Post by Lavita on Sept 12, 2004 18:28:55 GMT -1
This is a lengthened account of Arianna's ghoulish tale in City of Masks...so you will recognise it. ;D
A Tradition of Vanity
Although the wearing of masks is a Bellezzan tradition leading back to the earliest days of her people, until a hundred years previously they were only customary at Carnival, as an item of entertainment and costume. Yet all that was about to change as after the startling events of one such Carnival began the everyday tradition that still holds strong in Bellezza's present day...
The Duchessa of that time was considered an extremely vain woman and, in preparation for the coming Carnival, she requested an extraordinary mask from the island of Merlino, an action that would bring the beginning of more than one lasting tradition.
The mask in question was crafted of a delicate, shimmering glass and birthed from the combination of the Duchessa's own design and the Glass Master who poured every scrap of his talent into this marvellous piece. The result was an elaborate work worthy of Bellezza's most dangerous and powerful woman.
When the time came for the Carnival's closing ball in the Piazza Santa Maddalena, the Duchessa, in her shimmering mask, and her dance partner took to the square. Accompanied by the cheers of the red-bloodied Bellezzans, they whirled across the paved ground with a growing vigour until...
The Duchessa's agonised screams pierced through the music, her beautiful mask shattering as she fell to the ground amidst her horrified subjects. Some accounts say she simply tripped over her dress, but in the eyes of the Bellezzans, the blame lay with her dance partner, Ferrando di Chimici, the Prince of Remora of whom they strongly believe tried to assassinate their beloved Duchessa.
Following the chaos of the Carnival, the Duchessa, now forever masked, passed the law that unmarried women over the age of sixteen must wear a mask when in public. Although her full face was never again seen in public, the Duchessa's wrath was indication enough at the amount of damage done, and reflective of her vain nature. For many say that so great was her love of beauty that she wished none to rival her own.
As a lasting reminder of her power, the Duchessa made the Glass Master create an exact duplicate of the fateful mask and ordered that it be kept on display for all to see and reStravagante. The day following its completion, the Glass Master succumbed to an apparent stomach disorder, dying not long after. And what of the Reman Prince? He too met an untimely death in similar coincidental occurrences. Death by Ailment is inked upon in the records...Vengeance by Poison is upon the lips of the Bellezzans...
To this day the replicate mask remains on display in the Merlino museum. And carved in stone above the doors is the true motto of Bellezza:
Ove Belta porta une Maschera
Where Beauty wears a Mask.
A Tradition of Vanity
Although the wearing of masks is a Bellezzan tradition leading back to the earliest days of her people, until a hundred years previously they were only customary at Carnival, as an item of entertainment and costume. Yet all that was about to change as after the startling events of one such Carnival began the everyday tradition that still holds strong in Bellezza's present day...
The Duchessa of that time was considered an extremely vain woman and, in preparation for the coming Carnival, she requested an extraordinary mask from the island of Merlino, an action that would bring the beginning of more than one lasting tradition.
The mask in question was crafted of a delicate, shimmering glass and birthed from the combination of the Duchessa's own design and the Glass Master who poured every scrap of his talent into this marvellous piece. The result was an elaborate work worthy of Bellezza's most dangerous and powerful woman.
When the time came for the Carnival's closing ball in the Piazza Santa Maddalena, the Duchessa, in her shimmering mask, and her dance partner took to the square. Accompanied by the cheers of the red-bloodied Bellezzans, they whirled across the paved ground with a growing vigour until...
The Duchessa's agonised screams pierced through the music, her beautiful mask shattering as she fell to the ground amidst her horrified subjects. Some accounts say she simply tripped over her dress, but in the eyes of the Bellezzans, the blame lay with her dance partner, Ferrando di Chimici, the Prince of Remora of whom they strongly believe tried to assassinate their beloved Duchessa.
Following the chaos of the Carnival, the Duchessa, now forever masked, passed the law that unmarried women over the age of sixteen must wear a mask when in public. Although her full face was never again seen in public, the Duchessa's wrath was indication enough at the amount of damage done, and reflective of her vain nature. For many say that so great was her love of beauty that she wished none to rival her own.
As a lasting reminder of her power, the Duchessa made the Glass Master create an exact duplicate of the fateful mask and ordered that it be kept on display for all to see and reStravagante. The day following its completion, the Glass Master succumbed to an apparent stomach disorder, dying not long after. And what of the Reman Prince? He too met an untimely death in similar coincidental occurrences. Death by Ailment is inked upon in the records...Vengeance by Poison is upon the lips of the Bellezzans...
To this day the replicate mask remains on display in the Merlino museum. And carved in stone above the doors is the true motto of Bellezza:
Ove Belta porta une Maschera
Where Beauty wears a Mask.