banner by @Marceline and @Baphởmet
Masque of the Red Death: An Umbarean Masquerade
Come on, say it out loud with me: “And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.” Look at that sentence. Who says Edgar Allan Poe was a lousy stylist?
- John Langan “Technicolor”
It is time once again. It was forty years ago when Nilûbên Nûlukhô drowned in the bay and a fortnight after that the celebrations began. He was a cruel, stupid, and overbearing man who did not deserve to be celebrated in life. The only thing about him that ought to be celebrated was his ignominious death. This year was going to be a special event. Zôrzimril Nûlukhô, the Matron of Crows, had renovated and refurnished the Rookery, the ancestral home of her House. She made seven new rooms within the confines of her home, moving walls and ceilings and pillars to accommodate the new styles, irregularly shaped so that the rooms could not be seen one after another, a patron would have to make a sharp left or right turn upon entering to see into the next room. In each of the rooms was a single, massive stained glass window corresponding to the color pattern within the room.
The first room was blue, with vivid azure and cerulean tapestries along the walls depicting scenes of the glories of House Nûlukhô in the days of old. The second room was purple, shimmering lights hung suspended from an amethyst chandelier and cast a dozen different shades across the walls. Third, was the green room; a massive faux forest decorated the room with trees and flowers and a massive topiary in the shape of a crow. The fourth was orange and decorated with flames and torches. Fifth room was white, pristine and immaculate with a hundred variations and shades and marble statues of Númenórean heroes from ages past. Sixth was the violet room, with a great fountain in the middle and a statue carved from a single massive purple sapphire gemstone, it glittered and refracted a hundred different shades along the walls. The final room was decorated in black and scarlet with naught but a single torch in the middle to provide light and thick, heavy black curtains blocking out any outside light. Within the room, also, was a great ebony clock which chimed the hours with a deep, ominous tone.
The guests will soon be arriving, arrayed in outlandish and celebratory costumes and bedecked with masques both fantastique and grotesque. The hour is growing late and the sun is setting in the western sky, showering the Rookery in gold and vermillion. Torches line the property, blazing with soft, flickering light. From without the guests can hear the sounds of merriment, baroque orchestral music played on instruments foreign and unknown. At the doors, all the guests are greeted by a tall, thin figure who sways as though a strong breeze might blow them over, their hands thin and pale and their fingers unnaturally long and seem to have joints where joints ought not to be. They wear the livery of House Nûlukhô: the black crow emblazoned, on a crimson background. Their masque, too, is of a corvidae nature, resembling the masks worn by doctors in the days of plague. It is to them the guests must surrender their invitations and be announced at the entryway into the first of the rooms.
Once the patrons are inside the ancient manse they have an array of food, drinks, and other enjoyable distractions. The man, a creature of dark green skin and hair to color and texture of elmwood, behind the bar wears the livery of House Nûlukhô but instead of a crow or raven mask, he wears the visage of a ravening, fanged, bat. He's an expert in spirits and can even guess exactly what a patron needs or wants without having to look at their face. Beside him is a short man with shock white hair and ebony skin. His mask is blank and without eyeholes, yet he is as deft and dexterous as a man a third his age. He is assisted by a hummingbird that perches on his shoulder. His area of expertise are those imbibed to cultivate a different experience from food or drink, whatever sort of high or trip a patron seeks, he is their guide.
Enjoy yourselves, patrons, for soon there will be no ingress or egress from this soiree...
FOOD
• Souvlaki: a selection of lamb, goat, chicken, beef, and vegetables, grilled and skewered with spices• Köfte: spiced and minced meat rolled and fried
• Hamsi: fried anchovy
• İmam bayıldı: eggplant stuffed with onion, garlic, and tomato
• Zeytinyağlılar: aromatic vegetable stew filled aubergines traditionally served at room temperature
• Karnıyarık: eggplant stuffed with lamb and rice
• Mantı: dumplings filled with lamb or ground beef and topped with chili peppers, yoghurt, and tomato sauce
• Moussaka: baked eggplant dish with ground lamb and béchamel sauce
• Ktapodi stin Skara: grilled octopus with spices
• Lokum: corn starch, sugar, and rose confection, quite addictive
• Ortolan Bunting: a rare treat for the end of the night, songbird drown in Cognac and roasted
DRINKS
Wines:• Old Dorwinion: the famed wine of the elves, smuggled out of the Woodland realm
• Old Castamir’s Private Stock: a sweet, deep purple port fortified with brandy
• Lindon Blanc: a crisp, aromatized white with hints of candied oranges, honey, pine resin & exotic fruits
• Sauternes d’Anfalas: a sweet, golden wine hailing from hills of Pinnath Gelin
• Dol Amroth Retsina: an ancient drink made by infusing wine with pine sap for flavor
Beers:
• Ethir Dunkel: a dark, heady beer brewed in the style of the Anduin folk
• Rauchbier: a smoky beer made from flame dried malt and barley
• The Pilsner: a beer originating from the Rhûn, snappy and golden with a hint of raisin and grape
• Umbar Pale Ale: a wildly bitter beer with an overabundance of hops, a local favorite
• Lon Daer Stout: a very dark, heady beer with a very high alcohol and caloric content, good for the coming winter months
• Bière de Garde: a nimir beer, brewed in the remote regions of the Ered Luin, caramel sweetness and orange crispness
Liquors
• Hypocras: a warm drink made from wine mixed with sugar and spices
• Commandaria: a dessert wine from Khand
• Soju: a very strong distilled wheat alcohol from the far east
• Rakı: a local favorite, twice-distilled grapes and star anise
• Whisky: high grade alcohol, aged in sherry barrels from Dale
•There is also an assortment of teas, ciders, and coffees for those not looking for something alcoholic
CHEMICALS
• Blue Sand: a substance similar to fine sand found at the beach, but deep blue colored; consumed through the nose; addictive but grants user greater perception for a short time• Dream Flake: thin slivers of a dried, black fungus, when chewed, it induces hallucinations and euphoria; when smoked, the user enters an vivid waking dream
• Sundrop: a bright yellow/orange liquid, naturally incandescent; originally used as a magically synthesized antidepressant, Sundrop when consumed tricks the user into believing that they are happy
• Barb: a thorny stalk from the bramble of Mordor; you can pull off individual thorns and use them to scrape or pierce the skin, the effects are similar to marijuana
• Ember Berries: faintly glowing black berries are used in coming-of-age rituals in certain druidic sects; drink a tea made from these, and you will become relaxed and calm
• Sannish: a blue liquid distilled from a powdered desert plant; causes euphoria, very cheap, but also quite addictive; after three uses, your lips seem to be stained blue
• Vladri: consists of psychedelic mushrooms dissolved in spider venom; when injected it causes euphoria and visions of eldritch horrors
Rules and Guidelines
• All races are welcome but if you want to play a good aligned character, remember you are in their territory, not yours
• Keep any OOC comments to the Hall of Barad-dûr: Mordor OOC
• No excessive images and no gifs whatsoever
• Refrain from using overly bright colors
• Canon characters are for anyone to use, aside from Mairon (used by yours truly) there isn’t a list of who can play who and where
• Keep overt silliness down, have fun but remember this is not your house
• Feel free to GM both Mozran (the barkeep) and Bûrodâur (the apothecarist), normally they are my characters but to save everyone time (and myself from writing 3000 word replies) go ahead and use them, just don’t make them do something silly or stupid
• Double posting is cool, just don’t spam
• This is Zôrzimril’s home, even Morgoth himself does what she tells him; if the TR feels you are breaking the rules the right is reserved to have you removed IC from the masque and you will not be allowed back in
• There will be drugs and alcohol consumed in this thread, don’t pee in someone’s cheerios because you don’t like that sort of thing or think it goes again a “Tolkienesque atmosphere” you can ignore it or better yet not bother if you’re going to be offended by it
GM Note:Every “hour” the great ebony clock will toll and I will give out prompts to go with them. Feel free to ignore them if you like, except the last one. You know who shows up at the end of the story, right?