Amazing Evening

   I walk through the hotel towards the show room, the normal hotel staff staring at me like i've lost my mind. Reaching the ticket booth for the night i see a jack in the box and a toy soldier standing next to the table. After getting my wrist band i begin to walk up the hallway towards the doors when i see something out of the corner of my eye. Turning i see a very large man in a very tiny room through a glass wall. He was a grin on his face and a look of insanity in his eyes. Rocking back and forth he is petting what looks to be a stuffed rabbit and talking to....something? He's the only one in the room yet looks to be in a heated debate. After standing there for a few minutes i finally pull myself away from it and continue towards the door. I'm stopped right next to the entrance where another box has two female figures in it. One looks to be a type of pregnant cat lady and the other is a marionette. I was about to say to myself, "Nice props." when the marionette woman starts to move and twitch, looking up at me with blank eyes. Taken aback i hurried into the theatre.

   As always Slave of the Muse stands up to their name with a magnificent evening. Many ball goers surrounded me as i made my way through the dark red theater. You can tell Slave Of The Muse members apart from the rest of the crew by their stark color contrasts. While most patrons wore dark, lavish colors. SOTM all wore muted tones of white, silver, and grey. This was spoken about by the ring leader of the event "The Hawker", what I took from his eloquent speech was that we the patrons bring the color, the life, that spark to this little pocket realm we stepped into. I loved looking around the ball and amidst the sea of crimson's and black were these small blips of alabaster, silver, and grays. Characters as wild as a moving jack in the box, a ballerina, to a rather large....man?...woman? called the baroness. A toy soldier, a doll, a jester, and a man in a full face mask with hair resembling hell-raiser stomping around. With special guests Soriah the Tibetan Throat Singer and a acrobatic Silk performer Faegann, there was plenty to feasts the eyes and ears apon.

    The clarion show room is a magnificent venue, but a little off for SOTM's usual dance themed nights. The two dance floors were split on each side of the theater so you had to chose where you wanted to dance.  Not that this stopped people from shaking it for most of the night. As the night raged on crew and patrons mingled and relaxed more and more with the every increasing lubricant of drinks and the freedom of being someone else for the night. I felt myself desperately under dressed for this event next to all the wonderful costumes, even though i had spent a fair amount of time on my mask and outfit. As the night wound down i began to hear whispers of a Masque Demortus II event coming in october. A night of celebrating the dead by living while we can.

   Finally with a ringing of bells the night draws to a close. All the white characters file back on stage and the curtain closes in-front of them all except for The Hawker. I'll admit i wasn't in a completely sober mind at this time so i don't recall the exact words he said, but he thanked us for coming and enjoying the pocket universe that he had found & left us with a few hints of whats to come from Slave of the Muse before stepping back behind the curtain. Looking around the theatre, the resounding emptiness left with all the white characters gone was palpable, even though the room was still full of patron's. To me this showed just how well these characters fit into this place. Its like coming home to your parents house and finding it completely empty. Everyone turned and started to say their good-byes and filed out of the theatre. Like the ending to a good book, I was sad that it had ended but felt a satisfaction in knowing this would not be the last time i'd see these characters.

   For those of you that missed it. You truly missed an amazing thing that is all to rare in this world. Without a doubt Slave Of the Muse still has me as a life long fan and patron to any event they ever put on. I hope you now will take my words and come down the next time this wondrous troupe decides to put on an event. Your humble host, signing off.