❀ May Day Masquerade ❀

[ensorceler]

may day!


[ The castle grounds holding the gardens have been transformed into a spring party sensation. Tall banners carrying the Tudor rose have been arranged in a representation of a border surrounding the celebration and events, but there are no real walls or barriers. It might make guarding difficult for the few in her employ, but that's hardly Queen Anne's problem. Nobody will be kept away unless they arrive with no mask (or representation of a mask), and although it might be hard to tell considering it's a masquerade, there will be some people (not many) from the city who have decided tentatively to accept Anne's invitation, helping fill in the crowd.

The theater stage has been covered in flowers of all sorts, as are the four wooden thrones arranged in the center. Each seat is taken, a tie for both King and Queen making for double the fun! Robb and Lucrezia have dressed as Orion and Diana, while Zelos and Galadriel have chosen Odysseus and Penelope (with a little help). The tops of their heads have been left bare, at least for the opening ceremony.

In front of them stands Anne in her costume, and she waits for the crowd to quiet before she speaks. ]

Good citizens of Cair Paradisa and City Royale, you come here today to seek pleasure and company, and I have never seen a finer or more unique looking peoples. I know you may find it difficult to smile in the wake of such recent tragedy. All here have known loss, but we have not let it conquer us, have we? God is with us. Brave souls here risked the unknown to discover the cause, while other remained to help rebuild. I am fiercely proud to see such dedication to one another, and I can only hope such unity continues to blossom! The work on the city will continue, as will the rehabilitation of the survivors most affected by calamity.

But today we spread our arms wide and heartily welcome summer. Today we make merry and keep our loves close. Today we celebrate an unprecedented event, two Queens and Kings!

[ She turns and walks over to the thrones, where the ladies hold crowns of roses in their laps and the men crowns of wooden antlers. She names each as she settles the crowns atop their heads. ]

Queen Galadriel. King Zelos. Queen Lucrezia. King Robb.

[ In playful deference, Anne will lift her skirts and curtsy to the four of them when they stand to announce that the festivities begin! ]



{ Maypole Dance || Dance Floor || The Feast || Music & Donations || Maze & Wine Fountain || Bonfire }

Comments

[bronwe]

There was a great elven lady in my world who also had a great hound for company. She was called Tinúviel, nightingale.

[wolfchild]

What did they do?

[bronwe]

[ He brings his knees to his chest and rests his arms there before speaking again. ]

Lúthien Tinúviel, as she was called, faced the greatest enemy of her age to steal from him jewels brighter than stars. And Huan, the Hound of Valinor and as tall as a grown horse, could speak only three times before he would be fated to die. Yet in all three instances, he spoke to aid her in the quest to restore the jewels' light to the world and find happiness with Beren, the mortal she loved.

[wolfchild]

She went off on a quest to find a sparkly jewel and a husband?

[bronwe]

[ He shrugs. ]

Perhaps those are the ends and destroying the enemy the means. Or perhaps she always meant to rid the world of darkness.

[wolfchild]

With marriage?

[bronwe]

[ What? ] No. By defeating the dark lord.

[wolfchild]

How?

[bronwe]

The tale doesn't end even with her death.

One of the jewels she freed from the Dark Lord's crown found itself to her granddaughter, then her husband Eärendil, who brought it to the Valar, the mightiest of beings, that they might grant him entry to their land and hear his plea. They were moved by his words and so intervened to defeat the Dark Lord and return peace to the world.

[wolfchild]

Is that the same lord with the ring?

[bronwe]

[ He falls quiet because the ring seems to awaken even with the barest mention, the thought of it calling bothers him. ]

No, he was greater than even that lord. One of the beings who created the world.

[wolfchild]

A god?

[bronwe]

Yes, I suppose one can say so.

[wolfchild]

What happened to him? You can't kill a god.

[bronwe]

He was chained and cast away, but it is said he will return before the end of days to be defeated in the Dagor Dagorath, as the elves say. The final victory for all the free people.

[wolfchild]

Free people?

[bronwe]

The men, elves and dwarves. And hobbita.

[wolfchild]

Who isn't free?

[bronwe]

The ones enslaved by the Dark Lord. The orcs, trolls and all manners of evil things. They are no longer who they once were.

[wolfchild]

What will happen to them?

[bronwe]

I do not know... The elves might.