Risen Duchess

Hey, so this is my entry for the GuildWarsDyeJob 'Mad King's Masquerade' contest.
The first thought I had for this was to make some sort of noble with a masquerade costume, but then I wondered 'but how to make it spooky?' Then I remembered one of my favourite personal story steps 'Estate of Decay'. I always loved the concept of that (although think it could have been pushed further) so I decided to build from that. I made her a sylvari so I could get the pale skin and 'bloodmarks' but aiming for a risen/undead human look. I then got a bit carried away and wrote a short story around her :P

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"We had the building surrounded. It was that time of year again. There are always the usual festivities that surround the reappearance of Mad King Thorn. But then there are always other... oddities.

We'd had reports of disturbances, lights and noises coming from the manor. It had been deserted for years so no one in there. At first we just put it down to kids messing around. When people started disappearing we took more notice. From the reports and the amount of noise we expected to meet a large group of bandits within. So we gathered up a group of local Seraph and waited outside. We had to be prepared; if citizens had gone missing this would be a hostage situation so we had to be on our toes.

We set up a perimeter and then sent a large force to storm the main door. It opened easily and they rushed in. It swung quickly behind them so those of us outside just had to sit and wait for the signal. So we waited.
And waited.
Still no sign so we got twitchy. There weren't many of us left so we gathered up and went in to see what had become of the rest of our squad.

I don't think any of us expected what we found within.

Candles lined the walls. From the ceiling a large chandelier hung. The floor and walls were intricately decorated and polished. Maybe our reports were wrong. How long had it been abandoned again? But what stood out most of all were the dancers.

They parted and we could see them muttering as they swept aside as we cautiously made our way across the hall. Was this some kind of a joke? Some secret moonlit party held by some minister? What was going on here?

I started paying more attention to the guests and that was when I started noticing things. They were glancing our way and muttering yet they refused to make eye contact. Scanning through the crowd I spotted someone familiar. It was Thorpe. Thorpe and I had been friends for a while. We'd joined at the same time but he had risen through the ranks faster. He was a rough, practical man yet there he was dressed up in a tailored suit, that rough beard of his trimmed and shaven. He was just standing there, his arms around some lady staring off into the middle distance. What had happened? Wasn't he with the first push?

I then noticed other people. Edith, Warren, Jenson. The one standing by the window looked like Tripp but was hard to tell without his mop of hair. I was about to call out to the rest of them when She appeared.

She wore a long dress of green and gold and hid her face behind one of those fancy masks the nobles like to wear. Beneath them though were two entrancing eyes that I just couldn't stop staring at. She gave a chuckle and seemed to look right at me when she announce, "Welcome guests, to the Masquerade!" She swept her arms across the hall. "Please come join us. We have plenty of outfits and refreshments are served in an hour" she said with a smile. "Please, follow me"

We had no choice. Our bodies and minds seemed to work of their own volition following her up those stairs. I'm not sure how long we followed her. Then something, some noise or distraction snapped me out of the trance and I started seeing things, for real this time.

The others were still stuck in the trance. I tried to shake them, but to no avail. Our host seemed to notice and turned sharply. Those eyes I once thought entrancing I saw were nothing more than bottomless black holes in her head. Her skin was pale as death. In places the skin had peeled - revealing rotting muscles below. And her thin, spindly hands were caked with blood.

She screamed and heard footsteps running behind me. I bolted from her and almost ran headlong into the rest of the guests. Who, it was now quite clear, had been dead for a long time. I spotted Thorpe near the front and now noticed the long, deep slash that ran right across his face. The others were the same and the ones that had obviously been there before were in a worse state, their bodies hardly hanging onto the flesh they had left. I tried to make it back and saw Her with the last of the Seraph - their swords drawn and staring at me. So I did the only thing I could.

I launched myself through the nearest window and I ran. I ran until my legs screamed and then I kept on running. Eventually it all got too much and I collapsed.
So here I am. I'm not even sure where 'here' is any more. My only thought was of getting away and not of where to go. I could report in, but would anyone believe me? I know I wouldn't if hadn't... if I hadn't seen...

No that's it with the Seraph. I'll find a nice house I can hole myself into and make a life for myself. Maybe I'll even be a farmer. Yeah that sounds nice. Whatever it is it needs to be far away from that House, that Lady and her Masquerade."