A letter arrives at your door one evening, a black scroll bearing the seal of the High Necromancer of the Skies and tied with a purple ribbon. Curious, you break the seal…

The scroll appears to be blank. You stare at it in confusion, then examine it—flipping it over, searching for any discernible markings. You see nothing.

“You will not find anything,” says a voice. You look up, startled. Standing before you is a young couple, dressed in silks and satins and all manner of finery, wearing strange masks. Masquerade masks, you realize.





“Lady Raven does not send her invitations the usual way,” says the lady, standing before the curtains that frame your window and the dusty piano you haven’t touched in years.

“She has sent us, to invite you to her Masquerade Ball,” says the gentleman, who is leaning against the doorframe, the nearly-full moon setting off his black silk mask and alabaster skin. “To be held on the third day of the month of November, promptly at midnight as the clock turns to the fourth day.”

“You will be there, of course,” the lady says, less of a question and more of a statement. “And needless to say, you shall require a costume.”

“Let no one see you before that day!” cautions the gentleman, his oddly yellow eyes catching the moonlight.

“Only you and your closest servant should know who you are,” the lady adds, her brilliant violet eyes shining. “Should you wish to hear any of that again, simply read.”

You look down at the scroll, startled to see that it now sports a good amount of script in a strange, silvery ink. You look back up, only to find the room empty…

***

Welcome to the Masquerade! Who shall be the lady of the night? Who is that mysterious, dashing gentleman, stealing the hearts from all the girls on the ballroom floor? There is but one way to find out…


Here, for those of you curious, is a less mysterious version of the rules and the particulars of the contest:

1. Entries should be made with the TekTek Dream Avatar Maker

2. Each person may enter one lady and one gentleman—please label them, if you would be so kind, so we don’t have any embarrassing mix-ups.

3. Entries should be PMed to me, Tei, by Thursday, November 3rd by Midnight (12:00 AM) Eastern Standard Time.

4. Do NOT post your entries anywhere! We can’t have someone else seeing your costume, and knowing how to outdo you now, can we? Any entries posted elsewhere will not be accepted.

5. Entries MUST be your own work. You are being held to the honor code not to use pre-fabricated outfits and not to use the ideas of someone else.

6. In regards to the theme of your masquerade oufit, it can be anything. The one requirement is that you MUST wear a mask--after all, what kind of masquerade would it be otherwise?

7. Have fun! The most important rule of all.

I'm entering.

Love the Phantom of the Opera lyrics there ^^

Questions:

Do we have to submit two, or may we just submit one?
Also, do we have to submit them together, or is separately fine?

@ashen: nope, you can submit one or the other. they do not have to coordinate. go ahead and submit them separately.

Quote:

We can submit both together, though, right?

@magykmagus: correct.

Sent my entries already. Did you receive it okay?

I sent my entries in a couple days ago. Did you get them ok? (Or did my internet glitch out on me again? >.< )

i did indeed get them! your internet did not troll you! XD

I've sent both entries now. You've gotten them, right?

Eh, everyone else is asking, why not?
Did'ya get mine too?

DO there need to be shoes on the entries?

at least she/he is wearing mask ^^

There is no requirement for shoes. They only have to wear a mask.

Umm, when will the voting start?

I'll shoot Tei an email.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am terribly sorry!

I was eaten by school for the past week--college decided to suddenly be college-like--and I haven't had time to do much of anything.

To all who asked if I recieved their entries, I believe I did!

And I am setting up the voting now! My sincerest apologies for the delay!

but good gracious, i can't seem to set this voting up for the life of me--i didn't have this much trouble with it the last time!

well, where's my entry ? O . O

@ipodbearxx: I think there were a lot of entries, so she's going to split them up into 4 posts (2 female, 2 male posts). That's what I understand from the voting thread, at least.

and @Tei: Hope things have calmed down a bit for you (seems like the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity for a LOT of people I've talked to as well)!

owh... understandable )