Day of Mask

Written by TheExasperatedDM

A man of average stature donned in purple and black, long sleeved doublet took the stage, his smile easily seen through the mask of tragedy as he looked upon the crowd.

"I see the game is afoot," he referenced the wolf masked body.

"However, none the less. We dedicate this game of deceit and mystery to the Mask Deceiver"

Now, the real game has begun.

History

Originally, Day of Mask was a game of both change and deceit amongst the people. There are two parts to the event; the Party and Switch. The parties for nobles are elegant and light-hearted game of who's who. The larger parties are thrown in common squares with the game including all around. The Switch involved the nobles changing their clothes and sit among the commoners at the foot of a stage.
Unfortunately, anonymizing of people allows for many assassinations and other unsavory acts to occur. This wasn't much of a surprise to many and it was common occurrence amongst the noble's parties. The noble's parties, even embraced the assassinations as part of the party games.
When a great city fell under the boot of a group of assassins, the Day of Mask changed. The nobles wished to eradicate the Switch from the holiday altogether. This quickly was denied by a mass protest from the people and reveal of the god amongst them. The nobles still changed the process of the event, but did not remove it out of fear.

Execution

The fundamentals of the event, the party and switch, have had their processes changed.
The Party has become more exclusive among the party members if the game is involved. Nobles' parties have more security and all guests must be checked off the host's list. The commoners' parties are still large, however the game has decreased in size and typically only family, and/or friends of family play. Anyone can impersonate another on this day, however, those that continue to impersonate, or commit a crime are punished. The game's goal is simple identify as many impostors as possible. The purpose of the game is debated amongst all as the god has never revealed it. The god did make it clear to the people that the Switch and game must be apart of the event.
The Switch was symbolic of the nobles dressing as a commoner and seeing the perspective of commoner bowing under the noble. The Switch is more name sake than practice now. The nobles' change their costumes, however not to those of a commoner; they don a uniform costume and mask, even stand at the same height. They no longer sit amongst the commoners, but stand on a balcony over looking a common gathering place.
During the Switch, commoners may speak to the nobles freely about any subject and without addressing them by title. The nobles can only speak and give an answer to the commoner. Although, nobles are clever about their words and hardly ever give a straight answer.

Components and tools

• Mask.
• At least two costumes (If of noble blood or for nefarious acts.)
• A stage or balcony
• The typical components for a festival.

Participants

• Nobles
The first part allows the nobles to make changes to the society without much effort. The second part forces the nobles to hear the people's opinion without repercussion.
• Commoners
The commoners only role of this, is to try to cause change through the Switch.

Observance

The masquerade event must happen on an odd number day. It's not known why the god ordered for the event to take place on an odd day, but if that is what it must be than it will be so. The event typically takes place on the month of Undah.

Footnotes

Used these for reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masquerade_ball
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_of_Venice