𝐀𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧| 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏: 𝑨 𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏
...
𝐴 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒
．．．
"𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓, 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒂 𝑵𝒐𝒙𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏."
...

...

Three hundred years ago, when the blight of the Salem Witch Trials had tainted the soil of the New World and the world was at last forgetting the last wails of the so-accused witches—the settlement of Avellen, filled with daughters and sons of those who had been lost to water, fire, or noose, celebrated at last under a new moon.

Sancta Noxe, the Holy Night, has been since then celebrated under the first new moon of the fall season—to honor those who had been lost, some may say, to tempt the lingering dark horrors of the land to come and celebrate, others claim as the truth. In the spirit of the original, it has over time switched from bonfire to festival to extravagant balls that demanded the concealment of its guests' expression.

To entice the wicked, the early settlers had said—donning masks carved from bone and oak.

To mask our cunning, the colonists had murmured—their smiles never waning as they dined with the Crown's loyalist.

Faces hold no power in trickery, however—but names will always carry such terrible, unfathomable power.

If you were to ask anyone in Avellen, they weren't completely sure of their Mayor's idea to invite such a large host—infamous monsters and legends, after all—to their small town. But Edward Hemlock had assured, and then assured again, that it was the right thing—the just thing—that there couldn't be any other alternative but this.

And so, the Sancta Noxe came.

And so, the people danced.
...