Autumn Party 01

This year, the interior of the Promenade Hall was not so much decorated as transformed. The door to the main hall did not lead directly into the nearly open space, but through a short corridor, since the hall had been divided into smaller parts. To the left a ceiling-high wall, with a door made of milky glass panes. To the right, more prop walls had turned the space under the gallery into two rooms, the doors open a crack.

The rest of the hall seemed higher than usual, not only because it was smaller, but also because it was not lit particularly brightly. The decoration was sombre and somewhat baroque. There was a banquet table, with a plain white dishcloth and silver candelabra. In accordance with newer traditions, most of the food offered was more or less sweet, but this year there appeared to be no liquorice bats or similar jokes.

Nearby a small group of guests was already chatting. They were wearing matching costumes, wide trousers and shirts as well as full masks of matching design, possibly meant to look like a kind of demon. Two of them were relatively tall, one of those wearing a blue costume with gold highlights, the other black and silver. The third was a lot smaller than the others, clad in red and gold, and talking animatedly, but in a low voice, to their companions.

One of the servants stood near the door, waiting to greet any arriving guests, smiling faintly and staring straight ahead. There were two red marks like half-healed wounds on the side of his neck.

A silver-haired specimen entered, raised an eyebrow at the hall -- and then looked at the servant with a greeting smile on his face. He remembered the man's name and face.

The guest had a halo, white robes and a lyre.

The servant turned a little, but did not look at the angel directly; his smile did not change in the least. "Welcome. Lord Sinafter sends his greetings and apologies. He has been called away suddenly on urgent business. He hope you will enjoy the party."

"Thank you kindly," said the angel. "I believe I will." He paused, smiled. "Oh, say hello to Leah for me. Congratulations on the girl."

And he walked on, still smiling. If the servant paid any attention, he might have noticed two white wings about the size of chicken wings on the back of the guest's costume...

The servant didn't react visibly, and waited, to greet any arrival with the same words.

The black demon noticed the new arrival and half turned. Red fell silent and raised on tiptoe to look over Black's shoulder.

The next guest wore a skirt of green, scaly texture that was short at the front, almost long enough to trail on the ground in the back. Her tank top was black and artfully ripped in places that weren't too risqué, but did reveal scales painted on the skin beneath. Bare skin for the arms, except for one or two bangles and green-painted nails.

The hair had been a problem; it had come out more like green powdery dreadlocks than the snakes she'd been trying for. She tossed it anyway, and the locks flopped heavily. Cool.

The servant at the door greeted her exactly with the same mannerisms and words as the angel before.

The snake-woman laughed sweetly and decided to play along. "Oh, that Lord Sinafter. Always off making his flying visits." She wasn't exaggerating her sibilants; after all, her top half was human, more or less.

Spotting the wound on the servant's neck, she had a good look, stopping short of actually poking it, before grinning at him and moving on. She made towards the demons to say hello. Her sort of crowd.

He surreptitiously ran a finger around the inside of his collar as soon as her back was turned. It was a rotten job, but someone had to do it.

The red demon insinuated itself next to her as soon as she reached the group. "Aah, good evening. And here we were thinking everyone else knew and stayed home. Let me introduce: Azra," the blue one, "Kinta, and I am Ebani." It's voice was full, but had a slightly echoing-distorted quality that could not be explained by the nearly closed mask alone.

The angel was not exactly excluded - in fact black Kinta missed the cue for a greeting because it was watching him instead - merely Ebani showed great interest for the snake lady.

Snake-woman was in fact rather interested in the angel, but displayed it only by another toss of the dreads. "Darlings," she said to Ebani, fake fangs flashing. "I'm Lamia. A pleasure." With a clink of the bronze snake around her wrist, she presented a hand at a suitable angle either to shake or be kissed.

The first time she blinked was startling. Cunning makeup applied to the Lamia's eyelids gave the effect of her eyes being always open.

As far as the angel was concerned, his first duty was to greet those servants he knew. That was over quickly: some faces were new, others busy.

And so it was that he made his way toward the drinks, humming a tune.

Ebani mimed a handkiss. The lips of the mask were as immovable as the third eye on its forehead.

Azra addressed her. "That's a wonderful shine on those..." Tentacles?

"Dears," Ebani came to her help. "But they are so lifeless. Tired? Maybe they will wake up later." The demon was getting rather close to Lamia; some people might feel like telling Ebani about personal space.

There were indeed vers few servants present in the first place. The guests were left to help themselves to drinks, from a selection of water, red grape juice, or a selection of wines.

"Thanks," Lamia said to Azra, and "Mmm, more hairspray next time," she added in general.

"I like the fangs. Now who do you feed on, I wonder?" This was addressed mainly to the increasingly friendly Ebani.

A muffled crash was heard from somewhere out in the entrance hall.

"Ah. Enumi..." He looked at his companions, looking for help.

"Worms," declared Kinta.

Azra nodded to that and added, "That's a kind of advocate."

"Truth to be told, accountants agree better with me," Ebani closed. "And yourself?"

"Never seen a ledger that didn't make my eyes swim. I prefer the blood of children," Lamia said. "Dear things."

A tall figure strolls into the hall and pauses at the sight of the servant, blinking bemusedly. He's clothed in a plain and respectable frock coat and bowler hat, the very image of a unremarkable businessman. A white porcelain mask conceals his face entirely, his skin so pale it's hard to see where the mask ends and his neck begins. What appears to be the ends of two dead treebranches poke out from the bottom of his coat in the back.

After a moment's consideration, he moves towards the greeter and bows carefully; however he almost overbalances before dragging himself upright again.

"Excuse me, good sir, but where exactly am I again? I seem to have forgotten."

The servant hesitated. Then he said, "Welcome. Lord Sinafter sends his greetings and apologies. He has been called away suddenly on urgent business. He hope you will enjoy the party."

The angel didn't seem the slightest bit pertrubed by the discussion. He sipped his drink and examined it with apparent admiration.

The angel almost choked on his next sip when a gryphon with blue wings wandered in on all fours. "Hi," he said in a rough dialect that made the word sound like 'haei' and ambled past. "Nice branches, man!" he also said to the tall guy, as he pushed past without even bothering to see if the servant had anything to say.

The angel bit his lip.

"Personally I prefer it somewhat... riper. With more character," Kinta told Lamia.

Meanwhile Azra leaned closer to the angel and asked quietly, "What is the matter? Wing envy?" Its voice was still distored, but higher in pitch than those of the other two demons - her voice, if you guessed like that.

The angel laughed. "Hardly. I could give them to you and not feel envious a bit. Would you like them?" he said, grinning good-humouredly and just a bit too roguishly to fit an angel.

Meanwhile the gryphon was busy preying on the food.