#quartusbellumevent

It was no surprise later, closer to midnight then not, that Gabriel was feeling stuffy. The party was put on by Nott, after all. Nott wouldn’t know a decent party if it bit him on the arse and without Mrs. Nott it probably would have had an ending time of ten-thirty.

Which, really, would have been a blessing at this point. 

Sure the food was good, and there were plenty of drinks, but it was all so... one note. At least if the party was at the Malfoy estate Gabriel would have found other ways of making the party...interesting (in socially acceptable ways, of course).

He needed some water, maybe. Or just a quick walk in the gardens. Or...

Gabriel Greengrass had experienced many needles in his life and more than his share of potions (much to his frustration). This was neither. It cut his skin and burned through his robes (and he liked those robes!) The shriek probably would have put his son’s ear-piercing shouts to shame. The following, “What is it, what is so my chest?” No less reverberating around the room.

EVENT OUTLINE

To celebrate the appointment of Alexander Nott to the Wizengamot, the man of honour is holding an open house to all who wish to celebrate his good news. Drinks will be hosted in the gardens of Nott estate, while esteemed guests will have access to the the manor itself. Entrance will be granted to all who present their personalised invitation. As well as drinks, nibbles will be provided, and guests can expect music from rising stars in the world of classical music. This is a smart robes affair, and anyone dressed indecently will not be permitted onto the grounds.

THE TWIST

Many in the Death Eaters are opposed to Nott’s appointment, desiring the position for themselves. The Dark Lord has not been as generous as he promised. Nott is not merely rubbing it in the faces of his peers by holding a party, but luring those such individuals into his home so that he can identify who exactly among the Death Eaters are his friends and who are his enemies. What he does not expect is another player to be in attendance altogether, the Ashen Phoenix. This event is the perfect opportunity to get exactly what they need, a strand of hair from a known Death Eater. Only a known Death Eater can walk into Azkaban, thus if the Ashen Phoenix are to free Dumbledore, they will need a dose of Polyjuice Potion containing the hair of a Death Eater.

MEMBERS

Narcissa Malfoy and Marcus McKinnon will be attending as GUESTS. Narcissa has an invitation to the manor, while Marcus does not, and both are free to mingle in the garden as they please.  

Gabriel Greengrass is the official PARTY PLANNER.

James Potter will be working SECURITY.

Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald will be attending on a MISSION for the Ashen Phoenix. Their goal is to obtain hair from a known Death Eater for later use in a polyjuice potion. They will be in disguise, their features altered by magic to conceal their true identities.

NOTE ON INTERACTIONS

The event will take place from Sunday 4th November. So, members, feel free to start roleplaying! More information about when the event closes will be posted soon.  

Please tag all starters quartusbellumstarter and quartusbellumevent. In addition, please tag all event related posts quartusbellumevent1.

THE APPOINTMENT OF ALEXANDER NOTT TO THE WIZENGAMOT

Food On Offer

Baked Brie with Fresh Eden Berries Soaked in Dark Oaks Pinot Noir

Goat Cheese Marinated in White Wine with Thyme and Lightly Smoked over Mermaid Infused Tobacco

Antipesto Skewers With Kelpie Bacon and Basil

Onions, Cabbage, and Thread Noodles designed to burst with a bite of alcoholic red wine

Drinks On Offer

A Bright Night: A dark martini using licorice (black, cherry, or strawberry) flavored liquor, Dwarven Vodka, and charmed Glitter 

Giddy Pop: A mix between champagne and a dash of a Euphoria potion

EVENT OUTLINE

A Party to Celebrate Alexander Nott’s promotion to the Wizengamot - Part II 

Narcissa Malfoy has tinkered with a family heirloom, an overall unimpressive snuffbox which can be used to serve a warning to personal enemies without being directly implicated. The curse is enacted by pricking her finger (or anyone of Black decent) on a small needle at the bottom of the snuffbox. Each person to handle the box within an hour of it being triggered is effected. After several drinks and a simmering temper, she had the box taken from her home and placed in the smoking room of the Nott residence by a loyal house elf. She had Lucius retrieve it for her later and sent it home after triggering the curse. No trace of the snuffbox remained when the curse began to take effect. 

RESULTS: 

After approximately a half an hour those cursed will feel as if they’re overheating, then burning, pain overwhelming them as the symbol of the Ashen Phoenix is carved into their chest. Designed with spectacle in mind, the magic cuts through flesh and robes alike.

MEMBERS 

As it is a snuffbox, a disproportionate amount of Alexander Nott’s closest associates would be effected, the purest and most noble, inner circle Death Eaters. Staff would not have handled the box. While actual Ashen Phoenix members will not be targets of this curse, Narcissa Malfoy is using them as a scapegoat for her own ends. 

As such, any Ashen Phoenix members (Mary Macdonald and Lily Evans) will no doubt be disturbed by this twist in events, and security will be on high alert (James Potter). 

NOTE ON INTERACTIONS

For more context, read these starters: Pretty Party Favours & Social Scare.

Please continue all threads for this event as normal. The event isn’t over yet. This is merely a continuation of the Nott party, giving players the opportunity to add a bit of danger and excitement, should they wish. 

Please tag all starters quartusbellumstarter and quartusbellumevent. In addition, please tag all event related posts quartusbellumevent1.

@OPEN PARA Sunday, Nov 4, 1980 -- late evening

Delightfully, Gabriel was the first to notice -- or at least the first to scream. Narcissa couldn’t have planned that better if she’d done it on purpose. He really was such a dear -- maybe she’d talk to Lucius later about keeping him in the household permanently. He added the perfect amount of drama. Of course, there were limits to how far they could trust him...but at least that kept things interesting, too.

Speaking of keeping things interesting, she probably should have found a way to warn her husband about her little scheme beforehand, but she didn’t want to risk somebody overhearing them conspiring about something and putting two and two together after the screaming started. Besides, Lucius was a clever man (she would never have married him if he weren’t, no matter how pretty he was) and she was sure he would figure it out. If she had had the opportunity to place a bet, Narcissa would have guessed that he would recognize that charming little snuffbox and be able to deduce immediately what was going on and who had arranged for it to be placed there...

(So many people failed to pay any attention to their House Elves. It was truly a shame.)

She would have further bet that her husband -- never one to pass up an opportunity for drama -- would have made sure to get himself a good dose of the hex Narcissa had placed and...ah yes, that melodious shriek of indignation was unmistakable: Lucius at his most outrageously outraged. Narcissa was forced to clap her hands to her mouth in horror to hide her grin. She would be sure to run to Lucius’s side shortly so that the both of them could be appropriately outraged and horrified together (and she could give him a wink or a handclasp or something to assure him that yes he’d guessed right and she had done this on purpose), but first she ought to establish her individual reaction -- and make sure that plenty of people saw her out here in the garden, nowhere near the source of the outbreak, just as she had been all evening -- only now the façade of poised guest was gone, replaced by a frantic bystander and fearful wife searching for her husband amidst the chaos.

“Narcissa, darling.” Gabriel was the height of impropriety when he kissed her on the temple, perhaps a little overly friendly but he had been busy all day and then drinking. He deserved a little over friendliness. Not that he hadn’t been already. With Marcus. With Servers.

He didn’t expect to cash in on any of those interactions, of course, but the initial actions were enough. “Tell me that you have something delightful and awful planned?” He lowered his voice, making certain that he moved so no one would catch all his words as he spoke. “A dramatic interlude? An assassination? It can be mine if this is all the event is going to be.”

There was nothing Gabriel liked more than a party: but this one was pushing his love of event and cascading towards morgue. Like most pureblood events --it was stiff and fitted tight with egos, most of which were honestly deserved but several of which who were not. Gabriel had spent the majority of the day bossing house-elves around, the rest of it drinking, and was now grasping between the smoking room (ghastly smell, but fabulous buzz) and the main hall looking for...

Well, something that wasn’t so terribly dull. 

“So,” Gabriel grabbed the first unsuspecting wix he could, hardly paying overly much attention to whom it was and how what he might say would reflect upon their ears. “Tell me, who do you think Mrs. Nott is having an affair with?”

He leaned in, licorice still on his breath from his last drink, “I mean, we all know she’s a lesbian for all that she’s just had Nott Jr.” He waved a hand voice low among the general rumble of the room but close enough he knew he wouldn’t be missed. “Can’t blame such a pretty little blond thing looking elsewhere for other pretty little things. Nott looks like he’s just dusted himself off from the crypt.”

@OPEN PARA Sunday, Nov 4, 1980

Narcissa looked around, forcing an appropriately-awed look into her eyes while inside, she was sighing. It looked to be very much the usual Nott affair -- ornate but stodgy, with far too conservative a color scheme for her fashionable tastes -- and from the barely-visible way Lucius quirked the tip of one eyebrow at her, she knew he was equally unimpressed. Perhaps that wasn’t the decorator’s fault, though (she was sure old Alexander would have hired someone) but the pall that the evening’s theme cast over the event.

Inside, Narcissa was seething. What had Alexander Nott done for the Dark Lord that her husband had not? Boring, dull, washed-up, brittle old man... she thought venomously, while offering a charming smile to the first round of guests as she and Lucius sauntered through the garden gates.

Ordinarily the two of them would have spent a goodly portion of any party circulating together, but they weren’t here for fun tonight: they were here on business...and not the smarming, cozening-up-to-power Death Eater business that Nott had invited them for, but Silent Dagger business. They were here to fish behind the pretty smiles and see who else had resentment festering in their well-dressed breasts. So after a brief turn through the garden to exchange the first round of cursory greetings, Lucius and Narcissa split-up -- he to go inside and hob-nob with the rest of the high-ranked (as if that term meant anything any more!) Death Eaters, and she to circulate through the lesser guests in the garden. Narcissa would make her way inside to join him eventually, of course -- but for now it was best they split their efforts.

Casting about for the first of her likely targets, Narcissa staggered as she was jostled from behind. She whirled around, glaring hexes, and the offending wizard slunk off with his head bowed, not daring to voice a single word of complaint for the toadgin that now stained his unfashionable robes.