Monster Party Novella Nosos: But what happens when the gears get sick of the machine?
Chapter One: Just two things of which you must beware, don't drink the water and don't breath the air.
Rain fell in the city of Nosos and its occupants headed for whatever shelter they could find. Not because they were afraid of getting wet, because they were afraid of getting burned.
A single drop of rain in Nosos would leave a faint tingling sensation against your skin, but rain never fell in single droplets. A proper downpour of the fowl smelling liquid could permanently ruin even the finest of outfits or reduce an already threadbare one to useless rags.
What it could do to skin was even less pleasant to think about.
Man and animal alike had learned to fear the rain in Nosos, the plants would have feared it also, as much as plants could fear, if there had been any natural plant life left.
A soot blackened cloud of mist was blown down one alleyway, and half a a dozen figures emerged from it.
One of them was a tall man with striking silver hair, wearing a vaguely military black outfit with a few silver markings here and there. His left eye was bright green, and his right was covered by a black eyepatch. Almost as soon as he took his first step in Nosos he bent over double in shock and surprise.
"What... what... what is this?" Gasped Alexander Diamondclaw as he struggled for breath.
A moment later he was joined in his semi-prone position by a younger looking man (who might have seen his twentieth year, but then again might not have) in bright red. Alexander's crimson clad companion coughed and spluttered in pain.
"This... this isn't Invidia!" James Firecat gasped.
The wide brimmed red hat that James wore would have surely have slipped from his head if not for the fact that a pair of white gloved hands made to sure to hold it steady.
"You know... the last time I was this happy that I don't need to breath someone was trying to drown me." Blasely announced a woman in a white jacket, black pants, and white hat.
Her eyes were a deep red color, and her hair was midnight black except for a white stripe running down the middle of it.
At the moment Mirri Catwarrior seemed torn between amusement at the suffering of her companions, and a few small scraps of genuine concern.
"Devi, wet rags, now. This is so bad that even I can smell it!" Demanded a man in brown cloak, that covered most of his body, though it was possible to see that he had on a blue outfit and red tie on underneath it.
Cal Wright didn't have to wait too long before his request was answered. An elfin woman in a blue close cut dress with blue hair and brown eyes reached into a small brown bag she wore at her hip and produced a damp rag.
Devi Skye passed it to Alexander, and then her bag yielded another for James and the third was soon fastened around Cal's mouth.
"It isn't as bad as Oil of Scallatine, but that's all I can say in its favor..." Rumbled Alexander, able to stand up straight now that his nostrils had some protection from the seemingly ever present stench.
Devi wasted little time in attaching her own cloth and then offered one to the final member of the group.
"This place... this place is wrong." Muttered Florence Bastien.
She was a woman with seemingly sickly green skin and blond hair that was so rough it was almost straw-like in texture. She was wearing a green leotard like outfit and her jade eyes were round with surprise.
After a few moments she had recovered enough to accept the cloth and tied it around her mouth.
Though she had proclaimed no particular need for such a thing Mirri still accepted a sixth rag and affixed it to her own face when one was offered.
"Okay, now that none of us are about to choke to death, lets try and figure out exactly what is going on." Alexander suggested.
"Knowing where we could go to get away from the smell would be nice also." James added instantly.
"I'm still not sure where exactly we are, but if this place is at all like home, find the biggest house or castle around and head there.." Mirri suggested.
Given that anything was better than simply standing around breathing in the, well calling it "air" was being too kind, the group started moving.
Alexander's keen eye soon picked out the sight of a large diamond shaped manner which could just barely be seen peaking over the top of a high stone wall. Standing by the only obvious gate leading into or out of the wall were two men who would certainly never lack for work. If nothing else, there was no band of players that would not be willing to hire them to play the part of the stolid unimaginative guards.
Not only did they have that particular advantage, but someone had even been kind enough to hang out a tarp above them so that they didn't suffer too much from the rain.
"Omega you're on." Alexander muttered deciding that this particular situation might call for a soft touch.
In response James advanced on the two men, a wide smile on his face his eyes bright and friendly.
"Hi! We're a little new in town and we're looking for some place to get out of the rain. Can we go inside?" He asked with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.
The two guards gave James their very best glower but when his irrepressible optimism refused to accept the obvious hint they were forced to actually speak.
"Nobody is allowed in without a ticket." One of them rumbled.
"So how do we get tickets?" James inquired in the sort of voice small children tended to use when pestering their parents.
"Lord Sceleris only sends out tickets to those he likes. If you didn't get one scram." The other guard explained bluntly.
"Well then, thanks for your time, it was a pleasure talking with you!" He complimented the pair and turned back around.
"Sorry Alex I guess we're gonna have to find shelter somewhere else." He lamented.
Alexander was about to inform James that he hadn't really expected him to succeed in the first place when suddenly a new sound began to echo through the streets.
Above the constant pattering of the rain it was possible to hear the "click clack" of wheels as a large black carriage road up to the gate.
Men of the same same stolid no nonsense no imagination mold as those guarding the gates opened up the doors from inside and a man got out.
He had black hair, brown eyes and was dressed in a sleek black suit and pants combination along with a fine white shirt while a tall black hat rested upon his head. His face was slightly ruddy and had a few beads of sweat trickling down it that he wiped away with a handkerchief as he got out.
He started to dig about in his outfit for something but stopped when he caught sight of the other group by the gate.
"I say, is that a sword?" The man spluttered clearly quite certain if he could believe his own eyes.
"No, it's an empty sheath." Alexander replied sardonically.
"What would you need a sword for in Nosos? Place is safe can be, isn't a monster to be found in the entire land!" The man chuckled reaching out to try and lay a hand on Alexander's blade.
The silver haired man abruptly shifted his shoulders and the weapon slung across them dropped out of the brown eyed man's reach.
"We're not from Nosos." He explained calmly.
Then before this particular conversation could become any more pointless he made a few quick hand motions indicating that the rest of the group should follow him in heading off to look for less exclusive lodgings.
"You're leaving so soon? We haven't even had a chance to get to know one another, and you say you're not from Nosos?" The black haired man insisted, going so far as to grab Alexander by the shoulder.
There was suddenly a look in Alexander's eye that suggested only the new arrival's air of good natured joviality was currently keeping him from becoming terminally well acquainted with Alexander's blade.
"We don't have tickets, and we don't intend to spend the rest of the... I'm going to assume it is 'day' but given how thick those clouds are I'm honestly not sure, standing out here in the rain. So we're going to be on our way." He explained slowly, clearly, and slightly louder than normal.
The man was speaking Balok, but in Alexander's experiences various places that had never even heard of Barovia often ended up speaking some version or other of Balok.
"Well this just won't do. You've got the look of a man of the world about you, at least as much of your face as I can see, that eyepatch is very dashing you know, and you've even got your own sword! My name is Edward Resten, you should come into the party with me, I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about." Edward insisted.
"We/they don't have tickets." Alexander and the men guarding the gates insisted in perfect synchronization.
"Pish tosh, its only because you're new in Nosos, otherwise you certainly would have gotten some! As for you two, you should know that Lord Sceleris is a very good friend of mine... very good! Why he even took the time to take off his gloves and shake my hand palm to palm last time we met! If I say one bad word to him, you'll be out of a job and probably shipped off to Garbage Island before the day is through!" Edward insisted.
The pair of guards exchanged glances and clearly decided that this particular problem could best be solved by someone else.
They each fished out a key, inserted it it into a separate lock and twisted. The large gate began to creak open and Edward broke into an abrupt jog so as to pass the distance between the tarp and the mansion itself as quickly as possible.
"You realize that we don't know anyone else who is attending." Cal couldn't help but point out while he and the others made sure to keep pace with their newest 'friend'.
"Don't worry it's not just any kind of party Malus is throwing, it's a masquerade! That's the best kind of party in my opinion, because you have no idea who you're talking to! You wind up discovering new things about people you've known your entire life when you're talking to them behind a mask, if you can realize who they are of course." Edward rambled on while as he rapped on a pair of large double doors.
They opened up from inside and the group swiftly sought shelter from the rain.
Inside was a grand hall and as the door was slammed shut an almost miraculous change took place. Instead of the... well if there was such a thing as "undiluted stench" that would do a pretty good job describing what they had been inhaling outside, inside was air.
Air that still had a faint reek of several unpleasant odors about it, but it was none the less distinctly air. Whatever its other faults, it smelled like sweetest perfume compared what they'd had to deal with a few moments ago.
"So if it's a masquerade, what are you planning on wearing?" Alexander inquired, deciding that it might worth getting to know Edward a bit better after all.
"Ahh, I'm glad you asked... you'll be quite impressed I promised, let me just..." He began to fidget about checking pocket after pocket and then the inner folds of his black outfit, all without success.
Then he turned to his two bodyguards who had accompanied him along with Alexander's companions.
"I say, Lenny, Carl, I don't suppose I gave my mask to one of you to look after...?" He asked in the tone of voice one uses when they sadly already knows the answer.
Both of his protectors shook their heads and Edward sighed resting the fingers of his right hand against his head in morning.
"Seems I'm making a right proper fool of myself today, getting so caught up at the prospect of attending one of Lord Sceleris' masquerades that I completely forgot to bring my mask! Oh well, all hope is not yet lost, he always provides a few for those who don't have their own."
Mr. Resten explained, and sure enough there was a wide table spread out before them with various different masks resting upon it.
Edward wasted no time at all gravitating towards one that depicted an eagle and began to examine it closely.
"Hmm, not as good as the one I left back home, but I suppose it will have to do. What are you planning on...? Oh I say!" He suddenly gasped in surprise.
"That's a simply splendid choice!" Edward complimented his newest acquaintance once he got over the shock.
In the time it had taken Edward to examine his mask, Alexander had already decided which one he wished and donned it.
The silver haired man no longer had need for the wet cloth, but now his face was all but completely hidden behind the visage of a snarling gray wolf. A few tendrils of his long hair twisted around the edges of the mask, adding a touch of silver to the beast's fur.
"Granted, there hasn't been any actual wolves in Nosos for decades, but you wear that mask so well I doubt anyone will care." Edward Resten reflected.
"It called out to me." Alexander noted with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Now then, the rest of you should... the rest of you other than James and Mirri I mean..." Alexander amended his comments.
While the other three members of the group would have to pick and choose among the masks laid out on the table, both James and Mirri had sought their own headgear from within Devi's bag of holding.
Mirri Catwarrior's face was now concealed behind an exquisite paper mache depiction of a savage black feline beast that anyone from Nova Vassa would instantly recognize as being a Plains Cat.
By comparison, James Firecat's mask might seem unimpressive as only depicted a tortoiseshell faced housecat. On the other hand, whoever had made the mask had chosen to craft the cat's feature with a degree of nobility and regality to them that would have done any lion proud.
Callan Wright selected a mask which bore the brilliant design of a red feathered bird halfway through the process of bursting into flames and Devi Skye opted for a simple unadorned white mask.
The mask that drew Florence Bastien's attention was at the far end of the table, and buried under half a dozen others. It was hardly even a mask, for it was not carved in the likeness of any living creature's face.
Instead, it was made to resemble a large leaf, carefully crafted to include eye-holes but otherwise completely obscuring the wearer's face.
"Ah." Was all she said upon discovering it.
"Well, now that we're all dressed for the occasion, lets go see if we can't make some new friends." Alexander decided and the group proceeded deeper into the mansion and the masquerade party.
End Chapter
FN: Before you even ask, my decision to write this story has nothing at all to do with the fact that I've recently started watching a lets play of Assassin's Creed Syndicate. You can tell because the "theme song" for this story comes from the creatively titled "Assassin's Creed Syndicate Song" by TryHardNinja.
So yeah... I felt like writing something a bit different than normal. Despite my desire to see those wet rags (probably not the same ones they used in Book 3 but after those events Devi probably started some around just to be on the safe side) lead to "Is this a hold up" I can promise you there will be no trains, in this story/no trains in any Ravenloft story I write. While the technology level of Nosos is roughly in the right area, they don't make sense since the domain is much too small for them to be useful.
Another way this will be different is that what you're reading right now... it's all based on stuff from inside my head. For a given definition of "all" at least which is better to say that the plot is all mine. The setting on the other hand I'm still getting a lot of help with from others. The domain of Nosos is a real Ravenloft domain, and while there has been precious little canon material written about it (roughly 10 pages in the Islands of Terror book and maybe another five in some other places) there has been a fair amount of fan based material. I'm going to draw on that stuff pretty heavily to help flesh out the domain/some of its occupants and I'll give you links to it when I do my full book commentary.
For now, all you need to know is that if Paridon was inspired by Jack the Ripper killings (which it clearly was), Nosos was inspired by a different aspect of roughly that same time period. Don't worry, you'll be able to figure it out pretty quickly if you haven't already.