Masquerade Auction (2)

The Blackwood Manor stood like a gothic monument against the darkening sky, its towers and spires reaching toward the stars with an almost predatory hunger. What had once been the ancestral home of a minor noble family had been transformed into something far more sinister—a temple to wealth, power, and the kind of moral flexibility that came with both.

Arthur adjusted his ornate golden mask as their carriage pulled up to the circular drive, noting the impressive array of vehicles already present. Sleek magical conveyances worth more than most people's homes sat alongside traditional horse-drawn carriages that spoke of old money and older secrets. The attendees were clearly the Empire's elite, though Arthur suspected few of them fully understood what they were truly participating in tonight.