The Story So Far

## Act I, Scene I

### The scene: a débutante ball hosted by Tarquin Rareş at his mansion in Sărata.

The ball was meant to introduce three new immortals under his care, Andreas, Fabien, and Sabastian, to polite society, as well as celebrate their sire's 600th "birthday". Fabien was to perform a play detailing Tarquin's life story, playing the lead part of course; while Sabastian, a ward of the state hoping to work for the queen, was to make a good impression on Olivia Bălaurul, an official of the queen's Third Ring. As Sabastian was known to be... not the most adapt socially, Tarquin placed Andreas in charge of looking after the ward. However, while Fabien was still behind his curtain and the guests were still arriving, (Iwin, an immortal sired by Tarquin in the past and now living on his own, included) the horses began panicking.

A Bone Gnawer Werewolf named Megussu had ventured into the town out of curiousity, and spooked the horses of those arriving at Tarquin's party. Megussu, being blind, was scared at all the noise and ran into the mansion, right past Iwin's carriage. His entrance caused a stir, to say the least. Tarquin quickly apprehended Megussu and gently guided him to the kitchen, where he was fed all the meat he desired. Meanwhile, Sabastian and Andreas attempted to calm the other guests, and Fabien complained behind his curtain. Olivia strode in during the unrest and encountered Sabastian and Andreas but she brushed them off and called Sabastian an "experiment". After the horses had been calmed, Iwin decided to enter the mansion anyway, and joined the party, as the werewolf had apparently been dealt with.

Once the crowd settled down and more guests arrived, Fabien began his performance. During the interval, Sabastian and Andreas made conversation with three of the "boys" of the party by the fireplace: Gerald Dornot, husband to Agatha Dornot, a successful businesswoman; Mihail Tiranul, another wealthy human; and Petru Avon, a laid back immortal. Iwin, being of the introverted type, encountered Agatha Dornot while avoiding conversation in the corner. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Megussu grew tired of eating, and, against the will of the kitchen staff, he left to explore the mansion. He found a room that smelled... pink. And like pot-pourri. When he walked in, he stepped on cushions... and promptly shredded them, then knocked over the pot-pourri. Jeeves, Tarquin's faithful vampiric butler, found the blind werewolf before he could do too much damage, and peacefully moved Megussu to a reinforced bathroom with a heated floor instead.

Back in the ballroom, Fabien resumed his performance, and finished to applause and tears from Tarquin. Then, there was the dance. Fabien danced with Voichita Rareş, and others; Andreas with Anastasia Colbert; and Iwin with Maria Holzanski. Sabastian danced with Olivia Bălaurul. Not used to dancing, or perhaps due to extraordinarily bad luck, he managed to rip Olivia's dress down the leg and trip her such that she landed on top of him. She left the party in a strop, even after Tarquin begged her to stay. After this disgrace, Tarquin banished Sabastian from the ballroom, and the dance continued. Sabastian was actually grateful to leave. He encountered Jeeves overseeing the flash cleaning and repair of the room of cushions. The butler took Sabastian with him to check on Megussu, who was unsure in his new surroundings. Upon hearing Megussu remark that he wanted to eat a horse, Sabastian took command of this small entourage and led the butler and werewolf to the stables. Here, he delayed Olivia's carriage, but Jeeves managed to prevent Megussu from eating her horses. Instead, he fed the werewolf half a hung horse meant for a future feast.

In the pink room, quickly refurbished without a hint of wolf, things were getting steamy. The mass orgy, the finale of the evening, was finally under way. Some went all night....