Masquerade!

Dhalia and I meet with Wyx at the Gilded Claw. The old woman is still there, and the bartender still only has one ear. I did not have a chance to ask him why he is missing his ear. Again. It is frustrating. I will have to go back on my own time. Anyway, Wyx wants us to kill Talia Salt at her masquerade ball tomorrow. The next morning at the Drunken Phoenix, Jorin tells us that Sarissa transported him in his dreams to a beautiful parlor, and called in one of her favors. He is to go to the masquerade at the Salt Estate, on July 10, 6804, and find a preserved tongue before others (fey?) do. She gives Jorin an invitation that allows for a plus one.

We proceed to the Night Market to find Mynx, a forger. She has her hiding place under a dock, and her front office is full of hundreds of candles, only about a fourth of which are lit. I like this aesthetic. I will have to rearrange my space in the living quarters to use more candles. She is a mousey, small woman and speaks with a lisp that may or may not be fake. To investigate further. She asks us for 600gp and 18 hours, but we are relatively happy to give this to her in exchange for forging two copies of the invitation.

Oli, Dhalia, and I (the latter two of us following Oli) make our way to the High Market, all the way in the eastern half of the Trading Quarter, to buy our costumes.

Howell apparently went to the Low Market because he has a "good eye" (which I will have to investigate further). Apparently he found Valentino Seravecci, whom he calls "Papa S," who is a great tailor. Howell has known him since he was a child, and manages to get a rush order.

Jorin does not go shopping (how boring), and instead brings his navy uniform. I would like to know more about his time in the navy.

With my connections in the Gondoliers and 400gp, we find that Talia Salt is a member of the Cult of the Writhing Philosopher. Dhalia, with her connections to Edmund Flimp, and Howell, with his connection to Giuseppe Alceste in the Arcanum, find that Eldwrin the Writhing Philosopher has great power and bestows knowledge. It is like an undead aboleth. Its symbol is three eyes arranged vertically, like the eyes of an aboleth. This is an intriguing cult and I wish to know more about it. Maybe I will be able to ask the favorite colors of the cultists. We also find there is a canal to the Drainworks near the Salt Estate.

Dhalia does an intriguing thing after she does her makeup, she turns Adrien into a mouse. Adrien is apparently her black tressym. I like this catlike creature. It purrs like I do when I am happy. I also like my mask. It is purple and silver and it matches my gorgeous lavender dress with fur around the edges. I was able to sew my dart into the lining near the collar.

The Salt Estate. There are many guards, including one Bluecloak, whose name is Fulminator Kasimir. There is gold on everything that can be gilded, and chandeliers, and crystals, and many things. Some are almost too shiny and my eyes hurt slightly. I don't like gold as much as I like silver. They confiscated one of Dhalia's rings. This was sad, and she was very afraid.

Dhalia and Jorin begin to dance, and Oli sort of stays at the edge of the ballroom. Howell seems to find a friend, a tiger-masked gentleman that does not seem to be tabaxi. Disappointing. He should know that he should not culturally appropriate my people.

There are many people here that seem very interesting. There is a black-suited person with a mask of blackened dead leaves, a woman wearing a black and red dress with a mask made of black feathers (whose favorite color is red! This is a new color in my experience, as many people like green or blue or purple.) There is a man who is wearing a suit and a metal mask. There is a woman with an icy blue mask as well, and she is interesting. There is also a large hulking man with a black cloak, and a wide woman with a floral mask, white dress, and fur feather boa. I want to ask her about this combination, so I make my way toward her, but she keeps moving away from me!

She ducks into a corridor with the man—maybe he is her guard?—and I continue to follow...

Continued in Paper faces on parade (Masquerade, Pt. 2)