u/Fifthseeker_21

Night. HASTUR and RAOUL hunt with their falcons in the moors outside Ythill.

RAOUL: The moons are beautiful, Hastur, but they pale in comparison to the face of fair Camilla...

HASTUR: For the last time, Raoul, Camilla does not love you.

RAOUL: When we danced together that night, I felt a connection to her. You would never understand, though, would you? You don't know anything about love.

HASTUR: Camilla is the High Lady of Ythill. She will never waste time on a peasant, even one as handsome as my dear brother Raoul.

RAOUL: She danced with me last night...

HASTUR: She would have danced with anyone. Anyone who knows anything about the kind of person she is would-

RAOUL stops moving, and then he looks up at the sky.

HASTUR: What are you doing?

RAOUL turns to look at HASTUR. RAOUL's eyes are now yellow and his face has turned unnaturally pale.

RAOUL: Have you found the Yellow Sign?

HASTUR: What are you talking about? What is the Yellow Sign?

RAOUL: Have you found the Yellow Sign? Have you found the Yellow Sign? Have you found the Yellow Sign? Have you found the Yellow Sign?

HASTUR: Raoul, what is happening?

RAOUL (loudly): HAVE YOU FOUND THE YELLOW SIGN? HAVE YOU FOUND THE YELLOW SIGN? HAVE YOU FOUND THE YELLOW SIGN? HAVE YOU FOUND THE YELLOW SIGN? HAVE YOU FOUND THE YELLOW SIGN? HAVE YOU FOU-

And then HASTUR punches RAOUL in the face. RAOUL falls flat on his back. HASTUR kneels over him and begins to pray.

HASTUR: Dear Aldebaran, may Raoul awaken a sane man once more. May he awaken as Raoul, Son of Jaquiere, Brother of Hastur, Child of Ythill. By the will of the Star, may Raoul find his lost mind.

A bell tolls. HASTUR looks up at the sky. The symbol that the STRANGER wore around his neck now appears etched into the moon. Looking closer, the towers of Carcosa can be seen behind the moon.

HASTUR: No. NO. NO!

And then it stops. The symbol on the moon vanishes, as do the towers behind it. RAOUL awakens, his eyes normal and color returned to his skin.

RAOUL: What happened? Why am I lying on the ground?

HASTUR: Do you not remember?

RAOUL: The last thing I remember was... we were arguing about... I don't remember what we were arguing about... and then... the next thing I knew I was lying on the ground.

HASTUR pauses.

HASTUR: Come with me. Let us return to our home.

TOMASIN, CASSILDA, CAMILLA, and several other nobles gather in the council chamber in the Palace Aldebaran, discussing the STRANGER.

NOBLE: Tell us why we should be concerned with this stranger.

CASSILDA: He claims to be an inhabitant of Carcosa.

CAMILLA (still in shock): His face... stars above, his face...

CAMILLA begins crying. CASSILDA puts her hand on CAMILLA's shoulder.

CASSILDA: I swear to you, my child, you have nothing to fear from this stranger so long as the stars stay fixed on their celestial spheres.

TOMASIN: The way that stranger looked at me... I felt as though my very soul was being penetrated by a cold I have not felt since my travel to the Frosted Mountains.

NOBLE: Frigid gazes, pale masks, and tales of Carcosa are nothing without evidence that this man is somehow a danger to Ythill.

Enter a MESSENGER.

MESSENGER: I apologize for the interruption, but the stranger wishes to speak to Lady Camilla.

CAMILLA: To me?

MESSENGER: Indeed.

Anxiously, CAMILLA leaves the council chamber.

NOBLE: She is far too easily frightened to be a High Lady.

TOMASIN: Hold your tongue. That is my daughter of which you speak. And you would be frightened too had you seen his pallid face.

An old woman in a regal dress and bronze crown, CASSILDA, sits with her beautiful vivacious daughter CAMILLA in the ballroom in the Palace Aldebaran.

CAMILLA: Thank you, Mother, for agreeing to invite the commoners to our ball.

CASSILDA: This is your ball, my Masked Beauty. It is my obligation to see it that your every request is met.

A masked SERVANT walks toward CASSILDA and CAMILLA.

SERVANT: Everything is in readiness, My Lady. Shall I open the doors?

CASSILDA: Yes.

The SERVANT exits. A moment later, dozens of people flood the ballroom, each wearing a mask. Among them are HASTUR and RAOUL.

RAOUL: Camilla is truly beautiful, is she not?

HASTUR (mockingly): I suppose.

CASSILDA claps her hands and the crowd falls silent.

CASSILDA: Ever since the Hyades fell into darkness and the great city of Carcosa sank into the Lake of Hali, all cities once under the King's rule have been governed by the High Lords and High Ladies. This includes our own dear Ythill. I have governed for thirty years now, and I believe that this city is better because of it. However, I have grown old, and soon I will no longer be fit to rule. Thus, I pass my mantle to my dearest daughter, Camilla.

CAMILLA bows to her mother. CASSILDA removes her crown and places it on her daughter's head.

CASSILDA: Behold, the new High Lady of Ythill, Lady Camilla!

The crowd applauds. RAOUL smiles gleefully. HASTUR glares at him.

CASSILDA: And now, as is customary, I shall sing the Song of the Fallen Kingdom.

Along the shore, the cloud-waves break
The twin suns sink behind the lake
The shadows lengthen in Carcosa.

Strange is the night where black stars rise
And strange moons circle through the skies
But stranger still is Lost Carcosa.

Songs that the Hyades shall sing
Where flap the tatters of the King
Must die unheard in Dim Carcosa.

Song of my soul, my voice is dead
Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed
Shall die and dry in Lost Carcosa.

The crowd applauds again.

Servants bring out a large amount of food, and the crowd eagerly begins eating. Masked figures dance in the ballroom.

CAMILLA: May I join them? They seem so joyful.

CASSILDA: I hold no authority over you anymore, my dear.

CAMILLA joins the party. RAOUL turns to HASTUR excitedly.

RAOUL: Camilla's going to dance with us! This is amazing!

HASTUR shrugs. RAOUL leaves, moving toward CAMILLA. HASTUR sits down and eats a leg of lamb. A STRANGER wearing a yellow robe and pallid mask sits next to him.

STRANGER: Do the festivities not excite you, friend?

HASTUR: It's not that. My brother, Raoul, is in love with a woman he's never met, and I don't know how to tell him that she will only break his heart. I feel sorry for him.

STRANGER: Love is far stranger than the Mystery of the Hyades.

HASTUR looks at the pendant around the STRANGER's neck -- a black onyx amulet with a golden symbol engraved on it.

HASTUR: What is that?

STRANGER: You shall know that in time.

The STRANGER leaves.

RAOUL arrives next to CAMILLA.

RAOUL: May I have this dance?

CAMILLA (laughing): And here I was expecting the commoners to be afraid to approach me. Of course you may dance with me.

RAOUL (overjoyed): It is an honor, my Lady.

Time passes. RAOUL dances with CAMILLA. CASSILDA stays on the stage. HASTUR remains alone in the corner.

Enter a bearded LORD TOMASIN.

TOMASIN (to CASSILDA): Hello, my love.

CASSILDA (shocked): Tomasin? I thought you were traveling!

TOMASIN: I could never miss the ascension of our dear daughter.

CASSILDA: She will make a wonderful High Lady.

TOMASIN looks down at CAMILLA and RAOUL.

TOMASIN: Who is that man?

CASSILDA: He must be one of the common people.

TOMASIN: You know what my father would say about inviting peasants into our palace.

TOMASIN steps offstage and walks toward CAMILLA and RAOUL angrily.

RAOUL: You are a delightful young woman, Camilla. You will make a great ruler.

CAMILLA: Thank you, stranger.

CAMILLA and RAOUL continue to dance, but they are rudely interrupted by an angry TOMASIN.

TOMASIN: What a disgrace, to see my daughter dance with a common peasant!

CAMILLA: I am High Lady of Ythill, father. You cannot command me anymore!

RAOUL: She's right. Leave her alone.

TOMASIN: I am her father and High Lord of Ythill! You are nothing! How dare you presume to command me!

A STRANGER approaches, followed by HASTUR.

STRANGER: Now, now, my friends, can we not be civil on this glorious night?

TOMASIN steps back, unnerved by the STRANGER's pallid mask. He quickly exits, leaving CAMILLA, HASTUR, and RAOUL alone.

HASTUR: Let us return home, brother Raoul.

RAOUL: The Grand Unmasking is upon us, I would at least like to stay for that.

HASTUR (disappointed): Oh, dear Raoul, I wish your feeble mind could be as strong as your romantic heart.

Exit HASTUR.

CASSILDA: It is time for the Grand Unmasking!

Everyone takes off their masks except HASTUR, who has already thrown his mask to the ground, and the STRANGER, who stands in the crowd motionless, staring intently at TOMASIN.

TOMASIN (to CASSILDA): That man makes me feel strange.

CASSILDA: Husband, why must you always contaminate every happy event you attend with your sourness?

TOMASIN: Something is wrong. I can smell it in the air. There is a strange aura about that man. I advise you speak to him.

CASSILDA steps off the stage and approaches the STRANGER.

CASSILDA: You, sir, should unmask.

STRANGER: Indeed?

CASSILDA: Indeed, it's time. We have all lain aside disguise but you.

STRANGER: I wear no mask.

CAMILLA (terrified, aside to CASSILDA): No mask? No mask!

RAOUL (equally terrified): Who are you?

STRANGER: I am a citizen of Carcosa.

CASSILDA: Impossible. Carcosa lies at the bottom of the Lake of Hali.

STRANGER: And yet, here I am.

RAOUL flees to find HASTUR. CASSILDA, CAMILLA, and TOMASIN stare petrified at the STRANGER.

Night falls upon the city of Ythill. Two falconers, RAOUL and HASTUR, stand at the edge of the lake, watching the twin suns set. A falcon lands on HASTUR's arm.

RAOUL looks up at the night sky.

RAOUL: Why do you think the stars are turning black, brother Hastur?

HASTUR: We are not astronomers, brother Raoul. We have no business asking such questions.

RAOUL: Hastur, you know as well as I that the shifting of the Heavens cannot be inconsequential. The Hyades turned black just before Carcosa sank into the Lake of Hali.

HASTUR: No matter. As long as our own dear star Aldebaran remains in the sky over Ythill, we shall endure forevermore.

Enter a MESSENGER riding a horse.

MESSENGER: Hear ye, hear ye! The Masquerade begins in two days' time! Any who wish to attend, go to the Palace of Aldebaran to witness the ascension of Lady Camilla!

The MESSENGER tosses a scroll at them, then rides away. A falcon catches the scroll in its talons and drops it into RAOUL's hand. RAOUL unrolls the scroll.

RAOUL: "Lady Cassilda summons all men and women of Ythill to the Masquerade to witness the ascension of Lady Camilla to the Underthrone of Ythill." What say you, Hastur? Would you enjoy festivities such as this?

HASTUR: It would be my pleasure. It is a rare thing for the nobility to invite peasants such as ourselves to their palace.

They both exit.