Trongy's Masquerade

**Trongy's Masquerade** is the first session in Season One of Wacky Ribbons.

### Notes

> *Our story takes place in the region of Scaena, built on the cliff sides on the shores of the Incerta ocean. Where this had been previously uninhabitable due to the frequent intense weather conditions (such as tsunamis, hurricanes, and other natural disasters) and hardly accessible, given that the only way to travel to the region is by a strip of land connecting it to the mainland; now the almost-island flourishes under the protection of a family of noble water genasi who, with their skills combined, weather every storm that threatens the safety of its people. Over the course of hundreds of years, slowly a society built itself a diverse community with people of all races settling onto the precarious cliff sides. The genasi, now hailed as royalty, live at the very highest point of Scaena in their huge, sprawling estate, filled with generations of water genasi and their court.*
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> *However, in recent years the genasi family has grown restless and bored; after dismissing their last established court jester over fifty years ago, they now cycle new entertainers throughout the court as they please, keeping dancers, singers, and musicians alike at their beck and call.  To play a piece in their company, to dance a step in their presence, to even playfully make cards disappear and reappear before their eyes is to earn renown and wealth. The genasi family, never lacking in funds, pays handsomely, and the more frequently they request your company, the greater your audience grows beyond the palace walls. This lead to the creation of the Acropolis of Scaena, a bustling city only a short travel away from the royal grounds, filled to the brim with entertainers all trying to win an invitation to perform for the reclusive genasi family.*
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> *The city, while a bit narrow in its roads and streets, stretches for miles up a winding cliffside. Towards the southern region of the Acropolis lies the common folk - those who are either there to provide goods and services (be it tailers, shoe cobblers, taverns and inns) or those who are desperately trying to work their way upwards, performing card tricks on the streets and singing at local taverns during their time off. As you head farther north, towards the palace, the distance between buildings begin to grow as the structures themselves grow larger and more grandiose than those in the south. As one makes their ascent to the highest point in the Acropolis, private clubs, fine restaurants, and other attractions peak out from behind lavish gardens and intricate bronze, silver, and gold gates.*
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> *And at the very top of the Acropolis is where the elite reside. The population here can be easily divided into a few categories. There are the children of wealthy families, now grown, who choose to spend their time as young adults lavishly, throwing frequent parties and inviting their like-minded neighbors and any of their equally wealthy companions from neighboring regions. A few of these wealthy figures also consider themselves patrons to the arts; while they seem few and far between, there are more than a handful of entertainers who live comfortably in their patron’s homes, putting on private performances as they slowly make their way towards a royal invitation. Finally, there are the entertainers themselves who’ve been invited to the palace at least once (if not more) who make themselves comfortable in their (frankly, ridiculously large) estates. While they are all swimming in their own charms, whispers spread through the Acropolis down to the southern slums of Scaena of how they appear in private, behind closed doors and off stage: anxious, petty, and desperate to secure the official title of the royal family’s court entertainer. While the royal family has made it clear they have no intention of employing such a person, bards, dancers, and poets alike seem to have an assuredness that they can change the royal family’s mind.*
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> *For now, you all find yourselves in the northernmost area of the Acropolis. For weeks, news has been spreading of something exceedingly rare happening, because tonight is when the unthinkable happens. While parties are hardly rare in the Acropolis, this is the rarest of them all: a masquerade ball is happening in one of the oldest and most decadent chateau’s, and everyone is explicitly invited. The people of Scaena all bustle about in eagerness and excitement, preparing gowns not only for the elite, but for themselves as well - young maidens giggle at each other as they try on homemade masks selling like crazy on street markets while bards practice, now louder, in the alleyways, brimming with hope that this might be a chance for their big break. Dancers, previously only caught in the southern square maybe once or twice a week, now perform daily, their bodies all twisting together in beautiful synchronizations. Tailors and seamstresses are seen running up and down the streets carrying bolts of gorgeously patterned fabrics, drafting pencils stuck between their teeth and tape measures adorning their necks like fine jewelry. The whole town has been thrumming in anticipation for months, and all anyone can talk about is what they plan on wearing, or who they hope to see, or wondering what the food might taste like.*
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> *But none of these things generate gossip quite so much as the host of the ball in question: Trongy, a tiefling bard who’s a recent inhabitant of the Acropolis, known for her sultry performances that can titillate even the most conservative of crowds. She personally announced the party herself, putting on a dazzling show in the square and throwing invitations out into the crowd as if they were confetti; those few who grabbed the invitations first were even pleased to note that they were printed on some of the finest paper, the date and details gleaming in gold ink. Aside from her notorious flirtations and nonexistent modesty, little else is known about Trongy - it was if one day, she wasn’t there, and the next, she was everywhere. Whether it was performing in the southern streets or at parties in the Acropolis, there were only so few who couldn’t recognize her voice, and fewer yet who couldn’t recognize her bushel of wild hair and red horns, barely visible past the crowd of young men, women, and those who identified with neither who were desperate for a piece of her attention (which she gave out gladly). No one knew how she had come into wealth so quickly in the Acropolis, and while the question lingered in the back of a few minds, there was hardly time to spare to such a train of thought with so much else at stake.*
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* When everyone arrives at the chateau, a large thump is heard as the doors open, and music begins to seep outside
* 12 dancers in white make their way down the grand staircase while servants walk down on either side of the stairs
* From the center of the dancers there’s a huge cloud of smoke and sparks and confetti, and instead of the dancers, Trongy stands there adorned in her blue suit and white wolf mask
	+ Trongy: HELLO MY DARLINGS! I’m so happy all of you could make it this evening for what will, most definitely, be a once-in-a-lifetime kind of event. I hope you’re all ready - you are, all ready, aren’t you?
* Trongy announces that she’s got surprises in store for everyone and she can’t wait to get to know everyone before disappearing into the chateau
* Relovan stands at the top of the stairs in a pink suit with feathers sticking out from their sunglasses, holding a basket full of white ribbons (similar to the servants on the stairs.) Relovan explicitly puts a white ribbon on the wrist of everyone, explaining that there’s going to be a raffle event later in the evening
* Song meets Alex the Merchant in the petting zoo room, they exchange a fun conversation and Alex helps Song pet the little fluffy white dog in the room
* Ipu loses some money in the gambling room! Tough break dude
* Ruby ate a lot of horse derves (horderves) I believe?
* There’s a room with instruments with Aithne the halfling playing a little ditty - Song decides to play a little something, and Ipu wilds out dancing on one of the tables. The performance is so killer that other strangers in the room throw some money and holler at them
* I think Chenille watched this from the wall
* After all this, the servants announce that Trongy will be performing soon and if they’re interested in watching (and why wouldn’t they be) they should continue to the main area of the chateau where a stage is set up
* (DM Notes: Originally I said Trongy performed “Givin Em What They Love” but frankly “Make Me Feel” is sexier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmH3ejHT6oo)
* *“Trongy moves through the lights fluidly, as if she were a cat gracefully leaping from beam to beam, and every move feels as if it was catered specifically for each viewer personally, she somehow manages to lock eyes with everyone in the room and make them feel as if they were the center of her attention - as if this show were for them, and nothing else. Her voice is sultry and smooth, and her hair seems to have a gravity of its own as she continues to gyrate and slide across the stage.”*
* Trongy pulls Finn, our favorite blond haired twink, onto the stage, and they dance together - Trongy pointedly dips him, as if going in for a kiss, and turns her head away at the last second to continue singing to the audience.
* Trongy drops into the crowd when she’s done, and a spotlight followers her as she announces the raffle for tonight - those with special ribbons will need to race to the top of the chateau (a ladder falls down into the crowd) and if they make it to the top, they win 500g and a wish granted of their choice - but anyone could steal their ribbon, and likewise, their prize!
* The lights cut to black light and the party’s ribbons glow in the dark
* Trongy gives them a 30 second head start.
* Chenille fucking does some sick flips to get up the ladder, everyone else scrambles likewise to get up there
* **(THIS IS WHERE THINGS GET FUZZY I’M SORRY)** Everyone scrambles up, past the three staircases (Chenille blows a kiss at the team that they can’t see when she makes it to the top), the three rooms (in one of which, they have a fight with Fuli and Ipu nearly knocks out the entire goddamn team)
	+ Finn tries to take off one of their bracelets, but it won’t come off!!
	+ Finn also knocks out Chenille with that nasty lil dildo weapon that LEAKS

The final room is filled with food and refreshments, comfortable couches, and a fountain that has a clear sparkling liquid (that heals them for all damage taken when they drink it). On the door reads a plaque that says ***“Once you give it, you must keep it.”*** The door is locked.

* The door only unlocks after everyone in the party says “I give you my word.”
* They exit onto the rooftop, where Trongy greets them as winners. There are lights strung all around, and those who had no interest in the raffle are gathered around.
* Trongy asks to see the faces of the victors, and everyone (except Ipu) takes off their mask.
* Trongy looks kind of disappointed verging on angry (esp at Song) before disappearing into the crowd while a band plays one file slow song, and lets them know that they can either stay or feel free to follow a servant down to a seperate room where they’ll be given their prizes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT4MgAtBbJA)
* Some of the party head down, and some stay
* Chenille eavesdrops on the conversation Trongy’s having with a goth looking elf bitch named Kerym and Relovan.
	+ Trongy: I *told* you to find me muscle! Beef! Something with a thick skull and thicker arms! Why couldn’t you handle this *one* thing!
	+ Relovan: Aw, Trongy, I don’t think you’re giving them enough credit. I think they look plucky.
	+ Trongy: I. Didn’t. Ask. For. *Plucky!* (she groans, pressing her fingers to the bridge of her nose.) Kerym. Can you break it?
	+ Kerym: No.
	+ Trongy: Asshole!
	+ Kerym: You asked. I answered. What’s done is done.
	+ Trongy: (mockingly) *What’s done is done.* That’s what you sound like, you absolute fucking --
* It’s at this point Trongy notices Chenille eavesdropping and glares.
* Later when everyone is in the other room, seated at a couch, Trongy sits across from them and unrolls a sheet of paper that has “Contract” at the top of it while she starts smoking from her pipe
* Trongy explains that they might as well read over it, given that they’re now a part of it. This is generally confusing to everyone and Trongy explains that she’s recruited them to help kill a warlock who’s name she doesn’t know, and should they refuse, they’ll die an excruciatingly slow and painful death.
	+ Ipu: Fuck it, where do I sign?
	+ Trongy: *You’ve already given me your word.*
* Trongy gives them each their sack of gold, and tells them all that they’ll be staying here for the night and they’ll be leaving in the morning. Their individual wishes will be granted after the job is finished.
* In the hallway, they meet Relovan, who’s excited to meet all of them, and thinks they’re all such interesting looking people. They hope Trongy didn’t seem too rough - she’s really a good person y’know!
* They give really loose wiggly handshakes. I love them.
* Everyone is escorted into their own individual bedrooms for the night.