Calypso checked stamina + survival at difficulty 15, rolling 11 higher.

Blacktongue checked intellect + alchemy at difficulty 15, rolling 36 higher.

"No! See! I hit it!" Mayir holds up his bottle of wine, as if to show that it is all here and really, he won, and no one should ask any more questions about how any of this happened to anyone. He gestures at the bottle and then tugs Mira's arm. "I won. So there." He has the prize to prove it!

The Fortune Teller turns to Monique and extending her hand, waits for the woman's palm. She studies it , but only once silver is exchanged, and then warns helpfully, "A boon you once thought past, long since buried, resurfaces and will come heavy - but those who come to collect the bounty are easily swayed, easily betrayed, so keep your silver close on you if you wish to escape -that- thief's bounty."

Mae's eyes flick to Mira, and she stares for a moment. Her brows lift, and then her eyes go wide. There's a sly smirk on her lips. Yes, that's got to mean /something/. But mostly, it's followed by a little laugh, as she again looks to Blacktongue. Aside, to Isabetta, she says, "I'll figure it out." She keeps hold of the masked Huntress's hand, even as she looks back towards Mayir. Mae huffs. "That's my cousin," she says, to Isabetta. "My husband's cousin," she corrects, as if she might not want to be /too/ related to Mayir at the moment. Then it's back to Monique, and Mae smiles bright, as the fortune is told.

Calypso reaches over and picks up the chilled apple. "I think this one probably suits my personality better." She says to Calista, giving Blacktongue a look before she bites in to it. She squints at him to see if he has anything to say about her choice, but then turns to Calista. "I would love to walk withyou through the maze of mirrors."

Mira's hips twist aside in a way that makes the cloth foxtail swish and flick in a fairly convincing way when Isabetta comments on her outfit, though it's not evident she actually heard the comment. Even one of the ears atop her head seems to rise a little higher with the tilt of her head. "You...did?" She blinks, looking a little bewildered at where Mayir got the wine, or when. "I thought..." She idly points a finger over at the log, her palm mostly up. "Well, congrats?" She scowls, folding her arms under her chest. "Fine, fine. But *I* get the wine."

Calypso is handed an apple of a deep orange hue. With a small tilt of the head and lift of the brows, the Jester does warn, "You'll feel not yourself, at least not what the public is privy to." The warning decreed, Blacktongue shifts his attentions back to Calista to note her own current state. Pleased, or at least content she won't drop in an instant, he continues, "You may need a guide? Tricking, perplexing, but still..the angles. Gods, with the contor-" he thinks better of whatever other words were to follow, and stops himself short.

"Ta-da! Some wine for my date for the night. And lawyer on retainer." Mayir gives Mira winning smile, looking down at her hips and otherwise as she tries to puzzle it out. He glances back to the axeman, giving a relieved grin at the save he was given.

Monique leans in to cross the crone's palm with silver. Then she listens. And squints. And listens. And tips her chin up. "Always good advice, no matter the circumstance. My thanks, lady mystic." She finally tips her fiery head down, grinning, and turns to the revels. "Now, what next! I'm feeling rather alive this evening!"

Mayir also holds out the bottle to Mira, offering it up to her.

"These fortunes make no sense," Isabetta quietly complains on hearing Monique's fortune and then when Mae speaks she lifts her brows, both of them and says, "You're married? Is this a sign? Ta- HisgracePrinceTalen," She says the title as though it's a chore to be formal with his name, "Kept telling me my fortune would be about my arranged marriage to a wart-bred mongrel." Her eyes are mystified and also a little horrified. "That.. wasn't what my fortune was about, was it?"

At this point in the evening men, and women alike, have been venturing off into the 'Donato's Inferno Room' when they thought no one was looking. It's the Lyceum. Everyone is looking. Still, at this hour of the night sounds that are highly suspect escape the whisper thin silk walks of the tent as the smell of haze, booze, and other substances escape.

Mira hmms and eyes the label on the wine, looking a little impressed. "Not terrible! ...Actually kinda pricy." She turns the bottle about and peers down at it. "Didn't arrive on one of my father's ships, though." Lowering the bottle to her side, she lifts her eyebrows, "Well, I should probably get home. It's really, very warm out here." Not really, but Mira seems to be flushed at the cheeks. She smiles up at Mayir, "But thanks for spending some time with me. I usually spend these events by myself."

Mae blinks a few times, then her brows furrow, and hen she looks up at Isabetta and stares for a long moment. "What?" she asks. Blink blink. Then Monique is leaving, and Mae blinks again. "Good bye, my lady!" she calls. She stares for a moment, then looks back to Isabetta. "Um. Well. Neither me nor my not-wart-bred husband can marry you. I mean. I'd at least want to see you face before I married you. And I'd have to be noble, too, so-..." She upturns her free hand, then gives a faint shrug. "Let's maybe get to know each other first, before we get married?" she asks. "Also, did I ever get /your/ name?"

"Oh! Well! You could use the company! Need someone to walk you home?" he asks. "Because I ought to head out as well." Mayir flashes her a winning grin. "If you don't mind. Otherwise, good seeing you!"

The axeman gives Mayir a single upnod and then a pointed look off to the left, to a buxom woman that must be his wife that is rearranging the prizes of their small bit of carnival. He knows the 'struggle'.

Relieved, and with a coinpurse heavier, the Fortune Teller seems content to hide in the shadows of the entrance of her tent if none others are to approach her. Monique is surely given a kinder nod than the others had been given. Manners, go far.

The Fortune Teller does add for the sake of Isabetta, "No. It is not. The game is bigger, as is the prey,and if truly a Lady of the Hunt? Greater than a a common lay."

Calypso takes another bite or two of her apple and looks to Calista. "Suppose we should get ourselves a tour guide though the maze of mirrors then? Face our demons." She grins, and then.. makes an almost giggle sound. "Maybe they'll mix up our reflections the way they mix up our names."

Mira shakes her head, "Nope!" Mira sounds cheerful as she puts a fist on her hip and lifts a finger, "Anyone that attacks me is probably going to end up...um..." She blinks, as if becoming more aware of what she's saying. "I'll probably just run away from them. Because they'll be scary." She nods slowly, eyes a little wide. "...I should go." Turning, Mira suddenly takes off at a jog for anywhere else but the Carnival!

"Wait what?" is all Isebetta manages to say in an utterly deadpan voice that is mired with confusion and uncertainty and mostly just the former. Suddenly she is reminded that Mae is somehow able to tell fortunes and decode fortunes and it all makes sense. She gets it. "I don't get it." she plainly admits, but she was asked her name, also her mask is kind of dumb since this isn't a disguise so much as her field gear, so she lowers it, her piercing blue- scratch that, confused blue eyes fixed on Mae and her neatly kept hair already mussed (she fails at being proper, can only fake it for so long and says, "Isebetta Gilde-" Then the fortune teller speaks again and she whirls her head around and exclaims, "What. Does. That. Mean." Her patience fortunes coming to an end.

Calista reaches out to take Calypso's arm for a moment and murmurs to her. "I think I need to take a seat." Then there's talk of being guided through the maze with her in-law, Duchess Malvici and the Ring Leader, Blacktongue. "Well, yes we should do that. Take a guide." She fans her face again. "It's rather stuffy here, isn't it?"

"I designed it, after all." Blacktongue reminds Calypso and Calista, and anyone within earshot, as the Maze of Mirrors is mentioned. It would appear that he is to act as guide.

Mae seems to have lost interest in the fortune teller. Far more interesting is Isabetta, who is removing a mask. "Ooooh..." Mae says, her big eyes (which, really, they are nearly cartoonishly big. Oddly big.) go bigger. "You are very pretty," she says. "We could get married," she confirms. Then she turns to look back over, to the Fortune Teller. Mae huffs. "Don't be rude," she says to he old woman. Then she gives a tug to Isabetta hands. "C'mon. She's just trying to get a rise out of you. Let's go ask Blacktongue about his riddle, it's driving me crazy."

Calypso guides Calista over to Blacktongue. "You'll be just fine. Have a glass of wine and we'ell head in to the maze." She nods to the jester. "You'll show us the way, won't you?"

The Fortune Teller smiles at Isabetta, borderline cruel. "You're always hunting, are you not? But does a heart beat beyond the innate appetites? The writing on the wall begs to differ, though fate screams something rather perculiar." It is hard to determine whether the weathered woman is being purposefully infuriating or not.

Usually Magpie Grayhope is far more put-together. Today, though, the man is looking rough. His hair is greasy from lack of washing, his scruff has gone from roguish to just... hairy chin. His clothes are rumpled and he has heavy bags under his eyes from poor sleep. The man wanders through the event, a searching expression on his face as he weaves among the people.

Isabetta needs no further urging, really no further urging at all, especially if they're going to slay a riddle. Right about now Isebetta really wants to slay a riddle, she hopes it is like slaying a beast and it can be done with an arrow, but in her heart of heart she knows, it is words and that is not her strong suit or her favorite suit. Though she comes along easily with Mae, even determinedly easy and growls, "Let us dispatch this cruel word game once and for all." Sounding way more confident and capable of doing so than she actually is. Then the fortune teller speaks again and Isa is trying to turn to call something back to her again, no doubt angry, but Mae has already dragged her enough that she's able to swallow her return, one probably less inspired and clever sounding.

"The former Duchess of Flowers bids hello!" calls the Fortune Teller, cackling after Isabetta before vanishing into her tent.

"It would appear into the Maze we will venture." Blacktongue announces, not sounding in the least bit perturbed. Motley is painted on his face, squares of silver and blacks. Head to toe, monochromatics of shade, the only touch of color on his person being the beard dyed a bright purple. "For those wishing to be essentially lost, line up and into the telling we shall wade - but be warned, just because what you see may not be to your heart's content? Well, then thin skin and all of that...I'm not rhyming that." he says, for once.

Calista places that hand to the back of her head, suddenly looking a touch green. She turns to give Calypso a kiss on the cheek, then Blacktongue. "Forgive me, I'll need to get home. Thank you for a ... lovely evening."

3 Fidante House Guards, Alejandro leave, following Calista.

Mae has started to pull Isabetta away, when the fortune teller calls again. Mae turns and scowls at the old woman. /Scowls/ at her. Which is probably not a pretty look for Mae, who is already not very pretty. "Yes, we'll get to the bottom of Blacktongue's riddle," she decides. But then the fortune teller calls /again/, and that has Mae stopping in her tracks. She looks over, wih big, big eyes. She looks like she's seen a ghost. She blinks a few times, then sucks in a breath, and quickly shakes her head. "Sorry," she says, aside, to Isabetta. She starts forward again, but only to once again stop, jerking Isabetta to a stop with her. "Oh! That's him. My husband, Magpie," she says, and she points. Not subtle /at all/. Then she stares for a long moment, and whispers aside.

Calypso waves goodbye to Calista and then turns to Blacktongue. "My safety has abandoned me." She laughs. "I suppose you'll have to do."

Isabetta is glad to be able to think of anything other than the fortune teller who will surely not be haunting her dreams and nightmares for months to come (she will). So Isa focuses on Magpie, apparently not sure what to expect, but quickly deciding it wasn't that. Mae seems to be saying something quietly to her and then Isabetta responds quietly back.

"If you are looking for safety then I am poor sport." Blacktongue promises, half warns, Calypso as he offer her his arm to escort her properly into the Maze. A glance over his shoulder checks for any that may follow.

A messenger arrives, delivering a message to Blacktongue before departing.

Calypso takes Blacktongue's arm and looks back at Isabetta, Monique, Mae and Magpie. "Are any of the rest of you brave or fool enough to join us in to the maze of mirrors?"

Magpie finally spots the person he's looking for and heads towards Mae and Isabetta. He stops before the pair, his eyes on Mae. He's silent for a long time, perhaps not knowing exactly what to say. There's a glance towards Calypso before he's looking back to Mae, "Walk home with me when you're done here?" The man asks.

Mae whispers a few more works back to Isabetta, then glances again at Magpie. She sucks in a deep breath, then turns to Isabetta once more. Suddenly (and Mae is nothing if not fast), she goes to tip toes, and presses a kiss to the noblewoman's cheek. "You're beautiful and you will find your bounty," she murmurs. "I'll write you," she adds. Then she abruptly pulls away. "Sorry, can't, busy!" Mae calls, towards Calypso and Blacktongue. She's in a light run as she makes her way directly to Magpie, and then she jumps up and throws her arms around the man, squeezing tight.

Mae is overheard praising Blacktongue for: His riddles are so tricky!

Calypso is overheard praising Blacktongue for: He did it.. he made me laugh. Apple-induced, I assure you. But it still counts.

Isabetta sort of just stands there and really has no idea what to make about any of this. She looks at Mae, then at Magpie, blinks a few times. Huh. She gives a tiny wave toward Mae and finally says to the pair, "I.. expect I will see both of you." And kind of just lets it hang in the air because. Huh.

And so into the Maze of Mirrors vanishes the General and the Harlequin, leaving the debauchery and and indulgence to the other performers as the Eclipse of Mirrors begins, the moon drenched crimson.