green-cloaked-figure

[green-cloaked-figure]

"Well, I don't think I've met anyone else here before except @the-mighty-dalob, so the revelation wouldn't really mean anything to most of them anyway. If anyone wants me to unmask, I will; otherwise, I guess there isn't much reason to; it would be kind of anticlimactic anyway. Oh... there is one thing I should probably do before I go." They turn to the Hero. "I don't suppose you want to walk back barefoot."

"Sorry," the Hero says. "The sandals, uh, changed form to keep me company, and I guess since I wasn't wearing them they weren't teleported back with me."

"Don't worry about it. It's not the first time copies of me have been left behind somewhere. Happens all the time. Let me give you another pair." They reach into their cloak and pull out two more green sandals, which the Hero puts on.

"Anyway, thanks for a great party, Sorcerer, and I'm sorry if some things didn't go as planned. For what it's worth, it was a good mystery, and there were decent clues in retrospect; I do feel a little stupid for not picking up on them. I'll be honest, I did think about considering possible motives for the murder, but I dismissed that as probably not having been something you'd actually have bothered with. I should have had more trust in your mystery-designing skills; if I had thought about motive maybe I would have realized the significance of @thedarksorcerer being so close to the Hero at the time of the first 'murder'.

"Regardless, thanks again for a great party. And the rest of you—@kajeet-da-traveling-merchant, @serious-tabaxi, @ignisuadaroleplay, @sorcerer-acolyte—it was good meeting you, and perhaps we'll meet again. Although if we do... it probably won't be in this guise."

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob

[green-cloaked-figure]

"Ah, dang. Dalob would have been my second guess. Although now I feel stupid for having missed some clues that I can see in retrospect; yeah, okay, I really should have gotten it. Oh well. I said I was bad at this."

When the Hero reappears, he's barefoot (he was wearing sandals before), but seems otherwise unharmed. (He's also, of course, not wearing a mask anymore, so his face is clearly visible, but there's nothing surprising about it. He looks like an ordinary human, whom nobody else at the party recognizes.)

The green-cloaked figure takes off the deerstalker hat they were wearing, and it morphs back into the dragon mask, which the figure puts back on the Hero's face. The figure's (lensless) magnifying glass also morphs back into the domino mask, which the figure puts back on (again, pointlessly over its drooping hood).

"So, uh," the green-cloaked figure says, "are those of us who came masked and disguised supposed to reveal ourselves, or should we just let the mystery linger? I mean, I know you figured out who I am, but I'm not sure anyone else knows."

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob

[green-cloaked-figure]

"I mean, that's good to know, but did you just teleport him there without warning, or did anyone explain to him what was going on? Like I said, he was already nervous and feeling out of place here and I was doing my best to reassure him and try to make him feel comfortable; if he suddenly found himself alone in a different location I'm not sure how well he'd take that, refreshments and air conditioning notwithstanding.

"Oh well. What's done is done. I'll try to explain the situation and calm him down when he gets back if necessary.

"Oh, yeah, wait, never mind. I forgot; unless you teleported him there naked—which I'm going to assume isn't the case—he still had the sandals and loincloth with him. So he's not alone; I'm there with him, or copies of me are there with him. It's fine."

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob

[green-cloaked-figure]

"The one with the cat ears who introduced himself to the Hero and me as 'The Merchant' earlier. He didn't say his real name."

They motion toward @kajeet-da-traveling-merchant.

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob

[green-cloaked-figure]

"Well, as we all know, in mysteries it's often the least likely suspect! And in this mystery, I'd say the least likely suspect is... me! After all, it was my companion who was the first victim. I'm the one who's been doing most of the investigation. Clearly I'm the one who's least likely to have committed the murders, and therefore, by the narrative laws of murder mysteries, the most likely suspect to have been the murderer!

"Except that I know I didn't do it. At least, I'm pretty sure I didn't do it. So that's not what I'm going to guess. Instead, I'll guess the person who I said was the most likely suspect before... the Merchant! Except I'm basing that guess largely on things that I'm not sure were actually supposed to be clues. Or maybe they were. I don't know. Sorry.

"Honestly, I just kind of wish more people had gotten more involved in the investigation. I was kind of trying to prod other people into participating more, but... oh well. Well, @sorcererest-sorcerer, I think you were doing a good job, anyway; I'm sorry if it didn't go exactly as you'd intended.

"The only thing I'm a little worried about is that I hope the Hero is okay. I mean, I'm sure you didn't physically harm him, but I think he was already kind of nervous and uncomfortable being here, and I hope he was a willing participant in this and he wasn't too traumatized; I don't want to scare him off from further social interaction with, uh, people who aren't regular humans."

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob

[green-cloaked-figure]

"I mean, yeah, I'd kind of like to spend time with my date too, but at least the two of them are probably in the same place and hopefully getting along. Anyway, let's just get done solving this 'mystery' and they should be back.

"If it makes you feel better, I can check on them; I have a... okay, this is going to sound a little odd, but I have a mental connection to the Hero's costume. I didn't want to use it to cheat on the mystery, but I think it's okay if I just use it to check on them and see how they're doing, if it'll set your mind at ease."

( @sorcererest-sorcerer )

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob

[green-cloaked-figure]

[ @sorcerer-acolyte Bold of you to assume the green-cloaked figure has feet]

The green-cloaked figure speaks loudly to make themself heard over the growing storm, which they otherwise seem to be completely ignoring.

"So.. we know Dalob and the gentleman in the eyeless mask were near the refreshment table when the first murder occurred. Was there anyone else there at the time?"

As they speak, they slowly walk toward Tempest.

"Speaking of the gentleman with the eyeless mask, did I hear you say something about sulfur earlier? Was that... a clue? Would you care to expand on it?"

Their voice is becoming less deep than it was, or at least less consistently deep; apparently they were putting on a fake voice this whole time and are now becoming careless about it.

"And wait! I believe we're still missing one suspect!" They turn toward @ignisuadaroleplay. "Weren't you dancing with a young lady earlier? Did you see where she went?"

When they get near Tempest, the green-cloaked figure whispers aside to him, made somewhat less inconspicuous by their choice to put their hand beside their mouth (or at least the spot on their hood behind which their mouth presumably is) when they do so.

"You know this is all fake, right?"

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob

[green-cloaked-figure]

[OOC: Not a timeline issue, I don't think; I just didn't know your characters and didn't get that the one causing the storm was a different character than the one who had "died". I've deleted the post I made that was based on the misunderstanding. Sorry.]

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob

[green-cloaked-figure]

"Ah, ha! So who else was near you at the snack tables at the time? This could at least help narrow the list of suspects..."

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob

[green-cloaked-figure]

"Ah! So did you sense the direction the spell came from this time, or were you not close enough?"

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob

[green-cloaked-figure]

"Gadzooks! The villain struck again! Perhaps our poor departed, uh, actually I don't think I ever got that guy's name, but perhaps he knew too much!"

In addition to the deerstalker cap, somehow, the green-cloaked figure is now holding an oversized magnifying glass they didn't have a moment ago. (Or at least the frame of a magnifying glass; if you look closely it doesn't actually seem to have a lens.) They're also no longer wearing the domino mask, so maybe the mask turned into the magnifying glass? (The domino mask had been pointlessly worn over the drooping hood of their cloak anyway, so it hadn't really been contributing to disguising their identity.)

"So... hm... who was near the snack table when the fiend struck the first time?"

They look around. "Also is @thedarksorcerer still here, or did they teleport away again?"

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob

[green-cloaked-figure]

"I... don't know what rift energy is. As I told the Merchant, I'm not a wizard; I don't know anything about spells. I am inherently magical myself, but... not in a way that lets me actually use any sort of power that resembles spellcasting. I guess you could say my specialty is alchemy, but only in the sense that I've at least made some attempt to study the rudiments of alchemy; I can't really do much with that either.

"What is rift energy, and who here is glowing with it? You were looking at me when you said that—you weren't referring to me, were you? Like I said, I am inherently magical, but... not with 'rift energy', whatever that is, as far as I know.

"Or if you were asking me about someone else... I'm not the right entity to ask. I don't think I'd met anyone else at this party before, aside from our host and @the-mighty-dalob. Well, and of course..." they gesture toward the pile of "ash".

"Wait—what was that about someone being disguised as a bush? Do we have another suspect I didn't know about?"

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob

[green-cloaked-figure]

"I mean, like I said I don't think I'm great at this investigation thing, but I am pretty sure humans don't turn into piles of ash when they're stabbed."

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob

[green-cloaked-figure]

"A likely story!

"I'm not being sarcastic, that's a likely story, because yeah, you having committed the murder would be too easy and kind of an unsatisfying answer. But if you were very close to him when he died, and you know about the hostile spell, perhaps there's something you could tell us about it. Could you sense what kind of spell it was, or what direction it was coming from?"

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob

[green-cloaked-figure]

The green cloaked figure scratches its head through the deerstalker cap that they definitely didn't have on when this all started and that may be a transformed version of the dragon mask.

"Hm... so that's a dead end, then.

"Well, friends, let's think this through. Of course the obvious suspect is the person who took @sorcererest-sorcerer aside earlier to speak to him privately, and who just a little while ago was suspiciously putting something into a pocket. But as we all know, in a murder mystery it's never the most obvious suspect. By which I mean, it probably is the most obvious subject, but I don't want to spoil things by ending this too soon, so let's pretend we didn't see those things.

"But wait! All our suspects are not assembled! Isn't there someone missing? I thought I saw someone else in this room earlier. Wait... I seem to recall an altercation at the refreshment table. Yes... between @the-mighty-dalob and a...

"Where's @thedarksorcerer?

"If nothing else, I can ask him some stupid questions too to drag this thing out further."

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob

[green-cloaked-figure]

"You seem to know a lot about fire spells! Which the murderer would know! Either that or you have a lot of common sense! Which the murderer may or may not have! Which means... absolutely nothing yeah I got nothing sorry. While I hate to desecrate the chalk dust—I mean, the remains of my poor dead friend—perhaps there is something hidden under the ash! Or probably not, but I'm going to look anyway because at least it's something for me to do other than asking people silly questions."

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob

[green-cloaked-figure]

"It's this foot now? So it was a different foot before? No, wait, I'm sorry; that was an especially stupid question; let's wait for @sorcerer-acolyte to do the mana tracking thing so maybe we can get another clue to go on and I can stop doing these arbitrary investigations. Seriously, someone else can step in to help investigate any time now..."

🎭The Sorcerer’s Masquerade🎭

Greetings and Salutations!

You have been formally invited to the Sorcerer’s first ever Halloween Masquerade Ball! The attire is wizard formal, so wear your most extravagant outfit. You must also come wearing a mask. Anonymity is encouraged, but not enforced.

Each invited guest is permitted to bring a plus one.

The event will occur on October 30th-November 1st

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience via letter, psychic message, or orb.

S.

@sorcerer-acolyte @lead-sorcerer @the-silliest-sorcerer @sorceress-foxgirl-ariel @gun-sorcerer @inflammable-sorcerer @serious-tabaxi @the-mighty-dalob