The Watchers of Night (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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daybreakacademy2020-04-26 01:16 pm
thewatchers) wrote in daybreakacademy2020-04-26 01:16 pm
Entry tags:
WALPURGISNACHT BALL
Walpurgisnacht Ball
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There are, of course, several large social events for the supernatural community; the exclusive Masque de Chasseur by the “Elites” of vampiric society held in hours suitable only for the dead, the Mondruf for the shifters that changes dates with the cycle of the moon, and the most relevant: the Walpurgisnacht Ball, on the 30th of April. Arising from the legends of witch’s sabbats, the Magus of European society hold a grand fete to make social calls and present the heirs to their lineage as well as making suitable matches. And of course, this was an occasion to flaunt one’s wealth and power, with a dizzyingly array of impossible fashion created by spellcraft and enough gemstones to make any thief’s mouth water. For reasons lost to history, Daybreak Academy had been blackballed from the celebrations for a long time, and tonight it is the 300th anniversary of the disinvitation. And every year since then, representatives official and unofficial have made it a habit of ruffling the feathers of the Mages with tricks and pranks. While there has been a rule to ‘annoy, confuse - don’t infuriate’ for the pranks, as the idea always has been to make the Mages regret their snubbing not to anger them enough to lose their support completely. The upcoming date made it quite palatable to pull out all the stops to make it an absolutely memorable ball.
The host, Lord Carolmon zu Bechtel, is well aware of the tradition, and has stationed additional security, wanting to be the first to completely thwart the mischief of the Academy. This year, Lord zu Bechtel has set the party located in a vast crystal cavern system that lay hidden inside the Herz mountain range where it is completely inaccessible to mortals. The caverns are lit only by firelight to cast a dazzling array of colors and shimmer over the guests as they dance and walk across glass-clear surfaces of subterranean lakes to give the ball a truly otherworldly feeling.
One of the most popular “games” for the party-goers is Seances, thought unlike their mundane counterparts, the specters brought forth are real - but not in the name of closure for the living or rest for the departed, but for elaborate guessing games and prying into secrets that is not theirs to ask.
A. Planning + Entry
For a proper plan, everyone needs to know what everyone’s doing and where - it would be mortifying to get caught in someone else’s prank, after all! And for those who get tired of the preliminary preparations, there’s all sorts of interesting things to cause havoc with, in the crystalline caverns that lead to the main event - indoor weather, summoned spirits acting as servants, and all sorts of dazzling magical effects meant to entertain and amuse. All of these things can be edited and outright seized for your own purposes, with the right combination of magic.
Or, for those more subtle, you could always dress up and walk in like you were meant to be there...
B. Schmooze and Dash
Since you’re here, might as well take advantage of the lavish spread - but don’t get caught by the guards installed specifically to stop any troublemakers. But while you’re there, why not have a little food-related fun? As long as nobody gets hurt, there’s nothing stopping you from making food look and behave in some interesting, unexpected ways.
C. Illusory Ballroom
Mages spare no expense when it comes to showing off in front of their peers, and tonight is no exception. Due to expected interference, however, the grand crystalline cave reserved for dancing has been armed to the metaphorical teeth with all sorts of illusions and traps, meant to make it incredibly difficult for those who aren’t approved to enter from any angle. Such traps can be disarmed or turned to more nefarious purposes, however…
And for those wanting to mess with mages more directly, there’s no end of powerful figures with lavish displays of magical fashion and jewellery, including the host himself. There’s plenty of chaos for a clever prankster to get up to.
D. Call in the Spirits, Wherever they are!
There are seances scattered all over in little alcoves where the lights are only just enough to not trip over one’s feet. Crystal balls, bell, book, and candle are laid out on velvet-draped tables. Laughter and hushed whispers fill the air until someone hushes the group, to start calling down whatever spirit they could reach - famous names, even familiar ones can be heard passing the summoner’s lips. These mages are so focused on their mischief that they don't notice anyone coming in - if the intruder is quiet enough.
These seances have other effects that might prove irritating; those who are linked to the undead might feel pulling and whispers from one circle to the next. Those who are spiritually sensitive are more than capable of sensing such disruptions. And for the more notable among you, you could even find yourself abruptly summoned into a circle yourself, provided the mages are careless enough to cast their net wide - or particularly specific.
Though one little alcove is different, full of younger mages that are barely in their twenties, fidgeting and whispering, constantly searching around and the reason soon becomes clear - instead of a crystal ball, there was a magic circle laid out in semi-precious stones and inside was a hunched over creature that looked like a hairless rabbit with a wide, toad-like mouth and spindly human-like hands. It scampers from one part of the circle to the other, unable to cross the line, while the young mages seem to take sport in teasing the small daemon.
E. Wildcard
Have some other mischief in mind? Just for tonight, you’re free to prank as many mages as you can find.
no subject
[His face looked impassive at the thought, but the ease at which he replied suggested the thought had crossed his mind more than once.]
That people will make the same mistakes over and over again and that human nature is an unchanging force so I'm better off not even trying?
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That's a question I spent years grappling with. Decades. Especially after what happened four hundred years ago.
[There's a sort of tired honesty in his voice, one born of frustration and disappointment, but far from despair. He sounded like an exhausted, but unbroken idealist, more than anything.]
It's true. Many humans forget things they ought not to. Repeat the same blunders over and over, thinking things will be different this time. They fall into the same traps of hubris, demagoguery, selfishness, and cruelty over and over. They never stop.
[His red eyes turn toward the boy, and while his gaze is sharp as ever, it's not accusatory. Not in the slightest. It's... actually somewhat reflective.]
But tell, me, lad. Do you believe our kind to be any different? Throughout our tens of thousands of years of history, have we not repeated those selfsame mistakes over and over as well?
no subject
[Instead Emizel was thinking about something else. What... even got to them to this? It seems to go so far back, no one really remembers. He could only think of his own reason why - which to his knowledge he actually never told anybody.]
...They hated me before I ever did anything. Even when I wanted nothing to do with them, and I was fine with leaving them alone, they wanted to find me. To kill me.
[The son of the great Death King. This was their own chance to harm him in a way no one else could. That one opportunity. It was well worth it, in their eyes.]
[It started out as quite a terrible, hopeless day. One that never will be forgotten about so easily. Maybe he didn't need to go over the details.]
I knew quite clearly what they thought of me after that. And there's nothing that has changed it now. [His father certainly did not receive the warmest of welcomes when he arrived to the Academy. And Emizel can assume the only thing keeping him from being thrown out, or alive, was one flimsy agreement. When they found the Herald - it's kind of amazing that he was never thrown into a safe, padded room too. Just in case.] And that was before I really knew what else they do.
...But you. You...still defend them anyway.
no subject
Different from the normal daemonic disdain for humankind. Entirely. He blinked once, when he finished, turning his eyes ahead on the path before them.]
That is a burden no one should have to bear. But unfortunately, those adjacent to ones with real power often pay a toll they do not owe. Human and daemon alike resent you and fear you for who your father is, even though you've done nothing to deserve it.
It's not fair. And it never was. Hatred... never is.
[Valvatorez turned his eyes upward at the night sky, his gait slowing a little.]
Do you hate them back, Emizel? Do you truly despise every living human as irredeemable?
[If anything, now was the time to let the boy air himself out as much as he would be willing.]
no subject
...Well they haven't really done anything to make me like them.
[So, yessss...?]
[Emizel huffs a bit. Thinking.] They do have some part to play. That's why when a daemon eats a soul it can cause all sorts of problems with reincarnation n' stuff.
But that won't exactly be a problem either, when they're all gone.
no subject
They do, yes.
[Humans did have that role to play, amongst others. They really had several roles to play, but... in the proper order of things, that's why souls needed to be purified and reincarnated instead of devoured by daemons en masse.]
I'm sure you've been thinking about why your father sent you here in the first place. Have you found any answers as to why he might have, yet?
no subject
[...But perhaps, he can make a few assumptions why.]
...He might have thought if they still refused to change now, then they never would.
[And well, by that point they would be dead anyway.]
no subject
That might be a factor of things. He might himself be curious about what, if anything, changed when I decided to stay in this world mostly.
[He looked upward again, to the sky, and into the distance.]
But I have a feeling... his aim might have been something more than that. While he might be curious about what I've been up to... I think it pales in comparison to something else he might be angling at.
[Valvatorez paused a moment, thinking about how best to approach this, broaching this question to Emizel.]
...I cannot say I know that this is his angle. But in the interest of hypotheticals, I'd ask you to bear with me.
Emizel, if you were to guess what would happen to Hades, and by extension, the Reapers and daemons that live there after a successful Nightfall, what do you think it would be?
...And what will Reapers do if there are no more human souls to reap?
no subject
...We might be out of a job, but it might not be all that bad for us. [It was not like they need to reap to survive, or anything.]
Or maybe our job changes to where those souls go next.
[Frankly, nothing like it had ever happened before.]
no subject
[He can't deny that much, and that his own view might be needlessly pessimistic. But it's a matter of great complication.]
...Assuming, of course, the daemons that invade Earth and take the power of the Sun let those souls go. There are a great many number of daemons not only interested in that, but in seizing human souls for their own machinations, after all. One might debate whether that would even be necessary with the Sun, but... I suspect such daemons will not change their tunes so quickly. And Reapers, of course, have something of a duty to prevent souls from being abused as such, do they not?
And this is where I'm starting to wonder about Hugo's intent.
[He pauses, knowing this will probably be upsetting to hear.]
...My great concern is after Nightfall succeeds, Hades, and the Reapers who live there especially, will become targets for other daemonic hordes.
Because while the Outlands might gain access to even more great cosmic power, I doubt very much many of our Outlander cousins will be satisfied with merely the conquest of Earth and the power they gain. They will want more. And more. And they will run ramshackle over each other to get what they want.
Including over our home.
no subject
...I-If they're stupid enough to fight us next they can go ahead and try. Father is unbeatable. [...No offense Val.]
[Although, there is some concern now about what other Outlanders would do with the Sun. Emizel had just assumed Nightfall was just supposed to blot it out, destroy it.]
[Perhaps there was some gears starting to turn.]
no subject
They would be fools to test him in direct combat, it's true. I know my rival well enough to know he won't be put down by even a gaggle of upstart daemons.
[For what it's worth, Val's appreciation for his rival is as genuine as ever. This much hasn't changed even after all this time. As he was now, Hugo was still above him, even though Valvatorez was slowly building his strength back up over time. But he still was no Tyrant, and he needed to be to truly stand toe-to-toe with the Reaper King.
But that moment of fondness was quick to expire, as he continued his thoughts.]
But it's not just about him. It's about everyone in Hades. Even if Hugo proves unbeatable, the citizens of Hades are well below his level, and would be in danger. Even a Tyrant-level daemon can't be everywhere at once. And his duty as Overlord... is to watch over his people. All of them.
There is a saying they have here on Earth: "A king without subjects rules naught but hills."
[He pauses for a moment, stroking his chin with his finger.]
And I wonder. Hm. Perhaps... ...No, never mind. I think I am getting ahead of myself.
[Clearly, something was on the vampire's mind, but he wrote it off for now. Maybe he was thinking too hard.]
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no subject
Bear in mind this is... speculation. At best. And it might be off base.
[With that covered, he figured it would be okay to continue.]
Reapers are an important part of the cycle of reincarnation. We know this. Without Reapers, souls cannot be sent to the beyond and return to create new life. And that maintaining the integrity of that cycle is a duty.
...Could it be possible that Hugo might see the demise of the human race as a threat to that cycle? I have already wondered what Reapers will do with no souls left to reap, but perhaps there's even more to that question than I thought.
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[...But maybe that isn't what Valvatorez meant anymore. Or maybe...]
Other daemons won't come after Reapers, just because there's no more humans left to reap.
[That doesn't make sense.]
no subject
You're right. It won't be because of a dearth of human souls, unless some daemons are going hungry from not eating them.
It will, in all likelihood, be because they desire even more power. To wipe away anyone who would oppose them. It could be any number of daemons. The beasts from the depths of Doom. The elder draconic beasts. The Mind Flayers. What keeps them at bay now is the upcoming Nightfall and a tenuous alliance against Humankind.
What happens when that's gone?
[Dread welled up in the daemon's chest, at the very thought. Even as the King of Fear, the gravity of the thought is significant.]
...I shudder to think of the magnitude of such a war.
[In a moment of... unyielding intensity, Valvatorez balls his hand into a fist, and carries with him the full gravitas he would hundreds of years ago. A resolve, and a dark, burning determination befitting that of an Overlord. A proud, noble daemon.]
And I will not allow that to happen. Wars are loathsome, miserable affairs. Nightfall alone is too much of a war for my liking... and what comes after? It must be stopped. Hades, and its people, will not be made to pay that price. Not so long as my dark soul still has the will to press on.
no subject
[And that does irritate the tiny daemon.]
...So we might actually need some humans around or else things get wack.
[But that would accomplish, what, exactly? The way things are now is not that much better. More things like tonight would just keep happening.]
[So what exactly was he supposed to do?]
...Fine, I'll ask father about it.
[Besides that.]