Backstory: So, I got really attached to a D&D character I made about a year ago, and the first day of January, the DM abandoned ship for disclosed reasons. To account for this. I decided to take up writing, to itch all that missing character development

Chapter 1: Corn starch

A bouncer stands at his post, the cordial party held by the noble underway. The white brick accentuates the wealth here and the aristocrats walking about would make the colour brown stick out like a saw thumb. The door leading into the party is ornate and gigantic, approximately the size of 2 men and more gold than a bank. Money couldn’t be burnt in more useless ways than literally burning it.

The lizard wanders up, looking his best to act casual; as much as one could be when a bipedal reptilian is in the middle of a group of humans and elves. He slyly slinks towards the bouncer and quietly whispers

“Corn starch”

The guard looks in confusion. The lizard realises this isn’t the contact, but an actual bouncer. He takes a step back to think to himself. Godsdamn it, Snakes fed him false info. Time to improvise.

He distorts his voice and puts on a fake accent he’s never heard “My mistake. Friend tell me Corn starch secret access code to ball. I invited and thought ‘No, that not make sense.’ But he insist and I thought human custom.”

The guard looks even more confused. While the guard’s processing the situation, the lizard notices the line behind him, the crowd are getting annoyed at the wait. This could work to his advantage. “I am Ackl-Snarr. Lizardfolk… ambassador? That is what human with brown hair say. Noble host give good negotiation and worldwide peace in exchange for warm rock and women”

The poor sod finally speaks. “An ambassador? What ambassador wears a scarf and a hood?”

“Scarf?! I have you know this efficient battle garb for enemies! Blood absorbed to not get on precious scales and sneaky like fox as enemy think normal clothing inappropriate for war. You offend me with human custom.”

“Right… Sir. I’m sorry, but I require a letter of invitation”.

“YOU DARE REFUSE ACKL-SNARR?”. Whilst the lizard might be drawing more and more attention to himself, it’s certainly for the right reasons.

“No, I ne-“

“YOU WANT TELL NOBLE YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR DESTROYAL OF HUMANS BY SCALY HANDS? I SPIT ON YOUR HATCHLINGS WHEN THEY PILE OF ASH”

With a resigned sigh, the door is opened to the lizard. Looks like most people aren’t willing to be responsible for severance of diplomatic relations, even more so when the upper class are waiting, though Lizardfolk aren’t even a nation in this country.

The place is filled with more guests than he expected, and much more wine. The decorum is… elegant. To be expected, of course. The lizard takes a second to stare at the marble staircase, the marble statues, the marble tables, marble…

There’s a lot of marble. Whilst his eyes wander, he looks at the other guests at this party.

Shit.

Masks. So many masks. This is a masquerade. Yes. Masquerade. Masks. Everyone… has masks. Yep. Alright. Perfect.

Okay, let’s calm down. The lizard considers exiting the mansion and running, but he just talked his way through the bouncer earlier so it’d look embarrassing if “Ackle-Snarr” decided that he’d be intimidated by simple masks. However, minor phobias aside, does the lizard really need a mask? The noble in question, Alexander Covingtree, is supposedly getting ready for an event in three hours. There’s plenty of time to go up to his room and talk to him abo-

“Have you heard? Alexander is going to start greeting the guest members!” two nobles chirped behind him.

One of them, a woman wearing a crow mask responds “Oh how wonderful. He truly is a spectacular host!”

The lizard is quietly muttering every known swearword to man, elf and dwarf.

This is a test, he guesses. Either that or a practical joke. Knowing Snakes, it was probably both. The last few jobs had been rather simple, so Snakes might have just been trying to sharpen the lizard’s resolve. It’s a little touching that his father had that much faith in him, but it’s a bloody pain trying to do this.

The lizard realises he needs to focus on the task at hand, a mask. It needs to be long enough to account for his muzzle. Though it’d be effective enough just to grab a half-mask, the whole ‘being a lizard’ thing would be noticeable.

A man nearby is drinking a rather lot of wine, his mask is perfect. Designed after a fox, but the snout itself is long enough for it to be used by The lizard. The lizard hopes the mask doesn’t stink of alcohol.

… And from the noises the man’s making, let’s make sure it doesn’t stink of anything else as well. The lizard runs to the masked noble, feigning care for the poor soul who thought it best to drink six glasses of rosé. He lifts off the mask and pulls him away, to a Fern plant in one of the corridors. It lasts for a little too long. The guy passes out after he’s done releasing his stomach and the lizard tries to place him delicately on a chair.

Mission completed, he dons the masks and shudders a little. He pulls up his hood, hiding the scaly back of his head.

Leaving the corridor, a companion of the drunkard notices the mask and calls out to the lizard, “Hey! You there! That was my friend’s mask.”

The lizard responds promptly. “Ah, I have forgotten my own this evening, and I thought it a personal challenge to acquire a mask at the party. After all, who doesn’t disagree to a little excitement every once in a while?”

The man laughs, “Indeed, sometimes a little bit of debauchery can spice up our lives. Just give it back to him when you’re done, alright? You have no idea how much he paid for it, custom made, they say!”

The lizard nods. “That sounds for a rousing tale! But I give my deepest apologies, I’m in a tinsy bit of a rush”. He’d have to satisfy his curiosity another time. He goes back to scanning the room, seeing if Covingtree has arrived yet.

Aha! The lizard spots Alexander walking down. Covingtree has straight brown hair, is clean shaven and looks rather young, approximately seven years older than the seventeen-year-old lizard. Best guess would be the Alex has inherited the money that he used for this mansion. It’s obvious that the place wasn’t designed in mind of someone in their forties, so what would be the reason that Alexander has his own mansion at such a young age? Parents are either extremely rich, or the Covingtree must have had a few deaths in their lineage.

Someone bumps into the lizard and he’s brought back to reality yet again, he’s got to stop doing that.

Alexander’s one for theatrics. He’s holding his mask as he’s walking down the stairs, just so he can put it on with a flourish. He takes a bow when he reaches the bottom, and the crowd let out a cheer in his health.

The lizard is admittedly impressed.

Now how does one approach this? Alex wanders around, shaking hands. The lizard needs to get Alex alone by himself. An idea sparks, but it’s as risky as swallowing a dirty knife. Normally this would work with a Lord’s wife, not the Lord himself.

He struts towards Alexander. The lizard seems confident, probably the mask, he guesses. Something about anonymity? He read it in a book once…

Well, Twice.

Alexander’s taken notice now. With a quick inhale, the lizard bows, similar to how Alex did earlier. He offers his hand out for a dance. Alex is taken aback, but he accepts.

Alex is obviously not used to being a follow, he instinctually looks down as soon as they start. As they dance together, there’s a small trip. It’s hard to tell who caused it, but the lizard’s footwork kept them upright and attempts to mask it through a spin. the crowd didn’t seem to notice. Perfect. A few minutes in, the lizard notices he’s trying to impress the audience with his dancing. It’s the mask. Probably.

The crowd let out another cheer, this is the lizard’s chance. He takes Alex by the hand and points up the stairs. Alex takes a second to look into the mask’s eyes and awkwardly nods. The lizard’s seen it before, Alex’s interested in the mystery of the man behind the mask.

As they retreat upstairs, He swears he heard someone whistle.

In Alex’s master bedroom. The lizard, with a sigh of relief, takes off the mask. Alex seems a little surprised to find out the lizard’s identity, predictably.

The lizard begins.

“Okay, great. This was much more difficult than I thought it would be.” The lizard looks out the doorway

“Were you on the guest list?”

“No, I had faked my way in pretending to be an ambassador for Lizardfolk. Gave your bouncer outside a particularly tough time. More importantly, I’m here representing an individual named ‘Skirt of Snakes’, are you familiar with him?”

There’s a quick pause.

“Not particularly, sorry.” Alex takes the time to relax on his bed.

“Ah, alright.” The lizard sighs to himself, Snakes misinformed him yet again. “We’re part of the rogues found here in this city. We’d like to request assistance with infiltrating the Slater residence.”

“What would I gain from such a bargain? You seemed to do fine with entering the party.”

“Yeees, but it’s going to be done in the dead of the night, looting everything that isn’t nailed down. We’d like to make this as easy as possible.” The lizard just realised he gave information to a man he hadn’t fully convinced. Fuck.

“I could report you to the guards for what you’re telling me.” Fuuuuuuuck.

“Come now, it’d be bad manners to imprison a dance partner.” The lizard lets out a smirk and continues. “If you help us out, we’d pin the blame on Samuel Hagan, stating that he bought off rogues to steal Mr Slater’s valuables. This would cause an uproar, discrediting his name. Meanwhile, you can snatch up his land.” Samuel had been known for being an… unsavoury sort. The lizard’s band of rogues have been trying to expose his corruption for months.

“Tempting. I’ll consider this.” Alex seems deep in thought, it’s an opportunity few would refuse, after all.

“Perfect, I’ll notify my crew and tell someone to meet you three days from now. We’ll leave a note outside your door for details.”

As the lizard stands to leave the bedroom, donning his mask, Alex dons his earlier tone

“Care to stay for wine?”

“Maybe another time, you’ve got to be a good host after all.” The lizard winks and leaves.

He can’t believe any of that worked.

Chapter 2: https://theunnamedlizardrogue.tumblr.com/post/172107548441/chapter-2-feline-good